BC Liberals to Formally Rename the Party ‘BC United’

B.C. Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon gives a statement and answers questions from reporters during an media availability at the legislature in Victoria, B.C., on May 4, 2022. The Canadian Press/Chad Hipolito

The British Columbia Liberal Party is rebranding itself with the new name “BC United,” a change the party says is long overdue.

B.C. Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon will unveil the party’s new identity at an official launching event in Surrey, B.C. on April 12. The event will also be live-streamed on the party’s website.

The party announced last November that 80 percent of its members supported the name change, with the name “BC United” standing out among 2,000 suggestions.

“For more than twenty years, our party’s name has been a constant topic of debate. A strong vote for BC United marks a new beginning,” Falcon said in a press release at the time, following a vote for the new name. “I’m excited to move forward as BC United because it really reflects our big tent party, united for a common purpose of making life better for British Columbians.”

Party vice-president Caroline Elliott said the debate about changing the party’s name has been around for a long time, with some members concerned about an inaccurate perception that the party is connected to the federal Liberal Party.

“Many of our members are, true, federal Liberals,” she told The Canadian Press. “Some of them are federal Conservatives. Some of them, most of them probably, are no federal affiliation whatsoever.”

Elliott said the B.C. Liberals are going ahead with the party name change with confidence that NDP Premier David Eby will not call an early election this year.

“David Eby, the premier, has sworn up and down he will not be calling an election sooner than the fixed election date and he will not be breaking the fixed election date law as his predecessor did,” she said.

“We’re going to be taking him at his word,” Elliott said. “We’re going to hope he keeps that promise but at the same time we’re going to be ready.”

B.C.’s next provincial general election is slated for Oct. 19, 2024.

As of April 10, the party has registered its new name with Elections BC, according to the agency’s political parties registry.

Former NDP premier John Horgan called a snap election in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, winning a majority and reducing the Liberals to 28 seats in the 87-seat legislature.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.