Former B.C. Green leader praises B.C. Conservatives

British Columbia's political landscape is undergoing several shakeups a little over three months ahead of this fall's Oct. 19 provincial election.

This week, climate scientist and former Green Party leader Andrew Weaver slammed NDP Premier David Eby and said he's considering aligning with B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad. Weaver previously struck a confidence and supply agreement with former premier John Horgan in 2017 to give the NDP the balance of power.

"My prediction is that the B.C. Conservatives will win," he said in an interview with CBC News. 

Eby said Friday at an unrelated news conference that it's "extremely bizarre" that Weaver might favour Rustad, who says climate change isn't a crisis and was turfed from the former B.C. Liberals, now known as B.C. United, for his views on the subject.

On his party's website, Rustad says the "changing climate is real, and man is impacting our climate," but it "isn't a crisis," and the party will not engage in "over-taxation, hype, scare tactics" on the issue. He has also said he would prohibit teaching climate science in classrooms.

"I would have assumed, given his life's work, that Dr. Weaver would have no difficulty making a decision about which side to choose, but that's really up to him," Eby said. 

Weaver, who was lead author for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that won a Nobel Prize, says his views on climate are not the same as Rustad's, but he views the Conservative leader as a listener like Horgan.

"I would not be standing here talking to you if John Horgan were premier because John Horgan listens to people," he said.  

"I'm talking to you about this because I don't think David Eby does. He's surrounded himself with people who will help him control government through his office, in my view, and that is not healthy for democracy."

Weaver has also said he's concerned about the exit of almost a dozen NDP representatives ahead of the fall vote. Cabinet stalwarts Bruce Ralston, Harry Bains and Rob Fleming have all recently announced they will not seek re-election.

"It told me something very sick is going on when literally the entire team from the 2017 to 2020 period is moving on," he said.

Weaver added that he doesn't view climate change to be "the greatest issue facing humanity right now." Instead, he considered it to be the rise of authoritarian regimes, pointing to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Rustad told CBC News that he and Weaver have "a lot of things" in common, including ideas on energy policy, before commenting on the former Green Party leader's shot at Eby.

"[Eby] is an authoritarian, and that is not what this province needs," he said. "Andrew Weaver can see that, and he agrees that is not the direction this province needs to go in."