Sharp will have work cut out for him as B.C. Conservative candidate

One of Peter Sharp’s challenges in this spring’s provincial election might be ignoring the more radical elements of his party.

Sharp won the B.C. Conservative nomination for Kamloops-South Thompson riding last night over Maria Dobi. The meeting had its moments.

The lack of polish displayed by those running the meeting was a reflection of the lack of political and organizational experience in the fledgling riding association, which is not a bad thing. In a way, it reinforces the contention that B.C. voters are tired of the old-line Liberals and NDP, and want something different. (Regional organizer Alan Forseth calls it “a great meeting” in his blog today, so I suppose it depends on your point of view.)

Sharp gave a straight-forward speech that basically kept to the key message: Liberals and NDP bad, Conservatives good. Conservatives will bring integrity back to government, etc.

His opponent for the nomination, Maria Dobi, did him one better, though. Whether it was nerves or emotion, Dobi seemed genuinely into her speech, but the content was, at times, bizarre.

Words like “homosexuality,” “morality” and “promiscuity” kept coming out. She borrowed from the U.S. Declaration of Independence with a reference to “life, liberty and religion” (a variation, of course, of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”).

She made a vague reference, as well, to “the right to defend ourselves,” with no explanation of what she meant (see Individual Rights Party, below). And what does “dumbing down our children” mean? Maybe it had to do with her claim that teachers are teaching our kids socialism.

Asked about the healthcare system, Dobi said she knew of at least one case in which parents dumped their kids at a hospital ER claiming they had stomach aches so the parents could go out for the night. That must have taken some fast talking for those kids to get past triage.

At times, Dobi displayed eloquence, and certainly a passion, for her topic. Occasionally, there were nods of agreement from the party members. Which is what’s kind of interesting about this party — it appears to encompass such a wide range of the disaffected.

Dobi, who lives in Sorrento, was the party’s candidate in Kamloops-South Thompson in 2009. After that election, she quit the Conservatives and became president of the Christian Heritage Party of B.C. After that she was involved in starting up a new party, the Individual Rights Party of B.C., in 2011. One of its policies was that citizens should have the right to carry concealed weapons. Another was that Islam should be declared a political movement.

The fact that there’s a home in the B.C. Conservatives for people with some of the views expressed by Dobi is, I suppose, both a good thing and a bad thing, democratically speaking. But Sharp, who is probably one of the most credible candidates the party has been able to recruit, will have his work cut out for him in curbing those from within who will be tempted to take the “change” mantra a little too far.