Mixed reactions to Findlay video painting Eby as culture-war strongman

PENTICTON — A Conservative Party of BC video depicting Premier David Eby as a Soviet-style authoritarian has produced mixed reactions a day after its release, with supporters calling it a necessary counterpunch and others warning the imagery risks turning off swing voters..The 105-second clip, posted Monday by Conservative Party of BC Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, opens with black-and-white footage of a military officer resembling Eby, Soviet-style music, and the premier’s own July 28 words: “If you think the culture wars are going to ensure prosperity for your kids, you now have a party to vote for in the BC Conservatives.”It then flashes “Really?” before showing a church in flames, statues coming down, and NDP MLAs using language such as “settlers,” “colonizers” and “uninvited guests.” Burnaby East MLA Rohini Arora’s now-infamous legislature speech — urging non-indigenous British Columbians, and “white folks” in particular, to call themselves "settlers, colonizers and uninvited guests on their own soil" — is also featured.Findlay’s original post quickly circulated amongst Conservatives and a segment of the party's base..Supporters on X praised the video for documenting what they see as years of NDP identity politics, muted responses to church arsons after 2021, and hiring or curriculum rules that prioritize decolonization over results. One detailed reply argued the clip captured a “sustained preference for narrative hierarchy over equal protection.”Not everyone was convinced, however.Political commentator Mo Amir quoted the video Tuesday and wrote that only “a terminally online dork” would think it works..“I took a day to mull on why this doesn’t work (there are many reasons),” Amir posted. “But I think the underlying reason is that normal British Columbians see Premier Eby as ineffective, weak and incompetent, not as a powerful strongman," Amir continued in a Tuesday X post.Independent Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Elenore Sturko, a former Conservative, went further. Quoting the same video, she wrote: “Millions of people have been murdered by totalitarian dictatorships and communist regimes. Millions suffer today. Making a mockery of that shows how unserious the BCC really is.”.The small, self-style centrist party CentreBC quoted the video and scolded both major parties for personal attacks and culture-war score-settling while affordability, housing, healthcare and wildfires demand attention..The video is being presented by the BC Conservatives as a direct reply to Eby’s long-running claim that Conservatives imported American-style culture wars. Findlay has positioned her party as the alternative on SOGI in schools, private property and what she calls far-left cultural enforcement.Eby has branded her a "MAGA regional manager" since her May 30 leadership win..The largely AI-driven clip lands against a backdrop of newly created anonymous X accounts — The Findlay Files and now the BC War Room — that have been leaking internals and needling the party since Findlay remade the caucus and reconfigured the party’s executive structure.

Mixed reactions to Findlay video painting Eby as culture-war strongman

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