Despite all the debates and party in-fighting, the BC Conservative leadership race was not a particularly policy-heavy affair. Which is why it’s a bit hard to fully sketch out where new leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay might take the opposition party in its bid to present a government-in-waiting for British Columbians.

Still, a review of her platform and campaign interviews gives a broad view of where she intends to take the new BC Conservative party.

All the candidates agreed on repealing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People Act (DRIPA), as well as removing the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) curriculum from public schools.

Findlay went a step further, promising to “introduce legislation preventing SOGI ideology from being taught in classrooms,” alongside boosting parental notifications and involvement in education.

“I would like to see more emphasis on counselling, not having teachers promoting it as part of a curriculum,” Findlay told the CBC on Monday.

She said new statistics on B.C.’s declining academic performance is in part because “we’re not emphasizing the core subjects the way I think we should” and pledged to return letter grades back to middle school.

As platforms went, Findlay’s was among the more detailed of the candidates in the Conservative leadership race. It even included a 12-month plan to cut every provincial tax on gasoline and diesel to cut prices as much as 44 cents per litre at the pump.

The areas with the fewest details were on the economy (she promotes unlocking natural resources and mining), balancing the budget (a core review of government spending), health care (re-hiring workers dismissed for COVID policies) and housing (cutting red tape and setting approval timelines).

“My vision is one of more prosperity, more use of our resources, better alliances with our neighbouring provinces, and cutting the cost of government in the sense of more efficiencies, that sort of thing,” Findlay said Monday.

“And taking a good core review when we form government of the finances, of legislation, because I want to be open with British Columbians, let them know what we have in mind, both before taking office and soon after. It is my intent to have that kind of clarity.”

The most distinctive promise in Findlay’s platform is a “Western Alliance” with Alberta and Saskatchewan on energy, roads, railways and ports to help get goods to overseas markets. That includes new oil pipelines, refineries and electricity interties.

It also includes doubling rail and port capacity, as well as a plan to “upgrade the Trans-Canada Highway from Regina to Vancouver to a G7-standard, US-style interstate freeway system.”

According to her platform, the Western Alliance would push Ottawa for an amendment to the constitution to enshrine private property rights against Indigenous policies, using the Section 43 clause that allows for constitutional changes for individual provinces without requiring the consent of the entire country.

Findlay has pledged to repeal several specific NDP policies, including the Legal Professions Act (which the Law Society of B.C. is trying to strike down in court), the Health Professions and Occupations Act (which shifted regulation of health professions) and ICBC’s no-fault insurance system.

On the latter point, Premier David Eby has said any move to repeal the no-fault system would send auto insurance rates skyrocketing, setting up one of many clear distinctions between the government and the Conservatives.

Findlay’s platform will likely slowly meld into official positions for the party this summer, in time for the fall session of the legislature where the Conservatives face off directly against the NDP.

Whether Findlay is there to argue those new policies directly on the floor of the house is another matter. First she’ll have to win a seat in the legislature. But they offer a good starting point for where she intends to steer the party.

Rob Shaw has spent more than 18 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for BIV. He hosts the weekly show Political Capital and has a NEW daily podcast, Political Capital Daily.

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