Campaign material for now-former BC United candidate Mike Grenier/via Paul James

The BC United candidate for the communities west of Kamloops has decided against continuing his run in next month’s provincial election.

Tobiano founder and now-former BC United candidate for Cariboo-Chilcotin, Mike Grenier, says it just isn’t viable for him to make a run on his own.

“As an independent, now you don’t have the policy, you don’t have the weight of the party in terms of seats. And then you’ve got the time frame on the eve of an election,” said Grenier.  “A lot of those things just didn’t weigh in our favor.”

Instead, Grenier is now backing one-time BC United-turned-BC Conservative candidate Lorne Doerksen.

“Lorne Doerksen is a former BC United MLA,” noted Grenier.  “I would say on a fiscal conservative side, the BC Conservatives would align in a similar way to the BC United platform.”

Grenier says at this stage, he’s still got outstanding personal debts from the campaign.

“Those bills aren’t paid off, and yes, I am out of pocket. But indications from the party were that they were going to make candidates whole. We’ll see if that’s the case,” said Grenier, who suggested paying his own way at the time wasn’t a big concern.  “When you sign up to do this, you’re out there to represent your constituents. You’re out there to implement policy and to get things done.”

As for his political future, Grenier says he will continue on as the TNRD director for the Tobiano area, and is not ruling out another run for higher office.