This provincial election campaign has been one of the more memorable ones over the course of my 14 years in newspapers.
听
Before the campaign got underway, Premier David Eby, a lanky lawyer from the big city, assumed power after his only opponent in the party leadership election was disqualified. Sure he can win his riding in an affluent pocket of Vancouver thatsa国际传媒 full of students. And he can win a party leadership race against no formidable opponents. But hesa国际传媒 no John Horgan, our folksy buddy who won our votes four years ago.
听
During any normal campaign, the premiersa国际传媒 main rival would be the leader of the Official Opposition --听which is Kevin Falcon in Ebysa国际传媒 case. But Falcon managed to implode his party -- the BC United Party -- before the campaign even started.
听
Falcon is probably regretting his decision to dump John Rustad from the party for his views on climate change. Rustad went on to join some fringe party known as the BC Conservatives that hadn鈥檛 won a seat in decades. But sure enough, the BC Conservatives would go on to eclipse the mainstream party.
听
Pretty wild that a guy like Rustad is a coin flip away from becoming premier just two years after becoming a political outcast.
听
And hard to believe the party of Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark surrendered without a fight. But parties can鈥檛 count on corporate donations like they used to before the BC-NDP banned them in 2017.
听
Nonetheless itsa国际传媒 easy to see why Falcon thought it was a good idea to dump 鈥淟iberals鈥 from their name in 2022. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has caused quite a bit of damage to the brand over the past nine years --听he lied about electoral reform, it came out that he wore blackface, there was the SNC Lavalin affair, WE charity cronyism, and millions wasted on a useless vaccine app, while working-class Canadians became priced out of the housing market.
听
Sure, Trudeau made 鈥渓iberal鈥 sound like a dirty word. But could Falcon have picked a worse time to rename the BC Liberals? Ironic how he shattered the party after the decision to call it 鈥淯nited.鈥 Meanwhile the Conservative Party of Canada is enjoying strong poll numbers with Pierre Poilierve at the helm, which is probably to the benefit of any provincial party with 鈥淐onservative鈥 in their name.
听
Poilierve may be a career politician who will probably end up being a disappointing Prime Minister, the way they all do. But right now he knows what voters want to hear: he holds Trudeausa国际传媒 feet to the flames, he talks tough-on-crime, heckles NDP leader Jagmeet Singh for being more loyal to his pension than the country, and is charismatic enough to make it sound like 鈥渃ommon sense鈥 is the simple solution to our problems.
听
And Rustad, just like Poilierve, seems to have garnered support through his opposition to the carbon tax. Carbon tax must be unpopular, because even Eby has pledged to scrap it if hesa国际传媒 reelected ( only if Trudeau lets him though).
But letsa国际传媒 face it 鈥撎齮he best promise is the BC Greensa国际传媒 four-day work week. To hell with Mondays. And party leader Sonia Furstenau was endorsed by The Hulk (actor Mark Ruffalo).
But letsa国际传媒 face it 鈥撎齮he best promise is the BC Greensa国际传媒 four-day work week. To hell with Mondays. And party leader Sonia Furstenau was endorsed by The Hulk (actor Mark Ruffalo).
听
Lots going on here in the Okanagan too.
听
sa国际传媒-Mission independent candidate Alexandra Wright is suing her former party, the BC Conservatives, after they withdrew her nomination.
听
A left winger got the backing of a right winger, when BCNDP candidate Anna Warwick-Sears for sa国际传媒-Lake Country-Coldstream was endorsed by Tom Siddon who was a Progressive Conservative cabinet minister.
听
Down in Penticton-Summerand, BC Conservative candidate Amelia Boultbee 鈥 whosa国际传媒 been active on Facebook 鈥撎齱as critical of unaffiliated candidate Tracy St. Claire because her signs鈥 colours resemble those of the BC Unitedsa国际传媒.
听
But regardless of colour 鈥撎齟lection signs look like litter, because they are.
听
Having said that, itsa国际传媒 nice to see independent candidatesa国际传媒 Roger Harringtonsa国际传媒 wooden signs around the Penticton-Summerland riding, they have aesthetic appeal.
听
Rustad seems to have his eye on the valley 鈥 promising to build a second
bridge between sa国际传媒 and West sa国际传媒 by 2032, a new sports center in Penticton, and $3 million for primary health care centre in Summerland.
Speaking of healthcare 鈥撎齪art of St. Clairesa国际传媒 platform includes opening the door to some privatization in our healthcare system.
Speaking of healthcare 鈥撎齪art of St. Clairesa国际传媒 platform includes opening the door to some privatization in our healthcare system.
听
And while unaffiliated candidates normally have no chance of getting into office 鈥撎齦et alone any leverage in Victoria if they are successful 鈥 2024 might be different. There was a record number of independent and unaffiliated candidates 鈥撎40 and 14, respectively, when nominations closed. Many of those candidates are well known in their communities, and have the ability to split the vote and possibly even win.
听
It will be especially interesting if we find ourselves in a similar situation as 2017 election 鈥 when the BC Liberals won the most seats by one, but the BC-NDP was able to take power with the support of the BC Greens鈥 three seats.
听
Pretty good chance a handful of independents/Greens find themselves holding the balance of power after this election.
听
Letsa国际传媒 hope for a minority situation 鈥 politics can be pretty boring when one party has all the power.
