Tomorrow, Wednesday May 11th, voters in Vancouver Point Grey go to the polls in a by-election ... a by-election to replace former premier Gordon Campbell, who resigned the seat just two short months ago.
But ... much more is at stake in the by-election than simply filling a seat. The reality is that the 41,181 voters in that riding will be passing judgement, for the rest of us, on the political future of Christy Clark -- and the BC Liberal Party.
In the past couple of years the Liberals have been hammered hard over the Basi / Virk trial ... implementation of the HST ... two Cabinet members being kicked out of caucus (Bennett and Lekstrom) ... huge proposed rate increases with BC Ferries and BC Hydro ... the resignation, re-in-statement, and re-resignation of Kash Heed over alleged election controversies ... and those just barely scratch the surface.
Who is in the race to become MLA for the riding in Vancouver-Point Grey? The candidates are:
- Danielle Alie ... BC First
- Christy Clark ... BC Liberal Party
- David Eby ... BC NDP
- William Gibbens ... Independent
- Eddie Petrossian ... Independent
- Françoise Raunet ... Green Party of BC
All, or most of the above have participated in a number of town hall candidates forums so that voters in the riding could have the opportunity to speak directly to them about their concerns ... and the issues important to them ... all that is except for Christy Clark.
Did she think that was a safe position to take so that she would not be required to have close contact with the voters, and perhaps have embarrassing questions tossed at her regarding previous stances on the issues. That move however could backfire on Christy Clark if the voters in the riding feel they have been slighted and stood up by her. And voters after all can be very fickle -- and governments have lost by-election after by-election in BC for many years.
So what has she done instead of campaigning? One might be led to believe that perhaps her opportunistic mug shots in the media, making government pronouncements, might be part of the campaign. Straight talk perhaps on what she can do for the people of Vancouver Point Grey may be of more interest to the voters however.
I don't think it will happen, however I admit I would love the see the following headline in newspapers across the province of BC on Thursday morning:
“CLARK LOSES IN BID TO WIN SEAT TO LEGISLATURE IN VANCOUVER POINT GREY”
As many are aware, there have been a large number of very real issues that have come up regarding the BC Liberals over the past two years ... and the issue of accountability to voters has been one of the biggest. That's why a loss for Christy Clark would signal the very real end of the BC Liberal Party ... and guaranteed rise of the BC Conservatives under John Cummins.
The rise of the BC Conservative Party is going to be a reality regardless of a win or loss for Christy Clark – a loss however for her will bring it about much more quickly
I'm Alan Forseth in Kamloops, and those are the thoughts of one conservative.
No comments:
Post a Comment