Last
night I was going through a box of campaign material from the 1996 provincial
election in BC. For those not aware, I
ran as a candidate for the BC Reform Party in the riding of Kamloops North
Thompson.
Kamloops Daily News political
cartoon from April
'96. We still have a “Clark”, but now it’s Christy. |
While
going through the box, I came upon opening remarks I made at an All-Candidates
Forum that had been held in Barriere, a small rural community about half an
hour north of Kamloops, in the North Thompson.
Today I thought I would share them, once again, because in reading them I thought …
not much has changed in 16 years! I wonder, as you read this, if you'll think the same thing.
For far
too long we have had only two choices in British Columbia come election
time. One was to vote a party out of
power, thereby allowing the other party to win by default – or to vote for a
party that didn’t really meet our needs, but kept the other out of power. Things are different now.
The
election being held May 28th is going to be one of the most
important ever. One that will provide
each of us with a choice to continue with ‘behind
closed doors decision making the traditional parties offer – or to choose a party that has the will and
courage to listen and make ‘real change happen … to make government accountable
to you.
But with
choice, comes the responsibility to know where the parties stand on issues, and
how they will deal with the important decisions that face our province in the
years ahead … and how they will consult
with you and seek your input in making those decisions.
Our choice
will also come down to electing a ‘politician’ – or electing a ‘representative’.