Nine days after voting was over, so is the B.C. election... kind of. There are still two ridings subject to judicial recount but if history is any indication—not sure it is—no election has been overturned by a judicial recount. Happy Halloween. Your kid’s candy will be gone before we know for certain.
But as things stand, B.C. will plod towards the future with another NDP majority government, slim though it may be. This will be seen as an unfavourable, possibly revolting outcome to just over 43 per cent of the people who bothered to cast ballots. Bothered because once again, B.C. voters proved they’re the pathetic in apathetic with just 58.3 per cent of eligible voters exercising their right to vote for the people leading them. Oh, it’s raining out, let’s not vote.
There were three, four if you count the majority of people who simply didn’t vote, really unsavoury aspects to this election.
The first was the number of voters who mimicked the more vile mindset we witness with disdain south of the border. They voted to elect racists and misogynists to sit in government. In the not-too-distant past, party leaders would have sent those candidates packing for their comments. Conservative Party leader John Rustad’s response was to “let the voters decide.”
Sadly, the voters decided to elect some and narrowly defeat others. While the decision of Mr. Rustad to let them stand for election is unfortunate, the decision made by people voting for them is reprehensible. They either support that kind of hatred or they hate their opponents enough to ignore it. Either way, it’s a sad commentary on what we used to believe was a kinder, gentler, more tolerant and inclusive Canada.
The second was the inept, misguided and nearly fatal campaign run by the NDP. I supported that party for the first time... ever. Two reasons. I found the Conservatives’ platform scary. Trump-lite. More importantly, this riding’s candidate had a long and broad track record of service and accomplishment in local, regional and provincial government.
But the party ran on a strategy of vilifying its opponent. Granted there was a lot to vilify about Mr. Rustad, but you don’t win voters’ support by telling them it’s a choice between you or the boogeyman. The NDP had accomplished much during a difficult period but you wouldn’t have known it looking at their campaign. They let themselves be an easy target for a disaffected electorate reeling from “crisis” to “crisis”—inflation, housing, deficit spending, health-care.
There was little talk of the hospitals built, expanded or started, the increases in doctors and nurses, the schools, the lower child care costs, the programs to increase housing that garnered praise from other parts of the country. It came down to an attitude of, “What have you done for me lately?” And the answer from a beaten-down public was, “Not much.”
The final unsavoury aspect of this election is the pall it casts over the future. The lessons unlearned.
If you looked at the map of the province, you saw a clear urban-rural divide. You had to look closely to see a colour other than blue. Of course, if you knew anything at all about demographics, you understood those orange and green specks on the map were where people outnumber livestock. Much like the rest of Canada, people in B.C. are snuggled up against the southern border.
Looking at the result, people may be justified to think the province is highly polarized. Look again. Yes, the NDP garnered just shy of 44 per cent of the vote while the Conservatives were less than two points behind with more than 43 per cent.
But the Green Party pulled down a bit more than eight per cent. That meant the left-of-centre vote tally was slightly more than 53 per cent of the vote. While that may seem like a slim majority, there have been few races in recent history, provincial or federal, where the winning party topped half the vote.
The fact the Conservatives came so close to wresting government lies squarely with the lunacy of the two “progressive”—ugly and inappropriate word—parties’ inability to work together and stop splitting the vote.
Cue the portion of Green voters crying for proportional representation. Grow up. It ain’t going to happen. We will be enjoying roundabouts instead of traffic lights before we ever see a system of proportional representation adopted.
The reason is simple. Whether a majority or a minority, the governing party will do everything in its power to make sure it doesn’t happen. Unfair, unkind, but that’s just the way this world works.
Our Green MLA earlier referred to the party as the “adults in the room.” While I don’t believe that, clearly it’s going to take some adults in a room to get the NDP and Green parties together. The failure to do so is inexorably going to lead to a Conservative government.
There were 11 ridings in the province that elected Conservative candidates where the difference between the second-place NDP candidate was fewer votes than were cast for the Green candidate. There were 23 ridings with no Green candidate running at all.
The party made much of wanting to be the “kingmaker” in a minority government. If things hold as they are, that won’t happen. The two Green MLAs will have about as much power as the legislature’s cafeteria staff. And even in 2017 when the three Green MLAs were needed to prop up the NDP minority government, little was accomplished for the weight they swung.
Ironically, conservatives eventually realized the futility of splitting the vote in this election thanks to Kevin Falcon’s mismanagement, and federally, when the Progressive Conservatives amalgamated themselves in the Alliance/Reform party in 2003. The result was the Harper years.
So I continue to have hope, however faint, there may be enough adults in the room who can cobble together a NDP/Green Party with sufficient give and take for both sides to move forward and reflect the preferences of the majority of voters in actual government. Failing that, both parties will eventually lose.
Adults understand getting most of what you want instead of none of what you want is a far superior outcome. Ideologues lack that understanding.
Those are my final words before I segue into the U.S. election and then seasonal cute dog and cat stories.
