A couple of things make this election unique.
One, is that we
can never again trust any of the pollsters. Either they are totally
ineffective, they have no idea how to poll in this society, or some of
them were steering people in the direction the originator of the polls
wanted by manipulating the result. It isn't at all hard to do.
You start by putting the party you want to lose, way ahead at first, then engineer the successive results to create a virtual image of a groundswell. What happens is the party with a huge lead has much of their vote staying home while the other party gets out to the polling stations. The actual turnout was very low. One girl working a polling station told me that she had 400 on her list of voters, and less than 100 showed up.
Another idea regarding the
outcome, is that the percentage of non-born in BC residents is
apparently about 26% now, (in the City of Vancouver, more like 49%) and
one can't expect these newcomers to embrace the history of what once was
here in our province. Whatever is here right now is what they'll care
about in future elections.
The idea that attack ads don't work is
now proven that they do. Week after week we saw irrelevant information
about NDP events of over a decade ago hammered out in the media by the Liberals. With no
appreciable fight back from the opposition. Negative messages are
useful.
What are the rewards we are giving to the Liberal party for guiding the province in the last 12 years? I can only talk about things I care deeply about, which surprises me that others have so little interest in these same things.
We
will continue to ship raw logs to Washington State mills in huge
quantities while BC mills rust away. Look at the logs floating in the Fraser River and the
endless booms off Point Grey and understand that they are going out of
province to support families other than British Columbians.
Hollywood
North will continue to be established in Toronto as our own once flourishing BC film industry subsides into occasional Canadian content. With the advantage of
Ontario tax credits production will grow there while BC studios close down and we lose more productions and skilled film workers in a billion dollar industry that
doesn't pollute or destroy the landscape while it works.
Norwegians
will continue to have a free hand with sea-based fish farms growing
even more Atlantic salmon, laden with hormones and coloring and diseases
negatively affecting our once world's greatest wild pacific sockeye runs.
BC
Hydro which has looked after the province's power needs responsibly in
the past, will continue to be hand-cuffed by agreements to buy power
from foreign owned run-of-the-river projects at high cost while selling at world market prices low.
One
expects the Kinder-Morgan double pipeline to proceed, as will as the
Enbridge pipeline to Kitimat over whatever objections are raised
locally. But these decisions are federal and out of the hands of British
Columbia now anyway, the provincial government has already agreed to it, so the environmental interest cannot continue without BC government
support. Cross your fingers about oil spills.
We will continue to use overseas shipyards for building BC Ferries and Translink ferries while our own shipyards sit idle. Much easier to disperse and hide money internationally instead of within BC under the scrutiny of taxpayer's sharp eyes.
The
suspicions about the sale of BC Rail will probably remain just that.
Suspicions. Without a strong effort to reveal what went on during the
negotiations, we'll have to accept the loss of a BC proudly owned and operated
railroad and the fact that
we paid 6 million in hush money so
we couldn't be told what actually happened with
our money. Sounds ridiculous? Of course it is.
The provincial debt continues to rise to unprecedented levels, yet no one asks about the so called 'contractual obligations' or proper accounting practices or the fact that a balanced budget might be achieved by selling off British Columbia's assets. What happens when the assets run out and the government still cannot control itself? Our government fired the one who was the thorn and will undoubtedly replace him with a less harsh critic.
These are only a few policies that have been in place, that the current voters in BC seem to have no concern about.
So the new Liberals will settle in to governing our province, again, and some of us are wondering if they'll take their cue from previous MLAs on their way through, making sure they are personally okay with their deals for retirement. So the idea that we are like some African third world country available for exploitation remains. And to many, the future looks bleak for a healthy growth that would benefit all British Columbians instead of friends of Liberals. And for some new MLAs, the chance to sidle up to the feeding trough with hungry pockets looms ahead. Who knows what scraps will drop into them when you have power?
There aren't any surprises out there now, just what we expect. I have to face it, the days of WAC Bennett building a thriving province is past. And feeling part of something great is long gone. Governments will never be the same again. The universe is unfolding but this isn't how it should.
For me it is not about Liberals or NDP or Greens or Conservatives, it's about being proud of your part of the world and expecting everyone else to have the same direction; to make everything better for all of us, not just some. Of the people for the people.
That's my disappointment.
And there is that niggling feeling that they got away with it.
