24 November 1999
A Day of Infamy? - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
VANCOUVER - Roosevelt, after the massacre at Pearl Harbour, said December 7, 1941 would go down in history as a day of infamy.
With December 7, 1999, the date for the Delta-South by-election, the Liberals will do everything in their power to massacre the candidacy of Bill Vander Zalm. Vander Zalm, the candidate in that riding for Reform BC, as well as it’s President and leader, will have to prove himself. It’s a Liberal riding, and the Liberals will want to keep it that way, as well as to prevent the vote spilt that it will bring, in the future election.
Vander Zalm, says a vote percentage of 20% would be ideal, even if he didn’t win the seat; that 20% would be the signal that Reform BC is a viable political party in the province. The NDP can sit out of this race. They don’t care to win, because they know they can’t on a number of scores. One, it’s a Liberal stronghold, the seat of beloved MLA, the late Fred Gingell. Two, they know people in the province will not dare vote for them, and that they’re chances of making a respectable showing are close to nil.
I’m a little iffy on whether The Zalm will win. He’s very popular in that riding, he’s lived there for years, and has a lot of support from friends in the constituency. The Liberal’s want to win the next election, and they’ll do everything in their power to stop that vote split that Reform BC poses. It’s that same vote split that made them lose in 1996, even though the PDA and Reform won no seats, that 6% to 8% of popular vote, hurt them bad.
Will Vander Zalm be torpedoed on December 7th? Let’s hope the tulip-planter, millionaire will have something up his sleeve rather than this vengeance trip he’s on.
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