Joseph Planta's Commentary - thecommentary.ca

Monday, 18 April 2005

The mid-decade campaign for British Columbia

By Joseph Planta

VANCOUVER - It's been four years already?

Tuesday, the writ is dropped, and the election campaign officially begins; though you'd have thunk otherwise considering the government's been in a generous mood doling out dough at announcements all over. The NDP's been making promises, the Greens are kicking, and those on the fringe are trying to be heard.

We'll see one of Gordon Campbell's promises fulfilled when he makes that trek to the Rockland Avenue residence of Her Honour, the Lieutenant Governor on Tuesday. Usually the subject of much speculation and gossip, the date of the election is known, but the Premier will still go through the official motions asking the Crown to dissolve the Parliament for a general election. Though fixed election dates are good, and all parties seem to like it, the unnecessary posturing and inane campaigning that's gone on before the official campaign period has been a bit tiring. Look at the so-called good news announcements from the government since January, and you realise that the government's advantage is perhaps unwelcome. Surely the NDP could have released their platform sooner than last week in an effort to counter the Campbell juggernaut, but perhaps in hindsight that's a reflection of Carole James's ability to maintain a public profile more than anything else.

The election's result seems to be all but a forgone conclusion. The NDP and James have little chance of defeating this government. Playing by the rules seems to have hampered their efforts. They've failed to frame the pre-election debate. Rather than presenting a clear and concise censure or criticism of the Campbell record of these past four years, the Premier seized the spotlight trotting out new faces like Carole Taylor and Wally Oppal.

No one expects the Liberals to maintain their 2001 record of 77 out of 79 seats. The health of the Campbell majority is thus the question. From the last election on, it was believed that the NDP could win at least 20 seats; at one point last summer a poll pegged the NDP possibly capturing at least 35 seats, and with another four and five in play, the Campbell government was flirting with minority status. But that was then, and here we are, at a month to Election Day. The government's fortunes are good.

Nevertheless, the need for Campbell to bring in so-called star candidates, like the athlete Daniel Igali, Carole Taylor, and Wally Oppal, signals Campbell's desire to hold onto whatever it is that he's cultivated these past four years. Campbell knows that his image isn't warm and fuzzy, and what better way to divert attention from the past, then signal a sort of new era for the New Era, by distracting voters with starry images of hopefuls like Igali, Oppal, Taylor, Virginia Greene, and Olga Ilich. Yet, what does that say about some of the backbenchers who've sat patiently hollering on cue in the house ready to heckle when signalled to? What does it say about those loyal Liberals patiently warming the backbenches and deferring to the leadership in the hope of being rewarded with a cabinet post? It's widely believed that should they win their seats Taylor and Oppal are surely to be named to senior posts-and rightfully so, considering their remarkable qualifications-but for those who've been patient from 2001 on, it's got to suck, no? Seniority doesn't matter, if you're not of star quality, you needn't apply.

It seems our politics in British Columbia is slowly being Americanised. It's not a bad thing-but with fixed dates, lots of pre-election activity, and now star candidates, it seems that elections are a becoming nothing more than a formality and annoying circus with little substance. (The NDP isn't immune from the star candidate syndrome, considering the humping they did of the candidacy of Gregor Robertson.) Unions-or public sector groups, as Jack Layton surreptitiously refers to them as-have been proactive with their use of television advertisements. The airwaves are full of spots from unions reminding us of school closures, hospital workers being fired, and all other sort of egregious sin. Cue the ominous music, as the nastiness is about to get turned up a notch. Campbell's mug shot is plastered on shirts already, with more doubtless to come. Bush's brain trust did well with the wimpification of John Kerry, but Kerry took a different tact and didn't fight back during the campaign last year. And when Kerry tried listing off the misdeeds of the Bush record in Iraq or with regards to the economy, it seemed to backfire. Going negative so blatantly doesn't work frankly. It did Kim Campbell in, when in 1993 her flacks decided to make fun of Jean Chrétien's face. It also didn't help when she said that the economy wouldn't turn around until the turn of the century. Paul Martin went negative last year, and one could say it turned a majority into a minority, or that it merely stopped the haemorrhaging. Unions showing elderly patients lying in stretchers in hospital corridors, or constantly showing Campbell's mug in unflattering lights, may turn voters off. (That HEU ad on Oscar night, besides being dumb, was achingly painful considering the insipid acting they employed.)

Still, a campaign is a campaign, and for the chattering class, it'll be all that matters. How nasty will it get? Will Carole James overcome her handicap of not being able to resonate? Will Gordon Campbell sail to a second mandate unscathed? Will he and his team be accused of having some sort of secret agenda? What are the issues? What are the real issues, that the candidates fail to mention? Who's running? Who'll win? What ridings should we watch? Who really won? Will this be as important an election as everyone will say it is? These are but a few of the questions that lead us into the campaign of the mid-decade in British Columbia. Hopefully, during these next thirty days, we'll glean some answers.

***

A word about what we're planning to do here at The Commentary. I'll be filing occasional pieces in this space, with my thoughts on whatever's going on. On the interview segment, On the Line, we'll be hosting a variety of guests between now and Election Day, May 17th. It's my intention to have guests from all political parties, and from all sides of the issues. It's my hope to at least cover the campaign in my own riding of Vancouver Kensington. I've extended invitations to the candidates, the Hon. Patrick Wong, the incumbent (BC Liberal), and David Chudnovsky (NDP). At the time of this writing, Mr. Chudnovsky has agreed to an interview, but no word has been received from the Wong campaign.

Because we're not just voting for MLA's, and voting in a referendum on electoral reform, it's very much a priority to feature those who support the STV proposal and those who do not. Throughout the next few weeks, expect segments from proponents and opponents of the Citizen's Assembly recommendation to replace our current system of electing MLA's with a made-in-BC single transferable vote.

Be sure to listen to the folks who'll be On the Line between now and the 17th of May. Today, I'll be talking with Green Party leader Adriane Carr. And later this week I hope talk with Terminal City's Ian King, former Socred MLA and STV proponent Nick Loenen, 600 AM radio talk show host and former Socred cabinet minister Rafe Mair, and STV opponent and former NDP MLA David Schreck. On the Line interview segments can be heard here: http://www.thecommentary.ca/ontheline.

-30-

Questions and comments may be sent to: editor@thecommentary.ca

An archive of Joseph Planta's previous columns can be found by clicking HERE.