It’s hard to say how voters in British Columbia are set to vote.
Bryan-Edward Taylor
AM 610 Newsroom
A new IPSOS-Reid Poll released today shows that the BC Liberals under Christy Clark are now in the lead with 43 percent, followed by the John Horgan-led New Democrats at 41 percent. The Green Party, led by Andrew Weaver, have the support of 14 percent of voters.
It polled 834 British Columbians online from April 27 to 30, 2017, and it was a 3.9 percent margin of error, 19 times out of 20.
On the one hand, you have the Liberals who have been in government for the past 16 years, first under Gordon Campbell, and then under Ms. Clark. About 51 percent of people polled say they’d like to see another political party in power, while just 29 percent say the Liberals deserve to continue. That’s shows a fair bet that voters seem to want change.
But on the flip side of the coin, B.C. residents who remember what the NDP did while in government from 1991 until 2001 really don’t want them back. From the numerous scandals the party had during that time that saw four men serve as premier during that time, to the fast, cheap ferries that proved to be slow and expensive, to the fudge-it budgets of the early 90s, in which two budgets they had claimed were balanced during the 1996 election campaign were actually $100-million deficits.
It was those fears precisely that cause the NDP to lose the 2013 provincial election. The party had been leading the Liberals in the opinion polls for two years before that, but cold feet from the 1990s is what prevented voters from not only putting them in, but it also game Clark, who was running in her first provincial campaign, an even stronger majority government.
But once again, the voters don’t particularly like Clark all that much either. As you’ll recall, NDP challenger David Eby managed to unseat the premier in Vancouver-Point Grey by almost 800 votes. The episode forced Clark to seek election in the safe Liberal seat of Westside Kelowna in a by-election.
As well, her recent brush-off of a voter who went up to her and told her at a grocery store last week that she wouldn’t vote for her didn’t do her any favours. It rallied the Liberal haters on social media, where they ranted on numerous issues, including soring B.C. Hydro rates to overcrowded schools and emergency rooms.
But those who want pipelines built certainly don’t want the NDP to get elected. Mr. Horgan is already on record as saying that his party opposes the construction of the Trans Mountain and Keystone XL pipelines. As well, he said just last December that he’s open to completely shutting down the Site C Dam.
But, in the end, they’re the only two options people have to vote for. That is, if they want a party who will end up forming a government. The only other option seems to be the Green Party. While Mr. Weaver does seem to be climbing in popularity, particularly after the April 26 leaders’ debate, his party still doesn’t seem to climb past the 15 to 20 percent mark in the opinion polls, leaving them limited room to grow.
So, in other words, you have voters who seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. They want to see change, but they don’t want a return to the have-not status they sat through in the 90s.
But while I cannot predict a winner for the whole election, I can make a prediction for the two B.C. Peace Constituencies. Given that they are two of the Liberals’ safest seats in the province at this moment, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
– Editorial Posted by BET
