Election day is closing in on us across the Province.  In every regional  district, village, town and city people are making up their mind on who they will vote for.

We all exchange our views on what the issues are and how we can change things or keep them the same.  We sit for hours listening to candidates share their vision.  Even for the ones elected most of those visions will never see the light of day.  No  they are not telling lies.  Candidates are sharing a vision of what can be if we have the courage to take up the challenges of progress.

Contrast the idea of listening to their vision with the real process most are using to determine who they vote for.  See as we sit and listen, often as not we are not looking for new ideas and new directions.  Many go listen to all the candidates to re-enforce the reasons we are voting the way we are.  This is an important point to consider and will get to that in a moment.   Making a decision on how to vote really comes down to limited critical factors.  Do we want security?  If this is the motivation we are likely going to vote in our comfort zone.  If we are looking for a change in the fiscal or social order of things we are  going to vote for new ideas and take the risk of voting for a new vision.  Some people vote the way they do out of fear, or anger, or protest.  The most dangerous climate for political candidates is voters going to the polls in a mood of restlessness.  That mood has consequences regardless of how it turns out.  No political party can take confidence in a restless vote.

Here are some examples of voting moods:

Anger was the prime motivator in the last Federal Election.  Trudeau was not elected so much as Harper was thrown out.  If you look back Harper’s second term was granted because the electorate was comfortable with him.

There was an election where the New Brunswick Government was repudiated – the people were so disgusted.  In that election the entire conservative government of Richard Hatfield lost to the incoming Premier Frank McKenna. That of course being the restless electorate.

I believe this last Provincial election in BC was based on the mood of restlessness.  Many people I talked to didn’t make up their mind until they were in the polling booth.

Let us return to what is the mood for these civic elections.

In Oliver it is no different than most places.  Crime, infrastructure, taxation and what will our future look like in the next five to ten years.  I say, not too much different because the  issues in Kelowna for example, center around crime downtown, infrastructure, and what the downtown will look like in the next decade.  All communities are struggling with a lack of affordable housing, drug problems, homelessness and so on.

Now, coming to my point is where we match the election climate with the motivational mood of voters.  Many are expressing, anger, fear, a lack of vision, and they are looking for the security and confidence in the candidates they are voting for.

Up until now people have gone to the forums to re-enforce their beliefs, and they are somewhat confused in many places because they are starting to listen and they are caught between security and the need for change.

The winners will be the candidates that can seize the confidence of voters, capture the imagination of those who want a plausible direction, and tempt the voter to change where they put the X.  I have a strange belief the outcome of many elections may look vary different than most voters anticipate.

Fred Steele