The shadows remain when it comes to the final tally of election results in BC.

The margin of victory in some riding’s shows that even uncounted ballots will not make enough of a difference to change the outcome. Opposition Leader Wilkinson saw the outcome and did the honorable thing, he resigned.

I had spoken to a number of friends that believed the NDP were toast. So what happened?

There are a myriad of factors. I remember people saying we don’t need an election. The public agreed and returned a government that is popular at the moment.

The Liberals were living in a political vacuum without solid leadership. They lacked a central message and were not in tune with what voters were looking for. At the end they threw a number of Hail Mary Passes.

One the tax reduction. We will need every tax dollar we can find. Voters have clued in, tax reduction means program cuts and that is an unpalatable choice in uncertain times.

Picking on ICBC was disingenuous. Remember when the Liberals were in power they milked the ICBC coffers to balance their budget. I think there was an unwillingness to change horses in mid stream.

The changing face of the political map is another red flag the Liberals did not see coming. The urban rural divide. The NDP has become the urban progressive party and that is where the votes are. It should be pointed out the urban middle class is pushing into areas once considered rural due to the cost of housing. The younger voters are more conscious of social issues.

The Liberals did not see far enough down the road.

The one thing that may be a problem is, the older members of the Liberal/Conservative coalition are more fiscally and socially conservative and the youth they are trying to reach, are not. If you look at the polling numbers and where the political lines are drawn it is as if the parties traded places.

The next four years are going to be interesting, to the point where it could be a fight for survival. Yes Green vote has a bearing on NDP vote but if the youth vote grows it will have a profound effect on the Liberal refit program as well.

The mix of social and fiscal issues is captured in the political pulse of the Greens and the NDP. I point out the slashing of the PST and destruction of ICBC were worthy of mention and were seen as a death rattle for a party that had little in the way of an alternative to offer.

What many still don’t understand is politics is a living entity and the BC Liberals were totally unprepared.

 

 

 

Fred Steele