For the second night in a row, a team with a huge lead couldn't hold a huge lead and lost at the wire.
On Monday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs held a 4-1 lead over the Boston Bruins in Game 7, with 10 minutes left to play. The Leafs still had a two-goal lead with less than two minutes to play but the Bruins scored two quick goals to tie it, forcing overtime, before the Bruins completed the comeback, shattering the hearts of Leafs fans everywhere.
On Tuesday night, Christy Clark put on her Bruins jersey and thumped Adrian Dix and the NDP in the only opinion poll that counts - the one at the ballot box.
But with all the ink about Clark's amazing victory Tuesday night, what may have been lost is how Shirley Bond made history, becoming the first Prince George MLA in 40 years to win four consecutive provincial electiions.
It should come as no surprise.
Bond's re-election in Prince George speaks volumes about her personal popularity.
Bond could have won as an independent and carried the riding more convincingly. More than one person remarked heading into the election about how much they loved Bond and how much they hated the Liberals.
Bond is known on both sides of the political aisle as one of the hardest working MLAs, both in Prince George and in Victoria. She's also well-respected for her intelligence, her backbone and her fairness, which is what separated her from her colleague Pat Bell, who could quickly descend into nasty partisan mudslinging at times.
Bond led her ministries by example, putting in long hours to stay on top of every major file on her desk. During her 12 years in cabinet, she served as transportation minister, education minister, health minister and advanced education minister. Expect nothing to change from Bond in her fourth term in office. She'll be a go-to minister in cabinet and she'll set the work ethic bar for her colleagues to follow.
In Nechako Lakes, John Rustad can also build on his ongoing success in Nechako Lakes, especially with his admirable work on the timber supply file. He may be ready for a cabinet post, particularly with Bell no longer in the legislature.
For Mike Morris, this is a dream scenario. He can come into his first term as an MLA sitting on the government side but from a different perspective than Bond and Rustad. Locally, Morris and Bond will make for a great team in the legislature. Like Bond, Morris is also tough, reasonable, fair and undaunted by a heavy workload. As a new face in the legislature, he can afford to be patient, watching and learning from Bond and Rustad, while working hard for his local constituents.
Best of all for local residents, Prince George continues to have strong, competent provincial representatives on the government side and that can only be good for the city's interests.
