In a recent interview, Premier Christy Clark declared that she isn't interested in pre-election polls. She went so far as to state that she is the underdog in the coming election. Her party is way behind and in danger of going the way of the dodo.
According to Ms. Clark, the reason for not believing in polls is that between election campaigns, a party is compared to perfection and nobody's perfect.
I find myself in the strange position of having to agree with the Premier. Nobody would mistake the BC Liberals for perfection. Far from it!
Ms. Clark went on to say that once the election starts, the voters will start to compare her to Adrian Dix. She reckons in that comparison, she will come out ahead. Not likely.
During an election, governments run on their own record - in this case, on the mistakes and blunders of the past 12 years. The record of the BC Liberals in power is what voters will be using to make their decision. In this case, that record will include Ms. Clark's time in office both as Premier and as a Minister with various portfolios.
It is not a record of which she should be proud but that won't stop her rhetoric.
To throw a little fuel onto the comparison fire, though, a recent Angus Reid Poll surveyed Canadian's about their premiers. Comparing premier to premier, guess who tied for last in the country with only a 25% approval rating? To be fair, only Saskatchewan's Premier Brad Wall had an approval rating better than 50%.
But in the same poll, when asked about Adrian Dix, 49% of respondents approved of his performance. Yes, in a direct comparison between Christy Clark and Adrian Dix, the NDP leader nearly doubles her score. This is not a measure against perfection.
Consider also the recent report card on hospitals generated by the CBC. It examined a number of issues critical to patient care. Of the eight hospitals that received a "D" grade, four are in the lower mainland (Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre, Burnaby Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital, and Ridge Meadows Hospital and Health Care Centre). Our health care system has a failing grade.
For a government that keeps throwing money at the land beyond Hope, that is a particularly damning display. After 12 years, it is clear that the BC Liberals really don't understand the problem.
Or take the BC Liberal record on child poverty. British Columbia has had the dubious distinction of leading the nation for the past 12 years in child poverty rates. In a province as rich and bountiful as ours, child poverty should be a thing of the past. Certainly we can do better.
The BC Liberals have a poor record in comparison to just about any other jurisdiction in Canada.
There is also this government's approach to the environment. Millions and millions of taxpayer dollars handed over to private companies for carbon offsets according to the Auditor General.
Don't get me wrong. I think it is critical that we take action on climate change but it needs to real, substantial, and sustainable action, not just another way to subsidize businesses in this province on the backs of the taxpaying public.
I am not an economist but I am pretty sure that "free enterprise" isn't supposed to mean "government subsidized". Of course, this could explain why business in B.C. is so determined to keep the BC Liberals in power.
Another tax that the BC Liberals instituted is the Harmonized Sales Tax. It would be revenue neutral, we were told, and would help businesses grow in the province. It wasn't and it didn't. Again, it was nothing more than a tax grab from the working people of this province to subsidize businesses and corporations.
Then there is the question of land claims. In 2001, Pat Bell promised at the locally televised all candidates forum that the BC Liberals would have all of the treaty negotiations wrapped up in five years. Just watch us, he said.
Here we are, 12 years later, with little to show in the way of progress. Treaties with the vast majority of First Nations are still not completed and, according to some experts, this represents the single largest impediment we face to growth, development, and economic prosperity.
Yes, running on their record, the BC Liberals have been anything but perfect. No one is likely to mistake Premier Clark for perfection.
Local BC Liberal candidate Mike Morris, who is running in the seat vacated by Pat Bell, said that he didn't know why other candidates didn't put their name forward or seek the nomination. Could it be because they have looked at the BC Liberal record for the past 12 years?
After all, no one really wants to go down with the ship.
