Seems the current provincial pastime is explaining why pollsters got it so wrong, so here is my nickel's worth. The Liberals were not elected because they are good money managers. No need for me to go over all of their gaffes again. They surely were not elected because the electorate decided those errors were in the past. We all know that rewarding bad behavior does not teach good behaviour. They were elected by about 44 per cent of the 53 per cent of the electorate. That is by less than 24 per cent of eligible voters. My guess is that represents the folk who either do not work for a wage or actually pay wages to others. Those folk do not have an interest in seeing wages rise and will cast their vote for the party that guarantees wage controls.
There is not a lot about Christy Clarke's behaviour that is reliable but you can count on her taking a tough stand in negotiations with the public sector unions. By keeping public sector wages depressed she helps private employers to deny increases in that sector. That is what those 24 per cent of electors want and they would walk barefoot in January from Manitoba to cast their vote. Many of the poor souls who could use a little more in their pay packets don't seem to realize that voting might help them. So now, you lucky 24 per cent and you not so lucky 76 per cent, prepare for more of the behaviour that was rewarded on May 14. There will be even tougher treatment of public workers. There will be a lot more driving a wedge between public and private employees by suggesting that one is a leech feeding off the other and there will be the same kinds of money wasting that have characterized the past 12 years.
Ross Pearce
Prince George
