Don't Write BC Liberals Off Too Quickly

(Aired on June 4, 2010)

Yesterday, Doug Collins tried to convince you that the BC Liberals are doomed when the next election comes around in 2013.  He said their gaffes are piling up to the point of absurdity.  While I agree with the latter statement, I cannot agree with the former. 

The Liberals are not doing themselves any favours these days.  Cuts to funding are going deep and to the wrong services, MLAs are showing remarkable flexibility in being able to put their feet in their mouths while having their heads buried somewhere else.  The Kash Heed scandal was a major gong show, and the jewel in the crown of shame for British Columbians is the Harmonized Sales Tax.

But let's remember, the election will not take place tomorrow, this fall, or even next year.  By the time we go to the polls, much - not all - but much will be forgotten.  And as I have said before, for the Liberals to fall, they have to have some decent competition.  The New Democrats have yet to show they can provide that.

All you have to do is look at the federal scene to see this principle in action.  The federal Conservatives are in power simply because they're the least of the evils in most Canadians' eyes.  Their competition, the federal Liberals specifically, haven't convinced the public that they are any competition whatsoever.  I'm not willing to predict victory or defeat for either party when the next provincial election campaign.  There's a long time before 2013, and there's a lot more than can go right, or wrong, before then.

BC Liberals Self Destructing

(Aired on June 3, 2010)

The B.C. Liberals continue to wind their way to self-destruction. It's hard to imagine circumstances that will prevent the Liberals from either losing the next election, or at the very best, holding on to a minority.

Let's look at a few of the things just in the last few weeks that have caught the public's attention. We already know about the HST, and whether it's a good thing or not, the end result of the petition initiative will be that the Liberals will do nothing. It may be the right decision to do nothing, that's another story, but the perception among the public is that the government doesn't care. We have the "let them eat cake approach" to school funding and health care. Again, editorials we've done before. This week, arts groups find out they're going to be hit hard again, losing funding that they were promised just weeks ago. Again, the government hitting out at groups that desperately need help. This week, a new group is formed to try to keep sports and arts programs alive in schools. These programs again decimated by the province. The Liberals continue to push Ottawa to again permit offshore drilling, even in the face of what's going on in the Gulf of Mexico. How stupid a move is that? What's next?

If I were interested in politics, it would be a good time to put my hat in the ring to run for the NDP. I don't think even the Premier is safe.

Now of course, we still have three years to go before the next election, and the Liberals are banking heavily on that to change their fortunes. They're going to count on a resurging economy, and hopefully a reduction in the deficit to allow them to spend money leading up to the vote in May of 2013. Whether the NDP can capitalize on the government's miscues remains to be seen. If they can, look for major changes in Victoria three years down the road.