British Columbia Election
Reflections on an Electoral Process that
Excludes the People
British Columbians continue to be faced with a host of significant problems after the final result of the October 19 provincial election was announced on November 8. The official count released by Elections BC was 47 seats for the incumbent NDP, 44 for the Conservative Party and two for the Green Party. The NDP now forms government with a razor thin majority.
These problems facing BC residents include many of the same being experienced by people across the entire country -- inflation and high cost-of-living, a health care crisis (long wait lists, closure of emergency departments, etc.), skyrocketing housing costs and rents, homelessness, the drug and addiction epidemic, violation of Indigenous Peoples' rights, mill closures, and other environmental and climate change challenges to name just a few.
In the wake of what was a divisive and polarizing election for the rulers, there is a growing awareness among the citizenry that these problems will not be solved let alone seriously addressed by changing the make-up of the legislature from one cartel party to another. The fact is that both the NDP and the "centre-right coalition" (of Liberals, then BC United and now called the BC Conservatives) have been on the scene for many years. One or the other has been in power for the last few decades, yet the problems persist and, indeed, have gotten worse.
Rather than serious discussion and engaging with the electorate -- workers in health care, education, service and resource sectors, Indigenous communities, youth, elders, newcomers -- the election took place in an atmosphere of mudslinging between parties and little to no opportunity to hear from and take into account the views of people.
The governing NDP majority was reduced from 57 to 47 seats despite predictions only a few months ago that it would comfortably hold onto its substantial lead in the Legislature. For their part, the BC Conservatives went from almost no seats to 44 seats, taking over the official opposition spot from the now dissolved BC United Party (formerly the BC Liberal Party).
Underlining the anti-democratic nature of the cartel party system, the dissolution of the BC United Party took place suddenly with no involvement of its members and no consultation with sitting MLAs or candidates already nominated. BC United leader Kevin Falcon unilaterally fired all the BC United candidates and threw the party's support behind the BC Conservatives. According to various sources, Falcon took this action under pressure from "business interests" desperate to advance further pay-the-rich schemes in British Columbia and smash the peoples' opposition to these. Norman Stowe, from Pace Group Communications and close confidante of the BC Liberals, BC United and now the BC Conservatives, provided confirmation in an interview with the Globe and Mail when he stated: "The business community made it very clear: We're going to be going with the Conservatives. And we'd rather not split the vote."
The election was characterized by much fearmongering and mudslinging by both the NDP's leader David Eby and the Conservatives' John Rustad, and not policy discussion as to how to move the province forward. For example, certain Conservative candidates made comments questioning climate change, that mass school shootings in the U.S. and Canada were "fake," that Indigenous peoples' were "savages," as well as making various Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian statements.
For his part, the NDP's David Eby backtracked on a number of commitments, including getting rid of the carbon tax, despite previously calling Conservative leader John Rustad a conspiracy theorist and climate change denier for speaking against the tax. He also reversed his positions on involuntary care for those with severe addictions and long criminal records, as well as decriminalization of small amounts of drugs. In addition, the NDP government backed away from making amendments to the Land Act that would have brought the legislation into alignment with BC's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and require joint decision-making agreements about resource development and other issues with First Nations.
So where does this leave the people of British Columbia? People are not happy. They are not satisfied with the claims of either the NDP or the Conservatives that they will seriously address the issues facing them. Perhaps it is not surprising that many say they are glad that election results are so "tight" making it more difficult for any one party to have a "free hand" in doing as they please. The challenge is that, once elected, there are no mechanisms to hold the government to account. In these circumstances, people are stepping up their organizing and initiatives to find solutions that favour them -- in the economy, health care and all realms of life.
This article was published in
Volume 54
Number 11 - November 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/M5401116.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca