As far as provincial campaigns go, the current one has been a bit of a snoozer, to say the least.
I’m filing this column just before the televised leaders’ debate, less than two weeks from voting day, and the lack of excitement is telling.
There have been no large political rallies, and the tours by the two main party leaders have been low-key affairs that often feature one event per day by each of them. Media access is tightly controlled, especially by the B.C. Conservatives, who do not allow reporters to ask a follow-up question of party leader Lorne Doerkson.
If we liken the election campaign to a soccer game, one of the chief characteristics of the campaign’s first half was the ability of both major party leaders to score own goals.
The decision by NDP leader David Eby to even call the snap election was the first own goal, and at this point it looks like it may come back to bite him and his party, which has trailed the B.C. Conservatives in almost every opinion poll conducted in the campaign.
Eby’s second own goal came when he launched an out-of-the-blue attack on billionaire philanthropist and businessman Jimmy Pattison.
In unveiling a policy promise to bring grocery giants to heel by controlling some food prices, Eby used a Save-on-Foods store in Kelowna as his backdrop and then made repeated and almost mocking references to Pattison (who owns the Save-on-Foods chain of stores) and his family for their wealth. “Jimmy will be just fine,” Eby told reporters, as if in jest.
It did not go over well.
I was contacted by numerous key New Democrats, both current and old, who were stunned that Eby would go after Pattison. “I literally cringed,” one former cabinet minister told me. “Are they making this stuff up as they go along?” another texted me.
While Pattison is indeed a billionaire, the fact is he literally funds hospital additions. Making Save-On-Foods a target also seemed tone-deaf, to say the least.
It is a unionized company with its headquarters in B.C., and it has worked closely with the NDP government on the Buy B.C. agriculture program. Oh, and it is a major provider to food banks.
Not to be outdone, B.C. Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson served up his version of an own goal when a private letter he wrote to trial lawyers emerged in which he raised the possibility of getting rid of ICBC.
In the letter, Doerkson wrote that “everything is on the table” when it comes to potential changes at ICBC, allowing the NDP to air ads that claimed the BC Conservatives would double your car insurance if they took power.
Doerkson has since tried to play down any proposed changes, but he essentially gifted the NDP an affordability issue it can run with.
This provincial election campaign is the 11th one that I have covered, and so far, it is ranking as the dullest one yet.
But once the municipal elections are done, things may perk up. Let’s hope so.
Keith Baldrey is Global BC’s legislature bureau chief.
