Election Day

[quote=“chookie”]Worst case scenerio for me tonight. Was thinking NDP was going to win locally and Provincially and we would have a represenitive in power.
Now we have a local NDP rep and LIberal Government in power, and the other riding(Kitimat) with potential LNG terminals looks as though it will have a Liberal MLA to go to bat for them.[/quote]

yeah I have to agree with you

[quote=“chookie”]Worst case scenerio for me tonight. Was thinking NDP was going to win locally and Provincially and we would have a represenitive in power.
Now we have a local NDP rep and LIberal Government in power, and the other riding(Kitimat) with potential LNG terminals looks as though it will have a Liberal MLA to go to bat for them.[/quote]

I don’t know why we always buck the trend here. It would be interesting to know the demographics behind it

[quote=“chookie”]Worst case scenerio for me tonight. Was thinking NDP was going to win locally and Provincially and we would have a represenitive in power.
Now we have a local NDP rep and LIberal Government in power, and the other riding(Kitimat) with potential LNG terminals looks as though it will have a Liberal MLA to go to bat for them.[/quote]

wow…some close now in Skeena,NDP now ahead by 14 votes

Gotta do my dishes for a week bthegog. Ha ha

This is what happens when you have Moe Sihota running the NDP and the $10 guy leading it. lol

NDP indeed needs to rebuild dump Dix right away…

[quote=“jamesbrown”]

NDP indeed needs to rebuild dump Dix right away…[/quote]

I wonder how that nice lady Carole James might have done tonight?

[quote=“Old major”]

NDP indeed needs to rebuild dump Dix right away…

I wonder how that nice lady Carole James might have done tonight?[/quote]

I happen to be moving to her riding Victoria - Beacon Hill and she is elected there …

Victoria-Beacon Hill
Results
Party Candidate Votes Vote Share (%) Status
114/166 polls Updated: May. 14, 2013 10:31 PM PDT
NDP Carole James 7,980
48.22
Elected
GRN Jane Sterk 5,814
35.13

LIB Karen Bill 2,675
16.16

COM John Shaw 80
0.48

[quote=“chookie”]

[quote=“chookie”]Worst case scenerio for me tonight. Was thinking NDP was going to win locally and Provincially and we would have a represenitive in power.
Now we have a local NDP rep and LIberal Government in power, and the other riding(Kitimat) with potential LNG terminals looks as though it will have a Liberal MLA to go to bat for them.[/quote]

wow…some close now in Skeena,NDP now ahead by 14 votes[/quote]

NDP elected in Skeena and Bulkley ridings

[quote=“Crazy Train”]

wow…some close now in Skeena,NDP now ahead by 14 votes

NDP elected in Skeena and Bulkley ridings[/quote]

thanks thats good news so we are all on even ground

Well,looking for a silver lining here,so probably grasping but what the heck.
Dix will get the boot,I wonder if Mr Cullen is thinking he may be on a ship in troubled waters with Mr Trudeau now at the helm of the Liberals and maybe running for leadership of the provincial NDP is a better option.

Best night ever! Everyone thought the NDP had it won by a huge majority (myself included)…thank god I was proven wrong. The province threw the NDP to the dogs tonight in a huge way and Adrian Dix adds his name to the sparse list of largest political chokes in Canadian history…and the polls have now incorrectly predicted 3 consecutive provincial elections, they have massive egg on their faces right now.

Clark wins the election, but loses her seat.

David Eby snatches Vancouver-Point Grey from Christy Clark

I am trying to reconcile “the largest political choke” with pollsters having “massive egg on their faces”.

Last Friday, after some polls indicated momentum for the Liberals, the final polls still indicated a 6-8% lead for the NDP that was completely reversed last night. Unlike Alberta where the Liberal vote collapsed and went Conservative to keep the Wildrose party out, that doesn’t appear to have happened here. We already knew the Conservative vote would not play much of a spoiler role. So what went wrong? Did Ipsos and Angus Reid totally miss the continuing momentum of the Liberals, or is their methodogy totally screwed up or what? For example, we can blame the NDP for the collapse (it was theirs to lose) but who’s to say that the 20% lead at the beginning was correct if the final tally was so wrong. Did the pollsters ever have it right?

Of course, that does not excuse the NDP. What makes me sad, and sad is the word I want to use, is not so much that the NDP lost. For what ever reason they deserved to lose. What makes me sad is a government that does not deserve to be re-elected gets rewarded for scandals, lies, misinformation, negative attack ads etc etc and we do not have a viable alternative that is palatable to the people of this province. I am sure the vast majority of the people who voted did so more because they hated or feared the other side than they did because they liked the party they supported. That is sad.

And on top of that, I am sad at the number of people who voted - less than 50%. Last election it was 51%. Last time and I am sure the numbers will be the same, 72% of people over 55 voted. 34% of people under 35 voted. We talk about jobs for the next generation and saving the environment for the next generation, but for some reason they don’t see the value of voting. I am not sure it is necessarily apathy; I wonder if they actually see a purpose in voting. One young person told me “What’s the point? It’s all BS.” That is sad.

Finally, I am sad at the adversarial system of politicking where co-operation and consensus no longer seem possible, where differing views, especially differing views within your own party are discouraged. There is a recent documentary called “Whipped” which looks at how our MLAs are pretty much forced to vote with their party despite how they or their constituents might feel. Since 2001, there have been over 32000 individual votes in the BC legislature. In total there have been 80 times when a member of the Liberals or the NDP voted against their own party. That’s .25%. Some people might believe in the sanctity of the caucus room, but if MLAs are too frightened to speak on behalf of their constituents that too is sad.

I will try to be less sad. I hope that the Liberals can make good on their promise to make this a family first province with jobs for everyone but I am also realistic enough to know what is likely to happen: Four more years of disappointment and scandals resulting in a Liberal majority in 2017. You heard it here first.

So, we sent “Crispy” Rice to Victoria. I wonder if she will cause less grief for the City of Prince Rupert during her tenure in Victoria, than she would have had we kept her at home and on City Council?

So what happens now with Clark since she lost her seat in Vancouver-Point Grey?

Does she step aside or can she somehow remain on as premier?

[quote=“bthedog”]So what happens now with Clark since she lost her seat in Vancouver-Point Grey?

Does she step aside or can she somehow remain on as premier?[/quote]

Last night Keith Baldrey speculated that Linda Reid, the Liberals longest running MLA, may step aside in Richmond to allow for Christy to take her seat. I’m not clear if that would result in a by election however.

I think Rupert votes NDP regardless of who is running. Rice I don’t believe is ready to be a voice in the legislature. Also are people not happy the way this town is starting to prosper even if it was because of the sale of BC Rail to CN.

the amount of voters went up slightly, Liberals won the popular vote, gained more seats, problem with pollsters is they ask whom you would vote to, but do the ask will you vote? also yes it was a collapse for the NDP. and I would say it was because of their leader, might have been a different story with Mike Farnworth the NDP’s next leader

[quote=“Crazy Train”]

[quote=“bthedog”]So what happens now with Clark since she lost her seat in Vancouver-Point Grey?

Does she step aside or can she somehow remain on as premier?[/quote]

Last night Keith Baldrey speculated that Linda Reid, the Liberals longest running MLA, may step aside in Richmond to allow for Christy to take her seat. I’m not clear if that would result in a by election however.[/quote]

If an MLA resigns it results in a bye election. Linda Reid’s seat is a very safe Liberal riding.

The question about Jennifer Rice resigning her council seat from the other thread is a little complicated. If she resigns before the end of the year, I believe a bye election must be held which would cost the city something. Not sure how much. If she waits until January, I believe, the council can decide not to hold a bye election saving the city the cost of a bye election but leaving the council one member short.

There was some question about a Surrey city councillor who was running for the Liberals and what would happen if he won. The council was divided on what he should do as the bye election there would be much more costly than here.