Simple. Vote for the candidate who’s party will take power, or keep voting for the opposition and have no repersentation in Victoria.
Put aside political views and vote for someone, anyone who’s on the winning team.
It still amazes me that, in 2009, some still have this kind of attitude when it comes to voting in an election. It amazes me even more when any government adopts this line of thinking when redistributing resources.
Ok, I’ll bite.
Last time we had a Liberal member, he promised, in writing and in several speeches, that the pulp mill would open. He would make sure of it.
Instead of representing Rupert in Victoria, though, he ended up representing Victoria to Rupert. He was always put in the position of trying to explain to us what the government in Victoria was doing, instead of doing something about it.
So yeah, go for it, vote for Herb, and you’ll get 4 years of the same – Herb Pond explaining to us why the BC Liberals:
- need to have a carbon tax
- need to increase ferry rates and cut service
- need to increase your taxes to pay for the Vancouver Olympics
- need to support Deltaport over Prince Rupert (despite the Feds thinking the other way around)
- need to have another referendum on aboriginal rights
That’s what it means to be a member of the government, you don’t get to disagree.
By running for the BC Liberals, Herb’s taking on all of that platform. So next time you see him on the streets, ask him why he’s in favour of Delta instead of Prince Rupert? Ask him how much more Rupert taxes will increase to pay for the Vancouver olympics?
He already increased the municipal taxes in Rupert to one of the highest in the province to pay for his and Belsey’s pulp mill screwups, why not increase the provincial taxes to pay for Vancouver’s olympics?
Ask him why he supports the carbon tax when everyone else in Rupert is against it.
Screw that – vote for Gary who can represent us in Victoria, rather than represent Victoria to us.
You’ve polled all the residents of Prince Rupert? Really? You missed me…
You’re no longer a Rupert resident kiddo… muahahahahahahaha 
ahem
Welcome to the club.
Good post and very well said.
HOTMAIL there is lacking a dietary supplement called “dont forget”.
When Belsey was our MLA we got screwed then…thats why Coons was elected.
The feds poured hundrreds of millions into rupert for the container port. And we have a NDP MP. HOTMAIL thats the opposition!!!
Open your eyes and view the entire picture and proven track records.
I might be splitting hairs, but I don’t think Hotmail was necessarily saying that Mr. Belsey was an excellent MLA. He might well think that–but what Hotmail was point out was that, in his opinion, Mr. Coons is an ineffective MLA. There IS a difference.
I guess he has too many spam in his head.
I feel horrible for him and other Hotmail users…
Yep. That means that Mr. Pond supports cuts to education and health care. I can hardly wait to hear how he’s going to spin the massive cost over-run to the 2010 games. Mr. Pond is a nice man, but, he is an advocate for the Liberal platform as their candidate.
As a working man I can see no benefit for me in the Liberal platform.
No. I will vote for the party who best represents the interests of my community.
The NDP works hard to represent the needs of working people. The BC Liberals are more interested in spending hundreds of millions on an Olympic games that the taxpayers of BC will be required to bail out.
I have not seen any evidence that BC is winning under Liberal stewardship.
[quote=“HotmailDOTCom”]
How many times do I need to explain that the federal NDP party is a COMPLETELY different party than the BC NDP party. They are NOT the same party.[/quote]
I think you need to look up some facts before you state things like this. The BC NDP is the provincial arm of the federal party.
You’re right that the BC Liberals have nothing to do with the federal Liberals, though.
[quote=“HotmailDOTCom”]
The ultimate blame for the demise of the Pulp Mill is on the hands of the BC NDP party who for YEARS poured MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of BC tax payer cash into it, rather than take the time to realize the problems that were going on at the mill. That was MILLIONS of wasted cash that they simply threw at the problem.[/quote]
Bill Belsey stated that he would make sure the mill would open.
[quote]
Don’t forget that this is the financial disaster that the BC Liberals had to walk into when they came into office. It was years and years of financial miss management by the NDP party. I am certainly not prepared to go back to those years again…and neither can Prince Rupert![/quote]
Sounds like you’re describing how Herb Pond ran Prince Rupert! Herb Pond raised taxes, over and over again. Herb Pond cut services and raised taxes. We even have the highest business taxes!
I don’t want Herb Pond to do provincially what he has done for the city! I don’t want raised taxes to pay for the olympics!
The financial disaster you’re talking about is media spin – the last NDP budget was a balanced one. Deny deny deny, but the truth is there.
It doesn’t amaze me because it isn’t true, it amazes me because this 1950-style attitude is still the way a lot of people think when they vote for a representative for their area. Take it to the extreme and everyone votes for the same party: who gets the goods now? (Wasn’t that almost the same situation when Belsey was MLA. Boy! Rupert got lots of stuff then I guess 
You sure about the BC libs victory? Check the last three polls from the BC election website (from http://bc2009.com/polls/)
Looks like the race is closer than you imagine!
I’m just curious to see if you would vote for Coons if, let’s say, the NDP ends up being heavily favored just before the election. Would you vote for Gary then to stay in line with your principle of voting with the government?
You never know, with the polls so close, Gordo might get a little nervous and drink too many martinis again and make another big mistake!!!
Well,I see all the left wing loonies are out in full force!Coons is one of the worst we have ever had.Half the time he does not know what he is talking about,what a discrace!I am not a Pond supporter but I agree we will have a better time if we have a MLA of the winning party and I sure as hell do not want to see the NDP back.They damn near bankrupt the province.The fast ferries etc.Not a clue!But I guess we get what we deserve if you look at the majority of posts on this site.Wake up folks!
Well to throw another log on the fire here 
The latest in number crunching by a Vancouver based polling organizat1ion.
The Mustelgroup poll conducted January 15 has the BC Libs ahead by 14 points…
mustelgroup.com/pdf/20090119.pdf
No idea who they are other than a marketing group, ie: if they are connected to the Libs or not, but a poll is a pole, so say nine out of ten dogs anwyays.
Would be interesting to see what a regulated poll in the North Coast would provide for results
Until then, let the flaming continue…
[quote=“saltybear”]
Well,I see all the left wing loonies are out in full force![/quote]
Here’s a hint: don’t insult people if you want their support.
Vote because you have confidence in a party’s leader.
Vote because you support a party’s platform.
Vote because you respect a local candidate regardless of party.
Vote because you think the other party sucks.
Don’t vote just because you think the candidate will be part of the winning party, especially on the assumption that we will get something out of it.
Couple of reasons for that.
First it is selfish and defeats the idea that government is there to support all the people of a country or province after the election not just its supporters.
And taken to extreme, we would be left with no opposition. A good opposition party makes democracy work.
Have you paid attention to the Convention Centre overruns (at least twice the cost of fast ferries) and Olympic costs (who knows how much that will be, but it is a whole bunch of money)? Nobody has a lock on sound fiscal management.
You give him too much credit. Herb Pond was just one vote in all these decisions.
Isn’t part of democracy and having the right to vote being able to use that vote however you want? As much as I agree with you, BigThumb, that voting for the party you think will win isn’t necessarily the best way to go, I don’t think it’s our place to shoot down that idea. We have our reasons for voting the way we might vote, and other people have theirs–can we not just leave it at that, instead of starting a big post-fest lecturing Zeepilot on how he should vote?