It's a nailbiter...
A new era of chills, spills and political thrills awaits
Hi everyone,
It’s E-Day tomorrow!
We’re so excited we can barely contain ourselves.
Seriously. Enough already. Tell us who won!!!
We’ve already had the highest turnout of advance voting in BC’s history. Will we break records on election day too? Because even though a record one million+ British Columbians already voted, most of us have yet to do so.
What does that skyrocketed engagement mean?
Are people so sure of who they’re voting for, they’re stampeding to the polls to mark their X asap? Are they extra motivated because they want to turf the current government or scared and determined to block the opposition? Then again, maybe they just want to avoid the bad weather and election day crush.
In keeping with this bizarre, unpredictable campaign, we’ll all be kept guessing until final votes are tabulated tomorrow night. As Mary Polak told the Vancouver Sun’s Alec Lazenby: “When it’s that close overall… I’m suspicious of anybody that thinks they can call it.”
Meanwhile, we thought we’d send you a quick heads up on some of the columns we published on Northern Beat this week:
From the north, Todd Corrigall says the BC NDP and the Conservatives share similar goals on some key policies, but they differ in how to achieve them. In assessing the platforms, he suggests voters ask how and at what cost?
Tania Finch has a message for overly-impassioned party supporters in Peace Country: Chill out!
Recently retired government lawyer Geoffrey Moyse penned a thought-provoking OpEd explaining why UNDRIP, as it’s been interpreted and implemented by David Eby’s government, is likely unconstitutional. Moyse worked in the Attorney General ministry for 31 years advising six successive provincial governments on Indigenous law. He says reconciliation efforts and land use agreements should build on Canadian constitutional law, not go around it. And he worries what’s happening now is a recipe for social unrest.
If you haven’t voted yet and are wavering about whether your X counts, I’ll leave the last word to the king of BC political punditry, Vaughn Palmer, as he casts back through the 10 (!!) provincial elections he’s covered to show why your vote may matter very much.
On that note, I offer a sincere thank you to all the candidates for engaging in the democratic process, imperfect though it always is, for putting yourselves out there and enduring the sometimes outrageous slings and arrows of today’s smear-attack political climate. We salute all of you, across party lines.
Last, good luck to all us voters tomorrow.
Thanks for reading and we’ll see you on the other side!
Fran
Feedback to Fran@NorthernBeat.ca
For brain calisthenics, read NorthernBeat.ca