That was a pretty sweet find
But now on to the ongoing burn. It is election time once again, but only for myself now the Fredward has joined the ranks of
Les Quebecois (no offense intended, Zed)
This is the first post-recession election, as the Globe and Mail has kindly put it, and things are starting off a wee bit topsy turvy.
BC is one of those places where the prospect of Premier, the head of Provincial government does not stand a chance of sitting long in office. Most due to criminal charges, some due to incompetence, and yet somehow despite
criminal activity and
disenfranchisement, it appears that our current head in the office of Premier is a survivor. How quaint.
For the last three election cycles, there were three major players in the spotlight in our shuffling-party scene:
The BC Liberals, a small-government, pro-business, pro-fiscal responsibility team that resembled neocons with unchecked power within their first four years at 2001 when they won all but two seats. Since their walloping public sector cuts, they've managed the budgets, brought the Olympics, settled and made accords with several native tribes, and keep low-brow with little scandal and nerdy librarian glasses.
The BC NDP which ruled before the Liberals, an ineffective socialism-leaning, big government party who royally messed up the ferry system to the annoyance of tens of thousands. They mix well with unions and traditionally had the environmentalists under their belt
And the Green Party. They're a green party. No one knows what they stand for except that they want the RCMP out of BC - Enough said.
However, last year when things were looking nice and dandy, Premier Campbell introduced the
first consumer-based carbon tax in North America (note, the stock photo is a golfer, not the past Finance Minister). It is revenue-neutral, and all money made goes into lowering other taxes. This made the North BC unhappy, due to their use of pickup trucks for labor and off-roading recreation. The BC NDP has made this their bone of contention and has promised to dismantle it.
So during this campaign, the environmentalist camp is
squarely against the NDP, and no one knows what who the Greens are.
Also, there is a referendum on Single Transferable Vote to take over the traditional First-Past-The-Post electoral system. This is the second time the referendum has been called - the first time, over 50% of the vote said yes, but a slim majority caused the premier not to be comfortable with the notion and told those who were researching it to spend the next four years explaining how it works better to the public.
Flash explaining STVIt's a pretty interesting experiment in democracy if it works.
Will update if anything interesting above what is said here comes up. Otherwise, predicting another (albeit slimmer) Liberal majority for a lack of anyone less incompetent or scummy.
