We're at it again.
After last time, it would be foolish to write off Christie Clark's chances of winning. I live in a more conservative part of BC, and my feeling is that people are fairly satisfied with the provincial government here. I think that BC is doing pretty well. That mood might not be shared in the Lower Mainland, where most of the voters are.
My own primary concerns are issues that are actually a result of things going *too* well... things like skyrocketing cost of homes and rent. BC is doing well economically, lots of people are moving here, and growth brings its own challenges.
Last time around, Christie campaigned on the promise that Liquified Natural Gas was going to create an energy windfall for the province. Nothing like that actually happened, and it turned out to not matter because the economy has done well regardless.
This time around, Clark's Liberals (who are actually the "right" here in BC) are casting themselves as the economy people, while John Horgan's NDP are casting themselves as the affordability people. I think BC's "Conservative" party is some college kids doing this as an extra credit party or something. It's a pretty rec-league operation at this point.
The NDP "affordability" ideas seem to focus on costs that are in-your-face, like toll bridges and medical services premiums. I think these issues tend to have some traction with voters because the bill for them is in your face every month. But the costs are there whether you see a bill or not. The NDP released a cost analysis of their promises this week. They promise balanced budgets, based the idea that they will create billions of new revenue, combined with "eliminating waste".
Personally I think affordability sounds great. I'd love to see my MSP premiums eliminated. I think a lot of the ideas the NDP are presenting have some visceral appeal. But nothing is free.
-k