Everyone in sa国际传媒 knows the provincial election is on May 14, but the main party machines seem in no hurry to campaign in earnest. When fixed election dates became the law in British Columbia, pundits predicted that we would find ourselves in an American-style system, where campaigns begin months or years before polling day.
While a few candidates 鈥� mostly those who don鈥檛 yet hold a seat in the legislature 鈥� are out stumping for votes, election fever doesn鈥檛 seem to have seized our politicians.
New Democrat leader Adrian Dix has avoided issuing anything that looks like a campaign platform, letting the sa国际传媒 Liberals do all the proposing while he commits to nothing.
It鈥檚 frustrating the Liberals.
Premier Christy Clark told the sa国际传媒 editorial board last week: 鈥淲e need a real competition of ideas, but you can鈥檛 do that on your own.鈥�
Clark herself has not given voters a lot to chew over. The throne speech offered little to kindle popular interest beyond the far-off riches of liquefied natural gas. She admitted to the editorial board that the budget had no grand ideas 鈥� because they usually come with grand price tags.
The sa国际传媒 Liberals are also short of candidates. They have nominated seven in the Island鈥檚 14 ridings, with an eighth to be picked next week in Saanich North and the Islands.
Clark told the editorial board she is taking time to recruit 鈥渢he best and the brightest.鈥� Her plan is to unveil them in stages, to get a better bang for her buck than she would if she announced them all at once. Asked if that means she is having trouble finding candidates, she points to high-profile people like paralympian Michelle Stilwell, the Liberal candidate in Parksville-Qualicum.
Although the Liberals haven鈥檛 done much traditional campaigning, they have been getting out some of their main points through controversial television ads. They are funded by tax dollars, but no one could mistake them for anything but Liberal self-promotion.
While the leaders of the main parties seem to be saving their energy for the big push, Conservative leader John Cummins released his fiscal plan this week.
And some candidates are already hustling. NDP MLA Lana Popham has done about 10 days of knocking on doors in her Saanich South riding over the last month, and says some of her caucus colleagues are doing the same.
In Oak Bay-Gordon Head, MLA Ida Chong of the sa国际传媒 Liberals says some of her opponents started campaigning as long as a year ago, and some of her colleagues who aren鈥檛 in cabinet have been getting into the swing recently. Until the writ is dropped, she and other cabinet ministers will only be able to squeeze in the odd Saturday of door-knocking between other duties.
Chong has found the move toward American-style long campaigns is true more of challengers than of sitting MLAs, who are often out at community events in the evenings and on weekends as part of their regular duties. For an MLA, showing up on doorsteps on a weekday when the house is in session is a no-no.
鈥淲hat are you doing here? Shouldn鈥檛 you be in the legislature?鈥�
Candidates say one result of the recent furor over the Liberals鈥� ethnic-voting strategy has been to stir up interest in the coming vote. Even those voters who haven鈥檛 paid much attention are now full of questions.
Although we can be thankful we haven鈥檛 been swallowed by American-style endless campaigns, the days are ticking down to the election writ. British Columbians are primed and ready to make a choice. All we need now is to hear from the parties.
