As the glow of last week鈥檚 stunning victory by the sa国际传媒 Liberals wears off, the party鈥檚 leaders should seriously reflect on one nagging question: Why, as the rest of the province embraced their message, did Vancouver Island turn away from them?
We went into the campaign with four seats on the government side of the house. By the time the counting was over, only two of the Island鈥檚 14 MLAs were Liberals. Greater Victoria will not have a voice at the government caucus table for the first time in six decades.
Granted, much of the Island is traditional NDP territory. The Liberal sweep in 2001 was regarded, even then, as an aberration, a result that could not be sustained.
In the rest of British Columbia, Christy Clark鈥檚 two main points 鈥� that change is risky, and that the Liberals would create jobs 鈥� seemed to resonate with voters. On the Island, for whatever reason, that strategy did not work, as voters stayed true to the NDP or flirted with the Greens.
With the election out of the way, the party has four years to prove to Island voters that it can provide the kind of government we want.
The strong support for the Green candidates might indicate that Island residents care more about the environment than do voters elsewhere. It鈥檚 possible that while we recognize the value of economic development, we are worried about the local impact.
The Liberals promised economic growth. Their task will be to help bring more business to the Island without asking nature to foot the bill. If they can do that, they will win over some of the nay-sayers.
They could also try to buy votes by investing in local infrastructure, such as improvements on the Malahat, a McKenzie Avenue interchange and a reduction in ferry fares. There is no guarantee, however, that tossing money around in Greater Victoria would work.
But why would the Liberals hand out goodies to ridings that didn鈥檛 vote for them? It would only encourage the belief that one can vote against the government and still benefit from taxpayer largesse.
Beyond that, if high-profile infrastructure projects really pay off, Gary Lunn would have ridden the McTavish Road interchange into another term as MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands.
So, as the Liberals start to muse about how to improve their fortunes for 2017, they might want to forget about buying votes. (Which is not to say that McKenzie does not need that interchange; it does.)
They should also not waste time worrying about the Conservatives, the Greens and even the New Democrats.
They should take an objective look at their situation on the Island. As tough as it might have been to see their Island numbers cut in half, it would have been tough to hang on to the two they lost. Both Saanich North and the Islands and Oak Bay-Gordon Head were bound to be hard battles.
On the local level, the party鈥檚 candidates and potential candidates should spend all four years talking to voters and building strong connections to their communities 鈥� just as any politician should be doing. (And let鈥檚 hope that the Liberals have learned that naming candidates after the campaign has started doesn鈥檛 work.)
As a government, the Liberals have to put aside the election campaign and focus on governing with integrity and evenhandedness. Vindictively punishing ridings that voted for other parties is doomed to fail. It would be better to prove to voters that the Liberals deserve their trust.
Like it or not, Clark and her party are the government of all the people. The best way for them to build support, here and everywhere else, is to govern well.
