In a story that aired yesterday - CKPG News in Prince George looked at the battle between BC Conservative Nechako Lks candidate Dan Brooks, a guide outfitter from Vanderhoof, and the incumbent MLA (BC Lib) John Rustad
Rustad/Brooks debated:
a) Northern Neglect - Rustad says $165 million invested in the Nechako Lakes riding in last few years
b) Dump Carbon Tax - again, I wonder how the BC Conservatives' would make up the $1 billion in lost tax revenues that the Carbon Tax would cost the Provincial Treasure, should the BC Conservatives' form government in May. Rustad says a Carbon Tax Review underway
c) Northern Gateway Project
If I were John Rustad - I would likely be more concerned about Brooks then I would from the BC NDP Challenger for the riding - Sussanne Skidmore-Hewlett. But it is possible that a Green Party candidate could hurt the BC NDP chances for this riding and therefore, indirectly, help Rustad secure another term as the Nechako Lakes MLA
CKPG-TV Video:
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In previous elections the voting patterns in the Nechako Lakes riding suggest a strong belief among the majority of constituents in entrepreneurship, individual initiative, and the conservative values of a mostly rural society. As a result, pollsters have identified Nechako Lakes as one of only a few ridings the Liberals could conceivably retain in the upcoming election. But these same pollsters are predicting that the Conservatives, with Dan Brooks as their candidate, are poised to act as spoilers in the May 14th vote.
Currently the polls indicate about 15% popular support for the BC Conservative Party in the Interior and Northern ridings. Obviously this level of support is insufficient to elect an MLA, but it’s more than enough to split the anti-NDP vote. Now consider the implications of vote-splitting in the Nechako Lakes riding: In 2009 John Rustad won Nechako Lakes for the Liberal Party with about 56% of the popular vote, while the NDP received about 35% of votes cast. And the Green Party received about 6% of the vote. But there was no Conservative candidate in the riding to split the anti-NDP sentiment.
However, in the upcoming May 14th provincial election, the outcome in the Nechako Lakes riding could easily be reversed, as a result of Dan Brooks running for the Conservative Party. Provincial polls show the NDP has increased its share of popular support since the last election. Obviously this trend is likely to benefit the NDP candidate in any constituency, even in a generally conservative riding such as Nechako Lakes. It’s also clear that the estimated 15% of constituents who plan to vote Conservative in the upcoming election voted Liberal previously. Therefore, projected Conservative support in the Nechako Lakes riding could conceivably split the anti-NDP vote, thus enabling Ms. Skidmore-Hewlitt to win the election. So here’s a question worth asking: Do non-NDP voters in the Nechako Lakes riding care whether a viable opposition Party exists in the provincial Legislature, after the May 14th election is over?
On his website Dan Brooks tries to reassure Nechako Lakes constituents not to worry about splitting the anti-NDP vote:
The Liberals blame the Conservatives for splitting the vote…I maintain, it’s their own fault!…Make no mistake, the vote splitting argument is asking us to abandon our principles….Voting for the party that does the least amount of damage is not a good reason to vote. You want a good reason to vote….
However, politics is about more than just principle, it’s also about pragmatism. Read between the lines, and you can see Mr. Brook’s true sentiments:
With the stroke of a pen by the BC Liberals, everything I have worked for in the past 15 years is now unsustainable, my business cannot survive, and within 3 years I will be forced to close down. The BC Liberals have destroyed my business…and I intend to hold them to account…
I am indignant at the injustice of the thing. And I realize now, that no excuse the Liberals offer can compensate me for my loss, no excuse is sufficient to pacify me…I am determined to defeat the Liberals.
Needless to say, the above statements do not reflect the spirit of good governance. However emotionally satisfying it may be for Mr. Brooks to defeat the Liberals on May 14th, such an outcome is unlikely to serve the constituents of Nechako Lakes nearly as well.
Make no mistake: On May 14th a vote for the Conservatives is a vote for the NDP. Now more than ever, voting Liberal is the right thing to do.
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