“Perceptions,” by Gerry Warner

Op-Ed Commentary

In case you haven’t noticed lately, the middle has fallen out of B.C. politics.

This bizarre state of affairs accelerated in recent weeks with two BC United Liberal Party members crossing the floor to join the BC Conservative Party with rumors of more to follow.

And the timing couldn’t be worse as the province heads into a fall election in October and the provincial legislature is in a state of political disarray. The governing NDP, which already holds a small majority, can barely believe its good fortune as their small majority shows every sign of growing exponentially as the once most politically polarized province in Canada appears ready to make a great leap to the left.

Who says there is no such thing as Santa Claus? Not in B.C. politics anyway.

But if you look into the history books tidal changes in B.C. politics like this have happened before. In fact, modern B.C. politics was born out of a cataclysmic floor crossing way back in the early 1950s when former Okanagan Conservative MLA W.A.C. Bennett crossed the floor to the fledging BC Social Credit Party and in 1951 was elected premier.

This ironic change in political loyalties of Bennett led to 20 years of power for him until his Socreds were defeated by the NDP in 1972. It was one of the longest reigns of political power in Canadian political history. But is it likely that the actions of today’s floor crossers will have the same happy ending? Most political observers today would say not a chance.

There are many reasons for this. “Wacky” Bennett, as he became to be known to his friends and political foes alike, was facing a tired and corrupt coalition government of Conservatives and Liberals that was low hanging fruit on the tree overdue to be cut.

Today’s NDP government has certainly made some big mistakes. The rolling back of the harm reduction program and disarray in the health care sector to name but two has certainly hurt Premier David Eby but hardly enough for his government to be defeated in the Oct. 19 provincial election.

Today’s NDP is well ensconced in power and painfully aware of how many times in the past they’ve snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in previous provincial elections and are determined to halt political lightning from striking again.

Ironically, one of the main factors in the recent shattering of the B.C. opposition has been the swelling success of Federal Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who has been leading Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the polls for almost the past year.

As Poilievre’s success has skyrocketed, so has conservative fortunes in general. Indeed, it could be justifiably said right-wing fortunes have been soaring world-wide the past year and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s election as premier next door to B.C. hasn’t hurt either.

But it’s also true that the extremist rhetoric of at least some of the conservatives who have crossed the floor have disturbed some of the more progressive members of the voting public.

A little bit of extremist rhetoric can certainly inspire those who lean to the right. But too much can be deadly for their hopes.

The provincial election of course is still four months away and four months is an eternity in politics. The Biden/Trump dustup could also be a distraction for some voters. And more often than not, crossing the floor does not lead to success in politics. Or as the great British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli once said: “Damn your principles. Stick to your party.”

Time will tell.

– Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, who has at least a few principles left.

Article Share