A Week of Political Triumph, Tragedy and Hope

What a difference a week makes!

From exhilaration to devastation!

On October 17^th, I watched with exhilaration as the municipal party I have been with for 40 years, COPE, had one of its best election nights since its founding in 1968 — electing every single one of the 12 candidates it ran.

On October 24^th, I watched with devastation as the predictions I made in my October 1^st blog — but hoped would be wrong — unfortunately proved to be correct. The BC Conservatives won the election. David Eby resigned as leader of the provincial NDP.

I watched with devastation as I am convinced that the BC Conservatives bamboozled the electorate, successfully masquerading the leader as a tame dog when the party itself is a wolf.

I fear that:

• The BC Human Rights Commission’s days are now numbered.
• Rent control, so important for the 40% of Metro Vancouver residents who are renters, will be eliminated.
• Health care funding, so necessary for all of us, will likely be reduced, as the Conservatives move to cut government spending, while moving more health services to the private sector —  raising the prospect of better, more timely care only being provided to those who can afford it.
• The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) will be put in the paper shredder, undermining the status of BC First Nations who deserve more rights, not fewer, and whose partnership is needed to truly grow BC’s economy.
• The Conservative government will take apart all of the NDP initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — so crucial as humanity faces a climate collapse – as they roll out their plan to make BC an Energy Superpower. BC’s emissions will stop decreasing as they have in the last few years and once again begin to annually increase.
• The Conservatives will focus their efforts to provide housing on easing regulations and just supporting developers to build more, despite the fact that the marketplace has proven itself wholly incapable of providing housing within financial reach for low- and middle-income earners.

The only good news coming out of BC’s election debacle was the win by the BC Green’s young, energetic, and spirited leader, Emily Lowan. I will not be surprised if she proves to be a more effective and formidable opponent to the BC Conservatives than the middle of the road NDP.

It is now likely that British Columbians can look forward to a four-year-long nightmare. However, there is the possibility, albeit a slim one, that the BC Conservatives will fall apart prior to the end of their mandate.

Before David Eby’s disastrous decision to call an election two years early, (one of the worst political decisions in Canadian history), the provincial Conservatives had been in chaos. Almost half the caucus elected in 2024 had either been expelled or left voluntarily, many joining one of two new right-of-centre parties, CentreBC and OneBC.

New Conservative leader and now Premier, Lorne Doerkson, proved effective in reuniting the party and winning the election, but the future is anything but certain. It may be only a matter of time until the BC Conservatives once again begin to engage in the practice of self-destruction.

One final note, on Sunday October 25^th I waited with bated breath for the results of the Brazilian presidential election. One of my heroes, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula), was up for re-election in a very tight race against neo-fascist, Flávio Bolsonaro, who would have implemented a platform so extremely right-wing as to make the BC Conservatives look like liberals.

I am delighted to share the news that Lula won!