Clark is safer than Alison Redford. After what she pulled off tonight, she could probably govern from *outside* the legislature.
BC Election Day reactions
Hey ghoris, remember all the people who criticized Greg Sellinger for running an agressive, "Harper-esque" campaign? Remind me how that worked out for him?
Christy ClarkBC Liberal Party 6,893 44.27%
David EbyBC NDP 7,152 45.93%
Eby 259 vote lead
127 of 147 polls
Dix looked devastated. And rightly so.
I do feel bad for Dix, he doesn't seem like a bad guy and its sad his dream got shattered, but its time to face reality. People were depending on him and he dropped the ball and hard and thier was no need of it. At least Dwight in Sask faced a popular leader and unpopular track record and never lead in the polls, this defeat didn't need to happen. Still feel bad for him.
I can't believe Suzanne Anton won her seat. What a monster.
If Christy loses, will we see a Senate or other cushy appointment by Harper for a Liberal MLA in a safe seat, and voila she has seat?
Stockwell Day campaigned for the Liberals in BC so who knows.
Clark is safer than Alison Redford. After what she pulled off tonight, she could probably govern from *outside* the legislature.
That is a great idea. Then she wouldn't have to answer questions from the opposition.
Have I mentioned lately how much Canadian polling sucks? More than U.S. polling?
If there's a silver lining to all of this, it's that people will get more frustrated with the Liberal-Conservative coalition in BC, and it might mount for larger pressure come 2015.
But in the meantime, the province pays a tough price. A lot of people are going to be hurt under the Liberal government.
In my opinion, something deeper is going on.
The pipeline lobby is evidently quite influential. They simply could not have an NDP win.
It is a little suspicious. But at this point there's no evidence of anything particularly sketchy going on.
If Clark loses Vancouver-Point Grey, I wonder where she will run? Don Getty got re-elected as Alberta Premier in 1989 but lost his own seat in Edmonton to the Liberals. They parachuted him into Stettler, if I recall correctly. Will Christy get parachuted into some place in the Fraser Valley, or does she ask someone like Andrew Wilkinson or Moira Stilwell to stand aside so she can run in Vancouver?
The election is too close to call. I suggest getting into the streets, refusing to recognize the election results and completely ignore statistical means to determine the winner and call on Barack Obama to start sanctions against the province of BC. Once that begins-- the New Democrats should start touring around the world and abandon the system itself, citing the demise of democracy as why.
Demand recounts, and then when they are granted, state that the incumbent government had not gone far enough and start demanding fingerprinting of everyone and do as much as possible to undermine everything economically feasible in the country. Count on the media to play along with this game as much as possible.
If that doesn't happen, it is because we are not in Venezuela and the sitting government is loved by business interests and the global oil elites. Such things only happen in tightly contested elections where the actual system is at stake, and the opposition are not committed to anything resembling a normal electoral process.
In Canada, elections are not about changing the system. When they are anywhere in the world, and actual social changes are chosen, even if imperfect, a war on the whole process is started. In Canada, it will be forgotten in a week.
In Venezuela, an election means something. Take note.
- Macdonald Stainsby, via Facebook
Hey ghoris, remember all the people who criticized Greg Sellinger for running an agressive, "Harper-esque" campaign? Remind me how that worked out for him?
This result is a disaster for students, teachers, labour, the poor and the environment.
Christy ClarkBC Liberal Party 6,986 44.36%
David EbyBC NDP 7,226 45.89%
129/147 polls
Eby 240 vote lead
Hey ghoris, remember all the people who criticized Greg Sellinger for running an agressive, "Harper-esque" campaign? Remind me how that worked out for him?
Yeah, but people turned on Selinger because of the negativity and Premier Hugh McFadyen remains quite popular in these parts.
Oh wait....
This result is a disaster for students, teachers, labour, the poor and the environment.
And if Le Dauphin wins in 2015, you'll be able to make the same post.
Let me just say, the CBC has not acquitted themselves terribly well tonight. The "social media" part in particular is just embarrassing. "We have cat photos and baby photos! We'll make our anchor pretend to drag the CBC logo back into frame on her giant touch screen every time her segment finishes!"
Carole James took the NDP from 3 to 34 seats in one election, then did better than Dix did tonight in 2009, and got knifed in the back for her troubles. It doesn't really matter at this point why this happened - Dix has no credibility if he tries to stay on as leader.
And yet, next door in Alberta, some people called for Brian Mason to step aside after doubling the NDP representation there. Go figure.
Eby for leader. I'm going to bed. Wake me in four years.
Lobbies are usually termed to be about influencing politicians not the electorate. If you are saying poeple headed the pipeline message for its economic concern you might be right. Environmental issues are important but they cant be front and center in an election plain and simple.
I'm saying that transnational interests expect governments to deliver. If a potential government looks like it's not going to deliver, things "happen" to it. This is true of every other resource-prostituted jurisdiction in the world. Why would we think Canada or BC to be any different?
To answer Brachina's question, I think the fact that the results tonight shocked EVERYBODY, even Liberals, could suggest that something else is in the works. What we think is our democratic process may not really be what we think it is at all.
It looks like another pitifully low voter turnout.A low voter turnout for the NDP, not for the Liberals, apparently. Again, not giving those who might have voted Orange reason to get out and do so. "One practical step at a time" didn't motivate anyone.
Adrian Dix: "Change for the better, one practical step at a time"
Jack Layton: "Don't let them tell you it can't be done," later morphing into "I won't stop until the job is done."
Which one do you find more inspirational?
Christy Clark is speaking. To her credit, she opened by thanking all the candidates who ran in this election for all parties.
The Conservative vote was only 5% at 12% the NDP wins a majority government. The NDP can't win in BC without a three way race. The Liberals scared their voters into getting to the polls and the NDP offered more of the same but friendlier. The youth vote is missing except maybe in Oak Bay.
So what, exactly, do you think happened, jas? Were fraudulent ballots flown in to 50+ riding offices and swapped at the last moment? Did the Hell's Angels threaten over a million voters into staying home without a word getting out from even one? Or is the tomfoolery taking place at a higher level, like Elections BC or the media?
Surprising results. Does anybody think the split between the NDP and the Greens did in Adrian? Despite some high profile support from key environmentalists, the ghost of the tax battles seems to have left some people voting Green who should have known better. While the Conservatives collapsed leaving the unite the right behind Clark, the Green NDP split leaves BC brown.
Has anybody mentioned Glen Clark as next NDP leader?
It looks like another pitifully low voter turnout.
[url=http://www.vancouversun.com/news/bc-election/reacts+record+voter+turnout...
Only 48% of eligible British Columbians voted in the 2013 election, according to early reports, down from 58% in the 2005 election.
It was a record low voter turnout.
I don`t know, cco. How does vote rigging occur in other countries?
No I don't believe the blame and be layed on the Greens or Tories. If the NDP vote had come out, this would be a different story, the other parts only add to it.
Christy ClarkBC Liberal Party 7,361 44.65%
David EbyBC NDP 7,538 45.72%
Eby 177 vote lead
135/147 polls
Even if Eby were to lose, he has done one hell of a job, given the overall NDP results, the fact he is running against the Premier, and the fact that the Conservative candidate has only 1.49% of the vote in the riding.
Christy ClarkBC Liberal Party 7,656 44.51%
David EbyBC NDP 7,911 45.99%
137/147 polls
Eby 255 vote lead
@ fluidity
I had to read that facebook post through a few times before I figured out it wasn't satire.
Other than the lesson to be learned about not taking polling data for gospel (and by now one would think we'd have learned that lesson after the last Alberta election) how are these results that far out of line from what regularly happens in B.C.?
I know how I think about the fringe right in the U.S. who simply refuse to accept the outcomes of elections that don't turn out their way. If that is a legitimate response why was no one here crying about conspiracy after the Tories' win in Alberta?
Is this a disappointment? To me, absolutely.
(though if it had gone the other way I'm sure we'd be reading that it makes no difference and that the NDP are just Liberal-Lite)
But crying illegitimacy, fixing or conspiracy or anything else without any evidence, and pretending that many BC residents do not support this result is a reaction that frankly deserves to get laughed out of the room.
Sorry, but I think these results call for more serious consideration and response.
jas: Three ways, generally. You bribe or intimidate the voters (Tennessee, Quebec), you corrupt the scrutineers (Jordan, Greece), or you just blatantly fabricate the results at the top level (Iraq, North Korea). Which of these do you think happened today in BC?
It looks like another pitifully low voter turnout.[url=http://www.vancouversun.com/news/bc-election/reacts+record+voter+turnout...
Only 48% of eligible British Columbians voted in the 2013 election, according to early reports, down from 58% in the 2005 election.
It was a record low voter turnout.
Wow, that's pretty pathetic. It seems clearer and clearer, but the higher the turnout the better for our side. There really needs to be an effort to stir up votes. Some of the totals in these ridings are absurdly low.
Seats still undecided:
Coquitlam-Maillardville - NDP leads by 6 votes with 152/154 polls reporting
Vancouver-Fairview - Liberal leads by 485 votes with 120/132 polls reporting
Vancouver-Point Grey - NDP leads by 360 votes with 137/147 polls reporting
Eby is very slowly pulling away from Clark.
jas: Three ways, generally. You bribe or intimidate the voters (Tennessee, Quebec), you corrupt the scrutineers (Jordan, Greece), or you just blatantly fabricate the results at the top level (Iraq, North Korea). Which of these do you think happened today in BC?
None of the above.
Less people voted and like last election the NDP lost more support than the Liberals did. Apparetnly the theme of we're not the Liberals didn't really get people excited.
Oh, I agree. jas seems to think there was some chicanery, so I'm asking him.
Christy ClarkBC Liberal Party 7,987 44.31%
David EbyBC NDP 8,347 46.30%
139/147 polls
Eby 360 vote lead with 8 polls to go
It looks like Gary Holman won in Saanich North and the Islands... by 52 votes with 33.19% of the vote. The Greens were few hundred votes behind the Liberals but still over 30%.
This is a bit of a tangent, but the CBC just brought up the idiotic idea of introducing online voting. For one, people who are motivated to vote will vote, and changing it to online will not have an impact. The second thing is that the reason we vote with paper ballots is to ensure privacy and the integrity of the voting system, you know, make sure people don't do crazy things like voting more than once. I don't forsee any online voting method that can reliably address those concerns.
It looks like another pitifully low voter turnout.[url=http://www.vancouversun.com/news/bc-election/reacts+record+voter+turnout...
Only 48% of eligible British Columbians voted in the 2013 election, according to early reports, down from 58% in the 2005 election.
It was a record low voter turnout.
Wow, that's pretty pathetic. It seems clearer and clearer, but the higher the turnout the better for our side. There really needs to be an effort to stir up votes. Some of the totals in these ridings are absurdly low.
More to your point VK, last year in Alberta, a surge in voter turnout saved Allison Redford in large part because people were afraid of the far-right agenda of the Wildrose Alliance.
This is good news for the BC Liberals and the Greens, they have thier first provincial seat. I feel sick. First time in my life I'm glad I live in Ontario instead of BC.
Actually it's very bittersweet for the Greens, as it was with Elizabeth May getting elected. Sure they have an MLA, but Weaver would have been more effective pushing an NDP majority.
% of Popular Vote
Liberal 44.42%
NDP 39.46%
Green 7.98%
Conservatives 4.79%
Libertarian 0.11%
Other 3.23%
@ Aristotleded24
I'm not watching TV, but did CBC mention proportional representation? Given the outcome, that seems like a more appropriate thing to bring up than online voting.
The lesson? Negative campaigning works. There's no need to make it personal, but we have to be on the side of the zeitgeist. The electorate was genuinely pissed off at Liberal lies and incompetence, and we should have continually reminded people of that.
Liberal wins confirmed in Coquitlam-Maillardville and Vancouver-Fraserview. The only seat left to be decided is Vancouver-Point Grey. I think Eby will probably pull it out - he is leading by 450 votes with 139/147 polls reporting. His lead has slowly but steadily been growing.
Even if Eby holds on, this is still a net loss of 2 seats for the NDP from 2009.
I'm not watching TV, but did CBC mention proportional representation?
Not that I noticed.
GREEN VOTES MORE THAN LIBERAL VICTORY MARGINS in 12 ridings
Comox Valley:
NDP 38.44%
Liberal 44.69%
Green 11.48%
Conservative 5.40%
Liberal 46.34%
NDP 39.28%
Green 8.74%
Pederson 2.06%
Popoff 3.59%
Liberal 47.35%
NDP 43.15%
Green 6.86%
Marklund 2.64%
Liberal 45.98%
NDP 45.44%
Green 8.58%
Liberal 44.93%
NDP 43.43%
Green 5.84%
Conservative 4.47%
Shavluk 1.01%
Communist 0.31%
Liberal 44.89%
NDP 38.77%
Green 9.56%
Conservative 6.78%
Liberal 46.21%
NDP 39.66%
Green 8.62%
Conservative 5.51%
Liberal 45.79%
NDP 42.63%
Green 9.07%
Pratas 2.51%
Liberal 45.87%
NDP 40.23%
Green 9.11%
Conservative 3.52%
Libertarian 0.65%
British Columbia Party 0.32%
Communist 0.30%
Liberal Party 46.85%
NDP 44.00%
Green 8.02%
Libertarian 1.13%
Liberal 45.65%
NDP 44.17%
Green 5.74%
Conservative 4.16%
B.C. Vision 0.27%
Liberal 47.15%
NDP 44.39%
Green 5.42%
Conservative 3.04%
I understand the BC NDP has favoured proportional representation since 2002 or earlier, yet never mentioned it during this campaign. An obvious mistake.
Christy ClarkBC Liberal Party 8,049 44.08%
David EbyBC NDP 8,501 46.55%
Eby 452 vote lead
139/147 polls
a NDP leader cannot have any questionmarks about his ethics (it does not matter if they are true or false, it will be exploited, espeically when the MSM favours the free enterprise party)
I understand this point, but how do you safeguard against taking it to the point where you're expecting your leaders to be perfect human beings? Everybody has made mistakes and done bad things, and it's quite possible that you might become over-zealous and miss out on some potentially great leaders.
I hope the BCNDP doesn't take this trounching as evidence that the need to move even further to the centre. What was the turnout, 48%? Those are the kind of numbers scandal-plagued, tired governments want. Alberta has traditionally had the lowest turnout in Canada, that's party why we have such long political dynasties. The NDP better start looking at the other side of the equation. Start by inspiring your base with something better than "change, one PRACTICAL step at a time."
It seemed to me that Dix was slightly to the left of where the NDP was in 2009, with talking about raising taxes on the better off, and mentioning child poverty, issues that are not even on the radar under Manitoba's (allegedly) NDP government. With Dix having lost and the Manitoba NDP still governing, it makes it hard to argue against moving to the political centre, and it will make that argument even harder should Darrel Dexter hang on in Nova Scotia.