Image Credit: Flickr / Government of BC

By James Peters

COVID-19

PETERS: Horgan must explain how pandemic election is more than cynical power grab

Sep 18, 2020 | 12:05 PM

B.C. POLITICS IS HIGHLY STRANGE AND UNUSUAL and never has that been more apparent than right now.

We have an official opposition in a minority situation who is begging the governing party to continue governing.

The machinations are well afoot to see an election call in the days to come.

Parties are nominating candidates furiously, many of whom will have to leave jobs or other serious commitments even to put their names forward.

Elections B.C. is buzzing with activity.

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When asked directly, Premier John Horgan is evasive. On Thursday, he said repeatedly that he hasn’t yet made up his mind over an election.

In reality, he is 99.9 per cent there.

And from a purely partisan perspective, it’s easy to see why.

Horgan’s NDP government has, by all account, handled the major issue of his term — the COVID-19 pandemic — very ably. In the context of North American and Western European jurisdictions, B.C.’s death and hospitalization rates are comparitively low.

The government is getting a lot of residual positive attention from the popularity of non-partisan civil servant Dr. Bonnie Henry.

Horgan and his political advisors probably believe his favorability will never be as high as it is right now and he should strike while the iron is hot.

Next year, when the election was initially scheduled, the bills for his pandemic relief spending will come due and with little chance COVID-19 will be defeated by then.

The NDP will believe an election now will give them a better chance of re-election and their coveted majority.

In the coming days, after the writ is dropped, the premier will be asked to justify the necessity of an election during a pandemic and public health emergency. Explain it, they’ll ask, so it doesn’t sound like such a transparent power grab.

Horgan’s answers will be very interesting to hear. He began going in that direction Thursday when he said COVID-19 has changed everything.

But for B.C. voters, convincing them that this is anything more than the most cynical political ploy will be a very tough sell.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.