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By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Byelection results say very little about state of B.C. politics

Jun 28, 2023 | 4:13 AM

LET’S TAKE A BREAK from the usual petty, sourpuss politics at City Hall — which carried on unabated yesterday — and take a look at the provincial scene for a change of pace.

The good news is there will be no early election call despite the results of last weekend’s two byelections, according to Premier David Eby.

That’s a good call, assuming he sticks to it. Nobody wants an early election. The current scheduled date for the next general election in B.C. is Oct. 19, 2024 and that’s soon enough.

Many pundits are proclaiming the byelection results as a major victory for the NDP and a resounding defeat for BC United but Eby knows you can’t rely on byelections as a reflection of what a general vote would be.

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The NDP was expected to retain both the Vancouver-Mount Pleasant and Langford-Juan de Fuca ridings and it did, handily.

What does this mean for the other parties? The Greens are stuck in neutral, the Conservatives are struggling to re-establish themselves, and BC United is attempting to transition.

Despite the thoughtful, engaging leadership of Sonia Furstenau, the BC Green Party is unlikely to make a break-through any time soon. The Conservatives, despite doing well in one of the byelections, are a fringe party with some very unpleasant far-right ideas. The notion that they’re going to cut deeply into BC United support just won’t bear out.

As for the renovated BC Liberals, leader Kevin Falcon says the voters were confused by the new BC United brand and didn’t know what his party stands for. I don’t buy it.

BC United is the BC Liberals with a slightly new name and everybody knows it. It is a mildly right-of-centre party.

The media and the political scientists are declaring the party in deep trouble, in collapse, with Falcon’s leadership in dire jeopardy. That’s all just drama.

In the grand scheme of things, the byelections mean very little.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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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 Pattison Media.