COLLINS: Do you understand what’s at stake Saturday?

Oct 17, 2024 | 6:00 AM

IT’S SIMPLE. Do you want to continue living with the status quo? Or do you want a change to the right? Or is there another alternative?

Do you know what any of the parties stand for? I bet you don’t.

I see David Eby as an arrogant leader who runs a “my way or the highway” style of leadership. The NDP has typically responded to the problems in the province with a lot of talk, a lot of hot air and very few real solutions. Sometimes, he will drop a large amount of cash to solve a problem, but the cash is often directed the wrong way. Dropping cash to cure a problem you don’t understand isn’t helping anything. If you don’t know the root causes, how can you fix the housing problems, the crisis in our medical system, the opioid crisis, or the need to preserve old growth forests? The premier talks about doing more, but based on his current modus operandi, I can’t see it.

Then we have John Rustad, I see John as someone still trying to grasp the fact that he’s holding the Golden Fleece. “Look what I found, Ma!!” He started a ball rolling downhill and has been steamrolling over all his detractors since, wiping out the B.C. United party and pretty much ending the career of Kevin Falcon. He has gone from no one to a potential premier.

What does he believe in? Well, he got turfed from BC United for his views on climate change. He doesn’t like the carbon tax, he doesn’t like the NDP’s housing strategy and has promised to take action on several things, with no specifics. He has faced pushback over his choice of candidates in some ridings and his overall rush to push things to the extreme right end of the political scale is scary. If some of the candidates like Peter Milobar and Elenore Sturko get elected, maybe they can influence the party to stay more toward the middle. But even their success isn’t guaranteed. They would be formidable candidates no matter which party they belong to, but in this election, nothing is guaranteed.