British Columbians just couldn’t decide what they wanted

KAMLOOPS — Time for a change?

To listen to all three party leaders, you’d think that’s what British Columbians voted for.

The NDP’s John Horgan and the Greens’ Andrew Weaver stuck to their well-worn campaign rhetoric in their speeches to party supporters last night — Horgan saying people voted for “a new government” and Weaver saying they “delivered change.”

Even Christy Clark talked about doing things differently.

OK. So what is it that British Columbians want done differently? Seems to me, they couldn’t decide at all.

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They couldn’t quite bring themselves to throw the rascally Liberals out, but couldn’t give them another clear mandate, either. And they weren’t quite ready for the NDP, and ready only to give the Greens a chance at self-improvement.

Sure, the results in Kamloops were clear — and congratulations to Todd Stone and Peter Milobar. 

But as it sits, we don’t even know for sure what the government will look like.

It all depends on whether a nine-vote margin of victory in one riding stands up, on absentee ballots, on the appointment of a House speaker, on which party the Greens might team up with, etc. etc.

We face uncertain times in this province. The optimists are already talking about a new era of co-operation in Victoria, where all parties will work together to find common ground for the good of all.

Don’t count on it. Do we seriously think these politicians who have spent the last 28 days — nay, the past four years — happily slandering each other and warning of dire consequences if the wrong party is elected, suddenly sitting down together and singing campfire songs?

What’s intriguing is the prospect of getting a taste of what proportional representation might be like — maybe we’ll get that out of our systems once and for all.

What’s not so enticing is the likelihood of the whole thing falling apart and B.C. — you and I — being plunged into another election way too soon.