Wow, what an election, eh, Squamish?
So many takeaways to reflect on as the ballot dust settles.
This election, held as COVID-19 numbers increased, was unnecessary and selfish. The NDP’s John Horgan called it to stabilize his and his party’s future, not that of his constituents. Not to mention it meant breaking the NDP’s agreement with the Green Party not to call such an early election.
But voters ultimately didn’t seem to flinch over any of this, at least not the 52% of the electorate that bothered to cast a ballot.
The voters’ nod to Horgan may be more of a reflection of a love of Dr. Bonnie Henry rubbing off on the NDP or of collective distaste for the BC Liberals and their missteps and gaffes during the campaign, but regardless, it looks like a provincial majority for the NDP.
Another overlooked election takeaway — because no one really notices how well elections work, unless they don’t — is that ElectionsBC can clearly rise to the occasion and put on a well-organized and safe-ish pandemic election. Whether you cast your Squamish ballot by mail, in advance or at the polls on Saturday, it was mostly smooth, easy and secure with little risk of pandemic exposure.
Kudos to all involved with this non-partisan office of the legislature. Well done!
Of course, such a well-executed voting process won’t come cheap. As Times Colonist political commentator Les Leyne has noted, this will likely be one of the most expensive elections ever.
There are the obvious expenses for PPE and counting so many mail-in ballots, for example.
ElectionsBC will release the final figures as part of its 2020 election report, so watch for that.
“This election will definitely cost more than the election in 2017,” said chief electoral officer Anton Boegman, as Leyne reported.
The 2017 election cost $39 million.
And of course, we still wait for the final results in West Vancouver Sea-to-Sky where just over 600 votes separate incumbent Jordan Sturdy and Jeremy Valeriote.
More than 7,000 mail-in ballots were requested. Time will tell how many of those were mailed in.
It ain’t over yet, in other words.
Many may recall a triumphant BC Liberal Premier Christy Clark in 2013. Her victory defied media pollsters and left a stunned defeated then-NDP leader Adrian Dix. None of us wants that embarrassment again, thus the broken record takeaway: the count isn’t final until every vote is counted.
Sturdy could still come out on top if, say, seniors, who are typically more Liberal leaning were the primary voters to drop their ballots in the mailbox.
Ultimately, what is clear, regardless, is that after 30 years, the Sea to Sky Liberal dynasty is not a slam dunk.
“Looking at the trend over the last few elections, though, it seems clear that the Green Party is gaining strength in this riding — and Squamish in particular,” political pundits Kaija Belfry and Doug Munroe told The Chief post-election.
“They have moved from a distant third place in 2013 to a contender to win in 2020.”
So, even if the Green’s end up in second place after the mail-ins are counted, they are a powerful force like never before in the corridor.
