National Post (National Edition)
Horgan rolls the dice with an early election call
B.C. premier defends snap vote during pandemic
VICTORIA • Premier John Horgan called a snap election for British Columbia Monday, gambling his substantial public popularity will overcome any voter blowback caused by plunging the province into electoral uncertainty during record-high COVID-19 cases.
Horgan visited Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin in Victoria on Monday morning to ask she dissolve the legislature and told reporters at an 11 a.m. press conference that she granted his request.
British Columbians will vote Oct. 24, with advance voting starting Oct. 16, according to Elections B.C.
“I've struggled mightily with this decision and it did not come easily to me,” said Horgan. “This pandemic will be with us for a year or more and that's why I believe we need to have an election now.”
Horgan said he believes voters are “worried about their future, they are worried about the impacts of COVID-19 and they want to make sure their government is secure and stabled and focused 24-7 on their needs hopes and aspirations.
“For 12 months, to wait for the next election, seems to me to be time wasted when we could be rolling up our sleeves and focusing on the things that matter most to British Columbians,” he added.
Horgan said the deputy premier and finance minister, Carole James, who is not running again, will serve as a “caretaker minister” during the campaign. And he said the provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, assured him an election can be held safely during the pandemic.
It is the first time in B.C. history that voters will go to the polls during a provincial state of emergency, which the NDP government declared in response to COVID-19 on March 18. B.C. has held three elections when the War Measures Act was in force, going to the polls in 1916, 1941 and 1945.
Horgan's decision to go early violates the written power-sharing agreement he signed with the B.C. Greens in 2017, in which he promised to wait until the next scheduled election set for Oct. 16, 2021. He also disregarded B.C.'s fixed election date law, though there is no penalty for doing so.
It brought a sharp retort from B.C. Green Leader Sonia Furstenau.
“He has to recognize that he cannot lay blame for this election on anybody except for himself,” she said. “There's no reason in any world to call an unnecessary election during a global pandemic. This is on John Horgan and on John Horgan alone.”
B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson echoed those criticisms, saying voters will judge the values of Horgan for plunging them into an unnecessary election during a crisis.
“John Horgan chose politics over people,” said Wilkinson. “For no good reason whatsoever, we're now being forced into a general election that nobody in British Columbia wants except the NDP.”
When asked if his move is an opportunistic grab for power, Horgan demurred.
“I believe that we are involved in politics, we have been involved in politics for the past 3½ years and we've been able to accomplish a great deal,” he said.
“But the challenges ahead of us in a global pandemic are unprecedented. And I believe stability is what's required, not just for the next 12 months but for the next four years.”
Horgan also pushed back at the contradiction between Henry encouraging people to “pull back” on social contacts at a time when he's launching the largest public engagement process possible. He said the biggest challenge is people disregarding health advice, not an election.
B.C. has the highest per capita number of COVID-19 cases in Canada, but Horgan countered that by saying the province has a “low positivity rate with respect to the number of tests we've been doing.”
It's a high-risk, high-reward move by a premier whose government received widespread acclaim for its public health response to COVID-19 in the spring, but faces a worsening situation this fall.
Daily case numbers have shattered records in recent weeks, and more than 18 schools have already reported exposure cases in less than a month since students returned to classrooms. Public opinion remains divided over whether, given such circumstances, an early election is appropriate.
“The pros are definitely that he's riding high in the polls,” said Hamish Telford, a political scientist at the University of the Fraser Valley. “The cons being, who knows how the pandemic situation evolves over the winter and how the school situation evolves.”
There is considerable risk that voters could turn on Horgan and punish him for holding an unnecessary election during a crisis, added Telford.
However, New Democrats hope a snap vote will turn the party's 41-seat minority government into at least a 44-seat majority, shaking off the need for any Green co-operation and, perhaps, eliminating their former allies entirely by targeting the three Vancouver Island seats last won by the Greens.
Furstenau took to social media Monday to blast Horgan for the decision.
“I met with (Horgan) on Friday and told him he had a stable government,” she posted. “This election is completely unnecessary. The NDP has chosen the pursuit of power over the health and safety of British Columbians.”
The Liberals won 43 seats in the last election, one short of a majority, with a strong showing in the Interior and Northern B.C. However, the party lost ground in Metro Vancouver, where half the province's seats are located and where the NDP has strengthened its power base.
Postmedia News
NOBODY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA (WANTS IT) OTHER THAN THE NDP.