Young people can decide the election if they vote

Editor:

On May 1, Christy Clark was a no show at the Kelowna West all-candidates’ forum, but managed to arrive in Kelowna the next day for a 15-minute rally at the Laurel packinghouse.

There were almost no people under-40 among the small crowd.

During her speech, Clark mentioned how beautiful the Okanagan region is, then said: “No one in Kelowna has anything to complain about.” Right.

A person in attendance told me there were at most 50 people present, including media and advance people. Clark took no questions, then spent about 15 minutes on selfies with those wanting their picture with her.

On May 3, before leaving Kelowna, Clark appeared with Shelley Cook (NDP) and Robert Mellalieu (Green) on AM 1150. Yet, she had no time to meet with any of her West Kelowna constituents regarding the Ministry of Transportation’s proposed plan to create roadways through local outdoor recreation areas as part of the Second Okanagan Lake Crossing Project.

She couldn’t have taken 15 minutes out of her busy schedule to meet with her own constituents?

These created roadways would greatly effect the wildlife and communities of Glenrosa, Smith Creek, Shannon Lake, Tallus Ridge, Rose Valley, West Kelowna Estates and Knox Mountain.

Daily Courier columnist Reg Volk wrote in his May 3 column: “Vote splitting may well cause all manner of results on May 9. If the Greens pull votes from the NDP, Clark could have an even greater majority. If they pull votes from the Liberals, then a strong NDP majority is possible.”

Google the video “B.C. Don’t split the vote” by Twyla Roscovich.

From Roscovich’s narration: “There are a few ridings in B.C. where the Green candidate does actually stand a chance of winning, and these are around southern Vancouver Island, so down here it might makes sense to vote Green … But everywhere else in B.C., it makes no sense. Here are the ridings from last election where the Greens split off enough votes to keep the NDP candidates from defeating the Liberals. Without this split we would have had an NDP government. And the Liberal party’s counting on us. They love the Green Party for this reason. Christy Clark … knows it works in her favour when people vote Green. The best thing that could happen for Green supporters is if we had electoral reform and were able to ditch this dysfunctional system. Luckily, that is what the NDP is offering.”

On April 27, Global BC’s legislative bureau chief Keith Baldrey said: “If they (young people) come out, a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, who haven’t voted before, throw all the research up in the air because all sorts of unknown, unanticipated results may come.”

Do young British Columbians know they have the power to decide which party forms the next B.C. government, if they will only vote? If they know, do they care?

David Buckna, Kelowna