Lack of leadership, credibility cost Liberals seats in Metro: ex-minister
The B.C. Liberals were walloped by voters in Metro Vancouver because they spent too much time playing politics and not enough showing leadership on issues like transit, says the former Liberal cabinet minister who finished a close second in the party’s last leadership race.
Kevin Falcon, the finance minister for Premier Christy Clark in 2011 and 2012, said his former party lost considerable urban ground to the NDP because ethical issues chipped away at their credibility, and because of the lengthy political dispute over funding Lower Mainland transit projects.
“For the B.C. Liberals, they really got hammered particularly in the Lower Mainland, and I think that reflects frustration over a number of issues, campaign finance, lack of progress over transportation projects, and just a little too much politics and not quite enough policy initiative,” he said.
Falcon has generally avoided commenting on Clark’s performance since retiring from politics before the 2013 election, but spoke to Postmedia News in a postelection interview.
The Liberals won 43 seats in Tuesday’s election, a loss of six from 2013, and have been reduced to a minority government pending the outcome of recounts, counting of absentee ballots and potential support from other parties.
The NDP won 41 seats, a gain of six, and went on a run in Metro where they ousted four Liberal cabinet ministers and made considerable gains in Burnaby, Surrey, Maple Ridge, the Tri-Cities, the North Shore and Vancouver.
Falcon ran in the Liberal leadership race of 2011 but finished second to Clark in the third and final ballot.
Transportation was a key issue in the election, with parties battling over bridge tolls, expanded provincial transit funding and expansion projects in Vancouver and Surrey.
Clark has picked a lengthy fight with Metro mayors over transit, demanding they put their proposed funding sources and plan before voters in a 2015 plebiscite, which failed. Her government nixed or delayed potential local funding sources for transit such as a vehicle levy, road pricing or carbon tax expansion, and the result has been a multi-year fight with local politicians over money.
In the dying days of the election, the Liberals confirmed they’d still force mayors to hold another referendum if they wanted to look for new revenue sources to fund the local share of projects like the Broadway subway line or Surrey light rapid transit. Peter Fassbender, the minister responsible for TransLink, subsequently lost his seat.
“Nobody in government is perfect,” Falcon said. “But I think it’s a mistake to say we’re going to force a referendum before we make any major transportation decisions. At the end of the day, the public hates that kind of politics. What they want to see is leadership in action.”
As transportation minister in 2007, Falcon was responsible for pushing through the Canada Line over the resistance and objection of some local mayors and politicians. It is now a crucial piece of Metro transit infrastructure.
Other issues that appear to have cost the Liberals votes in Surrey include tolls on Metro bridges, reforms to the taxi industry to allow for Uber and other ride-booking companies, and persistent trucking industry complaints about licensing and Port of Vancouver access.
Clark focused the bulk of her campaign on jobs and the economy in an attempt to rekindle her success of 2013. She ran on her record of five consecutive balanced or surplus budgets, the lowest unemployment rate in Canada and the best economic growth, but she lost votes.
“I think the public recognized that B.C.’s economy is the envy
of the nation. I just don’t think it was enough,” Falcon said. “I think the perceived ethical issues, the campaign finance issues that were never really addressed, I think that really gnawed away at people and it bothered them, and that was reflected in a negative vote.”
Once billed as the future of the Liberal party, Falcon’s name still crops up in political circles as a potential successor to Clark. But he said he’s happy and enjoying his time out of public life, working at an investment company.
Clark was attacked by critics during the election for her refusal to ban corporate and union donations, as well as cash-for-access fundraisers with herself and her ministers.
Falcon said campaign finance reform “should have been done a long time ago.” He said he thinks the Liberals will have to work with the Greens, and possibly offer them cabinet posts, to secure a working legislature.
“The fact is, she’s won government, she has a minority government and an opportunity to fashion a government together in co-operation with the Green party, and I think it’s going to be challenging times ahead,” Falcon said.
“I feel bad for the premier because I think it’s going to just be probably filled with lots of frustrations, but she has a lot of energy.”