WAFFLING WATTS UNDER FIRE IN B.C. LIBERAL RACE
Former Surrey mayor focus of attacks by insider candidates for leadership
As the campaign for the B.C. Liberal leadership enters its third month, the prime target for the veterans in the field remains party newcomer Dianne Watts, the former mayor of Surrey.
“You talk a lot about a new vision for B.C., but the details of that vision have been fairly limited,” challenged former transportation minister Todd Stone during a leadership debate in Nanaimo on Sunday. “Could you share exactly what this fresh new vision is that you propose?”
“Why thank you very much Todd,” replied Watts, sounding not in the least grateful.
“One of the things that I have always spoken about and I will continue to speak about in terms of going forward with a vision,” she continued in one of her typically vague answers. “One of the things that we can do is really talk about some of the fundamental issues.” Such as?
“One of the things that we did not do is deal with the opioid crisis. Now we look at people dying in the street and in homes, we look at all of the issues there that need to be dealt with,” she rambled.
“I have talked about affordability in transportation and how it is really important, whether it is housing, ICBC rates, moving people and goods across this province. And also proportional representation and making sure that we defeat that referendum. Those are the typical elements going forward ...”
With that, Watts ran out of her allotted time and her microphone was cut off, a common occurrence for her in these debates. Minutes later former advanced education minister Andrew Wilkinson was back at her on the same theme.
“We have a fair amount of vagueness in politics that some people find a little grating, while I like to get into specifics,” he said, addressing Watts directly. “You talked about opioids and then ran out of time.”
He cited a Watts press release setting out the need to develop a vital forest sector on Vancouver Island.
“Given that half of the island’s forestry is on private land,” challenged Wilkinson, “give us two specific points about how you would manage private forest lands differently from public forest land.”
“First of all the private land is closed down so no one can access that at this moment,” returned Watts. “There is a petition out there so people can have access to that land for recreational purposes. But as we look forward to how we deal with forestry, the access that we have to have is …”
She broke off, having lost her thread altogether. Could Wilkinson repeat the question?
“Happy to,” he replied, having already succeeded in the objective of showing up her limitations, and repeated the bit about management of private lands, there being a lot of it on the Island.
“We really have to make sure that we have access to those private lands,” replied Watts, blaming the previous B.C. Liberal government for lack of oversight. “They are not logging properly. We have to go back and revisit those commitments.”
Specific only in comparison to most of her other comments about collective visions and moving forward together.
But the complaints voiced Sunday have dogged Watts from the outset.
She bombed in a forum with party officials in late September. Was underwhelming in the first leadership debate in Surrey in October. Failed to improve her game in the second debate in Prince George earlier this month.
“The former Surrey mayor performed poorly at the standing room-only debate, constantly running over time far more often than the others and needing her mike turned off,” wrote Neil Godbout, editor-in-chief of the Prince George Citizen.
“Watts was a cardboard cut-out, wooden in her delivery. If she was playing it safe, believing an early poll that puts her in the lead for leader, she’ll find out the hard way that it’s a long way to February, when the party faithful cast their ballots.”
Watts has been encouraged to capitalize on her presumed front-runner status, and fight back. She took on Wilkinson in Nanaimo over the previous government’s siphoning of dividends from the troubled Insurance Corp. of B.C.
Would he disavow the practice? “There haven’t been any dividends for several years because ICBC loses money,” he replied.
She did score a point off Stone over the desperate throne speech the B.C. Liberals tabled before they were forced from office. A mistake, agreed Stone. “I would throw it so far out the window it would make your head spin.”
A bit later, Stone was back at her with a reminder of how she joined the party only last May. “I didn’t see your contribution” before that, he all but sneered. “I find it humorous,” returned Watts, though clearly she didn’t.
So with a dozen or so weeks still to go before Liberals vote Feb. 1-3, the most obvious line of division in the campaign is between the insider candidates versus the outsider Watts.
But after so many lacklustre performances on her part, why do they keep hammering at her?
I have to think it is because of her name recognition, combined with her reputed success signing up new members in the South Asian community, plus the prospect that her outsider status is far from a liability with the public.
She may or may not be the front-runner. But some of her opponents are surely treating her like one.
If she was playing it safe, believing an early poll that puts her in the lead for leader, she’ll find out the hard way that it’s a long way to February.