‘NEVER BE ANOTHER VICKI’ — MLA WILL BE MISSED
Liberal party stands to gain with influential independent retiring
There was no missing the tone of regret last week when Vicki Huntington announced she will retire at the next election after two terms as an independent member of the B.C. legislature from Delta South.
Huntington wanted to stay. She had last spring given every intention of running again, fending off rumours in her community of Tsawwassen and Ladner that she was mulling an exit.
Her lone ally in the legislature, Green Leader Andrew Weaver, late last year announced he would not run a candidate in Delta South, instead endorsing the incumbent MLA for a third term she was expected to win handily.
But after what Huntington characterized as “one of the most difficult decisions of my professional career,” she decided her personal wellbeing took precedence.
“You’ve got to look after yourself,” the MLA told Sandor Gyarmati of the Delta Optimist, slightly elaborating on the health concerns that shaped her decision. “I just need to focus on getting my health back and getting into shape, and everything will be hunky dory and I’ll be back figuring out what’s next.”
The accolades were not long in coming, given her unique status. She was the first person to be elected to the legislature as an independent since the 1940s and the only independent to secure re-election since party lines solidified early in the 20th century.
What’s more, she proved an independent could serve a constructive purpose in a legislature polarized on party lines.
Her initial breakthrough in 2009 was in large measure the product of a community protest against government decisions — hospital cutbacks, the imposition of a high-voltage power line, and so on. She won by the narrowest of margins, edging thenattorney general Wally Oppal by a mere 35 votes.
By the second go around, she cruised to victory atop a 2,500-vote margin, having gained the respect of the community for strong defence of local issues, combined with a balanced stance on provincial ones.
“Huntington has been a breath of fresh air, free to vote with her conscience and with her constituents’ interests in mind, not restricted by ideology or party discipline,” wrote columnist Ted Murphy of the Delta Optimist last week in tribute to the departing MLA. “She can support the government if she feels it’s appropriate or can take it to task should that be required. You might not always agree with her, but you could never question her sincerity or integrity.”
One issue where I was especially struck by her inde- pendence was on election finance. As mentioned here Tuesday, she last year introduced a bill to ban donations to B.C. parties by corporations, unions and outsiders.
But her comments also parted from the Opposition viewpoint that such donations raise potential conflicts only for governments in power. An opposition party soliciting such donations now could create perception problems for itself were it to form government after the election.
Huntington recognized that her proposed $1,500 maximum on individual donations was not necessarily in the best interests of independents like herself. She knew how difficult it was to raise the necessary $50,000 for a local campaign with no party apparatus to back you up.
That’s why she acknowledged that the end result of a ban on big donations could well be direct public funding, a system that would more likely suit the interests of parties than independents.
Still she proposed the change because … well, let her tell it: “This bill reasserts the principles of our democratic values by limiting the amount that can be donated and the right to donate to the very people of British Columbia that we report to — the individual voter.
“... It will show all British Columbians that we honour their vote and that we will be accountable to them and only to them.”
The other element of regret in her announcement was recognition that the most likely beneficiary will be the B.C. Liberals.
The riding was Liberal through 18 years and four elections before Huntingdon came along.
Though tailor-made for outspoken former Conservatives like herself, it is far from promising territory for New Democrats. Their average share of the vote through three elections was 17 per cent.
The Greens, now that she’s dropped out, are busy looking for a candidate, all the while recognizing there’ll “never be another Vicki.”
That leaves the Liberals and their already-nominated candidate Ian Paton having the best shot at the win.
Paton is a poll-topping member of Delta council, as was Huntington before she was elected to the legislature, and he shares her interest in protecting agricultural land. His father, Ian Sr., was chair of the land commission back in the 1980s.
But all that matters less than his party affiliation, as Huntington learned from close observation across the floor of the legislature.
“I know the candidate and I know the government and I don’t think the policies he’s going to have to represent are the healthiest for my riding,” she told Rob Shaw of The Vancouver Sun. “And if he believes the same (as me), he’s not going to be able to say that or fight for it.
“The discipline of a party and the influence, the power the leader has on where you go and what you do in a party is pervasive. Party discipline is what it is, you read your talking points and represent the policy of the government and that’s it.”
Refreshingly, unapologetically, fiercely independent to the end — she’ll be missed.
The discipline of a party and the influence, the power the leader has on where you go and what you do ... is pervasive. VICKI HUNTINGTON, Delta South MLA