There was a seismic shift in the distribution of political power on the North Shore this election. Barring the mail-in ballots diverging drastically from how people voted at the polls, we welcome the NDP’s Susie Chant in North Vancouver-Seymour and the Green Party’s Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.
Being evicted from seats that were once so safe they barely had to campaign for them should inspire some deep soul searching within the BC Liberal Party. On the North Shore, the Liberals held just one of their three seats, West Vancouver-Capilano with Karin Kirkpatrick.
The results show British Columbians have a high degree of confidence in how the NDP governed in their first term and how they responded to the pandemic. But if the NDP takes ownership of their record-breaking results, then they similarly should take ownership of the record low voter turnout – a paltry 52 per cent, according to Elections B.C. Calling an early election during the second wave of a pandemic is surely a factor.
Electoral victory belongs to parties who can do the most to inspire voters with thoughts of a better future. And right now, average people are too concerned about getting through the day to be parsing political platforms.
But we welcome the NDP back to power. They have a fresh mandate to govern with compassion instead of austerity in a term that will be fraught with challenges. We still have housing, public health, and environmental crises that demand action while the economy wobbles precariously.
With a majority government and no one else to shoulder the blame, their work is cut out for them.
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