FOUR weeks and more than 30 stories later (see them all at nsnews.com), British Columbia heads to the polls today.
We will hold the front pages tonight and hope to have the results in this edition - but not on this page which must meet an earlier press deadline.
It has been an interesting election in many ways and seems to have engaged the electorate more than in 2009 when barely half of the province's registered voters bothered to mark their ballots.
Whether she holds her seat and survives as the B.C. Liberal Party leader or not, Christy Clark has shown she performs well in the spotlight and under pressure. For a while over the weekend, mainstream media were agog with the prospect of a comeback for the ages as she appeared to have almost closed a 20-point opinion poll deficit. Monday's Angus Reid Public Opinion poll numbers put the champagne back in MSM's editorial cupboard while chilling the coronation.
Adrian Dix looks like he has survived a defensive campaign surprisingly empty of detailed policy. He safely rode the pre-election sentiment that the Liberals had worn out their welcome all the way to the finish line. Dix can barely claim to have offered a reason to choose his party - just a reason not to choose Clark.
One concrete NDP promise that will affect the next election - for the better we believe - will be the banning of corporate and union election donations. Disappointingly, it did not get much play and nor did the general topic of election reform. Visit votesbc.org to cast your virtual vote under three different systems. Check next week to see if the results changed under any of them.
