This week, John Horgan’s NDP got to wade in to one of the more un-fun parts of government – making a decision on a controversial project that is bound to anger and upset some supporters.
For Horgan, approving Site C is a political lose-lose.
But at the end of the day, fiscal concerns about spending billions for nothing while potentially damaging B.C.’s credit rating won out over concerns about environmental issues and Indigenous rights.
Those in the hard-hat crowd applauded. But a quick look at an electoral map shows voters in the Peace did not support the NDP, they voted Liberal, the party that pushed the project “past the point of no return.”
The NDP’s approval of Site C is unlikely to change that in the future.
The strongest opposition to the project came from environmentalists on the left of the political spectrum, who have threatened to withdraw their support of the NDP.
Then there’s Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver, a critic of the project who has nevertheless decided not to bring the government down over the approval.
Instead, Weaver has opted to pick his battle – and that battle is electoral reform.
The reason is obvious. Without electoral reform the Greens have a limited future. But if it passes – and there seems a good chance it will – the party has an all-but-guaranteed continuing presence in the legislature, possibly as power brokers.
And who would disgruntled environmentally inclined NDP supporters likely turn to under a new voting system?
Weaver may snipe from the sidelines but he’ll overlook many sins – large and small – as he keeps his gaze on the long game and the electoral reform prize.
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