For those looking for hints that Premier John Horgan might call a snap fall election, there have been 67 of them since Thursday.
That’s the number of press releases/notices the provincial government has released in the past four days. We haven’t seen this kind of pace since the Liberal announcement spree prior to the 2017 election. And, just as the Liberals did in 2017, the NDP this year are downplaying the announcements … or deflecting.
“Others in the government get to think about things like elections. What I really focus on is bringing into the 21st Century our key health care facilities in the province,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix yesterday as he announced the concept plan for a surgical tower at UHNBC has been approved.
The irony here is that the UHNBC surgical tower was one of those ‘announcements’ by Liberal MLAs Shirley Bond and Mike Morris days before the 2017 election campaign got under way.
There is an old saying in politics: “A good promise should last several elections.” And, hey, who says different parties can’t make the same promise?
In fairness, Dix said the concept plan approval pretty much guarantees the project will go ahead … so, undoubtedly, someone will likely be racing to cut the ribbon just prior to the 2024 or 2025 provincial election.
And while it may be some pre-election electioneering, it’s still great news for Prince George and the North, so we’ll take it.
But back to whether Horgan will call an election this week. The signs are certainly pointing to an election call. Pundits figure that if Horgan does make the call, it will be early this week … maybe even today. It needs to be called now to cash in on the best possible dates – October 24 or November 7.
There is another big hint that Horgan might call an election this fall … no one wants one. I haven’t talked to anyone or heard of anyone who thinks a snap fall election in the midst of a pandemic is a good idea. New Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau, in her leadership acceptance speech, said Horgan has duty to govern not to play politics. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson has also said now is not the time for a provincial election.
Three years ago no one thought the NDP government would last a week, now no one wants to see it go. You have to love B.C. politics.
