Oh oh…MY MY… ANOTHER ELECTION…

Not sure how to explain this one to my grandkids. I have tried at various times to convince them that politicians are important to the maintenance of democracy and that democracy is the best system for maintaining an equitable rule of law. And now the premier of B.C. has called an election when there was no need (except perhaps his need for a majority government). Why does this bother me?

Let me try to explain and maybe add some additional rants…

1)

The government was operating without any opposition as all parties were working together to deal with Covid-19.

2)

There were actually more Liberals than NDP in the Legislature, so the Lt. Governor could have asked them to form the government.

3)

The Green Party didn’t want an election, so they may well have supported the Liberals and kept government functioning through the pandemic (not to mention that they must have felt let down because they had a no-election clause in their agreement with the government).

4)

And perhaps the biggest issue with me is that it wasn’t the premier that was leading the Covid-19 fight anyway – it was a public servant – the Chief Medical Officer. And with or without an election she will continue to do that.

5)

The problem extends though because we had the federal government prorogue parliament unnecessarily as well.

6)

Why do I make that claim? Well the reason given was that it needed time to get a new speech from the throne written and with it a wonderful new re-set to the government itself. But when I listen to that speech it seems more like a list of what was done and precious little about what will be done…

7)

So what was gained other than the shutting down of Parliamentary Committees investigating the government? Not much, and certainly no increase in confidence that leadership is being truthful or even ethical. (Might add that perhaps the one thing that has emerged is that this federal leader is becoming a poor clone of the guy that he replaced – the irony? He promised the exact opposite!!)

So I am left with the challenge once again of trying to convince my grandkids that politics matters and that there is immense value in the democratic process…

In the meantime it has turned cooler in the BC Interior weather-wise. How many more bike rides do I have? Well, if the sun would only come up, I think I might try at least one more… That will at least give me some moments without listening or reading the news while perhaps coming up with a new reason to give to my grandkids to trust democracy…

Have a good day…