With the election campaign in high gear, we are very likely going to see the usual mudslinging, personal attacks, party politic attacks and, last but not least, attacks on individual party platform planks.
There are several individuals that feel that they could drive the provincial bus, so to speak, better than all of the others. Premier Clark and company are the current drivers of the bus. Mr. Dix, Mr. Cummins and Ms. Sterk all want the chance to be drivers. Time will tell, however.
Speaking of driving, Ms. Clark had a problem on the highway not too long ago. It seems that she ran a red light contrary to the rules of the road. She explained that it was early in the morning and that her young son egged her on to do so. It is ironic that a young, unlicensed person, obviously having no driving experience, could influence the driving habits of a duly licensed driver and cause that driver to actually commit a driving no-no.
Considering that Ms. Clark openly admitted that she shouldn’t have run the red light, and that she gave in to her young son’s wishes, makes me wonder how she deems herself capable of driving the provincial bus. Does she rely on her young son’s judgment and accede to his wishes with regard to her functioning as the driver of the province?
Lately Ms. Clark has been appearing in TV ads that state the need for “controlled spending” so as to keep the debt in check. Balanced budget is a buzz word that is being fostered by her at every chance she gets. It seems somewhat weird to me as well, as being too late to pontificate as to reducing the B.C. debt when she and her government helped to put us in the deficit position that we now face. A balanced budget is somewhat of a pipe dream based on our projected deficit. Any of this is overshadowed by personal attacks on candidates, attack ads and social media.
It’s time that candidates got serious about relevant issues instead of mudslinging, accusation, character assassination, unsubtle innuendoes and such. Forget the petty politicking and get down to real issues that deal with real situations that affect the lives of real people in their everyday lives. You know that it’s not going to happen as most candidates have their own agendas. The question is: when will they realize that they cannot really promise anything on an individual basis unless the party as a whole agrees?
The voting public has had this treatment shoved down its throat for a very long time. If the public doesn’t react at the polls, we will be gagging on this for some time to come. It’s not just go through the motions, it’s get out, vote and make a difference.
Ron Barillaro
Penticton
