These must be good days for Kamloops-North Thompson Liberal MLA Terry Lake.
He wasn’t recalled – even though more people signed that petition than voted for him in the last election.
His new leader, the ever-smiling Christy Clark, gifted him with a cabinet post.
And, the only viable opposition to him in the election everyone expects to be called in the next couple of months is determined to lose – again.
When that election campaign begins, the folks in charge of the Kamloops-North Thompson NDP riding association seem determined to run a candidate who cannot defeat Lake.
Not that anyone should be surprised at this; after all, this is the brain trust that hasn’t picked a local winner at either the federal or provincial levels since Cathy McGregor was elected more than a decade ago.
I like Cecile McVittie. You couldn’t ask for a more dedicated, sincere, intelligent person to work with. She cares about people, about families, about her community.
And, that’s why she can’t possibly win. She’s a true believer, one of those diehard NDPers who honestly believes right wins out over might.
I’d vote for her – but I rarely vote for winners.
The brain trust in the association is pushing Kathy Kendall hard. She was picked by its nomination committee – which, curiously, has members who don’t even live in the riding – and is being promoted heavily.
She also doesn’t live in the riding, something that bothers me, even though all those good folks in the Kamloops-North Thompson elected downtown-living Lake, and he can’t even vote for himself, either.
It would be so good to see all you folks on the other side of the river stand up to this South Shore domination, not only at the provincial level, but in the November municipal election.
But, I digress. It’s something about this inferiority complex on the North Shore that allows it to be dictated to by the other half of the city that just riles me up.
I don’t know much about Kendall – which might be a reflection on her public profile – but, in a conversation with her earlier this month, she came across as smart, caring and yet another true believer.
But, I don’t think I’d vote for her simply because you should be one of the people you want to represent, not a neighbor.
Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer took the third candidate, Chad Moats, to task earlier this week.
Palmer accused Moats of using the recent recall petition as a springboard to political ambition.
As if that’s something to criticize.
It’s called politics and, frankly, I’d rather support someone willing to be out there doing the work, taking the challenges and facing down the opposition.
Perhaps Palmer forgot Lake was a one-term councilor who used Kamloops City Hall as a springboard to become a one-term mayor, then MLA.
It’s how the game is played.
A Lake-Moats fight could be interesting and might be the NDP’s only chance of unseating the MLA.
They’re a perfect match; both are known to have a bit of a quick temper, they can both be downright nasty if they believe in what they’re saying and neither will back down from a fight.
They are both policy wonks, which could make debates fascinating because, instead of the true-believer platitudes we’ve been subjected to in recent election panels, they could actually score points and counterpoints against each other.
But, the best reason to go with Moats – beyond his higher profile in the HST fight – is Lake has already called him out.
Lake has already issued that challenge: You don’t like what I’m doing, so run against me.
Sounds to me like our former mayor is chafing for a fight.
It could be fun watching it happen – and it might also be the breakthrough local NDPers say they’re looking for.
– by Dale Bass, Kamloops This Week
