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No easy vote this election

Following the antics of B.C.’s leadership hopefuls on the campaign trail, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we saw low voter turnout once more this election.
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B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark, B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver and B.C. NDP leader John Horgan. File photo

Following the antics of B.C.’s leadership hopefuls on the campaign trail, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we saw low voter turnout once more this election.

For the past two provincial elections, voter turnout has hovered around the 50 per cent mark. It’s possible this has to do with apathy born from the unprincipled politicking we are made to endure leading up to an election.

Of course, we saw in the 2013 provincial election, what happens when a candidate and party attempts to take the high road. The BC NDP, under the leadership of Adrian Dix, opted to run a clean campaign as part of their promise for a “change for the better.”

While some argue it was Dix’s surprise, mid-campaign pledge to stop the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion that did the BC NDP in, others determined the party lost because they weren’t as aggressive as Christy Clark and the BC Liberals.

Clearly, things have changed this time around, with Horgan showing he is more than willing to go on the offensive and exchange blows (just so long as no touching is involved) with Clark, be it via debate or through attack ads. Heck, even BC Green party leader Andrew Weaver has come out swinging.

While exchanging blows, the party leaders have been spinning the truth to sell their narrative, be it over softwood, MSP cuts or what have you. But as Clark can attest, spin can sometimes make its way back to bite you in the rear. Such was the case when she falsely accused the BC NDP of hacking her party’s website and, most recently, when her party unjustly accused retired social worker Linda Higgins as being an NDP plant. This was after Clark was campaigning in a grocery store where Higgins happened to be shopping. Higgins was attempting to explain why she wouldn’t be voting Liberal when she was quickly brushed off by Clark. Not helping Clark is how her account of what transpired differed substantially from what was captured on video.

Fulfilling one’s civic duty to vote would be much easier it we didn’t have to put up with the uninspiring politics, or uninspiring politicians.