You mean we have more than one Progressive choice!

Just asking the question disqualifies you from asking it. If we don't elect the NDP, this province will be a former shadow of itself.

Rafe, time to go back to school and get educated about how politics really works. Flip flopping from Socred to an enviro with regrets does not yet qualify you as a relevant BC pundit.

Nevertheless

... a sparkling article, Rafe. Well done.

Frankly NO1

The NDP have not yet demonstrated any characteristic that would make them different from the two previous terms in office.

The NDP has not cleared their desire for a far left wing ideology, nor have they put forward any economic policies that make any sense to build British Columbia future.
In my view we need a pure centre political movement that looks at things with equal advantage for all. The NDP is still too beholden to Unionism and the socialist concept. The BCLiberals while moving to closer to the center still have a thousand miles to go.

Until the NDP devoids itself from its leftist views, it will be as much as a disaster as the right wing Liberals.

But who would be the most disasterous is the question; the Liberals or the NDP?

This type of article is unhelpful

I think we would all like BC politics a little more if there was less of this 'Look at all the bad things the other party has done... vote for us!'. It's really easy to go back and forth with this type of BS endlessly.

Why not put down some hard statements (articles?) about what the NPD plans do to? Otherwise we'll just see another Tyee article next week asking if we really want the NDP back in after their budget fudging, FasCatFiasco, charity fraud and cutbacks to welfare of the 90s.

By framing the question as them or us you just annoy further those who like alternative parties or are unsatisfied with both the NDP and Liberals.

Let's be a little more progressive and talk about the future. The BC Liberals are a disaster and will hopefully not retain power after the next election. What direction do other parties plan to support (and maybe even carry through after being elected!)?

Yes I want the NDP

back in, and when they get in I want them to make very sure they stay in.

I don't want the MSM to promote some ''scandal'' dreamed up in the back room of some right-wing ''think tank'', to defeat the NDP yet again.

The BC right isn't ''bumbling'' at all, they are lining their pockets as they've done since this province was formed.

Read 'On the take' by Steve Cameron about the Mulroney years; it's all there. Big business and corrupt government working hand in hand without regard for anything except the amount of money they're raking in.

As for first nations being concerned for the environment; I don't think so.
They get upset when big business tries to rip off yet more of their land, but that's about it.
First nation folks don't speak with one voice on any important issues that I've ever noticed.

There is no more left right..................

politics in BC, rather Corporatist/fascist's against the middle/working class. 1920's & 30's politics has just reinvented itself.

The wealthy class wants to maintain its money and income stream on the backs of the lesser classes and to do so, major tax decreases by the Liberal government has insured their vote.

To maintain the government income stream, onerous new user-fees have now been places on the poorer classes and a wage war on the young and poor. The result is a class divide and a hated of government.

BC's carbon tax, which is not a carbon tax at all, is the result of this massive downloading of taxes onto the lesser classes.

The powers that be create spectacles for the masses such as the Olympics or hockey play-off but the post game riot underscored the hatred for the establishment and the corporatist/fascist regime that has bullied it way into power.

[UNSUBSTANTIATED COMMENT REMOVED.]

What about Green Party?

I would like to see the NDP form the next government, but with the BC Green Party holding the balance of power.

The record of the NDP - during the 13 years it held government

The record of the NDP, warts and all, withstands scrutiny far better than any other government (or governments) in this province since the middle of the last century.

Considered in that light, and taking into account the lasting positive impact of much of what the NDP years in power achieved, there is no possible way that - given the two choices currently available - the NDP is not a better choice for the majority of the people in this province than another 4 years of Campbell/Ms Christy style corporate hegemony.

Excellent piece Rafe. I hope you'll take the next opportunity to spell out your answer to that question...

Lets Face It

BC electorate has to vote for the least damaging party with the lowest number of liars. So...yes...we do want the NDP...because we cannot bear another term of the disgusting group we have had in our legislature for the past 10 years plus. Past time to GET THEM OUT!

Thanks Rafe.

In politics it is always about voting for the lesser of evils. In comparison to the BC Liberals the NDP is not a difficult choice. Oh you can grasp at a few straws with the greenies or conservatives but let's face it, to clean up the messes left behind will take a majority government and the NDP is the only viable alternative at this point. Compare the last two decades and the NDP looks pretty good. Not perfect but much better than this bunch.

LIBERALS OR NDP

sdgreen and Cyrille make some interesting comments. The NDP formerly CCF are only party that has been true to its founders. The Socreds swallowed the Liberal party in 1975, 5 Liberals went Socred under Bill Bennett with the promise of Cabinet positions - sound familiar. What parties have the NDP swallowed - none. The Right Wing parties have ruled BC for all but 15 years under the NDP. LETS talk screw ups, yes the FAST CATS were not properly designed but they were built in BC and the MONEY stayed in BC. The 3 German ferries build for BC Ferry Corp. have not come up to expectations, they are fuel hogs and their propellers are only half submerged, one is tied up in Naniamo and the others are only used in desperate situations - money in German pockets not BC. Bingo Gate is raised, yes it was not right but lets look at Loto BC, the bingo games were taken away from Societies with the promise of funding from Loto funds - sound familiar. How many Societies have folded or gone onto life support. The majority of Loto funds go to the BLACK HOLE OF GENERAL REVENUE. Under the Liberals University Students pay more in tuition fees than Corperations pay in provincial taxes, more money is raised from MSP premiums than Corporations pay in BC income tax. I do not think there is enough space to list all that has been done to BC in the last 10 years under the Liberals. How could the NDP be any worse.

Greens

As I've said before, the NDP should cut a deal with the Greens, it would win them the election.

You could have one or two Greens in an NDP dominated government; wouldn't hurt a thing compared to another Soclib government.

That would be the end of the right in BC if the NDP played their cards right.

But you know, that just makes too much sense to happen; the problem with the NDP is they have conceder every little detail, and listen to everyone's point of view before they can make a decision.

Just can't seem to think on their feet.

Hell Yes

Do I want the NDP back in? Hell yes.

Put another way for some, anyone but Christy Clark.

Adrian Dix and the NDP MLA's will be a huge breath of fresh air. Which we sorely need in BC.

Great article as always from Rafe.

Do I want the NDP back in?

I'm beginning to think that what I want in Government is unattainable, i.e. I would like my government to be totally honest and at least competent to do what we have hired them to do.

What we now have brings to mind the following descriptives: banal, inane, sleazy and overpaid pontificators.

Do I want to get rid of the BC Liberals?

Yes, I want the Liberals out.
Do I want the NDP back in? No, not if it continues to fence-sit on many of the important issues you raise.
What do I want? I want the NDP to step up to the plate with clear policies so I know where it stands on the environment, on energy (especially natural gas and fracking and IPPs) and on forestry.

Great Article!

Unfortunately, the right wing resident loonies on the Vancouver Sun blogs haven't figured this question out yet, and most likely never will. After all of the funny stuff that has happened and the ways we have been screwed by this current government, you would think that these people would want a change in government.

At least the Fast Ferry fiasco did provide jobs and training in BC, and Campbell's selling of them for 10 cents on the dollar was an absolutely disgraceful waste of our taxpayer dollars, all in the name of vengeance. Give me the NDP anyday with the good things that they have done for B.C.

"Do you want the NDP back in?"

Why don't YOU answer the question Rafe?!

"Do you want the NDP back in?"

Of course we want the NDP back in and the Liberals out and with a concentrated effort on all our behalf we will oust these sleazy, greedy, useless liars!

Do I want the NDP back in.

Do I want the NDP back in. Yes - anybody except the most corrupt party in Canadian history - the BCLibs. I just cannot believe that there are still people in this province that will still vote the Libs. If these people would compare the numbers between the NDP years in powere and the last ten years - they would be suprised to find that the NDP were far better money managers. The BCLibs are not a centerist party - they are right wing and represent the corporations. They would better be described as a corporist party. I mean the Libs even let big business sponser the premiers conference last week. Time to separate big business and government

Fast cats

Somebody out there able to tell me what was "wrong" with the "Fast Cats"?
Yeah, they were noisy, upsetting the Uber Rich of West Van. (I thought that was a bonus). Fixable. So what.
And yeah, they were built by Union shipyards. Big No-No to the Bilderburgers. So what again.
If you really want to see what was wrong with the Fast Cats you will have to go to Dubai, where they are doing very well. Cost a lot more than what BC taxpayers got for them though. But so what! What's a few million between friends huh?
Guess I don't have to tell you where my votes go huh?
So what

do you want the NDP back in?

Since Statistics Canada has been keeping records only three times has British Columbia had a net outflow of people. Once 1984 (when Rafe Mair was in Bill Bennets cabinet) and the other two times after NDP goverments had ravaged the private sectors. Each time led to a complete collapse of the housing markets. I can't think what would happen to all those young families with high ratio mortgages if there houses were all of a sudden less than half the value of when they bought them. We would have mass personal bankrupcy. Do you really want the NDP back in or fix a wayward Goverment?

To Sonny

The only way to fix a wayward government is to get rid of them.

Hopefully the NDP will do a good job. If not, then the Liberals come back in, hopefully having learned something.

That at least is how I see democracy functioning.

First, Ask the Right Question

The same obviously rhetorical question repeated 18 times and interspersed with a grab bag of complaints about the Liberals is very weak rhetoric. The answer Mr. Mair is eliciting of course is that we have no choice but to go for another spin of the old merry-go-round.

If we were to commission an impartial inquiry to itemize all the incompetence and betrayals of the public interest of which both these parties are guilty, which one would win? If that too is a rhetorical question I think it's a better one than Mr. Mair's.

If our Legislature is to be resuscitated, then we absolutely need a new party. And I'm not shilling for the Conservatives, or anyone else. We need a party that is serious about accountability and integrity. That disqualifies both the Liberals and the NDP.

"about accountability and intergrity"

Chris B - If you do any honest tally of what the Liberals have done over the last decade, compared to the previous decade, it would be a no-contest. And you must remember that political parties are fluid with different people involved. The main question that needs to be asked in the real world is do we want more of the same, or is it past time to toss the current bunch in the trash? An easy decision for many of us!

Recessions... Um Sonny

We have had two major recessions in BC caused by Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

One was in the 80s and the other was just recently. They were deliberate and cleaned out the middle class as was intended.

There was a recession back east when 1/4 of Canada"s industry fled to areas where they could find cheap labor after the hateful free trade agreement.

I've heard this thing about people leaving the province due to NDP policy but I don't think it's true.

Likely just more made up poop by the right...

Less flaky, more dangerous

'immigrant' said in a comment above:

"Since moving here I've learned that the BC and Canadian right is less about uninformed whackos as in my former home in the US, and more about cold-hearted, steely-eyed men who know exactly what damage they're doing. That's far more dangerous."

Good observation. There is no more cold-hearted intellectually dishonest group than the locally based Fraser Institute.

Well said, Norman

It would make a good article dispelling all the crap made up by right wing spin doctors over the years about the NDP.

Bingo gate, fast cats, Glen's deck; all just shameful poppycock

Too bad

Too bad that a political animal like Adrian Dix has to be leader of the NDP at this otherwise propitious moment--that has to be a missed opportunity of historic proportions.

Not that he strangled Tommy Douglas or stabbed Allan Blakeney and Roy ROmanow to seize the top job; the real problem was that no one the stature of DOuglas, Blakeney or Romanow was anywhere in sight. Dix just filled the vacuum.

NOw is the time to pick up where Mike Harcourt left off and have a more sensible and humane government, not pick up where GLen Clark left off and spin our way to victory, countering Rafe's right wing version of 'evil' with a ruthless left wing version of the same thing.

What a bloody shame.

I was in the custom

I was in the custom furniture business in Vancouver from 1957 to 79. Business was booming and I moved to a large shop, 150`x 35`, on River Road in Richmond in 1974, under the Glen Clark govt. just before the Socreds came back in, under Bill Bennett.

Their one man economic disaster area, by the name of Pat McGeer, doubled the ICBC rates, which caused a mini depression across BC, with businesses going broke by the hundreds.

There were abandoned cars on the street all over, with signs "Stick it in your ear McGeer"

All my so called "competition went bellyup and the only way I could stay in business was to take out a large mortgage on our almost paid for house.

A group of prominent businessmen, including Chunky Woodward, the head of Woodward`s Stores, wrote an open letter in the papers to Bennett, blaming him for the mess and recession they caused.

I was doing some work for Mr.Woodward at the time and as we were having a cup of tea, I thanked him for the letter, telling him of my troubles and that the only way we could feed our family was that my wife had a part time gift wrapping job in his store.

C.N. blew up, and I wish Bennett and McGeer could have heard the names his called them for wrecking the BC economy, when they could have done any adjustments in stages, as the province had virtually no debt at the time,under Wacky and Clark.

That was thew first time Woodward`s have lost money and from then they just went down.

My accountant told me later that we`ve lost $65,000. something like $6-700,000 in today`s money and never recovered. Didn`t go out of business, or went broke, the shop is still there, advertising "Established in 1957", but we couldn't face it any longer and had to get out.

When we sold our brand new house in Vancouver in 1979, for $65,000, it paid off all the debts, but left us broke.

Now tell me how the Socreds or the BC Lib Party, bought for Campbell by his big business owners, may have been "business friendly"?

I suppose they are, by selling off the province to "foreign investors" while leaving behind nothing but poverty and destruction.

Ed Deak.

I suppose Glen Clark is now

I suppose Glen Clark is now one of the right hand men of Jim Pattison, because he's a godless socialist "left winger".

I've lived under every known ideology in 4 countries, but still don't know what the hell the "right" and "left" wings are supposed to mean and be ????

Ed Deak.

Correction.........Bill

Correction.........Bill Bennett took over from Dave Barrett, not Clark.

My wife was calling and I didn't have time to proof read and it sure looks it.

Ed Deak.

ChrisB asks a question...

"If we were to commission an impartial inquiry to itemize all the incompetence and betrayals of the public interest of which both these parties are guilty, which one would win?"

O.K ChrisB go for it. Let's do a comparison and see what you can come up with that comes close to Rafe's comment, "When you see the jewel of our crown, BC Hydro, owing IPPs $55 billion, the figure rising with each private project, this year spending $600,000,000 for power they couldn't use." I'd really like to know Sport.

BC NDP's plan

@ Waltz, Here is the address to the NDP's very progressive environmental policy. Check out their website for more info on other policies.

http://www.buildingsustainablebc.ca/

Suckered by propaganda

gsarahs, you can never expect the Vancouver Sun, or any other right side media outlet, in the newsroom or on the blogs, to honestly reflect how a business friendly political party intentionally screwed up in their race to privatize.

Just like FOX news is minimizing the Rupert Murdoch fiasco, so too did the Sun turn a relatively blind eye to B.C. Liberal shenanigans, especially compared to the coverage of NDP 90s missteps, even the most mundane, plastered in their papers for weeks at a time.

I stopped reading the Vancouver Sun when they published a Fraser Institute report in the 90s, recommending the dismantling and sale of profitable Crown corporations, amongst other business profitable, but overall harmful strategies, on their FRONT PAGE.

Front page news? Hardly.

These included recommendations for the BC Hydro split, P3s, etc. After the Libs got into power, they followed those recommendations nearly to the letter.

A lot of screwball Sun bloggers are just a version of Tea Party North. They've been indoctrinated, without careful thought, by the business backed media, to support policies that are actually against their own best interests.

I didn't like Raif in his early days, but he's truly matured intellectually since that long ago time.

Mair, not Mare

So I can't spell. Sorry Rafe, its not Raif.

Further to ... the Right Question

Two responses to my earlier rhetorical question seem to have missed my point. It's entirely possible that a tally of the misfeasance and malfeasance of the Liberals and the NDP government that proceeded it would show a significant difference. My point was, so what.

In fact, I'd say the next provincial election may well see the Liberals and the NDP exchanging sides in the House. For me personally that would be little cause for celebration, because of what I've learned since the last time I voted (by resolutely pursuing a very complex legal case against the Government and other parties). That was in 2001, when I voted for my incumbent MLA, Gordon Campbell. Every time I had voted prior to that, federally or provincially, it had been for an NDP candidate.

I've learned too much in the last ten years to ever again have faith in the kind of political parties with which this country is now encumbered. They are all genetically incapable of serving the public interest. That's why I'd like to see those who have a voice, like Rafe Mair, begin thinking and talking about real solutions that would motivate people like me to participate again in the electoral process.

No one can claim to be an informed and engaged citizen merely because they attend a voting station and cast a ballot. Rafe knows that, and so do many other journalists. When the public begins to appreciate the real nature of what ails our political system, then I think we'll easily find the solutions.

Want NDP back?

Of course! They did a lot better for the people than the gLibs. Can't really remember Wacky, but some say his "funny money" was actually pretty sensible.

Trouble for the NDP is that the media are owned by gLiberal supporters, and probably the US has a voice as well, recalling how Glen was not going to renew the Nanoose bay lease to the US navy and shortly after came the deck scandal.

And now poor Jack has a more serious cancer. I have heard that way back when in the days of the communist paradise inconvenient opponents could be inoculated with any type of cancer in existence. (That is once just shipping them off to gulags became less feasible). Ed Deak who comes from the same region may be able to confirm this story. Not that I'm suggesting anything, you understand. But there is that little question mark, once you've heard stories like that. No doubt this technology has become common knowledge in some other circles.

obvious answer to obvious question

i never wanted the NDP to be OUT!!!
....their policies always worked far better for the ordinary folks in B.C., because those were their constituents...back in the late 90's and early 2000's, the NDP government had moved very much into the middle, becoming a centrist party, and i believe that's where they are even today, despite my wishes that they were a little more socialistically oriented. despite claims by Campbell, et al. that the NDP were cozy with the labour unions, giving them plum deals in contracts, this was patently unfair and untrue.

rather than giving my union in the community living sphere a plum contract, we had to go on strike against the NDP government towards the end of the 90's, because they were too stingy in their offerings to people in my field...finally after a nice little strike, for a week or two weeks, or whatever, the two sides managed to find some agreement....(perhaps with the help of the labour arbitrator Vince Ready, i don't remember). we got a fair deal, which Campbell promptly tore up upon becoming premier in 2001, refusing to honour duly negotiated Union contracts that had been fought long and hard for....but at least the NDP bargained fairly, if they bargained hard.

the constant smear campaign by the fascist liberals obscures the FACTS that the NDP left the province with a surplus budget, which Gordon C. and his greedy buddies immediately spent down into a deficit budget, and then used various sneaky and (i would say illegal) ways to cover up their excesses, such as through that B.C. Ferries fiasco, where they extorted some 450 million dollars out of the Ferries Corp. after privatising them and assuming their debt load...the extorted money was not, apparently, used to pay down that assumed debt however, but rather put into general revenues to make the government' budgetary excesses disappear into a "balanced" budget...balanced on the back of B.C. Ferries...

and now after having to step down for lying to the B.C. Public, does Campbell get any punishment for his misdeeds? oh yeah....he got sent to London England...not to the Tower of London, where he and other traitors belong, but rather to the Canadian High Commission....so not only does he not have to pay for his crimes, but he gets a plum appointment overseas in London....nice work Harper...i guess that shows how entwined those two are....

i also liked "immigrant's" comment about the difference between the right winger politicians here and in the states, because i think he's right on...here they are cold-heartedly, icey-blue eyedly stealing the province blind and selling it down the river to the highest overseas or american bidder....for their own profit...

i hope people voted AGAINST the HST, speaking of criminal acts by Campbell...

Good grief!

After all that has gone on in the last 10 years, and continues to go on now (e.g.: an equitable(?) debate (stick men?) re the HST), how can ANYONE even CONSIDER voting for the current party in power? The tiger has NOT and CANNOT change its stripes! Get with the program people! Sure the NDP has done lots of dogmatic bone-headed things in the past, but also they have done lots of good, more than I can say for the current mob! The NDP are the ONLY real alternative, so give them a chance. Better the devil you DON'T know than the one you DO! Do you REALLY want another 4 years of the same?????

Do I Want the NDP back in?

It seems to me that we have been losing track of the bigger picture here. Why did the trilateral commission allow Obama to get in? The periodic collapse of the economy is not an accident or an unavoidable phase of the business cycle. It is a planned and carefully executed maneuver of the ruling elite to create a situation where they can "buy low". One side benefit is that a government or two may be destroyed in the process. The next big "adjustment" will happen very soon, and it will tear the U.S. apart at the seams. Who gets the blame? Obama, of course. Net result is that there will never be another black or progressive president. The ripple that hits the U.S. will be a tidal wave when it hits B.C. And who will get the blame? Whichever party is in power will get the blame. If the NDP is in power during the next four years, it will be banished to oblivion when the bilderbergs proceed to gut the B.C. economy. Who knows. Maybe this will be a good thing. The total destruction of the NDP may be necessary for the Greens to carry the ball. At least they don't have the "left wing" stigma which has been incorrectly applied to the NDP

It is very sad that educated

It is very sad that educated people in Canada not to mention the US, seem to think that the left is BAD, the right is GOOD! As far as I am concerned, if you work for a living you are (or should be) an NDPer. The "right" own most of the media and I think we all know that if people hear something a few dozen times, they start to believe it as the TRUTH. That is where the Right always wins. It saturates the media waves with this message... Left is BAD, and Right is GOOD. Soon ordinary people start preaching these rich corporations views, and don't even realize it. They actually think this is TRUTH. Wake up and think for yourself. If something hurts, then it is no good for you...don't say that we must suffer so that the rich can get richer... You are not one of them... don't pretend to be somebody you are not! Left is NOT BAD, it is the voice of regular folks like you and me.

Carlo

The Tories are looking better everyday

John Cummins is looking better day after day. The reason is the constant lies and deceit ongoing by the Liberals. What with gas tax, the terrible HST ballot voting system and all. It seems that the Gateway project will eventually become the asphalt version for the Liberals that the fast ferries were to the NDP.

sonny

"Since Statistics Canada has been keeping records only three times has British Columbia had a net outflow of people. Once 1984 (when Rafe Mair was in Bill Bennets cabinet) and the other two times after NDP goverments had ravaged the private sectors."

Your assertion is wrong. The province of BC saw a netflow of people every year the NDP was in power.

1991-92 65,516
1992-93 74,065
1993-94 80,199
1994-95 67,900
1995-96 62,596
1996-97 55,682
1997-98 17,953
1998-99 12,571
1999-00 13,060
2000-01 25,990
2001-02 28,273
2002-03 29,971

"Each time led to a complete collapse of the housing markets. I can't think what would happen to all those young families with high ratio mortgages if there houses were all of a sudden less than half the value of when they bought them."

House prices didn't increase because of Gordon Campbell. Unless you think they climbed all over the world at the same time because the Liberals were in power in Canada's most western province? There was a worldwide price inflation of real estate. Nothing to do with the NDP. For what its worth many analysts are predicting a decline in the value of BC real estate in the next year or two, even with the BC Liberals in power.

"We would have mass personal bankrupcy."

Consumer bankrupty rates are higher in BC now than they were in 1997-1998 (the two worst years of the NDP). 3.0 last year compared to 2.4 in 1997 and 2.6 in 1998.

"Do you really want the NDP back in or fix a wayward Goverment?"

Based on just the stats that are important to you, YES.

Thanks to Ed Deak, as always, and...

I'd just like to thank Ed Deak for all of the insightful and informative posts of his I've read here at the Tyee over the years. Once again, I've learned something and he's broadened my understanding of history, society, and B.C. in particular.

Also, I'd just like to once again quietly suggest we "elect" to grow out of our dependence on and expectations from political parties. We could stop fighting them and just refuse to vote for any MLA Candidate who hasn't got the courage and integrity to run as an Independent. C'est fini! In one election, our election blues are cured.

Independent MLAs have a lot more reason to listen to their constituents and they can perfectly legally elect a Premier from amongst their number, who will also be more humble and accountable to all of them (and therefore all of us) equally.

After that, we do a Citizens' Initiative for Electoral Reform to get permanent local electoral offices in every neighbourhood and community and put an end to corruption and disconnected governments by demanding the ability to place and change our votes for representatives whenever we want to. That would also make it possible for citizens to initiate legislation on issues when they need to and hold referenda whenever the need arises. No extra cost, no hassle, just plain, simple self-governance. Why not?

We either take on the responsibility and learn how to do it well ourselves, or we go on for another generation or two complaining about the inevitably bad results of a lousy system.

When the NDP brought in its

When the NDP brought in its mining legislation, Canadian press cried"Communist takeover!". When The Ontario gov't brought in the same legislation (Globe and Mail),a couple of years later, it was hailed as the most progressive legislation since the'30s. The NDP forestry legislation had a sur charge of 19% that would be used for reforestation. When the NDP lost the next election, this "communist surcharge" was eliminated.The US said BC was subsidizing the forest industry and imposed a 19% duty,which it gave to the American forest companies operating in BC.The new Campbell ferries, made in Germany not BC,sit idle because of design flaws.The BC made ferries were going to be fixed by a Swedish company, but it was cancelled and the ferries sold for political reasons when the Liberals got elected. The Liberals seem to be in a race with Republicans in the US to see who can Ruin their country first.

NDP BACK IN?

Frankly, yes.

Left or Right?

I would give the BC Greens a shot. If their policies are governed by the "10 principles" as stated on their web site, then they are immune to the Left or Right ideological ills and capable of serving the public interest.