Hope she loses in the byelection!

Ben Stewart, well done!

He has been an MLA for 4 years so he is giving up pension. But the Canada election is a farce that allows Clark to run again after losing in the general election last month.

Technically we can also go and recall all the 13 constituencies that were very close and the sum of green and NDP votes was higher than BC Liberal votes. It only needs a joint NDP/Green signature collecting campaign.

Well she wouldn’t want to run here. PG isn’t quite as a fancy as Kelowna, she couldn’t put up with our winters, potholes, caterpillars and all the other things we enjoy in this city.

This is another thing wrong with our election system. The person running in a riding should have to have lived in the riding for at least 5 years before running.
This byelection to get her a seat is a waste of tax payers money and what did Ben Stewart get for giving this up ???

The Greens and the NDP are two different parties univ and the left is just experiencing vote splitting similar to what the Liberals and Socreds have gone through in the past.

Now that the Greens have made a breakthrough and won a seat the chances that they will pick up a couple or three more next time have improved. This will likely be on the island in traditionally NDP ridings, making it even harder for the NDP to form government even if they get a decent leader:P.

How is it democracy when a person can’t run unless they have resided somewhere for 5 years, can’t just make new rules to suit a situation you are not happy with. Game on as long as a person is a Canadian citizen and resides in the province.

If the dippers face up and realize that they do not stand a chance in the by-election and do not nominate a candidate CC will win by acclimation ergo no cost to taxpayers.

Whats the Liberal majority at ? 6 or 7 seats ? Well then, she has 6 chances. Good to be King, or Queen.

Considering how the NDP screwed up this election I wonder how they would have done if elected?

The riding was carefully chosen to make sure she doesn’t lose. People who don’t like the fact that she can run in a different riding should take their concerns up with Elections BC. If you’re bitter just because the NDP lost, well, too bad.

“Personally I would rather see the Liberals select a new leader…a lot cheaper for the taxpayers….”

All this is very interesting ….

Let me put out a proposition that might be a bit better …..

Who are the NDP going to put in to run, if anyone?

Try Dix. Head to head battle. ;-)

Pssst.. Gus, Dix won his seat.. I am sure you can cut and paste something as per usual :)

Won his seat maybe but lost the election. Yep lost the election.

“and it continues a past tradition of British Columbia premiers in the Okanagan” . seriously? She’s about as Okanagan as igloos. If she is as popular as meisner seems to think, why doesn’t she run in her own riding again to make it truly fair. If she loses twice, then we will truly see how unpopular she is. And the election just proved how people felt uncomfortable with the NDP, certainly not how popular Clarke is.

The 801 gang sure is silent. Why is the media not persuing this group to air their story and plans?

” Posted by: NoWay on June 5 2013 7:12 PM
Won his seat maybe but lost the election. Yep lost the election.”

Yep lost her seat and didn’t win the election.

Let me see …. Dix won his seat ….. and Clark’s party won the election and as a result of being the leader of the party, she is Premier of the province.

Wanna bet that Dix would like to trade places with her??? ;-)

Maybe we need to do it like the USA. Dix and Clark run as Premier, winner take all. And then the parties run member candidates in each riding.

Would this be a better system for us ….. the potential of a Liberal Premier and NDP dominated legislature?

Good to see the NDP diehards aren’t bitter about the election or anything…

Maybe if the NDP hadn’t put so much effort and energy into defeating Clark in her own riding, they would have done better. Just sayin’.

I want to see Green and NDP nominate a joint candidate for the future by-elections in BC. If they manage to win together 6 future by elections, the BC Liberals will become a minority.

Considering that the right have united for a decade, it is time for the left in BC and Canada to come up with at least a tactical voting arrangement which benefit the left in the upcoming elections.

So the Green and NDP run a single candidate and thats how you defeat the Liberals….

I see…so to the NDP and the Green its all about winning and to hell with what you stand for???

Wow that’s commitment to your principles.

By-elections are nothing new or unique to the BC Liberals!

About Dave Barrett, former NDP premier: “In June 1976, he was returned to the legislature in a by-election in Vancouver East, after sitting NDP MLA Robert A. Williams stepped aside.”

It’s the way she goes.

If Clark loses the by election in Kelowna, she is toast. Not likely someone else would step down to let her run again.

She has all the help she needs in Kelowna, ie: Stockwell Day, WAC Bennetts great grandson, plus all the Conservatives, Reformers, Social Creditors, and of course some Liberals. It was a Federal Conservative that organized her campaign in this election, (the same guy that ran Rob Ford’s campaign for Mayor).

We should not forget that the Liberals in BC are liberals in name only. Fact of the matter is, most of them are Conservatives, Socreds, Reformers, etc; So when you say you voted in a Liberal Government what are you actually saying????

Umm, Prince George, Dave Barrett, by-election in 1976….didn’t Dave Barrett’s premiership end in December 1975 ? Just askin’.

“So when you say you voted in a Liberal Government what are you actually saying????”

That is so easy!!!!

BC voted in a government that is right of the BCNDP but to the left of the Howe street boys who selected Campbell as their leader.

Middlefinger; “In June 1976, he was returned to the legislature in a by-election in Vancouver East, after sitting NDP MLA Robert A. Williams stepped aside.”

Doesn’t say he was Premier, it says he returned to the Legislature.
Univ, I want to see the LottoMax winning numbers before the draw…Ain’t gonna happen. The Greens siding with pro union NDP? Not likely. The NDP were a party divided when they tried to appease both the environmentalists & the unions. Oil & water.

So what you are reminding everyone of is that Williams stepped aside so that Barrett, who was the Leader of the Opposition, not the Premier, would have a seat in the Legislature so that he could speak on behalf of his party.

It is the way our system works.

We could ask the government to look at a governance review with an objective to make change to become more USA-like …

Im not an expert invoting rules but if she can run in a different riding then shouldnt i be allowed to drive over and vote outside my riding, it only seems fair!

The simple answer?

No!

I do not know why everyone is supseet with a system which has been in place for a very long time. It maust be the fact that communicattion is so easy these days that every one has the opportunity to make useless comments on the internet.

You do not like it? Make your voice heard in more effective ways.

What is a more effective way?

Tell the NDP. Tell the Green Party MLA. The members of the Legislature can all get together and make change if they think the rules are unfair. Neither you nor I can do that.

So if Christy Clark can run in West Kelowna, then why can’t I… or for that matter anyone in BC that wants to run in that riding against her? I suspect the truth of the matter is she will have to wait 6-months until such time as she meets the residency requirements. If not then why are the rules changed just for her?

What we have here is a direct challenge to representative democracy by the perversion of party politics. What we need here is a strong independent of the center that can win this riding for the sake of the democratic process and the dignity of the BC legislature.

The ndp do not stand a chance at winning this riding. The ndp have a solid ceiling on their slice of the voters. The only question for the ndp is if they learned anything from the last election and if they can duplicate the David Eby strong on substance campaign that holds Christy Clark directly to account for her record… but I don’t believe the ndp can win this riding.

That said Christy Clark is very vulnerable in this bi-election. Its not an election that will be run against the ndp of the 1990’s, but rather against Christy Clark and her record including the BC Rail issue, school closures, and the HST among many others. She needs to be hammered in the same way she hammered the ndp during the general election…. they need to go after her Christy Clark style with no holds barred.

I suspect Clark chose not to take the PG North offer because of the school closure issue she is so closely tied to and the way BC Rail effected the shut down of Mackenzie industry.

A strong independent running against the perversion of party politics that could get over 30% on the first ballot could very well win the riding. If it was a transferable ballot an independent would for sure be the first to get the 50% plus one as neither the ndp nor the BC liberals would chose the other as their second choice and in a three way race neither would likely get the 50% on their own.

This cold very well be the opportunity for those that want genuine electoral reform to make historical changes to the system. First we would need to elect an independent. This hypothetical eventuality would shame and put the lie to representative democracy as our election rules now stand… what would Christy do then, kick someone else out of their seat so as to try and garner legitimacy for her premiership? How many times could she do this without stretching the legitimacy of the whole idea of political parties having power over the legislative process.

I think this is a huge opportunity for the people of BC to stand up to the party power matrix, and put to shame the current electoral process so as to demand change.

Eagleone:”…but rather against Christy Clark and her record including the BC Rail issue, school closures, and the HST among many others.”

just to set the historical record straight. With all due respect, but she inherited the sale of BC Rail issue and the HST kerfuffle, plus a number of other things set in motion by Gordon Campbell.

Also, school closures will always have to be looked at when demographics change, causing enrollment numbers to decline to an unsustainable low level.

In PG we had something like 26 school closures while Christy Clark was Education Minister. Schools that were the heart of some communities for sports, recreation, as well as education… that were sold off as private residences. She would be vulnerable if she ran in PG, maybe not so much in West Kelowna considering its recent growth.

As for BC Rail… Clarks husband was involved heavily in the sale process as an insider go between for CN Rail and Gordon Campbell. Christy Clark was a key player in the whole process.

HST, she did the bare minimum to remove the HST when the voters spoke, gave $1.6 billion in bribe money back to the federal government, and kept the tax on used vehicles among other betrayals.

Christy Clark did not have to answer for any issues that count during the provincial election because she ran against Mr. Niceguy. In her ridding where the issues were raised she lost… and lost in one of the highest income bracket riddings in the province, which was considered a ‘safe riding’ prior to her losing the riding.

Apparently she won the all important debate during which Mr. Niceguy (I assume you are referring to Dix) had an opportunity to bring up the issues that counted (in your opinion) and get answers. If he didn’t whose fault is that? All three ridings that represent PG and our surroundings were won again by the Liberals as the majority of the voters endorsed the actions and policies of the government during the last 12 years, including her service as education minister.

I have not seen any definite proven evidence about her husband’s involvement in the sale of BCRail (or any alleged illegal doings) and I am not sure if there were actually “key players” in Campbell’s decision to break his promise not to sell BCRail. Once he made the decision I assume that it was final.

The NDP had every opportunity to win this election and it did not convince the majority of voters to give it a mandate. It did not happen. That is a democratic outcome and perhaps it is now time to accept it.

Good that the NDP running local person, no free ride in BC although some think she should. Screw it let her fight for a seat that’s democratic

I once was serving in a local committee for a political party and we had candidates who would submit their applications to several constituencies to be considered and it was up to the local committee to rank the candidates to select the one who had the highest chance of victory.

I guess the election system with all its faults and corruption is inherited from colonial times and we have not reformed it. The ongoing corruptions in federal/provincial/senate … points to the need for a major recall and reform of it.

We should remember that the MLA does not represent the people in the riding. They represent the party to the riding and are mouth-pieces for the party.