No real choice on the ballot. Its a blackmail ballot between the lesser of a few evils... which evil will you endorse for your leadership seems like the real question?

choosing the lesser evil has been the case for decades. At least in the past it was a three party system. Now the conservatives are almost non-existent in BC and the other minor parties have yet to actually elect a viable candidate. So this round it is a two horse race with the green party taking the sympathy votes or throw away votes. Hopefully enough people decide to throw their vote away to get some new blood in to parliament.

A real upset would be for both the liberals and the NDP to get zero votes. A green party government with a youth alliance/libertarian opposition. OMG, that might actually work.

who most looked like a “Premier” Gordon Campbell came out on top, must have been an SNL out take, just like his DUI picture.

People can say a lot of things when they are standing there trying to "sell" their ideas.

Some are better salespeople than others. Are we electing salespersons? Are we electing people who are capable of running a province? Are we electing people with charisma?

Carol James ain't an Obama. Neither are the other two. She's also no Margaret Thatcher or Angela Merkel. Jane Sterk is no David Suzuki.

These are all pretty mundane, ordinary folk, except that for some reason or other, they have taken on the duties of leading their party. Some, because no one else wanted it, others because they fought for it.

The Leaders cannot do everything. The past two years have been tough times. They are about to get better with the right group in place.

Look beyond the leaders and look at the team that is actually leading the party. The difference to me is like night and day.

Don't confuse with these debates. My mind is made up. Social status is a big influence in how any one votes. And yes, we do have a class system.

"Who looked most like a premier?" Reminds me of a beauty pageant.

It seems as if Liberal party under Campbell is becoming a party with conservative policies. Sacrificing the interests of people over the interests of business.

What is also disturbing is the extent
of violation of law and the BC government ignoring these violations with no oversight or control. The violations by business community - e.g. environmental polution - the violations by public institutions - e.g. the dicrimination cases in UNBC - and violations of illegal business in terms of growing gangs.

The new government gets its mandate based on the law and its mandate should be to bring back law and order in BC as its 1st priority. It should fire those responisible in public institutions for breaking the law and violating human rights and union agreements. After it has put its own house in order, then it can deal with law breakers not under its control and dominance.

Unfortunately, Campbell has turned the BC house into a camp in disarray and chaos. His camp is nothing but a camp in hell.

You dont have jobs without business. Big, dirty business. I'm voting conservative. oink oink.

Law and order in B.C. are in better shape than can be expected with the refusal of the Conservatives to make and enact tough laws and insist that the sentences make sense. B.C. is not an island onto itself and almost anything we do here is influenced by what the rest of the world is doing.

Crime rates have actually been on a steady decline and the usual rants would have more credibility if they would be based on facts and not on emotion only.

You don't have jobs without business. Fact of life, like it or not. Canada is a capitalist country. Chase business away and the jobs will evaporate like ice cubes on a hot stove.

I don't know what federal government has to do with maintaining law and respect for legal contracts and human rights in BC public institutions, like UNBC, under the direct control by BC government. Cleaning the dirty administration costs ZERO Dollars and only some phone calls to
fire the bad apples.

On the extent of dirty business/economy in BC, the May 2008 article in Maclean's magazine is eye-opening:

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0013235

"B.C.'s Multi-billion-dollar Crime Industry", the title of article is "the reality" on the ground and is in contrast opposite to the happy hulicination of the Campbellians. the next government needs to do something about the 7% of BC economy in crime based on exact quotes from the article:

"... Add it all up, and you can't help but see British Columbia for what it is - a key hub in the world of international ORGANIZED CRIME. For all its natural beauty and its Birkenstock reputation, police now put Vancouver on par with New York and Los Angeles when they talk of cities in the grip of criminal syndicates. By some estimates, criminal activity amounts to roughly seven per cent of the province's total economy. ..."

What a waste of natural resources and mild climate of this unique province in Canada. Let's call it the way it is: the mismanagment of resources by the hopeless BC government. The new government should move away BC from "Camp in hell" orbit.

To add to Nowicki's comments, Prince George is the northern headquarters for organized crime. Unfortunately it's a part of our local economy and has been for many years. And it's getting worse. It will be frightening once the super port in Prince Rupert is fully operational. Human trafficking will also increase. It would be a good idea for the masses to pay attention and not be in denial about what's really going on. There are people locally, provincially and nationally who are in positions of authority and are directly involved in organized crime. This partially explains why little progress is made in improving some of the conditions in our community.
I'm not paranoid or dellusional, merely an observant citizen.

None of the illegal activity that the Maclean's magazine article describes goes on with the blessing of the present government. A large task force has been making many arrests and quite a bit of headway.

A new B.C. government can put a stop to international and local illegal criminal activity such as pot growing, crystal meth labs, armed gangs and so forth?

That I would like to see. Dream on.

Anything is possible Diplomat. It's when we lose hope, become apathetic that we're in real trouble.

"I have a dream"
came long before
"yes, we can".

I also consider the public scandal in UNBC which the present BC government has done nothing about, as a benchmark for the next government to demonstrate that it is serious, and it has zero tolerance toward its own public servants breaking the law.

Whether it is in academic sector, police force or crime investigation, all law-breaking activities in public sector should be stopped, and not covered up, before government can claim that it is serious about fighting against the crime in private sector.

perhaps we need new leaders for both parties. The Liberals would be further ahead without Gordo and Carol well you could say the same ... Would be nice if we had governments that could share the best ideas and put BC first instead of strictly ideology.

Gords seat is not that secure... what would happen if he was defeated perhaps someone like Pat Bell could take the job? Pats a better speaker and doesn't seem to be as far aligned with big business as Mr Cambell is

Rainbow: "Anything is possible Diplomat. It's when we lose hope, become apathetic that we're in real trouble."

I believe in the future and all its positive possibilities! If I didn't I wouldn't make any comments here at all.

Nowicki: "Let's call it the way it is: the mismanagment of resources by the hopeless BC government."

Nowicki condemns the BC government as "hopeless.* I do not agree at all.

I think that Gordon Campbell could do a lot to get the BC Rail Case to trial.

He could release every document demanded by the lawyers trying to defend Basi, Virk, and Basi who have been in pre-trial hearings since June 2006.

It's no secret that something went wrong with the way the deal was rigged. It's been 5 years come July 14, 2009 and still the terms of the deal are locked away.

That's gotta be like a WELCOME sign to bigtime crooks.

There's more at my web-site, for anyone who cares to drop by:

The Legislature Raids
http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/

just like elementary school where every one got a ribbon so no one felt they were left out or not a winner.