EDITORIALS

British Columbia has developed a reputation for having colorful politics, with campaigns in the province typically focused more on personalities than on issues.

Things appear to be no different this time around. In one corner the province’s voters have fence-sitting Mike Harcourt, the urbane former mayor of Vancouver and leader of the provincial New Democratic Party, trying to be all things to all people. In the other, Social Credit Party leader Rita Johnston, dubbed “Premier Mom” for her common-sense approach to government, is trying to shed the legacy and litany of scandals left by her predecessor, Bill Vander Zalm.

To make the style-versus-substance scenario more interesting, socialist Harcourt lives in one of Vancouver’s wealthier neighborhoods, while free-enterpriser Johnston resides in a modest home near a trailer park in a suburban, working-class district.

Coverage of the campaign has been largely superficial — newspaper polls that trumpet an NDP victory; a geologist Socred candidate with an identity crisis (considering his links to both a Nazi hate-monger and an environmental group spearheading opposition to the proposed Windy Craggy mine); Johnston’s wardrobe and earring collection, and NDP claims (found to be untrue) that the Socreds used actors rather than Torontonians on the street in its ad campaign to show what life is like in the socialist province of Ontario. The end result of all this, however, is that serious discussion of the issues is being ignored in favor of mud-slinging, campaign rhetoric, and fluff media coverage that portrays the campaign as nothing more than the ghost of Vander Zalm battling the spectre of Ontario NDP leader, Bob Rae.

It’s fair to say that if this trend continues, many British Columbians will go to the polls and vote with their emotions, rather than their minds on election day.

The Mining Association of British Columbia has sought to clarify some of the issues by asking the leaders of the two contending parties specific questions that pertain to the minerals industry.

The mining industry in British Columbia is still mindful of 1972, when Dave Barrett and the NDP were elected to a term of office largely because many voters believed it was “time for a change.”

That term of office was an unparalleled disaster for the mining industry. The damage came primarily from the NDP-imposed Mineral Royalties Act and companion Land Tax Act which effectively killed mining and related investment in the province. The policies were so radical that even the strings attached to a prospectors assistance program required a prospector to first offer his mineral find to the government.

This time, the NDP is promising “no super-royalties” and “no surprises.” But the party is, for example, committed to a target of expanding parks and wilderness areas to 12% of the province’s land area, while the Socreds say they have not set a specific target size for the park system. The NDP is also promising some sweeping changes to British Columbia’s labor laws, and taxation changes that are likely to affect the overall business and investment climate. No one is exactly sure how much it will cost to implement the NDP’s election promises.

As the election draws near, the province’s voters would be well advised to question how the policies of both parties will affect their future well-being. As part of that process, we suggest voters would do well to look to the NDP’s performance in Ontario, and to the past performance of the NDP in their own province, before making the trip to the polls on Oct. 17.