New Year’s wishes for politicians.
Please can we all just get along? Ha ha. I kid. Of course politicians can’t get along.
But they all deserve some year end treats, so let’s see.
To B.C. Premier John Horgan, here’s wishing you’ll continue to hang on by the tips of your finger nails to your very slim grasp on the Legislature. Another election is only a Throne Speech or Budget away, and there are mutterings among some that with Andrew Weaver stepping down as the leader of the Green Party, the tenuous agreement between Greens’ and NDP may become more tenuous.
Certainly, the BC Liberals are hoping that is the case, but I’d caution them to be careful what you wish for. The last thing you want is to force an election and then see the NDP grab a majority.
Horgan’s approval rating continues to be above 50 per cent. He was at 51 per cent at the end of November.
And while the NDP is taking criticism on handling of the forestry sector, pipelines and housing affordability, the BC Liberals, at the moment are led by Andrew Wilkinson, whose approval rating sits at 35 per cent. Not a great number.
Unless Wilkinson finds some way to connect better with the average voter, the BC Liberals may rue the day the government falls.
For former Liberal cabinet minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, a nice plant for her new office. Wilson-Raybould was initially refusing to vacate the office suite she held in Ottawa when she was a cabinet minister.
When the Liberals told her she would have to move after the election so another cabinet minister could use the offices, Wilson-Raybould said it seemed a little petty to her that they would make her move, and initially refused to budge.
Now, the last time I checked, Independent MPs were not provided the opportunity to work in a six-room office suite with private bathrooms. There was some pettiness afoot, no doubt, and a wee bit of grandstanding as well, but I’m not sure it was on the part of the Liberal Party.
But Wilson-Raybould has now moved. Enjoy your plant.
For the Conservative Party as a whole, I wish you time to honestly reflect on what cost you the last election. With the resignation of Andrew Scheer, the opportunity to elect a leader who can speak more clearly to the concerns of Canadians on social issues and climate change is here. You can be a fiscal Conservative without dog whistling on immigration, and playing the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ game.
For Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, I wish the same thing as Horgan, an ability to hang on to a minority government. I selfishly wish this because I am tired of elections. And with the big one in the States looming next year, all the energy is going to be sucked out of the election room anyway.
I don’t think the Conservatives want an election in 2020. They need to get their house in order first, and get their new leader in front of the people. The NDP doesn’t want an election because they cannot afford it. The Bloc Quebecois is unlikely to want an election because they did pretty well in the last one and would see no need to risk those newly gained seats.
So Trudeau may hang on for a bit. But it’s going to be a delicate walk across a swaying tightrope.
Here’s hoping he can manage it with a little more dexterity than he showed during his 2019 scandals.