# Now THAT was an election!



## stratos (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow, what an election! As someone who voted Green, I could not be happier with the results. I just hope they stay intact and that after all the absentee ballots are counted, etc., that the Liberals don't eke out a majority.

Assuming we get a minority government, I'm guessing the Green priorities in order will be: a ban on big money donations in politics (both corporations and unions), provincial opposition to Kinder Morgan (which remains under federal jurisdiction, so hard to know what happens there), no Massey Bridge, funding for public/co-op housing in major cities, a freeze/review of Site C, more funding for public transit/health care/education, maybe a plebiscite on a new proportional representation electoral system, tax cuts for info tech/knowledge based companies based in BC, and - higher personal and corporate taxes.

But who knows, everything is speculation. We have to wait for the electoral dust to settle. But still, such an exciting election!


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

It will make for interesting times. I suspect there will be a new election in one or two years, without Clark.


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## troutsniffer (Dec 10, 2015)

Liberal party


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## Mark Brown (Jan 21, 2017)

is no one but me sad the liberals aren't just going to carry on.... 

I pay the Second lowest corporate taxes in Canada, my personal tax (even with msp premiums) is a joke and two good friends of mine in Alberta are losing their shirts while I literally had my best fiscal year to date and I still have 7 weeks to go. This to me speaks volumes to the competency of our government. For anyone that would like to see additional funding here, there and everywhere then open your wallets. While I will easily admit there are many shortcomings to speak of it is an imperfect world. Remember Alberta before Ralph Klein was premier. That man cut, slashed and burned his way back to fiscal responsibility in an ailing Provence when they needed it the most. People complained, people gave up and in the end by and large people honoured his government for their accomplishments. I am a firm believer in the government governing, doing what needs to be done to balance as many aspects of our lives as is responsible and reasonable. 

On a side note, if I hear one more person complain (which I will) about the affordability of Vancouver as a place to live I am going to scream. There is NO solution to this problem that is going to come sweeping down from on high and instantly make anything affordable. Density, density and density will solve this issue and as long as we have neighborhood associations fighting so hard against it it will never go away. There is no more land and every year there are more people. Vancouver is one of the most desirable markets in the world and barring a gigantic tanker spill in the harbour (so I suppose everyone should have voted liberal) then nothing is going to change that. In a reality with ultra low lending rates, inflated housing prices based on market speculation and a complete and utter lack of availability there is no answer. There are however a lot of soundbites about how anything could make it better. Not to mention the fact that with a median family income of under 70000 dollars in Vancouver the fact that anyone would feel entitled to a detached house in one of the most beautiful places in the world is absurd.

I would like to end here by saying this is just a personal view, I don't expect everyone to agree with me. In fact I don't expect them to, just airing how I feel about it all. Hope I have not offended anyone for this is not my intent.


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## stratos (Apr 21, 2010)

Read this article and you might not be so impressed by Alberta's government (including Klein): What happened to Albertaâ€™s cash stash: The life and death of the provinceâ€™s rainy-day fund - The Globe and Mail

More detail about the issue here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_Heritage_Savings_Trust_Fund


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## Dou (Dec 4, 2015)

I think the problem is.. BC Liberals are all about the business and we all know how trickle down economics have worked out for the people. There should be some emphasis on the livelihood of people as well - whether it be by improving the zoning processes that are trifling the densification process, making BC more accessible and/or properly funding institutions that have been systematically robbed and defunded.

I recently posted on Facebook asking people why a new bridge replacing the GMT is better than building a skytrain... the responses I got was basically because it was better for business - more cars could pass through, the tunnel is not safe and needs to be replaced eventually. It was also followed up by saying that most traffic is coming from Whiterock and Surrey. The BC Gov website says its main reason is to reduce congestion. If that's the case why not extend the Canada Line even further to those areas? Right now they are saying driving is the best solution when there is only ONE solution. That's not right - people should have a choice. Once you build skytrain stations all along rural areas, development will occur. It becomes a desirable place to live in and people can even move out further but still have access to their jobs. There will be options for people and you can still live a quality life while living out further. The Canada Line cost about 2.5 billion with budget issues, delays and whatnot... with new skytrains it would probably cost less than the 8 billion in interest that they are predicting along with municipal support (even taking infaltion into account)...


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## aprilsaquarium (Aug 22, 2016)

Need both. The trucks also need to go to the docks and many families going to ferries and people coming from USA travelling etc etc . Thry come with cars also airports .
Skytrsin to the ferries would be great . Also a lot of thst land is bog land and below sea level and may be unstable for sky trains . I'm not an engineer but the mud bay flats etc is pretty soft and wet land .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

My understanding of why Clark wants a bridge rather than a tunnel expansion is so that the LNG tankers could pass through. The river could not be dredged deeply enough to allow tankers through if the tunnel is there. Not sure if this is true, but it makes sense, considering that she has been pushing the LNG so strongly.


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## Dou (Dec 4, 2015)

aprilsaquarium said:


> Need both. The trucks also need to go to the docks and many families going to ferries and people coming from USA travelling etc etc . Thry come with cars also airports .
> Skytrsin to the ferries would be great . Also a lot of thst land is bog land and below sea level and may be unstable for sky trains . I'm not an engineer but the mud bay flats etc is pretty soft and wet land .
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I would love to see more studies done on the viability of various options - not just being force fed one because that's what they want. Technology has come so far that I am sure there are solutions. Just saying that it'll help businesses isn't good enough for me. Why can't we help businesses AND people? Some transparency would also help. Either way, the amount of hush hush around everything that public officials do make everything seem shady. If they have nothing to hide and the solution is so great - why aren't they sharing more information? Why is it so hard to get numbers on the costs? I don't really have a preference between Liberal or NDP - but I just want to see some accountability and integrity in what these public officials do. High unlikely, but I can always hope.



TomC said:


> My understanding of why Clark wants a bridge rather than a tunnel expansion is so that the LNG tankers could pass through. The river could not be dredged deeply enough to allow tankers through if the tunnel is there. Not sure if this is true, but it makes sense, considering that she has been pushing the LNG so strongly.


I heard that too - but everything at this point is speculation... other than that they are force feeding that the bridge is the best solution and that they are gonna do it no matter who says what.


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## imtrippedup (Apr 25, 2010)

Mark Brown said:


> if I hear one more person complain (which I will) about the affordability of Vancouver as a place to live I am going to scream.


affordability affordability affordability affordability affordability


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## joeyk (May 30, 2016)

Dou said:


> I recently posted on Facebook asking people why a new bridge replacing the GMT is better than building a skytrain... the responses I got was basically because it was better for business - more cars could pass through, the tunnel is not safe and needs to be replaced eventually. It was also followed up by saying that most traffic is coming from Whiterock and Surrey. The BC Gov website says its main reason is to reduce congestion. If that's the case why not extend the Canada Line even further to those areas?


Transit service out here (South Surrey/White Rock) is HORRIBLE. Any travel by transit is roughly 2x (or more) the amount of time compared to what it is to drive. That's IF the buses are on time (very rarely are), and not full (typical in the summer months to see community buses full very early in their routes). Some careful reallocation of resources, and some additional routes near the suburbs and higher density developments would probably remove a good number of cars from the road heading in that direction. I would love to see skytrain out here, but I think at this point, that's little more than a pipe-dream.

This election result may yet present us with a stronger liberal party going forwards. Or I could just be overly optimistic. After 16 years in power, they could probably use an opportunity to regroup, reassess their leadership, and some of their stances and policies. As a young voter, it's hard to see the (current) BC Liberal party as progressive or "the future". Yes, they've done a great job with our economy, but there are other areas that really need attention, and I just don't see the liberals particularly concerned with them. The creation of industry is (usually) great, but I question if the time is right for a new fossil fuel (LNG) industry, especially with the direction green/renewable energy technology is heading in. On the other hand, their Site C dam project doesn't seem entirely well thought out, either. Not to mention the underfunded mess that is our education system, although I realize there's no easy solution there.

I'm also concerned about the Kinder Morgan pipeline, although I'm not sure how much meaningful opposition any Provincial Government is able to offer. Spill response not only within the Lower Mainland, but the entire coast is barely (if at all) adequate for the commercial traffic and infrastructure that already exists. Without moving forward on improving spill response infrastructure and technology, I fear that we could put our coast in serious jeopardy with this pipeline. Yes, oil spills are extremely uncommon, but it only takes one.


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## Dou (Dec 4, 2015)

joeyk said:


> Transit service out here (South Surrey/White Rock) is HORRIBLE. Any travel by transit is roughly 2x (or more) the amount of time compared to what it is to drive. That's IF the buses are on time (very rarely are), and not full (typical in the summer months to see community buses full very early in their routes). Some careful reallocation of resources, and some additional routes near the suburbs and higher density developments would probably remove a good number of cars from the road heading in that direction. I would love to see skytrain out here, but I think at this point, that's little more than a pipe-dream.
> 
> This election result may yet present us with a stronger liberal party going forwards. Or I could just be overly optimistic. After 16 years in power, they could probably use an opportunity to regroup, reassess their leadership, and some of their stances and policies. As a young voter, it's hard to see the (current) BC Liberal party as progressive or "the future". Yes, they've done a great job with our economy, but there are other areas that really need attention, and I just don't see the liberals particularly concerned with them. The creation of industry is (usually) great, but I question if the time is right for a new fossil fuel (LNG) industry, especially with the direction green/renewable energy technology is heading in. On the other hand, their Site C dam project doesn't seem entirely well thought out, either. Not to mention the underfunded mess that is our education system, although I realize there's no easy solution there.
> 
> I'm also concerned about the Kinder Morgan pipeline, although I'm not sure how much meaningful opposition any Provincial Government is able to offer. Spill response not only within the Lower Mainland, but the entire coast is barely (if at all) adequate for the commercial traffic and infrastructure that already exists. Without moving forward on improving spill response infrastructure and technology, I fear that we could put our coast in serious jeopardy with this pipeline. Yes, oil spills are extremely uncommon, but it only takes one.


Someone faulted me on FB for saying "just because you saw it while you're on your trip to Japan, doesn't mean we should have it here". They cited lack of population... which is so counter intuitive. People don't live here because it's not convenient/desirable - but what if it did become convenient and ideal? When I was in Japan/South Korea - the metro was EXTREMELY convenient. I can't believe how much better it was. Why are we so backwards? If we just thought about the long-term benefits of public transportation, I think our whole society would be a better place. It will not only give access to people to move out further, but also allow lower-income individuals an opportunity to access job where they wouldn't normally be able to apply for. This is how we move forward as a society - by trying to bring those behind us as far as possible within reasonable means. Moving people from one place to another should be at the forefront of the conversation in our government - this is how we solve "affordability". When "imtrippedup" drove me to WhiteRock to pick up stuff - it was VERY nice there! Now if I could get to work Downtown within an hour and reliably - I wouldn't hesitate to move today. There's so much room. If we as a society can figure out how to move people from one place to another within a reasonable amount of time and cost - we would solve a large majority of problems IMO.


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## stratos (Apr 21, 2010)

I know an old Chinese guy who tells me Vancouver reminds him of how Hong Kong looked in the 1950's. I bet in another 50 years this place will be double or triple the current population, especially with climate change and pollution making some other places almost uninhabitable. Let's plan for the future, build out the skytrain network. To quote Field of Dreams, "build it and they will come".


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

4 more years of the Liberal party even as a minority is not something I look forward to


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## stratos (Apr 21, 2010)

> In this week's election, the Greens had 16.7 per cent of the popular vote but its three victories represent just 3.4 per cent of the seats in the legislature.
> 
> Fair Vote Canada, a grassroots multipartisan citizens' campaign, has called on the Greens and NDP to form a coalition to enact electoral reform.
> 
> "We see the situation in B.C. right now as a historically rare opportunity," Fair Vote Canada president Réal Lavergne said. "When you get a minority situation with two parties advocating proportional representation with 57 per cent of vote, you have to seize that."


B.C. minority government gives NDP, Greens chance to push for electoral reform - The Globe and Mail


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## cgjedi (Nov 11, 2013)

Wow, we dodged that bullet of NDP ruining BC again. Whew!


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## Mick2016 (Jun 16, 2016)

I lived in Vancouver for 9 years. Moved to the Fraser Valley 15 years ago . . . not so much due to "affordablility" - although the Vancovuer costs of living were just starting the big climb - but because it became so darn crowded. In the mid-90s, one could walk along English Bay midweek and be one of only a handful of folks around. Weekends, naturally, would be busier. Now, it seems, any time of day/any day of the week is shoulder to shoulder. Couldn't pay me enough to move back. No matter what promises politicians and pundits may offer as incentives to live there, the losses far outweigh the assets . . . IMHO. I am not completely sure why Vancouver is viewed by some folks as the "be-all-and-end-all" place to live in BC.


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## fireweed (Jan 7, 2013)

Don't expect the greens and NDP to solidify. The greens are not the NDP. The NDP with all their election promises clearly don't know how to budget, and they aren't anywhere green enough for environmentally conscious voters. 

Expect the greens to work with both parties on an issue by issue basis. 

SO sick of NDP claiming green votes are stolen votes, nothing is further from the truth- if the NDP wanted those votes then they needed to court them in, and they didn't.


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## Luke78 (Apr 24, 2010)

I won't sling mud back and forth here but give credit where it's deserved. Look at the ridings where the ndp excelled at. It makes you think huh ? I ain't a ndp supporter but let's not forget there's still a few ridings where the votes haven't been finialized yet. We should find out in a week or twos time.

Can you provide your sources as to where the ndp made their claims to stolen votes? It's obvious your dislike for this party is pretty evident.



fireweed said:


> Don't expect the greens and NDP to solidify. The greens are not the NDP. The NDP with all their election promises clearly don't know how to budget, and they aren't anywhere green enough for environmentally conscious voters.
> 
> Expect the greens to work with both parties on an issue by issue basis.
> 
> SO sick of NDP claiming green votes are stolen votes, nothing is further from the truth- if the NDP wanted those votes then they needed to court them in, and they didn't.


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## fireweed (Jan 7, 2013)

I'm interested in politics yet had trouble deciding who to vote for, I dislike all three parties for different reasons. So not just NDP. But if you didn't notice the NDP repeatedly trying to scare green voters to vote NDP you weren't paying attention...


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

fireweed said:


> I'm interested in politics yet had trouble deciding who to vote for, I dislike all three parties for different reasons. So not just NDP. But if you didn't notice the NDP repeatedly trying to scare green voters to vote NDP you weren't paying attention...


I saw an interview of Hogan stating this during the election.


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## stratos (Apr 21, 2010)

Right on! Minority government - with Green influence - here we come! 



> Today the BC NDP's Ronna-Rae Leonard was officially declared the winner here by 189 votes.
> 
> Like the 43 other Green and NDP MLAs who now hold a majority in the B.C. legislature, Leonard won on a clear promise to stop Kinder Morgan and get Big Money out of politics.
> 
> ...


https://dogwoodbc.ca/victory-courtenay-comox/


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