Change has come to the hallways of the Legislature in Victoria and more is on the way.
With the election of a new premier and the coming change of guard with the official opposition, there’s new enthusiasm on the provincial stage. As with any change there’s promise for a different approach to the future. And though British Columbia is far from the political chaos we have witnessed in past years, it’s always healthy to have new players and new attitudes steering the province.
With a potentially positive shift taking place on Vancouver Island, it was disappointing to see the tired old adversarial position taken by our local MLA on the eve of last weekend’s Liberal leadership vote.
In last Friday’s Nelson Star, reporter Greg Nesteroff surveyed local leaders on what they thought about the Liberal vote. He spoke with Liberal executive members, the mayor, former Nelson-Creston MLA Corky Evans and current NDP MLA Michelle Mungall.
Most of the comments were interesting and well thought out. There was a push for rural candidate George Abbott and Evans spoke wisely about his thoughts on the race.
“I really care about British Columbia and don’t want to see it governed badly by either side,” Evans told Nesteroff. “People who do politics always come round to wanting to win as opposed to thinking about governance. But I would like it if there was a good leader governing the province and a good leader in opposition.”
It was what we have come to expect from a statesman like Evans. After so many years in the trenches, he sees clearly that even though there is an us/them element to politics, in the end we are all one.
When it came to comments from Mungall, the tone was strikingly different.
“They’re all carbon copies of Gordon Campbell,” Mungall said. “I have seen them all in operation as cabinet ministers and MLAs, and every one of them has the same level of arrogance and disdain for the B.C. public.”
Mungall is on the frontlines so her view might be different, but it was rather disheartening to read there was not even a sniff of respect for the other side.
A more encouraging comment might have been: “In the Legislature I fight hard for rural British Columbia, so if I had to choose it might be nice to see one of my fellow members from the hinterland in a real position of power. Though I will always fight for what I feel is best for this province, there might be some common ground with George Abbott.”
Instead Mungall defaulted to the same old rhetoric we’ve heard since she was elected in this riding — Liberals evil, NDP awesome. It’s a shame an opportunity was lost.
Unlike her predecessor, who fought the good fight from opposition benches, it’s hard to imagine our current MLA making too many inroads with the people who currently hold the power in Victoria. And for that we are poorly served.
It’s time for Mungall to get past the dogma and become a true representative for all the people in the Nelson-Creston riding.
Bob Hall is editor of the Nelson Star.