Local candidates awake early to face the press
On Wednesday, 28 December, Fleetwood-Port Kells candidates made the trek from their suburban Surrey riding to the suburban Burnaby studios of Global Television for a substandard interview on the network's morning news show.
In a departure from the show's usual endless loop of the previous night's newscasts, the Morning News jumped into the election fray by inviting the three main party candidates from the riding in Canada's fastest growing community in for a face-to-face debate of the issues in this electoral contest.
And what a debate it was.
Notwithstanding the lame, softball salvos lobbed by sportscaster-inexplicably-turned-anchor-Steve Darling, whose off-script abilities make Jessica Simpson sound like Susan Sontag, the candidates were about as moving as an episode of How I Met Your Mother.'
If getting jazzed by lackluster campaigns and uninspiring party leaders is difficult to do, it's darned near impossible at the local level. The candidates by rights ought to have been thrilled by the chance to address constituents on the also inexplicably highest rated newscast in the province. In other words, they could address not only their own ridings' electorate, they potentially could reach potential voters on behalf of their parties throughout British Columbia.
All three looked as though they were facing a splenectomy rather than a golden campaign opportunity.
Brenda Locke, who as a single term MLA for the officially not related provincial Liberal Party would appear to have the most experience of the lot. But she seemed hopelessly unable to stray even for a moment from the carefully scripted Liberal election message, which may be learned behaviour from her days working with Premier Gordon Campbell.
Worse was Nina Grewal, the Conservative candidate who has served briefly in parliament since the Martin minority government was elected in the spring of 2004. Her responses, when they were coherent at all, were all of the 'Paul Martin did this or didn't do that' variety. If she was aware of Conservative policy it didn't show. Grewal, whose husband represented a neighbouring riding until a scandal over wire tapping, tape doctoring, floor crossing and, well, just about everything he ever said or did in office caused him to abandon the nomination this time around, seemed singularly the least able of the three to articulate a point of view. That the two could represent ridings clearly one of them doesn't live in - unless their means to maintaining a healthy marriage is by not living together - is a symptom of a gigantic flaw in rules for representing a riding and a topic for another write.
Barry Bell, candidate for the New Democrats was at least the most articulate in his ability to say almost nothing.
Of course, this sad little display only goes to highlight the growing disconnect between local voters and their candidates. If we can't count on local candidates to have a single independent thought of their own, how or why would anyone get excited about voting, let alone getting involved at the local level?
It highlights the sheep-like nature of the elected representative, who, in our system, simply brays the party line.
It's not a hopeful sign for local democracy.
In a departure from the show's usual endless loop of the previous night's newscasts, the Morning News jumped into the election fray by inviting the three main party candidates from the riding in Canada's fastest growing community in for a face-to-face debate of the issues in this electoral contest.
And what a debate it was.
Notwithstanding the lame, softball salvos lobbed by sportscaster-inexplicably-turned-anchor-Steve Darling, whose off-script abilities make Jessica Simpson sound like Susan Sontag, the candidates were about as moving as an episode of How I Met Your Mother.'
If getting jazzed by lackluster campaigns and uninspiring party leaders is difficult to do, it's darned near impossible at the local level. The candidates by rights ought to have been thrilled by the chance to address constituents on the also inexplicably highest rated newscast in the province. In other words, they could address not only their own ridings' electorate, they potentially could reach potential voters on behalf of their parties throughout British Columbia.
All three looked as though they were facing a splenectomy rather than a golden campaign opportunity.
Brenda Locke, who as a single term MLA for the officially not related provincial Liberal Party would appear to have the most experience of the lot. But she seemed hopelessly unable to stray even for a moment from the carefully scripted Liberal election message, which may be learned behaviour from her days working with Premier Gordon Campbell.
Worse was Nina Grewal, the Conservative candidate who has served briefly in parliament since the Martin minority government was elected in the spring of 2004. Her responses, when they were coherent at all, were all of the 'Paul Martin did this or didn't do that' variety. If she was aware of Conservative policy it didn't show. Grewal, whose husband represented a neighbouring riding until a scandal over wire tapping, tape doctoring, floor crossing and, well, just about everything he ever said or did in office caused him to abandon the nomination this time around, seemed singularly the least able of the three to articulate a point of view. That the two could represent ridings clearly one of them doesn't live in - unless their means to maintaining a healthy marriage is by not living together - is a symptom of a gigantic flaw in rules for representing a riding and a topic for another write.
Barry Bell, candidate for the New Democrats was at least the most articulate in his ability to say almost nothing.
Of course, this sad little display only goes to highlight the growing disconnect between local voters and their candidates. If we can't count on local candidates to have a single independent thought of their own, how or why would anyone get excited about voting, let alone getting involved at the local level?
It highlights the sheep-like nature of the elected representative, who, in our system, simply brays the party line.
It's not a hopeful sign for local democracy.
posted by david russell | 12:25 PM
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