John Horgan’s gamble to call a snap-election here in BC was a good one. Although voters stayed away in droves (all-time low of < 55%), the NDP now has a majority mandate.
By | Nina Stofati
Results are in: the New Democratic Party (NDP) led by John Horgan, has won the election by quite a shocking margin compared to the other parties that have presented themselves. For the first time in twenty years, the NDP has formed a majority government in British Columbia and this has been by far their most successful election.
Although mail-in ballots are still being counted, the NDP has a very clear majority and is projected to take approximately 55 of the 87 seats in British Columbia. At this stage, the BC Liberals are basically out of the picture. Many ridings including Vancouver Hastings have elected NDP leaders. These results were quite predictable but at the same time very shocking given the complex issues and history of this riding.
For the BC Liberals, election night was quite sombre and melancholic. It was arguably one of their worst elections; and this is the first time they have seen such poor results since 1991. On the other hand, the NDP gained enough seats to form the first majority government in two decades and this was regarded as their most successful election.
The BC Liberals lost a significant amount of seats in BC including several ridings previously dominated by Liberal MLAs. As a result of the colossal loss the Liberals faced on election night, Andrew Wilkinson announced his resignation as leader of the BC Liberal Party.
It is no surprise that Niki Sharma of the NDP was elected for the riding of Vancouver Hastings. Time and time again, the New Democrats are chosen in this riding and always remain very popular. However, one thing the NDP has proven in this riding was that they have always struggled with or simply refused to resolve problems such as crime, tent cities, drugs, and the unacceptable, ridiculously expensive cost of living in Vancouver Hastings.
Will the leadership of the NDP finally settle these imperative issues? Or will it be the usual empty campaign promises with no real intentions of fixing the problem that has been front and centre for years now?
Now that the BC NDP has a majority mandate, they have even more opportunities to serve British Columbians and have far fewer limitations. Will they stick to the many promises and aspirations presented during their campaign? Will they use these historic results to help our province? Only time will tell, and now Mr. Horgan has 4 more years to keep his promises.
Notre Dame Student Vote Results:
- NDP – 240
- Liberal – 208
- Green – 80
- Communist – 43
- Libertarian – 37