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An Independent in Victoria is not the answer!
It is not often that I would agree with anything Al Webb has to say but I do agree with his observation in a recent article in this paper that B.C. is a two party system and that independent sitting members would be outsiders in policy making decisions by a governing caucus.
Even though the NDP are long-shots in South Delta, Webb recognizes that to be effectual, our representative has to buy in to the program on one side of the aisle or the other.
I listened to Vicki Huntington on the Bill Good show recently and could not, for the life of me figure out where she was going in the conversation. She kept referring to caucus as a “black hole” and suggested that somehow she would be able to stickhandle her way to serve constituents without buying in to policy.
As a recent letter to this paper emphasized there are literally dozens of pitfalls associated with relying on a lone voice to represent our community.... financial, organizational and otherwise.
Huntington came clean on her decision to run as an independent citing too many cases where she could not agree with decisions or actions of the Liberal Government. She would voice those concerns ad nauseam in our local council chambers.
While a councillor, Huntington’s relentless but seemingly self-absorbed and righteous defense of environmental issues often distracted delayed or sidetracked process. Constant calls for staff to provide reports was the order of the day. While reading cue-cards from the usual suspects, Huntington would and will continue to butt heads with anything and anyone that resembled a threat to any type of habitat.
This may actually be an admirable trait or political tact, but it is altogether impractical when you live at the end of the road as we do in South Delta. This type of behaviour in Victoria as an independent would be embarrassingly non-productive.
Fighting provincial and federal infrastructure and logistical initiatives is a losing battle and we need someone to represent us who will do their best to mitigate damage to our communities but understands that we will, like it or not, continue to pay for our geographical location.
After years of in- fighting between the three levels of Government in South Delta, is it really practical to think that an Independent Huntington could negotiate favours for our Municipal Government or for South Deltans?
Let me put it another way. Do you think that she would want to? The split in council over the Toigo deal is one of the reasons Huntington is running as an independent provincially. It is my opinion that she is unlikely to form any good working relationship with them if she was elected.
Huntington must have been frustrated with often being the odd person out in the affairs of council. Why would she want the same thing in Victoria?
What exactly is Huntington’s plan? What are her intentions and what is her platform?
Anyone who runs for office is to be commended but does South Delta need some sort of martyr in the form of an independent but ineffectual voice? Absolutely not! We deserve to have influence and that is not going to come from an independent Vicki Huntington.
- Mike's blog
- 481 reads
In South Delta the broader issues of the provincial election seem to be being completely ignored. All of the discussion seems to be about infrastructure; roads, power lines and ports and specifically about who can do the best job of ensuring that NONE get built in South Delta.
This is a pointless debate, South Delta is an integrated part of a Province, a Country and a World. We are the southernmost point on the Canadian mainland with access to the Pacific, we live in an area that is the most convenient route between BC’s two largest urban areas, and we are one third closer to the Gulf Islands than any other point in the Lower Mainland. For better or worse we are situated on an important crossroads that people and material must transit if the province and the country are going to have an efficient distribution system.
South Delta has not been treated “as a doormat” by the BC Liberal Government. If we want to have a healthy growing economy, infrastructure is required and some will inevitably be built in South Delta.
We have not been singled out. Our electric power gets to us via above ground power lines that run through residential sections of North Delta and Surrey. Many of us drive to work on highways built through farmland in Richmond and contribute to the tens of thousands of vehicles that transit residential areas of Vancouver every day. We enjoy Stanley Park and the beaches of English Bay and Kitsilano, the maintenance costs of which are primarily borne by Vancouver residents.
In a Democracy the benefit to the majority prevails and thus there may be some negative consequences for the opposing minority. Being at the table for the negotiations and trade-offs allows some mitigation e.g., you can influence whether it is “Plan A” or “Plan B” but no single individual has the power to force “None of the above”. Any candidate who claims that she will be able to block all infrastructure construction in South Delta is at best naïve, at worst disingenuous.
The Province is facing some serious challenges with the economic problems and escalating criminal violence. These are the things we should be thinking about as we head to the polls.
Richard Swann
BC Liberal Supporter
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