Huntington could or would not give us the representation we deserve!

It isn’t hard to feel the energy in the air in this last week of the provincial election campaign.

Locally, the issue of Independent candidate versus the Cabinet Minister remains the frontline race. Recent numbers suggest that the NDP appear to remain in distant third in this constituency.

There have been several letters published recently that thoroughly and thoughtfully detail the way our legislature works and describe how an MLA gets to speak in the legislature, why and when.

Still, the Huntington campaign clings to the notion that she would have some sort of power if elected. If there were a 42-42 split and Vicki was the deciding vote then she would have some say.

Some have suggested a scenario where in the event of a close finish between the NDP and the Liberals an Independent would court some sort of power. The chances of that ever happening would be about the same as Vicki ever endorsing a youth sport initiative....a little over zero.

Provincially, Huntington was a choice for the Liberals. Not the first or the only choice but a choice nonetheless. In fact, the Premiers first choice was Wally Oppal. This idea of Vicki as preferred choice is a bit of a stretch.

During the void after Val Roddick’s retirement announcement, Wally hadn’t decided if he would even run again.

Fear was the reason Vicki said no to the Liberals after a second meeting. Huntington knew that she would have to win the Liberal nomination first and she knew she would lose to Maria Devries or other nominees that would have the support of Wally. Devries supported Wally Oppal in the simple recognition of the upside Wally would bring to this riding.

Devries or other nominees wouldn’t have done the same for Huntington as Huntington would have been seen as a backbencher at best.

The nomination vote was too scary for Vicki so she bailed.

Municipally, Mayor Jackson and councilors Macdonald, Campbell and Hamilton have voiced their support for Wally Oppal because they realize that they have to work with their provincial counterparts to mitigate negative effects to our community as we continue to grow and evolve.

Is that being naïve as is suggested in the recent Huntington ads?

I look at this as being practical and pragmatic. It is far better to have a voice we can count on at the cabinet table than any other scenario out there, period.

What is naive is to think that we should vote for an independent that was never able to build consensus with municipal colleagues. What is naive is to notice that after being canvassed by Huntington not one Municipal councilor has endorsed her. Doesn’t that say something? I get the sense that Vicki doesn’t play well with others.

How do we expect Vicki Huntington to build consensus with 84 MLAs when she couldn’t build consensus with 6 municipal colleagues?

Are we really naive enough to believe that Huntington can help us sort out our issues?

She has always been an outsider looking in. I don’t want that from my ML