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Some Liberals are already talking about who should replace Andrew Wilkinson, says columnist Vaughn Palmer.

VICTORIA — When the latest outrage regarding B.C. Liberal Laurie Throness surfaced Thursday, some party members wondered if Leader Andrew Wilkinson would finally do what needed to be done.

Those Liberals were already seething at what they regarded as the leader’s double standard in dealing with Jane Thornthwaite’s sexist comments regarding New Democrat Bowinn Ma.

Wilkinson denounced the Thornthwaite jokes at a roast for retiring MLA Ralph Sultan as “inappropriate,” “disappointing,” “hurtful, “in exceptionally bad taste,” and evidence of “poor judgment.”

He was equally unsparing of Thornthwaite herself.

“As her remarks proceeded, many of us were increasingly embarrassed to the point of being appalled,” he said. “It was abundantly clear by the end of the roast that she made a bit of a fool of herself.”

While Wilkinson didn’t hesitate to throw Thornthwaite under the bus, he’d passed up opportunities to do the same with Laurie Throness, the unreconstructed social conservative running for re-election in Chilliwack.

Throness was unrepentant about placing advertising in a magazine that promotes conversion therapy for homosexuals.

Wilkinson had spent the week reminding voters that he was a medical doctor — to the point where jokes circulated about him showing up at media conferences with a stethoscope around his neck, per Leslie Nielsen in the movie Airplane.

As a doctor, didn’t he recognize that the medical establishment has dismissed conversion therapy as “ineffective” at best, “harmful” at worst?

But Wilkinson had replied to all questions about Throness (and another candidate who’d opposed a rainbow crosswalk) by offering the supposed reassurance that members of his own family “are gay and lesbian.”

Had he asked those family members how they felt about the aforementioned two candidates for his party? Wilkinson replied Tuesday that LGBTQ+ rights were a topic of conversation, “and it’s understood in my family that there’s work to be done.”

There matters stood until Thursday, when social media came alive with reports of what Throness had said about the NDP proposal for publicly funded contraception.

“It contains a whiff of the old eugenics thing,” he told an online all-candidates meeting the night before. “Where, you know, poor people shouldn’t have babies. And so we can’t force them to have contraception so we’ll give it to them for free. So there will be fewer poor people in future.”

 Laurie Throness tendered his resignation to Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson today.

Wilkinson, who’d held off for three days in providing a full accounting on the Thornthwaite comments, responded more quickly this time.

“Let’s be clear, I support government providing free contraception to anyone in B.C. who wants it,” he said in a before-noon posting on his Twitter account.

“What Laurie Throness said was wrong and against my position as leader of this party. I will be making this very clear to Laurie when we next speak.”

That still left the question of what he was going to do about it. With Wilkinson’s next media availability set for 2:30 p.m., speculation built.

The New Democrats lost no time putting the boot in. “What is it going to take for Wilkinson to fire him?” challenged cabinet minister Selina Robinson.

Judging from the early afternoon postings on social media, some Liberals had clearly had enough.

“Appalling,” said Jas Johal, in a tough fight to hold onto his Richmond seat. “Repugnant,” said Todd Stone, a once and perhaps future leadership candidate.

“Awful,” said Trevor Halford, running in Surrey White Rock.

“Contemptible and deeply offensive,” added Matt Pitcairn, running for the Liberals in another of the Richmond ridings. “I will not stand by and abide such remarks.”

Finally, Wilkinson made it official.

“Yesterday, Mr. Laurie Throness made statements that are not in keeping with values of the B.C. Liberal party or my own values,” he told reporters.

“Those statements about contraception were completely wrong. I have therefore accepted Laurie Throness’ resignation as a candidate for the B.C. Liberal party in the upcoming election. We will move forward without him.”

He sidestepped questions from Global TV reporter Jordan Armstrong about whether he was prepared to fire Throness if he had not resigned. “That didn’t prove to be necessary,” he said several times.

A statement from party headquarters added: “Laurie Throness has accepted that his comments were wrong and inappropriate. It was clear he couldn’t remain part of the Liberal team. The B.C. Liberal Party is dedicated to a diversity of perspectives, but all party members are dedicated to inclusiveness and equality — that is not up for debate.”

Except maybe in Langley East, where Margaret Kunst, who opposed the rainbow crosswalk, remains the candidate.

Though Throness has officially resigned as Liberal candidate in Chilliwack-Kent, it comes too late to change the ballots. Those were finalized after nomination day, Oct. 2. He will be listed as a Liberal.

The resignation leaves the Liberals one candidate short of a full slate. But Wilkinson could have forestalled that prospect had he acted over the summer when the Throness stance on conversion therapy got the Liberals banned from this year’s Pride Parade.

Throughout 2019, the Liberal leader talked big about using his powers to encourage turnover. He claimed, if necessary, he would refuse to sign nomination papers.

Though Throness was unrepentant about the embarrassment he caused, Wilkinson let the situation drift until it was too late to replace him with a more mainstream candidate.

Chalk it up as one more reason why Liberals are despairing about the election and already speculating about possible successors to Wilkinson.

vpalmer@postmedia.com 


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This is your daily campaign trail update with everything you need for Oct. 15, 2020.

The B.C. provincial election will be held Oct. 24.

This is your daily campaign trail update with everything you need for Oct. 15, 2020.

This page will be updated throughout the day, with developments added as they happen.


WHERE THE LEADERS ARE TODAY

Andrew Wilkinson, Liberal:

The Liberal leader will take part in the CKNW Leaders’ debate at 10 a.m.

Sonia Furstenau, Green:  

The Green leader will also take part in the CKNW Leaders’ debate. At 1 p.m. she has a news conference planned at Maple Bay Elementary in Duncan.

John Horgan, NDP

: The NDP leader is also expected at the CKNW Leaders’ debate this morning.


TWEETS FROM THE TRAIL


GUIDES AND LINKS

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Read the latest news on B.C. Election 2020

Here’s how, where and when to vote

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What candidates are running in my riding?

Register to vote in the B.C. Election

Find your electoral district


CAMPAIGN TRAIL NEWS

4 p.m. – No tampering apparent in our election, Facebook says

The cyberthreat crisis line at Facebook Canada has been quiet during this provincial election campaign, despite a huge reliance on online platforms by parties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We ourselves have not found anything that would suggest that there was this kind of election interference or abuse,” said Kevin Chan, Facebook Canada’s head of public policy.

2 p.m. – Throness resigns from Liberals following comments on NDP contraception plan

Chilliwack-Kent B.C. Liberal candidate Laurie Throness has resigned from the B.C. Liberal Party.

Leader Andrew Wilkinson announced Thursday afternoon that he had accepted Throness’ resignation and that the B.C. Liberals would continue on in the election campaign without Throness.

“Today, after discussions with the leader, Laurie Throness has announced he is stepping down as a candidate in the upcoming provincial election,” read a brief statement issued by the B.C. Liberal Party.

“Laurie Throness has accepted that his comments were wrong and inappropriate,” read the first of three bullet points in the statement.

“It was clear that he couldn’t continue to be part of the BC Liberal team.

“The BC Liberal Party is dedicated to a diversity of perspectives, but all party members are dedicated to inclusiveness and equality – that is not up for debate.”

Throness’ name, however, will remain on the ballot and will still be listed as a B.C. Liberal candidate for those voting at the polls on advanced election days or on Oct. 24.

11 a.m. – BCUMC calls on the next provincial government to allocate $1 billion too local governments

The B.C. Urban Mayors’ Caucus (BCUMC) is calling on the next government to unconditionally allocate at least $1 billion annually from a share of B.C.’s economic growth directly to local governments so that they can build much-needed infrastructure projects required for 21st century cities.

“Local governments have been asking for almost a decade for the province to provide stable, predictable and sustainable funding each year so that we can directly invest in our communities’ infrastructure needs,” said BCUMC co-chair and Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran.

“Let me be clear, this is not a request for a new tax, rather this is about local governments getting a fair share of B.C.’s existing economic pie for vital municipal infrastructure investments that our communities badly need.”

Local governments currently receive eight cents of every tax dollar, yet are responsible for roughly 60 per cent of the infrastructure in the province, according to a news release from BCUMC.

Most infrastructure funding is currently allocated on a grant basis where local governments apply for funding for priority projects.

10 a.m. –

  

CKNW Leaders’ Debate

The leaders of the three of B.C.’s biggest political parties took part in a leaders’ debate on 980 CKNW.

Mornings With Simi host Simi Sara moderated the hour-long, often heated debate.

Read some of the highlights and tweets about the debate

here.

12 a.m. – Greens release platform

B.C.’s Green party leader took aim at previous provincial governments during the release of her party’s election platform Wednesday, saying not enough had been done to help all residents.

The platform would target people who need help now by building a stronger, more equitable and sustainable province, Green Leader Sonia Furstenau said.

Part of the platform includes bolstering income security with a move toward a basic income program, she said.

“Our economic growth has not benefited people equally in this province. Many British Columbians were feeling left behind and left out of the benefits of our prosperity well before COVID,” Furstenau said.


WHAT THE LEADERS ARE SAYING:

Sonia Furstenau, Green:

“For so long, we’ve had politicians in so many places make choices that are short-term, that are based on their political fortunes, that are based on the four-year election cycle. And as long as we keep doing that, we’re not going to get different outcomes.”

Andrew Wilkinson, Liberal:

“Calling names and talking about things that happened 17 years ago will not help us in the future.”

John Horgan, NDP:

“The B.C. Liberals passed laws that devastated long-term care and led to the layoffs of 10,000 workers, most of whom were women… This left care homes dangerously understaffed and put seniors at risk during the pandemic. The changes we’ve made, to care for seniors and prevent outbreaks, have saved lives. But we know there’s more to do.””


DAILY POLL


SOCIAL MEDIA STUMPING


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NDP Leader John Horgan, Green Leader Sonia Furstenau and Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson. The countdown is on to Oct. 24 B.C. election.

The second leaders’ debate Thursday morning saw B.C. Liberal Andrew Wilkinson take a more aggressive tone against the NDP’s John Horgan, with several fiery exchanges on issues such as pandemic preparation, taxation and mobility pricing.

Each man positioned his party as the one to lead B.C. out of the pandemic, while Green leader Sonia Furstenau took Horgan to task for calling a snap election in the middle of a global crisis.

One of the key moments came early as Horgan and Wilkinson argued back-and-forth about pandemic preparedness, with Horgan blaming the previous Liberal government for cuts to jobs in the long-term care sector and Wilkinson telling him to focus on the present.

“Once again, you’re dredging up mistruths and misstatements from 17 years ago,” said Wilkinson. “You’ve been the premier for three years, so why didn’t you get prepared for it?”

The two men talked over each other as 980 CKNW radio host Simi Sara asked them to take turns.

“Take responsibility, John,” said Wilkinson. “You need to blame yourself and actually take responsibility for this.”

Horgan fired back: “I take responsibility every day. You hide under your bed while your candidates do outrageous things that disintegrate the fabric of our society.”

 NDP Leader John Horgan, right to left, Green leader Sonia Furstenau and Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson prepare for a debate at the Chan Centre in Vancouver on Tuesday.

Under attack from both Wilkinson and Furstenau over the decision to call an election and break the confidence and supply agreement with the Green party, Horgan drew attention to unpopular Liberal taxation policies, including tolls on the Port Mann bridge, MSP premiums and the ICBC “dumpster fire,” at one point even raising the spectre of the HST.

“We’ve been focusing on programs for people,” he said.

But Wilkinson said Horgan’s economic plan contained no relief for small businesses.

The two men also sparred over mobility pricing: “That’s not part of our platform — never has been, never will be,” said Horgan.

Coming off a strong performance at the

first leaders’ debate

on Oct. 15, Furstenau asked Horgan if he would commit to cancelling Site C “if it will save money for British Columbians to do so” and pointed to the need for cleaner energy.

Horgan said he stands by the decision to proceed, talking about his party’s “balanced approach that puts people at the centre” of every decision, but he left some uncertainty about the dam’s future, explaining that new evidence about the geotechnical issues plaguing the project is expected in the next few weeks.

“We’ll take a good hard look at that evidence, and if the science tells, and the economics tells us, that it’s the wrong way to proceed, we’ll take appropriate action,” he said.

Horgan tried to blame the Green party for forcing him into an election, but Furstenau quickly countered that.

“You’re trying to make the case that a disagreement over legislation … was sufficient to call an unnecessary election during a global pandemic,” she said. “People need to understand that total obedience is not something that is good for governance … and is not something that is expected in a confidence and supply agreement that has provided stability and some of the best governance we have seen in this province in a decade.”

Furstenau was widely viewed as having the most thoughtful response to a

question about racism and personal privilege

in the first debate. During Thursday’s radio debate, she was asked why her party is less diverse than the others.

“Snap elections are hard on democracy and they’re hard on diversity,” she said, adding “what happens in a snap election is it literally privileges privileged people.”

The debate comes nine days ahead of Election Day on Oct. 24, as

advanced polling stations

opened across the province.

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From left, Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson, Green Leader Sonia Furstenau and NDP Leader John Horgan at this week's debate.

VICTORIA — Green Leader Sonia Furstenau seized the first opportunity in this week’s debate to challenge Premier John Horgan over his early election call.

“John, you’ve thrown us into this unnecessary election,” she began. “You’ve put people into a place of unease at a time when we’re facing this global pandemic.”

Horgan put her off with the response he’s given since reporters asked the question on the opening day of the campaign.

“I did grapple with the decision to call the election,” he claimed. “I did so because I believe we need to put the politics behind us.”

She saw that one coming.

“It’s astonishing to hear you say that you needed to put politics behind us by putting us into politics front and centre in a campaign when we didn’t need it. We’re here on a stage debating when we should be in the legislature making sure people are getting what they need.”

Horgan tried his second, no less dubious line of defence:

“It’s never a bad idea to ask British Columbians who they want to lead them.”

Furstenau was ready for that as well.

“It is a bad idea when you break an agreement,” she returned. “You’re willing to break your word. You’re willing to break agreements. You’re willing to break legislation that you yourself passed in the legislature in order to put the interests of your party (ahead), in order to seek that power and that majority that you so want for obedience in the legislature.”

Ouch and double ouch.

“It’s not about us Sonia,” said Horgan, groping for a comeback. “It’s about British Columbians.”

The premier has been hammered on this issue since day 1. Yet he and his advisers come up with lines that make him sound like a used-car salesman trying to close a deal on an old beater up on blocks in the front yard.

Furstenau challenged Horgan every time he showed his penchant for (as she puts it) rewriting history.

He tried to blame the Greens for the NDP failure to deliver $10-a-day child care: “Our colleagues in the legislature would not support that.”

Furstenau: “Just to set the record clear on what John is saying here. Of course we worked with them to bring child care and early childhood education. There is a long record of documents that shows that. And it is a little disingenuous to not put out the truth about that working relationship.”

She caught him out again when he said “you do not support our COVID benefit of $1,000” a family.

Furstenau: “John, you brought that out as a campaign promise, not something that was ever in the legislature.”

Correct. The benefit was promised two weeks into the campaign, after the legislature was dissolved.

Horgan blamed the Greens for blocking an energy bill to allow BC Hydro to favour the purchase of cheap electricity in the U.S. over homegrown production here in B.C.

“That would have brought down Hydro rates for people,” he claimed.

Furstenau was ready for him on that one as well: “Let’s talk about the impact that Site C is going to have on hydro rates in the future.”

Nope, Horgan didn’t want to go there.

She then noted how in opposing the energy bill, the Greens responded to objections from First Nations with their own made-in-B.C. power projects.

“You’re talking about undermining the local energy production of First Nations,” said Furstenau. “They had invested their money in the past, this was a bill that was going to wipe out their economic interests and leave them (out) once again.”

Not so claimed Horgan.

“Every energy project from Indigenous people that was on the books was going ahead.”

Furstenau again demonstrated a better command of the issue: “I don’t know who you’re talking to, but that was certainly not what we were hearing from First Nations and Indigenous communities around the province,” she returned. “This was your first chance to do a bill with the lens of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people (UNDRIP) and you didn’t do it.”

By that point in the debate, something remarkable was happening.

The premier with the gift of the gab was being upstaged by a party leader with all of four weeks experience. And she did it with nothing but a cool demeanour and a respect for the facts.

Only once did Furstenau pass up an opening. When B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson tried to lure her into discussing whether Horgan could be trusted, she replied that it was a time to put public service before partisanship.

Toward the end, Furstenau reminded Horgan what he threw away when he dissolved the legislature for an early election.

“We had something unprecedented in B.C. — parties working across party lines. We had another year to continue doing that. We could have been bringing forward excellent programs and services for British Columbians.”

Hence her closing pitch: “The best thing in this election is not to hand power to any single party, but to ensure that we have the collaboration and co-operation that puts the people and their needs first. To achieve that vote Green.”

That call is up to the voters.

But if Horgan does as well as the polls suggest, it would be poetic justice if Furstenau were returned to the legislature to remind him of the reputation he sacrificed with his cynical election call.

vpalmer@postmedia.com


The previous B.C. Liberal government's handling of schools was key in the NDP's 2017 gains, and the party is comfortable running on its own record now. However Liberals have criticized the NDP for failing on their promise to reduce the number of  portable classrooms.

Education has remained a background issue in this election campaign with the NDP maintaining more of a stay-the-course platform in the issue.

School safety and improving online education options in light of the COVID-19 are common themes across the platforms of all three main parties, with varying commitments to build new schools in growing districts.

The platforms

NDP:

The party promises to fast-track improvements in online and remote learning, things parents have been critical of in government’s pandemic response. The NDP’s pandemic-related commitments include the installation of new ventilation systems in schools, Plexiglas barriers and increased hours of cleaning. The party also promises to continue building new schools in the “largest modernization of schools in B.C.’s history,” after years of neglect under the B.C. Liberals.

B.C. Liberals:

The party’s key pandemic-related promise is to include hybrid online and in-person education options for public and independent schools or independent learning to “ensure consistent options for full-time regular school in a safe setting during the pandemic.” And in a similar vein to its NDP rivals, the Liberals promise upgrades to K-12 facilities to keep them properly equipped and build new schools with an emphasis of expansion in areas of rapid population growth.

B.C. Greens:

The Greens unveiled a more ambitious platform to begin a “redesign (of) our education system,” but starts with a COVID-related commitment to fund schools at 100 per cent of their 2019-20 operating grants, regardless of lower enrolments, maintain extra PPE spending and ensure schools have the resources to develop “credible and robust remote learning,” including hybrid options. Its big-ticket spending options include $300 million a year, rising to $550 million, to begin phasing in up to 25 hours a week of early childhood education for three and four year olds and $100 million a year to build early childhood education spaces in schools.

Analysis

Sanjay Jeram, a senior lecturer in political science at Simon Fraser University, said education was a bigger issue in the 2017 election, following 16 years of Liberals governments, and might not be seen as a big driver of votes this time around.

“The last election, that was an area that the NDP was able to successfully win an argument,” Jeram, said, so the party is maintaining a “stay the course platform,” comfortable running on its record of the past three years, banking on voters having nothing to be unhappy about.

“The NDP is almost, in some ways, on education and child care, attacking the Liberal legacy of those years in power. They’re not attacking (the Liberals’) platform now.”

This time, while B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson is willing to attack the NDP’s John Horgan for his government’s failure to reduce the number of portable classrooms in high-growth school district such as Surrey, he likely doesn’t want to delve too deeply in his party’s past, Jeram said before the Green party’s release of its platform.

Building classrooms to eliminate portables is a key issue for a lot of parents, “that’s why they’re actually responding to education in that infrastructure piece,” said Shinder Purewal, a professor in political science at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

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Election sign for B.C. Conservative Ryan Warawa in Langley Township.

The B.C. Liberals have reason to be concerned that the provincial Conservative party will split the vote in key ridings, costing them seats and, possibly, the election.

The Conservatives, who received 0.5 per cent of the total vote in 2017, are running 19 candidates across the province in the election, which takes place on Oct. 24.

“I think that, frankly, it looked at the beginning of the campaign like the NDP was going to cruise to victory, and it is looking like that still,” said Hamish Telford, an associate professor of political science at the University of the Fraser Valley.

“I think for the Liberals, to mix my metaphors, it’s starting to look like a house fire and they’re trying to save all the furniture. That’s why they are, I think quite rightly, concerned about Conservative candidates in some ridings.”

Langley Liberal candidate Mary Polak called the Conservatives “an indirect threat” and pointed to the Courtenay-Comox race in 2017, where Conservatives siphoned off support and cost the Liberals a much-needed seat, as an example of the damage the party can inflict.

“The threat is real and it’s a threat that represents not so much the Conservatives taking a seat — I don’t think that’s very likely, nothing against them, the numbers just don’t bear that out,” Polak said. “What the numbers do bear out, though, in a close race the B.C. Conservatives could mean the difference between a B.C. Liberal or a B.C. NDP majority, and that’s a pretty big impact.”

The Liberals’ concern is evident in an

ad

on Facebook that called a vote for the B.C. Conservatives a vote for the NDP.

B.C. Conservative leader Trevor Bolin, who was chosen in 2019 and is running in Peace River North, called that notion ridiculous.

“I mean, our platform is extremely different than the NDP and our platform is extremely different from the B.C. Liberals. We’ve spent 30 years being told we have to vote for one party to not get the other guy. Why can people not choose who they want to represent them both on a community basis and local basis, but also provincially?”

Bolin said the Liberals should feel threatened because the Conservative platform is resonating with voters.

Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at Simon Fraser University, said the B.C. Liberals tend to always be in a difficult position provincially because the party is a coalition of voters who identify as Liberal and Conservative federally.

“Obviously, those two groups of voters don’t see eye to eye on a lot of issues, and so trying to keep that coalition together is always going to be a challenge. We’ve seen that express itself in Liberal messaging on a variety of issues,” Prest said.

The Conservatives are running candidates in 15 ridings held by Liberals prior to the election. The rest were NDP. While three are considered strongholds, one is a swing riding — Port Moody-Coquitlam. According to Bolin, there was no strategy in deciding where candidates would be put on the ballot.

“It wasn’t targeting anybody or trying to take votes from any party,” Bolin said. “I think the reason you see us predominantly in conservative ridings is the need that people have for a real conservative voice to represent their riding and a conservative choice in this election.”

Telford said the Conservatives aren’t projected to win any seats in this election, but there is a real danger when it comes to vote-splitting, particularly because they are running some strong candidates against Liberals.

He pointed out that the B.C. Liberals were burned by vote-splitting in a seemingly safe riding in the 2012 byelection in Chilliwack-Kent. There, the NDP’s Gwen O’Mahoney beat out Liberal Laurie Throness after the Conservative candidate took 25 per cent of the vote.

In this election, Chilliwack-Kent could be at issue because Throness, who was elected in 2013, has received negative attention for his politics yet again, and a well-known city councillor is running as an independent. There is no Conservative candidate in that riding.

B.C. Liberal Rich Coleman, who held Langley East for 24 years, decided not to run. It should be an easy win for Liberal candidate and township councillor Margaret Kunst, but she has come under fire for her vote against a rainbow crosswalk, and the B.C. Conservatives have put forward Ryan Warawa, the son of the late long-time Langley-Aldergrove Conservative MP Mark Warawa.

Another riding that could be a problem for the Liberals is Chilliwack, where former municipal councillor Diane Janzen — who was named in the B.C. Liberal ad — is running for the Conservatives against incumbent John Martin.

“There is the prospect of vote-splitting there, particularly since the NDP has a fairly strong candidate in the riding, the chair of the school board Dan Coulter,” Telford said.

If there are Chilliwack and Langley ridings — traditionally Liberal territory — in play at this point in the campaign, “This is starting to look like a blowout for the Liberals and a landslide for the NDP.”

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