Tuesday October 13, 2020 | VICTORIA & VANCOUVER [Update 11:30 pm]
Inside notes and editorial about the Leaders Debate will be made available to paying subscribers. | How to subscribe: call 250-217-5821 to request an invoice and pay by credit card, or email your billing request to subscriptions@islandsocialtrends.com (and pay by e-transfer) | Subscription info: www.islandsocialtrends.com/subscribe-2
Election coverage by Mary P Brooke, editor | Island Social Trends
Tuesday October 13 is Day 22(*) on the Election BC campaign trail (*calling September 21 as Day 1, the day the election was called).
- The Provincial General Election Day is on Saturday October 24. Advance voting (for seven days) and voting-by-mail are available. Elections BC info. | See which ridings have the highest number of mail-in ballot requests.
- Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which requires physical distancing, most campaign activities are done remotely online, both for the media and the voter audiences.
- A televised leaders debate will be held on major TV channels (as well as live-streamed) today Tuesday October 13 from 6:30 to 8 pm. Taking part will be party leaders John Horgan (BC NDP), Andrew Wilkinson (BC Liberal), and Sonia Furnstenau (BC Green). | Each of the leaders will hold media availability sessions, sequentially, immediately after the debate.
- Town halls and All Candidates Meetings are posted on the Island Social Trends Events page.
BC NDP: At 9 am, BC NDP candidate Adrian Dix (Vancouver-Kingsway) made an announcement in Surrey about training the next generation of health care professionals.
Previously, NDP Leader Leader had announced that BC would develop a second medical school (to train more doctors), but had not identified the location. Dix announced today that it will be located at the Surrey campus of Simon Fraser Univeristy. If all goes as planned, the first class would graduate in 2023-24.
Dix was joined by Surrey BC NDP candidates.
BC NDP: At noon, BC NDP candidate Selina Robinson responded to the BC Liberal platform release. Notes to come.
This evening BC NDP Leader John Horgan participated in the BC Leaders Debate as televised and livestreamed by a consortium of media networks.
In the 90-minute debate, Horgan defended the BC Green challenge over an ‘unnecessary election’ by saying that in light of the pandemic his government needed a new mandate and let people decide about leadership for the next four years during what are no doubt going to be challenging times for economic recovery and social change.
Horgan has throughout the campaign presented the BC NDP party as standing for opportunities for all British Columbians, “not just the wealthy and well-connected”. He reminded voters in his closing statement to “support the NDP candidate in your riding”… a way of emphasizing that local choices matter.
BC Liberal: BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson announced the BC Liberal platform at 9:30 am today, from the Sheraton Wall Centre in downtown Vancouver. Most of the components had already been announced. Media sought his views on the comments made by BC Liberal candidate Jane Thornthwaite about BC NDP candidate Bowinn Ma. Wilkinson apologized and said he and Thornthwaite are ready to talk to Ma when she decides to return their phone calls. However, this still doesn’t indicate quite enough realization of how hurtful, inappropriate and damaging the whole episode has been to Ma, the BC NDP, and the overall process of modern politics. He also said he didn’t intervene in Thornthwaite’s comment during the call (which happened about three weeks ago) because he didn’t want to embarrass the 87-year-old male retiring MLA who was being roasted in the online event; that still shows where the allegiances of systemic sexism lie. As for Wilkinson’s further approach to Thornthwaite and her campaign: “It was abundantly clear by the end of the roast that she had made a bit of a fool of herself.”
During the BC Leaders Debate this evening, Wilkinson made frequent reference to his career qualifications as a medical doctor and as a lawyer — much more so than at any other time in this or previous campaigns. That did tend to broaden his imprint as a fuller person, beyond the candidate. He ended up spending surprisingly little time explaining his handling of the Thornthwaite/Ma debacle.
BC Green: BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau will take part in a local all-candidates debate hosted by the Cowichan Chamber of Commerce at the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre in Duncan.
Furstenau was literally center-stage for the 90-minute televised/livestreamed leaders debate this evening, her podium positioned between those of the BC NDP Leader and BC Liberal Leader. She came out fighting hard against Horgan for calling “an unnecessary election” and presented her party’s tight timelines for achieving real action in the climate emergency. Overall, Furstenau probably made strides for being a reasoned and impassioned political representative for people who may have not yet had much chance to know the new BC Green Party Leader (only about one month in that post).
Inside notes and editorial about the Leaders Debate will be made available to paying subscribers. | How to subscribe: call 250-217-5821 to request an invoice and pay by credit card, or email your billing request to subscriptions@islandsocialtrends.com (and pay by e-transfer) | Subscription info: www.islandsocialtrends.com/subscribe-2
