Monday October 19, 2020 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke, editor | Island Social Trends
BC NDP Leader John Horgan is still the premier of BC until such time as the final election results are known — some three weeks after the October 24 General Election date.
The delay will be due to the length of time for sorting and counting the nearly 700,000 mail-in ballots that British Columbians have chosen to use this time during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today John Horgan cast his vote in his home riding of Langford-Juan de Fuca, around 9:10 am during advance voting at the Voting Place of Elections BC set up at Luxton Hall in Langford. He was accompanied by his handlers and a group of professional media with cameras in hand.
He gave the ballot box a good light tap after depositing his ballot into the box in the otherwise nearly empty community hall.
Everyone wore masks and physical distancing was adhered to.
Afterward Horgan answered a few media questions and gave some voting reminders to British Columbians by way of a video taped on the spot, with Luxton Hall in the background.
Then he hopped back into campaign transport and was on his way to his next campaign stop at Gyro Park in Cordova Bay in the Oak Bay-Gordon Head riding. There he was joined by several south-island BC NDP candidates including Murray Rankin (Oak Bay-Gordon Head), Mitzi Dean (Esquimalt-Metchosin), Lana Popham (Saanich South), Rob Fleming (Victoria-Swan Lake) and Grace Lore (Victoria-Beacon Hill).
The pandemic experience:
In Gordon Head the announcement theme was about health care cuts that happened under the BC Liberal government, and how the BC NDP has moved things forward to health care in BC during 2017-2020.
Food security is precarious, said Horgan about the pandemic. Basic necessities in some cases had a hard time getting through the border. “We all have a new view of grocery stores and food security as a result of the pandemic experience. We need to be able to grow our own food here in British Columbia,” said Horgan.
“We are just at the beginning of what will be a very long road,” said Horgan today about the pandemic experience. “The pandemic has daylighted a whole host of challenges,” he said.
“Making sure British Columbians are safe is my highest priority and always will be,” said Horgan today.
Horgan will be at Beacon Park in Sidney at 12 noon, and then over in Surrey on the mainland for 5 pm.
