B.C. Voters set to pass judgment on Liberals, NDP
By Duncan Speight | April 13, 2005

The last B.C. election was the biggest landslide in the province's history, giving Gordon Campbell's Liberals all but two seats in the 79-seat B.C. legislature.

It's often been said that governments don't get elected, that they only get defeated. And in 2001, it was clear that many British Columbians were angry with the NDP, which had been in power for a decade.

Some of the demand for a change of government stemmed from the Fast Cat ferries debacle, which saw the price tag for three high-speed ferries hit $450 million.

The ferries were found to be unsuited to B.C. waters and were later sold at auction for $19 million.

There was also a great deal of animosity toward former premier Glen Clark, who was forced to step down in 1999 when it was learned he was under police investigation over an application by a neighbour for a casino licence.

Clark was later acquitted in court, but the political damage had been done.

Ujjal Dosanjh, who was elected by the NDP to take over in 2000, had less than 18 months to undo some of that damage.

But a week before British Columbians went to the polls, Dosanjh was forced to publicly concede defeat – and plead with voters to support the NDP in ridings where the party had a chance to win in order to elect enough New Democrats to form the official opposition.

Dosanjh lost his seat, along with 76 another New Democrats, and the NDP was left with two MLAs – Joy MacPhail and Jenny Kwan – facing 77 Liberals in the legislature.

The Liberals announced major tax cuts on their first official day as government. That was followed by wide-ranging spending cuts. This cut into Liberal popularity.

The government also brought in legislation breaking the contract with the 43,000 members of the Hospital Employees Union, giving itself the power to contract out their jobs.

Thousands of hospital workers did lose their jobs – leading to a province-wide health-care strike in 2004, a strike which nearly spread to other public sector services.

The Liberals also went ahead with their promised referendum on Aboriginal treaty negotiations, despite strong opposition from First Nations, many churches, civil libertarians, pollsters and many voters.

The government also sold off B.C. Rail's freight operations to CN in a controversial $1-billion deal, despite making an election commitment in 2001 not to privatize the railway.

The fallout from the rail deal could continue for some time. In December 2003, police raided two offices at the B.C. Legislature. A summary of the search warrants says police were investigating whether two B.C. Liberal aides leaked information about the sale of B.C. Rail in exchange for a job with the federal government.

The two now face charges of fraud, breach of trust, accepting bribes and attempting to offer influence.

Campbell's own political future was in some doubt after he was arrested and charged with drunk driving in Hawaii in January 2003. But he made a public apology, and many voters appeared to forgive him.

Meanwhile, interim NDP leader Joy MacPhail announced that she planned to leave politics in 2005 – triggering an NDP leadership race that led to the election of new leader Carole James.

She has said her job is to win back traditional NDP supporters who turned against the party in 2001.

The province's finances are improving, and the government brought in back-to-back balanced budgets in 2004 and 2005.

Now, it's up to the voters to decide whether the Liberals deserve another term, or whether it's time to give the NDP another chance.