Next month’s provincial election is about all of British Columbia, but we hope candidates here make it about Vancouver Island and Nanaimo, too.
The writ dropped Tuesday to officially begin a four-week campaign, though for all intents and purposes, we were already in election mode. A fixed election date made sure of that, and it also served to simplify planning and organization for parties. Candidates who are serious about trying to win were well organized by this week and will have a healthy head start on the hustings.
The News Bulletin will cover the election and local races as closely as we can over the coming weeks. All our coverage will be posted online first at www.nanaimobulletin.com, and then in every print issue.
We hope the electorate here will view this next month’s exercise with enthusiasm rather than cynicism. Although a provincial campaign can seem big and unwieldy and something that’s happening across the Strait of Georgia and down the Malahat, what happens here is most important.
That’s why we want this campaign to be local. Many aspects of the parties’ platforms are relevant provincewide, and the three main parties have all made appealing promises. Our local candidates in Nanaimo, Nanaimo-North Cowichan and Parksville-Qualicum need to be able to communicate to voters which of those promises will be felt here.
Of course we care about the province as a whole, because in many ways, we share our successes and our failures. And we have compassion, and want a province that cares about and respects all segments of society.
But at the same time, we know that much election debate will surround Metro Vancouver-centric issues that don’t always resonate here. We’re anxious to see who will advocate for us and who shares our values and our visions. That’s what piques our interest and that’s what makes us most excited about the election to come.
For B.C. to be its best, it needs Vancouver Island’s voices and votes.