With the BC Election now just 10 days away and the BC Liberals trailing in the polls – party leader Andrew Wilkinson will be fighting an uphill battle to break through the noise of pandemic news.
It’s been a pattern seen anywhere government’s have had relative success in their pandemic response – a baked-in advantage in shutting out opposition parties from the daily news cycle.
With the BC Liberals polling at 34-per cent compared to the BC-NDP at 52-per cent – Simon Fraser University political science lecturer Stewart Prest says the dust seems to have settled over the NDP decision to call an election in the midst of the pandemic.
“It’s been somewhat difficult I think for the Liberals and the Greens to make a coherent case for changing stream in the middle of this crisis,” he said.
Still, Prest says the release of the BC Liberal platform yesterday could move the numbers, though that would need to happen fast.
“People are broadly satisfied with the response to the pandemic and that is clearly the most significant issue for voters,” he added.
“So some of the other campaign issues that might have made a larger impact – a cut to the PST from the Liberals or a recommitment to more robust action on environmental issues that the Greens are talking about – they’re not necessarily making the impact that they normally would.”
Speaking on the NL Noon Report, Prest noted the BC Liberals are running out of time to shake up the race, with the NDP seemingly not paying a big price for calling the election in the midst of a pandemic.
“An additional advantage here – just when people think about that party they are no longer thinking about some of the controversies of the 1990’s that the Liberals used to campaign effectively against,” said Prest.
“Instead one of the things that people tend to think about when they think of the NDP is investments in social programming and investments in healthcare.”
The BC Greens are holding steady at about 11-per cent of the vote in the latest polls. Election Day is Oct. 24, with advance polls opening tomorrow, Oct. 15.