About 12 hours ago, I wrote about the B.C. Conservatives' election victory and complimented the Premier-elect Lorne Doerksen for sounding forward-thinking, measured and reasonable.
His remarks stood in stark contrast with those of B.C. Green Party leader Emily Lowan, who won a seat in the legislature on Vancouver Island making her one of two Greens elected last night.
It is well worth noting that Doerksen made a point of praising Lowan:
I also want to recognize Emily Lohan and congratulate her on an incredible campaign. British Columbians can be grateful for her passion, (and) all that she's done to inspire thousands of young British Columbians to get involved. So, thank you, Emily.
Suffice it to say, Lowan did not reciprocate stating, "We are the only party who is equipped to stand against the Conservatives and their existence." She could not bring herself to congratulate Doerksen and acknowledge the choice B.C. voters had made.
It didn't get much better from there. I should note that Lowan read from prepared remarks and was at times halting, hesitant and possibly on the verge of tears.
While I agree with Lowan when she says, "government is supposed to make people's lives better", I have my doubts as to her and her party's part in that endeavor.
We're holding the weight of both the joy of this victory and what comes tomorrow. And I'm going to be honest, I'm scared. I'm scared for what's to come.
Frankly, we know what's coming: cuts to health care, child care, (and) public services that people count on; attacks to the rights of trans people, Indigenous communities and immigrants; and a government that will put fossil fuel profits ahead of our fture and billionaires ahead of workers.
When I heard Lorne Doerksen speak tonight, I thought one thing: the Conservatives are promising everything that they're going to abandon....correction, give away!
No, watch the next years. As housing cuts continue, housing bills, our rent continues to rise, grocery bills (go) through the roof, and our hard-earned money that will continue to line the pockets of foreign multinationals.
This isn't to say that the incoming Conservative government in B.C. won't implement policies that aren't in the best interest of the province and they ought to be taken to task for doing so. But predictably Lowan is short on solutions and substance.
I was watching the B.C. election coverage online via Global News and they cut away from her speech. Had they decided Lowan's remarks weren't too depressing they would have seen she has every bit as harsh on outgoing B.C. NDP Premier David Eby:
And I think we have to take a moment to remember how Eby's tenure started. He stole power from social movements and who revitalized their party. He used an expensive witch hunt to oust a popular, Anjail Appadurai, to ascend the throne.
Unelected, he took control of the party and he turned his back on the social movements that created the B.C. NDP.
He took labour unions for granted and he did everything that big industry told him to do.
Lowan still wasn't done going scorched Earth on Eby:
Eby is part of a trend around the world where corporate liberals, with all of their tepid tinkering, create the desperate conditions for working people to ask for their oppressors to save them. We saw it in the U.S. in 2016, and again in 2024, and we're seeing it here because the establishment parties are not learning their lessons. That is why I got into politics. We are facing the death rattle of the old world. We are facing it.
I should mention that Lowan is all of 26. While it is remarkable that she is leading a political party at that age, I think her lack of maturity is on display for all the world to see.
Lowan could have congratulated Doerksen and the Conservatives acknowledging the will of the voters. She could have also pledged to hold them account if they saw fit to cut public services or attacked the rights of trans and Indigenous peoples. Simple, direct and to the point.
There is a time and a place for criticism and there is a time and a place for graciousness.
I can only hope Lowan will evolve when it comes to the latter. Unfortunately, I think Lowan is so wrapped in dogma that it might impede her maturity - political and otherwise.
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