Fifty Shades of Grey

8:00 a.m. May 15, 2013

Fifty seats. A Liberal majority. Worse, a greater majority than they had before the May 14 election, which begs the question: “What was that all about?”

It was a duplicate of the provincial election in Albert last year, where the advance polls predicted that the Wild Rose party would rear up and bite the Conservatives in the butt, and the advance polls were wrong. In BC, the advance polls predicted a healthy majority for the NDP, and the advance polls were wrong. Very wrong. Appallingly wrong. So wrong that if I screwed up in my job like that, I’d be fired.

Well, maybe not.

In any event, Ter and I watched with increasing horror last night as the numbers tilted alarmingly in the opposite direction from that which the polls and political pundits had predicted. It was almost amusing to watch the talking heads scramble to explain what the heck was happening as the ballots were counted. Without a political science degree or any sort of experience beyond observation of human nature (which apparently weighs as much as a political science degree), I think two things happened: a split vote, and fear.

If you combined the votes for NDP and Green party candidates, they outran the Liberals in almost every riding. I say “almost” because there are pockets in the province where the Liberals won’t move unless TNT is employed. Same with the NDP, in fact. The Greens are gaining popularity and good for them; it’s just that they act as spoilers for the dueling titans who have historically batted the people back and forth over the past few decades. If only more people had voted for them, perhaps the results would have been a minority government with more power to the opposition.

And while the advance polls seemed to favour a public desire for change, in truth, people are afraid of change. Especially when they feel threatened or hopeless. Most of the folks elected last night were the same folks elected four years ago. Where change was forced because the incumbent did not run for re-election, the voters took the fear route and chose a promise of a strong economy based on the sale of our natural resources and a bunch of other long-term schemes that basically rely on winning the lottery. But if you repeat something often enough, people start to believe it's inevitable, and the Liberal message was pretty well all about the money. It wasn’t about the people, unless you count the typical slam attacks on the guy running in opposition.

I believe that people do want change. They want their kids to be better-educated and have better opportunities. I’m for all that; but I also believe that planning so far in the future dismisses the needs in the present. Our kids are our future. They need funding now, not down the road when they’re heading to post-secondary education (and how many of them will make it that far if their current conditions stay the same?) I don’t understand how the economy works. I only know that the cost of shelter, food and utilities increases by leaps and bounds every year, and my salary doesn’t. Truly, I doubt that would change no matter who’s in charge, but really? I hoped for a courageous outcome in this election, and I didn’t get one.

Bugger.

On the bright side, I just got back from my walk. It rained earlier on and the air smelled green and sweet at the top of the slope, and salty/tangy near the water. The world hasn’t changed with the election. The birds are still singing, flowers are still blooming, the bears are still playing Aussie rules football in the middle of my bed, and I’m still on vacation. I’m still a writer.

And the sun is still up there. It’s just behind the clouds.