Provincial NDP won both by-elections Tuesday night and that is good news for the party and current leader John Horgan, who had the right approach even for the by-elections – hit Christy Clark in the gut, and that too with a negative style campaign ad. He’s not afraid to get dirty unlike Adrian Dix who let Clark and BC Liberals walk all over him and win a majority government. The Vancouver seat was a lock for the party as its a safe NDP seat but winning the Coquitlam one shows that there is trouble for Clark and her party. But it also shows that NDP will be bringing the Blitz next year when the general election happens!
By R. Paul Dhillon
With News Files
VANCOUVER – Provincial NDP won both by-elections Tuesday night and that is good news for the party and current leader John Horgan, who had the right approach even for the by-elections – hit Christy Clark in the gut, and that too with a negative style campaign ad.
Horgan is not afraid to get dirty unlike Adrian Dix who let Clark and BC Liberals walk all over him and win a majority government.
The Vancouver seat was a lock for the party as its a safe NDP seat but winning the Coquitlam one shows that there is trouble for Clark and her party. But it also shows that NDP will be bringing the Blitz next year when the general election happens!
Coquitlam – Burke Mountain elected NDP candidate Jodie Wickens and party said voters were sending a clear message to Clark’s BC Liberals that they have had enough of photo-ops and empty promises and that they are tired of a government that is neglecting the things that matter, like schools, hospitals and transit.
In Vancouver, BC NDP candidate Melanie Mark handily won her seat in the NDP-held Mount Pleasant.
“Jodie Wickens is the first-ever NDP MLA to represent Burke Mountain and Melanie Mark is the first-ever First Nations woman elected to the BC Legislature,” said Horgan.
“I am very excited about going into the Legislature with these two stellar campaigners who are our newest BC New Democratic MLAs. I expect that Christy Clark and her gang will sit up and take notice that people in BC are saying yes to the NDP.”
“Both of these remarkable women deserve the highest praise for their achievements. I could not be happier or prouder to be a BC New Democrat than I am today,” Horgan said.
Wickens, who is Executive Director of the Autism Support Network, is a long-time Coquitlam resident and is married with two children.
“Burke Mountain was a BC Liberal stronghold, but voters said no more,” Wickens said. “I told families that I would fight for them and that is exactly what I’ll do. Christy Clark won’t be able to ignore us anymore.”
Mark is Nisga’a, Gitxsan, Cree and Ojibway. The mother of two has a background in child protection and law enforcement having worked with children and youth watchdog, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, and co-created the Vancouver Police Aboriginal liaison office.
Former BC NDP MLA Jenny Kwan held the seat until July 2015 when she resigned to run successfully as a Member of Parliament in the recent federal election.
Burke Mountain was held by former BC Liberal MLA Doug Horne who was unsuccessful in the federal election as a Harper Conservative.
While the sitting government’s record for by-elections isn’t good but he NDP says its wins give the party momentum as it prepares to compete in both urban and suburban areas to return to government for the first time since 2001.
The next provincial general election is scheduled for May 9, 2017.
