When the leader of the BC NDP pulls up in a āsweet busā and starts talking about how tough he is, you canāt help but get a little bit swept up in the excitement of election season.
NDP Leader John Horgan arrived in Ā鶹AV Thursday with a small army of provincial media in tow and decided to throw down the gauntlet in the land of centre-right, free-enterprise loving politics.
āI was on the radio here today in Ā鶹AV, and the host said ātheyāre doing negative adsā and I said āIām shocked. Christy Clark is being negative? I canāt believe it,āā Horgan said.
He then went on to list all the many things Clark has said about him.
āShe called me a hacker, until it was clear I was not a hacker. She said something about me being not tough enough, clearly she didnāt see my nose after I was poked in the face playing lacrosse.ā
Heās plenty tough, he said. But are the dear, sweet people of this valley? Are NDP supporters strong enough to turn the tides of local history?
One of the women who went to the Deli City cafe Thursday appeared to be. She talked about how she just recently got into a heated political debate with her fellow residents at a local retirement home and when they went too right wing, she was tempted to offer up her right hook. All of this was in jest ā I think.
What was more serious however is that the gauntlet has been thrown down, the gloves are off and weāre going headlong into campaign season.
Itās early days, but thereās a big chance that this political fight will be less polite than others. Itās the way things are going.
When asked when heād be releasing his platform, Horgan joked with reporters that it would be, really big. Great. Everyone will like it ā or something to that effect.
The Donald Trumpism got everyone in the room laughing, but it also was a reminder of how ugly recent election campaigns have become. The last Canadian federal election had a whiff of nastiness, but our American neighbours really brought it to a new level. One that I hope doesnāt make its way here.
So, letās all cross our fingers and wish that these political leaders, however tough they may be, arenāt hardened to the idea of civility as they scramble for votes.
Otherwise, let the games begināitās election time.
