6 Terrace Review. —. Wednesday, October 16, 199! ’ : ca ‘ 1 election race in the 1970’s that the choice for voters ~ = was like being told to buy a new car and having to choose between an Edsel and a Firenza. Although in most B.C. ridings the task of voting is not quite that abysmal, Many voters seem to think that neither of the two main- — Stream parties in B.C. are really representative of their particular philosophy of governing. In the past 20 years election campaigning and the ballot- ing that follows in B.C. have been largely influenced by fear — fear of victory by either the "socialists" or the “capitalists". The fringe parties have little chance of pen- etrating this wall of paranoia because even those voters. who have little sympathy with either extreme want their ballots to count for something; the fear of division on the right or left has preserved the two-party strangichold on the B.C. legislature. It is time to allow more diversity in the B.C. political complexion. There are numerous democratic election models from which to choose, but adopting a run-off elec- ‘tion system would carry the most immediate benefits with the fewest structural changes to the existing way of choos- ing representatives. Voters in most ridings could cast a ballot in the first run for whoever they felt was the best candidate without fear that failing to support their second-choice party would result in "the other guys" being elected. This would give a genuine opportunity to alternative parties, whether they be Green, Liberal, Rhino, Family, Libertarian, P.C. or Com- munist. If no candidate receives a clear majority in the riding, a second, run-off election would be held, the candi- dates being the two who polled the most votes in the first election. This system would also have the benefit of elect- ing members who have majority support in their ridings. The two referendum questions voters will find in the booth tomorrow are in fact attempts to address what the government sees as growing dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in Victoria. The right of initiative would allow citizens to compel the legislature to consider specific pro- posals for law, and the right of recall would allow the people to fire their MLA’s between elections. Neither of these proposals would improve government — initiative is like an invitation for special interest groups and powerful lobbies to take over the government, and recall would kiil what little original and objective thinking there is in Vic- toria. The real problem is a lack of political options on election day. Let’s bring the fringe in out of the cold. H unter.S. Thompson said of one U.S. presidential, .. -. TRUS Fon svene. Established May 1, 1985 The Terrace Review is published _ gach Wednesday by Close-Up. Business Services Ltd. 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The editor reserves the right ta condense and edit DITORIAL DONT fa ANY ATTENTION 0 THE LIBERALS, THEYRE NOTA SERINS PARTY.” ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL — With so little time left to Thursday’s election, is the marked improvement in the Liberal Party’s position in the polls any- thing to be surprised about? Well, as a politician would say, yes and no. While many may try to attribute the apparent rise in support for the Grits solely on the performance of their leader Gordon Wilson in the not-so-great TV debate, it is much deeper than that. And it is what remains of the Social Credit Party which should be most concerned. Mr. Wilson’s attempt during the basically boring TV event to por- tray himself as a modem-day W.A.C. Bennett, was a bit much; but it is true he acquitted himself fairly well. . However, even his supporters admit that he was the one leader there with absolutely nothing to lose, nothing to promise, and noth- ing to defend. While Mr. Harcourt nervously — tried to field the double-barrelled attack both from the Liberal leader and from a strident Premier Rita Johnston, all Mr, Wilson had to do was to look down his nose at both of them, and go tsk, tsk... as he did. That scored him some overdue respect, and some percentage points in the public-opinion polls. But most of that change in sup- port came at the expense of the Socreds; and that could be such a ‘factor in the polling booths on Thursday that it may even threaten some of their safest seats. As witnessed in Ontario a year ago, the NDP could become gov- ernment with less than 40 percent The view from Victoria — by John Plifer of the popular vote, as the two other parties split the remaining 60 percent. And with so many disaffected Socreds looking for somewhere to place their vote after watching the erosion of their party through the Vander Zaim years, the Liberals look attractive. Into this mix, one must add the clear political signal sent by Socred grande dame Grace ‘McCarthy just before the cam- paign got under way. Her executive assistant of the past four years, Jim Bennett suddenly surfaced as campaign manager for a North Vancouver Liberal candi- date, David Mitchell. It is hardly coincidental that Mr. Mitchell is the biographer of the founder of Social Credit, W.A.C. Bennett — the very man Mr. Wilson tried to suggest he exem- plified. Clearly, the only interpretation which can be put on Bennett’s move is that it was to send a mes- sage to the thousands of Socreds disappointed, disillusioned and/or disgusted with the outcome of July's leadership contest, which McCarthy narrowly lost. - The message read: “If you can’t vote for the Socreds, don't go to the ‘socialists’. Vote Liberal.” And yes, dear readers, this corre- spondent believes that the conven- tion, and the two or three years of non-stop party infighting which preceded it, generate more than enough bitterness to lead to such a turnabout. It will not be long before we know whether Mrs. McCarthy'‘s message, mixed with Mr. Wilson’s performance, and stimred by some of the media’s love affair with the Liberal leader, will lead to a wholesale change of B.C.’s politi- cal map. Parting Thought: Noticeable to his absence at the CBC-TV stu- dios for the election debate was chief Socred strategist, Patrick Kinsella. All of the other campaign han- dlers for the three parties were there, leading to speculation that the allegedly machiavellian Kin- sella did not want to face media questions about his handling of Mrs, Johnston’s campaign. It has been poorly organized, lacking in fire and direction, and designed to keep the Premier away from the very people she needed to meet to try to improve her party’s showing, All of that appears to fly in the _face of Kinsella’s considerable reputation as a backroom fixer and image maker. Therefore, he: . &. Has lost any ‘magic touch’ - which he might once have had B. Was too busy worrying about -how the Blue Jays are doing C. Knew months ago from his constant polling and demographic analyses that Social Credit was dead, period. So, he and his troops began manipulating the media and its pollsters to create an apparent ground-swell of support for any- one but the dreaded NDP who might threaten his mealticket, D. Has little faith in Mrs. John- ston, believing her to be out of her depth, out of her league, or E. None of the above. Don’t forget to vote on Thutsday, eh?