Fleishman Hillard: The Political View

A by-election vote is scheduled for Nov 9, 2009 in the riding of New Westminster – Coquitlam. The riding was previously held by Dawn Black, provincial NDP MLA for New Westminster. Black won the riding back from Reformer / Conservative Paul Forseth in the 2004 election. The Liberals have never held the seat and usually place a distant third.

The blue collar riding on the outskirts of Metro Vancouver is divided between the City of New Westminster and the City of Coquitlam, and encompasses a portion of the City of Port Moody. This is a critical swing riding in BC and is one of the many cities across the country that the Tories need to make political inroads into,  in their quest for a majority.

The Tories are represented by three-time City of Port Moody councilor Diana Dilworth http://www.dianadilworth.ca/.  Her message throughout the campaign has stated that residents of the riding would be better off if they were represented by a member of the government. Her views are ironically reinforced by this recent Rick Mercer sketch, making light of the controversy surrounding Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

The NDP is represented by City of New Westminster councilor and staunch environmentalist Fin Donnelly  http://www.findonnelly.ca/, who has been attacking the government’s controversial HST policy and criticizing its global absence on the climate change debate. Donnelly has been pushing with Burnaby New Westminster MP, Peter Julian for an independent judicial inquiry into the missing pacific salmon sockeye run. A request that appears to have the support of the Federal government as of late Thursday.

Lastly, Ken Beck Lee http://www.kenlee.ca/, an engineer and a Korean business owner, is carrying the flag for the Liberals.  His approach has been similar to the NDP candidate – attacking the government for its climate change polices and for bringing in a “tax hike” during a period of economic uncertainty.

By-elections are usually good barometers of the current public opinion of the government. With recent public opinion polls showing support at an all time high for the Harper Conservatives, it will be interesting to see if the polls translate into votes at the ballot box on Monday. If the Tories manage to steal this riding back from the NDP, readers shouldn’t expect the Liberal Official Opposition or the NDP to be angling for an election anytime soon.