ARMCHAIR ARCHIVES – Time for a new political movement in B.C. Interior

Andrew Wilkinson. (Image: Facebook)

The following editorial was first published Feb. 5, 2018. I think it’s of interest, even relevance, given the current political situation in B.C.

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

THE BC LIBERALS have picked a Kamloops boy as their new leader, but not the one many were expecting.

Andrew Wilkinson once attended John Peterson secondary school before he moved onto other places, but he’s a Lower Mainlander now. And about as status quo as you can get within the BC Liberals.

So now what? He heads up an opposition party divided by a fractious leadership campaign, struggling with an identity crisis, and challenged by issues like the ICBC “dumpster fire.”

Meanwhile, we have an NDP government feuding bitterly with another NDP government just across the border in Alberta, and a Green Party rump that seems more focused on fighting with its NDP partners than with the Liberals.

In short, politics in B.C. is a mess. There was another time when it was like this. Back in 1952, a Liberal-Conservative coalition was falling apart and the ‘socialist hordes’ — the CCF — were at the gates.

But along came Social Credit, led by a maverick Conservative by the name of W.A.C. Bennett who offered a fresh start.

Wilkinson, on the other hand, says B.C. needs to get back to the values of Christy Clark and Gordon Campbell — I think not.

Isn’t it about time to give up on the status quo, time to challenge the Coast as the province’s power hub?

Time once again, in other words, for the rise of a whole new political movement in B.C., but one centred right here in the B.C. Interior, one that puts the Interior first?

I mean a genuine grass roots moderate movement with no baggage, one with a practical and achievable vision that can reflect the true aspirations of those of us beyond Hope.

Who? I don’t know. Crazy idea? Maybe — unless we want more of what we’ve been getting.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.