British Columbia's next premier could face a "democratic accountability" gap if the province doesn't go to the polls until 2013, says the architect of British Columbia's fixed election dates.
Nine years ago, then-attorney-general Geoff Plant introduced B.C.'s law that promised to end elections at the whim of the premier. On Thursday, he said that law did not contemplate the situation B.C. is in today, where the governing party is choosing a new leader early in its mandate.
"The people of British Columbia, in 2009, did not elect any of the five candidates to be premier," Mr. Plant noted in an interview. The BC Liberal Party will choose its new leader – and B.C.'s next premier – on Feb. 26, and the next scheduled election would be held 27 months later.
"So there is a gap in democratic accountability that sometimes has to exist, that's just the way the process unfolds," Mr. Plant said. But, he added, the law does offer the flexibility should the new premier decide to seek a mandate from voters.
"People can debate the politics of it, the reality is none of the five leadership candidates will be able to go into the legislature and look at the assembled members and say that they have a mandate directly given to them by the people of British Columbia to lead the government."
Earlier this week, B.C. Liberal leadership contender Christy Clark proposed that she'd be willing to go to the polls early if she becomes premier.
Her rivals have denounced the plan, saying the fixed election date is a core commitment from the BC Liberals.
When Mr. Plant introduced the law, the Constitutional Amendment Act of 2001, it was delivering on his party's campaign commitment to electoral reform. The amendment runs two scant sentences, and debate in the legislature was similarly thin.
In introducing the bill, however, Mr. Plant was passionate about the reason for change.
"For far too long, the voters of British Columbia have been held hostage by the personal and political agenda of whichever premier was in office," he said at the time.
However, he stressed then that the four-year calendar was not carved in stone, that the Lieutenant-Governor still has the power to dissolve the Legislative Assembly. "Nothing in this bill will undermine that basic rule of a constitutional democracy."
It is not clear yet that the BC Liberals would gain a political advantage by calling an early election. Their main rivals, the BC New Democratic Party, are in disarray after a caucus revolt prompted leader Carole James to step down. The party has not yet set a date for its leadership contest to replace her.
But pollster Evi Mustel said Thursday that B.C. politics are in such a state of flux, it is not possible to predict whether the Liberals would have an electoral edge once their leadership race is concluded in February.
"It's definitely in flux and very, very volatile," said Ms. Mustel. "Based on poll numbers right now, it's anyone's race. With the leader of the NDP unknown, it's hard to predict who could win the next election."
A Mustel Group poll released this week found the BC Liberals with a 5-per-cent lead over the NDP – 41 per for the Liberals compared to 36 per cent for the NDP. The telephone poll conducted between Dec. 3 and 12 contacted 400 British Columbians. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Justine Hunter