Clark admits election is close, other leaders make final pitches

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Just one day before British Columbians go to the polls, the leader of the BC Liberals is admitting that this is looking like an extremely tight race. And it seems Christy Clark is open to a number of scenarios if this ends up being a minority government situation.

Speaking on Breakfast Television on City TV, Clark was asked about the potential of a minority government and says she’ll be able to work with anyone — also saying she’ll accept any job voters hand her tomorrow.

But she’s also sticking by her message about jobs and the economy — arguing her record isn’t perfect but she has achieved what she wanted on that front. “It was a promise I made. We worked really hard on it for four years — have not been perfect. I can completely, 100 per cent accept that. But we’ve done the things that I think I make a really big difference for people.”

She is encouraging people to get out and vote and says she’ll be willing to work with any other party leader in the Legislature. “I will work with whoever voters ask me to work with. This is up to the people of British Columbia, they’ll decide what they want to do. And, you know, I can work with anybody. I’m up for whatever job people give me. It’s very, very close, so people should get out and vote.”

There have been numerous polls and surveys done over the past 28 days as the campaign comes to a close. Some of those say there are still many undecided voters who could make the difference, however, Clark laughed off the accuracy of polls while at a campaign stop in Richmond this morning.

She says she’s not really thinking about regrets on the campaign trail, despite controversies like that awkward run-in with a woman named Linda who confronted her at a grocery store in North Vancouver. “I’m thinking about today and tomorrow and how I’m going to work as hard as I can. My job is to make sure people know what I believe in, what I stand for, what I would like to do. Because if people want to make an informed vote, they really need every leader to just be honest and straight up about what they believe in and then they can make a choice about who they want to vote for.”

Final day for the BC NDP campaign trail

With the election just one sleep away, NDP Leader John Horgan has spent his day in Surrey where a lot of key races will play out tomorrow. And Horgan likes his chances against the incumbent Clark.

Walking into a room of people chanting ‘NDP,’ ‘NDP,’ Horgan was all smiles as he took the mic. His campaign was handed a blow late last week when the editorial boards of three major local newspapers endorsed Christy Clark and company.

There’s not much Horgan can do about that now, besides shrug it off. “I can’t recall an election where the elites have mattered less, than in this election campaign. When someone’s endorsement is, ‘Hold your nose and vote for someone,’ I think that’s not necessarily a glowing endorsement.”

Horgan adds his party has left nothing on the table this campaign and he continues to take strong early voting numbers as a positive sign.
There were more advance voting days this election than the previous one in 2013 and Elections BC says about 614,000 people voted before the May 9th election.

Greens plug differences

Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver was on the Lower Mainland today. He danced around questions of whether he’d support the Liberals or NDP should his party not form the next provincial government, as expected.

Instead, he’s plugging his party’s differences from the others. “If you look at the BC Greens, we’ve consistently said all along what we will do. We are not going down the rabbit hole of negativity. We’re not going to be pretending to be people who we’re not.”

Weaver adds his is the only party with a plan to consider a new voting system in BC and fully eliminate MSP premiums.

Voting around Kelowna

Elections BC is making alternative arrangements for voters in flood-affected areas who want to vote in tomorrow’s provincial election.