Mayencourt, like his Conservative Party pals, stays short on details

I received a nice glossy mailer today from Lorne Mayencourt “a name you trust to get results.” I also received today a mailer from Hedy Fry, “I’m Hedy Fry dammit, I don’t need a cheesy slogan.” What is striking between these two pieces of resource wasting propaganda is just how short on detail Mayencourt’s is compared to Fry’s. Mayencourt’s mailer says that he “introduced” the Safe Streets Act and the Safe Schools Act. Nothing is said about either of these acts, it is probably good that there is little information provided as neither act has been effective in any way to bring about the results that they were designed for. The Safe Streets Act is just one more way for the police to intimidate and bully homeless people. The Safe Schools Act is just a set of empty promises as there is nothing in it that requires school districts to implement effective anti-bullying policies. Kudos to Mayencourt for trying to get the Safe Schools Act to stop bullying in BC schools, but naming an incredibly ineffective piece of legislation as one of your crowning achievements from 7 years in government is hardly something to be proud of.

Mayencourt apparently also “spoke up for victims of crime and fought against lenient sentences.” Playing to the Conservative base like this is a completely unnecessary tactic. It is not like Hedy Fry is a right leaning Liberal. Law and order minded voters are going to vote for the Conservative candidate no matter who that person is. By touting his tough on crime positions Mayencourt only serves to alienate himself further from the compassionate minded people of Vancouver Centre.

Under the heading “Finding Long-Term Solutions for the Downtown Eastside” Mayencourt lists “founded the BC New Hope Recovery Centre in Prince George to help addicts kick their habit and learn life skills.” While Mayencourt’s work up in Prince George is undoubtedly a good thing, Prince George is a long way from the DTES. Mayencourt has spent 7 years as the MLA for the riding adjacent to the DTES and during his time in office has done nothing to alleviate the problems of the DTES. The BC Liberals have been a disaster for social and housing programs in BC, and the DTES in particular.

I guess Lorne Mayencourt should not be chastised too much for having such a thin resume and such unimpressive accomplishments. As a two term backbencher Mayencourt has never really resonated with the public. He barely managed to eke out a win in Vancouver Burrard back in 2005, and perhaps even lost (there was an issue regarding uncounted ballots that was never resolved and Mayencourt only won by 11 votes). I hope that Vancouver Centre voters look into Lorne Mayencourt’s record before deciding to vote for him. He really has done nothing to warrant more time in public service.

i wonder where Lorne Mayencourt will end up after the election

It has been expected for quite some time that Lorne Mayencourt would run for the Conservatives in Vancouver Centre, and he finally declared that he is running last Friday. What I am wondering is whether he was offered some sort of position by the Conservatives should he lose the election. I do not think that Mayencourt has much of a chance winning in Vancouver Centre with the NDP having a strong candidate in Michael Byers, and Hedy Fry still having a great deal of support after 15 years as the riding’s MP. What I do think Mayencourt can do is draw enough of the Liberal vote to perhaps cause Hedy Fry to lose to Michael Byers. Adrianne Carr, who is running for the Greens, is also a strong candidate and should win a couple more thousand votes than the Greens came up with in 2006.

What I am curious about is why Mayencourt would run in a riding that he has very little chance of winning, give up his provincial seat (and his paycheque), force a byelection for Vancouver Burrard provincially, all just so he can run a losing campaign. Maybe Mayencourt actually thinks he can win in Vancouver Centre. The riding is larger than the provincial riding of Vancouver Burrard with much of the extra population being in Kitsilano and False Creek, areas where Mayencourt might do okay. In order to win though, Mayencourt would have to pull a huge amount of support from Hedy Fry. I would suspect, though I have not seen the polling data, that the Conservatives already do well in areas like Coal Harbour, Yaletown, False Creek, and Kitsilano. Mayencourt would have to cut deep into Hedy’s support in places like the West End. While Mayencourt is queer and clearly has been supportive of the community, Hedy Fry has always been a very strong supporter and remains very popular in the queer community. I still like Hedy’s chances, but it will be a much closer election than has been had here in a very long time.

Harper’s swipe at Campbell a bad tactic

I was surprised to read today that Stephen Harper spent part of his time in Richmond today taking swipes at Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals, mainly taking issue with the BC carbon tax. While it may seem to make sense to attack a tax that Harper opposes at the federal level, by criticizing Campbell he may be undercutting much of the Conservative support in BC.

The BC Liberals are the closest thing that BC has to a conservative party. I know that there is a BC Conservative Party (with no affiliation with the federal Conservatives), but they run few candidates and most voters have never heard of them. Many BC Liberal voters, organizers, and volunteers, are people who would ordinarily support the federal Conservatives. I hope that some of those supporters think twice about voting for the Conservatives now that Harper has made it clear that he completely disagrees with one of Gordon Campbell’s major policy decisions. The carbon tax debate is going to be key in the May 2009 BC election, and Harper’s swiping at Campbell now could have an effect later.

With all that said, I am happy to see Harper taking on yet another provincial premier. Hopefully Gordon Campbell and Dalton McGuinty speak up during the federal campaign and highlight how counter-productive it is to have a Prime Minister who is constantly squabbling with his provincial counterparts.