Two defeated provincial cabinet ministers may end up running for the federal Liberals in the next election, Public Eye has learned. In an interview, former minister of state for mental health and addiction Brenda Locke confirmed she's looking at entering the nomination race in Fleetwood-Port Kells. That riding is presently held by Conservative MP Nina Grewal. Rumours also abound former management services minister Joyce Murray is filing papers to run in Conservative MP Paul Forseth's New Westminister-Coquitlam riding. Ms. Murray has not yet returned a phone call from Public Eye. A version of this article was originally published in today's edition of 24 hours.
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Re-run season
October 5, 2005
If Joyce Murray does in fact run in New Westminster Coquitlam, she will be the second recycled female in the race. The NDP chose 1980s MP Dawn Black to run there, rather than Steve McClurg, who came so close to winning just last year.
These would be real star candidates for the Federal Liberals ... and good people too.
Nice to see a party recruiting prominent women.
At this rate the Federal Liberals are going to expand their traditional area of success outside the Lower Mainland for the first time in decades.
Interestingly enough Brenda Locke is supported by many federal conservatives who are entirely dismayed by Harper -- and his inability to get rid of the Grewals. Will be a riding to watch.
Budd, what do you have against women anyway? From your delirious anti-audra rants to calling dawn black and joyce murray "recycled."
Steve McClurg screwed it up, couldn't organize his way out of a paper bag and lost the nomination. Dat's politics.
Boo freaking hoo.
If thease are truly star candidates..........then my ass has 5 points on it too.
The Conservative Party doesn't have the same appeal in BC as the Reform and Alliance Parties had. In 2004, the party received only 36 % of the vote in BC. A decrease in the Conservative vote next time could easily toss out a number of Conservative incumbants. Basically, BC is up for grabs, so if the Liberals (and NDP) run some well-known candidates, they will pick up a few seats.
Budd Campbell really does have a thing about women. Remember all the vitriol only a week or two ago against Christy Clark?
Now we've got a flake against a thug running for Mayor of Vancouver.
Keep in mind they are both defeated incumbents who the voters judged on their poor job performance.
Lucille Humphreys:
These star candidates you talk about are stars ... why? Because they are Liberals? Or because they have accomplished something. If the latter, fine. What are those accomplishments?
George:
Nonsense. Both lost because they won in traditionally held NDP seats in the largest landslide in BC electoral history. Losing their seats in the most recent provincial election is not a judgement of their personal job performance, but a result of a re-balancing of the Legislature.
Personally, I was blown away by the fact that Murray got 9,000 votes in New Westminster to Puchmyer's 11,000. That's a lot of votes for someone who had the government close a frickin' hospital in her riding - which I know she fought tooth and nail - with the demolition occurring during the actual writ period!
Murray is a fighter and a hard worker who will make the race there a very interesting three way fight.
A star candidate is what is needed in Fleetwood-Port kells - but not a Parachute drop in - someone from Surrey who knows the area, the people and the problems. Brenda Locke is a good start but how about some others - I think this ridding is winnable for the Liberals but they need some substance. This will be an interesting nomination and election to watch.
A little birdy told me that the federal Conservatives bailed out the New Westminster BC Liberal Campaign, federal grits were Missing In Action unlike Chuck Norris. Interesting that recycled grits like Joyce were there to help out Christy Clark who herself lost to the Comservative machine and a man named Sam Sullivan.
Jreilly:
You might be surprised how many "conservatives" you refer to are bleeding to the Liberal Party. With the Conservatives sitting at 20% in the Lower Mainland in the last round of polls, there are not many of you left.
I have seen this before where the red wave is supposed to wipeout the PC/Reform/CA/CPC vote but if anything the seats will go to the NDP - if the Conservative where to go somewhere else. In the last election, the Conservative vote stayed home or went to the NDP. The federal Liberal vote went the age of the dinosaurs or I should say Pierre Trudeau and his Salmon Arm salute. Think with your heads, not emotion.
If the Liberal vote went the way of the dinosaurs how come the Liberals increased there seat total in BC.
In the next election the Liberals will probably gain some urban ridings at the expense of the Conservatives - after all Paul Martin seems to be in BC every other weekend while Steven Harper seems to be no where to be found,
i thought that Dave Haggard was running for the liberals in fleetwood-port kells.
Jerry, I agree with you that the final vote figures from New Westminster hardly amount to any landslide for Puchmayr, and this in what has normally always been a CCF-NDP stronghold (2001 the lone exception). I wonder if that might be an indication, not of Murray's strength, but of Puchmayr's weakness? IOWs, should the NDP have gone with Steve McClurg for the provincial race? Failing that, should they at least have given McClurg another run at the federal seat?
Dave Haggard thought Fleetwood Port Kells was in Vancouver somewhere....
Budd, which party "gives people another run at a federal seat?" None do.
Why you may ask? Cause if you can't win a nomination, you likely don't have enough support to win a seat.
Puchmayr won the nomination and your buddy Steve lost. It was pretty much a guaranteed win for the NDP, so surely to God you would pull out all the stops to win the nomination. He couldn't get the job done (in a pretty small nomination meeting if I recall correctly) and watched Chuck take the seat relatively easily.
That is politics. If you think a nomination is a cakewalk, you shouldn't run. And you really shouldn't expect the (any) party to give you a free pass.
There are a number of candidates trying again who lost seats in the past.
In the contest with Puchmayr, Steve chose to do the houourable thing and not "pull out all the stops". He refrained from making personal attacks on Puchmayr and its time for Puchmayr supporters to stop attacking Steve.
Why oh why do good people get drawn into the dark side around here?
I hope Brenda will come to realize it's happening to her too.
Seat total went up - 7 seats. Was it not supposed to be a Liberal landslide in last election? Seven seats is such a scintillating result. Since a person posting a result calls him or herself pol101 - then if they studied pol101 - they should know the Province of British Columbia has voted many times for a protest vehicle - Reform, CA and the NDP. Are you going to tell me the federal Liberal Party who call themselves the "natural governing party" is a protest vote, I do not think so.
Are you going to tell me the federal Liberal Party who call themselves the "natural governing party" is a protest vote, I do not think so.
No - that is not what i am saying - i am suggesting that the Liberals will probably increase their seat total again next election in BC because Paul Martin appears to be trying to understand the political winds of BC - many moderate red Tories have had it Harper and will throw their vote to the Liberals while the real protest vote will go the NDP and Greens.
BTW - politics 101 is a guy.
Actually Puchmayr won by about 13,200 to Murray's 9,600. That's almost a four thousand vote plurality, not two thousand vote plurality. It's a bigger margin of victory for the NDP than what they got in 1996 (about 51 % vs 37% compared to 96' at 45% to 38%).