I thank MLA Weaver for his attempt to justify supporting the provincial Liberal budget in a vote of confidence. It is confusing, however.
The Green party claims they represent the local constituents, and yet when almost 70% of Oak Bay-Gordon Head voters voted against the governing Liberals, surely the will of his constituents is clear — vote in opposition to the budget which Mr. Weaver criticized during the election campaign and in his maiden speech to the Legislature.
Support his Green members — who stood on doorsteps and echoed his criticism of the Liberal budget — not the Liberal regime.
His job, as an opposition member in a parliamentary democracy, is to provide intelligent opposition and positive alternatives to the governing Liberals; not to vote confidence in this government regardless of how bad it is.
Mr. Weaver should have represented the vast majority of his constituents and voted against a budget of a government that has massively mismanaged B.C. Hydro as well as B.C. Ferries and spent six million taxpayer’s dollars to pay the defence costs of two convicted Liberal operatives — and over $2 million more in legal fees to block the Auditor General’s investigation of this costly fiasco.
His hypothetical concern that in a minority government situation the government would fall and there would be another election is irrelevant when the Liberals have a handy majority and there was no chance of the budget vote failing.
Both he and his national leader Elizabeth May apparently offer voters another way to vote Liberal. She has even advocated a political deal with federal Liberals — despite their appalling environmental record — whereby they won’t run candidates against each other.
This is old fashioned back room politics masquerading as doing politics differently.
Surely those who voted Green in Oak Bay-Gordon Head did not intend to vote Liberal.
They must also wonder why their new MLA is so confused.
Ron Faris
Victoria