The BC Liberals should learn from Tuesday’s election results and pay more attention to people in need, elected Abbotsford South candidate Darryl Plecas told supporters Tuesday night.
With the outcome still much in doubt as he spoke, Plecas, a BC Liberal himself, said his party needed to “take a lesson” from the number of people who cast ballots for the Greens and NDP.
“I so hope we win, but I think we’ve got to speak to a broader group of people,” Plecas said. “As Liberals we pride ourselves on being a very big tent: we want people who have a little NDP in them, a little Conservative in them, a little bit of green in them. We want all of that and I sometimes think we lose sight of that as we go along.
“It comes across as though we are a very arrogant collection of people. That isn’t the case but sometimes it seems that. So hopefully this will make us more humble and more respectful of the constituency overall, and especially people who are in need.”
Plecas said his party has done an excellent job of creating the foundations for a robust economy.
He continued:
“But what’s also important of course is helping those who need the help from their community, the people who are suffering mental health issues, the people who are homeless, the people who are struggling … with housing affordability. Hopefully this outcome – which is still going to be a victory for us, by the way, that’s my prediction – will cause us to be more attentive and to be of better service to British Columbians.”
Over in the Abbotsford West riding, Plecas’s BC Liberal counterpart Mike de Jong was positive and upbeat, but acknowledged the uncertainty of the result.
“Watch closely,” de Jong told supporters and volunteers, “because in a sense we are making history and perhaps constitutional history as this all unfolds.”
De Jong said the popular vote, which showed the BC Liberals picking up more votes than the BC NDP, illustrated that support for the party’s economic policies. Fifty six per cent of British Columbians cast ballot for opposition parties, but de Jong said the results showed “The majority of British Columbians still support that approach to government.”
“We will see what the future holds and of course always respect the wishes of the electorate,” he said. “I don’t want you to be morose, I don’t want to be disappointed. I do want you to look at those numbers and understand and remind yourself that the line between victory and the alternative is very thin indeed in British Columbia.”