The Queen of Capilano has returned, not to earth, but to the waters between Horseshoe Bay and Bowen Island. Her first week back in service, after a multi-million dollar refit, has received somewhat less than glowing reviews. The problem: the freshly painted boat, with its newly installed carpet, is consistently late, less likely to be on time than before its overhaul.
B.C. Ferries has this to say about the current situation:
We must acknowledge that in the last federal election in Central Nova the Green Party polled more than four times the vote of Allan H. Bezanson, the local Marxist-Leninist candidate. Never mind that David Orton, the Green candidate, secured only 1.5 per cent of the total vote — let’s concede that Elizabeth May might well be able to attract 20 times as many votes as Mr. Orton in the next election. That still won’t be nearly enough to take the riding from Peter MacKay, given the strong New Democratic presence, and Mr. Mackay’s 3,500 vote plurality in 2006.
Stephane Dion has already demonstrated that effective and charismatic communication is not his forte. But are subtraction and addition also difficult concepts for Mr. Dion? It’s hard to fault Elizabeth May. As wary as some may be about her views on abortion, she appears to be motivated by a desire to ensure that Stephen Harper and the Conservatives do not form the next federal government. Mr. Layton isn’t interested in this kind of coalition, as he naively — and apparently vainly — views the federal Liberals as fundamentally similar to the federal Conservatives. I don’t blame Elizabeth May for attempting to forge a pragmatic coalition of Liberals, Green and the NDP; I’m entirely supportive of such an approach.
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