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| Last updated at 2:59 AM on 29/05/07 |
Island voters hand the reins to Ghiz 
If there was one single major mistake by the Binns team, it was the Stratford school announcement.
The Guardian
The fall of the Pat Binns government Monday night hardly falls into the category of unexplained mysteries. It was clearly a case of a tired, sluggish third-term government looking for a fourth mandate, but lacking the energy, imagination or perhaps even the will to go another round with the fresh new faces of a surging opponent.
In last night’s provincial election, that opponent happened to be the Robert Ghiz Liberals who took 23 of the legislature’s 27 seats, leaving the Binns Conservatives with only four, and shutting out the Greens and the Island New Democrats.
The Liberal victory really shouldn’t have been a complete surprise. Only one other premier in Island history — Alex Campbell in 1978 — managed to win a fourth term. That the Tories anticipated achieving a similar feat in spite of the odds is really a testament to the remarkable popularity and credibility of Mr. Binns and the faith the party had in his appeal.
Many Tories apparently didn’t see defeat in the cards at all. When a Corporate Research Associates poll commissioned by The Guardian was released 10 days ago predicting that the Liberals were headed for a decisive victory, unbelievers challenged its veracity, even attacking the pollster and this newspaper.
In hindsight now, it’s clear that the Tories had been fighting an uphill struggle all along. But their campaign no doubt was also a factor in their defeat. It was the Liberals who were first out of the gate with their campaign promises, putting the Tories in the position of playing catch-up. It was the Tories who appeared to be scrambling for campaign ideas to match those of the Liberals.
If there was one single major mistake by the Binns team it was the Stratford school announcement. By coming up with $14 million for a new school for the community after making no provision for it in their last capital budget, and before the school board itself had made its own recommendations, the Tories appeared to be pulling this promise out of thin air. Letters to this newspaper certainly reflected this perception. One Stratford resident who supported a school denounced government’s handling of the matter. Other Islanders suggested it was a thinly-veiled act of desperation to win votes. The fact that the incumbent Tory MLA for the district, David McKenna, was defeated Monday is strong evidence that the Stratford school announcement was a campaign pledge that backfired.
After 11 years in office, the Binns government was simply bowed down by too much baggage. Among other things, it was dogged by high-profile political discrimination complaints, criticisms of wasteful spending burdening Islanders with deficits and a debt approaching $2 billion, growing intolerance for high taxation, and a track record for making poor business decisions, most notably propping up Polar Foods until its ultimate collapse and the loss of $31 million of taxpayers’ money. Not even Pat Binns was able to carry his team to victory under this weight. With the defeat of most Tory cabinet ministers, Islanders have expressed a strong desire for change, and by the impressive Liberal victory, they obviously are willing to let Mr. Ghiz take the reins.
There’s a lot wrong with our democratic system. It’s cumbersome, often unresponsive to the voters, and it gives unfettered powers to the victors. But only for a time. The day always comes when the people have their say. History has shown that to most third-term governments seeking a fourth mandate, they say “enough” and show them the door. And that’s exactly what Islanders did to the Binns Conservatives Monday night.
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29/05/07
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