Stark urban-rural divide deepening in BC, observers say – Times Colonist

Provincial election results on Tuesday highlight the need for all parties to work to bridge the growing divide between urban and rural voters in B.C., say political observers.

I find it disconcerting to have this very stark division, Hamish Telford, associate professor and head of the political science department at University of the Fraser Valley, said in an interview Wednesday.

We see a real divergence in political culture and economy playing out.

Norman Ruff, associate professor emeritus of political science at the University of Victoria, said there have always been distinct regional patterns to the B.C. vote, but 2017 highlighted a deepening urban-rural divide.

The current economic and cultural contrasts between the North and the Interior with Vancouver and the Lower Mainland effectively define two British Columbias, Ruff said.

While one lags behind in its continued dependence on a dwindling natural resource-based economy, and in a sense still looks backward for its future, the other continues an exponential growth in diversity and enjoys a transition to an entirely new economy.

He called on all parties to bridge the divide as a matter of the provincial public good but also for their own partys future. He added that 17 Northern and Interior electoral districts have been given grandfathered protection in the distribution of seats around the province and now contain significantly fewer voters than elsewhere.

Telford points to the 2013 election and Liberal Leader Christy Clarks defeat in Vancouver (she later ran successfully in Kelowna), and controversies such as the province forcing a Metro Vancouver referendum on TransLink funding and the dismissal of the Vancouver school board.

The Liberals didnt have an urban-friendly platform, Telford added of the 2017 campaign, noting Clark again championed the rural vote by tackling the softwood lumber issue.

If she wants to work a government in this precarious situation, shes going to need to be more sensitive to the urban agenda and appoint cabinet ministers to key portfolios who understand urban issues better.

At the same time, the other parties must find policies that resonate with the Interior and North.

B.C. has always had polarized left-right politics, but when regional divisions taken on political overtones as they did in this election and they start to pit regions against each other, thats not good for the unity of the province.

Telford said the Liberals in recent years have cultivated a strong following in rural areas of mainland B.C., including through support for resource projects such as LNG exports, the Site C hydroelectric dam, and the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion project.

In addition to their rural strongholds, the Liberals on Tuesday also scored in traditional NDP territory, Ellis Ross winning the Skeena riding over the NDPs Bruce Bidgood.

At the same time, four Liberal cabinet ministers were defeated in urban ridings in Metro Vancouver: Attorney General Suzanne Anton (Vancouver-Fraserview); TransLink minister Peter Fassbender (Surrey-Fleetwood); Naomi Yamamoto, minister of state for emergency preparedness (North Vancouver-Lonsdale); and Technology Minister Amrik Virk (Surrey-Guildford).

While much of Vancouver Island is also rural, the region is traditional NDP territory. Of 14 available seats, the NDP took 10 (down from 11), the Greens three (up from one) and the Liberals one (down from two), though the NDP won by only nine votes in Courtenay-Comox an outcome that is expected to undergo a recount.

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Stark urban-rural divide deepening in BC, observers say - Times Colonist