Voting Day!

Hello there everyone, ladies and gents, men and women, and any other Canadian citizen over the age of 18. The provincial election is upon us and it is voting time. That means that all the propaganda, advertisements, campaigning and lawn signs will be gone as soon as you cast your ballot. And this year, elections BC is making it easier than ever to do so.

Multiple stations are set up in each riding and will be open 8am - 8pm. Advance voting started on Wednesday, May 8 and went until Saturday, May 11. Over 3 million British Columbians took advantage of advanced voting this year. Everything you need to know about the election can be found at the easily navigable Elections BC website.

A quick recap. There are four large political parties in BC, The Liberals, NDP, Green Party and The Conservatives. There are also smaller parties, such as BC First and The Work Less Party, as well as Independent candidates.
Here's a quick overview of the main four's platforms:

The BC Liberals:
- Families first philosophy (strong health care system, keeping commitments to seniors, fighting crime and strengthening public education.)
- Believes in promoting the private sector (dedicated to job creation, supporting small businesses and promoting BC trade, particularly to Asia)
- Open government (being transparent, using social media and open town hall style meetings)

The BC NDP:
- Grounded in a history of addressing unemployment and poverty, fought for unions, Unemployment Insurance, Universal Health Care, decent wages and pensions.
- Approaching job creation by financial assisting students in post-secondary education and skills training.
- Champions public services, like education and health care and focuses on social justice, and equality.

The BC Greens:
- Sustainability and being accountable for the environment we rely on for a large portion of our economy.
- Social Justice, social programming and promoting close-knit communities.
- Power and responsibility refocused in local communities, including a strong green economy reliant on small, local business.

The BC Conservatives:
- Repeal of the Carbon Tax and increase in funding for Justice programs
- Trying to keep BC workers in BC by providing good wages, rather than losing them to neighbouring provinces. Support for agriculture workers, farmers and fisherman.
- See the Northern Gateway Pipeline as positive economic move for the province.

Now, like Lisa said before, not all parties are represented in each riding, so make yourself familiar with who is running in your area, as well as the leaders of the parties - these are the people that will be voicing our concerns and listening to the public for the next 4 years. We've broken it down as much as possible, so now go and exercise that democratic right if you haven't already! Tuesday, May 14th from 8am to 8pm - Vote!!

- Kim