Clark reminded B.C. voters may still not be happy

<p>VANCOUVER – B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s byelection victory has given her a seat in the provincial legislature, but also a reminder that her Liberals aren’t out of the public’s penalty box yet.</p> <p>Clark won the Vancouver-Point-Grey byelection Wednesday by less than 500 votes, shaving the Liberal win in the riding to four per cent over the NDP, from the 10 per cent former premier Gordon Campbell won it with two years ago.</p> <p>Clark acknowledged the results might be regarded by some as a “squeaker.”</p> <p>”But you know what: When (Vancouver Canuck captain) Henrik Sedin is holding the Stanley Cup over his head, and he’s doing it on Game 7 after the third overtime, not a single one of us is going to complain that he won,” Clark told her supporters.</p> <p>Still, the results suggest Clark still has work to do to rebrand the Liberals under her as a party of renewal and change after 10 years under Campbell.</p> <p>Clark became Liberal leader earlier this year after plummeting opinion poll numbers over the Liberals’ introduction to the HST forced Campbell out. He quit politics for good in March and vacated his seat for Clark.</p> <p>David Eby, Clark’s NDP opponent who took a leave of absence from his high-profile job as executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association to run in the byelection, said he did better than he even believed he would at the beginning.</p> <p>”I had no idea we would end up so close,” said Eby, who was cheered loudly by supporters during his speech.</p> <p>”I think Christy got lucky in some ways that it was such a short campaign.”</p> <p>Byelections are notoriously tricky. Clark’s win is the first by a B.C. government in 30 years.</p> <p>And Vancouver-Point Grey is not the easiest Liberal seat in the province.</p> <p>Clark told her supporters they should look to the results and understand two things: First, that low voter turnout could lead to an NDP win next time. And second, the close results show Liberals should take nothing for granted.</p> <p>”Even though we did well – we did almost as well as we did in this riding in the last general election – the NDP did better. We cannot count on the New Democrat vote to split.”</p> <p>The byelection win means Clark will now be able to fully get down to the job she won in February’s Liberal leadership race.</p> <p>With a seat in the legislature, Clark will be expected to face Opposition questions during question period.</p> <p>Clark has a reputation for being a feisty debater in the legislature, but political science Prof. Norman Ruff said Clark will now have to prove her mettle.</p> <p>He said her lack of a seat in the legislature until now has limited her political presence, and left her with little to do but make good news announcements where “her major weapon at the moment is this disarming smile she has.”</p> <p>Ruff said Clark needs to add more meat to the so-called Families First political agenda she outlined during her leadership campaign.</p> <p>”She’s got to go beyond that slogan and start to be much more concrete,” he said.</p> <p>”Families First is a phrase that can include everything under the sun, and ultimately, very little.”</p>