There is still a year to go before the next provincial election, but if voters had their say today, it wouldn't look good for the B.C. Liberals.
A recent Angus Reid poll shows the party under Christy Clark is down to 23 per cent of voter support, which is about half the support it received in the May 2009 election.
The poll of 802 adults shows support for the NDP is up to 50 per cent among decided voters in the province. Meanwhile, the Conservatives have dropped four points to 19 per cent, and the Green Party holds six per cent support of the electorate.
Despite these numbers, New Westminster Liberal candidate hopeful Hector Bremner believes he stands a good chance in his riding.
"It is winnable," he said. "I believe that we're going to run a really strong campaign. We've been offering people a fresh approach to the 20th-century mentality that my opponents will be offering. - We've got a lot to be proud of here in British Columbia, and it's (about) trying to move forwards, not backwards. I think people in New Westminster feel the same way. They want a voice that's going to be talking for them, not at them. Not telling them what they need, but asking them, and then getting the job done."
Bremner said he plans to run a platform based on economic issues and build on the successes the current government has had in environmental issues, social issues and better business.
He also said more attention needs to be given to the school system and health-care sys-tem, including an upgrade to Royal Columbian Hospital.
Conservative candidate Paul Forseth also suggested issues related to health care and education need to be addressed but said costs need to be carefully considered.
"It's very easy for anyone to say, 'We need to spend more money,' but how are we going to pay for it?" he asked. "And that is the problem the current government faces - a revenue problem, and also a credibility problem, whether people believe or support the government anymore."
Bremner said the results of the poll reflect the disappointment voters feel with the current government but that voters should think twice about electing an NDP government based solely on a reaction to the Liberals.
"Voters would have to have a good, hard look at what the NDP would bring in an administration. Right now we're kind of in the disgusted phase about the government. - The NDP has won nothing, but the B.C. Liberals have lost everything. There really isn't a cogent platform for the NDP."
The NDP has held the New Westminster riding for 16 of the past 21 years, but Judy Darcy, the NDP candidate for the riding, says she is still working hard to find out what the most important issues are for voters in the riding.
"I don't put a lot of stock in polls," she said. "I think it's certainly a positive trend and says a lot about the positive vision that Adrian (Dix) has been carrying across the province, which we saw in the byelections."
Darcy suggested voters are responding favourably to the NDP, as shown in the poll, because they are warming to what she refers to as the party's "positive message about practical solutions."
"Having said that, a year is a long time, and we are taking nothing for granted," she said. "I take nothing for granted in New West. I have been working my butt off since I was nominated last Aug. 30, and I will be for the next 364 days."
Darcy said she wants to further the focus on seniors' care, and she also reiterated Bremner's and Forseth's acknowledgement of a need for the province to put more focus on health care, post-secondary education and environmental issues.
The Angus Reid poll, taken between May 7 and 9, has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
