FLETCHER: Lorne Doerkson rides a different trail towards BC government

Tom Fletcher has covered BC politics and business as a Journalist since 1984.VICTORIA — National media have had their first looks at BC Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson, an unknown quantity going into this surprise election where NDP leader David Eby has set new lows for desperate, dirty tactics.A few highlights: Doerkson used to compete in bareback bronco riding in his hometown of Williams Lake and around the Cariboo rodeo circuit. He has only (gasp) a high school education, so don’t expect him to be up to speed on Palestinian rights or Marxism.Perhaps the most significant bit of background is that he didn’t seek leadership. It sought him, first when John Rustad stepped down in the turmoil that followed the BC Conservatives’ sudden emergence as the dominant anti-NDP coalition party. Doerkson declined to serve as interim leader then, carrying on as assistant deputy speaker of the BC legislature, where he had gained a reputation for fairness in chairing committee meetings.That’s how he came to be in South Africa when former leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigned in the face of a caucus revolt. Speakers and deputies attend Commonwealth conferences where they nurture democracy and projects like providing clean water in developing countries.This time, he got the call at an airport terminal and said yes, perhaps not yet fully aware of Eby’s plan to call a snap election at the opposition’s most vulnerable moment..I have had only a nodding acquaintance with Doerkson. We worked for the same community newspaper company for many years, but in different towns with different jobs. He moved up from advertising sales to publisher; I moved up from editor to legislature correspondent, and our paths crossed occasionally after he was elected MLA six years ago.Doerkson is a Rotarian, as small-town publishers are expected to be. Friends and foes alike acknowledge that he brings a service-club style to his work, seeking to pitch in rather than take credit.It’s the final week for this election campaign, and rallies are happening in Kelowna, Langley, and perhaps other cities to show support for the BC Conservatives and loathing for Eby. I’m half-expecting the NDP to pump out messages that getting big crowds out shows Doerkson’s just like Trump.Eby opened by playing the Trump card, to little effect, even when he pulled on his red-and-black “Salmo dinner jacket” for a weak imitation of a CBC comedy show about building a “firebreak” against the MAGA hordes. The NDP’s negative messages have built in volume, if not credibility.I won’t describe all of the latest stunts, summed up efficiently here by Alex Zoltan as “NDP attack lines jump from blackface to separatism to Wainwright.”.Trying to use the military training disaster in Alberta to bolster a baseless attack ad about independence supporters infiltrating the BC Conservative Party is a mistake that Eby may not recover from. And he appears to understand that.Eby’s first damage-control move was to phone his friend Keith Baldrey at Global TV to give him the scoop on his regret that some may have misinterpreted his expression of loyalty to his country. That lasted about five minutes, followed by a more explicit apology and a solemn promise never to do anything like that again.It’s a boomer election, so Facebook plays a big role. The NDP “Maple MAGA” exposé consisted of three BC Conservative MLAs commenting on an obscure Facebook group called “BC Prosperity Project,” an apparent copy of the Alberta independence group.NDP military propaganda was also aimed at BC Conservative candidate Mike Hicks, running in the vulnerable NDP seat of Juan de Fuca-Malahat. Hicks is a long-time regional district director for this rural mid-Island community, as well-liked as Doerkson has been in his career.Eby’s team pushed an out-of-context four-word clip taken from a candidate forum to promote the claim that Hicks was advocating for a military assault on First Nations. Sadly, people see stuff like this on Facebook and believe it.Hicks was actually saying that in law, treaties are the only practical alternative to “conquest” for settling BC’s indigenous land claims. His source for this is the Royal Proclamation of 1763, signed after France surrendered its North American holdings to Britain.The Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark 1990 Sparrow decision relies on the passage that stipulates Aboriginal rights exist unless there is “extinguishment, by cession, conquest or legislation,” the latter usually being a treaty.Tom Fletcher has covered BC politics and business as a Journalist since 1984.tomfletcherbc@gmail.comX: @tomfletcherbc

FLETCHER: Lorne Doerkson rides a different trail towards BC government

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