Ethnic perspective on election

Like many political pundits taking a retrospective look at the B.C. Liberal government’s surprising election victory, SFU business student Japreet Lehal believes the premier’s “wow” factor was her trump card. Lehal, a well-known youth columnist for the Surrey Leader and Peace Arch News, can offer a multicultural perspective on the NDP’s missed opportunities in the election. “Certainly, Mr. Dix’s opposition to negative campaigning is commendable,” says Lehal. “However, he still needed to emphasize and better communicate with voters, issues like the ethnic memo scandal and economic policies. Regardless of the surprising results, Mr. Dix’s campaign certainly deserves credit for introducing a new type of anti-negative politics to B.C. If such a political game plan is adopted in the future, which hopefully politicians will do, it is important that it is augmented and infused with charismatic leadership, a stronger emphasis on the issues at hand, and a clear position on pressing controversial issues.”

Japreet Lehal, 604.501.1600, jlehal@sfu.ca