Letter to the Editor

The projected political avalanche on May 14 will bury the BC Liberals, and Bill Bennett, if he survives, will be out of government and a rookie in opposition.

The role of opposition rookie may prove to be even harder for Bennett than his rookie year in government when he got caught using his government position to promote a friend and former client’s helicopter business. A clear conflict. MLAs are not to lobby government officials to hire their friends. Bennett “blamed his mistake on his lack of experience, saying he was politically naïve.” [CBC Vancouver, May 2, 2002]

Bennett’s ad, April 13, 2009 stated: “When times are tough, a naïve, inexperienced opposition MLA can do little to help.” His recent ad is pure irony: “What choice will we make, a strong proven MLA or a rookie MLA?”

If Bennett should squeak in, he would be in opposition with two handfuls of Liberals, none of whom has been as rude or partisan as Bennett. So we know how quickly and often the government would be helpful to Bill Bennett. In this case, he could turn out to be a risky, renegade rookie. Bennett would be in the penalty box for four years and without his stick.

For those urging us to vote for the one who is going to represent us best, it’s not Bill Bennett. For those telling us to vote for the one who can be most effective in the next government, it cannot be Bill Bennett. It is Norma Blissett.

She’s a rookie, says Bennett, as though government in a democracy should not renew. In hockey, the rookie is renewal, as the tired old hands are moved out. Every organization renews.

There are rookies and then there are rookies. Having met Ms. Blissett a number of times, “rookie” may fit technically; but by her experience, education, age (52), judgment, wisdom and organization, she’s not much of a rookie.

In the May 9, 2012 Townsman, Bennett said, “I don’t fit very well in the Victoria political scene.” Unlike Bennett, Ms. Blissett will fit in as well in Victoria as she does in the East Kootenay.

For those thinking of voting for Mr. Bennett, his words at the Cranbrook election forum in May 2009 are instructive: “An opposition member can only whine and complain. It takes a government member to get things for you.”

William G. Hills,

Cranbrook

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