If history does, indeed, repeat itself, the B.C. Liberal government is done – time to stick a fork in 'em.
With the provincial election just around the corner, there is very little time for the B.C. Liberals to rebound their most recent misstep – a leaked memo detailing the plan to use of government resources to prop up the B.C. Liberals' popularity with ethnic communities.
It is a sign of a desperate political party willing to do almost anything in an attempt to cling to power.
Not only does the memo describe the misuse of government staff and resources, but its language in the January 2012 draft memo, which was leaked to the Opposition NDP, also makes the "outreach" particularly to the Asian communities as "quick wins" before the May 14 election sound completely disrespectful and hollow.
On March 1, soon after the NDP released the memo, Premier Christy Clark accepted the resignation of longtime assistant Kim Haakstad who e-mailed the ethnic vote-getting plan to party and government staff.
Then after an emergency cabinet meeting on March 3, Advanced Education and Multiculturalism Minister John Yap resigned from cabinet pending the results of an internal investigation.
Premier Clark apologized for the third time in the legislature on March 4, and didn't rule out resigning herself depending outcome of the report from her deputy minister.
We are witnessing the quintessential unravelling of a political party as it heads into an election.
We saw the Socreds go down in flames in the early 1990s under a cloud of investigations and misuse of government power. Then the NDP popularity plummeted in the late '90s while Glen Clark held the reins of power.
Now, it is very likely the B.C. Liberal government has reached the end of its rope.
If the party is annihilated in the election like the previous Socred and NDP governments were, it will mark the end of a made-in-B.C. fairy tale about a political party that was pulled out the dust by then leader Gordon Wilson and later taken to power by an idealistic Gordon Campbell who promised to change the way British Columbians were governed.
It would be unfortunate, indeed, if the NDP wins the 2013 election based solely on the unpopularity of the B.C. Liberal government, and not because of the virtues of its political platforms and the changes it would make.
It is unfortunate that good, hard-working MLAs like Donna Barnett will have such an uphill battle in her attempt to regain the opportunity to represent her constituents in Victoria.