By Chris Miller
Staff writer

At the corner of Penticton and Hastings, it’s easy to feel like a pylon on an obstacle course. Without breaking stride, passersby on this commercial strip of low-rise shops—carrying coffee, fast food, shopping bags or nothing at all, for better speed—give a sideways glance and throw up a hand as if to say, "Not here; not now." Less than a block from the Vancouver-Hastings campaign offices of Liberal challenger Daniel Lee and NDP incumbent Joy MacPhail, not everyone wants to talk politics.

Those that do give you an earful. One old Italian man shuffles by, criticizing politicians in heavily-accented English, making up for his lack of verbal clarity by opening and shutting his hand to mimic yapping mouths.

The Italian man doesn’t want to be interviewed, but Colleen Westeinde doesn’t mind, lowering a pair of heavy-looking plastic bags to the sidewalk.

Westeinde sees the Hastings riding as a battle between MacPhail’s personality and Lee’s party. She’s backing the NDP in this fight because she feels MacPhail is a better community advocate.

"A lot of people really like Joy MacPhail personally, even if they’re not behind her party. And Daniel Lee has been sort of campaigning on her behalf, with some of the things he’s been doing," Westeinde says, referring to Lee’s pre-election gaffes.

While campaigning, Lee told a local Chinese-language paper that Liberal leader Gordon Campbell’s planned tax cuts would affect government service levels, a serious no-no from the Liberals’ perspective. The Liberals subsequently announced Lee wouldn’t take part in debates with MacPhail because they don’t want rookie candidates debating experienced ones, a move some critics read as an attempt to muzzle Lee. Lee also came under fire for challenging a police officer over his treatment of a landlord accused of leaving his tenants without heat.

Westeinde expects a significant gender split in the vote, with working men—more concerned with running a business—voting for the Liberals, and women—more concerned with social issues such as education and health care—voting for the NDP.

"My husband will kill me," she says, after criticizing Lee. "He’s definitely voting Liberal."

Westeinde’s gender split theory holds true for Melissa Max and her friend Angela Snyder, neither of whom like the Liberals’ social platform.

"They’re not really too much into health; they’re just into lowering taxes," said Max. "[Gordon Campbell] has to be more concerned with the environment and the health care system—exactly what Ujjal Dosanjh is doing right now."

Union worker Kelly Parker’s casting his ballot for the NDP, not because of social issues, but because he doesn’t trust Gordon Campbell.

"I don’t think he’s honest enough, and there’s a few issues I don’t particularly like about him," said Parker. Indicating the woman he was walking with, he said both work for the public transit system. "I don’t know for sure, but I’m pretty sure when he gets in, he’ll want to rip [the system] apart and privatize it."

Not everyone in the riding thinks the NDP is on the right track. Ask Vince Aiello who he’s voting for and you don’t have to wait long for a response.

"Liberal—because they’re going to win and they’re a better party," he said. "The NDP are going to lose so bad. They’ve totally mismanaged our funds for a long time and everybody’s really fed up with the excuses."

Aiello thinks the NDP may not even earn enough seats to become official opposition. While he’s concerned about the Liberals having free reign in the legislature, he said that would still be an improvement over the NDP regime.