By David Carrigg
Staff writer

Moham Bahd, a long-time NDP voter, has just moved into Glen Clark’s Vancouver-Kingsway riding after losing his union sawmill job on Vancouver Island.

Bahd is furious with the way the NDP has handled the forestry industry and reckons the party lost 230 votes when he and his mates were given their pink slips. "I would like to vote NDP because that’s who I always vote for," said Bahd, visibly upset by his change in fortune. "But I got no job now and I can see the NDP has really done nothing for us."

Bahd said he and the other workers tried to get information on their mill from the government for six months before they finally got a pile of papers, with most of the information blacked out.

"They are supposed to be the party for union members, but I don’t see it," said Bahd, adding that voting Liberal is not an option. "They would probably be worse than the NDP because they work for the corporations. I might vote Green even though I’m a former mill worker—why not? I’d give them a chance."

Karen McCoy has lived in the Kingsway riding all her life and was raised in an NDP household, with her dad and brothers all union workers.

In 1996, McCoy and the rest of her family didn’t think twice about voting for Clark, who still maintains an office in the riding but is not running in the May 16 election. "I voted for Glen Clark last time and he didn’t work out too good," McCoy said. The former premier resigned from politics in 1999 after it was revealed he was facing criminal investigation for getting a free verandah addition from a friend who was also applying for a gaming licence. "I probably won’t vote for [the NDP] now, but I have to really think about it because we’ve always voted NDP. My family has always been union. It will be hard to decide."

McCoy, who may vote Liberal, said even her father is looking at other parties. "He’s getting less work all the time so he’s concerned about who he should vote for."

But it’s not all doom and gloom in the NDP stronghold. Lauren Houseman voted Liberal last time but in the past four years her circumstances have changed. She now had two kids and is single.

Houseman said NDP Kingsway candidate Alicia Barsallo visited her co-op last week and talked about the NDP’s plans for child care and support for single parents. "Those are the sorts of things I’m looking for this time," she said. "What she was saying seemed quite good."

But Houseman won’t be an easy catch—she’s using the Internet and television to learn what the all parties are offering. "I haven’t kept up to date with things because I’ve been at home with the kids, but it’s really important for me to know who I’m voting for."

Twenty-one-year-old James Chan is voting for the first time and has no interest in casting a ballot for either the NDP or Liberals. "They are mainstream and interested in the politics not the people," he said. "I’ve been looking at all the smaller parties like the Marijuana Party, the Greens and the B.C. Unity Party."