EDITORIAL PAGE — Expect the unexpected

Residents of Ontario will go to the polls in early June to decide which political leader will hold the reins of power for the next four years. And not long after that, British Columbians will do the same.

The only certainty in both provinces is that the incumbent New Democratic Party (NDP) — headed by Bob Rae in Ontario and Michael Harcourt in B.C. — will move even farther down the road to political oblivion. While it may be a certainty that Rae and Harcourt are on their way out, what is less clear is who is on his, or her, way in. In Ontario, Progressive Conservative Michael Harris is reported to be gaining steadily on Liberal leader Lyn McLeod.

The political waters in British Columbia are a lot more muddied. The provincial Reform Party has a strong following, and that is clearly worrisome to Liberal leader Gordon Campbell. A few stalwarts from the Social Credit Party are still in action, and this may split the right-wing vote.

All this goes to show that elections are not won any longer — they are lost, by political leaders who so busy pursuing their own agenda that they forget to listen to their own constituents.