When the leader of the BC NDP pulls up in a 鈥渟weet bus鈥� and starts talking about how tough he is, you can鈥檛 help but get a little bit swept up in the excitement of election season.

NDP Leader John Horgan arrived in 琉璃神社 Thursday with a small army of provincial media in tow and decided to throw down the gauntlet in the land of centre-right, free-enterprise loving politics.

鈥淚 was on the radio here today in 琉璃神社, and the host said 鈥榯hey鈥檙e doing negative ads鈥� and I said 鈥業鈥檓 shocked. Christy Clark is being negative? I can鈥檛 believe it,鈥欌�� Horgan said.

He then went on to list all the many things Clark has said about him.

鈥淪he called me a hacker, until it was clear I was not a hacker. She said something about me being not tough enough, clearly she didn鈥檛 see my nose after I was poked in the face playing lacrosse.鈥�

He鈥檚 plenty tough, he said. But are the dear, sweet people of this valley? Are NDP supporters strong enough to turn the tides of local history?

One of the women who went to the Deli City cafe Thursday appeared to be. She talked about how she just recently got into a heated political debate with her fellow residents at a local retirement home and when they went too right wing, she was tempted to offer up her right hook. All of this was in jest 鈥� I think.

What was more serious however is that the gauntlet has been thrown down, the gloves are off and we鈥檙e going headlong into campaign season.

It鈥檚 early days, but there鈥檚 a big chance that this political fight will be less polite than others. It鈥檚 the way things are going.

When asked when he鈥檇 be releasing his platform, Horgan joked with reporters that it would be, really big. Great. Everyone will like it 鈥� or something to that effect.

The Donald Trumpism got everyone in the room laughing, but it also was a reminder of how ugly recent election campaigns have become. The last Canadian federal election had a whiff of nastiness, but our American neighbours really brought it to a new level. One that I hope doesn鈥檛 make its way here.

So, let鈥檚 all cross our fingers and wish that these political leaders, however tough they may be, aren鈥檛 hardened to the idea of civility as they scramble for votes.

Otherwise, let the games begin鈥攊t鈥檚 election time.