There are those who believe that, with no more Ringling Brothers or P.T. Barnum around, the circus is dead. These people have clearly never cast their gaze in the direction of British Columbia politics, where every day brings forth new highwire acts, clowns and exotic animals.

The most recent attraction is the spectacular collapse of BC United and the meteoric rise of the BC Conservatives, who are now polling in a statistical dead heat with the NDP. The dynamic has convulsed B.C. politics and raised the possibility of a merger with BC United or a confrontation with the NDP, but either way, the provincial election in October is shaping up to be a showdown almost no one saw coming.