Politicians are human. That means sometimes they do stupid things. (And many of you are reading that and asking “sometimes?”)

Taking advantage of a leaderless opposition, British Columbia Premier David Eby called a snap election. The idea was to kick his opponents while they were down and secure a majority government.

Now that may backfire, but not because he went against convention in his election call. His downfall is most likely to be due to cheap daycare. It is a self-inflicted wound.

Daycare is expensive and can eat up a large portion of a working parent’s income. Government subsidized daycare is seen by some policy makers as a way to keep parents in the workforce. Workers are good for the GDP (and taxes) and stimulate the economy.

Governments can’t afford to subsidize all daycare, so the competition is fierce for the few spots available, about ten per cent of the provincial total. You would hope those slots would be reserved for lower income learners who could use the break, but it doesn’t work that way. Frequently those who score the coveted spots are high earners, those who could afford to pay full price.

Like the premier and his wife. He makes a couple of hundred thousand dollars annually leading the province. She works as a doctor and probably makes even more. Do they need help with daycare costs? The optics, especially during an election campaign, are pretty dismal.

In accessing cheap daycare the premier has done nothing wrong. But it doesn’t sit well that the leader of a socialist party has a benefit that most in the province don’t. It smacks of out-of-touch elitism.

The situation reminds me of a few years back when it was revealed that federal Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer sent his children to a private school, with fees paid by the party. Once again, nothing wrong, but the optics were bad. Mr. Scheer resigned his post not long afterward.

Mr. Eby should have been smart enough to realize the political minefield he was stepping into. Taxpayers frequently can’t get their heads around the millions and billions of dollars government spends. They do understand ten dollars a day daycare. And it doesn’t seem fair that the Premier has it when so many don’t.

It is the sort of political mistake a smart politician should know enough to avoid. I suspect they voters will make him pay for it on October 24.