Login / RegisterAdrian Dix candidacy for leader poses a challenge to some NDP MLAs
For some B.C. NDP MLAs, Carole James was the perfect leader.
She never proposed anything too radical. We didn't hear talk of tax increases, higher fines on corporations, or a major shift in the delivery of health services.
About the most extreme thing she called for was a ban on corporate and union donations, which has already been done at the federal level and in Manitoba and Quebec.
During her seven-year tenure as NDP leader, James generally supported the government's major capital projects. For most of that time, she didn't say much about the province's disgraceful income-assistance policies.
To James's credit, she stood up for kids in government care. But with the exception to her opposition to the carbon tax, she never put NDP MLAs in the awkward position of having to support policies that made them uncomfortable.
This hid the lack of ideological cohesiveness within the B.C. NDP caucus—something that is now coming to light in the party's leadership race.
Three candidates—Nicholas Simons, Dana Larsen, and Adrian Dix—have started raising controversial ideas.
Simons has laid out a detailed poverty-reduction strategy, which includes a $12 minimum wage by 2012. He wants to build 1,000 social housing units a year, restore legal-aid funding to the 2001 level, and increase basic income-assistance rates so that recipients can purchase essential goods.
Larsen has promised to work toward the decriminalization of the sex trade, even though the laws are created by the federal government. He says he would "defund the police enforcement, prosecution, and incarceration of offences related to the sex trade".
Larsen also doesn't want B.C. taxpayers covering the costs of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's prison-spending spree.
Dix, who possibly has the best chance of being elected, has called for rolling back corporate-tax cuts, eliminating the harmonized sales tax, and banning cosmetic pesticides.
This makes Simons, Larsen, and Dix targets for conservative editorial writers at B.C.'s daily papers.
The other two leadership candidates, Mike Farnworth and John Horgan, are more middle-of-the-road politicians.
With the exception of Horgan's support for a carbon tax, there aren't any policy positions on Horgan's or Farnworth's websites that would pose any serious challenges for most NDP MLAs or to the province's mainstream media commentators.
Most people believe that Dix is likely to emerge with more support after the first ballot than either Simons or Larsen. And if Dix wins the leadership race with the help of the other two (who might try to extract a policy pledge in return for their support), more conservative NDP MLAs, including Farnworth and Horgan, are going to have to make some hard decisions.
Will they back their leader even when he promotes policies that go against the wishes of the business community and their media supporters?
Or will Farnworth, Horgan, and others decide to walk away from politics for a while, and possibly bide their time in case Dix falters—at which point they can step back into the spotlight and promise "pragmatic" leadership for the future?
We saw what happened when the B.C. NDP took a right turn under James. A baker's dozen in the caucus decided that they could no longer support her.
Time will tell if the same lack of ideological cohesion will be on display if Dix wins the leadership race and promises to jack up corporate taxes.
The cutline is disingenuous.
Xd
Adrian Dix is actually the most conservative candidate running for BC NDP Leader. His campaign is being run and supported by the NDP establishment. The Gerry Scotts and Bill Tielemans who have driven progressives away from the NDP in droves. What about Moe Sihota's support of Adrian? What about his support from the most destructive people in the NDP caucus- Sue Hammell and Bruce Ralston? Why doesn't Adrian have any support from the bakers dozen MLAs? Why won't he get any?
Charlie, you decry the lack of objective journalism. Look in the mirror.
Maybe you should spend more time following the comments here or just end anonymous comments altogether.
Adrian Dix is the guy the BC Liberals are gunning for and when he wins, they will try to discredit him. Just like they tried to do with Carole James. That's BC Liberal politics for ya, cheap and dirty!
As for Adrian--he works very hard, succeeded in stopping the closing of east side schools, has a young family, sacrifices time with them, demonstrates common sense, a concern for the less fortunate.
And, no, I am not his mother.
Some delusional NDPers don't understand that business has to be kept under control and not listened to. The business of business is not social welfare or job creation. It is to make money. They need to be led (rather than lead us), if we are to work for the common good.
I agree Big business and the rich already have their interests looked after by the BCLieberals however this province is made up of small and medium sized businesses whose owners have families who struggle along with the rest of us. Please don't make the mistake of lumping them all together as it isn't accurate. We need to have dialogue with all British Columbians including business owners. They create the jobs not the Mega Biz corporate hacks.
I see that you want a discussion but there has been decades of discussion and history lesson after history lesson of what happens to businesses that are regulated.
Distribution of wealth is changed for good and bad. In a good government, distirbution becomes a priority. how are big bugisnesses suppose to make money if they don't dish it out for their own employees? You literally get what you pay for. Less money many people have, the less likely they purchase big items. The recession? All becuase of credit cards and credit in general. If people had higher paying minimum wage jobs and wealth is controlled again and another middle class is built, we would be extremely less likely to be hit badly by another recession.
Also, we need to stop the dependancy on manufactured goods - that is, WalMart, nike, starbucks and McDonalds. If we created more decentralized small business that KEEP THE WEALTH in our communities, that would create a better economic structure.
I'm in school to become a social worker. I'm Native and I'm well educated. It is only my second year at a community college but if I can learn that from two years of post secondary education, imagine the smart ideas being created by people like me if there was a better way to go to school.
Dix may be the only person who can do that for me.