Five lessons that B.C. NDP leadership candidates can learn from the 1990s

by Charlie Smith on January 2nd, 2011 at 1:14 PM

The B.C. NDP won two elections in the 1990s, which was rather remarkable given the party's history.

That's because the B.C. NDP and its predecessor, the B.C. wing of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, only won three elections in this province since the party's creation in 1933.

That's three out of 22 B.C. elections—a batting average of only .136. It's a pretty dismal record, and enough to have most baseball players demoted to the minors.

Holding the record for defeats were B.C. NDP leaders Harold Winch and Robert Strachan, who each lost four times. NDP Leader Carole James only lost twice.

In each of the three elections that the B.C. NDP won, the right-of-centre forces were divided. The Liberals, Conservatives, and Socreds split the anti-NDP vote in 1972. In 1991, the B.C. Liberals and Socreds divided the right-wing pie. And in 1996, Reform BC under Jack Weisgerber took enough right-wing votes to deny the Gordon Campbell-led B.C. Liberals a victory. (Gordon Wilson's Progressive Democratic Alliance also attracted a fair amount of support in that election, though some probably came from people who might have otherwise voted NDP.)

The B.C. NDP suffered its most humiliating defeat in 2001, capturing just two seats, when many of its supporters parked their votes with the B.C. Greens.

Here are five lessons from the 1990s for the B.C. NDP to consider as it prepares for its next leadership race and its next election:

1. Try to divide the opposition: Premier Gordon Campbell kept his party on the same track for many years, but his imposition of the harmonized sales tax derailed the right-of-centre coalition after the 2009 election. Small businesses in the service sector hate the HST, whereas many big businesses love it because they can claim credits for sales-tax inputs. The HST is a classic wedge issue, and NDP political pundit Bill Tieleman did his party an enormous favour by pushing this so hard over the past year-and-a-half. Other examples of wedge issues among non-NDP voters are equal rights for the LGBT community, arts funding, access to abortion, liquor policies, banning grizzly-bear hunting, and waste incineration. In the last election, the NDP tried without success to turn the carbon tax into another such wedge issue. It only turned some environmentalists against the party, which leads to the next lesson.

2. The environment matters: Former premier Glen Clark and many of his union buddies didn't pay enough heed to the concerns that many British Columbians have about the environment. This was demonstrated when Clark accused Greenpeace of being an "enemy of British Columbia" and when he opposed then-environment minister David Anderson's efforts to save West Coast salmon from the rapacious commercial fishing industry. Clark's willingness to remove the Six Mile Ranch near Kamloops from the Agricultural Land Reserve was another manifestation of his lack of concern for environmentally minded voters. If the next B.C. NDP leader follows in Clark's footsteps, it will boost support for the Greens and possibly deny the party its fourth election win in history.

3. Balance the budget: The NDP was repeatedly elected in Saskatchewan and Manitoba because the public believed that the party was a decent fiscal manager. In B.C., both NDP and B.C. Liberal governments have been financially reckless in comparison. If there's any doubt, recall the B.C. NDP's ill-fated bailout of Skeena Cellulose, its advocacy for a pipeline and natural-gas-fired plants to generate electricity on Vancouver Island, the Millennium Line, and the fast-ferry fiasco. The B.C. Liberals can't claim to be any better, given the financial overruns on the new Vancouver convention centre, costly public-private partnerships in health care, the new roof on B.C. Place Stadium, and their role in virtually bankrupting public transit in the Lower Mainland. If the next B.C. NDP government puts the brakes on unnecessary capital projects, some of this money can be diverted to more useful areas, like alleviating poverty, which will stimulate the economy. Besides, balancing the budget will take away a fat target for right-wing media commentators, who tend to play up B.C. NDP fiscal follies to a much greater degree than they will highlight B.C. Liberal budgetary blunders. The good news for the B.C. NDP is that with the proliferation of social media and independent media—including those owned by first-generation immigrants—the public is less reliant for information from the corporate media giants, which employ many of these commentators.

4. Pay attention to good research: In the 1990s, B.C. NDP governments (like their B.C. Liberal successors) ignored expert advice in numerous areas, including transportation and transit, tax shifting to promote employment and the environment, beginning-reading research, early childhood development, climate change, public health, municipal governance, and why capital projects often go over budget (to name just a few). In this decade, the B.C. NDP has not appeared to have paid a great deal of attention to research around the effects of prohibition, whether that involves illegal drugs or the adult sex trade. This undermines potential support from more intellectually inclined voters, who could be some of the NDP's greatest allies during an election campaign. The Greens have filled this void by including some innovative planks in their policy documents and grabbing onto issues like the Gateway Program. The NDP's reluctance to take risks sometimes ends up being the riskier strategy.

5. Campaign positively: The NDP victories in the 1990s were rooted in positive campaigns in which the leaders, Clark and Mike Harcourt, came across as upbeat politicians. Harcourt promised to end the war in the woods between environmentalists and logging interests. Clark declared that he was "on your side" when it came to health care, education, and corporate taxes. They may not have achieved as great a percentage of the popular vote as other B.C. NDP leaders, such as Dave Barrett and Carole James. But Harcourt and Clark did remarkably well considering that they each competed against two significant parties rather than only one.

Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.

Comments

23 Comments

Strong New Democrat

Jan 2, 2011 at 3:20pm

Hey Charlie, thanks for mentioning the fact that Carole James had better numbers than Harcourt & Clark who both won government! And Carole was thrown under the bus because her numbers were too low. Dissenters take note: You blew up the party without a full game plan. Now start apologizing! Then get busy and start rebuilding the party because this is all on your heads!

RonS

Jan 2, 2011 at 3:59pm

There are other things they, the NDP should do. #1. Immediately recind the HST. #2. Increase corporate taxes to January 2001 levels to the very same corporations that the FIBERALS granted tax exemptions or reductions to. #3. Eliminate donations to political parties by corporations. #4. Restrict donations to less than $1,000 per person and donations can only occure once during an election and only once per year per person in between elections. #5. Have an independent inquiry into the sales of Public Corporations since the FIBERALS took power. If improprities are found, persecute the perps to the fullest extent of the law. #6. If wrong doing is found, seize the assets of the corporations and nationalize them so they are once again our (the people of BC) assets. #7. Ensure the financial books are open to anyone who wants to see them. #8. Stop immediately Run of River projects. #9. Stop exporting our logs to other counties to be finished there. #10. Stop immediately privatization of our Medical Services Plan. #11. Raise the minium wage to a "living wage" immediately and improve labour legislation. These are just a few of the ones I can immediately think of.

Let's be firm on this and make sure that there are laws in place to ensure this kind of rape of our province never occurs again.

Lesson #6

Jan 2, 2011 at 4:45pm

Don't say things like this, which the slightest bit of logic could show you is completely untrue:

"...alleviating poverty, which will stimulate the economy."

Also, listening to any of RonS' economic advice is pretty much the same recipe for disaster that MH and GC went down.

Charlie Smith

Jan 2, 2011 at 5:02pm

Hey Lesson #6,
Wasn't it Gordon Campbell who always said he wanted to put more money in people's pockets? On a more serious note, if you read Robert Reich's latest book, you'll see how increasing incomes of the poor actually promotes more consumer spending (and a better economy) than increasing the incomes of the super-rich (which sometimes occurs through capital-intensive boondoggles).

Charlie Smith

Peter Dimitrov

Jan 2, 2011 at 8:05pm

Here are SOME of the things I would do. First a review off all Cabinet Order-in-Councils, all Legislation and all appointments made by the Liberals since 2001 to colleges, universities, Labor Tribunals, Workers Comp, all existing Crown corporations, all deputy ministers, speciality consultants, etc.etc. A review based on the following principles: efficiency, equity, environmental sustainability and whether the OIC/legislation protects and advances the public interest and the furtherance of democracy or whether it advances the private interest, is highly partisan and is to the detriment of democracy. Secondly a detailed audit of government financial records, including BC Ferries, BC Hydro, and other Crowns still under government jurisdiction. Thirdly, a review of all Energy Purchase Agreements made by BC Hydro with private IPP energy companies and all water licenses granted to IPPs for energy purposes, and all wind-permit related licenses and wind related land allocations. Fourthly, a moratorium on the issuance of all BC Hydro's 'clean energy' calls and construction of new private sector river and wind projects. Fifth, a tabulation of the revenues thusfar paid to IPP companies and the publication of said results, together with a determination if a windfall profits tax is warranted. Sixth, carry out a public inquiry on the sale, lease, disposal of public assets including BC Rail, the former BC Building Corporation, portions of BC Hydro to Accenture, oil/gas/forest tenures. Seven, move up the date for the HST referendum -let the people speak on that issue. Eight, repeal Bill 29 and portions of Bill 30. Nine, Stop P3 and privatization/reregualtion of all public assets in the education, health and transport etc. sectors and ennumerate the extent of losses of those public assets to date. Ten, sharply decrease the export of raw logs, allowing only a very small export for specialty production or artistic purposes. Eleven, eliminate donations to political parties by corporations and union, and any groups.

That is the great undoing part - to not legitimize what ought not be legitimatized by the past Fiberal government and to hold them strictly accountable. Then there is a creative progressive doing - to restore, rebuild and revitalize this Province and our democracy - perhaps, if there is enough interest, I may disclose those ideas in a public venue tba. I am dubious that the BCNDP will elect a Leader who will take anything close to the aforementioned 'undoing' positions- but I welcome a pleasant surprise. Mostly I think the BCNDP will elect a 'don't rock the boat' person who will not denounce neo-liberal legislation passed by the Fiberals. Tell me what you think of this 'undoing' - suggest others, I am very interested to be so informed. If you wish follow me on twitter at: JusticeNow_2288
Charlie, you wrote an excellent, thoughtful article, thank you!

JeffHHH!

Jan 3, 2011 at 4:26am

If the NDP win the next election, everyone in BC should invest in U-Haul stock, because the roads to Alberta will be jammed with traffic.

I respectfully disagree, Mr Smith

Jan 3, 2011 at 8:47am

"I believe we need reinvestment in our cities. I believe we need to attract “choice” consumers, people who have options about where to live. Focusing exclusively on helping the poor only ensures your city will stay poor as everybody else wises up that they are the chumps serving as the city’s ATM machine and head for the hills.
...
"Many of them are hurting right now, and I think they have a right to be skeptical about policies that seem to be focused on the most privileged in society. So we have to show the benefit to them and answer the questions.

Why should we be investing millions of dollars in Conexus and Biocrossroads? Why does it matter that corporate executives can have a steak dinner and a good time downtown? Why should we be investing millions of dollars in pharmacy education at Butler and Purdue, to produce graduates who will earn six figures the minute they walk out the door? Well, if you are a single mother in Clinton County with a high school diploma who can get a good job as a technician at Medco [a mail order pharmacy company] it matters to you, that’s why.

That’s the type of story we need to be able to tell. To make it real to people why these forward looking policies are good for all Hoosiers. These stories have to be told, told loudly, and told often."

http://www.urbanophile.com/2010/05/02/failure-to-communicate-beyond-star...

Bruno15

Jan 3, 2011 at 8:59am

Fact check: Harcourt (40.7%) got more popular vote than Barrett ( 39.6%).

HellSlayerAndy

Jan 3, 2011 at 9:49am

Strong New Democrat's 5 Points for Rebuilding the Party:

1) Establish credibility; arm yourself with print out from CanWest Globalist columnists saying "James is great" and the "NDP are nuts"

2) Use polls; get a couple of Ipso Reid bogus polls showing the Liberals are unpopular and the NDP are more popular and ignore the Leader's numbers

3) Get vocal; be seen in public attacking Progressive voters; accuse them of being bullies and thugs and imply they are the real enemy.

4) Trash Kwan more; her support in the Party and the public is weak and the Asian community never reads English speaking papers anyway

5) Treat every Liberal voter as a potential ally in any argument; blame Left non-supporters with the tag, "You're just like Nader!" so that anytime the Party rolls over and co-operates with the Liberals, you can blame someone else and feel self-righteous. Your solidarity mantra should be 'Don't Blame Me - I'm NDP'