James Created Her Own Crisis
BC New Democratic Party leader had no justification for ejecting MLA Bob Simpson from caucus.
BC New Democratic Party leader had no justification for ejecting MLA Bob Simpson from caucus.
Tuesday October 12, 2010
By Bill Tieleman
"Power is not revealed by striking hard or often, but by striking true."
"Power is not revealed by striking hard or often, but by striking true."
- Honore de Balzac, 1799-1850
BC New Democratic Party leader Carole James wanted to look tough after Cariboo North NDP MLA North Bob Simpson mildly criticized one of her speeches in public.
So James personally threw him out of the NDP caucus.
But instead of succeeding, James has made it tough on herself by creating the biggest leadership crisis since she took over the party in 2003.
And it's far from over.
Some NDP MLAs are very unhappy Simpson was removed in what is perceived as an arbitrary and undemocratic way, while a dangerously dwindling number of NDP members have been given another strong reason to sit on their wallets or even leave the party.
Firing Simpson without even a caucus vote has prompted former NDP MLAs like Corky Evans, Tom Perry and Helmut Giesbrecht and other party voices to openly criticize James' leadership.
Worse still for James, the big question over her leadership isn't -- as some pundits wrongly interpret -- whether she is moving the party too much to the right, it's whether after losing the last two elections James can still win the next one.
A winner in the making?
With the unpopular Premier Gordon Campbell overwhelmingly expected to disappear well in advance of the 2013 election, and the Harmonized Sales Tax issue likely to be resolved long before then, James could face a new BC Liberal leader not handcuffed to the hated HST.
Despite the BC Liberals losing half their support over the HST, the budget scandal and other government actions, the NDP haven't capitalized on voter discontent.
Polls show the NDP with between the same 42 per cent it got in the 2009 election and 48 per cent, while the BC Liberals have dropped from the 46 per cent received in the 2009 election down to between 25 per cent and 33 per cent today.
The major beneficiaries of the BC Liberal crisis have been the Green Party at 12 per cent to 13 per cent versus the eight per cent they had in the election, and the Conservatives at seven per cent to 11 per cent, instead of the two per cent of voters they attracted in 2009, albeit with far less than a full slate of candidates.
Those numbers fueled Simpson's criticism of James, but it had remained internal -- until he was removed from caucus, allowing him to go public.
And those comments on her leadership are pointed.
"I think the path we're on is a path of losing the next election," Simpson told media last week. "It's a real question to ask, why are we not capturing the moment? Carole James, after seven years of leadership, is sitting with fully two-thirds of British Columbians polled saying we don't know her or we don't think she can be premier."
"Time is running short for us to address the major and complex issues which confront us and this small planet we live on," Simpson added in a statement after expulsion. "We need to spend much more energy finding ways to address these issues than we do simply finding ways to bring down the sitting government in order to gain power by default and without a mandate for change."
Tough, but wise?
"I find it troubling there was no process before I was convicted and removed from caucus by the leader," Simpson said of his ouster. "I guess I was mistaken in my belief that the NDP was a progressive organization which valued free speech and honest critique as a means to create a better society for everyone."
All in all, James quick decision to get tough on Simpson has been a disastrous strategy.
Those who defend James' action claim that Simpson was continually badmouthing the leader, was not a "team player" and wasn't "constructive."
Whether true or not -- so what? Simpson's only public criticism of James was so minor and in such an obscure place that ignoring it was the obvious best option.
A stronger punishment would have been to remove Simpson's legislative critic duties for aboriginal relations -- not really fitting the alleged "crime," but at least avoiding totally overreacting.
And dealing with dissent is a key part of being leader.
All Simpson said -- on a Williams Lake community website -- was that James "had little concrete to offer" in her speech to the Union of B.C. Municipalities, and that while her discussion of revenue sharing was positive, "the lack of specifics was a disappointment to delegates."
But that still caused James to issue this statement: "Through his public comments today, Mr. Simpson has made it clear that he would rather criticize our work than contribute to it. He has made it clear that he does not want to be part of our team."
Huh?
Dissenting MLAs: crime and punishment
James also implied that there may be no room in the BC NDP for former BC Liberals like Simpson, who both ran unsuccessfully for a party nomination in 1996 and was that party's constituency president but was soon disillusioned by Campbell's leadership. Simpson became Cariboo North's NDP MLA in 2005 and was re-elected in 2009.
"He's clearly unhappy. And let's remember Bob was clearly unhappy with the Liberal Party when he belonged to them. He quit the Liberal Party, joined the New Democrats," James told host Vaughn Palmer of Shaw Cable's Voice of B.C. last Thursday.
BC New Democratic Party leader Carole James wanted to look tough after Cariboo North NDP MLA North Bob Simpson mildly criticized one of her speeches in public.
So James personally threw him out of the NDP caucus.
But instead of succeeding, James has made it tough on herself by creating the biggest leadership crisis since she took over the party in 2003.
And it's far from over.
Some NDP MLAs are very unhappy Simpson was removed in what is perceived as an arbitrary and undemocratic way, while a dangerously dwindling number of NDP members have been given another strong reason to sit on their wallets or even leave the party.
Firing Simpson without even a caucus vote has prompted former NDP MLAs like Corky Evans, Tom Perry and Helmut Giesbrecht and other party voices to openly criticize James' leadership.
Worse still for James, the big question over her leadership isn't -- as some pundits wrongly interpret -- whether she is moving the party too much to the right, it's whether after losing the last two elections James can still win the next one.
A winner in the making?
With the unpopular Premier Gordon Campbell overwhelmingly expected to disappear well in advance of the 2013 election, and the Harmonized Sales Tax issue likely to be resolved long before then, James could face a new BC Liberal leader not handcuffed to the hated HST.
Despite the BC Liberals losing half their support over the HST, the budget scandal and other government actions, the NDP haven't capitalized on voter discontent.
Polls show the NDP with between the same 42 per cent it got in the 2009 election and 48 per cent, while the BC Liberals have dropped from the 46 per cent received in the 2009 election down to between 25 per cent and 33 per cent today.
The major beneficiaries of the BC Liberal crisis have been the Green Party at 12 per cent to 13 per cent versus the eight per cent they had in the election, and the Conservatives at seven per cent to 11 per cent, instead of the two per cent of voters they attracted in 2009, albeit with far less than a full slate of candidates.
Those numbers fueled Simpson's criticism of James, but it had remained internal -- until he was removed from caucus, allowing him to go public.
And those comments on her leadership are pointed.
"I think the path we're on is a path of losing the next election," Simpson told media last week. "It's a real question to ask, why are we not capturing the moment? Carole James, after seven years of leadership, is sitting with fully two-thirds of British Columbians polled saying we don't know her or we don't think she can be premier."
"Time is running short for us to address the major and complex issues which confront us and this small planet we live on," Simpson added in a statement after expulsion. "We need to spend much more energy finding ways to address these issues than we do simply finding ways to bring down the sitting government in order to gain power by default and without a mandate for change."
Tough, but wise?
"I find it troubling there was no process before I was convicted and removed from caucus by the leader," Simpson said of his ouster. "I guess I was mistaken in my belief that the NDP was a progressive organization which valued free speech and honest critique as a means to create a better society for everyone."
All in all, James quick decision to get tough on Simpson has been a disastrous strategy.
Those who defend James' action claim that Simpson was continually badmouthing the leader, was not a "team player" and wasn't "constructive."
Whether true or not -- so what? Simpson's only public criticism of James was so minor and in such an obscure place that ignoring it was the obvious best option.
A stronger punishment would have been to remove Simpson's legislative critic duties for aboriginal relations -- not really fitting the alleged "crime," but at least avoiding totally overreacting.
And dealing with dissent is a key part of being leader.
All Simpson said -- on a Williams Lake community website -- was that James "had little concrete to offer" in her speech to the Union of B.C. Municipalities, and that while her discussion of revenue sharing was positive, "the lack of specifics was a disappointment to delegates."
But that still caused James to issue this statement: "Through his public comments today, Mr. Simpson has made it clear that he would rather criticize our work than contribute to it. He has made it clear that he does not want to be part of our team."
Huh?
Dissenting MLAs: crime and punishment
James also implied that there may be no room in the BC NDP for former BC Liberals like Simpson, who both ran unsuccessfully for a party nomination in 1996 and was that party's constituency president but was soon disillusioned by Campbell's leadership. Simpson became Cariboo North's NDP MLA in 2005 and was re-elected in 2009.
"He's clearly unhappy. And let's remember Bob was clearly unhappy with the Liberal Party when he belonged to them. He quit the Liberal Party, joined the New Democrats," James told host Vaughn Palmer of Shaw Cable's Voice of B.C. last Thursday.
"He's unhappy with us now as New Democrats. I hope Bob finds a place that's happy."
When it comes to finding your happy place as a dissenter, James should look across the B.C. legislature floor, where several BC Liberal MLAs have actually opposed their own government without such dire consequences.
Blair Lekstrom voted against parts of the BC Liberals draconian labour legislation that ripped up the union contracts of hospital and other health care workers -- and was later ruled illegal by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Lekstrom not only didn't get tossed out of caucus, he was later promoted into cabinet by Campbell. (He only left cabinet and caucus after constituents rebelled against the imposition of the HST.)
Previous to that, the late BC Liberal MLA Val Anderson regularly and publicly disagreed with his party's positions on social assistance issues but never faced expulsion.
Federally, NDP leader Jack Layton has been pilloried for refusing to insist his members of parliament vote against killing the long gun registry, despite the overwhelming majority of party members, as well as Layton himself, being in favour of keeping it.
But no one, including critics like me, suggested that dissident NDP MPs be thrown out of the caucus, even though they voted with the Conservatives in the unsuccessful effort.
November 2011 reckoning
Unfortunately Simpson isn't the first NDP MLA to be exiled from caucus for disagreeing with the leader.
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows MLA Michael Sather was shown the door when he voted against the Tsawwassen First Nation treaty in the B.C. legislature, solely on the basis that it removed 207 hectares of farmland from the Agricultural Land Reserve.
Despite the creation of the ALR being one of the NDP's proudest achievements under former premier Dave Barrett's government, James saw it as intolerable dissent and refused to at least allow MLAs a free vote on the treaty. Sather's no vote ended up with him out of caucus for several months, though he was eventually allowed back in.
Regardless of examples of tolerating dissent or not, Carole James will face a membership day of reckoning when party delegates at the Nov. 2011 NDP convention vote on whether or not to hold a leadership review.
That is, unless NDP provincial council members support a call next month from Simpson's Cariboo North riding to change that gathering into a full-fledged leadership convention.
Moe's double standard?
Lastly, James and her colleagues who support expelling Simpson might want to consider the most relevant of all examples -- the behavior of NDP MLAs tolerated in past caucuses.
Did the leader of the day throw out of caucus an NDP MLA who was suspended by the Law Society of B.C. from practicing law for 18 months and fined $2,000 for misconduct in handling the affairs of a client? No.
Was an NDP MLA ejected from caucus for allegations of being "overly aggressive" in lobbying the provincial Motor Carrier Commission in favour of friend's limousine license application? No.
Was an NDP MLA tossed out after racking up 21 driving demerit points for excessive speeding, despite being minister responsible for the Insurance Corporation of B.C.? No.
And these publicly reported offenses were all committed by just one MLA, not three.
That former MLA's name? Current B.C. NDP president Moe Sihota, the guy supporting Carole James' expulsion of Bob Simpson from the caucus.
To put it mildly, that's a little rich.
The smart thing now would be for James to restore Simpson as a caucus member and try to resolve but accept differences of opinion.
But the smarter thing would have been to not throw Simpson out in the first place.
Blair Lekstrom voted against parts of the BC Liberals draconian labour legislation that ripped up the union contracts of hospital and other health care workers -- and was later ruled illegal by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Lekstrom not only didn't get tossed out of caucus, he was later promoted into cabinet by Campbell. (He only left cabinet and caucus after constituents rebelled against the imposition of the HST.)
Previous to that, the late BC Liberal MLA Val Anderson regularly and publicly disagreed with his party's positions on social assistance issues but never faced expulsion.
Federally, NDP leader Jack Layton has been pilloried for refusing to insist his members of parliament vote against killing the long gun registry, despite the overwhelming majority of party members, as well as Layton himself, being in favour of keeping it.
But no one, including critics like me, suggested that dissident NDP MPs be thrown out of the caucus, even though they voted with the Conservatives in the unsuccessful effort.
November 2011 reckoning
Unfortunately Simpson isn't the first NDP MLA to be exiled from caucus for disagreeing with the leader.
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows MLA Michael Sather was shown the door when he voted against the Tsawwassen First Nation treaty in the B.C. legislature, solely on the basis that it removed 207 hectares of farmland from the Agricultural Land Reserve.
Despite the creation of the ALR being one of the NDP's proudest achievements under former premier Dave Barrett's government, James saw it as intolerable dissent and refused to at least allow MLAs a free vote on the treaty. Sather's no vote ended up with him out of caucus for several months, though he was eventually allowed back in.
Regardless of examples of tolerating dissent or not, Carole James will face a membership day of reckoning when party delegates at the Nov. 2011 NDP convention vote on whether or not to hold a leadership review.
That is, unless NDP provincial council members support a call next month from Simpson's Cariboo North riding to change that gathering into a full-fledged leadership convention.
Moe's double standard?
Lastly, James and her colleagues who support expelling Simpson might want to consider the most relevant of all examples -- the behavior of NDP MLAs tolerated in past caucuses.
Did the leader of the day throw out of caucus an NDP MLA who was suspended by the Law Society of B.C. from practicing law for 18 months and fined $2,000 for misconduct in handling the affairs of a client? No.
Was an NDP MLA ejected from caucus for allegations of being "overly aggressive" in lobbying the provincial Motor Carrier Commission in favour of friend's limousine license application? No.
Was an NDP MLA tossed out after racking up 21 driving demerit points for excessive speeding, despite being minister responsible for the Insurance Corporation of B.C.? No.
And these publicly reported offenses were all committed by just one MLA, not three.
That former MLA's name? Current B.C. NDP president Moe Sihota, the guy supporting Carole James' expulsion of Bob Simpson from the caucus.
To put it mildly, that's a little rich.
The smart thing now would be for James to restore Simpson as a caucus member and try to resolve but accept differences of opinion.
But the smarter thing would have been to not throw Simpson out in the first place.
.
18 comments:
Excellent piece Bill!
Glad you mentioned that phoney populist "Motor Moe" too.
With Carole & Moe running the team its another term for the BC Lie-berals.
The GREAT SATAN
Support for the NDP has been dwindling. I now think, BC people will desert the NDP, by the boatload. I see her doing the same thing Campbell is doing. The both of them are, refusing to step down, to save their party's. However, it is said, Campbell is not a Liberal, he works for Harper. Hence, he doesn't give a rip about, the BC Liberal party name. I think, Carole James, has wiped herself, off the political map.
But did she really "personally" throw him out of the NDP caucus?
CBC - The Early Edition - Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Weekly political panel Moe Sihota, Erin Chutter, and Rafe Mair.
(re Bob Simpson's ejection from caucus)
Rafe Mair: "Let's not forget that Moe is a witness in this, he's not a commentator he's a witness, he's part of the action."
(re Carole James' decision)
Rafe Mair: "I think this one stunk and I gotta say it flat out Moe, I think you had a big hand in this."
Moe Sihota: "I did, quite frankly ..."
Listen to or Download The Early Edition - October 12, 2010 [mp3 file: runs 10:09]
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/
bcearlyedition_20101012_39489.mp3
Question: Did anyone here elect Moe Sihota last year?
Question: What other decisions is Moe Sihota making for the elected NDP MLA's?
Bob Simpson: "The way that he comes into our caucus meetings and basically tells us how to do our politics as well as how to organize our time and everything else, its a very demeaning approach to things."
Bob Simpson: "The more important aspect for me is Moe is a very autocratic leader and has been exercising what I think are rights and privileges and authority that I think fuzz the lines between the caucus and the party and don’t promote more democracy in the party. And I’ve made that known to him."
Bob Simpson: "I didn’t sign up for the NDP of the 1990s, I signed up for a 21st-century NDP that was going to renew itself."
QUESTION: Did Carole James make the decision or was the decision made for her by Moe Sihota.
Moe Sihota - Who resigned as labour minister in 1995 after the Law Society of B.C. suspended his licence to practise for 18 months after finding him guilty of professional misconduct.
Moe Sihota - Who was kicked out of cabinet in December 1996 over his lobbying efforts on behalf of former Vancouver MP Herb Dhaliwal, whom he had appointed to the B.C. Hydro board of directors.
Is Moe Sihota really running the show behind closed doors these days?
Does Carole James have such week leadership skills that she meekly allows this to happen?
Carole James - The Campbell-loving MSM's new best friend.
But did she really "personally" throw him out of the NDP caucus?
CBC - The Early Edition - Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Weekly political panel Moe Sihota, Erin Chutter, and Rafe Mair.
(re Bob Simpson's ejection from caucus)
Rafe Mair: "Let's not forget that Moe is a witness in this, he's not a commentator he's a witness, he's part of the action."
(re Carole James' decision)
Rafe Mair: "I think this one stunk and I gotta say it flat out Moe, I think you had a big hand in this."
Moe Sihota: "I did, quite frankly ..."
Listen to or Download The Early Edition - October 12, 2010 [mp3 file: runs 10:09]
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/
bcearlyedition_20101012_39489.mp3
Question: Did anyone here elect Moe Sihota last year?
Question: What other decisions is Moe Sihota making for the elected NDP MLA's?
Bob Simpson: "The way that he comes into our caucus meetings and basically tells us how to do our politics as well as how to organize our time and everything else, its a very demeaning approach to things."
Bob Simpson: "The more important aspect for me is Moe is a very autocratic leader and has been exercising what I think are rights and privileges and authority that I think fuzz the lines between the caucus and the party and don’t promote more democracy in the party. And I’ve made that known to him."
Bob Simpson: "I didn’t sign up for the NDP of the 1990s, I signed up for a 21st-century NDP that was going to renew itself."
QUESTION: Did Carole James really make the decision or was the decision made for her by Moe Sihota.
Moe Sihota - Who resigned as labour minister in 1995 after the Law Society of B.C. suspended his licence to practise for 18 months after finding him guilty of professional misconduct.
Moe Sihota - Who was kicked out of cabinet in December 1996 over his lobbying efforts on behalf of former Vancouver MP Herb Dhaliwal, whom he had appointed to the B.C. Hydro board of directors.
Is Moe Sihota really running the show behind closed doors?
Are her own leadership skills so lacking?
All of a sudden the Campbell-loving MSM thinks Carole James should remain as leader.
That says it all.
Paul:
Thanks for that recitation of Moe Sihota taking the credit (blame) for this situation.
You've accurately reflected Moe's self congratulatory spiel as he spun it for himself on CBC AM 690 this morning...He also went on to spout the typical 'pro-business' mantra of a guy who has been in the development business far too long.
He was one of the main reasons why the Harcourt/Clark years have remained a black hole into which Campbell and his crew can cast any aspersions they like against the NDP. This criticism, which is at the centre of the NDP's inability to get elected under Carole James, is largely unfair and almost never reflects the real record of the 1990s.
With a quisling like Moe Sihota on the team and a purblind reluctance to confront the Campbell lies with real economic facts and a comparison of the records, it isn't Bob Simpson who represents a problem for the party.
Province article from last November
More Moe for B.C. NDP as Sihota named president
BY ANDY IVENS, THE PROVINCE NOVEMBER 30, 2009
'Moe Sihota emerged from his eight-year retirement from politics on Sunday to become provincial NDP’s new president'.
'Meanwhile Attorney-General Mike de Jong welcomed his old political sparring partner back into the ring.'
"Miss James is the leader who said she wanted to take the NDP beyond the ideological radicalism of the Glen Clark-Moe Sihota era," said de Jong.
"Here she is now overseeing its reverse."
'Although Sihota said he intends to remain in the background, avoiding the media spotlight he used to enjoy, de Jong predicted Sihota will embarrass James into having to disavow him in order to hang on to support from centrist voters the NDP needs to win elections.'
http://www.canada.com/life/More%20Sihota%20
named%20president/2283689/story.html
Does Mike de Jong have crystal balls?
is moe the ndp's version of kinsella or brown?
The overwhelming message here is that Carole James does not want to have a frank discussion about the NDP's tax policy.
And just because Moe Sihota may be willing to take the fall for this, everyone knows that this was Carole's decision.
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Carole+James+kicks+Simpson+team/3638686/story.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/10/07/bc-simpson-james-ndp-caucus.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-ndp-leader-ejects-critic-from-caucus/article1747099/
Of course, Sihota is supposed to be increasing the party membership. I strongly suspect he's just trying to deflect the discussion away from his own, unmentioned failure to produce.
Sihota's job is supposed to be increasing the membership, and I suspect he's just trying to deflect the discussion away from his own, unmentioned failure to produce.
Would an NDP leadership race be good for business Bill?
To Paul at 1:10 PDT, I listened to the podcast of this morning's political panel on CBC. Your transcription of the exchange between Moe and Rafe Mair isn't quite accurate. His Moeness didn't enunciate the contraction "didn't" very well.
Here is my transcription.
Rafe: "…And I’m going to say it flat out, Moe, I think you had a big hand in it."
Moe: Well, no, I didn’t, quite frankly. It was a caucus decision. I didn’t even participate in the caucus discussion around it. I’m well aware of what was happening, obviously. But, no, Rafe, I …I didn’t…”.
To 7:19 p.m. - no, an NDP leadership race would not be good for my business. They invariably cause hard feelings between people who ordinarily agree, they can cause problems between clients and my involvement in campaigns has been as a volunteer. But thanks for asking.
Regarding Moe Sihota's role and the CBC broadcast - regardless of what Moe did, it was not a caucus decision - Carole James made that clear on Voice of BC last Thursday.
She made the decision and then informed caucus. That's one of the big reasons for the uproar.
I knew things would start getting ugly with Sihota back in the fold. I didn't support him the first time around and I thought it would spell disaster this time. Sure enough....
Why do we work so hard to defeat ourselves?
Bill is quite correct, the leader ulitmately makes the decision as to who stays and who gets a Lui Passaglia like kickoff out of the stadium.
Same thing had happened in the past, with all parties and will happen in the future.
Caucus as a while does not make those decisions in any party.
As for a leadership contest, I'm sure Bill as would Now Communications (another PR communications outlet which was run by Ron Johnson, NDP) will form alliances to ensure continuation of business from their chosen candidate.
Happens all the time in every party.
Even so as a volunteer, Bill here will not be watching from the bleachers. He'll be on the sidelines right at the start of play.
"Why do we work so hard to defeat ourselves?"
The NDP has had a habit of doing that...
...and now do the BC Liberals.
Um! I listened to the live broadcast AND the podcast.
In my view Paul's record is the 'correct' one.
I also heard Sihota on another station today and he certainly WAS trying to downplay his role in the Simpson affray...as always, Sihota has a 'way' of saying the wrong thing and then trying to disengage himself from the mess he's created.
I have a feeling Moe probably reads your blog Bill - if so, I'd like to hear, many years after the fact, about the 'real' story concerning a cabinet minister and a certain unfortunate deer.
to compare Moe Sihota's actions with those of Bob Simpson is like comparing apples and oranges...the issue here is that Bob Simpson's action were hurting all members of his team...you have to wonder about someone who could not be happy in the Liberal party and he also wasn't happy in the NDP. I wonder if there's anywhere Bob could be happy.
Hey Full disclosure when I listened to the live broadcast of the CBC political panel on Tuesday morning, I too thought I heard Moe say, "No, I did," in answer to Rafe's accusation that Moe "had a big hand in it".
It didn't make much sense to me that Moe would answer 'no I did' to Rafe's question. Why would someone confess to an accusation of "I think you did it," with "No, I did." Surely, the response would have been "Yes, I did."
So I listened to the podcast and Moe says, albeit very indistinctly, "no, I didn't." He then repeats at the end of his response, "But, no, Rafe...I didn't." Again that "didn't" is very indistinct, very poorly enunciated.
Mind you, the tone of Moe's voice was far more telling than his words. He really was trying to downplay his involvement.
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