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| Adrian Dix |
I strongly but respectfully disagree with Mike Harcourt.
He made the statement in endorsing BC NDP leadership candidate Mike Farnworth on Monday.
The fact is, the BC NDP has been moving to the centre - or the middle of the road - since Ujjal Dosanjh took over the party leadership in 2000, followed by Carole James in 2003.
And while James made every effort to set up the party to win with a centrist position, it didn't work in 2005 or 2009.
What did happen in 2009 is that the BC NDP actually lost 40,000 real votes compared to its results in 2005.
That means NDP voters stayed home - uninspired by the contest despite all the damage that Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals had done to BC - from Independent Power Producers to the Basi-Virk politicial corruption case to the worst child poverty rate in Canada for years.
That' why I'm support Adrian Dix for leader in this contest - Adrian wants to mobilize traditional NDP voters and reach out to the 1.4 million voters who stayed home on election day, allowing Campbell to win his third straight victory.
When asked if the centrist approach might lead to the NDP base staying home, Mike's comment was telling:
“They won’t. They have a real interest in this election,” Harcourt told reporters.
Well they didn't before, despite Campbell's longstanding lack of personal approval by voters and despite all he had done.
And now the BC Liberal Party is trying to put a new face - Christy Clark's - on a tired and old government.
Mike Harcourt's views are worthy of a debate.
One might just as easily say "Go right and you're right out of it" or "Stay in the middle and you get hit by both sides" but they don't mean anything.
And is it "left" to demand that banks and financial institutions pay a minimum corporate tax, as Adrian Dix is proposing? And use the money to fund post-secondary education access? Or is it common sense and something voters would support?
Former NDP House Leader Joy MacPhail - a Harcourt government minister as well - is supporting Dix in this contest and makes similar points about getting traditional NDP voters and new ones back on board.
“Adrian’s mastery of the issues and ability to effect positive change is on full display in and out of the legislature, where he is the most effective critic for the official opposition," MacPhail said.
"His skill in mobilizing activists and citizens around issues also reflects his effective leadership style. He is taking a strong stand on jobs and the economy, the environment, health care and education, and that is what the NDP needs and that is what BC needs."
“Adrian’s dedication to grow the New Democratic movement is recognized throughout BC. NDP members across the province have sought out his help and he has been there for them time and time again. Adrian gets results – and he will lead our party to victory in the next election,” MacPhail concluded.
I respect Mike Harcourt - I served on the BC NDP Executive during most of his term in office - and also respect Mike Farnworth, as well as John Horgan. I've worked with all of them in the past and they are talented people.
But moving further to the middle of the road is not the way to win back NDP voters - as Adrian Dix has said - the NDP needs to give people something to vote for, not just against.
His detailed and costed program will do exactly that and its why I am pleased to be supporting him in this leadership contest.
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21 comments:
Farnworth's policy proposals are just as progressive as anything Dix has put out there. Mike's strength is that he doesn't alientate people while speaking about progressive values.
Well Bill T...Pretty lame post, how much time did you expend for your friend? 10 minutes.
Adrian will make a good health minister under the Honouable premier John Horgan.
Farnworth will become deputy premier.
Cheers
I'm 54 and have voted NDP all of my life. If Adrian Dix becomes leader I will not vote for the NDP. We don't need more left/right polarization, we need open minds leading the province. Both Farnworth and Horgan have just that
A Texas politician once said that the middle of the road is where dead animals are. The NDP should not go to the middle, but stay on left and move forward. Since every voter calls the NDP "socialist," let's be just that! Don't shy from your principles. Farnsworth and Horgan are good guys, but Dix is best.
I have been saying that for years Bill. I fully support what you say. We need left wing candidates. That's what was missing in since 2001!
gwh said ... well we all have our own ideas as to the way to form government. I've been voting NDP since I retired , early, from the Military.( 1972)Voting NDP while in, was the kiss of death as folks figured the NDP and Communists were the same( silly, but scary and hard on security clearances) so this time around the guy to lead the NDP is Adrian Dix. He has a great knowledge on issues and must be a 24 hour a day guy to cram all that information into his head.
The idea that Horgan would be Premier is a bit of a joke. Yes I get to vote and Horgan is in 4th place around our place, and yes we live on the Island. Horgan has a bit of an attitude, that he is right so forget anyone else differing.
Mike will be a great AG. We will soon know who is smoking something or just guessing
I think Bill is absolutely right.
If the NDP moves any further to the right, there will be no choice between left and right because there won't be any left.
I would add that as the NDP drifted to the right with Ujjal, the Liberal/Socred/Con coalition moved further to the right. To catch up, the NDP moved even farther to the right and so that there wasn't any left. Why would workers want to vote at all without a clear alternative to the neo-cons?
Further, as the NDP moved further to the center/right, it looked weak and hypocritical and completely irrelevant. Voters didn't trust a wishy washy sort of center-left NDP and went with the dark side because the dark side was at least internally consistently.
The NDP has to be true to its principles and has to distinguish itself from the right. By trying to be a centrist party - whatever that is - won't work.
The NDP has to be on the left and by that I mean a party that stands for workers and does not give tax breaks to the rich, hoping for handouts, or giving away public assets. Corporations want our resources and must pay to get them in an environmentally safe way. For now, workers must compromise, but that does not mean selling out, or hoping for handouts.
Bill…Bill…Bill…
You really need to discard you eighteenth century ideological lens…this is not about left and right…this is about the values of integrity, honesty and truthfulness for which Adrian Dix and Christy Clark get failing grades.
Shame on you…
Farnworth's policy proposals are just as progressive as anything Dix has put out there.
While I think that Farnworth would be a great candidate against Clark, that's not true at all. For instance, Farnworth has refused to even call for a slight reduction in Campbell's corporate tax cuts in this race. He claims that we have to wait for the HST referendum before reviewing the tax structure in the province, which is a ridiculous excuse. Nobody is expecting to see the exact figures of some future budget, but simply the broad outlines of one's overarching approach, and which of course would be subject to any reasonable changes given conditions at that future time. And why wait till after the HST referendum, Farnworth is not planning on keeping the tax if the Extinguishment Act is defeated I hope? Either the referendum or future NDP government will be eliminating the HST in the future anyway, so what does it matter? It's going to be gone one way or the other, so why can't Farnworth tell members what his taxation policies in a post-HST world will be?
De facto support of Campbell's tax cuts for the rich is not a progressive position. Especially when making undemocratic excuses for it. Voters are furious in this province with politicians precisely because they are not being consulted with when important policy decisions like taxation are being made. Through this election NDP members are supposed to have a chance to choose the candidate who best reflects their views on major issues like taxation, and some frontrunners are taking away that choice. Same thing goes for Farnworth's Royal Commission on education, which Dix effectively skewered in the Shaw debate.
Good stuff Bill. I love Mike but he shouldn't be saying stuff like that regardless of his preferences. Wanna bet the Liberals will use his quote in in the next elcetion? We are to the "left" as a party and good on us. I want someone who, when elected will act decisively for the things we stand for and not some wishy washy leader who wants to spend thier time in government trying to placate our adversaries.
I think you forgot about the mathematical law of large numbers. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_large_numbers )
The fact is, those that don't vote would end up voting in a very similar fashion to those that do vote. Meaning the anti-NDP coalition would still win.
Elections are won by getting those that change their vote regularly (swing voters) to vote for you.
I would like to see a hard left turn into the sunshine and away from the shitstorm we have been forced to endure for the past 10 years.
I want to see the new NDP leader,after he is elected,to hit the ground running.
The fist thing I would do is change the name of the Kelowna bridge to the DAVID BARRETT bridge and while the rightees are pissing themselves I would set about taking everything back that the Liebrels stole.
CGHZD
All of the NDP candidates are very strong. I really do like John Horgan, he's my number one pick. He really cares about the province and the people. He is well respected, even by the opposition. After the ten terrible years of Campbell and the BC Liberals, can you imagine, not having to watch our backs everyday, as we had to with Campbell.
We BC people had to also, watch out for Harper too. He was a snake in the grass, along with Campbell and Hansen. All three colluded on the HST scam, before the BC election. We will remember that, come Federal election time.
We need a strong purge, to get rid of all the corruption, starting with Campbell's corrupt sale of the BCR. The BCR real estate, that was worth a fortune. De Jong using tax payers money, to pay for the two patsies, legal fees. The corrupt Judicial system, the RCMP, Elections BC, the theft and sale of our rivers.
The sea to sky highway scam. Thousands of BC people will never use that road, however, we tax payers, will pay twenty-five years for it. There should have been a toll, on that road, right after the Olympics.
There are so many bad things, that have been done to the province and the people, by the BC Liberals, it all can't be changed overnight.
Christy Clark, refuses to have a criminal investigation of, Campbell's corrupt sale of the BCR, for her own personal reasons.
BC people are battle weary. We are very tired of fighting this, BC Liberal dictatorship regime. It will be so wonderful, to actually have someone on our side.
"BC people are battle weary. We are very tired of fighting this, BC Liberal dictatorship regime. It will be so wonderful, to actually have someone on our side."
That's what Glen Clark had "We're on your side" as his 1996 campaign slogan. Do we want to go back to Glen Clark and his ways? I think not, but that's what we will be getting if we let our party go that road, folks.
Let's put something new in New Democratic. Let's end the masquerade of contant whining and get something going for a change.
We need to work with the business owners (they carry the weight and make the jobs), and also for labour who protect those jobs, there needs to be a balance.
The contant confrontational attiude from the left wing of our party has to end. For those who want to continue with that, there's always The Tyee and blogs such as this one, but the ordinary voter is tired of it. We need to change government.
It can, with the leader that the NDP needs.
Vote Mike Farnworth. It's not too late!
The aspect of the BC Liberals being "dictators" has worn out. Many thought Glen Clark was a dictator too.
Anon said "We need to work with the business owners (they carry the weight and make the jobs), and also for labour who protect those jobs, there needs to be a balance."
It just makes me ill to hear people say that business owners 'make jobs'. They don't. When there is demand for a product, capitalists, i.e., business owners, hire workers and pay them as little as possible so they can make as much profit as possible. Workers for business are just a commodity that can be hired and fired.
Capitalists only exploit workers to make profit. They don't 'give us jobs' and when we don't tax them, they take that money and blow it at the expense of workers and their families.
Let's get a Premier who understands that we are in a class war and always have been. Christy Crunch wants to mask it. And the middle class - whatever that is - lives in Disney Land. 1 in 5 kids in this 'wealthy' province live in poverty! So much for 'giving us jobs'. Oh, thank you master! Let's not make the master mad. Let's pretend its all OK.
The biggest mistake business made was to allow universal education. Now we can write.
I love Mike and he is politically pretty smart. His suggestion to move further to the middle is to go after Liberal voters but why not move to the left and go after Green voters?
The NDP and the Greens really need to sit down, provincially and federally, and put together a solid platform to unite the left. They need to put the interests of the people and democracy first and you do that by talking to people, finding out what is important to them and creating policies that reflect that rather than party ideology IMHO.
The BC Conservatives will make a dent in the right so this election will be interesting. A united left could do well and is a necessity given the issues on the table and what's at stake.
"It just makes me ill to hear people say that business owners 'make jobs'. They don't. When there is demand for a product, capitalists, i.e., business owners, hire workers and pay them as little as possible so they can make as much profit as possible. Workers for business are just a commodity that can be hired and fired. "
That the way it works. Do a good job, and you can buy those things that make union jobs strong. Do a lousy job and make work for a whiny adovacy group.
Capitalists only exploit workers to make profit. They don't 'give us jobs' and when we don't tax them, they take that money and blow it at the expense of workers and their families.
THat's an old line from the 1930's and 1950's.
Every thing you buy for your home comes from a company, be it Bob The Plumber or Best Buy.
Even what you see on this blog passes through many companies once you see it. The makers of the computer, the internet service providers, the telecommunications companies, everything.
Vote for real change and for positive direction. Let's put the "New" in New Democrat.
Vote Mike Farnworth.
The BC Conservatives will make a dent in the right so this election will be interesting.
The only dents the BC Conservatives make are those that show on one of VanderZalm's shovels.
The sea to sky highway scam. Thousands of BC people will never use that road, however, we tax payers, will pay twenty-five years for it. There should have been a toll, on that road, right after the Olympics.
Just as many in BC don't use the Inland Island Highway built by Glen Clark.
We're still paying for that and other Glen Clark things.
For real change and positivity, vote Mike Farnworth.
"Go left and be left out."
- Mike Harcourt
Anon correctly quotes me as follows: "Capitalists only exploit workers to make profit. They don't 'give us jobs' and when we don't tax them, they take that money and blow it at the expense of workers and their families."
Anon then adds: "THat's an old line from the 1930's and 1950's."
Anon - I wasn't going to respond but you have obviously missed what's happening to workers and worker's rights. Thought Wisconsin was an anomaly? Ask hospital workers, teachers, farm workers - and the list goes on... Its all about rolling back collective bargaining rights and just plain old worker's rights. 1950s? Yep, that's what's happening. Teacher's fortunately won a reprieve from the Supreme Court. Everyone else look out! We need a strong leader on the left. Not a 'centrist' or whatever.
Anon goes on: "That [sic] the way it works. Do a good job, and you can buy those things that make union jobs strong. Do a lousy job and make work for a whiny advocacy group."
I guess you failed to understand globalization. We (i.e., B.C. ) don't produce finished goods anymore. We had a chance with 'fast ferries' but the Campbell group gave them away to friends in the US where they are making money. BC is a service, resource extraction and tourist economy. We buy stuff and that makes profit for fat cats internationally.
Its the 50s all over again, baby!
But what's different is that people just don't seem to care about anybody but themselves. God father Harper is immune. OMG I hope Christy Crunch has to answer questions about her role with the Ministry of Ed. and BC Rail. What was she doing?
An anti-Harper website pulled over 2,000,000 Canadians in the fist few days of being launched. Now that's social media and youth! See
http://www.eyeweekly.com/city/requiredreading/article/114235
and
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/decision-canada/Anti+Harper+website+attracts+million+hits/4620053/story.html
I guess Harper, the Teflon Don, is getting sticky.
Maybe we need the same style websites addressing Christy Clark's record.
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