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How 'New' Are BC’s New Democrats?

James woos business, and some faces are fresh. Still, most candidates reflect party’s traditional base.

Scott Deveau 13 Apr 2005TheTyee.ca
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No car dealers on team

“There are no enemies of BC. Business is not the enemy. And neither is the Labour movement.” With those words spoken to the Vancouver Board of Trade yesterday, NDP leader Carole James reinforced her theme of what’s new about the New Democrats. She talked up a party more diverse and business friendly.

A December Ipsos-Reid poll found 61 per cent of those surveyed believed James and her party were still “too closely tied” to labour unions. James has promised to “modernize” that relationship.

In November, the NDP is expected to reform its delegates system to a one-member-one-vote system. But until then, the party still allocates about a quarter of its delegate spaces to affiliated labour unions.

The NDP also pledges to push for provincial legislation similar to those used at the federal levels and in Manitoba that restrict corporate and union donations to a party.

Neither effort, however, will come before the May 17th election. In the meantime, one way to gauge the evolution of the NDP is to examine the candidates the party is running.

Candidates’ backgrounds

A recent Tyee breakdown of the NDP’s current nominees revealed a slate largely made up of labour activists, former MLAs, their assistants, and numerous teachers, health care workers, and other long-term labour members.

There are, however, some new faces on the slate that hint at the new direction for the party.

They include Rob Fleming, a 30-something Victoria city councilor running in Victoria Hillside, the fruit juice entrepreneur Gregor Robertson running in Vancouver Fairview, and Jarrah Hodge, the 19-year old student who is running against Finance Minister Colin Hansen in Vancouver Quilchena. Bob Simpson, who is running in Cariboo North, is a former senior manager in the forestry industry and a former founding member of the BC Liberals, who has switched his allegiance to the NDP.

The NDP’s current 69 member slate was broken down into four categories.

Twenty-one of the nominees are self-declared labour activists.

Twenty-two are long-time active NDPers (former MLA’s, legislative assistants, and those who have run for the party in the past).

Ten are union members of more than 15 years by virtue of their jobs (teacher, nurses, bus drivers, et al).

This leaves 16, or less than a quarter of the nominees, as the new faces for the party. However, of those 16 new faces, most have some historical ties to the party.

Deborah Poff, for example, a political science professor, who is running in the Prince George North riding, has been a member of the party since high school, helped out on several campaigns (including her husbands recent federal campaign), but has never run for the nomination herself.

Ted Allen, a taxi cab company manager who is running in Surrey Cloverdale, is the president of the NDP association in his riding.

Nearly three quarters of the party’s slate come from active or non-active union backgrounds or are former affiliates of the NDP party.

‘Traditional base’

University of Victoria political science professor Norman Ruff says he’s not surprised by the NDP’s slate.

“It reflects the traditional base of the party,” Ruff said. “Given the nature of the party and the kinds of professions it tends to draw, you run through the stereotypes; teachers, social workers, people with NGO’s. I’ll wager there isn’t a single car dealership owner there.”

By the Tyee’s count, 19 teachers, 0 car dealers.

NDP insiders make no qualms about pulling candidates from its labour base and argue that James’ cooperative leadership style and the party platform (which will be released just after the writ is dropped) are key to rejuvenating the party.

“If history were any guide,” James told the Board of Trade audience yesterday, “in British Columbia it would be smarter for me politically to not come here at all.” She might be expected “to blame all of BC’s ills on the big bad business community. But I won’t do that, because it’s not constructive … I am going to build bridges, not burn them.”

To Vancouver’s business elite, James preached “that a healthy dynamic society combines social inclusion and economic growth.”

With the election only 33 days away, James will be running hard to shape voters’ impressions of her party, says Ruff.

‘Hands off’ nomination strategy

With only two of the NDP’s three MLA’s running again this year, the electorate has no clear picture of who James’ team is, Ruff says. Normally, voters would have at least a dozen candidates returning, and that would give a sense of who would make up James’ caucus.

Even though Campbell’s caucus is jumping ship, with the nomination of Carole Taylor, Wally Oppal, and Daniel Igali and the return of several ministers to the campaign trail, the BC Liberals are giving the electorate an idea of who would make up its caucus, Ruff said.

With Corky Evans, Tim Stevenson, and Mike Farnworth and other 2001 defeated NDP MLA’s running again this year, many will turn to these them on the assumption they will fill the various portfolios, but none of that has been made is clear to voters, Ruff says. Further, Ruff argues Carole James and provincial secretary Gerry Scott have been for the most part “hands off” during the nomination process, opting to let the constituencies elect their members rather than backing certain candidates.

The NDP’s constitution restricts the party executives from parachuting nominees, but many, including those on the inside of the NDP, have argued the system is preventing the party from strategically running candidates that would have a better chance at beating their opponents.

NDP riding Liberal backlash?

Ruff argues the NDP has not actively rebuilt the party since its near annihilation four years ago, and that the rise in the polls has more to do with general disapproval with the BC Liberals than support for the NDP party.

The NDP’s provincial secretary Gerry Scott says this is simply not true. The NDP has been very active recruiting new membership, Scott said. NDP membership has risen from less than 13,000 in 2001 to more than 38,000 going into the May 17th election.

“We deliberately said, ‘Ten or 15 years ago we had a 35,000 members. Let’s get back to a strong membership base in every constituency and with very few exceptions that occurred,” Scott said. The membership now stands at nearly 39,000. “Many of those people had never been in the NDP before.”

Despite the Tyee’s breakdown, Scott said there are a lot of new people from “various walks of life” in the party. Social justice and environmental activists and business people are all running for the party this year.

Scott also took exception to how the Tyee broke down the numbers. He said the categories were “intellectually and politically off-track” and that it was “quantum leap” to “pigeon-hole” people as part of the labour block in the NDP because they have been a member of a union for more than 15 years as a condition of their job.

“I just that’s so arbitrary it doesn’t have any meaning,” Scott said. “I think it’s a real stretch to say this isn’t a new slate.”

Scott Deveau is on staff of The Tyee.  [Tyee]

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