April 24, 2002

Political Effectiveness

There is a simple reason the Campbell government can steamroll over anyone who gets in their way. Look at the April McIntyre & Mustel poll that put the Campbell Liberals at 46% and the NDP at 23% or at the March Ipsos-Reid poll that put the Campbell Liberals at 48% and the NDP at 28%. The NDP has never polled in the high 40s - never, ever (at least not in the last 10 years)

Hospital closures, teacher layoffs, welfare cuts and dozens of other "changes" may make the Campbell Liberals drop a few more points in popularity but nothing will slow them down as long as it looks like they are a shoo-in for a second term. Joy MacPhail and Jenny Kwan are virtual prisoners in the Legislature. They must spend every minute dealing with minuscule details of government bills and estimates. Changing the course of government requires stepping back and building a political movement that will be competitive on May 17, 2005 - just 3 years 3 weeks from now.

How can a political movement be built that will stand a chance of defeating the Campbell government? A prerequisite certainly must be having candidates that the public can trust and respect. Recent polls showing that a majority of Canadians believe that both their federal and provincial governments are corrupt indicate the extent of the credibility problem. Some will say that it is simply not possible to rebuild the NDP but those who want to stop the Campbell blitzkrieg need to realize that there is no alternative. Of course some who want change would never consider voting for the NDP. They have the option that was followed in the last election by both Kevin Falcon and Ralph Sultan who defeated incumbent MLAs from their own party.

Shaking things up from within can have powerful consequences. Pressure on constituency executives, hostile delegates at annual conventions and early contested nomination meetings all may be more effective than any demonstration. The Victoria Times Colonist quoted Nanaimo Liberal MLA Mike Hunter as saying the gatherings do little but agitate the situation. "I guess they're effective in the sense people get out and they make lots of noise, but in terms of are they helpful to somebody like me trying to assess what the real issues are -- my experience so far is not," said Hunter according to the Colonist story. That story continued to quote Hunter saying "Obviously one of the reasons I'm here is to defend the right of people to assemble and say what it is they have to say, but I don't find it a particularly effective way of dealing with issues or individual problems." Perhaps Mr. Hunter would pay more attention if one of those demonstrators was campaigning for his nomination.

Ironically it takes exactly the same tactics to rebuild the NDP as it does to put pressure on the Campbell Liberals from within. The old guard must go, or at least get out of the way. I for one will never run again. Others must make the same commitment. New activists from all walks of life need to be encouraged to join and take over positions of leadership throughout NDP constituency associations. They do not need the frustrations of being resisted by those who have held the reins for many years - encouraged yes, resisted no. A reinvigorated NDP with candidates from all walks of life who are respected in their community can become competitive. A competitive NDP will have an effect on the Campbell government long before May 17, 2005. Activists have to take the initiative to join the NDP and take over - now, not three years from now.