CKNW Editorial
for June 18, 1999

The last place you’ll find democracy in any form is at a party political convention.

In 1988, Bill Vander Zalm had squandered a huge reservoir of popularity. He had lost two key cabinet ministers, Brian Smith and Grace McCarthy and the party seethed with discontent.

The party convention that year was held in Penticton and our show covered it. The big issue was whether or not the Premier’s leadership would be put to a secret ballot. There was a clause in the party constitution which called for an affirmation of the leader but as with all these kinds of motions, it was perfunctory in nature – it was expected that someone would stand up with the political equivalent of three cheers for the leader and everyone would sing for he’s a jolly good fellow. It was always done by voice vote.

This time there was a move to make the vote a secret one. One the evening before the convention I was at the wine and cheese party (the Socreds had moved a long ways from the old W.A.C. Bennett days of strawberries and cream) and I met my former boss and colleague Bill Bennett, I asked him what he thought of this motion to have a secret ballot on Vander Zalm’s leadership. He replied that if the party denied its members democracy there would be a very high price to pay. How prophetic his words turned out to be.

The following morning the debate to have the question of Vander Zalm’s leadership voted on publicly began. The trouble was, the motion for a secret ballot was to be voted on openly. And Phil Gaglardi and Don Philips went to work, shouting down the opposition and making it clear that they would be watching this vote and whoever voted for it was some kind of cruddy Socred. Needless to say the open vote for the secret ballot failed and Vander Zalm was confirmed in an open show of hands.

But, as Bill Bennett predicted, the unlanced boil just grew bigger and more painful and two years later Vander Zalm was out and three years later, almost to the day, the Social Credit Party was utterly destroyed.

The irony is that Vander Zalm would probably have won, though narrowly, the secret ballot but, of course, his leadership would have been doomed and the Socreds in all likelihood would have started the process to replace him sooner.

There is a lesson in this for the New Democratic Party. Premier Clark avoided any challenge to his leadership – yet in a very big way he did not. For the inability to clear the air has set the New Democratic Party on a path towards self destruction. There is no law that says the NDP must always have 30% of the popular vote in this province. B.C. has changed a hell of a lot in the last 20 years. The unionized workers no longer accept that the NDP is their party – indeed, if they ever did. I ran and won twice in a union town and know a bit about the subject. Union members want the same as everyone else – good government which sets and maintains decent and achievable priorities. Moreover, the sands of politics are changing. What if the Liberals win next time and the Reform Party comes second. This could very easily lead to a situation like the one that bedevils the federal NDP – they are squeezed on the center right by the Liberals who will be fighting to isolate the right, the traditional task of the NDP.

The NDP made the same error last weekend that the Socreds made 10 ½ years ago. They refused to lance the boil and they will pay dearly for that.

The economic news may get better but no one is going to credit that to Glen Clark who, having denied that the downturn was his fault can hardly demand credit when it gets better. Moreover, the RCMP report and in due course, the Conflicts Chairman’s report will be down. Like Mr Vander Zalm before him, Clark believes he will be cleared of a conflict of interest. Well, Mr Clark, this prediction – if it is found, as it surely will be, that you accepted free labour from Dimitrious Pilarinos, it’s a no brainer just as it was with Vander Zalm.

Mr Clark’s last shred of credibility was dashed by the judge in the Hydrogate case. The only task now left him is to complete the job as Vander Zalm did before him – utterly destroy his party.

Last weekend the NDP in convention granted him that opportunity and, believe it, Glen Clark won’t let them down.