The Written Word
for January 10, 2001

Last time I spoke about the need to find out, if we can, just what a new Liberal government would do once in power.

There’s another bit of speculation, I think.

Will we see a repeat of 1991 where the public, hesitant to have the NDP take power without an opposition, and fearing that eliminating the Socreds would do just that, elected – out of the blue – 17 Liberals? Is this a good time to be a Reform Party supporter?

It’s certainly possible because while many detest the NDP they dislike Liberals only a little bit less. It was this emotion that saw Reform split enough votes around the party to re-elect the NDP in 1996.

I suspect that conditions have changed.

In 1991 and 1996 the Reform Party was seen simply as a right-wing party. Now it’s seen as a right wing party with deep religious commitments. It has been the mistake of Bill Vander Zalm to move the party towards a right wing religious commitment. This no doubt accords with Mr Vander Zalm’s personal conviction but for all that it puts his party in a position where few of its supporters of 1996 can continue that support.

There is, of course, another, factor. In 1991 the Liberals were seen as a right wing alternative to the left wing NDP. In 2001 the Reform will be seen as just a party even further right of those same Liberals. In other words it’s pretty hard to present the Reform Party as an alternative to the NDP when the Liberals are clearly that themselves.

What is true, however, is that nature and politics abhor a vacuum. If there is any real space left unoccupied then there is a chance for the Reform Party to fill it. I just don’t think that vacuum will be there.

This is not a good situation. There is a need for a party of the left. The trouble is, the traditional party of the left in BC is going the way of its federal counterpart – down the drain. We could be seeing a Legislature with 70 or more Liberals and perhaps five or six NDP in opposition. This is bad for us in every imaginable way.

This could be the situation for some time to come unless the NDP re-invents itself. It is, here and nationally, a party of organized Labour that has no policy. It’s no longer enough to be against poverty and free trade and for the Labour Movement. There are macro issues to be dealt with, with ever diminishing government tools available. If the NDP leadership convention a year ago is any indication, philosophical purity must be put ahead of any practical policies.

Should this persist, the Liberals will simply expand so as to steal the right wing of the NDP – the same thing as they have done nationally – and the NDP will be left as a rump party of left wing complainers.

The 2001 election promises to be not only very interesting one but one which alters the political face of the province for a long time to come, if not forever.