01) NDP FALLS SHORT, CAMPBELL WINS BC ELECTION

(The following article is from the May 16-30, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

PV Vancouver Bureau

Despite major opposition from the labour movement and other progressive forces, the Campbell Liberals won a third consecutive victory in British Columbia on May 12. While the NDP's 42% cut into the 2005 Liberal vote lead slightly, the Liberals took 46% and led by 48 seats to 37 on election night, similar to their previous win. The Green party vote fell to just over 8%, leaving them again without any seats.

     The outcome will help the right-wing government to use the economic crisis and the provincial deficit as a club against working people and the poor over the next four years. Key public sector union contracts come up for renewal after the 2010 Winter Olympics next February, and with their new majority, the Liberals are expected to impose concessions and wage freezes. The growing public demand for a minimum wage increase also faces a steeper uphill battle, even though "wealthy" British Columbia has the lowest rates in Canada.

     On another front, the Liberal victory means that the controversial carbon tax will soon rise, taking bigger chunks out of working people's paycheques. The issue divided the environmental movement, with key public figures such as David Suzuki appearing to support Campbell despite his government's track record of turning natural resources over to the corporate sector for a fast buck.

     This "green" fig leaf, combined with an expensive public relations campaign to portray the premier as a man with the business savvy to govern during a recession, were key factors in saving the Liberals from angry voters. The Liberals benefitted from the overwhelming support of the corporate media, especially the CanWest Global empire which completely dominates newspapers, radio and TV on the west coast.

     NDP leader Carole James and her party were unable to take advantage of the fact that a majority of voters saw Campbell as arrogant and out of touch. The NDP strategy to present James as a more caring leader brought some gains, but not surprisingly, the underlying sexist mantra that a "tough guy" like the premier is needed during a recession was reinforced by the right-wing media to considerable effect.

     On a policy level, the NDP used the carbon tax issue effectively in many interior and northern ridings, but possibly at the expense of losing some Green-leaning urban voters.

     The NDP campaigned heavily to "take back your BC" from the Campbell Liberals and the corporations, a slogan which appealed to many who oppose the government's agenda of privatizing services and resources. But by also trying to appease the business sector (James pledged to protect Campbell's corporate tax cuts) the NDP sent out mixed messages, convincing many progressive voters that little would change if they defeated the Liberals. That weakness was clear whenever James spoke to union conventions, where she often spent more time addressing business concerns than working class needs.

     Over the past year, polls showed the NDP within striking distance of the Liberals, even pulling ahead at times. Clearly, the government was ripe for defeat, but the NDP leadership was unable or unwilling to conduct the hard-hitting type of campaign needed to galvanize the working class into action against one of the most pro-corporate governments in Canada.

     Knowing the importance of this election, the labour movement did make a huge effort to get out the vote. Several key unions campaigned hard on the issues - the BC Teachers Federation, for example, spent heavily on advertising to expose the Liberal underfunding of education, and mobilized its membership in support of the NDP more than in previous campaigns. Other unions worked hard to attack the Liberal sellout of BC Hydro and water resources, or to demand more spending on health care and public transit. Each of these campaigns was designed to present the NDP as the positive alternative, and the party did make minor gains, but not enough to overcome the Liberal media advantage.

     In the end, the impressive campaign conducted by the labour movement to defeat the Liberals fell short, mainly because the social democratic NDP leadership failed to present a credible working class alternative.

     Communist Party of BC leader George Gidora noted that with the Liberals back in office, "the labour movement needs to free itself from the concept that political involvement means focusing on getting the NDP elected down the road. The BC Federation of Labour and its affiliates and allies urgently need to develop an independent fightback program, designed to block the next Liberal attacks." If the B.C. economy continues to nose-dive, he said, it may still be possible to stall the Liberal agenda, which can be expected to take full shape with next year's provincial budget and the upcoming public sector negotiations. But if the labour movement goes into a shell to wait for the 2013 election, working people are in for a rough four years.

     On a related matter, support for the BC Single Transferable Vote proposal fell sharply in its second appearance on the ballot, down from 58% to 40% this time. Both the Yes and No sides were provided $500,000 for this referendum, but it appears that the more STV was debated, the more its flaws became apparent to voters.

     The strongest backers of STV were young people, Green Party voters, and residents of Vancouver Island. Each category are sections of the B.C. population which tend to look favourably on electoral reform. However, STV promoters had little but promises to offer, such as the view that the system might generate more proportional results than first-past-the-post, or that it might help elect more women to office. These unproven claims ran up against the reality that BC-STV would create enormous ridings (almost twice the size of federal constituencies, on average) without guaranteeing any representation for smaller parties cut out by first-past-the-post.

     The Communist Party of BC reluctantly urged voters to reject the STV proposal, with the aim of relaunching efforts to win real proportional representation, as called for by most submissions to the 2004 Citizens Assembly.