I am an oddity in partisan politics, I have no desire to see the opposition to my party be weak, I want them to be as strong and as good as they can be. In our Westminster parliament system a strong opposition that is really a government in waiting means the party in power governs better. I think the NDP would be strongest with Mike Farnworth as leader of the BC NDP.
I think all three of the front runners, Mike Farnworth, Adrian Dix and John Horgan, are all strong candidates and could all lead the NDP into government. What sets Mike Farnworth apart for me is that he has always been quietly competent and capable as a minister and now as an opposition MLA. He inspires confidence of the public in the NDP. The public will see him as the premier in waiting.
I personally like John Horgan and I think he has the old CCF populism thing going on but I do not think he is the best choice for the NDP. I am concerned about John Horgan's approach to economic issues, his approach feels like old style left, more so than the others. The BC NDP needs to look to Labour in the UK or Labor in Australia for economic policy.
I see Adrian Dix as the one that could hold the government's feet to the fire better than anyone else, but I also see him as a very divisive person in BC politics. I do not see him inspiring the people of BC to love the NDP. He is pragmatic and would do what is needed for the NDP to win, but I am not sure he could get more than one term as premier. I am not certain we would not end up with a governing style that is similar to Gordon Campbell.
BC politics would be dramatically different if it were Mike Farnworth versus George Abbott, it would most likely be about which party people support and not about who people hate more. They are the only candidates from either party that could lead us to a different political paradigm in BC.
2 comments:
Really? "The BC NDP needs to look to Labour in the UK or Labor in Australia for economic policy."
Isn't the UK still reeling after their banks crashed from economic mismanagement of the UK Labour party through the 90s? Similarly, Australia has many of the worlds most unaffordable cities (of which Vancouver ranked #3).
These do not seem like sound examples. Perhaps Norway would be a better example to choose and not a country whose economy is in the toilet.
I did not say I thought they were perfect, but the banking crisis caught left and right around the world off guard. Only Canada was prepared.
Norway is a bad example of much because it has small population that can live of huge oil revenues. Their governments have not had to deal with reality in a long time
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