It is said “those the Gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.”
Step forward BC New Democrat leader Adrian Dix. Prior to the election campaign Dix had been at pains to do two things.
First, reassure the business community that a government he led would not be a bunch of mad dog socialists. And second, dampen down expectations of the NDP’s hard core supporters.
The latter was important given that whenever a party is returned to government after a lengthy period in the wilderness of opposition, that hard core, fired by electoral success, always wants to let slip the dogs of war.
Which translates to immediately undoing every perceived evil thing the ousted government did during its terms and introducing the huge policy changes they fervently believe will create the utopia they espouse.
Dix, who would probably like to be more than just a one-term premier, clearly knew that route would lead to disaster down the road. He was also in the enviable position, given the unpopularity of the Liberals, of not really having to promise anything in order to win.
The pitch to the electorate would be something along the lines of “you and I both know the government’s books are a mess and, while we would like to do x, y and z, until we see just how bad it is we can’t make promises that we may not be able to keep.”
But the chances of a politician/party taking a gamble like that are pretty remote.
So it was no surprise that when the campaign officially started, the promises quickly flowed. Even then, the amounts of money being shovelled off the back of the NDP truck were, realistically, paltry compared to the total budget of a BC government.
And Dix stuck to his cautious approach when revealing the NDP’s full plan by warning that, even with the undramatic announcements to date, an NDP government would deliver deficits for the first three years and maybe even the fourth.
On the face of it, that was a gutsy call. But given voters have long since stopped believing in forecast surpluses, it was a smart one, too.
So, the universe was essentially unfolding as it should at that point in the campaign.
Then came Monday, April 22.
That was the day Dix announced that he was opposed to Kinder Morgan’s proposal to expand its Alberta-Vancouver bitumen pipeline and with it the number of oil tankers using the Port of Vancouver.
A complete reversal of his previous position that he would wait to see the contents of Kinder Morgan’s official application.
Apparently the change of heart was prompted by fears that the Green Party was gaining ground because of his previous wait-and-see position.
Seriously? The shoo-in New Democrats terrified by the idea of a Green juggernaut? That’s taking political paranoia to a whole new level.
The announcement was dumb on three levels.
One, it will scare the pants off resource industry companies. They must be asking, what’s next, toast LNG exports?
Two, it tells the hardcore that if they exert a bit of pressure, a Dix-led NDP government will quickly cave in and give them whatever they want.
Finally, it breathes life into a hopeless Liberal campaign, especially given the timing – prior to the leaders debates on radio and TV.
(Lord how the Liberals must be wishing they had a leader other than the thoroughly unpopular and factually challenged Christy Clark.)
Will it change the election result?
I doubt it just because of the presence of the aforementioned Clark.
But it makes me think the gentleman interviewed by the National Post a couple of weeks back may have got it right.
“They (the Liberals) screwed us for too long. Now it’s time to get screwed by someone else.”
Retired Kitimat Northern Sentinel editor Malcolm Baxter now calls Terrace home.
