babble is rabble.ca's discussion board but it's much more than that: it's an online community for folks who just won't shut up. It's a place to tell each other — and the world — what's up with our work and campaigns.
Support rabble | Advertise with us | Contact our staff | About rabble | Log-in or Register for a new account | Corrections | Privacy policy | Newsfeeds | Mailing lists
rabble: Features | Columnists | In Cahoots | Blogs | Books | Photos | What's Up | Polls
babble: Forum Topics | Active Topics
The rpn: About the RPN | Become a podcaster
rabbleTV: Program Guide | Features | Indie Inside | Best of the net
Copyright © 2001-2013 the authors
Syndicate
I say "and fuck Christy Clark' as she is so outta touch with BC reality as not to be in it at all.
does she really think levelling the threat that BCers will have to leave the province if the NDP get in mean sfa to BC voters?
BCers have had to leave the province in droves to find work under the BC Libs. I would bet more than any other time. I hope the BCNDP researchers get the stats on this and start pushing the reality that more BCers work out of the province than ever before. over 500 hundred peeps from this town alone work or moved to find work in AB
she shot herself in the foot with that comment her out touchness has to be shown for what it is and it will be no better under any "free enterprise" party and we BCers have seen what they have done to our lives.
What about former Conservative MP John Reynolds saying it's important to unite under the BC Liberals to prevent a socialist government from being elected?
i read this yesterday afternoon and did not know who John Reynolds was in the whole matter never heard of him before.
family dinner last night filled me in and I guess the operative word is 'John" as mom went on a rant about him and what mom calls his 'corrupt actions' and the VSE.
think that my generation like me knows sfa about him and could care less what he says.
While I think the NDP has an excellent chance of winning the next election, the results of the Alberta election where a sudden change in momentum in the last week surprised everyone on how sweeping a change (namely a status quo government) can occur within such a short period of time, let alone a year. I remember the 1983 provincial election in BC where the NDP led until Barrett made a single foolish statement in the last week and the election was lost. We cannot afford to take anything for granted.
Nonetheless, the Wildrose situation is more akin to our Conservatives (new, untested candidates) than the NDP. We already saw in the by-elections that voters were more reluctant to vote BCCon than expected. The difference is Alberta didn't have any other long-time party with a large natural voting constituency that could benefit from small swings in votes.
aaaaand, if the polling is to be believed anymore, the PCs are closer to the Alberta mainstream views on most political issues AND play a bigger role in shaping (and reflecting) these views.
As a Carpenter's Union activist I fought hard in that election and was gobsmacked at the stupidity of the Building Trades [my union included] and the NDP when they held a press conference to show the construction unions handing an over sized cheque to the party for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Is that the one you mean?
Yep. Barrett said he would get rid of the 5-6% wage caps for civil servants.
Having seen how Redford won in Alberta, in addition to incumbent victories by Liberals in Ontario, NDPers in Manitoba, Conservatives in Newfoundland and Saskatchewan Party, as well as the federal Conservatives, you can bet she will pick up the common theme of the opposition is too risky to vote for. The BC NDP needs to be prepared for the resulting attacks ads with an effective counter-attack because voters are returning incumbents in a time of worldwide financial crisis if they feel rightly or wrongly a new government presents any risk.
I think that's a more effective wedge against the Conservatives than it is the NDP. They will need to wittle the Conservatives down to about 10% of the vote and make sure the NDP is no higher than 40% to have a chance to win. It isn't impossible, but I'd bet against it at this point. Then again, you're right and anything can happen.
The ace in the BC NDP hand this time is Cristy Clark. She is incompetent and it shows. Arrogant governments fall.
She is not that incompetent but Christy took over a nitemare left by Gordo, and this has shades of the Brian Mulroney / Kim Campbell syndrome written all over this. Too bad for her - maybe she can get the sympathy vote!
Anyhoo her CKNW job is awaiting her return next year.
We shouldn't under estimate her, or the right though, even if they're on their way to a well deserved ass kicking. The two things that could realistically throw a wrench into the good guys winning a deserved landslide are a) Clark leaving "for the good of free enterprise" (bonus points if she, an ally such as that loathsome twit Hochstein or another one of those smarmy types say that it's for "the good of BC") leading to a quick re-absorption of the Cons, or b) she calls a surprise election ASAP. About the only thing Clark is decent at is campaigning, she's more incompetent when it comes to governing. The only election she lost was the NPA nomination contest.
That's correct union-loathing folks at one time were very supportive of our so-called families-first premier Clark's Slippery FootingBC Lib powerbrokers appear to be plotting against her after byelection losses.
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/04/24/Clark-Slippery-Footing/
Overall, about 70 per cent of voters rejected Clark's government in the two ridings.
Fundrazors
That's what has both Reynolds and Philip Hochstein, head of the union-loathing Independent Contractors and Businesses Association -- and a huge BC Liberal donor that also sponsored tough anti-NDP ads -- very worried.
And while Reynolds is publicly backing Clark's leadership so far -- "you've got a good leader -- we don't need to fight over that issue," he told CKNW's Bill Good on Friday -- Hochstein doesn’t sound very sure.
"If there is no way to have unanimity, then we lose the election. How that comes about and who brings that together, I'm not sure who that is," Hochstein told The Globe and Mail's Justine Hunter after the double loss.
In an opinion piece in The Province newspaper, Hochstein exhorts British Columbians to support the "free enterprise" coalition without once mentioning Clark.
But he does say: "If it's about a name or label, then change it." Could the name to change be Clark's?
NDP wins, BCCP edges in In third spot, but numbers are up, says Cummins
http://www.abbotsfordtimes.com/news/wins+BCCP+edges/6515760/story.html
I respect the right for their take-no-prisoner approach to politics
Better than us NDPers who dithered over Carole James' leadership for some time before she was cut loose way past her best before date as leader
The stakes are so high so the reality is politics is hardball and the sooner people realize it the better
The difference between the right and left in Canada is the right reinvents itself when its best before date expires. The left has been driving the same vehicle since 1961.
The reason they can change is all about the money. The Howe Street crowd in BC have no problem acting in concert to ensure they continue to control the government. The Clark victory surprised them and produced the worst case scenario for the 1%. For a minute in politics in BC we had a left leaning NDP government with a center left opposition. That immediately lead to a WELL FUNDED campaign to replace one Gord for another. That also included a WELL FUNDED media campaign spearheaded by Falcon and other shills for the 1%.
The NDP when out of power has no moneyed backers who are willing to spend the money to reinvent the left. The BC Fed will never take on that roll and they are one of the few organizations with any fiscal muscle. The BC CP is the vehicle the real powers in this province are test driving as a replacement car. They are not yet sold on its merits since it came third in the first heats but their current vehicle didn't do much better. So I expect that because they are still in doubt they will fund both parties and increase their third party attacks against the NDP.
I agree that nothing should be taken for granted, but your example of incumbent governments winning is not that simple. Governmening parties in Alberta, Newfoundland, and Ontario actually lost seats in their elections, and the governing party in New Brunswick was thrown from office in 2010. True, the federal Conservatives, Saskatchewan Party, and the NDP in Manitoba held on and increased their seat counts (in Manitoba's case, the governing party has actually polled behind the opposition for most of the last year, believe it or not), but in each case it had more to do with the incompetence of the opposition parties than of any great love for the current government. People are nervous, they don't like what they're seeing or what's happening to them, and they are ready for change.
this is a really good point.
The NDP has been running against that financial bogeyman for 60 years. The BC Liberals are getting the door because they are openly corrupt and they pissed on all the taxpayers with their cynical HST ploy. Nothing is going to make all those right wingers who worked endlessly on the HST recall campaign to go to the polls and vote for Cristy the Clown. The NDP will win every time if the right wingers get less than 45% of the vote concentrated in one party.
http://rabble.ca/comment/1343082
http://www.bcndp.ca/newsroom/bc-ndp-outlines-objections-enbridge-pipelin...
Cross-post: The BCNDP has taken a stand on Northern Gateway. All their MLAs have signed a letter to the Joint Review Panel outlining six key concerns. Three are environmental, one is in regards to the impact First Nation communities, and two are economic.
I have only skimmed it but the full PDF document looks to be a very well-written and detailed letter. I have to admit, the page showing a copy of each MLA's signature really grabbed my attention - it's an unambiguous position statement.
I wonder if this will help bring 2009-alienated-Green voters back into the fold?
Awesome. I like it when the politicos pick the right parade to get into. This is a winning issue for the NDP in the next election since it has the potential to draw in centrist Greens and young people who might not bother voting but who really get the tar sands bitumen pipeline issue.
I don't know how cynical to be about how long it took them to come out and take a stand... but I will give the benefit of the doubt and say that it was prudent for them to take the time to put together such a thoughtfully worded and well-researched document rather than let it seep out on an ad hoc basis at the whims of whichever MLA got to it first.
When the BC Liberals change their name the BC NDP should change their name to the "Families First" Party.
change their name before the election next year? hope they do. it'll give uninformed voters a reality check.
Ha!
B.C. Liberal backbenchers may be better off without ministers’ visits
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-liberal...
Van Dongen may well prove to be most damaging of all to what's left of the BC Liberals. I hope Harper and his Province and Vancouver Sun buddies feel good trying to turn scum into a hero before they quickly got him out of the country. The msp in BC is despicable including the Liberal connected CBC.
Van Dongen offers insight into why former B.C. premier Campbell abruptly quithttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-politic...
Van Dongen is an interesting charachter. On the one hand, he's trying to make it look like he wanted to push Gordon Campbell out over this bit of corruption. On the other hand even though Gordo left in 2010, Van Dongen stayed in government until 2012. To believe that Gordo was the only charachter involved in this event is ludicrous, much of the government was implicated and anyone with at least half a brain can see this. Van Dongen is hardly completely clear of the taint that's stinking up this government, so for him to play the fool, or hero, is hardly believeable.
Maybe Hockstein!
After all it's his member's money he is pissing down the drain on his plitical stupidities so he may well be looking for another job soon.
http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Election-Central/2012/05/08/FalconPoll/
Fifty percent plus one:
Christy Clark talks about leading a "free enterprise coalition," but it doesn't look like that coalition can win in any incarnation.