BC NDP: Who should be the next leader? II

I'm actually disappointed that Jenny Kwan will not run, as I believe she has what it takes. Maybe there could be a draft for her to run. Too bad for the bruised feelings or egos, time to get over it and pick the best person for leader. If she doesn't run possibly she could be appointed deputy leader after the leadership race.

I'm beginning to think that perhaps someone from outside the current caucus is needed. What about one of BC environmental leaders? Or a labour leader? And don't think for a second that Gregor is not looking at the situation very closely. 

 Maybe if you don't have anything to say, perhaps you should not be talking to the press.

No date set for B.C. NDP leadership vote

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/no-date-se...

What is Corky Evans up to these days. I want someone who realized there was a problem with our leadership and addressed the issue, not someone who just merrily went along realizing something was wrong, and not doing anything about it. I'm looking for a leader, someone who has a pretty face, but who can kick ass when required. 

NorthReport wrote:

Bob Simpson says "regime change" needed to heal rift in B.C. NDP

http://www.straight.com/article-363226/vancouver/bob-simpson-says-regime...

Bob is right about this. Carol James is the symptom, not the problem. The NDP needs more than a new leader, they need direction and some clear, consistant,  progressive policies.

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One struggle, many fronts.

From a previous thread, but better late than never:

remind wrote:

... how nice to see Green Party supporters and voters here telling the BCNDPers what is up and wrong..

If you think that Green supporters don’t care, or have an interest in, what happens in the NDP, you would be wrong.

Because our FPTP electoral system pretty much keeps Greens from office, many greens look to other parties to actually enact green environmental policies. Many greens expect the Green party itself will never win seats in the leg. This wouldn’t really matter, if other parties implemented a green program.

The BC-NDP has a pretty good program on the environment, as it happens. Unfortunately we heard nothing about it during the last election. Instead we had the boneheaded “Axe the Tax” position which promptly alienated environmentalists. This points to the real problem with the BC-NDP, an unclear program and sudden flip-flops in policy that emanate from the back rooms, and not from the membership.

Just for the record, I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of the Green Party, so I am free to take out an NDP membership and participate in the selection of a leader. I hope some credible candidates crop up. I am leaning towards Gregor right now, but that could change.

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One struggle, many fronts.

scott wrote:

Because of boundary redraws, we now live in Kootenay-West (Katrine Conroy NDP) and not his forner riding of Nelson-Creston (Michelle Mungall NDP), so he no longer has a riding to run in unless one of them steps down.

That's too bad. If he became leader though, couldn't he just run in Vernon? 

Stockholm in previous thread wrote:

Brian Mulroney plotted against Joe Clark and then replaced him. Paul Martin plotted against Jean Chretien and then replaced him. Ignatieff had his people out undermining Dion at every opportunity and then he took over. In Australia, Julia Gillard deposed Kevin Rudd and then took over.

Stock, you missed an important word in my post: "openly."
Officially, Mulroney endorsed Clark in the leadership review in 83. Martin left the dirty work to lieutenants. Don't know the particulars of the ALP stuff.
I'm given to understand from someone with decent connections that the puppet master for the latest coup was actually one of the "loyal" MLAs.

I wonder if my MP Fin Donnelly would run. Not known to be from either of the warring factions, has his own local support base that would add NDP seats (in the Eastern Suburbs especially), GREEN CREDIBILITY, and charismatic.

VK, interesting that you say that.

I have been wondering about Vision Vancouver. Ever been to one of their recent events? It's hard to walk around without tripping over some developer. Representing the people of Vancouver, don't make me laugh - I'm seriously beginning to have my doubts about them. Inaccessible, alouf, No time for the little people now that they have been elected. I think I'm going to renew my COPE membership.

A sleeper issue in the B.C. NDP leadership race: Gordon Campbell's tax cuts

Now that James has announced her resignation as leader, future NDP leadership candidates can reopen this debate.

Should the next NDP leader follow in the footsteps of Obama and maintain his or her right-wing predecessor's tax cuts? Or should the NDP revisit this issue in light of all the revenue that could be generated from raising taxes on the wealthy?

Supporters of higher taxes could frame the issue in this way: by boosting the amount of tax that high-income earners pay, the government could return that back to the average person in the form of lower medical-services premiums.

After all, medical-services premiums are a regressive tax in that middle-income and high-income people pay the same amount per month. (There is premium assistance for low-income residents.)

B.C. and Ontario are the only provinces that charge medical-services premiums. In B.C., these fees are expected to generate $1.74 billion in revenue in the 2010-11 fiscal year. It will top $2 billion by 2012-13, according to this year's fiscal plan.

The right wingers in the media and the business associations will no doubt howl at the mere mention of a personal-income tax increase for the wealthy. But it could go over well with many NDP members in a one-member, one-vote leadership race if it means a rollback in medical-services premiums.

http://www.straight.com/article-363301/vancouver/sleeper-issue-bc-ndp-le...

I agree.
James was a great lady but no party leader

http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/James+great+lady+party+leader/3...

NorthReport wrote:

Carole is steping down as Leader - the war is over, and NDPers need to put their differences aside. Let's lose this mentality aboujt who was on which side. Quite frankly who cares any more.

This was never JUST about Carol James. It is about restoring democracy and accountability to the party. As Jenny Kwan's letter says:

Quote:

Under Carole James' leadership, there has been a steady erosion of our democratic principles. Debate has been stifled, decision-making centralized, and individual MLAs marginalized.

Many are shocked at how some critical decisions are made or how caucus decisions have been later altered.

Equally dismaying is how MLAs then learn about these decisions through the media. This poor decision-making practice and a lack of genuine consultation within our Caucus is an ongoing source of frustration for many within the Caucus.

As well, for too long there has been a clear lack of direction under the leadership of Carole James. Whenever a challenging policy decision arises, often the default position is to avoid taking a stand.

The delay in grappling with difficult but critical public policy choices often results in making the NDP irrelevant in the hearts and minds of British Columbians.

If the leader is changed without changing the culture at the top, it will have all been for nothing.

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One struggle, many fronts.

scott wrote:

NorthReport wrote:

Carole is steping down as Leader - the war is over, and NDPers need to put their differences aside. Let's lose this mentality aboujt who was on which side. Quite frankly who cares any more.

This was never JUST about Carol James. It is about restoring democracy and accountability to the party. As Jenny Kwan's letter says:

Quote:

Under Carole James' leadership, there has been a steady erosion of our democratic principles. Debate has been stifled, decision-making centralized, and individual MLAs marginalized.

Many are shocked at how some critical decisions are made or how caucus decisions have been later altered.

Equally dismaying is how MLAs then learn about these decisions through the media. This poor decision-making practice and a lack of genuine consultation within our Caucus is an ongoing source of frustration for many within the Caucus.

As well, for too long there has been a clear lack of direction under the leadership of Carole James. Whenever a challenging policy decision arises, often the default position is to avoid taking a stand.

The delay in grappling with difficult but critical public policy choices often results in making the NDP irrelevant in the hearts and minds of British Columbians.

If the leader is changed without changing the culture at the top, it will have all been for nothing.

New leadership can make a difference and burying some of our axes is essential for healing --the NDp remains a coalition of sorts -but yes, a new party culture and more democratic systems are essential for this to make any lasting difference.

Now's your chance. Instead of the lefties complaining about the NDP, you can all join the party and democratically vote for the prospective new leader. Hurry up though, as there will be a cutoff date soon, and you may miss it.

BTW if you want to follow what is going on in politics in BC read the Georgia Straight - particularly columnist Charlie Smith
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If people in the party are smart they will listen to Jenny. Thank goodness for her leadership.

Holidays play havoc with B.C. NDP's search for interim leader

The public face of the NDP's so-called Baker's Dozen says she has no problem with Carole James staying on as party leader until an interim head can be found.

Jenny Kwan, who last week unleashed a blistering assessment of Ms. James's leadership that helped spark her resignation, said she doesn't believe there's any harm in letting the party head hold on to her post now that the search for a new leader has begun.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/holidays-p...

Farnworth, Evans, Dix lead contenders to replace Carole James as NDP leader

The poll also asked respondents to choose the candidate that would be most likely to get them to consider voting for the NDP. The top three to generate interest in voting NDP were MLA Jenny Kwan, Robertson and Farnworth.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Farnworth+Evans+lead+contenders+rep...

Backroom boys forced James out

She says: They hated business link

The other woman at the heart of the NDP's great political divide has a radically different version of why James was deposed.

Kwan, leader of 13 dissident MLAs who openly opposed James's leadership, said the party had to hurry to choose a new leader for fear the B.C. Liberals will call a snap election once their own new leader is in place.

"That's why there was an urgency to get this renewal," Kwan told The Province. "We are going to be ready when they call an election."

Kwan said the new NDP leader will indeed be new, not like the people running for the Liberal leadership.

"They're all old faces," said Kwan, the longest serving NDP MLA. "Even Christy Clark, who is supposed to be new, is old.

"When she was in cabinet, she destroyed our communities with her cuts to programs."

Despite their wildly divergent views of why James lost her job, both women agree that they'll stand by whoever is named the new party leader in hopes the NDP can finally get back to governing B.C. after a decade in opposition.

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Backroom+boys+forced+James/3944134/story...

 I agree, but let's move on quickly now and pick a new leader.

NDP leader Carole James resignation was inevitable after 2009 election defeat

She Had to Go

Bill Tieleman's 24 hours/The Tyee column

Tuesday December 7, 2010

By Bill Tieleman

"There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare."

- Sun Tzu, military strategist, 544-496 BC

Carole James resigned yesterday but the cause wasn't the recent New Democrat MLA caucus revolt -- it was her defeat in the May 12, 2009 provincial election.

The B.C. NDP leader's second consecutive loss to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell was fatal to her political future. But she refused to acknowledge that fact until Monday, more than 18 months later.

Unfortunately, James decided not to consult with her caucus or the party before announcing just weeks after her defeat that she would be leader going into the 2013 election.

That set in motion a series of events leading to crisis after crisis until James could no simply longer continue.

Like Gabriel Garcia Marquez' novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold, James' political fate was fixed in advance of the final chapter.

But other post-election events masked that reality.

News the provincial budget deficit was six times larger than Campbell pledged and the surprise imposition of the hated Harmonized Sales Tax just weeks after the vote helped drive the BC Liberals into a disastrous lack of public support.

The sudden guilty plea bargain of former BC Liberal ministerial aides David Basi and Bob Virk and the government's agreement to fund their $6 million defence in the B.C. legislature raid case added more nails to a weighty coffin.

But when Campbell was forced to resign by his own caucus revolt, the reality that an election would likely be held in 2011 under a new BC Liberal premier jolted the NDP awake.

The planned yes/no review of James' leadership at the Nov. 2011 NDP convention was no longer soon enough to deal with lingering doubts that she could win a third election try.

Even when Angus Reid Public Opinion showed the BC Liberals nose diving to 26 per cent support and Campbell's personal approval rating dropping to just 12 per cent, James' own numbers failed to rise, registering only 25 per cent while the NDP was at 47 per cent. 


That 22 per cent gap, despite being party leader for seven years, was an insurmountable obstacle to winning an election, when leadership is the key question for voters.

And then a Mustel Group poll came out after Campbell's resignation showing the BC Liberals rising from the dead to 37 per cent, just five per cent behind the NDP's 42 per cent -- the same results the party obtained in the 2009 election.



Mustel's polling also found James' personal approval has dropped nine per cent since September to 33 per cent, putting her just a point above Campbell's own 32 per cent.


And with a new BC Liberal leader -- whether it be Kevin Falcon, George Abbott, Mike de Jong, Moira Stilwell or Christy Clark -- almost forced to call an early election rather than govern for two years without a mandate, James losing again appeared inevitable.

James is a decent person with many talents who has contributed much to public life as a party leader, MLA and before that, a long-time school trustee.

But now the NDP must end internal battles and find a leader who can reinvigorate the party with new ideas and a vision that connects with voters 

http://billtieleman.blogspot.com/2010/12/ndp-leader-carole-james-resigna...

freeasabird wrote:

Corky Evans would make a great interim leader. He may not want the job permanently but he would be a good man to come to the aid of the party to calm the waters,

While i think that there may be some good people outside of caucus (maybe even including Corky Evans) who ought to run for the leadership - the post of "interim leader" is one that I think HAS to go to someone who currently sits in the legislature. This person will only be there for a couple of months - but their main role will be to lead the NDP in the legislature when  it resumes in January etc... so having an interim leader who has no seat would defeat the whole purpose of having an interium leader at all!

As for the polls showing that Farnworth and Evans have the most public support - I think that is largely a function of that fact that they were both moderately high profile former cabinet ministers who have been around for a very long time - so people have heard of them. Some of the other people who might make good leaders like John Horgan - simply are not as well known (yet) because they were not part of the NDP government of the 90s (which could be a blessing)

I agree, they are rather pathetic don't you think. Some people unfortunately just don't know when to shut up. 

kropotkin1951 wrote:

Someone should gag and hogtie Paul Ramsey.  The dinosaurs like him and Schreck are doing continuing damage to the the party.  These two were part of the brain trust that reduced the party to two seats before Jenny and Joy and then Carole rebuilt the party. 

Its really unrealistic to expect people not to lash out. Let them vent.

The particular people doing it may be certifiable idiots. But venting has to happen.

Another excellent suggestion KenS - I hope other BC NDPers are listening very carefully to this.

KenS wrote:

Its really unrealistic to expect people not to lash out. Let them vent.

The particular people doing it may be certifiable idiots. But venting has to happen.

Why keep venting after you got what you wanted?? venting is something losers do - not winners.

OK, I thought you were still attacking Ramsey over what he wrote over the weekend before Carole James quit.