07) STAGE SET FOR PIVOTAL B.C. ELECTION

People's Voice Editorial

            Weeks before B.C.'s May 14 election, the Liberal government of Christy Clark trails Adrian Dix's NDP by nearly twenty percent in the polls. The most blatantly pro-corporate government in recent British Columbia history may be heading for defeat, an outcome which we would welcome.

            But as voting day draws near, trade unionists and progressive activists are witnessing a familiar pattern. Taking its support from working people for granted, the B.C. NDP is wooing big business and denying right-wing predictions of radical policy shifts. At a March 6 fundraiser at the Hotel Vancouver, the NDP broke previous records, raking in over half a million dollars from the corporate sector.

            In early April, the NDP will release their long-awaited campaign platform. There is every reason to expect that they will adopt the corporate mantra that "the cupboard is too empty" to restore the huge B.C. Liberal cuts to health, education and social programs. After becoming NDP leader, Dix had called for minor reversals of Liberal tax giveaways to the wealthy and the corporations (ideas which were copied in Premier Clark's recent budget, indicating the depth of her party's crisis). But these token shifts will only recover a tiny fraction of the $2.4 billion per year which progressive economists say could be generated by bringing British Columbia's tax revenues up to the Canadian average.

            By limiting itself to what the corporations consider "affordable," the B.C. NDP would betray the hopes of working class and poor voters targetted by 12 years of Liberal attacks. The struggle for real change will not end on May 14, but the election will alter the political terrain. The best option is to vote for Communist Party of BC candidates where they are on the ballot. In other ridings, progressive voters should defeat the Liberals, and pressure NDP candidates to roll back the entire right-wing agenda.

(The above article is from the April 1-15, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)