VANCOUVER - The B.C. New Democratic Party must start the work immediately to build a positive message for the 2013 provincial election and get that message to British Columbians, said leader Carole James in her first major address to the party since the May 12 vote.
“We have to share not only our vision, but the ideas and solutions that show our vision is achievable,” James told party members at the NDP Provincial Council in downtown Vancouver Saturday morning.
The inability to reach voters with a positive message was the biggest lesson for the party to learn from the recent campaign, she later told reporters.
“Really the issues around what was wrong with the government were the issues that overtook the campaign,” she said.
“We have to do a better job of making sure that we present [our] vision early - that people see that we have an alternative vision for this province.”
James credited the B.C. Liberals with doing a better job at selling their message, but said it’s already proven to have been built on broken promises.
“There is no question that their message was effective – they delivered it well. And it was fundamentally dishonest.”
She accused the Liberals of wavering on assurances to stick to the budgeted $495 million deficit and for failing to be up front about proposed cuts to public services, such as health care.
News this week of hundreds of erased government emails relating to B.C. Rail is another example of the government promising transparency and then failing to deliver, James said.
The NDP caucus will spend the next four years defending its core vision, including building a strong middle-class, standing up for the vulnerable and protecting public resources, she said.
“We have to be determined to oppose the B.C. Liberal agenda vigorously and relentlessly where it fails, and to propose new ideas - to put forward a bold progressive alternative that unites and inspires.”
And for the next couple of months before the legislature is recalled, MLAs will focus on discussions around the province.
“Outreach is our biggest priority. All of our critics … are going to start building that outreach. They’re going to start looking out for groups, organizations, academics, people across our communities and their critic areas, so we can start, as I said, building that bold vision now,” the NDP leader told reporters.
James earlier had restated her commitment to lead the party into the 2013 election and told supporters the whole party must begin now to put the tools in place to ensure success.
“In four years we have to be better organized, we have to be better resourced, we have to be smarter and we have to be more determined than ever.”
Garrett Zehr reports for The Tyee.
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seth
2 years ago
biggest lesson
Was that Carole James herself is unelectable. Half the electorate who should have been fed up with the Gordo stayed home not only because of her damn awful campaign but her basic personality and physical presence is so dull and uninspiring on the TeeVee. She is BC's Stefan Dion.
Most of the Liberal sell job was well known before the election. The sell job was enabled by Carole James and her shameful performance in the campaign. A cowardly refusal to face the fascists on the economy. A woman who refused to stand a single time and show us she had even a tiny bit of jam.
I can't count the number of times that progressive callers to NDP candidates including James begged the NDP to deal the with the economy, more than one hundred billion in off the books PPP debts, the ridiculous deficit forecast, the 10 years of NDP statistics much better than Campbell's, the rapidly mounting job losses and welfare cases, the worst economy in Canada in the last year, the 60 billion or so in enormous IPP losses to be faced and so and so on. But every time the Neocon media let an NDP on the air they loved to talk about schools, hospitals,and the poor despite numerous polls showing the economy was the issue. And the obsequious fools bowing and scraping thanking the Cons for allowing them the opportunity to speak instead of shredding Good, Palmer, Baldry, Smyth, the MSM, and Gordo's fascists at every venue possible.
Now to save our own ass's after Carole James and the NDP's shameful performance, progressives need to join their counterparts still left in minority in the BCLiberal party and take the party back from the Neocons. The NDP will take years to reorganize, it cannot happen under her misguided leadership and it is unlikely it will be done by the next election. As James states it is possible the fools will try to run with her again. And the Greens are ready to run a full slate.
If enough progressive voters like the ones who are constantly complaining on this forum get off their lazy asses, join the BCLiberal party and vote in a progressive executive and convention delegates in every riding in the province, we could boot Campbell and his facist thugs right out of the party. Vote for a leadership review, and vote out the Gordo. Harper did to Preston Manning, David Orchard to Joe Clark, and Campbell did it to Gordon Wilson. Lets return the favour!!! Hell maybe that picture of the Gregor standing beside the Gordo in the Str8 sickening as it was, may show us the way to a progressive takeover.
Otherwise Gordo has five more years to bend us over and have at'er. It will be much less painful to join the progressives in the Liberal party at least until the next election, and give it to Gordo and his cabal of Neocon thugs instead.
DPL
2 years ago
James and her backroom
James and her backroom supporters will not change, so Gordo can keep shafting us all.
Skywalker
2 years ago
Seth
If your strategy is to join the liberals and vote out Gordon then you really are doing it the hard way. None of the current liberals would help you as they are quite happy with der Fuhrer. It would be much easier to join the NDP and get rid of James and the few conductors in the inner circle. The first really requires one to compromise some basic principles to join a bunch of crooks. The second only requires you to join a bunch with a poor messenger.
alive
2 years ago
James who?
Carole James is like everybody's sister -in-law, you are stuck with her!
She is obviously a part of the NDP family and if we cannot abide it, then perhaps we need to get into a new family!
By and large it may be a good time to start a new party for people who are fed up with mealy-mouth responses from the opposition!
Imagine a party that stands on its principles and refuses to give in to gain favour with voter groups, like the NDP has on too many occassions.
It is time to aim for goals as set by the members, and forget temporary poll results.
This province needs a long-term plan, not an opposition with knee-jerk responses to whatever Gordo happens to do.
seth
2 years ago
alternatives
The NDP alternative will take 5 years to do anything.
Hardly any BCLiberals even show up for meetings. It would be easy for a large progressive contingent to overwhelm the Cons in the party.
Campbell could be given the boot within the year, if we all started today instead of waiting 5 for another election.
Dan the socialist
2 years ago
Maybe so but Carole James is
Maybe so but Carole James is such a polarizing figure now, she really needs to step down and let someone else like Libby Davies, Jenny Kwan, Corky Evans or someone else qualified to be leader to take over. It will be disastrous for James to take the NDP into another campaign.
She could not win and basically kept the same amount of seats as 2005 (yes they did win 2 more but 6 new ridings were added) despite all the BC Liberal party shenanigans.
Carole would be a descent or even good cabinet minister but she is not Premier material, not that that is bad, not everyone is 'top dog' material and she tried twice without winning so she needs to move on now..
ME2
2 years ago
strategy
I agree, DPL. Leave Carol alone and turf out the backroom boys.
AH HA
2 years ago
Like a rock
The BC NDP leader essentially admits she pilots the Titanic. Go figure.
The NDP has no excuse for losing this last election. This fact may make a good starting point for discussion at party headquarters.