British Columbia's
Leadership Follies

A Real Dragon's Den,
but they invest in their friends,
with OUR MONEY!

There is no question that the political landscape in British Columbia is pretty polarized generally, or at least the rhetoric can be counted on to be so. Like politics elsewhere though the rhetoric often bears no relation to reality. Premier for Life (or so it seemed at the time) W.A.C. Bennett was in charge when I first lived in the province. Actually, the quality of opposition and government was so superior then when the two leaders were Bennett the Greater and Little Davey Barrett. I wasn't a fan of Wacky in those days, as he seemed so Republican, or almost a MacCarthyite, screaming about the "socialist hordes at the gates" as if the Alberta border was the Berlin Wall.

But now that Gordon Campbell has almost finished DESTROYING everything that W.A.C. built, I look back at him with fondness. In actuality he was more like a fifties and sixties version of Hugo Chavez of the north as he nationalized railways, hydroelectric companies, ferries and built infrastructure to access the vast resources of the province as agressively as the Imperial Romans on crack. Actually, looking back, W.A.C. wasn't so far to the right, he was a man of the people and the center, who realized that the things that private enterprise could accomplish should be left to private enterprise, but that some things in a jurisdiction bigger than Washington, Oregon and California combined with challenging terrain and even storm tossed waters separating the regions could prosper only if the state stepped up to do what it could do best or at all.

The (sales)paper of the center of the universe, which actually usually covers B.C. politics better than the local stenographers for the PAB, not a difficult task, have weighed in on the current NDP leadership excitement with BC is back to being an alternative political universe.

After a relatively long hiatus of rare normalcy, politics on the way-out West Coast have drifted back into their familiar roost in the twilight zone.

It’s not every province – none, in fact – that can boast two major political parties shedding their leaders at the same time.

Anarchists of the world, unite and come to beautiful British Columbia. This leadership-free province is yours for the taking.

I would suggest that is is Rod Mickleburgh and others making equally silly statements that are living in the "twilight zone" or smoking curious substances.

It isn't a surprise that the BC LIEberals themselves, the PABlum Brigade of PostMedia, Glow Ball, and CeeTeeVee should be jumping on this current state of flux for the NDP and declare them dead in the water for the next decade, century or forever. After all, they are in mourning, since on Monday they lost their secret weapon - Carole James as leader to beat up yet again, most likely LONG BEFORE May of 2013. Also in the unlikely event the Libs win yet another undeserved mandate with enough lies repeated frequently enough, they would at the least MAYBE actually face some actual, you know, opposition from a rejuvenated NDP with a new leader who is more interested in holding the government accountable, than her own members accountable to her sense of entitlement to be Queen.

What I find puzzling and frankly disgusting is David Shreck and Ian Reid and his flock of Chicken Littles bemoaning the death of democracy as we know it and calling for the heads of Jenny Kwan and the "baked dozen" (already an tiresome term, BTW). After promising to go away and shut up if Jenny and the dissidents won and forced his mommy Carole to step down, now he's acting more like Gordo "GOD" Campbell (the Brett Farve of BC Politics) and continues to bleat "the sky is falling, the sky is falling" and Jenny must resign and the rest of the anti-James Gang shouldn't be re-nominated or re-elected.

Of course Ian wouldn't agree, but the reality is more like Bill Tileman puts it in She Had to Go. I couldn't put it more succinctly, maybe that's why Bill is successful in the communications business.

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...../snip

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.

Meanwhile over at Chicken Little's Coop Ian shares wisdom(?) like:

A minority of caucus led by Jenny Kwan took the leader of the party down in a coup for unspecified and undocumented charges. Their coup overrode the party constitution and the overwhelming wishes of its governing body. Their coup overrode the wishes and support of the majority in caucus.

The 13 loudly aired their dirty laundry in public. They followed a thought out plan with the pressure ratched up in public and fed by strategic leaks and prepared statements.

The coup has likely cost the party the next election. The media is already full of comment saying the NDP aren’t up to opposition let alone government. And I’m told the party started hemorrhaging money and members at precisely 11:15 yesterday.

The highlighted parts are important because:

1."the party constitution and the overwhelming wishes of its governing body" represent nothing more than a bunch of lovers of the status quo, which in the new environment with no Gordon Campbell to kick around anymore and an impending election SOON, JUST WEREN'T LIKELY TO CUT IT!

2. As far as the "dirty laundry in public" accusation, it was Carole herself with her over top ejection of Bob Simpson (even though he probably IS really an INDEPENDENT) for mild criticism of a vacuous speech, and the childish attempt at intimidation with the silly yellow scarves that created a public spectacle out of an internal debate.

3. "The coup has likely cost the party the next election." Well with people like Ian, Shreck and Paul Ramsey helping the pro-LIEberal media to reinforce the meme, he may be right - they are certainly trying to make it so.

The other thing is this constant refrain that Jenny Kwan (and for some folks the whole baker's dozen) must resign. Well, I don't recall Jenny or anybody else asking for anything more than either a leadership review (before the next election, which makes fall 2011 TOO LATE) or for Carole to step down AS LEADER! But apparently Jenny and perhaps others, in order to be fair and HEAL the party, need to RESIGN. Well all Jenny has now is her seat in the mostly deserted legislature and in caucus - as far as I know she had no assigned "shadow cabinet" role. Norm MacDonald and Katrine Conroy both resigned their elevated party "mucky-muck" positions - it seems self defeating to ask them all to now to join the growing legion of independents - though for the voters it just might be for the best.

The thing that the pro-LIEberal media ignores and the flock of Chicken Littles forgets is that the so-called governing party, the BC Liberals are also in disarray. Gordon Campbell didn't just wake up one morning and say, "jeez, I'm tired of being premier, I've stolen enough, I wanna just go lie on the beach on Maui and drink my face off and hustle chicks."

No the greedy micromanaging one was facing his own internal dissension, because his minions knew he would cost them their cushy jobs for sure, and although this impending caucus revolt was no secret, it was going to become more and more obvious to the public in spite of the shoveling of the PABlum Brigade. So how come we don't hear "How can whomever is elected the new LIEberal leader TRUST those (some in cabinet even) who brought down the most hated man in BeeCee? Don't forget also that less than two years ago, Gordo the not so Great had not only renewed the support of his caucus, but had won an effing election (though he and his minions did have to lie their faces off to do it - but that is just business as usual for this crew).

So now we are looking at the BC Libs as interchangeable Campbell clones of both sexes prepare to do battle for the soiled chair in which Gordo has sat for 17 years. We have Christy, the female Campbell with enough baggage to fill 18 BC Rail CN boxcars. Then there is Ding Dong "if you keep your mouth shut here's six million dollars" DeJong and Mr. BrownShirt hisself (oh wait, it's the Chinese dictators that he would like to emulate) Kevie "BirdBrain" Falcon. George Abbott seems to be the only one amongst them with the slightest chance to be re-habilitated into a non-sociopathic human being with a sense of ethics and/or compassion.

I was gonna add a section about the "outsider" (what a joke!), Christy Clark, who announced today, but I'll leave her and her 18 (and multiplying) boxcars of stuff that writes itself for another day. Within minutes of her actual announcement this morning - that she was officially running to be Premier (not MLA, just premier or nuthin' for this excuse for a gal)- some goofy pundit on the radio, maybe a member of Chicken Little's flock, declared the election run and won by Christy (exact words "It's all over now) now that she was in. I guess I won't bother to vote then, since its already over - by the way, she is mayor of Vancouver right now, isn't she? I never get down that way these days! Oh wait a minute, that's right, she never even won the NOMINATION!