B.C. NDP leader John Horgan gave some hints about how the party plans to fight the 2017 provincial election and made a call for NDP supporters to open their wallets to help pay for the campaign during a weekend stop in Roberts Creek.
Horgan joined Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons for a fundraising lunch Oct. 16 at the Roberts Creek Community Hall.
More than 150 people, including several local government representatives, attended the event.
Horgan told the crowd he thinks the coming election will be fought on values. “We need to focus on how do we communicate our values to the greatest number of people,” he said. “I’ve been saying for two years now that British Columbia is full of New Democrats – they just don’t know it yet – and it’s our job to convince people that our values are mainstream values.”
In a Q&A session, Horgan suggested that could mean putting less emphasis on attacking the government on issues like Site C or pipeline proposals.
“If we get stuck having a debate about pipelines, we’re not winning,” Horgan said. “We need to talk about things that we can effect change on and things that we can have a positive impact on in the future.”
Horgan also said the majority win by Justin Trudeau and federal Liberals a year ago showed voters may be open to a different take on balanced budgets. He compared it to the old axiom in U.S. politics that “only Nixon could go to China.”
“It’s very difficult for New Democrats to say we’re going to let ’er rip on public investments and deficit financing. Mr. Trudeau said, ‘Yeah I’m going to let ’er rip, and by the way I’m going to let ’er rip again.’ And he, like Nixon, can get away with that,” Horgan said. “I’m now feeling quite comfortable that if the people of Canada overwhelmingly rejected austerity and the top-down, command and control approach of Mr. Harper and embraced an activist government federally that they will do that here in B.C.”
Speaking about local issues, Horgan told Coast Reporter the NDP is concerned about Vancouver Coastal Health’s move to close Shorncliffe and Totem Lodge and work with a private provider for long-term care.
He said between now and the election the NDP, as the opposition, will emphasize the need to defend successorship for staff and patients.
“When facilities are flipped, oftentimes the contracts that are there don’t go with it. People are fired and then rehired, getting paid less than they were before. It disrupts patient care. Seniors quite often say they want continuity; they’re not getting continuity.”
During his visit Horgan signed a petition against the closures, but he was not ready to commit the NDP to reversing the decision if it forms the next government.
“We’re going to look at it after the election,” he said. “We’re going to be campaigning on keeping public health care public, and the privatization of the delivery of services is the slippery slope, the thin edge of the wedge…. Ultimately we have to take a look at the world as we find it when we form government.”
On the recent controversy over logging on Mount Elphinstone, Horgan said better land use planning, involving the province, local governments and First Nations, could help avoid conflicts. “Land use planning has always been the best solution for communities. That leads to community forests, that leads to opportunities to use Crown land more effectively with First Nations and others.”
Horgan also made a stop this week in Powell River, where Simons is due to accept the NDP nomination Oct. 22.
