Last week, Mary Polak, provincial MLA and Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, sent out a newsletter saying the British Columbia NDP has a hidden agenda and is (gasp) affiliated with organized labour. Wow, that's a revelation!
More of the sordid details were exposed as Polak's breathless missive went on to explain that a leaked document from the B.C. Federation of Labour states, "Labour platform is being developed with the BCNDP. This includes extensive affiliate discussions on key issues including the B.C. Labour Code, Workers Compensation Board (WCB) trades training and employment standards."
I don't want to rain on Ms. Polak's parade or enthusiasm but the NDP has been affiliated with big labour since its inception in 1961. Indeed, the New Democratic Party was formed from an amalgamation of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation political party (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). It was marriage of convenience; big labour needed a voice in the House of Commons and the CCF needed the cash from union dues.
Since then labour has had a strong and influential voice in the NDP, both at the provincial and federal level. Polak is right on a couple of counts; there should be a fear of an NDP government and its labour bias but discovering a 51-year-old pact is not news.
What Polak is missing is the more disturbing element of the NDP/big-labour cabal and the history of intrusive policy making and the negative impact of those intrusions on the B.C. economy.
To begin, it's well known labour has a guaranteed voice in the NDP decision-making process. New Democrats march to a couple of drum beats and one of those tempos is set by their Provincial Council. The Council is unelected, pervasive on all things NDP and includes representation by big labour.
Current NDP leader Adrian Dix can promise the moon to whomever he wants, but if he becomes Premier he's not in charge. In the world of New Democrats what you see is not what you get. Looking at the experience of the NDP during Dave Barrett's one term in the 1970s and the two-term New Democrat government of the 1990s the biased practises of NDP government are immediately predictable. It's known that if the NDP formed government, boards - such as the B.C. Labour Relations Board - would be quickly plugged with union appointees. Open market purchasing and contracting policies would be changed to insist on union-only opportunities. Remember Highway Constructors Limited? This was an NDP-imposed requirement on all highway construction in the province. Any B.C. road builder could bid on a highway contract, but all labour on that contract had to be certified and hired through HCL, essentially a union-hiring hall. This policy significantly raised the cost of highway contracts with the taxpayer picking up the extra cost.
The unfortunate result of a union-dominated government is higher unemployment and a downturn in investment. Government policy that favours big labour and ignores market forces drives business out of the province. It's no secret unemployment soared during the two NDP terms in government. Provincially, unemployment was in the double-digit range in the 1990s, it hit 17.8 per cent in March 1999. Compare this to the story in Wednesday's Citizen where we learned the jobless rate has hit 5.2 per cent, a five-year low.
The reason for this low rate today is that B.C. is a good place to do business, which is what employers and investors want.
I'm sure Liberal Minister Mary Polak feels she's on to something but to call a half century of the close NDP/big labour relationship part of a hidden agenda leads one to believe Ms. Polak is somewhat out of touch.
There is much of the NDP record that is less than impressive. Excessive taxation, a down-graded provincial credit rating and high unemployment. But with a provincial election just around the corner the Liberals have to tell us about their accomplishments and why they should continue to hold office. Forget the opposition, we know their record; tell us what you've done and what you'll do if re-elected.
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Our curious downtown saga.
On Nov. 29 the Citizen headline read "NDIT takes investors to court." The article said the Northern Development Initiative Trust had filed a foreclosure notice against Commonwealth Campus Corporation and its partners. The story went on to quote Commonwealth spokesman Dan McLaren as being genuinely dumbfounded over the NDIT court proceedings which he found entirely contrary to the tone of prior dealings. The file on this one is becoming increasingly troubled and includes correspondence from the BID group - a prospective purchaser - municipal officials and the provincial government. Going through that information and given that Commonwealth was an active and encouraged participant in the Block 400 redevelopment; I would say McLaren is right. Stay tuned, this story is not going away and it has legs - long legs.
