[加拿大新聞] NDP focused on forming government, Dix declares government, leadership, party

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NDP focused on forming government, Dix declares
Leader emerges from convention with a united party


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/focused+forming+government+declares/5844813/story.html#ixzz1gKfq8Dc4

VANCOUVER - Backed by a unified party and strong endorsement of his own leadership, the New Democratic Party’s Adrian Dix set his party on the path toward forming B.C.’s next government.
“This is our moment in history,” Dix told nearly 700 delegates at the NDP’s biennial convention in Vancouver on the weekend.
“We are going to take the fight to the Liberal Party in every single seat across British Columbia,” he told the convention, the last before the 2013 provincial vote.
“If we do our job, if we present a positive alternative, we’ll win the next election.”
Dix, who became party leader in April, got a leadership endorsement from 98.1 per cent of delegates at the convention, a result that confirms his party has come together behind him.
That show of unity represents a dramatic shift for the party, which last year at this time was deeply fractured and in the midst of a coup that forced out its former leader, Carole James.
Dix said the NDP can win the 2013 election by focusing on issues that address the problems of financial inequality.
“We need a government that supports a strong middle class and we’ve got a government that sees the middle class as a savings account for their friends,” he said.
But he warned that the NDP needs to prove it is ready to govern.
“I think people have decided about the government. What they haven’t decided about is whether we’re ready,” said Dix.
“So we’re going to put forward a serious agenda that I think meets the needs of the province without being extravagant.”
To that end, Dix used the convention to stress a need to be realistic and “modest” in what the party is willing to promise.
“We’re going to do bold things, but we’re going to be modest about what we can do in a four-year term and we’re going to say how we’re going to pay for things,” Dix said during his keynote speech Saturday that lasted more than an hour.
The message is a core theme Dix has said he’s trying to foster as he prepares his party for the coming election.
His speech gave no indication of what he’s taking off the table as priorities.
But as for what he wants to do, he spoke of increased access to public education, higher employment standards and severely restricting the export of raw logs.

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He also urged buy-local policies, the need for more high-paying jobs and the importance of environmental sustainability.

“The differences on key issues of sustainability between ourselves and the [B.C.] Liberal Party and the [B.C.] Conservative Party have never been greater and the public perception that we’re different has never been less,” he told the convention.

“We have to change that by campaigning around issues of the environment and putting them in the context of jobs.”

Speaking later to reporters, Dix said he used his keynote speech to lay out the main issues facing the province, and he will be very clear about what he can and cannot do once the election draws closer.

“We’re going to be raising the issues, we’re going to be meeting with people — I’ve met with people from every walk of life, extensive meetings with the business community — and we’re going to put forward I think the best platform the party has ever put forward based on that,” he said.

“We’re going to be realistic about what can be done and what can’t.”

Liberal MLA John Les, who is parliamentary secretary to Premier Christy Clark, accused Dix of trying to have it both ways throughout the convention.

“He’s trying to convey an image of modesty and modest expectations, but then as you listen to him, not just inside of one speech but over time, there’s a long, long list of issues where he believes government should spend more,” Les said Saturday.

“I think we see a Jekyll and Hyde aspect to Adrian. He says one thing but, and I’m biased obviously, but I just have this horrible suspicion that what Adrian Dix is really about is spend, spend and spend some more and tax some more.”

Dix warned at the convention that the Liberals are likely to fight a negative campaign, noting they posted a new attack video on the Internet on Friday.

“It’s going to be a battle. The Liberal Party has lots of money, they’re out of ideas and they’re going to run a negative campaign,” said Dix, adding he intends to remain positive.

“In my view, a positive message works,” he said.

“We have something to say. We are going to say it proudly and strongly and we need everybody to give everything they have to this cause.”


B.C. NDP leader Adrian Dix (right) stands next to the former B.C. NDP premier Glen Clark (second right) and other high-profile party members at the NDP convention in Vancouver on the weekend