Commentaries on the May 14, 2013 British Columbia election

Two commentaries by Roger Annis on the election to take place in British Columbia on May 14, 2013.

Shifting sands in the British Columbia election as the first televised leaders’ debate takes place

By Roger Annis, April 30, 2013

Last night’s first televised leaders debate in the BC election was godawful. The questions from the moderator were surprisingly hard hitting, but the candidates turned many, if not most, answers into glib debating points, or they didn’t answer at all. Each employed the uber-annoying practice of answering to the camera, not to the moderator or opponents posing the question to him or her.Next to nothing of substance was debated over social policy and programs. Issues of environment and climate change took up a lot of time, but little of substance was aired. The format allowing little time to answer questions or engage in one-on-one debate was only partly to blame.

Premier Christy Clark and the Conservative Party leader were their gung-ho selves on pipelines and natural gas fracking in the northeast of the province. The Green and New Democratic Party leaders voiced their reservations and conditions. The former argued that green capitalism and increased carbon taxes can lead a transition away from a carbon-based economy. But as reported previously to this website, the Green Party is simultaneously arguing that the liquefaction of fracked northeast gas can and should be powered by “green” energy! And the best we should hope for in any short or medium term in the Alberta tar sands is a moratorium on further expansion.

The province of British Columbia is under sustained assault from the fossil fuel and other resource extraction industries. Tar sands pipelines; natural gas fracking and pipelines in the northeast interior and liquefaction plants on the coast; expansion of coal mining and export; flooding of Peace River farmland in order to power natural gas liquefaction; expanded logging of depleted forests—it’s all on the agenda, plus much, much more.

One measure of the assault is the devastation of the forests. The pine forests of British Columbia (and western North America) have been laid to waste in recent years as the delicate, ecological balance on which the mountain pine beetle has perched since time immemorial has been altered by modest, average winter temperature increases and decades of destructive forestry practices. This is all documented in Andrew Nikiforuk’s remarkable 2011 book, ‘Empire of the Beetle’ (a rather thin summary of which was recently aired on CBC Television’s The Nature of Things).

A rare question of thought and substance was put by Green Party leader Jane Sterk to NDP leader Adrian Dix: ‘You say you are opposed to the Trans Mountain (tar sands) pipeline because it will lead to more oil tanker traffic out of Vancouver harbour. But would you be in favor if the expanded line was used exclusively to supply Cherry Point?” The latter is the pipeline complex on the coast of Washington state that is presently fed, in part, by Trans Mountain and is set to receive a portion of the line expansion. The refinery emissions stacks lie within view of the elevated parts of Vancouver region. Dix did not answer the question.

Premier Clark just can’t catch a break. Four days before the televised debate, with a Vancouver Sun reporter in tow, she drove through a red light while taking her eight-year old son to hockey practice. It was very early morning and she treated the intersection as a four-way stop. When the incident hit the news the following day, she tried to glibly explain it away, saying it was the act of a harried, single hockey mom. The following day, a family of five was killed in a horrific car crash in the Vancouver region, reportedly caused by someone driving through a red light.

Here is a link to a news report on the most recent election poll, showing the NDP with a commanding lead. The report contains a lot of interesting information on the shifting dynamics between the Green Party and NDP.
* New poll gives Dix ‘insurmountable’ 22-point lead
Heading into debate, Kinder Morgan controversy likely bolsters NDP says pollster
By Doug Ward, The Tyee (online publication), April 29, 2013

Here are links to two interesting articles on electoral districts in two different regions of the province–in the northeast, where the natural gas fields lie and where the pine beetle infestation has hit the forests very hard; and in Victoria, where the Greens believe they have a shot at electing their first MLA–the respected scientist Andrew Weaver.

* No political party for 100,000 people facing homelessness in B.C., by Social Housing Coalition BC,  Rabble.ca, April 30, 2013
* B.C. NDP disappoints anti-poverty activists with campaign promises on welfare rates, by Derrick O’Keefe, Rabble.ca, April 25, 2013

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Pipelines and natural gas fracking at issue in BC election

By Roger Annis, April 28, 2013

The following four news reports comment on the first debate of party leaders in the BC election that took place two days ago. The first televised debate will take place tomorrow, Monday.

Newspaper columnists, notably the Vancouver Sun’s Vaughn Palmer and the Globe and Mail’s Gary Mason, are on a tear against BC NDP leader Adrian Dix for his alleged lack of “principles” for having, finally, declared on April 22 (Earth Day) his opposition to the expansion (tripling of capacity) of Kinder Morgan company’s Trans-Mountain pipeline. The line would bring more tar sands oil to the Port of Vancouver for export; it also feeds refineries just south of Vancouver in Washington state, USA.

Apparently, it is “principled” to be in favor of tar sands pipelines and “unprincipled” to be against them. Or, at least, it is “unprincipled” for a leader like Dix to heed supporters or public opinion and change his previous view, which called for a “comprehensive review” of the expansion proposal.

Columnists’ cynicism aside, the story of Dix’ change of position is intriguing and there are nuggets of interesting observations contained in the columnists’ condemnations. See the Vaughn Palmer column below, for example.

Dix’s new, stated opposition to Trans Mountain is based on concern over an oil spill in the Port of Vancouver or in the narrow, extremely biologically-rich waters that lead to the open ocean. The concern over land or ocean spills is also Dix’ main, sounded point of concern over the doomed Northern Gateway tar sands line in northern BC.  He has also mentioned the issue of Aboriginal land title, though this is contradicted by his support to the existing natural gas fracking fields in the BC northeast.

The Dix hesitation over Trans Mountain is one of the factors providing some political space to the governing Liberal Party, which trails the NDP badly in polls. Hesitation doesn’t do much to inspire and win over the unaware or the unconvinced. And that relates to two other factors providing space to the Liberals–the degree of public awareness or not on broad issues of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere (I am unaware of an accurate measure of public awareness) and the Liberals’ demagogic claim to champion five conditions for acceptance of tar sands pipelines.

Liberal Premier Christy Clark is arguing that expansion of natural gas-fracking production, transshipment and liquefaction in British Columbia is a bonanza that will pay for education health care and every other imaginable goody for decades to come. She makes a similar, though more modest argument, for tar sands oil transshipment. To the degree that the NDP does not expose the social and environmental folly of that argument, and it is entirely onside on the fracked-gas side of the equation, its electoral position is vulnerable to the Liberals and to the Greens. Sadly, the Green platform is almost as wishy-washy as the NDP’s, so the NDP doesn’t have to worry much on the left-wing side of this conundrum.

I happened to notice the other day that the BC Liberals have changed the colour of their electoral signage. It is now pale blue (Tory). The party is an amalgam of the former Social Credit Party and the provincial wings of the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives. A revitalized BC Conservative Party (brighter Tory blue), consisting largely of disaffected Liberals, is contesting the election. In the last general election in 2009, the Liberals won 46%, the NDP 42% and the Green Party 8%.

Adrian Dix has mused about selling the BC Place sports stadium and Vancouver Convention Center, both of which are financed and managed by PAVCO, a crown corporation. It is a mildly progressive proposal. It’s a disgrace that both of these projects were publicly funded and that their operating deficits continue to be publicly funded.  Neither make any meaningful contribution to a social economy and they eat up funds that are simultaneously being deprived from health, education and other social spending. In 2011, a whopping $560 million was spent to place a new roof over BC Place.

* Clark challenges Dix on Kinder Morgan stance as pipeline, economy dominate radio debate, by Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun, April 27, 2013

* Dix stumbles, Sterk shines on principles, by Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun, Saturday, April 27,2013

* Lovable NDP geek faces off in B.C. against feisty Liberal soccer mom
The first leaders’ debate in the 2013 B.C. election campaign was notable not for its content but for its tone.
By Thomas Walkom, National Affairs, Toronto Star, April 27,2013

* B.C. election: NDP may face more trouble than polls suggest
Upcoming May 14 trip to the ballot box was predicted to be a cakewalk for Adrian Dix’s New Democrats. Maybe not.
By: Thomas Walkom, National Affairs, Toronto Star, April 25, 2013