While B.C. NDP Leader Adrian Dix will spend the next nine months as leader of the Opposition, he knows the focus will soon be on members of his caucus and outsiders vying to replace him.
Dix, who spent much of Tuesday, Jan. 14, in Kamloops, said he expects candidates to begin coming forward in the next two months in preparation for the September leadership convention.
He also expects members of his caucus to have the inside track to the job, particularly because of a looming federal election.
“Obviously, we have some excellent members of our federal caucus, but there’s a federal election in 2015 and the prospects for the NDP are unprecedentedly good,” Dix said.
“They’ve got a chance to win that election.”
Thus far, only Burnaby-Douglas MP Kennedy Stewart has expressed some interest in the position.
Citing his focus on the coming federal election, high-profile Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen has already backed out of the provincial race.
Kamloops-South Thompson NDP president Peter Northcott said he was disappointed Cullen has chosen not to run for the position.
“I spent a lot of time on the North Coast. I really respect and like Nathan Cullen.”
Both Northcott and former NDP candidate Tom Friedman predicted candidates will stream through the city seeking support and selling memberships.
Friedman also hopes to bring candidates to Kamloops for a leadership debate.
He estimated there are more than 550 NDP members in Kamloops and the region. The party will hold a provincewide phone- and Internet-based contest that will allow each member a direct say in choosing the new leader.
Friedman said it is too early to say who he would like to see run for the party.
Dix is taking his lead from former party leader Carole James, who chose to remain as an MLA after she lost the leadership.
He told KTW he will remain as MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway and run in the 2017 provincial election.
“You see it in other jurisdictions,” Dix said. “There are three or four former Conservative party leaders in the British cabinet today.”
One of the decisions this year is what to do with critic portfolios. Dix and other candidates gave up their critic posts in the run-up to the 2011 leadership race.
“As a leadership candidate, you’re the critic for everything — you’re not limited,” he said.
The power to name critic portfolios remains with Dix, who said he will consult with candidates to determine the best course.
If he runs, the frontrunner to replace Dix is expected to be veteran Mike Farnworth, currently the party’s finance critic and runner-up to Dix in the 2011 NDP leadership race.
While Farnworth hasn’t announced yet, Dix said he expects he will nonetheless remain in the portfolio for the February provincial budget.
Dix: BC Hydro customers will balance budget
The B.C. Liberal government will balance this year’s budget courtesy of BC Hydro ratepayers, predicted Opposition leader Adrian Dix.
The B.C. NDP leader spoke to reporters in Kamloops this week, criticizing the government for using money from the Crown corporation to balance its 2013/2014 provincial budget.
“They’re taking a $575 million dividend this year to pretend they have a balanced budget . . .” Dix said.
“You’re asking BC Hydro to send money it doesn’t have so you can balance the budget.”
Residential hydro bills are slated to jump nine per cent in April and 28 per cent over the next five years.
The increases come after the Liberals dismissed concerns of rate hikes during last May’s election campaign.
“They’re [ratepayers] going to see it dramatically now and it’s going to be year unto year unto year,” Dix said.
“The premier deliberately misled people here in Kamloops during the election. She said she’d wrestled those rate increases to the ground. She wasn’t telling the truth.”
The NDP is calling for major BC Hydro decisions to return to the independent B.C. Utilities Commission.
Dix also predicted the increase will cost schools in Kamloops and the Interior Health Authority about $1 million together.
Calling it a “billion-dollar disaster,” the NDP cited smart meters, abuse of BC Hydro dividends to subsidize government and purchase of power from independent power producers as three examples.
“They’re ordering Hydro to send over money it doesn’t have.”
