Adrian Dix stays on as BC NDP Leader

As I personally suspected and in a press conference held today, Adrian Dix stated that he would stay on as Leader of the BC NDP

View the article from CBC British Columbia here while Mike Smyth of the Province writes on this subject here and former NDP MLA David Schreck writes on this topic here

Meanwhile - watch Mr. Dix address the topic below:




Dix has now called for an comprehensive review of the 2013 Election Campaign and "no stone will be left unturned".  In addition, there is the BC NDP Party Convention this fall which includes a Leadership Review.  Should Dix either step down then or be forced out - there begs the question of:

Who then next as BC NDP Leader?

A couple of obvious choices include Mike Farnworth of Port Coquitlam and John Horgan of Juan de Fuca.  Both Mr. Farnworth and Mr. Horgan are very effective communicators and hopefully Dix will make use of these two gentleman in the 40th Parliament of BC

The NDP have no real reason to rush into a Leadership Race as the next election (at this point) is on May 8th, 2017.  Sufficient time to review the entire 2013 election campaign (and no, you can't blame it 100% on Dix, in my opinion) and determine what steps need to be taken to ensure no repeat of the 2013 Election Campaign for the next election campaign.  In my opinion, the Leader of a political party doesn't solely make for a bad election campaign.  It is usually the result of mis-steps by many to make a election campaign go south.  Methinks that the NDP Party faithful will say that it was Dix's first election campaign but the question will be -- Should you change party leaders after an election loss, like Carole James in 2009 and hope that the change is sufficient to get an electoral win at the ballot box in 2017.  I don't think the answer is that simple when you talk about winning in a province that typically has "divisive politics".  As a BC Liberal - I will be interested to see how the NDP struggle internally with the issue and where they take it...  but let's be clear - simply hoping for a win because of a change of leadership will not, in my view, improve your chances at the ballot box.  A successful election campaign has many elements to it, aside from a very good political leader who is able to connect with not only their supporters but with the 'undecided' vote as well which was roughly 20% in this recent provincial election.  A successful election campaign also needs to put good policies forward and communicate them with the 'apolitical' public in a way that they understand

I should add the BC Conservatives' should be (if not will be) going through the same process themselves like the BC NDP.  Unlike the BC NDP however, it is likely that John Cummins will resign his post and call for a new Leadership Race which the conclusion of this race could result in a better performance for the Conservatives' in 2017

Adrian Dix will raise your taxes...

Courtesy of the BC Government Caucus:

Adrian Dix’s recent visit to Toronto for a Globe and Mail editorial board chit-chat and online comments by Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall are leading to more questions about how high taxes will be raised under and NDP government, asserts B.C.’s finance minister Michael de Jong.

In an editorial this week, the Globe and Mail states, “Mr. Dix has yet to say how he would generate greater revenues without raising taxes, nor did he fill in the details about his industrial strategy and vision for economic development, including the conditions under which he would support future pipeline developments. That is a concern.” (Globe and Mail, Oct. 16, 2012, Online)

“We’re no longer a point of debating if an NDP government will raise the taxes of British Columbians, it’s now a question of how much will they raise them by,” said de Jong, MLA for Abbotsford West. “Given Mr. Dix’s refusal, once again, to spell out his spending plans he’s running out of excuses. Taxpayers should also share the Globe and Mail’s concerns.”

Adrian Dix has already repeatedly stated an NDP government would raise taxes on financial institutes which included credit unions, potentially increasing costs and fees for British Columbians who are members of institutes including Prospera, Island Savings, Central 1, and VanCity.

More questions were raised when Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall stated via Twitter that, “Canada is #3 in the world in giving up revenue via tax cuts.”

“Cutting taxes is not the government giving up revenue as Mungall likes to think, it’s called making life more affordable for B.C. families. We believe that individuals and families are best at managing and deciding what they should do with their money – not governments. It’s clear B.C.’s New Democrats have never left their tried-and-true roots of taxing working British Columbians in order to curry favour with their big union friends.

John Les: BC NDP going back to 'Tax 'n Spend 90's'

From John Les (Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier):

Today on CKNW's Bill Good Show, Adrian Dix acknowledged that he is considering jacking up personal income taxes on "high income levels".

"Before Adrian Dix and the NDP left office, a "high income" earner was classified as anyone making over $60,009 a year," said John Les, Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier. "While Dix is eager to use rhetoric and vague statements to get his point across, he can't hide from the fact that average British Columbians suffered from a punitive tax regime the last time Dix had his way."

Let's take a look at tax rates in British Columbia.

• In British Columbia, a family earning $90,000 a year paid $5,988 in provincial income tax in 2001. Today the same family pays just $3,166 in provincial income tax – a cut of 47%.
• Similarly, a family of four earning $60,000 a year paid $3,272 in provincial income tax in 2001. Today, the same family pays $1,302 in provincial income tax – a 60% tax cut.

The tax cuts brought in by the BC Liberal government have put more money back in the pockets of hard working taxpayers. In fact, British Columbia's personal income taxes are the lowest in the country for individuals earning up to $119,000.

"Once again, Adrian Dix is hiding his true intentions under the guise of taxing 'high income' earners," said Les. "We saw his plan in action the last time the NDP were in power, creating the highest personal income tax regime in Canada and driving entrepreneurs and families out of British Columbia. The BC NDP treated taxpayers like their very own ATMs."

All levels of earners are far better off today than before the BC Liberal government took power in 2001. In fact, the lowest income earners no longer pay any provincial income tax.

"Can't Afford Adrian Dix" website

Courtesy of the BC Liberal Party:

A new website has been launched to inform British Columbians about Adrian Dix, the chief architect of the disastrous ‘90s and BC NDP leader.

The new website, www.CantAffordDix.ca details Adrian Dix’s reckless funding promises to increase government spending in British Columbia by over $15 billion and his devastating track record from the '90s.

As the chief architect of the BC NDP government in the ‘90s, Dix is responsible for the financial chaos left behind by his party’s fiscal mismanagement of the province’s economy.

If elected Dix’s uncontrolled tax and spend promises will bankrupt the province, leave future generations in debt, and drive investment and jobs away from B.C.

The website reminds the public of the remarkable change in British Columbia's fortunes since the BC Liberals formed government in 2001.

We Can’t Afford Adrian Dix and the BC NDP, below are some examples why:

• Adrian Dix fabricated a memo from the premier’s office meant to protect his boss and close friend, Premier Glen Clark, from a police investigation.
• Adrian Dix and the NDP introduced the job killing corporate capital tax in 1992 as a temporary measure, but it remained in place until the BC Liberals phased it out in 2002 – a decade later.
• Adrian Dix and the NDP introduced a surtax of up to 3 per cent on what they deemed “luxury” vehicles – anything selling for $30,000 or more – which particularly punished drivers in rural B.C., where a pickup is not a luxury.
• Adrian Dix’s reckless funding promises to increase government spending in British Columbia by over $15 billion and his devastating track record from the '90s.

These facts and much more can be found on www.CantAffordDix.ca.

We have worked very hard to make British Columbia the best place to live, work and play, we can’t afford to go back.

Latest Provincial Political Poll from Ipsos-Reid

Recently - Ipsos-Reid did a poll on support for provincial political parties.  You can review the particulars of that poll here

Overall - the NDP hold a 36-45% support lead over the reigning BC Liberals who have between 30-38% and voter support for the BC Conservatives' between 9-12% and 16% who are undecided.

But - on support for provincial political leaders:

Christy Clark - 45% support with 46% non-support and 9% saying "Don't Know"
Adrian Dix - 43% support with 36% non-support and 21% saying "Don't Know"
John Cummins - 23% support with 33% non-support and 45% saying "Don't Know"

Finally - by sub-region:

Metro Vancouver:

NDP - 45% support
BC Liberals - 35% support
BC Conservatives - 14% support

Vancouver Island:

NDP - 54% support
BC Liberals - 31% support
BC Conservatives - 8% support

Interior/North:

NDP - 39% support
BC Liberals - 46% support
BC Conservatives - 9% support

Final Comments:

While the NDP have support in Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island, the reigning BC Liberals have comfortable support in the Interior and Northern BC.  Meanwhile - the BC Conservatives have just enough support to play "spoiler" in Interior/North and Vancouver Island to the BC Liberals' but could have enough support (if developed over time) to elect a few MLA's in Metro Vancouver.  Also - if John Cummins converts his 45% "don't know" into "support", things could get really ugly for the BC Liberals as we approach 2013

Overall - the BC Liberals have a ton of work to do in Metro Vancouver/Vancouver Island to get rid of the NDP's lead in these sub-regions while watching the BC Conservatives behind them, with little time remaining to do so (with just under 2 years before the next election)

Finally - while not part of this poll - if the NDP/Liberals and BC Conservatives run candidates in Cariboo-North - I wonder if a 4 way race for this riding could spell doom for Independent MLA Bob Simpson come April of 2013...given when he ran in 2009, it was a two way race with only the NDP/BC Liberals...but on the other hand - BC Conservatives could, in a 4 way race, play "spoiler" to the BC Liberal candidate.  But it would come down to how many "NDP" supporters back Mr. Simpson as an independent and not back the local NDP Candidate.  This riding may end up being one to watch - given the only other independent MLA in BC is in Delta South (Vicki Huntingdon)

SBF

Adrian Dix: More of the same...

From the BC Government Caucus:

In the 165 days since becoming Leader of the Opposition, Adrian Dix has haphazardly promised expensive new programs and projects that would bankrupt the province.

“Adrian Dix is scrambling around, promising the moon without acknowledging the consequences of ratcheting up government spending at a time of global economic uncertainty,” said John Les, Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier.

“The BC Liberal government re-established British Columbia’s reputation with the international financial community after a decade of economic mismanagement with Dix at the controls.

“We simply cannot afford Adrian Dix.”

The following are just some of Adrian Dix’s spending promises:

Hazy promises without a plan:

An array of capital spending promises in the health care sector, amounting to $2.2 billion.
Dix’s plans to rip up clean energy contracts could cost British Columbians upwards of $5.8 billion to compensate IPP owners from the provincial treasury.
A vague plan to “retrofit” all public and private buildings in B.C. based on the $35 million program at UBC. Simply retrofitting each university in B.C. would cost approximately $840 million. The cost to retrofit every building in the province would be too much to even calculate.

Reckless spending:

Although there’s no link between health care spending and health outcomes, Dix stated he wants B.C. to be the highest per-capita health care spender in Canada. The cost: $4.15 billion added to the provincial health care budget annually.
A back-of-the-napkin plan to implement a provincial childcare system, which would cost over $2 billion per year.
An annual student grant program, costing $148 million.

“Adrian Dix, chief architect of one of the most fiscally irresponsible governments in Canadian history,” said Les, “obviously hasn’t learned a thing. If given the chance, he would once again spend taxpayers’ money without regard.”

The total cost to the treasury to implement the programs outlined above is just under $15.14 billion. Dix has identified “just” $490 million in tax hikes to offset the costs.

“On average, Adrian Dix has promised over $1,061 in new spending every second he has been leader of the BC NDP, but has offered no plan to offset these costs,” says Les.

“Consider – in the two minutes or so it has taken you to read this, that’s another $127,424 – more than the average family makes in a year.”

“British Columbians deserve to know how Mr. Dix is going to afford these promises, and they deserve answers now.”

Memo to Adrian Dix - BC JOBS Plan includes every part of BC

From the BC Government Caucus:

Adrian Dix apparently hasn’t taken the time to read Canada Starts Here: the B.C. Jobs Plan, otherwise he’d know the plan stimulates job growth in every part of the province.

“Hearing Adrian Dix and his NDP caucus parrot a ridiculous line about how the B.C. Jobs Plan doesn’t assist Vancouver Island or the Kootenays is simply laughable,” says Minister Pat Bell. “Last time I checked, the Kootenays were home to some of the biggest provincial revenue-generators in the form of coal mines in the Elk Valley. The Comox Valley is one of the most important agricultural regions in B.C. And forestry is a huge part of the economies of those regions.”

The NDP have a penchant for wanting to pick winners and losers – not just industries, but specific companies.

“Skeena Cellulose is the classic example of NDP ineptitude when it comes to economic management,” says Bell. “Throwing money around and raising the debt that our kids have to pay is not what British Columbians expect from their government, but it’s what the NDP delivered in the 1990s, and it’s what they’d deliver again if they get the chance.”

“Our plan is sensible, sustainable, and long-term, and that’s what taxpayers expect.

“We’re getting government out of the way, and helping the private sector do what they do best: create jobs in every single region of B.C.”

NDP Blast from the Past - Post-Secondary Edition

Issued yesterday by the BC Government Caucus:

Today’s hollow and contrived policy pronouncement echoes the back-of-the-napkin planning that Dix displayed a penchant for when he was the chief architect of the last BC NDP government between 1991-2001

Today, Mr. Dix’s inability to answer the most basic questions on his latest spending promises proves again that he intends to take British Columbia backward to the disastrous economic policies of the 1990s that hurt both students and graduates.

Adrian Dix’s record speaks for itself. His hasty promises without any plan to pay for them can only mean one thing – higher income taxes for new post-secondary graduates (and everyone else) if they are fortunate enough to find a job in a hostile investment climate.

Students who graduated in the 1990s faced a brutal youth employment market:

• From 1998 to 2001, B.C. had the highest youth unemployment rate west of Quebec, and was higher than the national average in each of those years.

• In every year since 2005, B.C. has had a lower youth unemployment rate than the Canadian average.

• Between 1991 and 2001, the BC NDP created only 2,000 net jobs for youth in the province – a paltry average of only 200 a year.

• Under the BC Liberals, from 2001 to 2010, 43,800 net jobs were created for youth. In an average six month period over the past decade, more jobs were created for youth in B.C. than were created over an entire decade of BC NDP government.

• In 1998, youth unemployment reached 17.4% in B.C., higher than any province outside of the Maritimes.

• Ten years later, under the BC Liberals, youth unemployment had dropped to 7.7%, lower than any province other than Alberta.

• Between 1991 and 2001, the number of employed youth increased by just 0.72%, compared to 15.72% between 2001 and 2010.

• From 2001 to 2010, B.C.'s youth job creation rate was 15.72% - the highest in the country, and nearly three times the national average.

Post-secondary:

• Today, B.C. currently has the fourth-lowest tuition in Canada: $4,802 is the average tuition undergraduates paid at B.C.’s public institutions in 2010-11.

• Student debt load in B.C. is the third lowest in Canada, and approximately 70% of students graduate without a B.C./Canada student loan.

What is Adrian Dix trying to hide?

From the BC Government Caucus:

Adrian Dix and the NDP are trying once again to rewrite history in a desperate attempt to fool British Columbians into believing the 1990s NDP government was actually a strong economic performer.

“It’s strange that Adrian Dix wants to run on his record as architect of the disastrous 1990s NDP economic policy, but we’re happy to oblige by showing what Adrian Dix is trying to hide from British Columbians,” says Chilliwack MLA John Les.

NDP claim:
• Under the B.C. Liberals, economic growth has been weaker (just 2.4 per cent on average) than in the 1990s (3.0 per cent).

What Adrian Dix is trying to hide:
• It’s about context! GDP per capita in B.C. increased by 8.7% under the 1991-2001 NDP. Unfortunately, they didn’t mention that across Canada in those same years, the growth was 25.3% - which means B.C. under the NDP did only about a third as well as the rest of the country.
• Between 2001-2009 under the BC Liberals, GDP per capita grew by 11% - double the national average.
• Even the independent, non-partisan BC Stats described B.C. “an under-performer in Confederation during the 1990s.” (BC Stats Infoline, Issue 02-04, pg. 3).

NDP claim:
• Under the Liberals, job growth has also been slower - just 1.5 per cent growth per year on average, compared with 2.2 per cent in the 1990s.

What Adrian Dix is trying to hide:
• B.C. was last in job growth in Canada from 1991 to 2001. During this time, only 257,800 jobs were created.
• Despite the worst economic recession in over 30 years, the BC Liberals created more than 380,000 jobs, - 47.4 per cent more than during the 1990s.

NDP claim:
• Under the Liberals, British Columbia’s business sector investment has lagged well behind the Canadian average. This has resulted in the second-lowest record in the country on productivity growth. The gross domestic product per hour worked has increased by only 0.7 per cent on average under the B.C. Liberals.

What Adrian Dix is trying to hide:
• Private sector investment in the 1990s was crippled under the policies of Adrian Dix and the NDP. Capital investment from 1992-2000 grew at an average of only 2.8% annually. Under the BC Liberals, it has grown at an average of 7.5% - almost three times as fast.
• “British Columbia’s anaemic economic performance in 1998 was largely attributable to a decline in business sector investment. Overall, business spending on structures and equipment was down 7.8%, marking the third time in the last four years that it has fallen.” (BC Stats Infoline, Issue:00-04, pg. 2)

“When Adrian Dix and the NDP point to their economic record in the 1990s, they only show you a small part of the whole,” says Les. “By almost any measure, the NDP record on jobs and the economy was dismal.

“We know that Adrian Dix was the architect of those failed economic policies of the 1990s, and we now know that the only plan they have is to take us back there again. Higher personal income taxes and higher job-killing business taxes are both the past and the future of the NDP.

“Adrian Dix is trying to hide that fact, but British Columbians will not be fooled.”