IN THE NDP, ACTION MEANS … MORE BUREAUCRATS.

minister and a bankroll of $186 billion to throw around. Given the state of other Crown corporations — dare we mention Canada Post? — is the creation of another bureaucracy, filled with people on the public payroll, really the answer we’ve all been waiting for?

Angus says a similar plan has worked in England and Scotland. That’s very well, but England and Scotland don’t have an NDP government in Alberta that wants to build pipelines, and an NDP government-in-waiting in nextdoor British Columbia pledged to stop it. This divide is the real reason Angus suggests the party end its pipeline quarrel: whoever wins the leadership contest will have to get along with both factions, and stoking the flames of disagreement won’t help to achieve that.

He pointedly refrains from taking sides on the issue, a position that already has him under fire as a closet pipeline-lover. Fellow leadership candidate Niki Ashton has indicated all contenders