People at the ‘centre’ of the NDP’s election campaign
John Horgan is positioning his New Democrats as champions of the people, duking it out against the big-money Liberals to take control of the B.C. legislature in the May 9 election.
With the election officially called on Tuesday, Horgan formally kicked off the NDP campaign with a folksy rally for candidates and supporters in downtown Vancouver. At least nine children — including a few babies — were on hand, making noise and drawing laughs from the crowd as the party leader said his major commitments will be to cut the cost of living, restore essential services and build a new economy that works for average British Columbians.
“This economy is not happening for you. It’s not happening for people in rural B.C. It’s only happening for the people who are writing the cheques for the B.C. Liberal Party,” Horgan said.
“We’re going to take big money out of politics and we’re going to put people back into the centre of our election campaign.”
But there are few details about how the NDP plans to accomplish those goals because, unlike the Liberals and the Greens, the party has yet to release its platform.
Still, Horgan reiterated promises he’s already made: $10-a-day subsidized child care, banning political donations from corporations and unions, freezing hydro rates and eliminating tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges.
He also spoke of reinvigorating the forestry sector, reinvesting in public education and reviving the healthcare system.
Keeping with the relaxed, unpretentious feel of the event, Horgan frequently referred to real-life people and events to land his attacks on Liberal Leader Christy Clark. He told, for example, the story of Jean Donaldson, a lifelong donor to Eagle Ridge Hospital in Maple Ridge who spent 36 hours lying on a gurney while she waited for a bed in the same hospital, all the while looking up at a plaque thanking her for her contributions.
“When Jean needed that hospital, it wasn’t there for her because of the choices B.C. Liberals have made,” Horgan said.
While the crowd inside the event was enthusiastic in its support of the New Democrats, breaking out in periodic chants of “NDP! NDP!”, a small group of Liberal supporters held a counter-demonstration outside the venue, holding up placards spelling out the figure $672,576. That’s the amount contributed to the NDP by the United Steelworkers union in 2016, which the Liberals claim is the largest amount donated in a single year in B.C. history.
When asked about the demonstration, Horgan said it was “absolutely rich” that the Liberals were attacking him on a political contribution when campaign finance scandals have dogged Clark for months.
“I have been absolutely crystal clear: I don’t want to take another dollar from the Steelworkers or anybody else that’s not an individual,” he said.