Politics, Re-Spun

On Missing the BC NDP Provincial Executive

So the election today was disappointing, getting only 140 votes for one of the 6 Vice-President positions. The “Unity Slate” swept everyone into power that they stood for election.

Great thanks go to all the people talking about the ideas I was running on, particularly the viral champions who were spreading word widely.

140 was almost half as many votes as I would have needed to beat the person who won the 6th spot. But at the same time 140 votes is a great deal higher than 37 or some number that reflects having made only a passing impact on the 600 or so delegates.

There are many things I could have done better on the campaign, from long-term network building beforehand, extensive volunteer recruitment for activism on the floor, to less reliance on a green online campaign since most delegates didn’t embrace that convention goal of virtual paperlessness. To a certain extent, my candidacy was an exploration into what kind of reception these ideas would receive at the governing body of the party: 20-something percent support.

One of many positives in the run was in shining a spotlight on some Think Forward BC NDP ideas about internal democracy, accountability, transparency, following our policies, engaging members and above all, putting the environment, Sustainable BC and embarking on a plan to avert climate breakdown into the forefront of the party’s priorities.

Many other candidates, delegates and speakers carried these messages beyond just me. And while the months that Think Forward BC NDP has been in existence cannot be the sole explanation for all these people talking about the issues, the dialogue process begun certainly has its place in helping facilitate these ideas.

Where to go from here? That is up to members of the party who want to see the party improve, walk its policy talk better, and more effectively engage members and the thousands of progressive people and groups in the province that make up the progressive social movement out for justice and a better world.

Currently the party is doing an adequate job of representing many people, but it could be doing such a better job of the being the electoral wing of this social movement. Internal and external engagement are critical.

So we’ll see where the new leadership will take the party. There is a batch of new senior staff to hire and a new tone to establish. There will be growing pains and sputtering starts, but people who sincerely wish for a vibrant, effective and solid rock of a political alternative will continue working to make sure the party keeps improving.

On Carole James Being a Woman

On Monday and Tuesday I wrote about reasons I had been hearing from people about why they think we lost the election. It was a list of reasons I had heard, presented in no particular order.

The only order jigging I did was to put my belief at the end, the one about engaging with members and the progressive social movement in BC that I contributed to Think Forward BC NDP.

In describing the category of reasons why people think we lost that dealt with Carole James, among the 5 reasons I included that people were suggesting, one of them was that she is a woman.

Not explicitly writing that I don’t necessarily believe this list of explanations of the electoral loss meant I left some ambiguity about what I do believe.

I don’t believe we lost the election because of any of the first 8 categories of reasons, including that our leader is a woman. I believe we lost because we alienated our members who chose to not fund, volunteer for or vote for a party that no longer reflected what they felt the party should be.  I don’t think it was the gender of the leader.

I think people who don’t think women should be premier wouldn’t vote NDP anyway. I have also talked to party members who were concerned about having a female leader because they feared sexist voters wouldn’t vote for the party. But like I said, I don’t think they’d vote NDP anyway.

The sexist reality of this province is that one’s gender can be an element in their political success or failure. There are also racist elements in the political culture in BC. We don’t talk about either of them too much, though. They are very touchy subjects, understandably.

But we need to talk about race and gender and all sorts of demographic issues that unjustifiably bias the public’s political decision-making.

These are real issues to discuss, not in the context of deciding how to let racism and sexism sway our political existence, but to figure out how to build a progressive society in BC that is beyond this kind of bigotry.

Two days ago, Carole James discussed one example of this bigotry in politics:

“It’s difficult for women because you can be seen as shrill very easily,” Ms. James said. “You can be seen as haranguing in a way that men aren’t. When you take on tough issues I think there’s also a tougher standard for women to find that balance.”

What kind of civilized, enlightened society exists in which a provincial political party leader who happens to be a woman has to moderate her political existence to accommodate troubling perceptions in the population? It turns out, ours. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a few things to say about how we ought to judge people. Decades later, we still have a way to go.

And when we voted for an equity policy at the 2007 convention, there was much debate: uncomfortable and touchy, but necessary.

This weekend we’ll receive the Equity Mandate Report and decide what to do in the future to encourage more diversity in NDP candidacies.

Having had the pleasure of watching the equity policy contribute to a number of successes like Mable Elmore’s election in Vancouver-Kensington, I will encourage continued discussion about the various forms of bigotry that exist in our political culture, with a goal of moving past it.

I voted for the equity policy in 2007 and I will vote for the new Mandate recommendations this weekend.

Dialogue is important.

It isn’t always easy and it is often cumbersome to the point of wondering if it’s worth it. But in a progressive political party, earnest members of good intentions deserve the space and the freedom to discuss controversial subjects in a productive way.

While I don’t think we lost either of the last 2 elections because our leader is a woman, some people still do. And that is worth discussing because if we don’t, the elephant in the room will remain, which is what we’re trying to avoid when we examine equity issues in the first place.

Gary Mason’s Advice Fits with Think Forward BC NDP

Gary Mason’s Friday piece in the Globe and Mail has some recommendations for the BC NDP to improve its effectiveness.

When you review the 7 main points in the Think Forward BC NDP consensus document, there is some strong convergence. Read them here, then review some of Mason’s points:

1. Talk about the economy more

2. Pick core economic areas and own them

6. Engage young voters

7. Improve the relationship with working people and unions

10. Engage the disaffected

So in running for BC NDP Vice-President on the Think Forward ideas, I find some comfortable agreement in Mason’s piece.

And what is Think Forward BC NDP all about? Facilitating dialogue to engage members, supporters and the progressive social movement in BC. So, let Think Forward and Mason’s piece be part of the fodder for dialogue.

Live Blogging at Convention

My live blogging items will show up, not so much live, but on the website.

Sean Holman of Public Eye Online, however, is live blogging in real time.

You can read his impressions here.

BC NDP Convention: 2 Hours to the Call to Order

The sun was up today in a cloudless Vancouver sky to welcome the BC NDP Convention.

It has been an inspiring morning checking in with developments with the YND convention and the Women’s Caucus meeting.

Delegates are starting to arrive and buzz about while I’m finalizing the ideas for my video message as candidate for Vice-President.

My virtually green campaign for Vice-President has fully moved green now as I’ve submitted my one and only half-page campaign leaflet to party staff for distribution to delegates. All the rest is online: the party will send my candidate statement to delegates’ email addresses shortly with links to me in Twitter, Facebook and, of course, here.

Each hour in the last 6 has brought the excitement of a weekend of change as more and more of the convention puzzle pieces gets assembled.

Chatting with MLAs in the registration line about where we hope to be in 45 hours is motivating for all.

If you would like to chat, I’ll be sitting at the Vancouver-Kensington table and watching my Twitter, Facebook and email for your ideas and questions.

BC NDP Convention Opening: Building Relationships

Convention starts in 8 hours.

During these next hours, I will be at the Bayshore speaking to people about how to mobilize their vision for the party.

I have some ideas I’ve been working through since 8:35 pm on May 12, 2009. Then the Think Forward BC NDP dialogue sprouted from Vancouver-Kensington’s planning to help frame suggestions for reinvigorating the party.

Today our convention starts. This is day one of delegates being able to talk.

Where are we?

How did we get here?

What is working?

What isn’t working?

How do we change to survive and flourish?

And through all this, our dialogue is the process by which we build, or rebuild, relationships with each other and with all the various elements of the party and caucus.

There are rifts that burden us and weaken our synergy. They keep us from having a cohesive, bold vision. They keep us from engaging with the broader progressive social movement in BC consisting of thousands of individuals and groups working to make the bad man stop.

But in the end, regardless of what resolutions we pass or what party processes we improve, we need to stand up at the end of convention, look back and say to each other that we’ve improved the social fabric of our party.

We need to re-engage with each other and include new voices…may of which come from long time members whose ideas haven’t been heard.

We need to talk to all our progressive friends who seem like they should belong to the party, but don’t. We need to actually talk about why that is and include what we learn in our conversations about party reform.

If we truly wish to represent the majority of British Columbians who share our values, we need to engage them. Doing that through the progressive social movement that already exists, though it always needs development, is the way to go.

We can be insular, or we can engage with the people we say to represent.

This process starts with us at convention and it needs to continue on Sunday afternoon until we win the next election.

I’m running for Vice-President of the party to ensure that we guide the party to that new place of meaningful engagement. If you want to come along with me, support my goals by talking to others about how you too can facilitate their vision for the party. Then give me your vote so we can get the party moving.

BC NDP Convention Minus 1 Day: Defining Ourselves as a Party

11.26.09

With convention starting tomorrow, we are on the eve of defining a new culture of the BC NDP. Or not.

Lots of people think everything is fine in the party, that people calling for reform are navel gazers who don’t understand that the real enemy is the Liberal party.

Working against the Liberals and improving the synergy within the NDP are not mutually exclusive.

Losing two elections is a reasonable trigger for some useful introspection for the party. I’ve written about many of the crux issues for the party over the last week. Today I want to talk about who we ought to feel like as the NDP in BC.

Let’s use the party’s words, even…the convention tagline and a core campaign slogan:

Communicate. Inspire. Build.

Because everyone matters.

Communication

All conventions are about communication. The communication that must happen this weekend will give space to delegates to express all range of emotions and attitudes about the state of the party. Our core identity is in disarray to a degree. If convention is going to stimulate improvement, we need to get our ideas out on the table. We need to speak our truths to each other.

Inspiration

Inspiration is critical. When organizations are in flux, there are generally two leadership options: entrenching conservatism and expansive reinvigoration. Ever since 8:35pm on May 12, 2009, when I began talking to people about what went wrong in the election, everyone walked down one of those two paths, or alternated depending on their moods.

All through convention there will be crux moments: times when ideas will gel. I used to watch basketball games when I was at SFU. Each game was a series of scoring or defensive streaks. Whichever team could build enough momentum for enough runs would win the game.

At convention, these crux moments will compile over the weekend to define the starting point of the culture and tone of the BC NDP for the next 2 or more likely, many years.

I implore delegates to ignore the timidity inherent in conservatism and embrace the boldness of hope and vision and belief in our capacity to be an organization that lives in integrity. The party can be the electoral wing of the progressive social movement that already exists in BC.

Build

Suitably inspired, we need to leave convention with a goal of building a party that operates in integrity. All the catharsis, debate and re-envisioning that needs to happen cannot happen by the end of the weekend. The first thing to build coming out of convention is a process to continue the dialogue. Several hundred delegates represent all members for constitutional purposes, but they represent only themselves when it comes to rebuilding a party culture that will reverse the tide of alienation that showed up in members defunding the party, not volunteering on the election campaign and in a disturbingly large number of cases not even showing up to vote.

Once we build a process for de-alienation, we need to build some other things:

• a historic policy database on the party website for members and the whole world to see so they know what we stand for and so that we are willing to be held accountable to our policies
• an open communication network with all the people and groups that make up the progressive social movement in BC that is desperate for an electoral wing that sees value in working alongside allied groups
• a new economic vision supporting progressive businesses and business models that makes the economy serve people rather than people serving corporate shareholder wealth, all within the context of averting climate breakdown
• a series of other projects that will require member engagement for them to succeed, see Think Forward BC NDP goals.

Because Everyone Matters

I used to teach high school English. “Kids matter. Teachers care.” This BCTF message always carried weight for me. It’s all about what matters.

The BC NDP positions itself as the party that makes everyone matter. It didn’t quite succeed in that message in the last election because various things happened to alienate its own membership.

The future of the BC NDP hinges on making sure everyone in the party matters. Everyone needs to be included, informed, heard, involved and a part of solutions: from addressing the debt to policy formation, to coalition building on community and province-wide levels, to simply imagining what kind of BC we want our grandchildren to inherit.

Everything that everyone says and does at convention needs to be judged in the context of whether it will enable the party to ensure that every member matters during convention time and starting on November 30 when the party has to take the lessons from convention and rebuild itself.

A political party cannot exist if it alienates its members. For cyincal, neoliberal parties, corporations and the rich are the key constituents. For progressive parties, the constituents are members and supporters.

Our members need to see events at convention as reasons to re-commit to the party because it is worth engaging in.

Our supporters who aren’t members need to see a reason to join.

These will be the tests of the success of convention. If we do it right, we will start a process of defining ourselves as a party that can flourish in the 21st century. When people belong, they will fund the party. They will not financially support an organization that alienates them.

And that is why I will be running hard for Vice-President. All weekend. And if I get elected, I will be pursuing the goals and visions I’ve been writing about for the last week.

BC NDP Convention Minus 2 Days: Improving Internal Party Democracy

Internal party democracy matters. Despite the fact that it exists in the constitution, it is not functioning well. And if democracy isn’t working, it doesn’t really matter that there are democratic structures in the party.

A core idea in the Think Forward BC NDP dialogue over the last few months has been about enhancing democracy in the party:

2. We must enhance democracy inside the party:

- Progressive politics is about accountability and transparency throughout the party to build trust and commitment between members and the elements of the party: constituencies (executives, MLAs, candidates, members, non-members), the provincial party (convention, party policies defined by convention, provincial council, the provincial executive, the table officers, staff), and caucus (leader, MLAs, staff).

- The Goal: more regular communication as well as formal and informal relationships need to take place from caucus and the executive to provincial councils, constituencies and members to increase transparency and accountability. There must be a clear process laid out and followed for decision-making which takes into account, but does not get hamstrung by communications management.

Democracy means inclusion. And it means pro-active inclusion. The thousands of party members need to be assertively included, not passively included.

What does that mean, though? Let’s look at a representation example. There are 5 levels of activity in the party from the member to the table officers.

All party members belong to riding associations. Those associations have a delegate to provincial council that meets quarterly and is in charge of the party between conventions. The provincial executive also meets quarterly; their meeting minutes go to the provincial council. The table officers meet monthly; their minutes go to the full provincial executive.

There are constitutional structures and relationships in place to ensure members know what is going on. The problem is that these relationships don’t work.

Meeting minutes do not flow smoothly from the table officers to each level down to members. Communication systems in ridings vary in effectiveness across the 85 ridings. There are many reasons for this, but in the end, if the systems in place for communicating party activities do not work, it is incumbent on the party to fix that.

Who is the party that is responsible for fixing that? Everyone. Ridings can’t just ask the provincial office for more resources and the provincial executive can’t just say that ridings have to get their act together. We can solve this kind of problem by getting people from all the levels of the party together, figuring out what communication needs to take place, what is in place now to accomplish that, what is broken, what needs to be fixed and what other solutions are possible. It’s everyone’s responsibility.

Currently, in a sad irony, there are not many ways of facilitating this kind of discussion.

There are other examples of breakdowns in internal party democracy, but many of them can be addressed by creating some structures for dialogue about improving democracy.

Another category of democracy weaknesses in the party is in the relationship between caucus and the party. There is precious little in the party’s constitution that expresses a relationship between these two bodies. In reality, caucus can operate in significant isolation from the party, from members and from convention-sanctioned policies.

Many members I have spoken with before and after the election, as well as many non-member supporters, are under the mistaken impression that there are firm accountability relationships between MLAs and the party structures. Thus, people are seriously confused when caucus acts against party policy or what members believe the NDP does or should stand for.

The choice to oppose the carbon tax and support the Port Mann Bridge rebuild and the Gateway Project reflect such breakdowns. Section 15.03 of the party constitution contains this:

It shall be the responsibility of MLAs, when they consider there are problems in the clarity, applicability or feasibility of existing Party policy, to bring these problems to the attention of the appropriate policy committees or to the chairperson of the Policy Review Committee.

It sounds like this creates a system whereby caucus can dialogue with the party about policy changes. How extensive is this happening? Did it happen with the carbon tax, Port Mann Bridge and Gateway Project? If so, then provincial council should be required to sign off on significant policy amendments or reversals. And if they do, then as the governing body of the party between conventions, they are responsible for the effect of those policy changes.

Those 3 policy reversals alienated droves of members and contributed to us losing the election in May.

Democracy matters. Structures need to be in place to ensure democracy takes place. If the structures are missing or ineffective based on how the party is operating, there is a breakdown in democracy.

This cannot continue. Losing this election is a signal to the party that its internal democracy is quite maimed.

And now it is the job of everyone in the party to pull together to figure out what kind of democracy we want, what it looks like and how we ensure we get there.

So in running for a Vice-President position on the provincial executive, one of my goals is to make sure the party’s democracy improves every month from now to the next election and beyond.

BC NDP Convention Minus 3 Days: How Do We Fix the Party?

Yesterday I wrote about a number of popular reasons why people believe the NDP isn’t government right now. Here they are again. Below are my ideas about how to address these things, my goals in running for a Vice-President position in the BC NDP.

1. Carole James – bad leader, woman, not inspiring, lacks vision or passion, been around too long
2. Negative Campaign – smearing Cambell, Maui, COPE 378’s ads, using the Liberals’ tactics of getting elected when they largely point out how much the NDP sucks, relying on the Liberals’ horrible policies to allow the party to phone in a campaign
3. The Platform – unfocused, not clearly promoted as positive alternatives, not communicated to members or the public
4. The Slogan – too many slogans, unclear slogans, slogan-based campaign
5. Party Disorganization – despite knowing when the election was to happen not having enough volunteers, money, key staff when required
6. Policy Reversals – Axe the Tax and supporting the Port Mann Bridge rebuild and Gateway which violated explicit party policy
7. Rogue Leadership – lack of accessibility and accountability through different elements of the party
8. Fear – throwing under the bus anything necessary to avoid/appease criticism
9. Not Developing Constituencies – lack of time, money, and resources to develop robust activists, fundraisers, and networks with progressive groups eager to mobilize members and supporters to stop the Liberals

OK, so #9 is a bit of a plant, as I wrote yesterday. That’s what Think Forward BC NDP speaks to, but it’s not a coincidence. In figuring out what Vancouver-Kensington wants to do for the next 3.5 years, we looked at these very areas that we need to develop further.

#8, Fear: This is a squishy one to explore. Fear of criticism, the past, public perceptions of our weaknesses, our actual weaknesses…all these fears and maybe more are relevant. But how do we combat fear as a political party or element of a social movement? Self-assuredness. And we get that with internal integrity, believing in and following our values, committing to ideals, motivating each other on an inspired path. The party is full of values, ideals and willing activists. We need to harmonize our efforts, but we can only do that if we’re on the same page: our party policy, which is our roadmap for progressive social change. We also get self-assuredness by improving our relationships with other progressive groups. We support them and they support us. We call it solidarity. Ask Gandhi.

#7, Rogue Leadership: throughout the lead-up to the campaign and in the campaign many people spoke of confusion about who was in charge, how decisions were being made, how inadequate resources were being allocated, and a general breakdown in reporting out. The table officers meet monthly; their minutes should go to the entire provincial executive that meets quarterly before provincial council meetings, which gets executive minutes. Provincial council delegates report to riding executives that report out to members. It’s a great system that should work, and it does work. On paper, and maybe in some but surely not all 85 ridings. Every chain in that communication network is maimed or broken so that the vast majority of membership and non-member supporters have no idea what the party leadership is doing. And since no one should reasonably expect all members to attend riding executive meetings, we need effective communication [and accountability and transparency] systems in place that foster increased reporting out, not just indicating on paper that it should exist.

#6, Policy Reversals: The BC NDP has passed convention resolutions supporting carbon taxes and opposing the Port Mann Bridge rebuild and the Gateway project. If this party is to be meaningful to its members and all British Columbians, it must walk its talk. In the future, all elements of the party need to follow policy, or embark on an open process to amend it. If anyone wonders why members are leaving and canceling their donations, it is largely because the party changed into something the members didn’t support anymore. That’s it. In the future, there need to be more accountability and communication connections between caucus and the party and membership. Without that, membership apathy and even disgust will continue to grow and the party will implode. We’ll measure this for 12 months starting in May 2010 when we watch memberships not renew. My goal is to make sure people feel the party is worth paying another $10 next year to belong to.

#5, Party Disorganization: the resources and capabilities of all elements of the party from ridings on up, leading up to a known election date needed to be better organized. In the future, we need to ensure that candidates are in place at least 12 months before the election, not 10 weeks or less. We need to develop fundraising and financing goals and strategies that have approval of all elements of the party so there is no more internal competition for resources. We are all on the same team, so we need to all be at the table to ensure we all agree on resources. Without that, we’ll have continued decay. With that, we will be able to demonstrate to members that investing in the party is an inclusive process.

#4, The Slogan: There were many criticisms of campaign messaging. This isn’t just about consistency in slogans and the superficial symbolism of branding. Slogans are hollow if people’s experience with them is not healthy. Having competing slogans demonstrates confusion and lack of self-identity. When members read a slogan and conclude that their personal experience in the party doesn’t reflect the ideal in the slogan, the party alienates them.

#3, The Platform: I read the platform. It was inspiring. There were so many good ideas in there, but it ended up being a token document. We have to have a platform, but it was not the central focus of the campaign. The platform should be the nexus of ongoing party policy and circumstances leading up to an election. However much it was, it was not the focal point of the party motivating the public to support us. It was buried in other things so that members wanting to campaign on more than how awful Gordon Campbell is [and he's clearly awful] had a hard time quoting party messaging on doorsteps and in lunchrooms.

#2, Negative Campaigning: Criticizing incumbents is valid and not necessarily negative campaign. We must distinguish ourselves from the others to “make the bad man stop.” But the proportion of criticism to constructive alternatives was very far from where it needed to be. Further, members expected the NDP to shine its policy light all over the province. And then members grew disillusioned when the party embraced what ended up appearing to be the same tactics the Liberals used to fuel our 2001 implosion: say as little as possible, then let the incumbent destroy themselves.

#1, Carole James: I have no intention of assessing the validity of criticisms I’ve heard about the leader; convention resolutions and debate are the appropriate venue for that. But of all the criticisms of her that I have heard before and after the election, valid or not, when I think of some hypothetical person who would have been more suitable to the majority of members and voters in BC, I can’t see how we still could have won the election with the other things going wrong with the party systemically. Pulling the goalie or firing the coach are tactics that can bear fruit in the short term, but they do not address underlying problems. Even if Carole James were to step down this week inspiring a robust leadership race, upon getting a new leader we’d still have to go back and address all the other things above that prevented us from winning an eminently winnable election.

So where does this leave us?

It leaves us 3 days out of convention with some serious internal reform to take place. The constitution has some contradictory language left over from the last convention regarding how the leader is chosen. That needs some housekeeping. There also needs to be a process in place to pick and confirm the leader. These things will happen.

But these things are not the meat of what must begin at convention in 3 days. We must acknowledge the problems inside the party and we must begin a process of fixing them. And we need to do it in public so that the media, the Liberals, our members, our non-member supporters and all the other groups in BC’s progressive social movement see that we are turning into the electoral wing we need to be to change the toxic neoliberal direction this province has suffered under for this whole decade.

I have no time for people who refuse to acknowledge anything is broken in the party. That kind of delusion is troubling and shocking.

We will endure intense criticism from the media and the Liberals and from a variety of other fronts. So, what’s new. We absolutely have to boldly embrace our principles, vision and ideals and make sure we structure a party that can enact them. It’s all about integrity. If we can’t muster the fortitude to do that, the party is already over.

BC NDP Convention Minus 4 Days: Why We Lost the Election

We didn’t lose the election. The Liberals didn’t win it either.

We failed to win it.

There are a great many explanations for why we failed to win, but I have spent a great deal of time since about 8:30pm on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 talking to dozens of people about what is systemically wrong with the BC NDP so we can think about moving forward. I was angry too, but quickly I stopped the urge to participate in a witch hunt. We didn’t win an election we should have. That was done. It was time to figure out what needs fixing…future focussed.

Here is a short list of many of the most popular explanations for why we aren’t in government right now, in no particular order. Tomorrow I’ll explore how these issues connect to party transformation and why I’m running for BC NDP Vice-President.

1. Carole James – bad leader, woman, not inspiring, lacks vision or passion, been around too long
2. Negative Campaign – smearing Cambell, Maui, COPE 378’s ads, using the Liberals’ tactics of getting elected when they largely point out how much the NDP sucks, relying on the Liberals’ horrible policies to allow the party to phone in a campaign
3. The Platform – unfocused, not clearly promoted as positive alternatives, not communicated to members or the public
4. The Slogan – too many slogans, unclear slogans, slogan-based campaign
5. Party Disorganization – despite knowing when the election was to happen not having enough volunteers, money, key staff when required
6. Policy Reversals – Axe the Tax and supporting the Port Mann Bridge rebuild and Gateway which violated explicit party policy
7. Rogue Leadership – lack of accessibility and accountability through different elements of the party
8. Fear – throwing under the bus anything necessary to avoid/appease criticism
9. Not Developing Constituencies – lack of time, money, and resources to develop robust activists, fundraisers, and networks with progressive groups eager to mobilize members and supporters to stop the Liberals

OK, so #9 is a bit of a plant. That’s what Think Forward BC NDP speaks to and it’s a bit of a hint at what tomorrow’s piece will be all about. But it’s not a coincidence. In figuring out what Vancouver-Kensington wants to do for the next 3.5 years, we looked at these very areas that we need to develop further.

I believe the whole party can benefit from addressing the systemic weaknesses in the party. That’s why I’m running for one of the 6 Vice-President positions.

Tomorrow I’ll explore each of the above areas in the context of transforming the party into the electoral wing of a progressive social movement.

BC NDP Convention Minus 5 Days: Why We’re the Natural Governing Party of BC

I had this amazing daydream a few weeks after we failed to win the election last May.

The NDP is the naturally governing party of BC, so when the legislature was to open earlier this fall/summer, the NDP MLAs should stroll in there and behave as if we actually represent the poorest 95% of British Columbians, which we do, and we should do our best to represent them.

And truly, the MLAs are taking it to the streets this session, for sure. Being critics, challenging the government on its priorities and process are reflective of the masses who have been suffering for this whole decade.

But we really should embrace a humility and a public service mode to recognize that we represent the values of most citizens and we should act as if we are governing. It’s just that we can’t pass legislation.

This goes along with this idea I have that behaviour in parliament is a joke, with all the “grand traditions” of idiocy and compromises to actual debate that so many people claim to be an unquestionable tradition.

But honestly, I have never seen a school board, NGO or even city council meeting operate like our provincial leaders. But reforming the operation of the Westminster Parliamentary System is on my list of long-term reform goals.

In the short term, we start with the reality that most working people in this province are being abused by the government. Tiny lures of tax cuts are combined with user fee increases.

Token, cynical concessions to the poorest British Columbians are matched by massive service cuts.

In the end, the intentional defunding of the BC government is designed to undermine the progressive tax system, reduce the tax burden of the rich and bilk the middle class.

The NDP is rich in convention-passed resolutions framing our party’s beliefs. They exist to represent working people in the province and do not cater to the richest 5% that the Liberals worship.

I would direct you to BC NDP policy on our website, except that it is only available in the internal section where party activists can log in to view the resolutions passed by conventions over the last 30 years. This policy needs to be on the outside of the website for members, the public, the Liberals, the media…EVERYONE…to see it so that we can say to the world that we follow our policy.

Not doing so reduces our credibility, which we saw in abundance in how we lost the last election. Our members chose to not vote and risked Campbell getting in again to avoid voting for us. It doesn’t really get any worse for a political party than that.

My first goal upon being elected to the provincial executive is to make sure everyone knows what we stand for. I’ve read our policy documents. I read our campaign platform during the last election. But you shouldn’t have to take my word for it that we represent the majority of British Columbians.

But beyond internal party problems, why don’t most citizens vote for us when we actually represent them?

Well, why did millions of poor Americans vote against their economic interest this decade by supporting Bush as he abused them like Campbell is abusing the working classes of BC?

Fear.

The neoliberals have scared the pants off of citizens with the idea that an NDP government would bankrupt everyone.

Since someone in the NDP is still afraid of the phrase “fast ferries,” the party in general has not spent this decade having monthly lunch meetings with the dozens of progressive economists in BC to bone up on economics. It’s not like the CCPA hasn’t been coming up with innovative alternative budgets every year!

We should be able to clean the Liberals’ cobweb logic. What kind of justification in the universe is there to build BC Ferries in Germany while our industry languishes?

And if you get our your mental calculator and zoom into Burrard Inlet on Google Earth, you can make your little camera zoom from where the fast ferries are parked, and glide over the water to the new convention centre and every second you can tick away the dollars. The new convention centre cost overrun basically matches the fast ferries. So what are we afraid of?

There seems to be a rule in politics to never apologize for the past, never to admit mistakes. Maybe because we’re afraid that the other side will point out that we screwed up.

Well we did screw up. The fast ferries don’t fit BC’s geography. And we knew it.

But who knew it? A bunch of people who aren’t in the party right now. I disagreed with the boats back then and I do now. Integrity means admitting mistakes. What do we owe former party leaders who screwed up? We owe ourselves and our children more integrity than we owe loyalty to the past.

Here’s another mistake. As much as the party had some valid criticism of the Liberals’ specific carbon tax legislation, the Axe the Tax campaign failed almost from the beginning, in part because of the awful coincidence that gas prices went through the roof around the time of the introduction of the tax, making a criticism of a 2 cent tax petty.

Oh yes, the NDP has affirmed policies supporting a carbon tax consistently for this whole decade. So the other reason why the campaign failed was because our party actually wants a large and effective carbon tax, despite the feelings of whoever decided on that campaign.

So. Where does this leave us?

We have lots of policy that most citizens would embrace:

• framing the economy to serve human beings and not maximizing offshore corporate shareholder wealth
• investing in human services and not cutting healthcare and education
• reframing all government policy so that it fits a grand regulatory plan to avert climate breakdown, since we only have a few years left to turn our economy around before we’re past the point of no return
• everything else we love about social, human, economic, environmental and political justice and equality…something the Liberals hate as they pander to greed and elitism.

So we need to post our policy and be proud of it.

We need to acknowledge that the fast ferries were a mistake and reflected bad decision-making among people who haven’t been in the party in a decade. We need to throw them under the bus. Right now.

We need to recognize that good policies designed to avert climate breakdown reflect our values and we need to educate people and bring them along to recognize how domestic food security and bioregional economic development are critical to cutting down on carbon usage. Oh yes, and peak oil is either here now or close by so we need to pro-actively get off oil.

Sounds simple.

Apparently it’s pretty hard though, but that’s just not good enough for me.

So, I’m running for one of the 6 Vice-President positions of the BC NDP to do these “simple” things and sift through whatever rationalizations have kept the party from working with integrity.

In the end, whatever explanation exists for why the party has screwed up the carbon tax, fast ferries and a myriad of other problems, none of them hold water. Why? Because they’re justifications for compromises designed for us to win the election.

We haven’t won an election this decade. So with some pretty simple hindsight, our tactics have failed and are continuing to fail.

If we keep the same tactics and expect a different result, we’re mad.

I’m not mad. And clearly, neither are the members who didn’t show up to donate time, money and their vote to getting us in power.

It’s time for the BC NDP to behave according to its principles so we can properly represent the values and interests of the majority of British Columbians who should feel eager to support us.

If they don’t it’s not their fault, it’s ours.

And I’ve had enough of that.

BC NDP Convention Minus 6 Days: Defining the Party as “The Electoral Wing of a Progressive Social Movement”

There was a profound summer lightning storm on Saturday, July 25, 2009, about 10 weeks after the election. Starting late in the afternoon Vancouver got soaked by a torrent of rain and a storm that circled the lower mainland counter-clockwise and competed with the fireworks that night. Here is my highlight reel.

That day was also the strategic planning session for the Vancouver-Kensington riding association. About 2 dozen members came together to plan the riding’s goals. As we were wrapping up our day into some really focussed goals, the lightning storm started.

I took that as a good sign.

One of the final ideas we considered was how to build a social movement within the party.

While I’m more of a political economist than a political sociologist, I still have a pretty good sense of social movements. Obama, for instance, didn’t get elected all on his own. It took more than the Democratic Party to do it too. A myriad of groups [social, political, labour, etc.] coordinated with a massive campaign on the ground to mobilize people.

The BC NDP is not doing that. On Monday, I’m going to write about a few of the reasons we failed to win the election, but for today I want to explain how social movement theory should show up in our party.

Let’s take Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandala. Both were leaders of organizations pursuing social change. Neither was the leader of a massive network or coalition of groups and individuals, but they were dominant figures. Pursuing civil rights and the end of apartheid are both social movements.

Social movements combine the efforts of individuals, activists, academics, political groups, non-governmental organizations, labour and faith groups and many more elements in society. Often they have a leading personality, but the movement itself is characterized by components acting individually, but in an intentionally or complementarily coordinated fashion.

There is usually a certain degree of drift within organizations in a social movement. While there was significant intersection in the goals of groups closely aligned to Martin Luther King, Jr. and the goals of Malcolm X, there were key difference that reflect those groups’ separation on the pendulum.

So how does this affect the BC NDP?

Right now there are thousands of groups in the province working towards social, economic, political, and environmental justice. They generally gravitate around stopping the BC Liberal party from continuing its anti-social policies.

But what is the electoral focus of such a social movement?

I know the movement against neoliberal globalization advocates against NAFTA, the WTO and similar destructive planning, but in the end, there needs to be an electoral group that could win government at some point and actually cancel NAFTA.

Similarly in BC, there needs to be an electoral wing of a progressive social movement. The BC NDP, right?

I don’t think so.

I’ve watched this party for decades now. I’ve seen little evidence that it really reaches out to the dozens or hundreds of groups in each sector of progressive action. We can easily blame that on a 20th century model of organization, when political parties were the place where people went to be politically active and there were few avenues outside parties to pursue political change.

But in the 21st century, people are doing politics all over the place.

Take the October 24, 2009 Bridge to a Cool Planet event on Cambie Bridge in Vancouver. It formed over several months from the dedication of a few core people, with a broad group contributing much more time leading up to the event. And in some ways it was like a flash mob in slow motion: a coalescence of activity culminating in a day, then dissipating. And while it’s not gone, it had an arc of existence. There may be more actions, but maybe not.

There were NDP MLAs, members, staff and volunteers at that event and a nice NDP presence. That’s nice. But has there been much evidence that the party is really embracing and engaging the thousands of groups working towards the same goals of all the NDP policies?

Not really.

There may be that kind of engagement, but why keep it secret? Why not come right out and hold wide open meetings for each progressive sector and issue an open invitation and let the groups flock to a central place for a Saturday to chat so everyone can get on the same page.

What will we find? That we’re already mostly on the same page. Comparing NDP policy passed at convention with mission statements of groups what show up to such meetings would lead to a pretty easy time building a consensus statement.

Then when it comes time for the election, the NDP is running with thousands of groups endorsing its actions and mobilizing its members to vote for the party that reflects the progressive goals.

This is what it means for the BC NDP to be the electoral wing of a progressive social movement.

And frankly, the 20th century mode of political organizing doesn’t really mix well with this focus. In the last century, there were not so many random groups with a political focus. Now, any party that ignores building networks cannot get elected.

Like the BC NDP.

And while there are lots of reasons we blew off the last election, not effectively networking with like-minded groups was a critical flaw.

And those party members who wish to keep the independence of the party by not engaging in networks and coalitions with progressive groups are dooming the party to irrelevance and mortal insularity.

There are thousands of progressive activists in BC who refuse to join this party because it is not responsive to the broader progressive social movement. The party does not play well with others, or at all in many cases. And in recent months there are many members who are leaving the party because it has shown itself incapable of such engagement.

The membership drift will continue. The party’s debt will continue to expand. The alienation and dwindling policy integrity will continue until the party implodes.

Except we have Convention 2009 next week. This is the time for the party to signal to its members, its non-member supporters, progressive activists, citizens and the range of groups comprising the progressive social movement in BC that the party is open to representing the demands of everyone working for social change.

And I’ve seen indications from caucus that our MLA critics are interested in expanding connections with groups working in each of their sectors. This is great. I hope it continues.

But what about the party? If the party itself doesn’t engage with all the thousands of allied progressive groups in BC, it will spiral into irrelevance.

We cannot let this happen.

So, I’m running for a Vice-President position on the BC NDP Provincial Executive to start this process of turning the BC NDP into the electoral wing of a progressive social movement. The movement is already there. If it can’t use the NDP to get electoral and policy change, the province will continue to suffer.

And, frankly, it’s obvious to us all that we’ve suffered enough already.

BC NDP Convention Minus 7 Days: My Journey Towards the Executive

Since 8:35pm on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, I’ve been thinking hard about the state of the BC NDP.

By that time of evening on election day, it was clear that there were profound problems with the party. So I spent the following months talking to dozens of people about what is broken and how to fix it.

But these last 6 months have been just the most recent part of my adult life inspired by the NDP embracing progressive ideals of community-building and social justice.

It began in Coquitlam 20 years ago when Ian Waddell was my MP. These were years of profound social and political awakening for me as I attended NDP community meetings and saw what the pursuit of social justice meant.

So I embraced community.

I volunteered with the Red Cross running leadership, community involvement, international develop seminars. I became the president of the New Westminster branch of the Red Cross, and while I was studying organizational design at SFU, I was fortunate enough sit on the Strategic Planning committee of the BC-Yukon Division of the Red Cross.

Those volunteer experiences taught me the value of community development, education, the potential of youth, civic responsibility and commitment to healthy organizational change.

Those experiences dovetailed together to inspire me to become a high school English teacher in Coquitlam. I found helping youth communicate better meant empowering them to ask for what they want in society. Or even demand it.

Along the way I found being a BCTF activist to be a complementary activity to my teaching philosophy, supporting the union’s efforts to join the BC Federation of Labour and take a stand against Gordon Campbell.

But the combination of a few events led to a profound transformation in my vocation.

I came across Desmond Tutu’s writing about the word “ubuntu”: a person is a person through other people. It focussed my teaching even more towards social and political justice.

The MAI and WTO threats re-kindled my economics background with a rage against global neoliberalism.

Then Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark tried to destroy what it meant to be a teacher in BC.

I had enough.

So I left teaching, picked up a couple political science degrees and began a career as a CUPE researcher, now assigned to the healthcare sector at our HEU affiliate.

Along the way, the NDP has been at times both an inspiration and a frustration, falling short of my ideals at times and at other times demonstrating bold social and political leadership.

But it was when my inglorious MP David Emerson crossed the floor that I began to fully engage in party politics. I joined the riding executive in Vancouver-Kensington. I supported Don Davies’ campaign for political integrity in Vancouver-Kingsway and I wrote and talked and advocated for an end to Campbell’s new era of misery.

Following the election, Mable Elmore inspired a strategic planning session in our riding during which we started forming an idea that the NDP should build a social movement within itself that would help the party transform itself into something that can be a force for progressive change in the 21st century.

This idea led to Think Forward BC NDP and a dialogue that has spread all across British Columbia during these past months, uncovering challenges and stimulating debate about where our party needs to go.

Over the next few days I’ll be writing about all this: what’s wrong with the party, why we lost the election, how we can fix the party, what it means to be an electoral wing of a progressive social movement, what internal democracy could look like, how we can define ourselves as a party, and why we should be the natural governing party in BC.

Through these daily updates, I will explain why now, after studying our lost election and helping build Think Forward BC NDP, running for Vice-President of the party is a natural place for  me to be. I want to contribute to helping our party through a massive, and necessary, transformation. And I want to see us emerge as a vibrant force for powerful social, economic, political and economic justice.

Media Release: Stephen Elliott-Buckley Runs for BC NDP Vice-President to Lead Party Renewal

The BC NDP needs to be the electoral wing of a progressive social movement throughout BC.

In the 21st century it’s not politicians and parties that get elected but clear values and active communities.

The BC NDP has been losing more than elections; in recent months, it has been losing core supporters in droves.

Members of the provincial NDP are justifiably alienated. They are quitting and canceling their monthly donations. They didn’t show up to help on campaigns during the election and they didn’t even show up to vote.

The party must stay true to our core values: our party policy. Trying to please everyone has failed our members.

NDP members believe in carbon taxes. We don’t believe in a new Port Mann bridge or the Gateway Project. We know environmental issues are social justice issues. Why should we assume ordinary citizens do not?

People who want to run the party need to see that how we fix the party begins by simply asking our members how to fix the party. There is a tremendous amount of passion, intelligence and wisdom in the party to involve.

We must build a social movement inside the party, empowering and including members as more than donors but the essence of our party as we build relationships and community around the province through meaningful dialogue.

We need to run the party from a place of fearlessness and democracy at every level. On November 27, the BC NDP convention is our opportunity to begin making this shift. So we have to affirm our stance and not let our critics keep us from getting the job done with integrity.

Without this culture of democracy and fearlessness we’ll never even know if we’ve ever truly lost any election.

So, I’m publicly announcing my candidacy for Vice-President of the BC NDP. In the spirit of democracy and fearlessness, I encourage other members thinking of running for the party executive to also go public with their plans so more than just convention delegates will ever find out who wants to lead the party.

We have nothing to lose.

Fixing the BC NDP

I have been away from updating my editorials for several weeks now as I’ve been working hard on Think Forward BC NDP.

What is Think Forward BC NDP?

Well, the party is in a transition moment. It lost the election on May 12, 2009. A few thousand votes in key ridings would have meant a win. It was our election to lose and we lost it.

We, as a party, have not embraced 21st century populist grassroots democracy. Our structure is 20th century, from an era where electoral politics was the only game in town and only massive NGOs existed. Today, people are cynical and reject electoral politics, form their own nimble, resilient, grassroots NGOs and actually change the world.

The BC NDP needs to become the electoral wing of a progressive social movement in BC.

It needs to open up its operations and deliberations not only to members, but to the progressive population of BC. The BC neoLiberals effectively represent the richest 5% of British Columbians. The values of the NDP actually do reflect the values of the poorest 95% of us all. It’s just that we’re having trouble translating that into an effective party.

Our members feel like donors. There is rampant alienation of people in every element of the party…alienated from everyone else in the party. Communication isn’t open or inclusive.

Donations were down, volunteers were down and voters showing up to vote were down.

Starting at about 835pm on May 12, 2009 I’ve talked with dozens of people in all aspects of the party and caucus. Dozens of people have joined in to carry on similar conversations about what to do about fixing the party.

Here’s what is in the core consensus document right now:

1. We must build a social movement within the party.
2. We must enhance democracy inside the party.
3. We must follow and implement party values.
4. We must empower members and non-members.
5. We must improve our relationship with the environment.
6. We must improve our relationship with labour and other progressive groups.
7. We must build a constructive relationship with progressive businesses.

Here’s how to fix the BC NDP. It’s quite simple, actually.

Ask people how to fix the party.

That’s it. Open a wide dialogue. Ask for everyone who belongs to the party to help transform the party into something is full of integrity, vibrancy and effectiveness for the 21st century.

No one actually has the key to fixing everything in the party. But all of us together do.

That’s it.

But we actually have to do it. Now!

So I’ve passed up on writing dozens of infuriated editorials since the BC legislature had its stealth opening in August with a budget drop before Labour Day when people were still vacationing.

I’ve been working the Think Forward thing.

So with about 5 weeks to the BC NDP convention, it’s time for everyone to look at the Think Forward consensus documents, in the draft version they are in today. We all need to look at them, say what we like and dislike, add ideas, trim out the garbage, figure out effective ways of implementing the principles and use the documents themselves as a springboard to living the kind of democratic participation that vibrant, robust political parties of the 21st century need to have.

No one “in charge” is responsible for doing this. WE ALL ARE! Every member, non-member supporter, member activist, volunteer, staff person, MLA…anyone who cares about progressive change in BC…we all need to start talking our way to a party we know has the integrity we need it to have.

In the meantime, the BC Liberals can continue to function by stealth as the autocratic cynicism machine it’s built itself into over the last couple decades. The BC NDP, however, has a tremendous opportunity to catalyze society into something we can be proud of by being open and inclusive.

And every party member knows at least one person who is so disaffected that they have quit or are pulling back, whether it’s because the party can’t actually admit that the fast ferries were a mistake or that supporting the Gateway Project and a new Port Mann Bridge, or opposing a Carbon Tax violate our actual democratically formed policies.

It’s time for us all to tell the truths about ourselves that need to be aired. We need to vent, to process our disillusionment and to step out and build a party that will build an economy that serves human beings and addresses the massive paradigm shift we need to make to avert climate breakdown…and all the other progressive goals we yearn to achieve.

So, swing by the Think Forward BC NDP website. Look at the current drafts of the philosophy and implementation documents. Join the dozens who’ve already submitted ideas and constructive criticism. Share the ideas with your friends and colleagues. Host coffee or dessert parties and talk about what kind of NDP you want to belong to, then add your ideas.

Because, honestly, if the members of the party don’t redefine the party, the party is already over.