page 2 Over the Edge Nov 22, 1995

The NDP in BC

by Jason Morris

So the provincial New
Democrats are making it tougher
to get welfare. If you’ve just rode
a Greyhound here from Ontario,
better hang tight for three months.
If you’re young and childless,
expect a smaller check and set
your alarm for a mandatory job
training program. If drugs and
alcohol get you through the day,
better sober up and expect a
welfare cut and more treatment
programs.

But wait a minute, isn’t this the
NDP we’re talking about? Aren’t
they supposed to care about the
poor and the victims of society? If
the party has its roots in the
socialism espoused by their
forerunner the Cooperative
Commonwealth Federation, then
why does it seem the NDP is
making a right turn toward the
neoconservative beliefs of the
Reform Party?

One explanation is pure and
simple. The government is
financially out of gas. There is no
money for social programs. Even
the most ignorant government
today realizes that raising taxes is

political suicide. Revenue must
come from other places. That’s -
why Mayor Harcourt once said
gambling was a “tax on the poor,”
while now Premier Harcourt
wishes he had some casinos. As
well, with too much money spent
in past years, governments today
are finding it necessary to live
within their means. Thus even
Harcourt says B.C. will have a
balanced budget (if health care
expenses are not included), and no
deficit by 1996. All this means
there may be more welfare cuts to
come. Still, the NDP has always
been about helping the
downtrodden at every opportunity
(unless we’re talking bingo
money). No matter what, New
Democrats maintain, people
deserve a minimum standard of
living because poverty isn’t their
fault. So, there must be another
reason why the B.C. NDP is
making a sharp right turn.
Maybe, Harcourt and friends
have learned about governance.
It’s all too easy for a political party
fo promise a better life for all when
they are not in power. Indeed, the

NDP has made promising
nirvana an art form: we will end
exploitation of one person by
another; we believe in a society
where each person will have the
chance to develop his or her
talents to the full; our goal is a
society in which the dignity of
every human being is recognized
and respected. Buttry to put these
lofty and admirable goals into
legislation in a democratic
country. Impossible. Thus the
NDP in B.C. has realized that
they must be practical.
Sometimes they may have to
make the odd right turn away
from their social democratic
roots.

Another reason why the NDP
is making a right turn may be
simply due to the desire to be re-
elected. The goal of all political
parties is to attain and keep power
and welfare changes by the NDP
may be a calculated move to do
this. This in itself isn’t a bad
thing. If what the public wants is
social program reform of a
certain kind, it would be anti-
democratic for the government to

look the other way. Of course
though, what’s so strange in the
NDP’s case is how much they have
had to change. The public mood
has taken a sharp right turn, most
recently by permanently pit-
stopping Ontario’s Bob Rae in
favor-of Newt Gingrich’s golf
instructor, Mike Harris. Being
practical now and checking all
blind spots, the NDP has found
itself putting on the right blinker
to abruptly change lanes. Cutting
welfare is a case in point. Yet this
abrupt gearshift is likely to
backfire on the NDP. The public
may want a real neoconservative
party—and one with a clean track
record—not an NDP government
stealing from Preston Manning
from beneath a statue of Tommy
Douglas.

Well, regardless of why the NDP
is currently afraid to make any left
turns, why must they focus their
changes on the poor by toughening
up on welfare? If there isn’t any
money for the down-and-out,
maybe the NDP should make the
rich pay more. As well, maybe
those evil and polluting giant

- No Left Turns Allowed

corporations should pay their fair
share of taxes. Remember
though, that the B.C. NDP has
learned about being in office and
like any other party they like their
power. If they increase taxes for
the rich (which means the middle-
class today) they may face a
sequel to the Boston Tea Party.
If they crack down on
corporations, business will pass
on new taxes to the consumer in
the form of higher prices or just
leave the country and create more
unemployment. Besides, it’s a
myth that social programs are
only a small part of public
spending. Social welfare
programs are the largest source
of government spending: ever
heard of health care? Education?
Governments are thus. finding
they have to cut spending
everywhere and the poor are not
scapegoats. It just still seems
strange that it’s the B.C. NDP that
is doing the cutting and making
the right turn.

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