It was the presumptuous little stunt pulled by the Coquitlam-Maillardville New Democratic Party group that brought home how difficult it is to lead the B.C. NDP.
Leader Adrian Dix, of course, booted the May election, then asked for some time to consider his future. He asked the party for the summer to decide and promised an announcement on his plans this month.
They couldn鈥檛 even wait that long.
Dix鈥檚 future was a compelling topic and it鈥檚 a free country, so it was fair game for individual members to comment. Few hesitated to deliver their two cents鈥� worth, and most said he should go.
But Dix was entitled to think official party entities would hold off and respect his timeline. A pretty clear consensus developed over the summer that he should go. So it would have been a matter of simple courtesy to wait to see if he鈥檇 determined that himself. With more than two years of hard work as leader and a solid eight-year track record as an MLA, he was at least owed that.
But the suburban riding association 鈥� which had only just won the seat, and by just a handful of votes 鈥� presumed to write a letter demanding that he vacate immediately. They recognized his 鈥渟ignificant contributions,鈥� then told him to get lost. They didn鈥檛 have the grace to let him arrive at the obvious conclusion on his own, or the wit to realize how awkward they were making things for their MLA.
These are the kind of lower-echelon busybodies you get to work with when you lead the B.C. NDP.
Almost as bad were the unctuous expressions of appreciation for his hard work coming from people who have been not-so-privately gutting him for the past four months.
It鈥檚 no wonder the job has driven any number of people to distraction over the years. Ask Mike Harcourt, Ujjal Dosanjh and especially Carole James.
Maybe that鈥檚 why Dix looked so jittery during his afternoon news conference and tried a few too many jokes at an event that wasn鈥檛 meant to be funny. Just as in May, he misread the room.
Doling out the blame for what Dix called an 鈥渆normously disappointing鈥� loss is an exercise that will run for years. There鈥檚 no question Dix deserves his fair share and that鈥檚 obviously why he is quitting.
He鈥檚 a natural-born Opposition leader, which is what they call second-place in politics. He鈥檒l continue doing that for the next few months until a leadership convention next year. A sizable chunk of his resignation announcement was taken up with yet another critique of how the B.C. Liberals are falling short, and a confident prediction that his successor will win in 2017.
It sounded incongruous, given how they were repudiated in May. But party members live for that kind of talk.
He urged the NDP to 鈥渙ffer hope, not by imitating our opponents at their worst, or our critics at their most cynical. But by speaking to the best in people. And of course, to never, ever give up.鈥�
Apart from the nerves at the start, his three-minute address was gracious, intelligent and deep. Which confirms the impression Dix wasn鈥檛 the only reason they lost, yet again.
It鈥檚 time for the party to be as tough on itself as it has been on its leaders. There has been lots of talk about rebuilding and rethinking since the May meltdown. But the review committee that鈥檚 supposed to be writing the guidebook on retooling the party doesn鈥檛 inspire much confidence. It鈥檚 union-heavy even when they were trying to be scrupulously diverse. It will likely do what committees do best 鈥� take the safest, most innocuous course.
Carole James took a few tentative steps toward getting the NDP to think differently during her term as leader from 2003 to 2011, but didn鈥檛 show much in the way of results.
The party has a track record of losing elections that stretches back generations, interrupted only three times by wins. The reaction to all those losses is just as established. They blame the economy or the other guys or the leader, then try again with someone else.
After you鈥檝e entered the same car with 12 different drivers and only won three races, maybe it鈥檚 time to fix the car.
