A few months ago, the B.C. NDP looked well placed to win the Oct. 19 election after a seven year reign. But today, the gap is virtually closed. And it is not the official opposition, B.C. United, that could take power. This failed rebrand of the hated Liberals has splintered and collapsed. Instead, the B.C. Conservatives, who didn’t even have official party status a year ago, are back from the dead and threatening the NDP’s lead.
The Conservatives have risen from the ashes since former B.C. United MLA John Rustad took the party over. He is using the exact same right populist talking points as Pierre Poilievre has at the federal level. Several B.C. United MLAs have gone like rats on a sinking ship and crossed the aisle to the Cons. More are expected to follow.
How did this happen?
The NDP came to power in 2017 after 16 years of hated Liberal governments enacting austerity and attacking the workers. Since then, the list of betrayals of the NDP grew relentlessly : they built the TransMountain pipeline; they sent the RCMP to crush Indigenous activists; they allowed old growth forests to be logged; they defended polluting companies; they disqualified left-wing candidate Anjali Appadurai before a party leadership election; and they oversaw one of the worlds worst housing and opioid crises, both of which are worsening every day. This has utterly alienated the base which got the NDP in power, namely the youth and unionized workers.
In effect, the NDP in power has become a comfortable option for the ruling class, doing the dirty work for them. But the party is now reaping the fruits of its adaptation to capitalism.
One poll showed 39 per cent of decided respondents aged 18-34 said they would vote Conservatives, compared to 34 per cent for the NDP. This would have been unthinkable in 2017, where the youth vote was key in securing an NDP victory. Workers and youth lose their patience towards the NDP, and this anger is being channeled into the conservatives.
But make no mistake: the Cons are a right-wing, anti-worker party not fundamentally different from B.C. United.
They talk about fighting “illegal money laundering” that is inflating housing prices and about lowering taxes, while at the same time they’ve pledged to privatize healthcare, childcare, cut post-secondary funding, and crush homeless encampments. Rustad himself has rejected the existence of a climate crisis, calling it “scare tactics,” and pledged to expand oil pipelines and LNG production. Most disgusting of all, the conservative platform promises to “stop warehousing those suffering”, i.e. to stop providing homeless people a place to stay.
The rise of the B.C. Conservatives is a direct consequence of the right-ward shift of the NDP. The same trend is seen everywhere. “Left” parties of various stripes have tied themselves to the hated status quo, leaving the door wide open to reactionaries to channel the anger.
No matter who wins the elections, workers will continue to suffer from homelessness, poverty, climate change, racism, and all the rest.
