NDP applaud Barrett, worry about Greens
By Bruce Mason, Gabriola Sounder
Thursday, May 12 2005
It was billed as Rock the Rock, a rally to support the campaign to elect Nanaimo NDP candidate Leonard Krog, featuring former BC Premier Dave Barrett. About 50 people attended the event in the Community Hall, Thursday evening, May 5th, which could have also been called Rock and a Hard Place, given the messages delivered by the two speakers.
Predictably there was a great deal of hard-hitting criticism of Gordon Campbell, but another recurring theme during the two hour meeting was the threat of the Green Party to take votes away from the NDP, cutting into the number of seats the party will hold after the provincial election, May 17th.
"The Liberal government of Gordon Campbell is the worst in the history of the province, no one else has ever been as bad," said Barrett. "We have the highest per capita debt in our history, the Health Employees Union contract was ripped up and thrown in the wastebasket, so no one is safe. Tuition is skyrocketing, more schools are being forced into a four-day week. It's all about money, all based on the fast buck."
Krog thanked the crowd for coming out to honour Barrett, who was elected premier of BC in 1972 and served for three years. The policies of the former premier - particularly the creation of the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) and Islands Trust - have "stood the test of time," he said.
However the candidate was there to rally the troops, to continue to put up signs - the highest per capita in the region, he claimed - to talk with friends and work hard to help get the vote out in the countdown to election day.
"I was criticized for calling a Gabriolan the other day," he reported. "She was angry about being taken out of her garden to talk to a politician, the last thing she wanted to do, but people must talk to their representatives. If people step away, the result is the election of someone like George Bush and the rise of influence and money in government.
"Come hell or high water we have to defeat Mike Hunter and win Nanaimo back!"
Both speakers praised the performance of NDP leader Carol James in the recent televised leaders debate, but confessed that it would take a "miracle" for the party to form the next government. Instead they hope to from a strong opposition and gather strength for the election in 2009.
"Why would an old bugger like me come out of retirement?" Barrett asked the crowd that would give him a standing ovation after 50 minutes of speaking. Gabriola Trustee Sheila Malcolmson also presented him with a T-shirt celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Islands Trust.
"I couldn't stay out of the debate," he said. "Campbell is a fibber, not to be trusted and as a former social worker I am offering him my services after what I hope is his defeat. The establishment has always run BC, ruthlessly, but the Campbell government said nothing about selling off BC Rail, closing schools and hospitals, having ferries built overseas and more, including plans for additional privatization.
"He is detached from the reality of British Columbians and looked guilty during the debate, frightened to face the electorate and so he should be," he added, before introducing Krog - who represented Nanaimo from 1991 to 1996 - as a "helluva' candidate."
Barrett worried that a vote of "11 or 12 per cent for the Green Party" would reduce the size of the NDP opposition and asked those who were considering supporting that party to reconsider the fact that the NDP were "infinitely better than the Liberals and more supportive of the Green Parties platform."
Krog delivered a similar message, adding that it "is easy to construct a platform, when you know you have no chance of being elected."
Calling the Liberals "rascals," home-wreckers" and "parasites, who must hate their grandchildren," he said Gordon Campbell had failed to show a human side during the debate and what he called his "bubble tour," that Green Party leader Adrian Carr continued to be "too shrill," but that James had demonstrated that she had a "grasp of the issues and could stand up to the premier."
The NDP has criticized the Campbell government for everything from privatizing ferries, to cutting the minimum wage for new workers, and reducing the number of teachers and long term beds. But on this night Krog wanted to talk about the Islands Trust and ALR.
He reminded the crowd that Barrett has faced massive protests on the steps of the legislature and said that only the NDP would preserve and protect these legacies. Residents, he said, had the primary responsibility for saving the "treasures" that are the Gulf Islands for the "comfort of everyone."
Krog said BC had been through a "long, miserable, dark four years," and that a strong economy was the result of improved business worldwide, high commodity prices and low interest rates and had little to do with Liberal policies, adding, "the myth that the NDP drives the economy into the ground was created during the Barrett era."
Krog's messages - which resonated well with the audience - were mostly environmental, stressing that the Liberals did not support the Kyoto Accord. He said people needed to be encouraged to live close to where they work, through tax incentives and disincentives. He said the days of hauling goods long distances would soon be gone and didn't favour any reduction in gas taxes in order to "get people out of their cars".
"It is time to begin talking about free public transit, throughout the province, to discuss if we have the will and are willing to pay the costs," he added.
He predicted a "hellish political fight and painful politics," to repair damage that has been done, that it is hypocritical to ask the Chinese and Indians to be content with less than what wealthy countries have unless something is done and told listeners that they had an opportunity to say they "did something by supporting the NDP."
Krog admitted that he had not yet made his mind on the Single Transferable Vote Referendum, also being held during the referendum. Barrett called the idea "goofy" and a "lot of crap."
Bob Bossin began the evening with his song "Dief the Chief." Brickyard and the Raging Grannies were also heard from. In the end, Krog was presented with a Campbell clock. Around a picture of the premier "Time to Resign" was written, at every hour.
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