New Democrats took the usual potshots at the B.C. Liberal party after their weekend convention in Kelowna.
Ignoring issues. Breaking promises about the Agricultural Land Reserve and creating jobs. Hiking debt.
“It was a feel-good speech with no substance, much like how she's running the government,” said NDP MLA Shane Simpson of Premier Christy Clark’s keynote address.
It was all more or less valid, considering the difference between the rosy world view inside the hall and what’s happening in the real world outside.
But behind that byplay, the Opposition is likely a little worried by the general tone of the convention. Liberals say it was one of their biggest ever, with about 1,200 people registered in some shape or form. It’s to be expected at the first gathering after the election, because everyone likes a victory party.
The NDP got a good turnout at their post-election meet, but they were in a different frame of mind. Any New Democrats who paid attention to the weekend convention must have been thinking: “So that’s what winning looks like.”
The striking thing wasn’t the turnout, though. It was the breakdown of who showed up. The party said that 40 per cent of the delegates were first-timers. That’s a remarkably healthy number that reflects the fact almost half the 49 member Liberal caucus are rookies. New MLAs mean newly energized riding associations with a complement of new members interested in taking part. The shock over the surprise win last year overshadowed the fact that Election 2013 was a generational change for the Liberals. The transition from Gordon Campbell Liberals to Christy Clark Liberals took 27 months and the makeover is now a done deal.
The NDP renewal was in the form of a confusing, balky and lacklustre leadership changeover. They’re counting on the new face of John Horgan to signal yet another fresh start. But the Liberals seem to have accomplished wholesale renewal at the membership level, where it counts for as much, if not more.
What those newbies think of the weekend policy debate isn’t clear. Most were watching and learning. But nobody went home exhausted from grappling with thorny issues. Clark said it was the happiest convention ever. If that’s true, it’s because they didn’t bother worrying about much of anything. The party got only 18 resolutions to the floor and they were notably bland. B.C. Liberals have a long history of going light on policy talk at such gatherings.
Even when they do manage to get something contentious to the floor, it never lasts too long. And on the rare occasions when they pass something controversial, the cabinet usually rolls its eyes and ignores it.
It will be interesting to see if the new-generation Liberals maintain the tradition.
The other striking thing about the convention was the introduction of Bob Rennie as fundraising chairman. He was installed in that post in January and gave a brief outline of a new push that could prove very lucrative for the party. The “Condo King” has made a fortune in Vancouver real estate, and a name for himself as a fundraiser for all manner of worthwhile causes. If Rennie thinks the B.C. Liberals are a worthwhile cause and sets his mind to it, the party is going to be awash in money.
It’s another thing to worry about for the NDP. They had a hugely successful fundraising year in 2013 based on being front-runners. It included $2.3 million in corporate donations. But as soon as the money came in, some members started beating themselves up over it and there was a move to turn that tap off for conscience reasons.
It will never happen again, regardless, as most of the corporate donors were just hedging their bets against a Liberal loss.
The Liberal caucus returned to the legislature Monday to face an education system in the midst of a staged shutdown. There are no public ideas from the government on how it will extract itself from this mess. The best-case scenario is to limp through to the end of June without total war, and then regroup.
Welcome back to the real world.
