NDP bound for defeat

A few months ago, we predicted that Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrtien would win a third majority government, which he did handily on Nov. 27. We also predicted that George W. Bush and Al Gore would have to battle hard to win the presidency of the United States. We said every single vote would count in the American race, which was precisely the case. We didn’t rely on a crystal ball either, just the polls. Numbers don’t lie, except when the numbers are bad (garbage in, garbage out) or when they are deliberately distorted by over-zealous spin doctors.

With an election looming this spring in British Columbia, we’re going to make another bold, no-brainer prediction. The ruling New Democratic Party (NDP) headed by Premier Ujjal Dosanjh will go down to a stinging defeat, one of the worst in the province’s history. And, again, we don’t need a crystal ball to see the outcome. The polls tell the tale, which ain’t pretty. In fact, we’d be surprised if there is much of an opposition party at all after Liberal leader Gordon Campbell becomes the next premier of the province. This means he should be able to implement his party’s “economic renewal plan,” aimed at reversing the damage done to the economy by almost a decade of NDP blundering and incompetence. There will be no more fast ferries built for millions and sold for pennies, no more fudge-it budgets, and (let us hope) no more scandals of the type that brought down two previous NDP premiers.

The NDP’s mismanagement of economic issues has been particularly devastating for the mining industry, which was recently described by The Vancouver Sun as being “on a death watch.” Only a handful of mines still operate in the province, and exploration investment today has declined to about $25 million from nearly $300 million in the early 1990s. Some of this decline can be attributed to the NDP’s land-use policies, which restrict mining and exploration activities in as much as one-third of the province. Some of the blame can be attributed to the myriad rules and regulations that now govern the permitting process, and some can be attributed to uncertainties related to aboriginal land claims. And to be fair, some of the downturn can be blamed on weak prices for some mined commodities.

However, the malaise goes deeper than land-use and permitting policies; it can be traced back to the early 1970s, when the NDP government of Dave Barrett virtually decimated the province’s mining industry. Together with his mines minister, this small-minded, arrogant socialist cooked up royalty schemes and other onerous legislation designed to let the mining men know that his government wanted more than a passive role in their industry.

The NDP government that took power in the early 1990s promised not to repeat the mistakes of the past. To be fair, then-premier Michael Harcourt did not repeat Barrett’s mistakes — he made grand mistakes of his own, including the foolish decision to turn one of the province’s richest mineral districts into a park. In the process, the Windy Craggy deposit was transformed from a valuable resource to an enduring symbol of NDP betrayal.

We could go on and on about NDP mismanagement of the economy, but all of that is muddy water under a broken bridge. If the polls are right, the B.C. Liberals (no relation to the federal party) will soon take the helm of the province. We’re pleased to hear that among the promises made by Campbell is one calling for “faster approvals and greater access to Crown land and resources, to protect and create jobs in tourism, mining, farming, ranching, and oil and gas production.”

We’re also pleased that the party has promised to cut “red tape” and the regulatory burden on B.C. businesses by one-third within its first three years. A British Columbia Liberal government would also “protect private property rights to prevent government expropriation without fair compensation.”

British Columbia has the potential once again to become an economic powerhouse of Canada, instead of one of its worst-performing jurisdictions. It has rich human and natural resources, and geographic and economic advantages. All it needs is good government.