PUBLISHED IN THE VANCOUVER SUN
January 10, 2014
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/oped/must+support+economic+growth+equality/9370271/story.html
It’s a new year. It’s time for New Democrats to reinvent their party.
A new president and executive have just been elected, and in the coming weeks, leadership contenders will start to declare themselves. Let’s hope they make some bold resolutions.
To reconnect with British Columbians, they must look past the individual personalities and tactical decisions conventionally blamed for last year’s election upset and deal with the fact too many voters don’t trust New Democrats to grow the economy. Victory in 2017 depends on presenting a modern economic vision that balances compassionate and environmentally responsible government with the generation of wealth, and yes, the development of natural resources.
In some corners of the NDP, growth is heresy. But this ignores the history of social democratic parties, like the BC NDP, which have traditionally sought to build a more equal society achieved through the redistribution of wealth and opportunity generated by a growing economy. In much of the post-war western world this vision was broadly accepted across the political spectrum, fueling the greatest period of upward mobility, opportunity and economic security in history.
In recent decades, and for a number of reasons, the NDP and other social democratic parties have retreated from this economic leadership. Globalism stripped governments of local power, effectively challenging social democratic redistributive policies. At the same time, the existential threat posed by climate change and environmental destruction called into question social democracy’s basic commitment to growth. What good is redistributing wealth from economic development if it renders our planet uninhabitable?
Unable to confidently articulate an agenda built on economic growth and redistribution, the BC NDP has become a conservative force, fighting to protect the gains of the post-war boom but also resistant to new ideas for a changing world.
To win again, the BC NDP needs to put the core social democratic commitment to economic and social equality back on the agenda. More equal societies are better societies. But they don’t come free. They are paid for by economic growth.
For the BC NDP that means getting serious about developing a forward-looking economic agenda built on the pillars of growth, opportunity, and environmental responsibility. It’s not good enough for the party to quote Tommy Douglas and insist that what worked in the post-war world will still work in a 21st century transformed by globalization, demographic shifts and technology.
That means the BC NDP must celebrate and promote entrepreneurial aspiration. Healthy societies evolve and advance by giving good ideas a chance to succeed. The BC NDP must embrace change, reward risk, and foster innovation.
That means the BC NDP must put education at the forefront of its agenda. In a global economy where change is the only constant, modern government must invest in an education system that will prepare our citizens, from pre-school to mid-life, to seize the opportunities within it.
That means the BC NDP must get serious about diversifying our economy by supporting BC’s fast growing technology industries. BC’s technology sector is a world leader, creating the products that will power the economy of the 21st Century and protect our province from the boom and bust cycle of raw materials for export.
And that means the BC NDP must say yes to developing our natural resources. Every school and hospital in the province owes something to resource extraction. Tens of thousands of British Columbians depend on the jobs these industries create. If the BC NDP abandons these communities it will never win an election, much less deserve to win one. The BC Liberal government is right when it commits to taking full advantage of our natural resources, but it is wrong when it builds those plans around empty slogans and shoddy projections while scrapping environmental obligations. New Democrats can, and must, do better. British Columbians deserve resource development that provides stable, long-term growth, takes greater advantage of our unique wealth of renewable resources, creates skilled local jobs and sets world-leading standards for protection of the environment.
Tough to do? Yes. So is losing weight or quitting smoking. And just as important if your survival is on the line. So let’s get on with it.
David Bieber (@dcbieber) was the BCNDP’s director of party communications from 2003 to 2009. Dawn Black (@Dawn_Black) served as Interim Leader of the BCNDP in 2011 and has represented New Westminster over two terms as an NDP Member of Parliament and another term as an NDP Member of BC’s Legislative Assembly.