Unsolicited advice for the B.C. Greens
Employing a "useful idiots" strategy in 2024 offers the best chance to save lives
B.C. New Democrats have often described B.C. Green candidates as “useful idiots” for the B.C. Liberals. Through the 1996 to 2013 elections, the B.C. Greens were led by Stuart Parker, Adriane Carr, and Jane Sterk. In those years, New Democrats frequently complained about B.C. Green candidates siphoning part of their left-wing base, which ended up electing B.C. Liberal candidates in several constituencies.
The B.C. Liberals still lost in 1996, despite capturing the largest percentage of votes. Then, they won the next four elections. From 2001 to 2013, the B.C. Greens captured eight to 12 percent of the votes. Useful idiots, indeed.
But something changed after the 2013 election. The B.C. Greens chose a new leader, Andrew Weaver, who had traditionally supported federal Liberals. Weaver, a University of Victoria climate-change researcher, appealed to higher-income, climate-literate, and less class-conscious voters. Many of them were previously comfortable casting ballots for B.C. Liberals, particularly when former B.C. Liberal premier Gordon Campbell introduced a carbon tax.
However, after Christy Clark became premier, she pandered more vocally to the fossil-fuel industry. She made outlandish claims about the potential of liquefied natural gas, which helped her party win the 2013 election. But in subsequent years, Clark’s support for Big Oil reaped ridicule from Weaver, who became B.C. Green leader in 2015.
With Weaver atop the B.C. Greens, they then became “useful idiots” for the B.C. NDP. The B.C Greens siphoned enough traditional B.C. Liberal voters in 2017 to help elect New Democrats in previous B.C. Liberal-held areas like North Vancouver-Lonsdale, Vancouver-Fairview, Burnaby-Lougheed, and Courtenay-Comox. And B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan formed a minority government after his caucus signed a confidence and supply agreement with the B.C. Greens.
But now, the B.C. Greens have a more traditionally left-wing leader, Sonia Furstenau. The party is in rough financial shape.
Meanwhile, the B.C. NDP is riding high in the polls with a strong majority government following the 2020 election.
Focus on evidence-based policies
What’s Furstenau to do? She’s not likely to pull as many traditional B.C. Liberal voters as Weaver attracted. Yet there are monumental issues of concern to progressive voters. Namely, the poisoned-drug crisis, the extremely weak government response to COVID-19, and the B.C. NDP’s reluctance to take truly serious climate action.
All three of these issues have something in common: the B.C. NDP is putting political expediency ahead of science. The same can be said of B.C. United under Kevin Falcon and the B.C. Conservatives under John Rustad. The B.C. Greens are the only ones coming close to advancing evidence-based policies in these three areas.
Under Premier David Eby, there’s no sign that the B.C. NDP will put the brakes on future liquefied natural-gas plants. Nor will it seriously address the fracking of natural gas, which is a major source of methane emissions. The B.C. New Democrats parrot the old B.C. Liberal line that natural gas is a bridge fuel to a cleaner future.
In fact, the oil and gas sector in B.C. generated 48 percent of industrial emissions in 2021, according to the Clean BC plan.
It’s worth noting that the Clean BC plan, which B.C. NDP politicians repeatedly tout, relies on very questionable carbon capture and storage technology to reduce emissions. That’s despite an Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis report showing that of 13 flagship projects around the world, only three performed close to their carbon capacity.
To date, there’s no evidence that carbon capture and storage technology will come close to meeting the government’s objectives. Ergo, there’s no evidence-based climate policy.
The only way Furstenau can make inroads is if her party holds the balance of power in a minority government. Then it can extract concessions, much like the federal New Democrats have done in Parliament around dental care and a national prescription-drug plan.
So Furstenau and the B.C. Greens must focus all of their efforts on bringing about a minority government. It’s a very tall order, given the B.C. NDP’s commanding lead in the polls.
This is where a “useful idiots” strategy might prove useful. In their own self-interest, the B.C. Greens need to drive down the B.C. NDP vote in certain constituencies to elect enough non-NDP politicians to deprive David Eby of a majority. At this point, it doesn’t seem very likely. But it’s the only hope for the B.C. Greens.
Then, if the B.C. Greens miraculously elect two to four MLAs in a minority government, they can offer to support a B.C. NDP government in return for more evidence-based policymaking. If there’s ever a future confidence and supply agreement, the B.C. Greens should focus on the poisoned-drug supply and COVID-19. Clean drugs and cleaner air in schools will save thousands of lives over the long term.
Let candidates speak their minds
But how can the B.C. Greens do this with very little money? They need to unshackle their candidates to speak freely about issues that resonate within their constituencies. It might be anti-Asian hatred in Richmond, the climate in North Vancouver, the green economy in West Vancouver, health care in Oak Bay-Gordon Head, housing in Vancouver, the poisoned-drug crisis in Campbell River, or Indigenous rights in northwestern B.C.
Other leaders will impose rigid discipline on candidates to ensure that they stick to the script. It’s a trade-union mindset that the media enforces by humiliating candidates who offer differing opinions from their leader. But it’s a ridiculous concept in the 21st century. Politicians should be free to disagree when they’re in the same party—and it was a hallmark of provincial politics into the 1980s.
Does anyone seriously believe that every B.C. NDP MLA privately supports the government’s policy on carbon capture and storage or its response to the poisoned-drug crisis? Or that every B.C. United politician agrees with Leader Kevin Falcon’s decision to pose for pictures with federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre? But they won’t utter a peep because the principle of cabinet confidence and solidarity has morphed into blind caucus obedience in B.C.
Why would anyone want to be an MLA under those circumstances?
Furstenau has nothing to lose by tossing aside this shibboleth. She should also support the movement to end nondisclosure agreements and call on other leaders to do the same. Tell voters that rigid caucus discipline is bad for B.C. because it undermines open debate, which leads to better public policies that can save lives.
It may not be enough to save the B.C. Greens’ skins. But at least if they lose the 2024 election, they can take satisfaction in doing their best to keep more people alive.