Enbridge pipeline gets thumbs-down from B.C. NDP – British Columbia – CBC News:
Brilliant move by the NDP. It does a number of things: its makes the NDP the first of the governing parties to make an official stand on the pipeline project and puts pressure on the BC Liberals to make a stand. Secondly, it shores up their Green credentials in an effort to stem any bleeding from the NDP to the Greens (if that was even a problem now). Thirdly, it aligns them against the federal Conservatives in BC which are not in favour right now.
We know how the BC Conservatives will line up…they will support the federal government’s effort to have the pipeline go through. The NDP is against it. The BC Liberals will now have to make a definitive stand and there is a trap here:
BC Liberals Support it:
– say goodbye to their progressive wing and any pretense of being friendly to the environment.
– appear too friendly with the federal conservatives (a political liability right now)
– shift to the right to attempt to eclipse the BC Conservatives will likely repeat the 1996 BC Liberal mistake.
BC Liberals oppose it:
– say goodbye to the industrialists within the party, big oil/energy supporters will send their cheques elsewhere.
– abandon the conservative field to the BC Conservative party.
– shift to the left will further alienate what’s left of the blue-liberals within what’s left of the party’s coalition.
– no evidence that there is any Green-ish swing NDP supporters that can be peeled away to prop up the BC Liberals…a chase after votes that cannot be won.
The NDP doesn’t have to worry about big industry votes or donation cheques drying up. The NDP doesn’t have that kind of conservative wing to worry about. The swing votes that will be affected by this are not traditionally NDP at all, they’re up for grabs between the Liberals and Conservatives.
