Adrian Dix To Step Down
Wednesday, September 18, 2013 @ 4:29 PM
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Prince George, B.C. – Adrian Dix, leader of the provincial New Democrats, has announced he will step down as leader of the party as soon as a new leader has been chosen. He is hoping that leadership selection will happen no later than mid 2014.
(at right, Adrian Dix during an election campaign stop in Prince George – photo 250News archive)
Here is his full statement:
“Since our defeat in the election on May 14, I have reflected both on my future as Leader of the B.C. NDP and on the future of our party.
“In doing so, I have tried to put the long-term success of the B.C. NDP ahead of any personal ambitions.
“I have always believed very strongly that politics is not about politicians or leaders themselves, but about the people we represent and the change we hope to bring to British Columbia.
“It has been an enormous privilege to lead our party, for which I will always remain grateful.
“It has also been a great privilege to lead and to work with our caucus of extraordinary MLAs, whose commitment and passion is on display every day. We worked together as an extremely effective team in the run-up to the election; that we fell short on Election Day is my responsibility as Leader.
“It has become clear to me that the best interests of our party mean that I need to step aside for a new Leader, who can lead us to victory in 2017.
“I intend to remain as Leader until such time as the party can hold a leadership vote to choose a new Leader.
“It is my hope that a leadership vote can be held by mid-2014 at the very latest, though of course any final decision on timing will be made by the party.
“In the meantime, I intend to continue to lead our party and caucus in the important work of holding the Liberals to account for the promises they made during the election and their actions since.
“We must take on a Liberal government that seems to reduce everything to its partisan advantage, and in doing so we must not leave any stone unturned. In the face of cynicism, it is our duty to nourish the need to aspire, to hope and to offer hope. Not by imitating our opponents at their worst or our critics at their most cynical but by speaking to the best in people. And of course to never ever give up.
“We must continue to make the case that the values the NDP stands for—a strong economy for all, equality, a just society, a commitment to an environment that can sustain good health and prosperity in the future—are the values of British Columbians, making our party the best party to govern our province.
“We must continue to fight for good jobs that will support families.
“We must continue to fight to ensure that all British Columbians—regardless of their background—are afforded the opportunity to make the most of their talents and prosper.
“And we must continue—now more than ever—to fight for those who have been left behind and for those with no voice.
“B.C. is at a crossroads: inequality growing, pressure on rural communities, the environment at risk, the basic needs of others—jobs, health care, access to public education and libraries and transit—all crying out for a better way. Such a time requires the B.C. NDP to learn and do better—and we will—but also to stick together.
“Whoever is chosen as the next Leader our party will have my complete support and relentless effort as we prepare to defeat the Liberals and form government in 2017.
“I want to thank the people of Vancouver-Kingsway for their ongoing support and the trust they continue to place in me as their representative. They are and will continue to be a source of inspiration for me.
“I have been blessed with some amazing support in the last two years: from Renée, from my family and friends, from supporters and co-workers, from the people of B.C. who have opened their businesses, their homes and their hearts to me.
“As I launch this part in my journey I wish to say that I will never forget your kindness and generosity, and will never stop seeking to repay it.
“Thank you.”
Comments
Ah, too bad.
Yeah, It would have been nice if he stuck around so they would loose by another landslide!
“We worked together as an extremely effective team in the run-up to the election …… “
There he is, still head in the sand. If they had been effective in the run-up period, they would have been effective in the election period. That is what it means to be effective in the run-up period. It is the sole purpose of the run-up period.
Oh Gus your so smart. You have all the answers.
Cheers
Maverick, I have to agree!.
There he is, still head in the sand.
——————————————–
What did you expect him to say … “I shot the party in the foot when I told you how I really felt about the Kinder Morgan pipeline.” or “We all effectively took shots at ourselves by outlining our collective positions ..” … the NDP lost, Dix is stepping down, we get to see the soap opera of BC politics continue on … ;-)
So this begs the question, I wonder how much his severance package will be??
No severance cuzz the Liberals are paying him his salary. (just kidding)
Sad sack…good bye
Maverick – they didn’t ‘loose’ the election. (They did lose it, however!)
Hartguy “I wonder how much his severance package will be??”
Whatever it is it will never approach what Gordo received for screwing BC over.
No kidding Oldun… nothing compares to the golden parachutes the LIB-CONs hand out to their inside friends, can’t be matched!!!
I would like to say a lame duck is better than an interim leader, so that we can still hold the governing party to account, while the party rebuilds… but we seen what happened during the election campaign and furthermore we have no sitting legislature until mid 2014 in which to hold the government to account.
Hearing about that disgusting story where the BC government handed over an 8 year old girl to an abusive pedophile in Saskatchewan without the most basic of background checks. Something the government should be seriously held to account for… but we have no sitting legislature, so they don’t have to answer for their record.
I watched Mike DeJong on Global News West Block on Sunday night. The issue was about the legislature not sitting and thus the governing party not being held to account, leading to the failure of our democracy.
DeJong defended the BC liberal policy of having the fewest sitting days in the legislature of any Canadian provincial government by saying that the legislature was not needed because the MLA’s are now more available to their constituents and available to answer any questions outside of the legislature.
So fast forward to today and when MLA Stephanie Cadieux Minister of Children
and Family Development is asked by the Vancouver media for an interview on the export of an 8-year old girl to Saskatchewan into the hands of a pedophile… and no one from the BC government is available for comment. Say what you want about Adrian Dix, but I for one would still like to see him in the legislature asking questions of the government and getting answers for how the BC liberals plan to fix their mess.
One thing we can say for sure is that BC is only a shell of a democracy under the BC liberals.
I think if the ndp want to earn social license with the people of BC they should be camped out on the lawn of the legislature every day drilling down on issues that the BC liberals need to be held to account for.
Citizens and tourists might ask why we don’t have a sitting legislature and how come the opposition has to sit on the front lawn and ask for accountability on serious issues, but so be it if the BC liberals get embarrassed or see their support dropping then maybe we might get some answers. Maybe we might see ndp MLA’s earning their keep as a rat pack holding the government to account and maybe they might carry that forward to the next election.
IMHO
But of course Dix will remain leader until the next legislative sitting and of course no tough questions will be asked as a result….
“The issue was about the legislature not sitting and thus the governing party not being held to account, leading to the failure of our democracy.”
Come on, the BCLiberals have a majority. Do you really think that debating in parliament is going to be better for the province than coming up with a budget which deals with LNG industry taxation regime to be brought to the Legislature in early 2014?
It is like City Council thinking that their bantering in open meetings actually will make a difference in this community when it is administration that runs the ship on a daily basis.
Legislature sets direction. The government will put forward a discussion paper or a more solid position and that will be “debated” in the Legislature when it is ready for debate.
In the meantime, the NDP ought to have leadership debate amongst themselves so that they have some new cards on deck when the Legislature sits in 2014 rather than having a lame duck still in place.
“we have no sitting legislature until mid 2014 in which to hold the government to account”
And you found the mid 2014 date where? Just some of your hyperbole, or is it someone else’s which you referred to?
We can hold the government to account every day ….. the legislature is not needed for that.
Go sit on the lawn in front of the Parliament buildings in Victoria. Get out signs, etc. Make a good show, the media will lap it up and eventually someone will have to respond if it is done well.
As they say, your local MPs are in their constituency offices. They represent everyone. Go have a talk with them. Get off your ass.
Province Sept 10, 2013
http://www.theprovince.com/news/politicians+will+skip+fall+legislative+session/8895430/story.html
“Finance Minister De Jong said Tuesday the Liberal government plans to spend the next few months preparing February’s budget and working on developing a new tax regime for the liquefied natural gas industry.”
So which calendar do you use, Eagleone, that has February in mid year?
You do not build any credibility by making such stupid comments.
Ease up Gus, no need to be that way toward anyone who posts here, it’s an open forum.
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