VICTORIA – Adrian Dix entered the New Democratic Party’s leadership contest Monday with his focus trained less on the rivals in his own race, and more on the two candidates he sees as front-runners on the Liberal side.
“There is no question that Kevin Falcon or Christy Clark would increase costs imposed on our children and our communities by growing the divide in our society,” said a speech Dix planned to deliver at his campaign launch Monday night.
“I believe inequality is not only morally wrong, it is expensive for our society,” he added.
“Analysis from all over the developed world demonstrates that the polarization of wealth and power and the growth of poverty have very significant financial and social costs for the entire community.”
Dix, 46, has a lengthy list of endorsements, including a trio of prominent New Democrats from Surrey – finance critic Bruce Ralston, as well as MLAs Harry Bains and Sue Hammell, both of whom have strong connections to the Indo-Canadian community.
Dix is supported as well by MP Libby Davies, former MP Svend Robinson and Vancouver councillor Kerry Jang. He has also recruited Gerry Scott, one of the most experienced organizers in the party, to run his campaign.
Acting as a front-runner as he entered the race, Dix is seen as furthest left among the top candidates vying for the job.
On Monday, Dix said he believes the prospect of a government led by either Clark or Falcon is helping to motivate the NDP to put its internal troubles in the past, and to focus on the leadership race on hand.
“The one thing that’s going to unite us: winning,” he said, adding all candidates in the NDP race should be prepared to fight an early election.
“I think every candidate has an obligation not just to speak to the NDP members – current and new members – but to the voters as well because there may well be a general election this year,” he said in an interview.
As part of his platform, Dix said he would eliminate the Harmonized Sales Tax – which he said he has opposed from the beginning – and reinstate taxes on financial institutions that have recently been cut by the Liberal government.
He added he would immediately move the minimum wage to $10 per hour, and index it to inflation to keep pace with the rising cost of living.
Dix also said if he were to become premier his government would consult with business leaders, though he added they would have far less influence than they do under Campbell.
“I’ll be open to talking to business and to working with business. They’ll have a major role at the table, as they should as major players in the province,” he said.
“But I think over the last 10 years the government has made a mistake in making that exclusive.”
Dix’s announcement came as the eligibility deadline expired for new members to the NDP. Anyone who signs up for the party after Monday will no longer be able to vote in the leadership race.
As he launched Monday, Dix also addressed some of the questions facing his candidacy.
On his health, Dix said his Type 1 insulin-dependent Diabetes is not a deterrent, and instead is an asset, as it has helped him to become more disciplined and determined.
“If Bobby Clarke [who has diabetes] can captain the Philadelphia Flyers, I think I can be premier of British Columbia,” he said
“I think in many respects it [Diabetes] has improved me and made me a more sympathetic and more disciplined person.”
He also addressed the issue of a controversial memo from his days as chief of staff to then premier Glen Clark.
Dix has admitted in court to backdating that memo, which sought to insulate Clark from involvement in a casino scandal that ended the former premier’s political career.
“I made a mistake. I owned the mistake. I take responsibility for it,” Dix said Monday, adding he is not worried about the issue in the coming campaign,
“I’ve been elected twice by people where these issues were raised,” he added.
“If the Liberal Party wants to campaign on the 1990s then they will lose.”
Dix added he thinks his party should dramatically alter its strategy as it enters the next election.
“I believe the province has changed fundamentally and that we have to have much more of an 85 seat strategy than the targeted seat strategy we’ve had in the past,” said Dix.
“We cannot keep retrenching to a possible 40 or 45 or 47 seats in a narrow majority,” he added.
“We have to expand our reach as a party.”
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