Combative Wilkinson ready to rumble
Opposition leader talking tough and positioning his party for an early, snap election
Some 3,000 out-of-work loggers have suffered in relative silence for nearly six months through one of the most brutal labour strikes in recent B.C. history.
Not any more. Hundreds of affected contractors showed up outside the B.C. legislature on Wednesday to plead for government help.
They got a sympathetic hearing from Liberal Opposition Leader Andrew Wilkinson, who can clearly sense trouble for the governing NDP on the issue.
“There was a cabinet meeting going on 50 yards away from the rally but nobody in the government had the guts to come outside and talk to them,” Wilkinson fumed.
Rally leaders did get a meeting inside the building with Forests Minister Doug Donaldson.
“We came to Victoria to have our voices heard on very short notice — and we were heard,” rally organizer Bill Coates told the crowd.
Despite the meeting with Donaldson, though, the mood at the rally was one of bitter disappointment with an NDP government that bills itself as work-friendly.
“Our industry is down and taxes are up,” Coates said. “We need to get back to work.”
For most British Columbians, the Western Forest Products strike has flown under the radar, while focus trained on “almost strikes” in the big city, like the recently averted transit-worker walkouts in Metro Vancouver.
It’s obvious Wilkinson senses a political opportunity, even in ridings considered safe NDP territory, like strike-ravaged Vancouver Island.
“You have five NDP MLAs on Vancouver Island showing no accountability to the people who elected them,” Wilkinson said. “That boiled over today.”
The New Democrats are receiving a well-deserved keelhauling for their lack of action in the strike. And while they may feel the strike does not affect closely contested urban ridings so crucial in an election, Wilkinson is still poised to take advantage.
That’s because the province’s political race is so tight that even one or two NDP seats lost to the strike or other wedge issues could swing the entire election outcome.
Wilkinson said the government should be taking more effective steps to end the dispute, perhaps ordering a cooling-off period or appointing an industrial inquiry commissioner. And watch for Wilkinson to promise industry reforms, like monthly calculation of stumpage — the fee companies pay to cut trees on Crown land — to cushion the financial hit to struggling forest companies.
If you are wondering if Wilkinson is getting ahead of himself because the next election is still more than two years away, don’t forget Premier John Horgan could decide to call a snap election in 2020.
Why would Horgan do that? Because the economy could get worse, and not just for the forest industry. The New Democrats might decide to roll the dice on an early election while the economy is still decent and the budget is still balanced.
“The NDP may think they have a better chance now than they do later,” Wilkinson said. “We’ll be there and we plan to win.”
Horgan’s minority NDP government has led a pretty charmed life through the first two years of its existence.
But tougher times are ahead, and the Liberals sense an early election call is possible.
For Wilkinson, it may be a one-and-done opportunity: win or resign as Liberal leader.
As the year draws to a close, the Liberal leader seems ready to fight.
The NDP may think they have a better chance now than they do later.”
Andrew Wilkinson