1990s

The BC NDP in the 2000s

2010s
A new millennium

A new millennium

2000

Following Glen Clark’s resignation, Dan Miller, of Prince Rupert, served as the NDP’s fourth BC premier until a party convention could choose a successor to Clark. In 2000, Ujjal Dosanjh, MLA for Vancouver-Kensington, won the leadership and was sworn in as the NDP’s fifth Premier. In yet another first for the NDP, Dosanjh was the first South Asian Premier in Canada. But he was unable to overcome the Fast Ferries controversy, and in the 2001 the NDP was decimated.
Wipeout

Wipeout

2001

There is no possible way to sugarcoat this one. In the 2001 election, the BC Liberals won over 57% of the popular vote, and an unprecedented 77 of the 79 seats in the provincial legislature—the largest victory in the province’s electoral history. The NDP went from 39 seats to two. That said… despite not having official party status (four seats were needed for that), Joy MacPhail (Vancouver-Hastings) and Jenny Kwan (Vancouver-Mount Pleasant) managed to keep the government’s feet to the fire. Brilliantly! And through doing so shifted the question from could the party recover… to how quickly!

The rebuild begins

The rebuild begins

2004

As we all know, the social democratic movement in British Columbia had always had a strong grassroots base. Carole James, who had very nearly won a seat in 2001 (losing by just 35 votes), was elected the BC NDP’s first woman leader in 2003. And in 2004 Jagrup Brar won a byelection in Surrey-Panorama Ridge.
2005: The blip is over

2005: The blip is over

2005

The BC Liberals meanwhile tore up union contracts for teachers and health care workers, broke their promise not to privatize BC Rail, closed hospitals and public services and cut taxes for the well-to-do. Meanwhile, Carole James was introducing and prioritizing progressive policies such as a provincial child care plan (something that finally came to fruition during her time as Finance Minister in the John Horgan government). Despite their actions that hurt average people, the BC Liberals were confident the weakened NDP would pose little problem to them in the 2005 provincial election. But they were wrong. James led the NDP to a remarkable comeback, with 33 seats and 41.5% of the popular vote, just 4% less that the BC Liberals’ tally. Key turning point: During a Leaders debate, Gordon Campbell to Carole James: “Ms. James, you should understand — this is a big job and it is hard to get a handle on it.” This patronizing remark helped ignite the rise in the polls.

The 2009 election: Status quo

The 2009 election: Status quo

2009

There was some change in this election, in that it was the first since 2008’s electoral redistribution that increased the number of seats in the legislature to 85 from 79. Other than that, it was more of the same. The 2009 provincial election was a near repeat of 2005. The BC Liberals gained three of those new seats; the New Democrats two – and both parties increased their popular vote by less than one per cent over 2005.