After years in the political wilderness, the left in British Columbia has begun to find its voice.
The debate on how to go about building a fairer world takes place on our own, expansive terms, and involves neoliberalism only insofar as it is necessary to grudgingly acknowledge the troglodyte politics of repression that is the purview of Harper, Campbell, Bush and their ilk.
The new, non-electoral-politics-oriented left in British Columbia (at least, at this point) recognizes history as a dynamic. We know in our hearts and minds that we will continue to move forward towards that day when all might participate as equals in a civil society defined by justice, caring and respect for the collective, and individual, needs of each and every one of us.
Left Turn online addresses the role of the leaderships of the NDP and BC Federation of Labour and “their fear of extra parliamentary struggle (that) is only surpassed by their contempt for workers’ democracy.” Left Turn rejects the ‘humane’ capitalism of the NDP and instead calls for a dialogue of change with activist groups in our communities who have been battling “in the trenches, whether involved in fighting welfare cuts, organizing for union democracy, struggling against the closure of women’s centres, combatting homophobia, or preserving the ecosphere.”

Seven Oaks online magazine has positioned itself as the reasoned, thoughtful and non-didactic “publication which stands outside the realm of false consensus.” The editors write in their manifesto …

Through our weekly provision of analytical features, progressive opinions, cultural commentary, and more, we hope to provide another space where ideas, questions, stories, information, problems, and possible solutions can be shared, sounded out, celebrated, and debated in an open forum free of cumbersome, dogmatic ‘Party lines’, but all the while in unambiguous pursuit of progressive social change. We hope to be a part of that chorus of voices in this country giving the lie to the quiet, conservative fantasy that all is well here, and always has been.

If Seven Oaks is British Columbia’s weekly magazine of the left, since last November The Tyee has emerged as the feisty new media online presence that, daily, addresses issues the reactionary forces of the CanWest conglomerate refuse to acknowledge even exist. More reportorial, and immediate, in its presentation and structure than Seven Oaks magazine, The Tyee is helmed by David Beers, once a senior editor at Mother Jones, and creator of the lamentably, now lost, cultural section of the Vancouver Sun, The Mix (simply the best weekly cultural magazine published inside any Canadian newspaper in the last 25 years). The Tyee remains a must read.

And, finally, there’s Public Eye, an online weblog, edited by Sean Holman. Although Public Eye bills itself as “independent and irreverent … neither Liberal nor New Democrat”, make no mistake, this peripatetic online journal in covering the backrooms of provincial and federal politics in B.C. offers a progressive and necessary voice for change.
Welcome to the new digital democracy. The revolution is underway …

British Columbia is outsourcing desktop computer support for all government employees. The company awarded the contract: IBM.
Public workers, represented by the BCGEU, have gone on record as expressing concern that the privacy rights of all British Columbians could very well be in jeopardy.
IBM will not only gain access to most of the confidential files handled by the provincial government — the company could be compelled to share your confidential information with the FBI, under the sweeping new provisions of the USA Patriot Act.
The BCGEU has filed a complaint with the office of the B.C. Privacy Commissioner on the issue of citizens’ rights to privacy in the outsourcing of government services, and has also initiated legal action to overturn the outsourcing of confidential information services to private firms.
In addition to the undertaking of the BCGEU, a broad coalition of community groups has launched a Right To Privacy campaign, setting as their goal “no contracting out of information or information management to any company subject to foreign laws that violate the rights of Canadians.”
As of this writing, the provincial government continues its plans to contract out the administration of the Medical Services Plan and Pharmacare to Maximus Inc., an American multinational corporation, by the end of August.
According to an article written by Michael Geist — the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa — and published in the Toronto Star …

A review of both Canadian and U.S. law leaves little doubt that U.S. law does grant law enforcement authorities the power to compel disclosure of personal information without notifying the targeted individual that their information is indeed being disclosed (in fact, disclosing the disclosure is itself a violation of the law).
The troubling truth is that this is not strictly a Patriot Act issue. There are several U.S. investigatory powers that grant similar authority. These include grand jury subpoenas and national security letters, both of which predate the Patriot Act.
Moreover, the application of these laws is not limited to U.S. companies but actually applies to any company with sufficient U.S. connections such that it could find itself subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts. Several cases, including one involving the Bank of Nova Scotia, have found that the U.S. courts are entitled to apply U.S. criminal law, even in the face of a conflicting obligation under the foreign law. This is true both for U.S. companies operating subsidiaries in foreign countries as well as for foreign companies with U.S. subsidiaries.

Since Canada’s, and British Columbia’s, privacy laws are unlikely to meet the blocking statute standard, it seems likely that U.S. law enforcement authorities may indeed compel the disclosure of Canadian data.
B.C.’s Privacy Commissioner, David Loukidelis, wants to know what you think about the provincial Liberals’ plan to contract out the administration of the Medical Services Plan, Pharmacare and other public services to American multinational corporations.
Submissions must be clearly labelled “Submission on the USA Patriot Act” and mailed to P.O. Box 9038, Stn. Prov. Govt., Victoria, B.C. V8W 9A4, or sent by fax to 250-387-1696, or submitted by e-mail to

Mustel Group polling data, released July 8 2004

With only 313 days to go to the next election — May 17 2005 — just released Mustel Group polling figures for the popularity of provincial political parties show that the British Columbia Liberals are in freefall, having dropped 24 points, from 57% to 33%, since the last provincial election.
In other figures released by the Mustel Group, the polling firm reports that for the first time in several years, men tend to support the NDP rather than the B.C. Liberals (44% versus 36% supporting B.C. Liberals). Among women, 45% would vote NDP and 28% would support the B.C. Liberals.
Geographically, the NDP leads in every region of the province except the Lower Mainland suburbs (outside the City of Vancouver), where support for the B.C. Liberals and NDP is almost equal (38% BC Liberals, 40% NDP).

In more heartening news for those of us who would like to see the B.C. Liberals consigned to the dustbin of history, Premier Gordon Campbell’s approval rating remains at only 28%, with a full 60% of the province’s electorate finding fault with his performance and that of his government.
According to a story posted yesterday at Public Eye Online, editorial director Sean Holman wrote that the Ipsos-Reid polling company will also set about to publish B.C. voter intention and leadership approval numbers shortly.
Update: The just-released Ipsos-Reid poll states that “with 10 months to go until the next British Columbia provincial election … the NDP (38%) and B.C. Liberals (37%) are in a statistical dead heat among decided voters. The NDP is down 6 points since May, with all of the benefit going to the Green Party (18%, up 7 points). The B.C. Liberals are unchanged from May.”
According to the poll, leadership disapproval ratings for Premier Gordon Campbell continue to fall, with 62% of British Columbians either moderately or strongly disapproving of the Premier’s performance, as compared to a 54% approval rating for New Democratic Party leader Carole James.
Still, if the Ipsos-Reid poll results hold up, and the B.C. Green Party is in fact resurgent, the Greens look to re-elect the B.C. Liberals.