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NRI News: Surrey, BC, Canada

 

BC New Democrats Elect A New Leader, Adrian Dix -
One of the main reasons for Dix’s victory was the Asian’s strong support.

Surrey, Vancouver, April 20, 2011
Balwant Sanghera

Vancouver Convention Centre was packed to capacity on Sunday, April 17. The three month marathon race to succeed Carole James as the NDP leader was coming to a close. Out of 28,000 NDP members more than 19, 000 had voted for the four contenders. Mike Farnworth and Adrian Dix were considered to be the front runners from early on. The final vote placed Adrian Dix upfront from the first ballot on. At the end, he outpolled Mike Farnworth by more than 677 votes. The voting share of 52% for Dix to 48% for Farnworth was the exact mirror image of the percentage of votes received by Christy Clark (52%) and Kevin Falcon (48%) in their run for the BC Liberal leadership race...

One of the main reasons for Dix’s victory was the South Asian and Filipino community’s strong support. His association with the South Asian community in general and Indo-Canadians in particular goes a long way. As a close confidante of former premier Glen Clark, Dix has become very close to the Indo-Canadian community. This has provided him with a strong and solid base of support. This community’s active involvement in the NDP leadership race was a major factor for Dix’s win. Though the polling numbers put Farnworth ahead of all others, yet, Dix had the numbers which didn’t show in any of the polling. Thus, Adrian’s victory was a surprise for many of the political pundits.

Incidentally, three of the four candidates for leadership-Dix,Farnworth and Horgan have been very close friends, To them, party unity at this time is very important. Even the baker’s dozen of MLAs seemed to be keen on unifying the party ranks and move on to win the next election whenever it is called.

The election of Adrian Dix as leader of the NDP bodes well not only for the New Democrats but also for the entire province. Dix is a tireless worker, very intelligent, competent, articulate and capable person. It is very unfortunate that the media has portrayed him mainly as a left wing idealist. As a matter of fact, he is a lot more than that.Dix is a realist and pragmatist. He gets things done.

Since his election to the provincial legislature in 2005, Adrian Dix has done an excellent job not only as an MLA for Vancouver Kingsway but also for ordinary British Columbians... When BC Liberals were actively engaged in closing schools right and left, Adrian played a leading role in saving schools from closure especially in East Vancouver.

As NDP critic for the Ministry of Children and Family Development, Dix was instrumental in establishing an independent watchdog for the province’s youth and children. He did this by uncovering how Liberal cuts were harming vulnerable children. Dix’s role as one of the NDP’s toughest and most effective health critics is well known. In this role he has successfully kept the governing party’s feet to the fire. Dix is a team player, good listener and a down to earth leader. With him at the helm the NDP is well poised to form the next government in British Columbia.


Balwant Sanghera(Balwant Sanghera is a retired School Psychologist and Community Activist)

 

 

 

Balwant Sanghera


Balwant Sanghera
President, Punjabi Language Education Association . He is a retired School Psychologist and Community Activist in British Columbia ,Canada.