In an electronic vote last week, the provincial council of the B.C. New Democratic Party voted unanimously to ratify New Westminster MLA Dawn Black as interim leader of the B.C. NDP
"Dawn is a respected leader in our party, and brings her tenacity and experience to everything she does," said Moe Sihota, president of the B.C. NDP in a news release. "With Dawn's record of service as an elected official and her deep roots within the party, she's the right choice to lead the party and the caucus before the new leader takes on."
Black served three terms as a NDP member of Parliament before being elected in 2009 as the MLA for New Westminster.
On the leadership campaign front, Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons has called for B.C.'s minimum wage to be raised to $12 an hour by the end of 2012.
Simons is proposing to raise the $8 wage by $1 every six months from April 2011 until October 2012. Then he is proposing the minimum wage should be increased annually in line with the inflation rate.
"We can't legislate a wage that keeps full-time workers below the poverty line," he said in a statement. "I will urge the NDP membership to support this at our convention."
Simons is one of six declared candidates for the leadership of the party. Port Coquitlam MLA Mike Farnworth, Juan de Fuca MLA John Horgan, Fraser-Nicola MLA Harry Lali, Vancouver-Kingsway MLA Adrian Dix and marijuana activist Dana Larsen are also seeking the top job. The leadership will be decided by a party vote on April 17.
Memberships
A controversy over membership processing has been quelled - at least for now.
Lali contended that boxes of memberships, specifically for Dix were handed in late or improperly received and called for them to be thrown out.
In a decision released to the leadership campaigns late last week, the B.C. NDP provincial secretary has ruled that all memberships that were delivered before the 5 p.m. deadline on Jan. 17 will be processed.
"The BC NDP has always worked to involve interested British Columbian in our party," said Jan O'Brien, B.C. NDP provincial secretary in a news release. "We will not disenfranchise people who are interested in being a part of our party.
"Each membership we receive is individually processed and scrutinized to ensure that it is valid. We will be continuing that process over the coming days to ensure that all completed memberships are processed."
All of the declared candidates have said they will abide by O'Brien's ruling, but Lali told Lower Mainland media outlets that he was considering taking legal action.
