Nicholas Simons has hit the campaign trail and knows he's in for an even tougher battle now that several high-profile candidates have entered the race to be the next leader of the provincial New Democrats.
Simons, the MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast, announced his intention to seek the NDP leadership on Wednesday, Jan. 5. Since then, Fraser Nicola MLA Harry Lali, Juan de Fuca MLA John Horigan, Coquitlam MLA Mike Farnworth and Vancouver-Kingsway MLA Adrian Dix have joined the race. Rounding out the leadership hopefuls is marijuana activist and one-time federal NDP candidate for this area, Dana Larsen.
"All the horses are in the starting gate now and I recognize that there are people who are considered front runners because of their profile, but I'm hoping that this becomes a leadership race that is rich with ideas and speaks to the issues that people want to hear in terms of making our democratic system work better, making sure we don't implement policies that hurt the public," Simons said. "Yes, I'm going to have a steeper hill in getting my name recognition out there, but I think that the membership wants to hear bold ideas about how the province is going to move into the future, so I actually think having some so-called front runners in the race will bring attention to the race too, which, if all things are equal, will allow me to express my views as well on the same platform as them.
"In some ways I'm considered a dark horse, but at least I'm on the track."
Simons said his first few weeks of the campaign have been spent working on putting policy into place that he plans to unveil throughout the three-month campaign.
He said it has, at times, been challenging managing his leadership bid with his regular constituency business, but it's a challenge he is embracing.
"It's been a higher workload, but I tend to work a lot, so balancing the campaign and the constituency work has not been a problem," he said. "And in some ways, there is a lot of overlap, because I'm talking about policy and issues that are important to the constituency. People who have been disillusioned by politics need a reason to become involved again. Our democracy will work better if people are engaged in the political process, and they will become engaged if they believe their voices will be heard. My leadership style will encourage healthy debate, respect diverse opinions and be focused on policies that benefit our communities and our environment. The best policies are those that have been carefully thought out, using the best research, sound science and robust consultation."
Simons said he is looking forward to continuing to engage with the public and with the other candidates in the months to come.
"My challenge is to ensure that those who are engaged in the party and the platforms and policies will take time to listen to each of the candidates and I expect nothing less from members," he said. "So I hope people will have a chance to make a fair and objective assessment of the qualities of the candidates.
"I'm excited about this and recognize the challenges I have. I don't back away from challenges, so it's an exciting process because it gives me an opportunity to say what I think is important. One of the main reasons I got into politics in 2004 was to have a platform to represent views of people who are in the party from the very diverse collective of the party and ensure that their voices are heard. I think people are focused on the future, and I believe in looking in the windshield and not the rear view mirror. It's about an exchange of ideas and seeing who is best to represent the public moving forward."
In the last week, the NDP provincial executive has approved rules for leadership nominations that the executive has said will help ensure a fair, modern and competitive leadership election. The rules include a number of financial guides for leadership candidates, such as a $175,000 spending limit, a $2,500 donation limit and a requirement that a list of campaign donors over $250 be made public prior to voting on April 17. Candidates will be required to collect 250 nominating signatures from party members throughout B.C., and to remit a $15,000 entrance fee.
The deadline for candidates to submit their nomination to the party is Feb. 28. All candidates will be subject to the same approval process as MLAs, which requires final sign-off by the party's provincial executive. A committee of five senior party members, including a former B.C. attorney general and former B.C. NDP provincial secretary, developed the candidate nomination rules.
The leadership election will take place on April 17 using a modern one-member, one-vote election system that will take place on-line and by telephone. Detailed voting rules will be developed in the coming weeks.
