April 28, 2000
Shuffling the deck on both fronts - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
VANCOUVER -- Two things for your thought and my comment today. One of the things in the newspapers last Monday that caught my attention was a story reprinted from The Link newspaper. The Link, if I’m not mistaken is an Indo-Canadian publication that covers the local community. Well, the Sun every Monday prints a section in their editorial pages that is a summation of the stories that have run in the “ethnic press” of the Lower Mainland.
The Link had claimed that Premier Dosanjh’s visit a couple weeks back to Ottawa was a sort of mend fences with the PM visit, as well as a hope from the Premier to be named to the Senate in the future.
The item says something about Dosanjh realising his stint as Premier and leader of the NDP is a short term gig and that he’s setting his sights on the federal political scene. Now it’s almost certain he won’t be the Premier after the next general election, but unless the pressure is immense within the party, I would think Dosanjh would have the loyalty and respect for the party, er, I mean “movement” that he’d stick around within the party as leader. Now I said he’d stick around only without immense pressure to step down. There will be pressure mind you, and we know from whom. Wilson, Clark, Sihota etc.
Having a Senator Dosanjh would be most ideal. Dosanjh is a respectable person on all fronts and he’d probably actually work. He’d be following the example of former NDP leaders, Dave Barrett and Bob Skelly.
The other thing worth noting is the fact that Roslyn Cassells, a Green Party Parks Board commissioner is eyeing the leadership of the Provincial Green’s. The Green Party, if the NDP self-destructs, will be the party of the left and it’s chances of at least getting one MLA in the legislature the next time around, are good.
Their showing in the recent municipal elections, show that they’re are a number of folks willing to vote the Green Party in. Miss Cassells’ going for the leadership, a leadership she might win, will mean Vancouver will be deprived of a great civic voice. A representative that, on the local scene, that for once was representative of a segment of Vancouver that never had representation before. Her voice is widely heard, drowning out the entire NPA Parks Board.
Senator Dosanjh or Leader of the Official Opposition Cassells, seems ideal, and those detesting the left could possibly support that. The left-wing is certainly planning for the future, failing to see that where they are now, has possibilities for good change.
I guess, they never notice.
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