British Columbia NDP leader, Carole James, mingles, greets, and hugs supporters at the official opening of her Victoria-Beacon Hill campaign office in Victoria Monday morning.Deddeda Stemler
Can the New Democrats of British Columbia shed their unwanted status as the perennial loser of elections, and forge a winning majority coalition?
In a four-part series last week, Globe columnist Gary Mason explored that fundamental, and pressing, question for B.C.'s opposition party, in advance of the NDP's weekend convention. That series looked at leader Carole James's insistence on scrutinizing the status quo, the pressure from party elders - including former premiers Mike Harcourt and Ujjal Dosanjh - for the NDP to tack to the centre, the need for Ms. James to reinvent herself - and Mr. Mason's 10-point formula for the NDP to become the New(er) Democrats.
On Monday at noon (PT) 3 pm (ET), two NDP stalwarts tackle those same questions: Clay Suddaby, former chief of staff for opposition leader Joy MacPhail, who led the party in the wake of the 2001 electoral wipeout, and Bill Tieleman, who was communications director for premier Glen Clark during the squeaker NDP victory in 1996. Joining them is The Globe and Mail's B.C. Editor, Patrick Brethour.
Leave your questions in advance through the comment function on this story, or come back at the scheduled time and join the live conversation.
Clay Suddaby is a strategic communications and campaign consultant in Vancouver. He served as chief of staff to NDP Opposition Leader Joy MacPhail from 2001-2005 and then directed communications and research for the BC NDP's 2005 election campaign, which saw the party go from 3 to 33 seats. He was previously director of caucus services for the NDP government, following stints as director of communications for the British Columbia Ferry Corporation and director of media relations for the BC government's Nisga'a Treaty Implementation Project. Suddaby established A-Line Communications in 2007, and writes the Radical Pragmatist blog.
Bill Tieleman is one of B.C.'s best known communicators, political commentators and strategists. Tieleman writes a weekly column on politics in 24 Hours daily newspaper and The Tyee.ca online magazine. Tieleman has previously been communications director in the B.C. Premier's Office and at the BC Federation of Labour. For the past 12 years he has run West Star Communications, a consulting firm providing strategy and communication services for labour, business, non-profits and government agencies. Tieleman holds a masters degree in political science from UBC.