There’s something in the background of the pipeline fight that explains part of the mindset of the NDP government in its battles with Alberta and Ottawa.
It’s the flaming that Premier John Horgan got from his own supporters after he decided last December to continue construction of the $9-billion Site C dam. The new government made a call that burned up a fair bit of goodwill in one camp — environmentally minded NDP supporters who keep Indigenous rights top of mind.
Those are the same people militantly opposed to expanding the oil pipeline through B.C. There’s a theory that the NDP government knows it owes them one, and can’t afford to antagonize them all over again by conceding any ground in the pipeline struggle. So it is bound to keep trying to delay the start of construction, even if it destroys personal and professional relationships across the country.
That theory got more weight, in my mind, this week, on receipt of all the Site C correspondence to the premier from the public in the first two weeks after the decision. Requested via freedom of information, it’s 600 pages of mostly angry, sorrowful, sometimes vituperative condemnation of him for making the decision he did. (All names were severed.)
Horgan’s inbox is by no means an accurate reflection of overall public sentiment. Some of the mail looks to have been mobilized by anti-dam groups. Angry people always make their feelings known to politicians far more than supportive people do. (For the record, 31 of the hundreds of messages in the first two weeks agreed with the decision.)
But picture John Horgan just five months into his premiership, getting his first taste of the kind of heat that comes with the job. Even if he just got a summary of how the mail was tending toward over-the-top disgust with him, it would have left an impression.
And his remarkably miserable, dejected demeanour at the Dec. 11 announcement that he’d decided against stopping the dam made clear that he knew it was coming.
The most striking thing about the hundreds of messages is the number of correspondents who said they were ardent, lifelong NDP supporters and donors.
• “Unless something drastic happens and you come to your senses, I will continue to be sorry I voted for you and your pathetic party.”
• “Be assured I will never vote for the NDP ever again.”
• “Your party has lost my trust completely. I say this with a heavy heart and a sense of loss.”
• “I now have no answer for people who cynically call us the No Difference Party. You have made the NDP live up to that insulting description by [affirming] this shameful project.”
• “I have been an NDP member for most of my 80 years. … I have now cancelled my membership and contributions.”
• “Shame on you, you have led the people down the garden path. Is the pipeline next? I wish I had never voted for you.”
• “To say that you have alienated your base with this decision is a profound understatement.”
• “I keep looking behind my back because it feels like I have been stabbed in the back by a loved one.”
“Longtime NDP supporter” and “never vote for you again” are recurring phrases.
Some people forwarded to Horgan a Green Party fundraising pitch that was sent right after the decision: “Our offices have been flooded with thousands of emails and calls from people like you who feel betrayed by this decision.”
So not only was Horgan getting pummelled by his own people, his partners in power were capitalizing on the frustration for their own ends.
Overall, the correspondence illustrates that Horgan lost some ground in his base with the Site C call.
And with such a thin grip on power, it contributes to the impression he can’t afford any further losses on the pipeline issue from within the same camp.
Government lawyers advised the new cabinet on Day 1 it would be “inappropriate and unlawful” to keep talking about stopping the already-approved pipeline.
But the correspondence suggests he’d take another hit from his own team if he’s perceived to be surrendering in any way.
