New Democratic Party of British Columbia

The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is the provincial arm of the socialist New Democratic Party of Canada. Unlike other parties in Canada, where provincial and federal politics are strictly separated and members of one are not necessarily members of the other, the NDP fuses the memberships. Officially, every member of the NDP of BC is also a member of the NDP of Canada.

The main opponents of the NDP of BC are the Green Party of British Columbia (which challenges it especially for the votes of ecologists and environmentally concerned citizens), and the BC Liberal Party, the present majority party.

Despite serving as the government throughout the 1990s, the NDP of BC was plagued by a series of leadership scandals. One of the many blunders, the NDP government embarked on were the construction of the PacifiCats, which would later become part of the FastCat Fiasco. In the May, 2001, British Columbia election the New Democrats only elected two MLA's and were therefore reduced below official party status. BC Premier Gordon Campbell of the BC Liberal Party refused to grant this status to the NDP itself, nor to any coalition or combination of the NDP, Greens, Unity, or other small parties. Taken together, the support for these parties is significant, giving rise to calls for electoral reform in the province of BC.

The NDP of BC are led by Carole James.

See also: New Democratic Party of Canada, BC Liberal Party, Green Party of British Columbia