B.C. NDP Leader Adrian Dix arrives to take questions from the media after speaking to the business community during a Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon in Vancouver on Sept. 18, 2012.DARRYL DYCK/The Globe and Mail
UPDATE: Mr. Dix answered questions from our editorial board Tuesday, as well as one selected by readers based on a reader suggestion. The question, submitted by Paul Nettleton, was: "What lessons have you learned from your time with former premier Glen Clark (as principal secretary in the 1990s) and what would you do differently should you become premier?" Mr. Dix replied on camera and can be seen in the video below. For users unable to watch the video, here is a transcript of what he said:
"If you look at the NDP in the 1990s, it did a lot of good things. Economic growth, of course, in the '90s was higher than it has been under the last decade. We achieved a lot of interesting and important things. But I think the challenge of government in the '90s was that the government did too much. We introduced too much legislation, more than the government and the economy could digest. So I think we have to be more modest in our agenda.
"And this is important in tough fiscal times, too, because there's a tendency for governments in tough fiscal times to bring in regulatory change because it's action that appears in the short run not to cost too much. But I think we have to be disciplined both on the spending side, or the programmatic side of government, and on the regulatory side, and make choices. I think when the NDP came into office in 1991, in the first year we passed 92 bills. And they were, I mean, significant bills and many that people had been waiting for. But that might be too much change to implement effectively. And I want to make sure that we bring in change, because that's required, but that we're effective in doing that, and that means making choices about what you do, making sure that it's done well, and move onto the next thing -- as opposed to do everything, and see what works and what doesn't."
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On Tuesday, we'll be hosting B.C. NDP Leader Adrian Dix in Toronto when he speaks to the newspaper's editorial board. The meeting will give us excellent access to the man some people are calling the next premier of British Columbia, and we want to ask him one of your questions.
We asked for suggestions and you responded with dozens. Thanks to all of you who submitted questions. Unfortunately, due to limited time with Mr. Dix we can only ask him one from a reader.
We've selected five reader questions, and we've set up a poll so you can vote for your favourite. The question that gets the most support will be put to the B.C. Opposition leader on his visit to 444 Front.