Carole James and her NDP family secrets

Current Position: NDP MLA for Victoria-Beacon Hill, NDP Leader

Past Positions: NDP Leader

Family Connections: James won the NDP leadership in 2003 by receiving the backing of all major public sector unions. These remain key supporters of her as the election disclosure will show.

Family Secrets: Upon becoming leader, James set about to build a staff and caucus of former Clark era people. Her two Chiefs of Staff, David Perry and Ian Reid, were senior advisors during the Glen Clark years. Those in her inner circle like Adrian Dix, John Horgan, Maurine Karigianis, Harry Lali, Sue Hammell, Bruce Ralston and Mike Farnworth all served as MLAs or senior staff in the 1990s. James spent a lot of time talking about a new kind of politics but has run the most negative campaign in memory.

Taranjit Purewal and his NDP family secrets

Current Position: NDP Candidate in Abbotsford West

Past Positions: Before entering the spotlight as a strong proponent of the death tax, Purewal was a relative unknown.

Family Connections: Purewal was a supporter of Glen Clark during his leadership run.

Family Secrets: Purewal has become the self appointed point person for a new death tax in BC.

Doug Routley and his NDP family secrets

Current Position: Running for re-election as NDP MLA in Nanaimo-North Cowichan

Past Positions: A near invisible MLA, Routley was appointed as the apprenticeship critic by Carole James. When Routley ran in 2005, Ladysmith Mayor Rob Hutchins supported him. After four years of watching Routley as MLA, Hutchins is now running against him as a BC Liberal.

Family Connections: Routley was a supporter of Clark-era MLA Jan Pullinger. Pullinger is returning the favour by managing Routley’s campaign this time around.

Family Secrets: Routley was part of an RCMP probe last summer, a fact that Carole James kept close to her vest.

Kathy Corrigan and her NDP family secrets

Current Position: NDP candidate in Burnaby-Deer Lake

Past Positions: Burnaby School Trustee, Researcher for CUPE specializing in “privatization.”

Family Connections: Where to begin? Corrigan is a member of the “first family” of Burnaby. She is married to Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan. She is close to federal NDP MP Bill Siksay. She is tight with the local trade union movement.

Family Secrets: The Corrigan family remained huge supporters of Glen Clark until the very end. She is an outspoken supporter of the NDP “women candidates only” policy.

Jim Sinclair and his NDP family secrets

Current Position: President, BC Federation of Labour

Past Positions: President, BC Federation of Labour. Appointed to BC Hydro Board by NDP government in 1990s.

Family Connections: Sinclair has made the BC Federation of Labour a safe haven for ex-NDP staff members in search of work. He has hired former Glen Clark communications director Geoff Meggs and former Premier’s Office senior staff person Jessie Uppal.

Family Secrets: Controversial anti-Zionist NDP candidate Mable Elmore got her start as a Federation of Labour Regional Political Coordinator during Sinclair’s term as president.

Maurine Karagianis and her NDP family secrets

Current Position: Running for re-election as NDP MLA for Esquimalt

Past Positions: President, Political Staff for NDP government’s in the 1990’s. Esquimalt City Councillor.

Family Connections: Karagianis is part of the Carole James inner circle and is close allies with John Horgan, Adrian Dix and the rest of the former Glen Clark Team.

Family Secrets: Karagianis was a senior aid to Moe Sihota and learned her “tax and spend” and “divide and conquer” politics from the master.

Leonard Krog and his NDP Family Secrets

Current Position: Running for election as NDP MLA for Nanaimo

Past Positions: NDP MLA for Parksville-Qualicum. Provincial NDP leadership candidate in 2003 (lost to Carole James).

Family Connections: Krog is one of those old style NDP members who received the support of Adrian Dix, Moe Sihota and Dave Barrett when he ran for the leadership of the party. His campaign was a coming together of former Glen Clark supporters.

Family Secrets: Leonard has one heck of a temper and will not hesitate to use it on environmentalists and seniors.

Bruce Ralston and his NDP Family Secrets

NDP MLA

Current Position: Running for reelection as NDP MLA, Surrey Walley, Appointed Finance critic by Carole James.

Past Positions: Party President, BC NDP.

Family Connections: Ralston is one Finance critic and potential Minister of Finance that the union movement can get behind. Not only has he worked in the union movement himself, but his spouse, Miriam Sobrino, is a senior staff person for a major public sector union. Ralston has never been shy about exploiting his union connections and recently was caught begging for paper clips from his union friends.

Family Secrets: Ralston was an impassioned defender of Glen Clark and the NDP during the 1990s. He was the point person in defending the party during the dark days of the Bingogate scandal and didn’t publicly disagree with a single Glen Clark initiative. And now Carole James thinks that he would make a great Finance Minister under a “new” NDP government

Harry Lali and his NDP family secrets

NDP MLA

Current Position: Running for re-election as NDP MLA, Yale-Lillooet

Past Positions: Minister of Transportation under Premier Glen Clark

Family Connections: Perhaps the fiercest Clark defender in the 1990’s, Lali is closely associated with the NDP’s left wing and has close, ongoing relationships with Adrian Dix, CUPE President Barry O’Neill and Moe Sihota.

Family Secrets: Lali was a senior economic minister in the Clark government and can take his share of blame for the BC economy falling from first to worst.

Dawn Black and her NDP family secrets

Current Position: NDP star Candidate for New Westminster

Past Positions: Director of Vancouver Cabinet Offices during Glen Clark government. NDP MP on Jack Layton’s and Audrey McLaughlin’s team..

Family Connections: Dawn is also very connected within the NDP. She was an enthusiastic supporter of both Audrey McLaughlin and Glen Clark during their leadership campaigns. Her son David is a senior official in COPE378 and a long time executive member for Jack Layton’s NDP. David is married to NOW Communications senior account manager Maya Russell. Remember how much money NOW Communications made from government work in the nineties?

Family Secrets: Remember the fast ferries? Record private sector job loss? The fair wage policy? Jobs for Timber? These were all Cabinet Decisions. Dawn was the director of the Vancouver Cabinet Offices. And now she is back as part of the Carole James team.

To see more NDP family members go to http://www.votesmartbc.com/node/100