The driving force behind the change in the polls is anger at the endless stream of neo-liberal policies unleashed by Gordon Campbell’s Liberal government.

These have included a $2 billion tax cut, a racist referendum on aboriginal land claims, shredding union contracts, deregulating tuition for all post-secondary education programs, slashing minimum wage, kicking people off welfare, and abolishing funding for women’s centers.

Campbell attacked striking healthcare workers last April by issuing Bill 37, which forced workers back to work with a 15 per cent pay cut. Opposition exploded as tens of thousands of workers maintained picket lines and the solidarity of hundreds of thousands more built momentum for a general strike.

Instead of supporting the popular mood, NDP leader Carole James wrote an open letter exclaiming that "the province is on the brink of a crisis that threatens to further erode investor confidence in British Columbia and destabilize the BC economy."

Instead of endorsing the massively popular demand to "Kill Bill 37", James offered proposed slowing it down a bit:

"Extending the transition period during which the wage reduction would apply, giving employees–the vast majority of whom are women, many of whom are single parents–more time to adjust to a 15 per cent reduction in their pay."

Tragically the trade union bureaucracy followed the same path and sold out the movement on the eve of the general strike.

James welcomed the result, and recently elaborated her position at a speech to the Coalition of BC Businesses: " As the leader of the BC New Democrats, I am reaching out to the business community in a way New Democrats have not done before."

The NDP leadership is leaning to the right in the mistaken idea that this will help them regain their seats. This disastrous strategy stems in part from a failure of the NDP leadership to understand, or acknowledge, the reasons for their previous electoral defeat.

The last election results were not a vote for Campbell representing a popular shift to the right, but a vote against the NDP for failing to stay left, opening a space for the Green Party and paving the way for a Liberal government.

The revival of the NDP is in spite of a leadership leaning right. This contradiction cannot last for long.

The NDP leadership can continue on its present course, putting their drive for the ballot box at odds with the movement in the workplaces and the streets, thereby guaranteeing future defeats and demoralization for both.

Or they can unite with and help build the radicalizing movement that has demonstrated its potential to fight back against neo-liberalism and win.