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Look to past premier to predict NDP future

Aha! I think we now know a key source of NDP leader Adrian Dixs professed desire to bring a modest approach to governing.

Aha! I think we now know a key source of NDP leader Adrian Dixs professed desire to bring a modest approach to governing.

Why, its none other than his mentor and ex-boss: former premier Glen Clark!

After staying out of the public eye for a decade, Clark gave a wide-ranging interview with my Global BC colleague Jas Johal, and in it he showed he has a far different perspective as a businessman than he did as a politician.

The Clark of today seems less enthralled with government being the answer to so many problems, thinks unions need to be more flexible and co-operative with management and understands the business of business is to make money and profits.

When he was premier, government intervention in the economy was a key part of his agenda. Government is a big operation, and Clark is now leery of its effectiveness.

He still believes in fundamental rights for workers, but warns unions have to change attitudes in the modern economy.

In the world were in nowlabour really has to think hard about how they approach private business, he said.

He thinks Crown corporations exist to make money for government and not to simply treat people better without making a profit.

And hes acutely aware that free trade and globalization are here to stay, and businesses have to adapt quickly to change (its this kind of attitude that is viewed with horror by a number of NDP activists).

Clark is, of course, the right-hand man of the godfather of B.C. business, Jimmy Pattison. When Clark was hired by Pattison soon after leaving office in a cloud of controversy, many people were shocked by the appointment.

But I wasnt surprised at all, given Clarks intelligence and instincts and the fact that Pattison had long before voiced his support for him.

And Im not surprised Clark has risen through the ranks of Pattisons empire to become company president. Clark is the type of guy who tends to dominate whatever group he happens to be part of.

The question that arises now, of course, is what kind of influence will this ex-politician, who has significantly changed his philosophy, have on the man who has a very good shot at taking on the same job he used to have?

The ties between Clark and Dix are deep and significant. Clark always struck me as a mentor of sorts for Dix, as the two men forged a close bond between 1991 and 1999, when Dix was forced to quit as his chief of staff.

In 2005, Dix ended up taking over Clarks old riding of Vancouver Kingsway and the two remain close friends.

So its hard to think that a more conservative Clark wont have a significant impact on Dixs own political philosophy.

Although the B.C. Liberals are trying to portray Dix as some kind of far-left socialist menace, the only evidence to back up that assertion is dredging up the track record of the NDP government of the 1990s.

Dix has offered precious little evidence of his own to help them. Hes proposed raising corporate taxes to the levels the B.C. Liberals established in 2008, which is hardly a radical socialist policy.

Instead, Dix is talking about narrowing the activities of government instead of expanding them just as his old boss advocates.

So dont be surprised if Dix turns out to be closer to the new Clark than the old one: more moderate, business-friendly and less activist.

After all, if one of the top figures in the former NDP government can change so much, why cant another?

Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global BC.