Giddens: “Proof the NDP is not the party for workers”

The Conservative Caucus of British Columbia says the NDP’s claim to be the party of workers is once again collapsing under its own contradictions, following a federal NDP private member’s bill, known as the Fair Representation Act, targeting worker-chosen unions.

Although the legislation originates in Ottawa and was introduced by an NDP leadership candidate, Conservative Critic for Labour Kiel Giddens says British Columbians should be clear-eyed about the ideology driving it.

“The provincial and federal NDP are formally affiliated. They share roots, branding, policy machinery, and ideology,” said Giddens. 

“When New Democrats attack workers’ freedom of choice in Ottawa, it reveals the same ideology we see from the NDP here in British Columbia, regardless of the level of government.”

The BC Conservatives say this move reflects a long-standing pattern: the NDP champions workers rhetorically, but only when those workers fall in line with the party’s political friends and allies.

“The NDP doesn’t support all workers - they support the ones they select, like when they shut out thousands of local and Indigenous workers from public projects with restrictive labour agreements,” said Giddens. 

“They pick winners and losers, from construction and the skilled trades to major project and investment decisions across British Columbia.”

The Conservative Caucus of BC says it takes a fundamentally different approach to labour.

“Our approach is grounded in freedom of association, worker choice, and open competition,” said Giddens. 

“When workers freely choose their representation, politicians should respect that choice, not undermine it for partisan gain. That’s how jobs are created, skills are built, and workers advance.

This is further proof the NDP is not the party for workers,” said Giddens.