Gilles Bisson Feature Interview

Next in rabble.ca's series of feature interviews with leadership candidates is Gilles Bisson. Here is an excerpt.

Gilles Bisson is a centrist social democrat who argues that the NDP should include law and order issues as a main plank and take a collaborative attitude to business, including targeted corporate tax cuts to stimulate research and development and accepting donations from corporations. He would thus drop the NDP's current policy of not accepting donations from big business.

"I think it limits us ... the corporate sector understands as I understand, as a citizen, that democracy costs money and everybody has to participate ... If they're prepared to give me money why not take it?"

Bisson rejects the notion that accepting corporate donations could compromise the NDP. "I got a [$5,000] donation from Grand Forest Products, which is a large forestry company in northern Ontario. I had been out on the picket line at a lockout now that's been going on for two and a half years along with the workers in that plant ... The employer knows that when it comes to certain core issues I'll be on the opposite side of the fence but they also know that I'll work with them on other issues that are of mutual concern. If they have issues when it comes to things that we can do that are cooperative with the union, the workers and the community I'll be there so why wouldn't you accept it?"

Approximately 28 per cent of Ontario NDP members live in northern Ontario and Bisson has won the support of fellow northern MPP France Gélinas and all eight NDP MPs from northern Ontario. Bisson doesn't see himself as a regional candidate, however, or as handicapped by the fact that he would be the second northerner in a row to lead the party.

"Yes, I come from northern Ontario but I've lived in Toronto for over 25 years ... I'm the only candidate who really has travelled this province extensively for the last 30 years and has lived in different parts of it so I think I have a very unique perspective of Ontario."

Bisson emphasizes the issue of the party's fundraising formula. At present, in non-election years, riding associations are only able to keep 10 per cent of what they raise. He says the problem is "it really stifles riding associations from doing the work that has to be done every day, signing up members on PAC because that's where the big money is. So the structure of centralizing the fundraising and the membership signups through the central party really stifles the local riding associations from having the initiative to go do that themselves."

Bisson would change the funding formula so that 60 per cent of money raised stays in the ridings. He rejects criticism that this would starve the central party of money and force it to lay off staff.

"We have laid off most of our organizers because we don't have the money ... If we have a system that continues the way that it is now we'll never have the money to hire the organizers that we want because the party will never grow.... [but] if the local riding association knows that they can go sign you up on the [Pre Authorized Chequing] and that they get to keep 60 to 70 per cent for the riding association they will bust their buns to go out and sign up members which gives the party more money."

Bisson is the only candidate who was an MPP during the Rae government. He also voted for the "Social Contract" that created a rupture between the NDP and the labour movement, which has not fully healed to this day.

When asked about whether he would vote for the Social Contract, Bisson said, "No, I thought it was a mistake then as I do now but everybody understands the process is that the caucus makes a decision and the process of caucus is that everybody sticks together ... The problem with the Social Contract was not the concept, the problem was opening the collective agreement and if we had allowed local unions and unions to decide for themselves how to find savings to deal with the ten social contract days without opening the collective agreement I think that would have been looked at as a very positive experience. The mistake was legislating it."

Bisson argues that the NDP loses votes when it only emphasizes social programs. "[People] say listen, I trust you on those things but you're not talking about a whole bunch of other things that are important to me and, number two, how are you going to pay for it. Our answer is always ‘well, tax the rich.' I'm saying that's a losing argument. Most people that are rich don't want to be taxed and we all want to be rich so people turn away from that argument so the key for us is we have to convince people that we know how to grow an economy."

For the rest of the interview see Gilles Bisson: Good for the business of revitalizing the ONDP? at rabble.ca

See also previous interviews with Andrea Horwath and Peter Tabuns.