NDP nominates Siksay in Burnaby-Douglas

By Dan Hilborn
Published May 29, 2004


The man who has run Svend Robinson's constituency office for the past 18 years is the NDP's choice to succeed the longtime NDP member of Parliament.

Bill Siksay, Robinson's former constituency assistant, was chosen as the New Democrat candidate in the Burnaby-Douglas riding on Tuesday night in a meeting attended by about 200 party members at Confederation centre.

"This is not what I thought we'd be doing at this point, but here we go," were Siksay's first words after the Burnaby Now asked if he was surprised to be running in the election.

And despite the fact that he has little name recognition - radio station CKNW posted a story on Siksay's victory on its website under the title of "Bill who?" - he does not consider himself to be the underdog.

"I think people want to see some continuity for the kind of service Svend offered," Siksay said. "I'll make sure good things still happen when people come to the constituency for help."

But while Siksay's name may not be a household word, he is definitely no political neophyte. In 1997, he ran for the federal NDP against Liberal cabinet minister Hedy Fry in Vancouver Centre, and he has been instrumental in many of Robinson's campaigns over the past two decades.

Siksay vowed to stand on the same side of the issues as Robinson, whom he described as one of the most effective politicians in Parlia- ment.

"Svend taught me a lot in 18 years," Siksay said Wednesday. "The importance of serving the community and making sure people get the help they need; how important it is to have respectful dialogue; to be available when people call; and to meet with organizations and activists.

"You don't always have to agree with people, but you owe them the respect of telling them where you stand and being clear on the assistance you can offer. ... I want to follow in that tradition."

And like his predecessor, Siksay was more than happy to offer his opinions on his two main opponents - Liberal Bill Cunningham and Conservative George Drazenovic.

"I don't think the people are going to opt for one of Paul Martin's back-room buddies who clearly has shown no respect for the democratic process and can't advocate even with members of his own party when they need assistance. I think that's a huge issue for him to deal with."

As for the Conservatives, Siksay is worried about their promise of tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. "People here in B.C. know the irresponsibility of that. We've lived through Gordon Campbell's program of the same kind of tax cuts and we've seen the results."

Despite the fact that he was starting two days after the election was called, Siksay does not see himself as an underdog.

In the short term, he is reusing some of his 1997 election signs, and expects to have his new signs in place by the end of next week.