ADRIAN Dix and his party have been running ahead of the B.C. Liberals in the opinion polls for so long, that much of his election strategy has been merely to avoid errors - and therefore to avoid controversy.
So it was unusual to find him on Monday altering the "we'll-study-that" response to awkward questions, a response that sounds like action, but commits to nothing.
Nevertheless, when he released his party's environmental policy in Kamloops, he not only reaffirmed the NDP's opposition to the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline - or at least the agreement to abide by a federal environmental assessment - but appeared to side with those who oppose the twinning of the Kinder Morgan pipeline to Vancouver.
Dix acknowledged that a formal proposal has yet to be made by the company, but said, "Radically transforming the Port of Vancouver into a major oilsands export facility is not a good idea. It's too much of a risk to our environment and our economy."
Dix's phrasing about risk to the environment was likely calculated to stop some of the vote bleed to the Green Party, that is running an aggressive campaign on Vancouver Island.
While much has been made of his words, there is no real commitment to action other than the "made-in-B.C" environmental assessment.
It is now the B.C. Liberals who can occupy the territory previously staked out by the NDP: that this is a process that cannot be judged until the application is received.
Sometimes it's difficult to spot the differences between the parties.
