British Columbia New Democrats made a clear choice on where they want their party to go, electing hard-left MLA Adrian Dix as their new leader as the party attempts to set itself apart from the three-term Liberal government.
Dix won on the third ballot against rival Mike Farnworth in the race to replace former leader Carole James.
Dix and Farnworth each presented party members with decidedly different visions for the party, as the NDP searches for a way to defeat the governing Liberals and their new leader, Christy Clark, in a provincial election that could come later this year.
Dix appealed to the party's left-wing base of community activists and labour unions, while Farnworth was seen as a moderate who would move the party closer to the centre to siphon votes from the governing Liberal party.
In his acceptance speech, Dix said he was looking forward to the NDP winning a majority government in the next provincial election.
"Let's do it, let's work on it, let's get it done together," he said to cheers.
Before the vote, Dix told members gathered in Vancouver that the party can't simply mirror the Liberal party, but instead must offer a unique vision of the province that can attract some of the 1.4 million voters who stayed home during the 2009 election.
"We are not going to win the next election by sidling up to the Liberals," Dix said in his speech to NDP members.
Dix paid tribute to his campaign rivals, especially Farnworth, who he said has been a close friend since the two got involved in NDP politics in 1988. He said an uncomfortable fact of the more than three-month campaign was the inability to speak to Farnworth on the daily basis he was used to.
Farnworth ran a campaign aiming for the centre. He said to win the next election, the NDP needs to be as relevant on the issues of the economy as they are on health care.
"For too long, British Columbians have been told they have to choose between economic and social prosperity," he said.
After Dix's win, Farnworth said he had "absolutely no regrets."
"I'm going to get behind the new leader and go out and win the next election."
Marijuana activist Dana Larsen and MLA John Horgan were dropped from the first and second ballot respectively, leaving the field open for a third-ballot decision about two clear, but mutually exclusive, directions for the party.
Larsen said his campaign was aimed at ensuring more democracy within the NDP for "grassroots members," then he urged his supporters to vote for Horgan as a second choice.
But Horgan was in third place after the second ballot, winning 26 per cent of the vote.
He said he did not tell his delegates which of the two remaining candidates to support and when asked who he was going to vote for, he grinned and said: "It's none of your damn business."
Attorney General Barry Penner issued a statement congratulating Dix.
"My B.C. Liberal colleagues and I look forward to contrasting his approach to public policy with that of Premier Christy Clark," he said. "I hope Mr. Dix will show more willingness in the future to move beyond the failed NDP policies of the past than he did during the three-month leadership campaign when he didn't articulate a single new idea."
For his part, Dix said he was looking forward to reminding British Columbians of Clark's tenure as minister in the children and families and education portfolios.
Both were characterized by budget cuts and policy changes that made life worse for children in the province, he said.
Before the balloting began, delegates took some time to thank James with a tribute video and a speech by party president Moe Sihota that made no reference to the acrimony that led to the current vote.
James quit last December in the midst of a public feud with dissidents within her caucus, a month after the surprise resignation of former premier Gordon Campbell, who announced his retirement as public anger over the harmonized sales tax continued to grow.
James took over the leadership seven years ago, after the NDP were reduced to two seats in the legislature. The party now holds 34.
On Sunday, all she had was thanks and advice that it's time to move on.
"I just want to say to all of us, that when the votes are counted, when the camera lights are turned off...I want all of us to remember who all of us are here to serve. I want us to remember those people in our communities who are counting on us...who need us as New Democrats."
James also urged those in attendance to focus on the real fight -- beating the three-term governing Liberals.
The party's provincial secretary, Jan O'Brien, said more than 18,000 members had cast ballots via Internet and telephone by the time advanced polls closed Saturday evening. About 10,000 more were eligible to vote Sunday but only 1,832 did.
O'Brien acknowledged the NDP convention was competing for attention.
The Vancouver Canucks were playing their latest NHL playoff game Sunday night, and the party broadcast the game on a large screen in the convention hall. In the ongoing federal election campaign, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff were both campaigning in B.C.
Still, O'Brien said she was optimistic British Columbians were paying attention.
"It is a busy news day, but this is a really important thing that's happening here today: we're picking the leader of the Opposition and B.C.'s next premier," she told reporters before voting was set to begin.
