VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Adrian Dix is heading behind enemy lines today when he delivers his first speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade.

The pro-business crowd represents unfamiliar, and some would say even hostile territory.

The sold-out appearance is seen as a chance for the Opposition leader to ease the concerns members have about a potential New Democract government, which if the polls are any indication, could be months away.

“I don’t think that anyone should be surprised that the New Democrats and the Board of Trade don’t see eye-to-eye,” says Dennis Pilon, a political scientist at York University.

“What they need is an effective way of communicating with one another about what their differences are and how some of those differences might be addressed.”

Pilon does stress that even if Dix said all the right things to the pro-business crowd, history shows that it won’t make them NDP supporters. He thinks the leader should remember the lessons of his predecessors.

“Carole James went to the business community and said all the things that they wanted to hear,” notes Pilon. “And when election time came they didn’t back her, they backed Gordon Campbell.”

Pilon cautions about making too much of the significance of this meeting.

“What kind of relationship does the Board of Trade have with the larger society that is British Columbia? At the end of the day, these people are, for the most part, self interested business people. They want what’s best for them and whether or not that’s what’s best for British Columbia is very much open to debate.”

The speech and luncheon happens at the Fairmont Waterfront hotel’s Waterfront Ballroom.