‘All Three PG Area Ridings Winnable’: NDP Leader
Prince George, B.C. – No candidates have publicly declared any interest and they don’t have their nomination meetings officially set yet but NDP Leader John Horgan still believes all three Prince George area ridings are “winnable.”
“Nechako Lakes, Prince George-Mackenzie and Prince George Valemount – all are very much in play,” he told 250News.
“As are all seats in B.C. where we’ve seen 16 years of B.C. Liberals really ignoring the issues that are relevant to people and focusing instead on the needs of their wealthy backers.”
NDP Leader John Horgan – photo 250 News
So, which issues is he referring to?
“When you look at the increased costs for almost everything the government provides – whether it’s fees for education, transportation fees, hydro rates, medical service premiums, ICBC rates going up again, camping fees going up. Just wherever you turn, the Liberals have increased costs and they’ve reduced services.”
Horgan said it’s also maddening when he sees the government spending taxpayers’ money on its advertising campaigns in the run up to the provincial election May 9.
“We’re in the election cycle now and the government starts to spend other peoples’ money telling them how great they are. And so, when they see government ad upon government ad, they think of how that money could have gone into classrooms.”
He expects the health care system and softwood lumber will be two big issues once the writ is dropped in Prince George.
“Although Northern Health I think has done a pretty good job relative to the other health authorities around the province to have such a large area and to deal with a small population to provide services to, we’re still seeing wait times increasing, we’re still seeing concerns,” he says.
“And the softwood lumber file on the economic side is something I believe the government should have been focusing on for the past 24 months aggressively and its only now that the spectre of countervails comes forward that we hear that the minister of natural resources has reached out to the federal government and asked them to make it a high priority.”
Issues aside, that doesn’t explain why no one has come forward wanting to run for them.
“We have great people that are stepping forward. We had a couple of people that were ready to go – one of them had a family issue. I don’t want to name names at this point, but we’re excited about where we are with candidate recruitment right across the province and that includes the north Cariboo and the Prince George area.”
He also dismissed the notion that because the three ridings are currently held by high profile Liberal cabinet ministers they’ll be tough to knock off.
“No, I think there’s actually more accountability when it comes to cabinet ministers because they’re the ones that have got the ability to make decisions and change the direction of the premier,” said Horgan.
“It’s Shirley Bond and Mike Morris who’ve been at the cabinet table when the Liberals decided to increase hydro rates, decided to increase MSP premiums. So, I think the level of responsibility is higher for both of them.
“And also for Mr. Rustad as well. We have significant challenges on the First Nations file. He’s been holding that file for a while but we’re not making the type of progress British Columbians want to see – certainly not the type of progress First Nations want to see.”
He concluded with this parting message:
“It’s time that you had someone truly in your corner. Christy Clark has been focused for the past number of years on fundraising and making sure that the people that have invested in her party get their needs.
“Tax breaks for millionaires was a high priority but not reducing MSP premiums, not providing child care and not investing in education.”
Comments
All Three PG Area Ridings Winnable, yes they are, but only if you field different candidates than 4 years ago. And remember, you have a significant conservative bible belt out west. I have respect for Mr. Horgan, but waiting to see who he goes with.
I have not seen one political ad by the BCLiberals yet.
Horgan got this “ad” in the news, if that is what he is referring to, didn’t he?
If he had a candidate in each riding across BC, he could do the same. Then again, where the NDP does have current seats, those individuals are able to get the attention of the media as well.
Problem is, the government can hand out money. BTW, the NDP are part of government…….
Do we think that the NDP would find money somewhere other than taxpayers’ money to pay for the programs they would put in place? Of course not.
It is all the same. If you are in opposition you whine, no mater which party it is.
Politics is a stupid game ….. but someone has to do it until we figure out a better system …. like learn how to work together, for instance.
They could find a bunch of money in the corporate sector.
Cheers
“Horgan said it’s also maddening when he sees the government spending taxpayers’ money on its advertising campaigns in the run up to the provincial election May 9”
HA!! That’s rich, calling out the Liberals. The Dippers in Alberta just spent almost 5 million taxpayer dollars selling their carbon tax scheme to Albertans. Why would anyone think the BC Dippers will be any different?
Haha, good luck dippers. Your only hope is nobody in these riding have been watching what is going on next door in Alberta.
ha ha you can only see to the end of your nose. Alberta is ding just fine. Big oil will survive unfortunately and continue to pollute our environment.
Cheers
It is you who can not see beyond their nose. The smell in Abbotsford must now be toxic if you think Alberta is doing just fine. Makes a guy wonder why so many from their oil industry are now in BC working.
Dippers are the ones getting free Hydro off the backs of tax payers. you and your comments are a joke most of the time. Are you a Hydro dipper
What does Hydro have to do in this conversation. And what is a hydro Dipper? Make some sense in your posts. Wake up and smell the roses.
Cheers
You guys ready for 5 months of daily politics..Barf..
Do we have a choice?
Cheers
lol..Nope. Cheers back at ya..
John must have been twisting up some fatties from the lowermainland pot shops before making these statements. A little over three months before the ballots are counted and no one has even expressed interest in running(read losing)for the dippers and he thinks they have a chance to win? When it is this close to the election and there are no people willing to throw their hat in the ring is a pretty good indication that another tired old retread will be a ballot filler under the orange flag……anyone know what Trent Derrick is up to these days?
Here’s a suggestion for him, put out some feelers for someone with at least a bit of political experience…like maybe councillor bike lane for example as she must be getting bored as we now have marked bike lanes buried under layers of snow and signs every 50 feet along Foothills and Ospika telling you not to stop your car on the top of these snow piles as you might impede the progress of a bicycle.
Garbage.
Cheers
At your age you had better check the options for early voting….cause you never know🚑💀
Jeers
The local question still seems to be how long should a nominee have in order to get ready for the election fight.
Using Cowichan as an example of best practices
COWICHAN SEPTEMBER 7, 2016
NDP nomination race begins
“It is less than nine months until the next provincial election, enough of a gestation period for a new NDP candidate to be developed fully in the Cowichan riding. Retiring MLA Bill Routley’s Labour Day speech to loyal supporters at Ladysmith’s annual picnic marked the unofficial beginning of the race for those seeking to be his successor.
“… the nominating convention will be Jan. 15, 2017. Already there are five people ready to run once they get the okay from the party.”
Source = localeye.ca/2016/09/07/ndp-nomination-race-begins
The results are in and Lori Iannidinardo won the nomination with 4 months to get her act together …. That is how it works.
And the NDP still has a chance here?????
NOT a chance if they have no one in place yet!!! They had 5 in Cowichan … and we have?????
I’d like to see a campaign where 250news disables comments on any story that feature anyone running for public office.
Otherwise, it’s just the same old, same old in the comments section.
Awwww… the mean people have a different opinion than me and I DON’T WANT TO LISTEN TO IT! Spoken like a true LIberal.
That’s rather far fetched. How did you reach that conclusion? I get tired of the same old asinine opinions day in, day out. Yelling at people and calling them names will not win any one to your side. (Whatever side that may be).
I think it is the same old in any controversial topic. It is human nature…..
besides, that is what makes it worth while coming here and other places like this.
I think it is more about who is submitting the comments that determines where a comment thread will go. There are a couple of comments on here worth reading, the rest do nothing more than hurl insults and engage in name calling… this will happen when children take over a discussion board.
I like comment threads and discussions that are informative and intellectually engaging on a deeper level. I believe this is sparrows cue to dig up some of my past comments in an attempt to discredit me… predictable stuff.
Don’t have to search….intellectual in BH terms:
->poo as pudding
->polish a turd
->former PM a “steaming pile of excrement”
->etc etc
Notice a trend here?
One more point.
I do not discredit you, it is something you do to yourself.
You often try to claim the high ground and berate and beliitle other posters for things that they have said. I merely point out that you do exactly the same thing you accuse others of doing sometimes even in the same thread.
If you do not stand behind the posts you have made today,yesterday or last week then you have no credibility to begin with.
BH: The poster child for Hippo-cracy©
Sparrow, i have been wondering for many years why certain politically minded people first call others all kinds of names, doubt their intelligence and cast aspersions – and actually expect them to change their evil ways by voting for the party which THEY are fighting for!
It makes sense.
BH, regarding your comment:
“the rest do nothing more than hurl insults and engage in name calling”
followed by your next comment:
“this will happen when children take over a discussion board”
Peeps, nice to see you hurling insults and referring to others on this site as children! I hereby proclaim you to be the head child of all of the children of this discussion board!
Congrats! You are now the biggest child here!
I think BH does not see his own shortcomings when it comes to name calling.
from his post “…. name calling… this will happen when children take over a discussion board.”
So he/she must be a child as well.
I am not a huge supporter of either party but I will be damned if I support the lieing liberals…if you are a senior that does not have a company or government supported retirement package how in your right mind could you support the Liberals again…if you are a parent with kids in our over sized class rooms with special needs kids in them how can you support the Liberals and working in the blue collar sector Christie lied about the LNG and it will never go ever…it is just time for a change that’s all I for one am just tired of the lies….hydro rateside..icbc rates…natural gas rates…all up but CEO and upper management bonuses out of this world…
You raised some excellent point’s prov2. Most people forget last election Christy Clark campaigned in a bus emblazoned with “Debt Free B.C.” to promote her vision of a liquefied natural gas industry. Back then BC’s debt was $45.154 billion, just over two weeks after Christy Clark was sworn-in as premier. With LNG now nothing more than a “pipe dream” BC’s debt currently stands at $66.268 Billion dollars, so much for the “Debt Free BC” lie!!! Not to worry, her supporters are so gullible, she will find some other “fantasy” for them to believe in.
ht tp://www.debtclock.ca/provincial-debtclocks/british-columbia/british-columbia-s-debt/
hey didn’t Horgan just make a derogatory comments about us people in the interior just a few days ago. It was in the line that we are not smart enough to see the big picture.
Actually, he didn’t say that at all. That was the BCLibs spinning his comments that way. Digital influencers work, see?
“I believe that those in the Interior don’t have the same perspective that those of us on the coast… That’s a challenge for not just me, as leader of the New Democratic Party, not just for anyone involved in the political process. This is not a partisan question, it is a B.C. challenge,”
What is derogatory in saying that different regions have different perspectives?
That is a fact which causes rurals to vote different than urban, northerners different than southerners, westerners different than easterners, Canadians differently than US citizens … and on an on it goes.
It is a fact of life all over the world.
He didn’t say we have different perspective than others, he said we have a different perspective than he does – or “us on the coast” does.
The liberals did not say it was derogatory from what I heard, that is “he spoke’s” take. The Liberals say Horgan says we in the Interior lack the “perspective” as he does – which is completely true.
We lack Horgan’s way of looking at the issue, nice.
yep every riding is winnable by any party…. that’s why it is called a democracy.
prov2– Have to agree. Nothing but lies and BS.
Just yesterday, this site had a story about Federal NDP MP Nathan Cullen:
“Cullen Says Petronas Possible Shipping Move to Ridley Island “A good first step”
BeingHuman commented as follows:
“Nathan Cullen is very much in touch with his electorate, he would not have been re-elected by his constituents so many times otherwise, as he has been their MP since 2004.”
Well, BH it looks like you use re-election as a means of determining how in touch an elected official is with his or her constituents!
I find this a bit ironic as you take every opportunity to condemn our local MLA’s including Shirley Bond and John Rustad. John Rustad has been re-elected 3 times and Shirley Bond has been re-elected 4 times.
Exactly how many times must an elected official be re-elected before you consider them to be “very much in touch” with his/her electorate? Or does an elected official’s NDP affiliation have more to do with being “in touch” with constituents?
Hart Guy, you better be nice to BeingHuman or he will change his name again, LOL.
Man, some of you sure make this place a rotten place to visit. Children is right.
Agreed, Islandbound, nearly half of the comments on here are directed at me… and there is no way will I be goaded into defending myself from their personal attacks. Rather, my focus and efforts will be on research, and the presentation the facts and truths, that counter the Liberal false positive spin stories.
oldman1 has it right, these Liebrals are all about lies and BS, and its time to expose them for what they are.
“nearly half of the comments”….so you are not very good at math either.
” personal attacks” Huh? I see other posters have held up a mirror, if you cannot see the reflection then that showa a blind spot on your part.
End of the day typical for you. If someone presents a serious arguement you either disappear, ignore, or comment on irrevevant things like the number of posts that someone has posted.
Gonna move when CC is re-elected?
Thank you for proving my point sparrow, as your comment is yet another comment about me. Flattered by all the attention I am getting, but seriously, I need to do some more research on my next Friday Free For All submission, it’s going to be a good one!
That will be a first!
Despite being extremely busy after a few weeks in the sun and sand I’ll clear my calendar.
BTW the mention of FFFA falls in the category of “irrelevant things” to avoid the subject at hand
BH, you never cease to amaze. How do you function in the world with your deluded perspective of reality? Who would employee you? I’m guessing some NDP proxy feds you your “research” to further their goals. Nobody can be so consistently biased and arrogant all on their own.
OMG, I just can’t wait for Friday Free-For-All!
Don’t miss it folks! According to BeingHuman, it looks like it’s going to be chock full of……….wait for it………here it comes……….PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS, hahahaha!
Had a good laugh at his Northern Health comment. Does he venture a guess when the CN Center (formerly Multiplex) filled to SRO over the state of healthcare in BC?
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