Chamber All Candidates Forum Tackles Variety of Issues
By 250 News
Friday, April 24, 2009 12:28 PM
l-r Tobias Lawrence, Pat Bell, Shirley Bond, Julie Carew , Andrej Dewolf, and Don Roberts
Prince George, B.C. – It was a full house for the Prince George Chamber of Commerce All Candidates Forum.
The session before lunch allowed each of the candidates to make opening remarks. Don Roberts, of the BC Refederation Party was the first to speak and introduced himself and his party which is fielding 25 candidates this election. He is running in the riding of Prince George- Valemount, and referred to himself as an “eco-Christian” and told those in attendance “We are destroying Eden, we are on the path to an ecological Armageddon.” He says his party would implement a system of direct democracy .
Andrej DeWolf - Green Party: Said his party is all about being financially and socially responsible. He talked about fewer restrictions on what local government can tax, investing more dollars in local government and investing in local governments in the areas of transit, and fisheries, and forestry “Our platform is all about solutions.”
Julie Carew, NDP – Told the audience the province is divided rural vs urban and she would promote anjatmosphere of fairness, She says the New Democrats would pump money into the north through the rural economic fund which would be established by the New Democrats.
Shirley Bond, Liberal - She says this election is all about leadership “Who is in the best position to provide leadership during the current economic crisis?” She outlined the Liberal’s record for reducing personal income tax, and that the Province is involved in a $14 billion dollar program to stimulate the economy.
Pat Bell, Liberal – Bell pointed out how the economy in Prince George has diversified “We have a vision for Prince George, it’s about transportation, and health care.” Bell also pointed to the leadership issue saying voters would be “taking B.C. back to the 90’s” if they vote for the NDP.
Tobias Lawrence - New Democrat Party - She says while the global economic crisis is partly to blame for the downturn in the forestry sector, she said the real problem is the Liberal government's policies. "Strengthening the forestry sector is my passion" says Lawrence who told the audience the NDP have a plan, but did not give any details.
It was the riding of Prince George Mckenzie which had the first round of debate. Each candidate selected a question, had a chance to outline their position and to offer rebuttal to the other candidate’s response. Here are some highlights:
On the issue of harmonizing the environmental review process, Bell said his government has already pressed for this change, as t would eliminate duplication and overlap. Tobias Lawrence response was that it is a great idea in principle but that there must be an assurance that good standards are not compromised.
Air Quality:
Tobias Lawrence says the New Democrats will make sure there are reduced emissions ( down 33% by2020) and will issue green bonds .
Pat Bell: Pointed to the recent setting of limits for pm2.5 and called for more research and improved technology like the Nexterra gasification project at UNBC
Taxes:
Tobias Lawrence reiterated the New Democrats plan to scrap the carbon tax and freezing tuition rates.
Pat Bell noted the Liberals have reduced taxes 120 times over the past 8 years and the NDP voted against each and every reduction.
Forestry:
Tobias Lawrence says the New Democrats have a five point forestry plan that includes a look at tenure and a focus on silviculture and called for more research and innovative technologies.
Pat Bell: Says his plan calls for the full utilization of the resource, increased silviculture, advancing trade with China, and building larger institutional buildings out of wood.
The post lunch session belonged to the candidates for the Prince George-Valemount riding.
Affordable housing:
Andrej deWolf - Says the Liberals have achieved little on the issue of housing, and homelessness is an issue. We also have to look at the root causes of homelessness, dedicating 1% of the annual budget to homelessness. He also talked about purchasing more
Julie Carew, We have committed in the first year to 24 hundred units of affordable housing, and short term shelters if better supported would offset the shortage of housing, “The strategy around housing is critical so that we put people in affordable housing and improve their quality of life.:
Shirley Bond “We have a program in B.C. that is spending nearly ½ billion dollars, that’s 4 times the amount spent in 2000. We are providing affordable housing options for families and seniors. “ Bond says housing is not a one size fits all and recent announcements committed seniors' housing projects to Prince George, McBride and Valemount.
Don Roberts; We say B.C . is the best place to live, but for the people on the streets, many of them are mentally impaired, they were kicked out of institutions. We need to sit down and work on this problem.”
What is your position on the single transferable vote:
Julie Carew: This is about the fundamental issue of democracy, and "My position is, I don’t yet know. The question is how will this effect rural British Columbia?” She says she is still searching for the answer.
Shirley Bond: When the Electoral Boundaries Commission came to Northern B.C. we spoke out loud, I am deeply concerned about STV, how do rural constituents get the representation they deserve?” She says the geographical regions are so large, it would make it very difficult to achieve that representation. She added that whatever the citizens of B.C. chose, her government will support that decision.
Don Roberts: says he supports STV with each riding having more than one rep, and each rep would take a turn at being the MLA.
Andrej deWolf: I support STV, we can’t vote more than once, so we can do it all on one ballot.
What will your plan be for silviculture in the first year?
Shirley Bond: “What we have said clearly is that as the forestry industry evolves, we have a plan in place,” She says the Forests for Tomorrow project will see millions of seedlings planted. “Just a number of weeks ago we released a discussion paper that looks at the whole issue of silviculter and we see a potential for 3 times the number f jobs over the next decade.
Don Roberts, “We have to a do a total re assessment of our land base, as long as we are just planting trees ae are in trouble.” He says the 100 Mile Diet is where its at, and “we will have to learn to feed ourselves.”
Andrej DeWolfe: The Green party will establish a reserve fund to enable increased forest restoration during times when the sector is in a downturn.
Julie Carew: We don’t know what we will need to address the issues of forest health in the next four years we will spend $4 million on silviculture….We do have a five point forestry plan to bring our forestry sector into the future.”
Support investment in education in technology sector?
Andrej Dewolf, "These are the green jobs I've been talking about yes we would support this."
Don Roberts: "We need every kind of professional this province can produce, We need to step up and use our educational system to prepare for when the world turns around."
Shirley Bond: "The world has changed and we are moving into a far more information based economy, when you look at the wood innovation centre, it is time to look at how we train engineers and what better place than northern B.C.?"
Julie Carew: Yes we need to have a qualified and educated workforce. "It is critical that as we build schools we properly resource them."
Previous Story - Next Story
Email
Print
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
Del.icio.usReturn to Home
One question to all the candidates.
Where is the funding coming from for your grandiose election promises?
It seems to me that my discretionary funds have evaporated significantly over the last decade or more. Citizens are constantly being asked to fund more and more debacles with more taxes, fees, and surcharges from all sides to pay for someone elses dream.
Here is a suggestion if you want my vote. STOP HEMORRHAGING MONEY, STOP SPENDING!
We do not need more stuff. We need solid leadership committed to reducing government spending and with that less taxation.
Green party: being financially and socially responsible means to slow down the flood of outgoing dollars and to stop building new programs to cover deficient ones.
NDP: read this entire comment.
Liberal: close, except for the $14 billion dollar program to stimulate the economy. Do what you said but do it in a fiscally responsible manner through supportive legislation and ditch the back room stuff that only benefits the back room boys.
Pat: good words, you are on track, now build a new hospital with a right sized emergency ward (bigger than current) and develop clinics in the peripheral suburbs so residents have access without having to drive across town. I am glad you recognize that the environmental review process is onerous to say the least. It is absolutely needed to ensure we are no longer destroying the only home we have, Earth.
Question for you Pat: if the liberals have reduced taxed 120 times in the last 8 years, why is my personal tax load greater?
Why build with wood? It is only profitable if these larger wood institutional buildings would only be better for our economy if it were sold to a foreign entity, not to any one local. That is a fundamental of macro economics.
Tobias: nice words, how are you going to cover the shortfalls from the revenue loss of no carbon tax and frozen tuition when costs always increase over time? silviculture very good, more research should not be funded by the government for private enterprise to profit on, let industry do the research to comply with better legislation.
What is your five point plan, in point form please?