Liberal Candidate Review

A few weeks ago, we committed to assessing the positions of the Liberal candidates for B.C.’s top political job, premier, to see where they stand on forestry and northern resource issues.

What would each of them do on those topics if chosen as premier of the province? What would compel Liberal Party members among our newsletter readers and CILA members to support them later this month in the selection process?

Every politician from the dawn of time has promised more consultation with the public, and this group is no exception. In this chaff category, Christy Clark promises 12 town-hall meetings across B.C. in her first year as premier; Mike de Jong would create a “leadership roundtable” to hear the views of municipal and regional district leaders; George Abbott would hold regional caucus meetings and regular “accountability sessions” with voters.

Now to the front-running candidates’ positions, represented alphabetically and showing no favorite:

George Abbott would create three new agencies to promote resource development, inferring, we’d guess, that government agencies haven’t done the job well.
To help forestry, Abbott would restore funding to 2009-10 levels for the Forestry Innovation Investment, have the BC Timber Sales program reviewed and promote greater stewardship and investment in both Crown and private commercial forest lands.
He also said he’d examine opportunities to further improve access to timber supply in the beetle-hit Interior and consider ways to encourage growth of B.C.’s value-added wood products and the bio-energy sector.
He thinks B.C.’s carbon tax increases are hurting businesses competing against jurisdictions that don't have such a tax, and would add a second question to the referendum on the Harmonized Sales Tax that asks British Columbians whether they support putting the carbon tax on hold for three years. The referendum should be held be held no later than June 24, he says.

Christy Clark rejects Abbott's proposal to attach the carbon tax to the HST referendum – she says voters already passed judgement via an election on the climate change legislation. She wants a free vote in the Legislature as soon as possible on the HST. This week, Clark says she supports a referendum on the HST. Clark says she’s focusing on a family-first agenda, jobs and the resource sector.

Mike de Jong says doubling the lumber trade to India in two years would be a chief objective. Last year he set up an Opportunity Office in India to facilitate increased trade. Annual wood exports to India are valued at $40 million. He believes the HST can be salvaged, but adds it will be up to business to promote the benefits to keep the HST from being defeated in a referendum scheduled for next fall.

Kevin Falcon pushes the Northwest Transmission Line, the Asia-Pacific corridor, expanded port facilities in Prince Rupert, expanding on Prince George’s role as an inland port and making the city an international road, rail, air and tourism hub in the north as some of the ways to make the north prosperous. They’re part of his 10-point Northern Prosperity Agenda, in which he says the north would be a government priority. He would also open an office in Prince George.
He wants a single ministry for mining to create certainty for mining companies and to help create jobs and fund health care and schools, wants Prosperity Mine near Williams Lake to go ahead, and would also consider (not the same as doing) freezing the carbon tax after 2012 when the legislated increases expire. He proposes reducing the HST by 1% initially, and another1% when affordable.

Frankly, the lack of well-thought-out initiatives by so many of the candidates to bolster forestry, the province’s only renewable resource other than fishing, is disappointing.
We went looking for vision, and a champion for this sector from among the candidates, for the thousands of businesses and tens of thousands of workers who earn their incomes from forestry at every level.

True, we do have champions in people like Pat Bell, who work energetically and tirelessly to move forestry interests ahead – but we had higher hopes for those who aspire to be premier.