Safety?

I always believe that putting the health, happiness, and safety of my constituents is, well, my job as your representative. Because I put this value on the people who have trusted me to represent them in the best way possible, I find it ridiculous that the Liberals don't understand the basic message behind "safety".

Such as in stories like this.

More $ for Pet Projects

A recent press release that summarizes exactly how out of touch the Liberal government is.

VICTORIA - While thousands more forest workers are losing their jobs in the Interior, Gordon Campbell has found billions of taxpayer dollars to spend on his pet projects in metro Vancouver, say the New Democrats.

Tolko, Tembec and Canfor have all announced temporary or indefinite mill shutdowns this week in mills in the Kootenays, Okanagan, Cariboo and the Peace. More than 2,000 workers have been affected. Meanwhile, the Campbell government has announced it will spend billions on the Port Mann bridge and hundreds of millions more on a new roof at B.C. Place stadium.

“It’s stunning to see where this government’s priorities are,” said NDP forests critic Bob Simpson. “The forest industry has been in freefall for years and they have done nothing to help. But they can easily find billions of tax dollars to fund the premier’s pet projects.”

More than 20,000 jobs have been lost from the forest industry in the last two years. When pressed for action, Campbell government ministers have acknowledged they are just spectators.

Last year, NDP Leader Carole James unveiled a five-point plan to renew and modernize the forest industry. The plan includes: developing a green forest plan, developing an innovative and diverse industry, community and worker stabilization funding, a permanent commission on forestry and tenure reform. The plan is available at www.ourforests.ca .

“Industry leaders have been calling on government for forest policy changes, but the government has turned a blind eye,” said Simpson. “But they have lots of time and lots of money to plan big projects in metro Vancouver.

“If the government cared about Interior communities, they would enact the NDP plan immediately to help put the forest industry back on the road to recovery.”

Tough Times

BC is clearly being caught in the worldwide recession. Our ties to world markets - particularly the American one - has made a difficult situation worse for residents of our great province.

There is too much to mention about the difficulties facing the forestry industry right now, but here are a few links:

"Tembec to lay off 1400 Workers"
There will be 975 jobs lost in British Columbia - few in Cariboo-North - but nonetheless, that is 975 families who will be without a good, steady pay cheque.

"Price of Average B.C. home to drop"
The price of the average BC home is set to drop by 13 percent. While this information is mostly for the Greater Vancouver Area, I have noticed housing prices drop in Quesnel, and other Northern Communities, as people fear for their livelihood.

"Debt"
Gordon Campbell has brought BC into deficit again. While I am happy that BC is not following the Alberta route of absolutely gutting the public service [early 90's]; it must be asked that if the economy had been better managed from the start, the current downturn would not be hurting British Columbians so much.

I know there are many more issues - The Olympic overruns, Job losses, The Environment...the list goes on.

I look forward to May 12th, when BC can be returned to the public trust, rather than remaining in the hands of the Premier's friends.