August 27 2008 | News Clippings | Interior News
Libs out of touch: Horgan
By Quinn Bender - Smithers Interior News
Published: August 27, 2008 8:00 AM
Updated: August 27, 2008 11:06 AM
Recent comments by Mines Minister Richard Neufeld that “radical
environmentalists” shut down drilling in the Klappan Valley, shows how far
out of step the B.C. Liberals are with northern values, said John Horgan,
NDP Critic for Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.
Neufeld made the comments on a CKNW radio interview last Monday. He said
environmentalists created needless fear about drilling for coalbed methane,
forcing Shell Canada’s decision to suspend its exploratory program in the
so-called “Sacred Headwaters” of the of the Skeena, Nass and Stikine Rivers.
“It’s a pretty bizarre statement for someone from the North… [Neufeld]
should have been aware that in Telkwa and the Klappan, the coalition that
has mustered its energy to stop this development is not just radical
environmentalists, but community activists, First Nations, farmers, ranchers
— the whole spectrum of community members,” Horgan said.
“It speaks to how out of touch the Campbell government has become on issues
that become pet projects.”
NDP leader Carole James and her party used this and a suite of other issues
in the Bulkley Valley to drive their caucus meeting in Smithers Tuesday.
In a press scrum, James blasted the Liberal government for handing out
massive pay raises to senior bureaucrats, including a $100,000 hike to
Premier Gordon Campbell’s deputy minister, and pledged to roll back the
raises if elected in 2009.
“The people we’ve spoken to are angry. This is an arrogant government… we
certainly don’t see anyone else getting a 43 per cent [salary] increase,
except Gordon Campbell’s friends.”
During meetings with residents, James said the gas tax, new agriculture
regulations and a “hands off” approach to the forestry crisis, were singled
out as major points of contention.
“People have concerns about affordability. This government has forgotten
[the people] work hard, they pay their taxes, but they’re not getting their
fair share back.”
The NDP put forward a forestry plan earlier this year that in part called
for reform to the tenure system. By shifting control away from large
corporations, James and the NDP are betting community stakeholders would
capitalize on small market gains and neglected value-added opportunities.
James is using the caucus tour to promote that plan, in a time when she said
the Liberals have abandoned the forests for mining.
“I certainly think that mining is critical, it’s an important resource and
we need to get on with it, but it doesn’t replace forestry. It’s an industry
that built British Columbia. It continues to be an industry that can be
vibrant...,” she said.
“The government should put a tax on these raw logs, and keep those resources
here in British Columbia.
“When we have a major industry in crisis, like forestry, [the government]
has abandoned it and said there’s nothing they can do… It’s all outside
factors.”
Dennis MacKay, the Liberal MLA for the Bulkley Valley-Stikine riding, didn’t
let the NDP caucus vacate Smithers without lobbing a few criticisms of his
own.
In a press release MacKay suggested the NDP take a sight-seeing trip around
the riding to see the benefits of a Liberal government. He pointed to
upgrades along the Hwy 16 corridor, the Prince Rupert container port and the
Smithers Airport runway extension as examples of Liberal-led ventures that
will help diversify the Valley economy in the wake of the forest crisis.
“If they drive into Smithers, they should pay attention to the devastation
to the lodgepole pine stands, destroyed because of NDP inaction during the
late 90s when they were government,” wrote MacKay.
He also underscored the NDP’s own proposed Carbon Tax.
“The difference [between their and ours] is they do not support the $1.8
billion in the form of tax relief for residents in the province. I suspect
they would eliminate the tax credit, after all they have voted against more
than 70 tax reductions for those living in British Columbia.”