Are you a second class British Columbian?
Darcy Repen, the mayor of the Village of Telkwa, was on the streets of 100 Mile House on May 4 encouraging voters to ask themselves that question.
He says that rural and northern communities don’t benefit from the money made by the resource economy because it disappears into the more southern urban centres.
Repen says rural communities are often left struggling to survive. He points to his own town, Telkwa, as an example, saying that while people enjoy living there, the community struggles even to keep the water and sewer flowing.
He compares it to a hockey team that is only allowed to put four players on the ice:
“You’re going to lose, every time.”
Repen is stopping in a number of communities on his way to Victoria to promote his message. He’s asking voters to put the issue to their candidates before the election as well as to petition whoever is elected to make it an issue in the Legislative Assembly.
He says it’s not unprecedented to have agreements that pull money back into rural communities, citing the Peace River Agreement and the Columbia Basin Trust.
Listen to what he has to say about the issue: