Premier Christy Clark is touring the Interior in what she has dubbed a “brainstorming tour” and stopped in 100 Mile House on May 2.
When she stepped off the bus, Clark immediately hugged Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett, and they greeted each other like old friends.
After a public reception at the Red Rock Grill, the B.C. Liberal Leader granted a short interview to share a few of her thoughts.
Clark says the one word that best describes Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett it is “tenacious,” which has resulted in getting “a lot of things done” for her constituents.
“If Donna decides that something needs to be done, she doesn't care if it is five years or seven years or 10 years, she will never give it up until it is done.”
The red-meat abattoir to be installed in 100 Mile House this summer is a prime example, she notes.
When she made Norm Letnick her Agriculture Minister, Clark explains she told him the South Cariboo has been struggling with a problem for 12 years.
“I say: it's an abattoir problem and ... I want you to fix this for Donna Barnett.”
Barnett had been working hard to get an abattoir back in the community and Clark says the MLA was clearly not going to let it slide.
“The $50,000 [recent grant] for the museum, and for The Lodge, that is fantastic. It's a smaller amount of money in terms of government, but it's a huge amount of money for the community.”
She adds Barnett's successful efforts in other parts of the constituency included $2-million in operating grants for Deni House long-term care facility in Williams Lake.
“Donna [Barnett] makes sure we get it done. I don't think there is another MLA like her; I really don't. And, I don't think this community has been so well represented since Alex Fraser ... she is so good.”
(Fraser was the Cariboo MLA for the Social Credit Party from 1969-1989).
Dix denounced for costly promises
Clark says NDP Leader Adrian Dix hasn't come clean on the true costs of his election planks.
“The fact that the platform isn't even fully costed is a pretty good indication [Dix] isn't telling us what he wants to do.”
She adds a good recent example is the NDP having made $3-billion in new spending promises it can't cover under the current balanced budget. (According to the NDP, it is $2 billion.)
“They've said 'don't worry, we are going to pay for it all in our freezing of capital projects.' So, no new roads, no new hospitals, no new schools.”
However, Clark says when her B.C. Liberal Party asked if large projects in the budget will be cancelled, the NDP says they still plan to do them all.
“You can't have it both ways, so either they are lying about where they are going to get the money, or they are actually going to stop a lot of capital projects in the province that people need.”
“I have challenged them today, to show us the list, so we know what the list is, and they haven't been able to produce one.”
Noting this lack of clarity is an obstacle to winning an election, Clark likened the NDP's platform to a game of Twister.
“Everybody is trying to get on as many spots as they can, and take as many positions as they can – that is Adrian Dix.
“The way you win Twister is by never standing up ... and I don't think you can win in politics without standing up.
“That is the difference, we are not playing Twister, we are talking about principals and a future for our province. So, I am doing my best to stand up for the things I believe in, and I think [Dix] needs to as well.”
Since the writ dropped for the upcoming May 14 provincial election, Dix has not made a public campaign stop in the South Cariboo or in Williams Lake, but recently visited Barkerville, Quesnel and Prince George.