Most people think the Legislature is primarily a place of disagreement. That MLAs from opposing political parties come to Victoria and disagree on just about everything. The reality is that most of the time we agree more than people would expect — we have similar end goals, just different ideas of how to get there.
However, last week, the NDP revealed that when it comes to rural B.C., we do in fact have very different goals and visions.
Our BC Liberal Caucus sees rural B.C. as vital and valuable. A place of industry, of hardworking people, and a region worth investing in. It is painful to watch as the NDP provides little support to our natural resource sector, particularly as industries like forestry face increasing challenges.
In the Legislature last week, NDP MLA Roly Russell — this government’s Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Development — said that supporting our natural resource sector was “uninspiring” and “a vision for what rural communities were 100 years ago.”
This was not the first time MLA Russell had made anti-resource comments in the house. Last spring, he said “all indicators are that future LNG expansion isn’t the answer” — despite the rural communities that depend on LNG, and those that could in the future.
It’s beyond disappointing that someone whose job it is to stand up for rural B.C. would disparage the people and industries that provide for this region. It’s no wonder this government has failed so spectacularly to support the Interior and the North.
What little efforts the NDP have made in rural B.C. are underwhelming. Recently they announced further funding for what they refer to as a ‘job-creation’ program for rural communities. However, the first part of the fund only managed to create 90 temporary advisory jobs to provide “support and services” to regions around the province — and we don’t even know for sure if those jobs were created in rural B.C.
Where is the relief for the hundreds of forestry workers who have lost jobs their jobs in the last two months?
Rural B.C. needs appropriate support, not half-baked schemes. We also need a real plan for the future of our resource industries so that we do not lose those jobs. We should be rewarding ingenuity in the resource sector and pursuing possible solutions, like making better use of fibre and supporting value-added businesses.
Government cannot simply stand by and manage these industries’ decline. The resource sector is not a sunset industry, and this NDP government has to stop treating it like one.
newsroom@100milefreepress.net
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