Not much has changed in 16 years

Last night I was going through a box of campaign material from the 1996 provincial election in BC.  For those not aware, I ran as a candidate for the BC Reform Party in the riding of Kamloops North Thompson.

Kamloops Daily News political cartoon from April
'96. We still have a “Clark”, but now it’s Christy.

While going through the box, I came upon opening remarks I made at an All-Candidates Forum that had been held in Barriere, a small rural community about half an hour north of Kamloops, in the North Thompson.   

Today I thought I would share them, once again, because in reading them I thought … not much has changed in 16 years!  I wonder, as you read this, if you'll think the same thing.

For far too long we have had only two choices in British Columbia come election time.  One was to vote a party out of power, thereby allowing the other party to win by default – or to vote for a party that didn’t really meet our needs, but kept the other out of power.  Things are different now.

The election being held May 28^th is going to be one of the most important ever.  One that will provide each of us with a choice to continue with ‘behind closed doors decision making the traditional parties offer – or to choose a party that has the will and courage to listen and make ‘real change happen … to make government accountable to you.

But with choice, comes the responsibility to know where the parties stand on issues, and how they will deal with the important decisions that face our province in the years ahead … and how they will consult with you and seek your input in making those decisions.

Our choice will also come down to electing a ‘politician’ – or electing a ‘representative’.

I say this because there is a difference.  A ‘politician’ is a person active in government or politics, while a ‘representative’ is someone who will act and / or speak on your behalf.

I believe in the common sense of the common people --- your right to be consulted on major policy matter before decisions are made --- and your right to democratically elected governments that have the freedom to govern by enacting legislation which reflects the will of the people.

You have told us you want real reform!

You want the power to hold your elected representatives accountable to you … that means effective recall … holding free votes in the legislature … and the opportunity to have a say in laws through initiative and referendums that are binding on the government.

You want government to cut waste and lower the debt so that we can protect health care and educations.

Did you know that the debt costs the government nearly $1 billion dollars a year in interest payments alone?

Did you know that wages are up nearly 30% for thousands of new bureaucrats?

You want real jobs! British Columbians want to work, and can’t find jobs!  We’ve overburdened our forest industry alone with over 300 regulations in the Forest Practise Code.  We do need standards, but we don’t need to tell workers how to do their job in every minute detail, and threaten them with million dollar fines.

Creating wealth and employment in our province is directly affected by the health of the business sector … and judging by some sectors, they will soon be going into cardiac arrest.

The government talks about tax and spending control, but where is the realistic plan?

We need to cut government waste and spending … pay down the debt … and then give British Columbians real long-term tax cuts.

We don’t want to tinker with the system, we want changes that you can have a say in, and that will allow you to hold your elected representatives accountable.

There is no easy solution to the problems that are ahead, and there will be challenges to face.  The key is to have a clear vision of where we want to go, and the determination to get there.

You have an historic opportunity to elect a government that will accomplish these goals.  Only our party offers the opportunity for real change – and real reform.

As I said at the start of this piece, not much has changed in 16 years.

Rather than elected representatives, we still have elected politicians who remain unaccountable to us.

Government still talks about getting spending waste, and debt under control; but it hasn’t happened.   

In fact rather than making interest payments of $2.7 million dollars a day to service the debt (as we were in 1996), that cost has risen to nearly $7 million dollars a day (Canadian Taxpayers Federation) ... and our provincial debt will soon top $60 billion dollars!

There is no clear vision – no determination to set and reach goals -- just photo ops re-announcing projects that are long overdue.

I wonder if in another 16 years from now I’ll look at this again and say … “Not much has changed in 32 years”, or will I be able to say "Change came ... and not a minute to late"

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts of one conservative.