Tomorrow voters will decide between more of the same … and real change

In by-elections to be held tomorrow, voters in the riding's of Chilliwack – Hope … and Port Moody – Coquitlam … will go to the polls to election a new MLA to represent them in the legislature.  On the ballot will be the names of John Martin, and Christine Clarke, for the BC Conservatives.

John Martin, running in Chilliwack – Hope has campaigned hard on a number of important issues; including the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) … the Carbon Tax … the proposed incineration of Vancouver garbage in the Fraser Valley … and the (lack of) justice system. 

Here are just a few of the comments that have been made by John on these issues:

“I’m worried that under the Liberals the ALR has become a plaything for developers and well-connected special interests.  Over the last number of years a lot of good farmland has gone to other uses in Chilliwack or been excluded entirely from the Agricultural Land Reserve. And it’s not just the economic impact of losing some of the best farm land in the world, the ALR also helps to preserve the character of Chilliwack and the upper Fraser Valley.”

John Martin also responded to a recent Ministry of Agriculture announcement that $7.6 million will be provided to the BC greenhouse grower industry as a one-time rebate in 2012 of the carbon tax.

Why should every other British Columbian pay for the carbon tax but greenhouse growers be exempted? Secondly, why does the government create a bureaucracy to collect the carbon tax and then to create a second bureaucracy to give the carbon tax back to greenhouse growers? Our greenhouse industry is going to be swamped with paperwork simply to get back carbon taxes they paid in the first place.”

 “It is quite clear that the government is desperately trying to buy votes in this upcoming by-election with taxpayers’ money.  The BC Conservatives have a simpler solution: eliminating the carbon tax for all British Columbians. Anything else legitimizes the carbon tax, and a vote for the Liberals and NDP is a vote for the carbon tax.”

And regarding the announcement, by the Minister of Environment, that any proposed garbage incinerator will be subject to an Environmental Assessment:

 “This announcement changes nothing. The door is still completely wide open for Metro Vancouver to build a garbage incinerator, plans for which the Liberal government approved last July. The only difference between now and July is the government said a garbage incinerator ‘may’ require an environmental assessment, while now it will. The Liberal government continues to give the green light to this project, one which will pollute our air quality in Chilliwack-Hope.”

 “In fact, a July 2011 report by the BC Auditor General that audited the Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) stated that the EAO’s oversight is not sufficient to ensure that potential significant adverse effects are avoided or mitigated. What confidence can the people of BC have that an EAO permit won’t be issued for a garbage incinerator when the EAO has only refused certification to one project since 1995? ”

And on the justice system ... John Martin had strong reaction to reports that two accused criminals had their drug charges dropped due to court delays.

“This case was thrown out because of the Liberal government’s negligence of the justice system.  After seizing 1,300 marijuana plants in what was a typical commercial grow-op in Kelowna, the charges were dropped because the people charged experienced an effective 23 month delay due to lack of court time after they pleaded not guilty.  The Christy Clark Liberal catch-and-release justice system simply encourages criminals to continue their illegal activities.”

Meantime in Port Moody – Coquitlam, BC Conservative candidate Christine Clarke was hard on the campaign trail even before the writ was dropped.  A number of major issues are of importance to voters in that riding … including with Trans-Link, which Christine spoke to saying:

"It is outrageous that TransLink, which has been pleading poverty, is talking about handing out big bonuses. TransLink, with the approval of the Liberals and NDP, just brought in a 2 cent per litre new gas tax three days ago – and now they want to give bonuses to their well paid executives. That's the way it seems to work in BC, we all pay more, but the only people getting ahead are lobbyists, cronies, and bureaucrats.  Not only should TransLink be cutting their own costs before taxing drivers, but the recent revelation that they were not collecting fines owed by fare dodgers calls into question the competence of the management.  Management left millions of dollars of revenue uncollected and now they are in line for a bonus."

BC Conservatives were the first to questions donations being made to political parties by unions and big business, and have been saying that the only support political parties should have is from the rank and file members.  

Another example of problems with where political parties get their funds from was raised by Christine, when it was revealed that a former Liberal MLA, Wilf Hurd, was using funds from Simon Fraser University to attend Liberal party fundraisers.

"This case is the perfect example of why we need to ban donations to political parties by public institutions.  The BC Conservatives have already promised that we will ban corporate and union donations to provincial political parties, this will include public institutions such as universities, TransLink, crown corporations and municipalities. We need to take the big money out of politics and reduce the influence of the insiders, lobbyists and special interest groups that control both the Liberals and the NDP.  Public money, which funds SFU, should not be given to political parties. That is not why British Columbians pay taxes to fund higher education."

Christine Clarke is committed to the BC Conservative Party call for smaller government and lower taxes as the path to a healthy economy.

And her reasons for running, as a candidate, to represent the people of Port Moody - Coquitlam?  

She believes British Columbians deserve a representative in Victoria who will fight to keep taxes low, work to find creative solutions to issues in health care and take back education from union bosses, placing it instead in the hands of parents and school boards.

Tomorrow the voters of Port Moody – Coquitlam, and Chilliwack – Hope, will decide between more of the same … and real change.

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