Wednesday, November 6, 2013

B.C. Conservatives lauded by leadership candidate - Dan Brooks relays resource platform in South Cariboo


The following is an article written by Carole Rooney, which appeared in todays (November 6, 2013) edition of the 100 Mile Free Press.  
 
British Columbia Conservative leadership candidate Dan Brooks recently visited 100 Mile House to meet with potential party supporters.  Brooks is based in Vanderhoof, where he runs a hunting and fishing lodge.
 
"I've been in tourism pretty much all of my life. In my background, I did an awful lot of land and resource management planning." 
 
While his party did not put forward a Cariboo-Chilcotin candidate in the last provincial election, Brooks said he is actively seeking new members in order to begin "building the party" and find a candidate in the constituency. 
 
"Even though we didn't elect anybody, the [B.C.] Conservative Party played a very, very crucial role in this last election, and we took the entire political spectrum to the right, toward free enterprise and personal freedoms. The [B.C.] Liberals tacked to counter us. In previous elections, we weren't a force, and so they could ignore us, but in this election, we were a significant force, and so they had to tack that way." 
 
In this manner, his party did a "great service" for the province and its democracy, he said, so despite having no members sitting in the legislature, those election efforts were not made in vain.
 
"This province will be better by our presence alone. Imagine how much better it will be when we are in government," he added, chuckling. 
 
Brooks explained he realizes people feel discouraged about the lack of strength in his party, but without his right-wing party views, they will only have an "NDP and NDP-like" perspective in the legislature. 
 
"We need a party that represents the ideals of [B.C.] Conservatives across the province. That's what we are trying to build." 
 
Most small rural communities in B.C. are either "outright suffering or stagnant," Brooks said, with little economic growth and dwindling population. 
 
"Across rural B.C. in the last 15 years, we have lost 58,000 people. That's an awful lot of people."
 
Last year, 10,000 residents left the province, he noted, while others have gone to larger urban centres. 
 
"As a potential leader of the [B.C.] Conservative party, that is a worrying trend that I propose to change. So, we have got to put the focus on rebuilding the rural resource economy." 
 
Brooks explained agriculture, forestry and tourism issues in the South Cariboo are likely much the same as in Vanderhoof, as they all require dedicated land. 
 
"So, you have to find ways to utilize land to maximize your revenue base off of that land base. And, there are some deterrents that currently exist." 
 
He noted the first example of this that came to his mind. 
 
"Aboriginal land claims ... have become an economic deterrent, and have made economic growth in our rural resource areas extremely difficult.  I agree entirely with the idea of consultation and accommodation, but you can't perpetuate this indefinitely. At some point in time, someone is going to have to stand up and say, 'we are going to force this issue'." 
 
Brooks added the "biggest problem" on First Nations reserves is abject poverty, and the way to eliminate that is to provide jobs. 
 
"How do you get jobs? You build a rural resource economy. So, by building economic growth in your rural communities, that benefits First Nations." 
 
The current MLAs have become "rubber stamp machines" who follow the party lines, he said, while the B.C. Conservatives will empower constituents by empowering their MLA to represent them as they see fit. 
 
Brooks noted he plans to visit the South Cariboo again before the party leadership elections take place April 11-12. 
 
"I'm going to be down here in 100 Mile the first week of December. This time I'll be holding an event ... we'll have a meet-and-greet."