POINT / COUNTERPOINT: Elect an MLA who works for you

The following is an editorial piece I was invited to write for Kamloops This Week.  It was published in today's edition (May 29th).

BC’s next provincial election will focus on issues of big government, and its twin big spending … concerns about increasing fees and high taxes … trust … and accountability.   These have been issues which have drawn many to the BC Conservatives … and reinforced our commitment to present a clear and well-defined vision of how to deal with them.

                

Christy Clark BC Liberals proudly boast of being fiscally responsible, and yet they are well on their way to doubling our provincial debt.  By 2014 it will top $60 BILLION dollars!   Is it the hallmark of a fiscally conservative government, to make interest payments of over $6 million dollars a day, on this ever increasing debt?

 

That’s $6 MILLION dollars a day which is NOT available to:

… improve our deteriorating health care system

… go into classrooms and to build new schools

… provide better services for seniors

… provide programs to help our children get a good start in life

… better assist people in BC that face mental and physical challenges

… make making improvements to our highways and ferry system.

Our commitment, as BC Conservatives, is to provide government that lives within its means.

Here is something else you won’t hear from Christy Clark.  Last year more people left BC, for other parts of Canada, than moved here.  Our children, skilled trades’ people, and professionals are leaving because provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan are offering more jobs … and a lower cost of living.

I could list many things which have created concerns in recent years; but you already know what they are.  Each of those concerns has added to an ever increasing number, who have a growing distrust of those who seek elected office.

"What I have … has depended on an enormous number of other people."

Scott Anderson, BC Conservative
member in Vernon Monashee

The other day I had a friend forward a piece that had been written by Scott Anderson, a member of the BC Conservative Party in the Vernon Monashee riding.  I thought what he’d had to say was great, and he agreed to let me share it with you today.  Here is what he had to say.

“Who here hates the poor?  This IS the BC Conservative party, isn't it?”

This stereotype is one we are going to be hearing more about as the election gets closer…how we conservatives hate the poor and love the rich. 

We'll hear about how if we win the election women will huddle on the street with hungry kids, the homeless will starve, and minorities will work in sweatshops run by our good buddies the ultra-rich, who will pay no taxes and cruise about town in limousines tossing bread crumbs to the hungry masses. 

It's complete nonsense, but some people actually believe it!

Now most of the arguments against expensive big government have to do with the cost of it - and it's true that we can't afford the socialism of 20th century Europe.  They can't afford it either, which is why Europe is in what amounts to a depression trying to pay for the mountain of debt they've built up over the last 60 years of socialism. 

But I want to talk about something else - something that we conservatives tend to let slide.  And that's the opposition's claim that in order to care about people, we need big government and big government programs.

Their way of making change is through modification and control … social engineering … and social ownership

If the most recent poll by Angus Reid proves anything at all, it is that Christy Clark’s ‘unite the right’ mantra should finally be put to rest and buried.

It also shows that no matter what the BC Liberals decide to call themselves in the future, it will not make one bit of difference.  They will lose the next provincial election in one year from now … as sure as a dark evening sky will follow the sunshine I am enjoying here in Kamloops today.

Here in the Interior of the province, the Angus Reid poll indicates:

“… the New Democrats are first with 48 per cent, while the BC Conservatives are second with 26 per cent. Support for BC Liberals in the Interior has fallen to 18 per cent.”

Details of this survey also show that:

“The BC Liberals are only holding on to roughly half of their voters in the last provincial ballot (48%). Along with the 20 per cent of 2009 BC Liberal voters who are now saying they would vote for the Dix-led NDP, the governing party is losing 30 per cent of its past electors to the BC Conservatives.”

Are you familiar with the phrase, “The King is dead. Long live the King”?  According to Wikipedia, the phrase arose from … the law of le mort saisit le vif—that the transfer of sovereignty occurs instantaneously upon the moment of death of the previous monarch. "The King is dead" is the announcement of a monarch who has just died. "Long live the King!" refers to the heir who immediately succeeds to a throne upon the death of the preceding monarch.

In May 2013, there will be a transfer of power, and at the moment, it appears that this transfer may be going to the BC New Democrats.

BUT … do people know and realize what that transfer of power will mean – or are they simply going back to BC’s age old tradition of kicking out the guys that are in power.

Those swing voters, who are indicating they currently support the NDP, really need to read the following so they are fully aware of what a vote for the NDP will mean.

The “Preamble” in the Constitution of the New Democratic Party of British Columbia states:

The New Democratic Party believes that social, economic and political progress in Canada can only be assured by the application of democratic socialist principles to government and the administration of public affairs.

ASK … then ask again

Over the weekend, I was in a discussion with a fellow that is planning to run as a candidate, for the BC Liberal Party, in the next general election.  I guess in a nutshell, our discussion came down to the fact that both of us believe that the parties we support are both small “c” conservative.

I respect this person’s position; however I feel that given the direction of the BC Liberal party over the past few years, and my own experiences, they are not.

A portion of our discussion also came down to who were becoming members.  That one I know we both can agree on, its people that support the position and principles that each party takes.

My feeling is that the BC Liberal party has taken the direction of their federal counterparts… which is big government, big spending, and a we know best attitude … while the BC Conservative Party, led by John Cummins,  has taken the direction of smaller government, more government accountability, and less intrusion into people’s lives.

Come the next election, support of the people of BC will be the telling tale in which option is the one people choose. 

If more people believe in the Liberals idea, they will join the party, support it, and work to see their candidates are elected.

If more people believe in the ideas and principles of the BC Conservative Party – they will join it and work towards seeing BC Conservatives elected to the legislature.

It’s as simple as that!   

Which leads me to the title of today’s blog posting … “ASK, and then ask again”