Education, Environment, Economy, Dominate All-candidates Debate

By Brad Hodge
Published: May 4, 2013

 

Eagle Eye Theatre was packed this Thursday with residents eager to hear MLA candidates from West Vancouver-Sea to Sky Riding speak on a range of issues, from education and environment to jobs and taxes.

(Disclosure: Citizen journalist Brad Hodge worked as a volunteer for Jordan Sturdy’s campaign)

Moderated by Squamish Chamber of Commerce director, Jeff Cooke, and assisted by the president of the Howe Sound Secondary School Debating Club, Hannah Reisen, the hour and a half long debate provided people the opportunity to listen to and question the candidates.

BC Liberal Party Jordan Sturdy made mention of his long involvement in the corridor, as a paramedic at Blackcomb, as a farmer in Pemberton, and as the Mayor of Pemberton.

He presented himself as an independent thinker with deep involvement in the riding and a record of working to create jobs and opportunities for the riding through growth. 

Ian McLeod of BC  Conservatives, a shop steward working at the BC Liquor distribution centre, introduced himself as a former intern of a California Congressman and also former overseas English teacher.

McLeod made clear his party’s preference for lower taxes and a slimmer bureaucracy, pointing out his party’s belief that the taxpayer knew better how to spend their own resources. 

He seemed to surprise many when he railed against salmon farming and the proposed LNG plant at the former Woodfibre site. 

BC NDP candidate Ana Santos introduced herself as the benefactor of parents who invested in her education, which enabled her to go abroad and absorb different cultures and seek community involvement.

She spoke about her involvement in environmental issues and raised education as a signature issue, likening it to the manure used on a farm, spreading benefits across all sectors.

BC Green Party’s Richard Warrington spoke to dispel the notion of the Green Party as a single-issue party focused entirely on the environment and favouring higher taxes.

Instead, he said his party had a wide array of interests that stressed, among other things, the reallocation of taxes rather than tax increases.   

Independent candidate John Johnson, a resident of Horseshoe Bay, made his antipathy known for party politics, and advocated independent voices in the legislature.

The Issues in the debate

Education

Education featured prominently in the debate, as it has throughout the provincial campaign.

Hannah Reisen sought clarification on a media report that the Liberals were reducing funding for education in key sectors.

Santos lamented the high debt load many students graduate with (an average of $25,000, she said) and made clear the NDP would pay for increased funding by increasing taxes on banks, reallocating funds from the Carbon Trust and slashing paid government advertising. 

Sturdy defended the Liberal government’s record, saying that nearly $2 billion spending helped drive the largest expansion of post-secondary education in the province’s history, adding nearly 32,000 spaces, 7 new universities and a substantial (47 per cent) increase in operating funding.  

While conceding it could be better spent, Sturdy was adamant that funding had been on the increase, and that the Liberals’ job creation efforts would, through economic expansion, bring in more revenue for education generally. 

McLeod also lamented high graduate debt levels, and suggested that the size of government needed to be pared back, with money currently going towards welfare cut and redirected towards higher education.

Warrington made clear the Green Party supported increased funding for post-secondary and repeated the Green mantra of shifting the tax burden to make polluters pay. 

Independent Johnson was quick to agree, adding that he believed post-secondary education ought to be free

The Environment

Several issues concerning the local and provincial environment were raised, the first being the LNG proposal for former Woodfibre site.  

Johnson and Warrington were clear in their opposition to the proposal, with Warrington calling it the ‘wrong way’ and Johnson warning of the dangers of ‘compressed methane’. 

They made an unlikely trio with Conservative McLeod, who stated that he believed Squamish residents opposed LNG and that his party would respect their wishes. 

McLeod also mentioned the alleged dodgy environmental and business record of the proponent to hammer.

Santos avoided a yes or no answer while preferring an enhanced environmental review process coupled with better land management planning for the area. 

She did, however, make clear her concerns with the fracking process and that she was not enthusiastic about the proposal.

Sturdy offered qualified support in principle, noting the importance of desperately needed local tax revenue, the clean power generated onsite for compression and its natural advantage as a deep water port. 

On salmon farming, Warrington and Johnson opposed it, with Warrington musing about the wisdom of farming Atlantic salmon in the Pacific and the risks to wild fish stocks and Johnson adding his concerns about genetically modified foods. 

They were joined yet again by McLeod, who bashed the primarily Norwegian business owners conducting a business that was banned in their home country.  

Santos mentioned her involvement with biologist and salmon researcher Alexandra Morton, and the NDP’s commitment to implementing all of the Cohen Commission recommendations.

Sturdy also touted the Cohen Commission report, and emphasized the Liberal government’s endorsement of several key findings, while reminding the audience of the $400 million in annual revenue generated by the industry along with jobs to First Nations communities, and the usefulness of ‘fish poo’ as farm fertilizer. 

Sturdy’s response prompted a retort from Santos about whether his own farm would be able to maintain its organic certification if it were to use fertilizer derived from the farms. 

Taxes and the Economy

Taxes and the economy were a prime concern, and questions were asked from candidates about what they felt about increasing or introducing new taxes. 

Santos said the NDP plans to increase taxes for large corporations to 12 per cent while not increasing taxes on 98 per cent of BC residents.

Sturdy cited his party’s reduction of business and income taxes as one of the key underpinnings of the economy, noting that over 400,000 low income British Columbians pay no income tax at all and suggested that it was better to grow revenue through new business creation and hiring. 

He also asserted that this was the strategy the Liberals were employing to try to balance the budget.

This promoted a response from Santos who said ‘the only person who believes the budget is balanced is Christy Clark’ and a counter from Sturdy who got some laughs by saying that at least the Liberals would try to get to a balanced budget,  while ‘the NDP aren’t even going to bother trying’. 

Mcleod noted the Conservatives also wanted to cut taxes and kill the carbon tax, which he asserted did nothing towards reducing carbon emissions and was a burden on taxpayers. 

Warrington said that average families paid enough tax and said the Greens sought to shift more of the burden to polluters.

Johnson agreed with McLeod on scrapping the carbon tax, and described the HST debacle as a ‘pain in the ass’ to local businesses.   

Asked which other industries candidates would support to improve the local economy, the film industry was cited by McLeod and Johnson, while Santos suggested sustainable forestry and eco-tourism. 

Warrington suggested more emphasis on local and small business with green tax credits, while Sturdy called for more renewables, cultural and agricultural tourism.

Corporate and Union Donations

The issue of corporate and union donations was raised and directed specifically at McLeod and Santos, and whether banning donations from both groups would simply push them underground.

 Santos backed her party’s stance on banning both, and supported creating a committee among all parties to decide how to proceed. 

McLeod, indicating a preference for limits to individual donations agreed that banning both union and corporate donations made sense, though he conceded, in a line that drew laughter, that a special interest group could say ‘here’s a $1000 go donate to John Smith the Liberal candidate’. 

Sturdy agreed the issue was worth looking at and in a friendly poke at Santos noted he was glad to see the BC NDP following the federal Conservatives lead in banning donations.  Johnson suggested that independent candidates were less vulnerable to such influence.

Health

A direct question from a paramedic was put to Sturdy regarding the Liberals’ ‘legislating paramedics’ and the difficulty in recruiting paramedics. Sturdy recalled his work in 1990 as an on-call paramedic in Pemberton, noting that he was paid nothing unless they were called out and acknowledged that the health care system, including paramedics needed improvements.

Johnson commended both the questioner and Sturdy on their service, while McLeod said he thought someone charged with saving lives ought to be paid more than $10 per hour. 

Santos spoke of savings to be had in the system and paid particular attention to drug costs, while Warrington spoke of the need to focus more on disease prevention.

IPPs

The final question of the night tackled the issue of Independent Power Producers, and concerns about the costs involved in their contracts and impacts on the environment.  Johnson said there was no benefit to consumers, and said he would vote to reverse the contracts. 

Santos made clear the NDP intended to review the contracts, and those not making environmental and economic sense would have the NDP looking to lawyers for options.

Sturdy criticized Santos’ statements, noting that the contracts only covered the provision of energy and wondering ‘how that would work’ in terms of potentially breaking them over environmental and social issues. 

He said that the key with IPPs was the future and understanding energy needs and prices going forward. 

Sturdy indicated he believed low carbon energy production would, over the life of the IPP contracts end up being more valuable than the often cited $100 per megawatt hour, and also pointed out that BC Hydro’s own estimates on the planned Site C development also projected costs of at least $100 mwh. 

Closing Statements

In each closing statement the candidates paid tribute to the constituency and again restated their platforms.  Santos noted the kindness and warmth with which she was received in Squamish upon her arrival, her work with Squamish CAN and her positive impact in the community. 

McLeod again touched on the Conservative belief in representing the wishes of the people, balanced budgets and reduced taxes.  Johnson said he put himself on the ballot because he felt he needed someone he thought he could vote for and hoped many would consider a vote for an independent voice in Victoria. 

Warrington suggested the Liberals and NDP were extreme, and that the Greens would work hard to earn the trust of constituents and even suggested auditing what politicians against what they say down the road. 

Sturdy, spoke of the need for electoral reform and again hammered home that he was the most experienced candidate of the bunch.