It wasn’t a debate, but rather a meeting of like minds as NDP leadership candidates gathered in Williams Lake on March 14.
Adrian Dix, Mike Farnworth, John Horgan, Dana Larsen and Nicholas Simons strove to differentiate themselves and spoke on issues, such as social justice, tax reform, value-added industry, protecting workers, overseeing the resurgence of public health care, education and utilities and the protection of B.C.’s resources for the public good.
They expressed a united desire to defeat B.C. Liberal Premier Christy Clark, noting that under her tenure as education minister, many schools across the province were closed.
In his opening remarks, Dix told the 60 people in attendance that giving the electorate something to vote for would be the key to an NDP win.
He suggested issues, such as processing British Columbia timber in the province, improving care standards at seniors’ facilities, maintaining rural schools, increasing the minimum wage, strengthening labour legislation and allowing greater union affiliation, would resonate with the public.
“We have to offer something specific, something real to people.”
Horgan spoke proudly about NDP-driven initiatives, such as the Columbia Basin Trust, the Agricultural Land Reserve and ICBC.
He suggested the provincial legislation governing environmental assessments needs to be “revitalized and recharged to protect the environment,” and added the economy and social justice are “two sides of the same coin.”
Larsen spoke about tax reform, pledging to roll back the tax cuts the B.C. Liberal government made in 2001, create an additional tax bracket for high-end income earners and reinvest that revenue in education.
The provincial government, he added, needs to stand up to the federal Conservative government on the expansion of prisons and let it know it’s not the solution for drug addiction, homelessness and mental-health issues.
Simons spoke to the need for a long-term plan for poverty reduction and suggested he would increase the minimum wage to $12 an hour by the end of 2012.
The wage increase, he said, is due to “the neglect this government’s showed to low-income earners.”
The candidates were united in their pledge to stop the movement of “public wealth into private hands,” which they charge has occurred during the B.C. Liberals’ tenure.
They further vowed to open up contracts made with private firms or public-private partnership agreements and examine them to determine whether they meet the public good. If not, they pledged to break them.
Horgan said he would “open contracts and ensure they were in the public interest — if not, they will be broken —” and to place a moratorium on run-of-river projects.
Simons agreed but cautioned the speed of achieving that goal would depend on what was contained in the contracts.
Dix said he would pursue a public inquiry into the sale of BC Rail, ensure that BC Hydro acts in the public interest, and move away from the provision of health care by private providers.
Farnworth characterized public resources as being under threat and questioned how long ICBC would remain a public entity under the current administration.
He also noted the agriculture land reserve has been “undermined and under resourced by this government.”
He argued for a moratorium on independent power projects.
On forestry, Larson suggested a need for community control with an eye to maintaining resources for the long term, not “using resources as fast as possible for the quickest buck.”
“If you’re sustainable, you can make a buck that lasts a long time.” With the reduction in the annual allowable cut due to pine beetle kill, Dix said the government’s job should be focused on ensuring logs are processed in B.C.
Dix added he would focus on restocking the forest, suggesting that has not occurred for one million hectares of forestland.
Horgan pushed for greater government regulation.
“Self-regulation is not working too well. The wealth is slipping through our fingers.”
Candidates also responded to the question of how to maintain a healthy economy and environment.
Said Farnworth: “You have an Environment Assessment Act that has teeth, is resourced and funded, and set parameters based on sound science and sound research.”
Dix added the NDP has a Sustainable B.C. policy that “ensures principles of sustainability are applied to economic development.”
As for tackling the provincial debt as social democrats, the candidates agreed they would reassess the current tax-distribution model and potentially make changes.
“In 2001 with the stroke of a pen, [former premier Gordon] Campbell created a deficit that became a debt. That was the first of many tax cuts.
“Campbell then pulled out a 15 per cent cut that fell like a lead balloon,” Horgan said, adding he would consider the government’s other revenue streams, such as resource revenue, stumpage and royalties and might increase taxes to pay for services.
Larsen and Dix both indicated they would roll back corporate tax cuts.
NDP members vote for a party leader on April 17.
