British Columbia's ballooning debt, concern over the future of the B.C. economy and making education a top priority are the most important issues in the May 14 provincial election, according to candidates in the West Vancouver-Sea to Sky riding.
When asked by The Chief, Jordan Sturdy, Ana Santos and Ian McLeod provided widely divergent answers to the question, What's the most important issue in this election and why?
Santos, the former executive director of the Squamish Climate Action Network who is running for the New Democrats to replace retiring MLA Joan McIntyre in the next legislature, said she feels strongly that B.C.'s focus should be on education.
Getting priorities right, Santos wrote in an emailed response. Priority 1 is education; it's key to a sustainable economy. It leads to better jobs and better business and environmental management.
At the individual level, it leads to better choices, including better lifestyle and food choices, which lead to better health, which leads to savings in health care.
Sturdy, the three-term Pemberton mayor who is running for the B.C. Liberals, wrote in an email that concern with the future of British Columbia's economy both provincially and locally is the most common theme he's hearing from voters.
In Squamish there is tremendous potential for the diversification, and that potential is best realized if we have a government that appreciates the challenges facing business and the jobs they create, Sturdy wrote. Proposals such as the Woodfibre LNG plant have enormous potential to create well-paying jobs and improve the industrial property tax base so the load can be eased on residential taxpayers.
As the evaluation process evolves for this brownfield site and if it becomes clear that the ongoing improvement to the environmental conditions in the Squamish Estuary and Howe Sound are not compromised, then this is the type of investment that can boost the economy and create jobs both locally and provincially.
McLeod, the West Vancouver employee of the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch who is running for the Conservative Party, said B.C.'s debt which he said has grown to approximately $63 billion under the B.C. Liberals in the past decade is the top election issue
With debt like this, it means that instead of spending money on the people and on tax cuts, we have to spend it on paying interest on the debt. So clearly the present government has mismanaged the economy and the budget. Doubling it in the past 10 years is just unacceptable.
A Conservative government would balance the budget, would make cuts to help us live within our means. There are a lot of senior bureaucrats who are making way too much money not all of them, but a lot of them clearly, there is a lot of waste in government and a Conservative government would eliminate that waste.
An opportunity for Squamish-area residents to meet and ask questions of the candidates is planned next week. The all-candidates' forum, organized by Sea to Sky Community Services and the Squamish Chamber of Commerce with support from The Chief and the Howe Sound Secondary School debate club, is planned on Thursday, May 2, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Eagle Eye Theatre. Jeff Cooke will serve as moderator, and admission is free.
