BC’s provincial election is more than six months away, but the unofficial campaign is well underway with parties holding fundraisers, nominating candidates and rolling out early platforms.
New Democratic Party leader John Horgan spoke to supporters at a recent breakfast meet and greet at Magpie’s Diner in Powell River on Monday, October 17.
More than 20 people, including City of Powell River mayor Dave Formosa and councillors Karen Skadsheim, Rob Southcott, Maggie Hathaway and CaroleAnn Leishman, attended.
Horgan said the next election will be won by emphasizing values over issues.
“BC is filled with New Democrats, they just don’t know it,” said Horgan. “The values we share are quintessentially mainstream values, not marginal ones.”
Horgan said the party will have a more successful campaign if it can tap into people’s desire for change and not become divided on issues.
“As important as issues are,” said Horgan, “let’s focus on what brings us all together. If we start from there we can do anything.”
In visits to communities throughout the province, Horgan said he is hearing that there is a “genuine desire for change,” but his party faces challenges breaking through in several resource-based towns in BC’s interior, such as Kamloops, Quesnel and Cranbrook.
“These places have historically voted NDP, but have not done so for a couple decades,” said Horgan. “This is largely because of the mythology the BC Liberals have created around what the NDP will and can do in government.”
Horgan said the challenge is “to turn that talk around and not dwell on the past.” He said he is proud of his party’s past record and that there are several initiatives, such as the formation of the Agricultural Land Reserve, establishment of the BC Ambulance Service and Columbia Basin Trust, that he makes a point to remind the public about.
In a question and answer period, Horgan said he expects the issues of pipelines and liquefied natural gas to be brought up specifically because it puts the NDP in a position where the party looks like it is against creating jobs.
“This has nothing to do with the economics, nothing to do with climate change or the real world that the economy is operating in; it’s all about the ability of the Liberals to spin a positive message about something that’s not even happening,” he said. “That’s tough for me.”
Horgan said the NDP will campaign on the platform that these projects are bad politics, bad policy and not good for businesses or families.
Speaking about local issues, Horgan said an NDP government would revisit the legislation that created BC Ferries as a public-private corporation and look to bring it back under the direction of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure or at other options.
After the breakfast, Formosa took Horgan out for a tour of Powell River and talked to him about the challenges the community faces.
