NDP leader to visit Castlegar
By Kyra Hoggan
A man many think will be B.C.’s next premier, NDP leader Adrian Dix, will be in Castlegar Wednesday to meet with local business leaders and heath care professionals, as well as to speak at local NDP MLA Katrine Conroy’s gala fundraiser at the Complex that evening.
The 49-year-old Vancouverite said, however, that locals shouldn’t expect to hear any negative campaigning from him while he’s here.
“We’re obviously going to raise issues,” he said. “But we (the NDP) are not going to get personal, despite (the Liberals airing) some of the most vicious person attack ads this province has ever seen, against me.”
In fact, he said, if gets elected as premier, all future election cycles will change in B.C., with new legislation governing provincially-funded advertising.
“We’re going to bring in a law that says every ad has to be reviewed by the Auditor General and has to meet the test of being non-partisan,” he said. “And in the three months prior to the election, the government won’t be allowed to run any ads at all.”
What he will be talking about, he said, are the concerns of Kootenay residents and how the NDP aims to address them.
“The key issue, everywhere in B.C, but particularly in the Kootenays and Interior, is young people being able to get the jobs of the future.”
He said the issue goes well beyond just education, and has become a serious commercial and economic concern for the entire province.
“Every company I meet with – the Celgars and the Tecks – are telling me they’re going to be facing a skilled labour shortage,” he said. “It’s important to the economy and our young people.
“It’s profoundly unjust that your financial position at 18 defines whether or not you can get a post-secondary education, which then defines whether or not you can get a good job later on,” he said, arguing this status quo is not just bad for students, but also for the economy, for commerce and for the province as a whole.
That being said, he argued that Liberal financial mismanagement has forced a kind of back-to-basics approach for any incoming NDP government.
“Our focus is on the fundamentals: jobs, building the economy, health care and education,” he said. “There’s no question we’re going to inherit a financial mess from the Liberals – there are limits to what we can do. What you’re going to see from the NDP is a disciplined platform focussed on our key priorities.”
He said the perception of NDP as being fiscally irresponsible is due to misunderstanding and misinformation.
“The last two budgets with the NDP in the 1990s were balanced,” he said, pointing to five consecutive deficit budgets with the Liberal regime. “We had higher economic growth in the 90s, with more people coming to B.C. than during Liberal leadership.”
Said Liberal leadership may end with the May 14 election, though, as current polls indicate the NDP enjoying a decisive lead.
Dix will take the first flight out of Castlegar on Thursday.
