NDP leader visits Grand Forks
By Mona Mattei
Carole James, leader of the New Democratic Party of B.C. (NDP) rallied supporters at on open meeting last week in Grand Forks. Accompanied by Katrine Conroy, MLA for the West Kootenays, James made Grand Forks an extra stop on her tour of the West Kootenay / Boundary addressing the harmonized sales tax (HST), forestry, education, and health care. Over 80 people attended the luncheon hosted at the Omega Restaurant on Friday, Apr.16.
Conroy opened the meeting with a few comments about the ‘buddy system’ set up by the NDP so that areas with Liberal party MLA’s have an NDP voice to talk to when needed. Conroy is the Boundary / Similkameen’s NDP buddy.
“We have continued to help people, especially in the Boundary area, because it’s so important that you get proper representation and we understand your frustration,” said Conroy.
James spoke to the official opposition’s stance on a number of issues facing the province and the NDP’s drive to stand up on behalf of the people of B.C. in the legislature.
“This is a government that has forgotten the people who elected them. They’ve forgotten who they’re supposed to represent. That was so evident in the budget. We expected them to be bringing in a budget that would help people. Here we are cuts to programs, cuts to services, cuts to health care and education and we’re fighting the HST. It really is a betrayal of trust.”
James said that the main work of the opposition is focused on fighting the HST in legislature right now, but that they are on top of other pressing issues as well. The NDP is embarking on a process called Our Province, Our Future to gather information from the people of B.C. to address in the legislature. Beginning at the end of April James will be holding an economic summit with people from different aspects of the economy from small business owners, to arts and culture and large industry to talk about the challenges B.C. faces in the economy and how to ensure the continued funding of health care, education and other needs. There will be regional summits across the province in the fall. A website will be set up in May for people to engage online as well.
“There’s no lack of issues to fight in the legislature, I have to tell you. And it’s a little punchy in there right now!” said James. “You make smarter decisions when you talk to the people who will be impacted by those decisions. You make smarter decisions when you listen to the community and give people a voice.”
When asked about the HST, James explained that once the province agrees to move to the new tax system, it will be committed for five years. If elected, the NDP will not be able to serve notice on the tax until that period is up. James said that, in the case of HST, stopping it now is critical.
“The reason we are fighting the HST now is that if this agreement goes through we’ll be stuck with it for five years,” said James. “So we need to fight with everything we have now to keep it from coming in. It’s better to cancel a bad tax than fix a bad tax five years from now.”
James also addressed comments and questions from the people present about health authorities and the new patient focused funding model proposed by the province, the lack of accountability of the regional health authorities, school closures, and the low levels of income assistance rates.
The petition against the HST will be available for signing Apr. 28, 29, 30 and May 2 and 3 from 12 – 7 p.m. at the Seniors Hall in City Park. Secondary sign up sheets will be located at Kokomo's coffee house & Chain Reaction. Organizers suggest other communities look into where they can sign the petition at a closer location.
