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Candidates tackle the environment in Roberts Creek

B.C. Election
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From left: Mathew Wilson, Nicholas Simons and Kim Darwin after drawing numbers for speaking order at the April 21 all-candidates forum.

The Powell River-Sunshine Coast candidates wrapped up a string of three forums on the Sunshine Coast April 21, with a wide-ranging discussion of environmental issues at the Roberts Creek Community Hall.

The event, sponsored by the Sunshine Coast Con-servation Association and Alliance4Democracy, followed back-to-back forums in Gibsons and Sechelt earlier in the week, and like those forums, it drew a packed house.

The format was bit different from the typical all-candidates meeting. NDP incumbent Nicholas Simons, Liberal Mathew Wilson and Kim Darwin of the Greens were give 10 minutes for an introduction and to offer their views on four questions on climate change, forestry policy, fisheries and species at risk.

In her opening, Darwin said voters shouldn’t trust the NDP or Liberals to take strong action on climate. “Climate change is not just an environmental issue – taking climate action is absolutely fundamental to the future economy and the world that we’re going to leave for our children and grandchildren,” she said. “B.C. was a climate leader, but it has gone backwards over the last few years, and we’re the only province projected to increase our emissions by 2030.”

Simons explained the evolution of the NDP’s carbon policy.

“I remember on the issue of carbon and carbon emissions, the New Democratic approach was to prefer a cap-and-trade system, and we pushed for cap-and-trade and that was the system the people of the province wanted,” he said. “The B.C. New Democrats have evolved with the people of the province, and we’re in support of the carbon tax and we’re also in support of ensuring it’s incrementally increased in accordance with the federal requirements.”

Simons pointed out that other parties have also changed positions, claiming that Green leader Andrew Weaver once supported the Site C hydro project, but doesn’t now.

Wilson talked about the need for balance to create communities where people can successfully live and work, while also protecting the environment. He said helping shift other countries off carbon-based energy needs to be part of B.C.’s climate action strategy. 

“Our government led the way on the carbon tax and we’ve been recognized worldwide for the leadership on that,” Wilson said. “Our government has also had a world vision, recognizing that climate change is not a British Columbia issue – it’s a global issue … We have a global responsibility to help those economies, those countries, shift away from their dependency on carbon, on oil.” 

Variations on the themes tackled by the candidates in their opening statements also came up when the floor was opened to questions from the public.

On forestry there were questions about raw log exports, regulations, and whether the candidates would support an expansion of the Mount Elphinstone Provincial Park to the 1,500 hectares envisioned in the Roberts Creek Official Community Plan.

Wilson said the issue has dragged on and needs to be resolved in a way that somehow satisfies the opposing visions of conservationists and the people who make a living harvesting timber. “We need someone who’s going to take the bull by the horns on this one, work with those two, bring the parties together … We can find a solution and get some certainty so that people who are growing up in Roberts Creek know that forest will be there, in perpetuity, protected, and the people who have access to cutting timber know that they have those set blocks and they can cut those without threat of having action against them, and I think we need to get to that position.”

Darwin answered that the issue comes back to the lack of a comprehensive land use plan for the Sunshine Coast. She said she’s open to the idea of an expanded park, but government and the community need to be clear that First Nations have to have a voice in any decisions about the slopes of Elphinstone. “I’m not sure how much they’re going to like having a park that’s owned by the provincial government, so we’ll definitely have to consult with them as well.”

Simons said under the Liberals, the community has faced a government with entrenched ideas and entrenched policies that have made it difficult to resolve the question of how much logging to allow in the area.

“Public opinion and public need and public expectation does change,” said Simons, noting that he too is open to expanding the park. “We need to be able to sit down. That’s the appropriate way of making public policy. It’s not about winning and losing. It’s about finding a solution that the community can get to together.”

The issue of fisheries also came up again in the open part of the forum, specifically where the candidates stand on fish farming.

Simons said the province should have acted before now on the recommendations of the Cohen Commission. “They’ve been sitting there, and they’ve been unenforced, unfulfilled promises by the government.”

Simons said the Liberal government also ignored recommendations from an opposition committee on aquaculture. “The primary concern should be the protection of the wild salmon and the protection of the biodiversity of our oceans and our land … We just need to listen to the experts and follow their advice.”

According to Darwin, the Greens want to see fish farming restricted to land-based operations, and pointed to the success of Target Marine in Sechelt, which farms sturgeon. “We need to move them out of our oceans, onto the land if they even need to exist at all, and work on hatcheries,” she said.

Wilson told the audience he remembers the tense debates and fierce local opposition when fish farming first started on the Sunshine Coast, but he said the industry has made a lot of changes since then to protect their investment in farmed fish and wild species and coastal waters.

“They’ve made significant steps forward,” he said. “The fish farm industry doesn’t want to see disease and our waters impacted … Not only does it affect their fish, it affects the wild stock and it’s really bad for the industry.”

Wilson said government and the industry are ready to work on implementing the Cohen Commission recommendations. 

What the party platforms say on climate change

All three party platforms address environmental issues and climate change in detail. Here’s what they say on emissions targets and carbon pricing:

The Liberals are promising to “ensure our principles of affordability, competitiveness, and revenue neutrality are confirmed and respected as we implement the Pan-Canadian Framework on Climate Change. Maintain the carbon tax freeze until 2021, while other Canadian provinces catch up to our $30/tonne carbon tax … Hit our climate change target of reducing 2007 greenhouse gas emissions 80 per cent by 2050.”

The NDP says it will “get the province back on track to meet our climate targets [and] ensure that our climate action plan will meet the federal government’s new carbon price mandate … When the price goes up to match the federal mandate, we will create a new climate action rebate cheque for low- and middle-income families. 

The Greens are pledging to “amend the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act to reflect an interim target of 40 per cent reduction below 2007 levels by 2030 [and] progressively increase the carbon tax by $10 per year for four years beginning Jan. 1, 2018.” The Greens also say they will extend the carbon tax to so-called “fugitive and vented emissions” and forest slash pile burning.

The candidates were back together on the Sunshine Coast April 26 for an all-candidates meeting in Pender Harbour, after Coast Reporter’s deadline.

There’s also a forum focusing on education issues planned for May 1 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Elphinstone Secondary in Gibsons.

People can submit questions in advance to: publicforum@sd46.bc.ca