The man who would be premier, BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson, made his first trip to Prince George since assuming the leadership of that party.
He met with some of the city’s business and cultural interests, spent time with local government leaders, and expressed his views from the position of opposition leader eyeing the first year of governance by the coalition of BC Green Party and the New Democratic Party.
“The key message is, northern and central British Columbia is key to our future. Whether it’s in the resource industries or as a regional service centre, Prince George is fundamental to British Columbia and we need to recognize that,” said Wilkinson on Friday.
He had earlier in the week floated the idea of Prince George being home, as the de facto northern capital, to a premier’s satellite office. It is not the first time this concept has been discussed, but it is the first time it has been called for by a party leader since it was piloted in the 1990s when former P.G. mayor John Backhouse was made the northern development commissioner by then-premier Dan Miller.
“The idea of a premier’s office means people have to focus on that northern two-thirds of British Columbia that is represented by a number of MLAs but right now none of them are in cabinet except for Doug Donaldson,” Wilkinson said. “So, whether it’s the NDP or the BC Liberals, there should be a significant cabinet presence in Prince George to make sure the north is getting recognized for its importance.”
As someone who “has been fortunate in life to have lived and worked all over British Columbia,” Wilkinson said he was clear on the concept of holistic B.C. and not the Vancouver-Victoria tunnel vision he knows is felt by the backbone regions of the province.
If the roles were magically switched, he said his priorities as premier would be major stimulation of the resource-based economies of northern communities, investing strategically in social services “especially healthcare” in the north, and getting the liquified natural gas sector connected between the deposits in the northeast and the shipping routes on the northwest coast.
“We will be holding the NDP to account, in the fall session, to see if they can actually deliver on this in terms that serve the interest of British Columbians,” he said. “There is always the worry that the NDP will try to give away the store to try and impress people that they are pro-business.”
An area of particular interest to all British Columbians, he said, was continuing down the path of Aboriginal reconciliation that has reached new heights since Supreme Court of Canada rulings that clarified Aboriginal rights over the landbase.
There must be mutual benefits to economic development going forward, he said.
“We see that on the LNG projects, where the vast majority of First Nations interests are very keen on moving ahead on the project...in the interest of all British Columbians.”
He chastised the NDP/Green coalition on that topic, saying their decision to pay 100 per cent of the bill for the new Pattullo Bridge replacement was in the interests of the Lower Mainland but not the overall population.
“Transportation is obviously essential for northern British Columbia,” he said. “We have been very concerned, actually, about maintenance and small capital projects potentially being neglected because the (NDP/Greens are devoting so much of the finite transportation budget to the Lower Mainland bridge). That doesn’t bode well for the investments in northern British Columbia, and we all know that the roads in northern B.C. require a lot more care and maintenance than the roads down here in the south.”
He also stressed that Greyhound company’s decision to cease operations in B.C. would trigger significant consequences for passengers and the shipment of goods so the NDP/Greens “have to get on this right away” to facilitate the filling of those gaps, preferably by the private sector.
