Viewers expecting to get a glimpse of the B.C. Liberals' platform were left wanting Sunday night.
A half-hour paid address on Global TV didn't amount to much more than a "Christy Clark good-feeling show" said Prince George-Mackenzie Conservative candidate Terry Rysz. "There was nothing that had any substance to it."
The slickly produced special featured Premier Clark in conversation with supporters at a coffee shop and caught up with her in various parts of the province, including at the Williams Lake Stampede and in Prince George for the opening ceremony of the local firefighters' Rooftop Campout fundraiser for muscular dystrophy last weekend.
The special highlighted the premier's focus on the party's jobs plan and its aim to help families, underscored with photos from her own childhood.
The NDP's record was frequently under attack in the address, but Clark did not offer any specifics about what her government would do should the party be elected to a fourth term.
The address spent time reminding British Columbians about what the Liberals have often referred to as the "dismal decade," referencing the flight of jobs and B.C.'s plunge into have-not status among Canada's provinces when the NDP was in power between 1991 to 2001. Local business owner and 2012 Prince George Citizen of the Year Monica Peacock was featured in this particular segment.
"There's only one thing worse then going to see a really bad movie, it's seeing it for the second time," quipped finance minister Mike de Jong.
Clark also used the address to tout her plan to develop B.C.'s wealth of natural gas.
"The responsible development of our resources is absolutely essential to keeping B.C.'s economy stable and growing. The resource economy is at the heart of many of our communities. It's the thing that helps our small businesses thrive. That's why we need to find ways to get to yes, to encourage ideas that lead to billions of dollars in investments, ideas that help create jobs, ideas that grow our economy."
Near the end of the half hour, it was revealed that the party's platform - Strong Economy, Secure Tomorrow - will be released online today.
"It's going to be interesting to see what they have to say," said Rysz, who noted a strong focus on the Lower Mainland during the . "It will be interesting to see what kind of substance they're going to have."
The NDP candidate for Prince George-Mackenzie Bobby Deepak said he didn't watch address, spending the time out door-knocking. But he said after catching up on reaction online, it sounded like "another attack ad more focused on attacking the NDP than explaining the mismanagement by the Liberal government. So at least this time they paid for it themselves unlike their $16 million in pre-election ads paid for by the taxpayers."
One remark that stood out for Deepak was Clark's assertion that along with increased trade with Asia and investments in mining, that "forestry is doing better than ever."
"There are 30,000 fewer workers in the industry now than there were in 2001," he said. "So how can that be better than ever?"
Deepak and Prince George-Valemount candidate Sherry Ogasawara will join NDP leader Adrian Dix and forest critic Norm Macdonald at UNBC this morning to make an announcement regarding the party's plan "to support a competitive forest industry and improve forest health."
-- with files from The Canadian Press
