Candidates were asked two questions by Black Press for this week’s federal election coverage. The first: What is your position on climate change? And the second: What do you think the answer is to the challenges facing the resource industries? Candidates were given 300 words or less to share their responses. Currently, six candidates are in the running for the Cariboo-Prince George riding.
1.) What is your position on climate change?
Climate change is the biggest challenge facing our generation, but as you know, the challenge is just another word for opportunity. We need to take unprecedented action to combat the effects of climate change and we must start transitioning to renewable energy now. The opportunities in transitioning to a new economy are endless, and we must not leave anyone behind, but we need the political will to make this happen. Oil and Gas workers have transferable skills that will be in high demand during the transition and we need to be training others because our population is aging, and there is lots of work to do. We need to make trade school and other education free so that we are able to seize the opportunities that are in front of us.
Read more:Federal Election 2019 Cariboo Prince George: Mackenzie Kerr, Green
2.) What do you think the answer is to the challenges facing the resource industries?
Resource industries are the backbone of our communities here in the north, we need to make sure that they are sustainable in the long-term and not just focused on short-term profits. There are many different resource industries, such as mining and fishing, but the one that’s on the top of our minds right now is forestry. We knew that there was going to need to be an adjustment in the AAC over ten years ago, but past governments and industry were so focused on short-term profits that they sacrificed our livelihoods for their gain. We need to move away from this type of thinking and move towards long-term sustainability both economic and environmental. In the short term, we need to renew our social contract and raise the baseline standard of living in Canada. I think an important step in this is the introduction of a Guaranteed Livable Income.
Read more: Cariboo-Prince George candidates address forestry at Quesnel forum
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