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 impacting us all. No resident of the interior of BC can ignore the wildfires, droughts, insect infestations or abnormal weather. Sitting in the midst of the 2018 fires, watching the sky turn to night at 9:30 am I was faced with a fear not just for the forest I was watching burn, but for our future. It doesn’t matter how we have gotten to this point, we are here, the challenge is clear; either we mitigate its progress and its impacts or the stories we tell of the world we grew up in will be fairy tales to future generations. I also believe in human ingenuity and, if nothing else, in our drive for self-preservation. Protecting 25% of our coastline and land, reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 and investing in the education of tomorrows leaders are part of the path forward.
2.) What do you think the answer is to the challenges facing the resource industries?
The challenges we are facing today are as complex as the environment, people and industries that built our Region. True Reconciliation with Indigenous Nations, changes to forest management practices and Climate Change would each be a challenge for a generation on their own, faced together, as we must do today, they can seem insurmountable. None of these issues arose overnight and none can be solved in a four-year election cycle. Our industries are no more homogeneous than our communities and the solutions for each will be unique to the people and companies facing them. Cutting the corporate tax rate in half for clean tech companies to 4.5 per cent is a start. We will build on our ingenuity by investing in municipalities, supporting individuals and working together to build a collective future. It is the only way to ensure our resource industries not only survive, but thrive.
Read more: Cariboo-Prince George candidates address forestry at Quesnel forum
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