Ed Mayne, one of the least well-known candidates in the Liberal leadership race and one of the last to visit, made his pitch to party members in Williams Lake on Friday.
Mayne, the former mayor of Parksville — he resigned from the position Jan. 1 to run for the leadership — and long-time businessman, was bold making political promises to those who gathered to hear him speak.
He promised to encourage free votes in the legislature for all non-confidence motions encouraging MLAs to vote their constituents’ wishes in an attempt to bring government back to the people.
“This isn’t really radical to vote your conscience or the way your constituents want you to vote,” he says, noting MLAs work for the people — not the other way around. He acknowledged support for the HST and a September referendum that could provide more time to communicate how the tax benefits the province. He promised to abide by referendum results; however, should the HST remain in place, Mayne proposed to breakdown its distribution as five per cent to federal government, five per cent to the provincial government and two per cent to the municipal government rather than the 50/50 federal/provincial split currently in place.
“It equitably divides money amongst all municipalities,” he said. “It lets a city spend money the way they think it should be. I would like to see that happen.”
Gaming money should go to charities and non-profits but not at the expense of increasing government debt, he said, adding he would like to bring the affected parties together to discuss the matter. Mayne further suggested he would review the recall legislation as it is an “abuse of the system.”
Reducing the size of government by cutting positions from the top rather than those on the ground is also part of Mayne’s platform.
He would not raise corporate taxes given the current economic climate but noted that government has a responsibility to deliver services that help to look after people in need.
“We did cut so low that it affected our ability to live through the recession. We cut too fine to provide services,” he said.
Mayne supports a combined provincial/federal environmental review process and is concerned about tuition rates and student debt loads.