VANCOUVER - Premier Christy Clark went on the offensive during Friday morning’s radio debate, consistently pressing NDP leader Adrian Dix on his decision oppose the proposed expansion of Kinder Morgan’s pipeline between Alberta and Burnaby.
“Mr. Dix says his position (on Kinder Morgan) is clear. This whole position of his that changes every day is about as clear as mud,” said Clark, accusing Dix of changing his position on the pipeline “depending on what the polls and the politics tell him to do.”
Dix responded saying he made a clear pronouncement on the pipeline Monday, announcing on Earth Day that he is not in favour of an expansion that would significantly increase tanker traffic in and out of Metro Vancouver.
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“I’ve tried to make my position very clear right here,” said Dix. “The question really is, do we want to transform the purpose of the pipeline?”
Dix also launched an attack of his own during the sparring session, accusing Clark of hiding multiple years of likely deficits in the years to come.
“The only person in B.C. who thinks the budget is balanced is Premier Clark,” said Dix.
It was something both Green Party leader Jane Sterk and Conservative Party leader John Cummins both agreed with.
“You don’t balance a budget by a fire sale of government assets,” said Cummins.
Sterk called the Liberal budget an “election budget” that would have to be torn up after people go to the polls.
Clark met the attacks with repeated references to the “same old NDP”, using the line to suggest the NDP will run up government spending.
“It is the same old NDP. Big unions, big special interests, big taxes, big debt and the difference between us and is this – instead of believing in these things, I believe in a big economy. I believe in low taxes and I believe in controlling government spending,” she said.
Throughout the debate, Sterk sought to provide an alternative to the two main parties.
“We offer a very different vision for the future of British Columbia,” she said, adding her party is flatly against both Kinder Morgan and the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline.
“We cannot continue a growth-based economy that is fuelled by cheap fossil fuels and debt,” she said.
Cummins also sought to distinguish himself, saying his party supports the two projects, adding the existing Kinder Morgan pipeline demonstrates oil can be moved safely through the province.
“There hasn’t been an incident in 60 years,” he said. “It’s a safe way to move oil and to suggest otherwise is not responsible and untrue.”
Cummins added B.C.’s resource sector is “where the action is right now” and, along with other growth industries such as high-tech, would be the focus of a BC Conservative government.
