During a recent visit to Invermere Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Norm Macdonald talked about many topics which he feels are important going forward in British Columbia.
One of the things he has seen over recent times is the people of B.C. standing up for what they believe in and forcing change.
“A whole lot of people who have been involved in politics before, and many who have not, took the time and did something very challenging with the HST petition. That led to the fall of the premier and I think it will lead to the removal of the tax and possibly an early election,” Macdonald said.
He believes this has been a dramatic change, in the sense that the public has made it clear they are not pleased with what has happened and are not going to take it anymore.
Macdonald also spoke of the tensions over the last few months in both the BC Liberal and New Democratic parties.
“My view is that in the end this will work out. There will be a new leader for the Liberal Party who will come in understanding they will have to do things differently and I think with our party it will be a healthy thing to go through a leadership convention,” he said.
In regards to the NDP leadership race Macdonald said he was supporting Mike Farnworth.
“There are a number of good candidates…I think Mike is someone who has the respect of all of our caucus. He has been a caucus leader and is someone in the house who has the respect of all people in the house,” he said.
One point Macdonald was very clear about was he felt the time was right to call an early election.
“I think the BC Liberals did not give an honest mandate in the last election. They did not say what the deficit was, they did not speak of the HST issue and their intentions were not laid out. I think Christy Clark said that if she wins she will go to an election. I feel you have to. You have to get a mandate on where you want to take the province.”
Another area where Macdonald feels a change has to take place is in the area of the forestry industry in B.C.
“There is little question the British Columbia’s forest industry is in need of revitalization. The loss of 30,000 forestry jobs and closure of more than 100 manufacturing facilities in B.C. shows just how deep the crisis in forestry has become. But while we all agree that a problem exists, it is time for a concerned and broad-ranging effort to develop solutions to the challenges we face,” he said.
