Premier Christy Clark stopped by The News on Tuesday, on her way to the Abbotsford and Chilliwack Leaders’ Reception at the Ramada in Abbotsford.
Clark said they were holding the reception in Abbotsford as “we like to do it where people live – being local in communities helps makes sure our government is always connected to what’s going on on the ground.”
Clark spoke to The News about the new role of Darryl Plecas, the local MLA for Abbotsford South. Plecas, previously the parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice and attorney general for crime reduction, will now serve as the parliamentary secretary for seniors to the minister of health.
Clark said Plecas did “such a good job” as the chair of the province’s blue ribbon panel on crime – appointed by the justice minister to study ways to lower the province’s crime rate. Clark said they are examining the recommendations now and thinking about ways to implement them.
She said she thought Plecas “deserved a promotion” and said looking after all the issues related to seniors in B.C. is a big job, which covers health care, housing, taxes, transportation and accessibility.
“There is this whole range of issues that is specifically important to people as we get older,” she said.
As Abbotsford looks to pass a bylaw regulating propane cannon use, which requires approval from the province, Clark said they will look at the proposal and see if it can be accommodated under provincial law.
“Whether or not it’s a problem is not at issue here, we understand it is a problem, and it creates all kinds of conflicts in communities like Abbotsford which are increasingly urbanizing, but also highly dependent on agriculture.”
As the number of blueberry fields continues to grow, Clark was asked whether the legislation surrounding propane cannons and Right to Farm act could change in the future, she said “if the city of Abbotsford asks us to consider that legislative change as part of their proposal, we will obviously give it some very serious thought. But until we kind of see what they are asking for, and how they would like us to approach it, it’s hard to answer that question directly.”
“If that’s part of their request to us, to change the legislation, and we get a proposal from them about how they would like us to change the legislation, we will obviously consider that.”
With Kinder Morgan seeking an expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline, which runs through Abbotsford, Clark was adamant the pipeline will not go proceed unless the project meets five conditions set out by the government. Those include passing an environmental review, creating a marine and land spill prevention and recovery systems, First Nations’ involvement, and the province receiving a fair share of economic benefits.
Clark said the five conditions are set out because they understand the importance of both resource development and of the environment. The conditions allow companies to get approval, but only if they meet certain standards, she said.
The government needs to know Kinder Morgan has done everything needed to minimize the possibility of a spill, and to understand thoroughly what that spill response is, she said.
“I don’t mean that I need to know, I mean that all British Columbians need to know. That needs to be shared publicly. It’s one of the five conditions and no new project or expansion project will go ahead until it has met all five. Period.”
