You don’t often see John Horgan’s name bandied about when people talk about the latest political lightning rod in B.C.
That’s because, says the NDP energy critic and party leadership hopeful, he’s a politician devoted to a balanced, moderate and consultative approach.
That approach, he said at a press conference in Parksville Thursday, could pay off — both for his campaign and for the province as a whole — when New Democrats elect their next party leader.
“People are yearning for positives,” Horgan said. “They’re saying, ‘give me your solutions, not your problems. I don’t want a list of grievances you have with the Liberals.’ They don’t need validation of what’s wrong with the government. They need confirmation that we have solutions to improve government.”
Horgan, who was accompanied by Alberni-Pacific Rim MLA Scott Fraser, said that message was hammered home to him in 2004, by, of all people, the drummer in his son’s garage band.
“I was watching a TV newscast and saw David Hahn had announced an $800 million capital plan for B.C. Ferries that would be built in Germany,” he said. “I started yelling at the TV and the drummer, who was grazing the refrigerator with my son, came out and asked, ‘what are you doing? You’re yelling at the TV. Are you unbalanced Mr. Horgan?”’
When Horgan told the teen what he was angry about, the drummer’s response was short and sweet.
“What are you going to do about it?”
That, said Horgan, is the question New Democrats are also asking their candidates, fed up with a seemingly endless list of Liberal sins and omissions, they want a candidate to give them a plan.
Horgan, who looks to former premier Mike Harcourt as his political mentor, believes he can provide that plan.
“I’ve offered a fair tax commission as a proposal to look not just at consumption taxes, but also the imbalance in the income tax system as well. Since 2001, the Liberals have given tax breaks to high income earners and corporations to the tune of $3 billion a year. That money has been yanked out of the treasury that would have gone into services and into addressing things like the shortcomings in the Ministry of Children and Families, assisting with environmental protection and stimulating the economy.”
Horgan disagrees with the proposition that corporate tax cuts stimulate the economy, thus, floating all boats.
“Not every dollar in those tax cuts went to stimulate the economy. I think offshore accounts did very well and shareholders of corporations based in Toronto did very well, but it did not improve the system.”
His proposed commission, he said, would allow taxpayers to see where the money for government is coming from and where it is being spent, laying it out for all to see.
The self-styled “affable Irishman” said he believes people need to have a level of comfort that the politician they are electing comes from where they come from and, to that end, he said he fits that bill nicely.
“I’ve raised a couple of kids, I have a university degree, I’m as average as they come,” he said. “I believe these personality traits will differentiate me from other candidates and give a perspective they may not have seen lately in an NDP politician.”
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