David Wilks, the Conservative Party candidate for the Kootenay-Columbia riding spent Wednesday in Revelstoke, knocking on doors, walking the street and talking to people.
He said people were most interested in talking about local issues – the big one being improvements to the Trans-Canada Highway.
“We need to have major improvements to it,” he said in an interview with the Times Review. “There’s no arguing that has to be number one on the agenda because it’s the main vehicle through which traffic moves and the safer we can make it the better it is for everyone.”
The other issue he said people were bringing up was the forestry industry, which he said the Federal government should support by helping opening up new markets in Asia.
“I think the federal government has to make the opportunity for logging companies such as Weyerhaeuser or – I don’t know who’s here from the perspective of logging companies – so they have the ability to negotiate with whomever it might be outside Canada,” he said. “That’s what the Federal government can do, they can create regulations to make that happen.”
Wilks, 51, was making his first stop in Revelstoke of the 36-day campaign. In his interview he touched on several Conservative Party campaign planks, saying this is an unnecessary election brought about by a coalition of the Liberal, NDP and Bloc Quebecois.
“The only way to create a stable environment from a political level is to vote in a Conservative majority government,” he said. “You will then have stability for four years.”
Wilks, a former RCMP officer, also responded to questions about his push for tough-on-crime legislation, the long-gun registry, seniors care and his role in Parliament.
On seniors, he pointed out the Conservative budget included a $300 million increase to the Guaranteed Income Supplement, though that is significantly less than the $700 million the Liberals and NDP have proposed.
Wilks said the opposition proposals would require increased taxes and that the Conservative plan to reduce corporate taxes would provide increased employment, which in turn would increase tax revenue.
On criminal legislation, he said that the Young Offenders Act [that was repealed in 2003 and replaced with the Youth Criminal Justice Act] needed some revamping.
“You have young offenders who’ve committed the gravest of crimes with a maximum sentence of three years,” he said.
He also said that judges should hand out longer sentences to prevent repeat offenders from going in and out of prison. He also said parole regulations needed to be changing to prevent situations where victims of crime are being called in front of parole boards whenever the prisoner is eligible, citing serial killer Clifford Olson as an example.
“I think it’s completely unfair that the victims families should have to go to parole hearings every couple of years because he has the ability to call a parole hearing. Someone who murders 11 children should not be given that opportunity.”
When asked how he would represent his constituency, he said would help municipalities secure Federal government funding by letting them know what programs are available and ensuring funds flow through once applications are made.
When asked, he said he would not always vote along the party line. “In the caucus, I would vote as my constituents want me to vote.”
Finally, he said he supported abolishing the long-gun registry and the only way to make that happen was with a Conservative majority.
His trip to Revelstoke coincided with a visit to Cranbrook, B.C., by NDP leader Jack Layton in support of NDP candidate Mark Shmigelsky but Wilks said he didn’t concern himself with what the other parties were doing.
“I concern myself that our team works as hard they can and we work towards a win on May 2,” he said.
Wilks won’t be at the all-candidates forum in Revelstoke on Apr. 12, saying he had already committed to be in Cranbrook that night before being invited to the forum. His next stop in Revelstoke will be on Apr. 18, when he is planning a big event.
