John Rustad, MLA for Nechako Lakes, met with eight constituents during the Senior’s Tea on Sept. 18, 2015, at the Lakeside Multiplex in Burns Lake.
Participants were treated to an afternoon of tea and snacks and lively discussion on a number of topics including the condition of Colleymount Road.
Colleymount Road residents have been complaining about the road conditions for a number of years. They have recently gathered almost 1000 signatures for a petition that was sent to Todd Stone, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
Rustad agreed that a lot of work will have to be done on Colleymount Road in order to make lasting improvements.
“The biggest challenge is the foundation of the road itself, there’s a continually sloughing going off into the lake there just isn’t a way to shore up the foundation,” he said.
Rustad said that the main goal is to keep the road maintained and safe until a long-term solution can be found.
“It’s not an easy fix,” he added.
Rustad’s work as the Minister for Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliations was also a major point of discussion, as he led a conversation on how incidents in B.C.’s past regarding First Nations have made reconciliation challenging.
Rustad explained how the first step to moving forward is by acknowledging past injustices. He referred to Prince George’s renaming of the Fort George Park into Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park as an example of a symbolic move meant to acknowledge the past in a meaningful way. Rustad said he was surprised that some people were upset at the idea of changing the name of the park.
“I have to remind people that the park was actually a golf course [at one point], there’s lots of resistance if people don’t know the full history,” he said.
Rustad also shared with the group that he was not aware of a great deal of First Nation’s history in B.C. until he became a school trustee. He described how generations of British Columbians have grown up unaware of the past, and how this contributes to resistance or lack of empathy by some people to any attempts at recognizing past injustices and reconciling with First Nations communities.
The group also discussed how it is important to celebrate positive developments between the B.C. government and First Nations. Rustad agreed and referred to, as an example, the fact that of 350 agreements with First Nations in the last 10 years, 200 have been singed in the last year.
Rustad rounded off the afternoon with discussion on budgetary matters, mentioning that this year’s budget will be the province’s third balanced budget.
One participant was concerned about the issue of governments or municipalities borrowing money. Rustad argued that there are times when governments must borrow money for essential services and infrastructure.
“The issue is when you borrow money for your grocery bill, that’s when you’re in trouble,” he said.
Another participant referred to how Alberta is facing large deficits due to the downturn and what they described as considerable government spending instead of saving. Rustad explained that B.C. is avoiding such issues by learning from Alberta’s choices and by keeping spending under control even if liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects are delivering additional revenues.
“Our budget today does not account for any LNG investment, in order to be safe, we can’t bank on it,” he said.
Rustad ended the afternoon by stating his intention to conduct a “tele-town hall” in the near future in order to provide his constituents with more face to face time to provide feedback. He also mentioned that he planned to hold another Senior’s Tea in Burns Lake within the next six months.
