Premier Christy Clark may have had to wait to launch her jobs plan, but it’s been well worth waiting for. Especially the announcement of funding to help get phase one of the Prince Rupert port expansion underway. It’s a key project that will create jobs throughout B.C. for decades.
The premier’s vision for B.C. to be the economic engine for a 21st-century Canada is timely and forward-thinking, but clearly something that the neither NDP nor the B.C. Conservative party seem to get.
While NDP leader Adrian Dix talks off the top of his head about training credits for job categories that don’t exist here in B.C., and therefore have no relevance, the Conservatives’ John Cummins haphazardly flips and flops his way across the province, leaving a trail of contradictory policies and statements.
B.C. needs new dollars, but how are we going to get them if we simply stand back and watch the world go by as Mr. Dix and Mr. Cummins seem to be suggesting in their criticism of the premier’s jobs plan?
The only way we can bring new dollars into the province is by opening up our doors to greater trade with the rapidly expanding Asia-Pacific markets. After all, the best defence of jobs in our economy is a strong offense that aggressively markets and then delivers our products and services to the world.
So, if the economy is the engine and B.C. is the car, I’m one person who is very happy that Christy Clark is in the driver’s seat, with her foot the economic accelerator, while Mr. Dix and Mr. Cummins are sitting in the back seat where they belong.
Brian Bonney, Burnaby
Voters will judge Clark
Like many life-forms, moths become attracted to and disorientated by artificial lights. One of the most distressing examples of this self-destructive behaviour can be witnessed most evenings in B.C.
On the TV news you will likely see a wide-eyed Christy Clark, our premier by default, buzzing about in front of the artificial camera lights.
The premier’s primary responsibility is to run our provincial government, B.C.’s largest single employer, as a sustainable, cost-effective, service-delivery business for the long-term benefit of the people.
Who is most enjoying Clark’s performance as a political celebrity? The answer is pretty obvious: members of the B.C. Conservative party.
When an election finally comes, the voters will judge Clark on her accomplishments, not on her synthetic smiles and empty promises.
Lloyd Atkins, Vernon
