Dan Brooks leadership campaign to focus on three core issues

Yesterday in Kamloops, as many of you know, the former BC Conservative candidate for Nechako Lake, Dan Brooks, officially announced he will be seeking the support of members across the province, to become the parties next leader.  Some of the news media stories regarding his announcement can be found at:

Kamloops TV7 News: http://www.cfjctv.com/story.php?id=15999

The Province: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Northern+candidate+Conservative+leadership/8904816/story.html
Kamloops Daily News:
http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20130912/KAMLOOPS0101/130919947/-1/kamloops/first-bc-conservative-tosses-name-into-leadership-race
The Tyee: http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/2013/09/12/BCConsLeader/

Just to be clear, as I have already been asked this, I have not yet made any decision on who I will be supporting for the leadership of the party.  Right now, one person has declared, one more is expected, and there are rumors afloat that others are considering letting their names stand.

I, like many others BC Conservatives, will be looking foreword to hearing the visions of the various candidates, for the future of "our" party. 

In keeping with that, today I would like to present a background document from Dan Brooks, on what he considers the three core issues that he will be presenting.  As others step forward in announcing their candidacy, I will present their thoughts here as well.

Here then, are the three core issues or principles Dan Brooks will be presenting during his campaign for the leadership of the BC Conservative Party; fiscal responsibility and accountability ... rebuilding the economy of rural British Columbia ... and decentralizing decision-making by empowering grassroots British Columbians.

1. Fiscal responsibility and accountability

In 2001, British Columbia's total debt was $33.8 billion. That was too high, said the newly-elected BC Liberals, and so they introduced a balanced budget law that outlawed future deficits.

By the end of the latest fiscal year, 2012/13 - after a dozen years of BC Liberal governments - the provincial debt has climbed to an historic high of $55.8 billion. That's an increase of more than $22.0 billion in just twelve years.

And instead of making fiscal shortfalls illegal, the BC Liberals actually amended their balanced budget statute - twice - to allow for successive deficits. Over the last dozen years, the BC Liberal record is seven deficits and only five surpluses.

The province's independent Auditor General, moreover, repeatedly has issued qualifying statements on the annual Public Accounts, saying they do not conform with generally accepted accounting principles.

On top of that, the province's 'Contractual Obligations' - that is, future payments owed to contracted suppliers such as Independent Power Producers - have exploded to $99.8 billion. Together, British Columbia's debt and contractual obligations add up to an almost-unbelievable $155.8 billion.

The BC Conservative Party is dedicated to bringing the province's finances under control. As party Leader, Dan Brooks will introduce measures to ensure fiscal responsibility and accountability.

2. Rebuilding rural British Columbia

British Columbia's rural population has shrunk over the last several decades and now stands - as a proportion of the total population - as the smallest in the country. As recently as 1966, one-quarter - 25 per cent - of all B.C. residents were classified as living in "rural" parts of the province; by 2011 that number had plunged to just 14 per cent. (The comparable number for Canada as a whole was 19 per cent.)

Looked at another way, over the last half-century, the proportion of British Columbians living in an 'urban' setting has increased from 75 to 86 per cent.

The trend is persistent. In total numbers, the province's rural population peaked in 1996 at 667,000. By 2011, that number had collapsed to just 609,000.

Over a 15-year period, therefore, British Columbia's rural communities have lost almost 58,000 residents.

It must be said that some cities and regions outside the Lower Mainland are doing well. For example, between 1996 and 2012, the Thompson/Okanagan Development Region saw its population grow from 468,000 to 541,000.

That's an increase of 73,000 - or more than 15.6 per cent - over the last 16 years. Most of that growth, however, has taken place in the central Okanagan, in and around Kelowna. Other cities and towns in the region have not grown nearly so fast.

In the Kootenay Development Region, the population between 1996 and 2012 grew by less than 500 people. The situation was much worse for most of northern B.C., where three of the four development regions actually lost population between 1996 and 2012.

The Cariboo saw its population fall by 9,600, while the North Coast lost more than 12,000 souls. The number of residents in the Nechako region fell by almost 4,900.

Only the Northeast Development Region - home to the province's booming natural gas industry - experienced a population increase, gaining 7,700 residents from 1996 to 2012.

Unfortunately, the provincial government has done little to acknowledge the on-going challenges that face rural British Columbia. Indeed, in many instances Victoria actually has exacerbated the situation, closing dozens of schools, forest offices, courthouses and other public facilities located in rural and remote parts of the province.

Dan Brooks and the BC Conservatives believe that the province's wilful neglect of rural British Columbia must be reversed. It is long past time to re-invest in our rural economy, to build up transportation and social infrastructure, to improve the quality of life for rural residents, and to reverse the decline in population.

As Leader of the BC Conservatives, Dan Brooks will bring a renewed focus to rebuilding and restoring the province's rural regions.

3. Empowering grassroots British Columbians by decentralizing decision-making

There will be no Fall sitting of British Columbia's Legislative Assembly in 2013.  Our province has a 'fixed' legislative calendar that requires a Fall sitting each and every year, but over the last four years we've only had one, in 2011.

In recent years, our legislature sits for fewer and fewer days. In 2013, for example, the Legislative Assembly was in session only for 36 days.

A year ago, in 2012, the total number of sitting days was 47. In 2011, it was 48.

Under Christy Clark and her BC Liberal government, the Legislative Assembly has been in session for an average of just 43.7 days per year.

Compare those numbers to a quarter-century ago, in 1987, when the legislature sat for 115 days. That number was not unusual - B.C.'s MLAs knew that they had to be at work in the Legislative Assembly to adequately represent their constituents.

Christy Clark's government seems intent on muzzling British Columbia's elected representatives. The Premier and the BC Liberals effectively have shut down the Legislative Assembly to keep MLAs from speaking up for their local communities and constituents.

Another troubling trend under the BC Liberals is the increasing centralization of power in the Office of the Premier.

It was not our MLAs who decided that the legislature this year would not have a Fall sitting - it was Premier Clark, alone, who said that she would rather travel to Asia on a trade junket that spend her time in the Legislative Assembly.

While she is travelling to distant and exotic lands, B.C.'s MLAs will be silenced - unable to stand up or speak up in the legislature for their constituents.

Under the BC Liberal government, our MLAs - the elected representatives of the people - have less and less say in the operation of our provincial government. Not surprisingly, the last decade has seen a sharp reduction - not only in our representation - but in the services provided to everyday British Columbians.

Residents living in rural B.C. have been especially hurt with the closure of dozens of schools, courthouses, forest district offices and other public facilities.

Dan Brooks and the BC Conservatives believe that British Columbians want to see a decentralization in power and decision-making. Our MLA's should have a greater, not lesser, say in how the provincial government works on our behalf.

British Columbians at the grass-roots level, moreover, must be empowered to make the decisions that affect their families, their jobs and their communities.

Dan Brooks is dedicated to increasing community participation in the political process.

Over the course of his leadership campaign, Dan will introduce exciting new ideas to increase fiscal responsibility and accountability in the provincial government, to rebuild the economy of rural British Columbia, and to decentralize decision-making by empowering grassroots British Columbians.

That's it for today, and for this week.  I'm Alan Forseth in Kamloops ... and I am a BC Conservative.