Horgan formally launches his campaign with attacks on Clark
NDP leader John Horgan rolled out his campaign on Wednesday in a giant bus plastered with a photo of his face.
He chose Christy Clark’s former ridings of Port Moody and West Point Grey to hammer at the premier a week before the election campaign officially begins on April 11, the day the lieutenant governor is expected to issue the election writ.
“I’ve got a bus with a head as big as a bus out there. I’m going to be wellknown in 35 days if I’m not wellknown already,” said Horgan.
Horgan said he isn’t worried about running for election as leader for the first time against a well-known premier, pointing out that the Clark government is the subject of two RCMP investigations, one for fundraising improprieties, the other for a controversial real estate deal.
Horgan said the party’s decision to start campaigning early was no different than the Liberals, who he said are already filling up media email inboxes, making announcements and campaigning “on the public dime.”
“We thought we’d get rolling, get our bus on the road and we’ve done just that.”
Horgan said the recent flood of Liberals announcements and promises, such as the announcement of funding for transit lines in Surrey and Vancouver, “is a desperate move by a desperate government to try to change the channel. The RCMP is not just investigating their fundraising practices, they are also investigating how they are addressing housing in B.C.”
Horgan promised to end “big money politics,” and hammered Clark for giving tax breaks to corporations, and for benefiting from “the Wild West of fundraising” in B.C.
“We know there is a special prosecutor in place, we know the RCMP is investigating the fundraising tactics, and we want to introduce another element that’s not talked about: The tax breaks given to big corporations over the past few years by the B.C. Liberals.”
Horgan called Clark out for indulging in perks like a private jet and free car, while B.C. residents pay more for government services.
Medical premiums have doubled, hydro rates have gone up 70 per cent and ICBC has raised premiums under Clark, said Horgan.
Horgan accused the premier of ignoring communities, being a “political vagabond” who has travelled from riding to riding, “wherever she can get success, not for the community, but for herself.”
Horgan promised to reinvest in education, provide $10 a day child care and raise the minimum wage.