‘Silver-haired’ senior can’t figure out who to vote for
As a retired senior, I’m scratching my silver hair trying to figure out who to vote for on May 9.
The three main parties are making promises that are so expensive and unaffordable unless they raise taxes and fees, and not just for the wealthy and the corporations they say they would target.
The NDP is promising $10-a-day child care, a $15-minimum wage, increased welfare and disability rates, interest-free student loans, the elimination of bridge tolls and no pipeline, among other things.
The Liberals vow to stay the course of accountability and affordability, jobs and a strong economy, a cap on tolls and the Site C dam, and other items.
The Greens’ promises include no pipelines or dams, bridge tolls, increased school funding, grants for post-secondary students and “free” daycare for three- to five-year-olds.
Jerry Fairbanks, Mission
Clark’s ethics questioned
During the last provincial election, Liberal Leader Christy Clark attacked then-NDP Leader Adrian Dix’s character for his admission that in 1998 he backdated a memo related to a casino application. She said there’s no “expiry date on ethical behaviour.”
But Clark was removed as president of the Simon Fraser University Student Society in 1989 for breaking campaign rules.
And this year she and the B.C. Liberals are under RCMP investigation for contraventions of the Elections Act related to improper donations. Earlier this year, Clark accused the NDP of hacking Liberal computers. She was wrong. Behind the smile, she has no morals or ethics.
Al Williams, Richmond
NDP wrecked B.C.’s economy
Now that we are into the provincial election campaign, it’s becoming evident that there are many people who, after 16 years of Liberal rule, feel we need a change. I would caution everyone from repeating the mistake of 1991.
In ’91, B.C. elected its second NDP government after a 16-year run by the Social Credit party. The NDP ran deep deficits, B.C. suffered a credit-rating downgrade and had one of the worst-performing economies in Canada, with huge job losses and out-migration of workers.
There were also sweet deals for the NDP’s public sector union supporters, problems in the Ministry of Children and Families and a series of scandals and blunders that include bingo-gate, the fast ferries, the fudge-it budget and casino-gate.
It took years for B.C. to recover from the NDP.
The last 16 years of a Liberal government haven’t been problem-free, but at least we have an economy that is leading Canada with a triple-A credit rating.
Electing the NDP on May 9 will harm B.C. for years to come. Brian Sommerfeldt, Port Coquitlam
Richmond’s farmland failure
Richmond’s planning council voted last week to permit homes that are more than double the maximum size recommended by the Agricultural Land Commission and over triple the size of average Richmond homes.
Homes on Agricultural Land Reserve land shouldn’t exceed the size of homes in adjacent urban areas in order to limit speculation and preserve farmland.
By not following ALC recommendations, Richmond is attracting investors to buy ALR land. This will generate even more hostility in Richmond as city council pits urban versus rural, culture against culture and creates a two-tier system where money talks.
Sustainability in Richmond is becoming a joke, where money talks every time.
More disappointing is a B.C. government that doesn’t work to preserve farmland and our shared future. Michelle Li, Richmond