Your Conservative Candidate In Penticton

Chris Delaney

This Changes Everything

By Chris Delaney

BC Conservative Candidate for Mla in Pentiction

Less than four weeks before the provincial election writ, Premier Gordon Campbell detonated a political bomb that has the potential to not only destroy the fortunes of his BC Liberal Party, but the fortunes of British Columbia itself.

Campbell’s Recognition and Reconciliation Act will carve BC into 30 separate aboriginal territories, giving natives a veto over all land and resource development, forever. The Act would establish “Aboriginal Title”, making natives the exclusive legal owners of BC. All new resource development, all new land zoning or development, any changes to BC crown land or agricultural land, would now be subject to aboriginal veto, oversight and compensation.

The Bill would also hand control of BC’s resources and lands to the federal government, as “Indian Lands” fall under the Indian Act which stipulates the federal government as title holder of those lands.

A legal opinion written by Canadian Constitution Foundation lawyer, Jeffrey Rustand, says that even privately owned land will come under native authority. He quotes one government official as referring to the Act as a “seismic shift” for us all.

I call it an unmitigated disaster.

For proof this is a non starter consider how Campbell brought the Bill forward to his own caucus. He had bureaucrats concoct the legislation in secret, and laid it before his government members without any knowledge or consultation. The backlash by not only his caucus, but business leaders, industry, and citizens was swift and furious. Campbell quickly tabled the Bill and promised to “revisit” it after the election.

We all know what that means.

For proof I offer the eerie and unusual silence of the native leaders. No protests, no condemnation, no screams of betrayal.  They know the only people who are going to be betrayed are us – the rest of BC.

Not only will this Bill send business and industry packing from BC faster than we saw it under the NDP debacle of the 1990’s, it will destroy our very democracy. Ask yourself - how can an unelected, unaccountable group of native leaders have a veto over the interests of the other 4 million inhabitants? That is exactly what this Act does.

Whether it is the outright giveaway of BC Rail to CN, the dismantlement of BC Hydro piece by piece to foreign interests, Campbell’s Carbon Tax or his “Cap and Trade” system of allowing industry to pollute by paying credits to industries that do not, these policies are a farce designed to hand control of BC to interests that are often diametrically opposite to our own.

When the Vancouver Canucks traded for Roberto Luongo, it was called a “game changer”. The Recognition and Reconciliation Act is a political “game changer” for BC. Nothing here will ever be the same once it is implemented.

The BC Conservative Party is the only party in this election committed to developing our energy resources so that we have the wealth to maintain the cleanest environment on earth. We would eliminate the Carbon Tax (which is just a pathetic disguise to pay for the Olympics anyway) and implement a Heritage Fund similar to Alberta’s. This would be used to finance the development of alternative energies by reserving a portion of our resource wealth to build our future - not create punitive taxes that harm individuals and curb economic growth.

There is a close spread between a Liberal and an NDP majority. The emergence of the BC Conservative Party is a response to voters who want a strong third party alternative to prevent either of those parties from forming a majority.  We are running 20-30 candidates in key ridings targeted to elect enough members to bring whichever party forms government back to reality, and hold them to account.

The future of our province depends on it

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