Provincial Parliament resumed on Tuesday.
Speaking on behalf of Premier Christy Clark, Lieutenant-General Judith Guichon shared the BC government’s plans for the coming year.
Giving only a brief mention of natural resource industries, Stikine MLA Doug Donaldson hopes to see a stronger emphasis on these sectors in the future.
“These are things that are jobs now and jobs for the future in the North and I think they need a lot more attention by this government then just a sort of passing mention in the throne speech,” he says.
There were also talks of a balanced budget, to which Donaldson was concerned based on Clark’s track record of debt.
“Although balanced budgets are worthwhile, we see balanced budgets being brought in on the backs of children and young people. The reason I say that is we see schools closing in our areas and that’s a direct results fo the spending priorities of this government.”
Lastly, Donaldson was critical of the Premier’s idea of a “respectful civil dialogue.” Quoting the Premier, She says he’s unsure how much of this he expects.
“Just recently, the Premier was quoted on a radio station saying that hereditary chiefs who didn’t share her views from LNG development on Lelu Island were a bunch of rag tags.”
Donaldson will be a part of the upcoming budget talks, which will talk place next week.