From newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca Mon Jul 19 16:15:02 2004 From: newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca (BC NDP NEWSWIRE) Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 15:15:02 -0800 Subject: [LabComm] Public has right to know why BC Ferries moving jobs and opportunities overseas, says James Message-ID: - NDP Leader demands accountability on decision to exclude BC bids on new super class ferries ? Vancouver ? NDP Leader Carole James today said that the public has a right to know why BC Ferries has decided to build three new super class ferries in Europe while excluding BC-based bids. James said that given BC?s forgone economic benefits and opportunities associated with the construction of these new ferries, the Campbell government must provide the public with a thorough explanation for its decision. ?Gordon Campbell has shielded BC Ferries from public accountability by exempting the corporation from the most basic laws protecting taxpayers, like Freedom of Information,? said James. ?As a result, BC Ferries is moving jobs and economic opportunities overseas with no explanation or public rationale. Taxpayers and ferry users deserve better treatment.? James said that as a quasi-public crown corporation, BC Ferries spends taxpayer dollars and therefore should be subject to public oversight. Moreover, with the Campbell government?s record of making important business decisions from the Premier?s Office, there is no reason why BC Ferries should be allowed to operate without public scrutiny. ?Gordon Campbell personally fired Nick Geer from ICBC for doing a good job providing public auto insurance. Now he?s letting BC Ferries exclude BC-based bids on new ferry construction. He owes British Columbians an explanation on important crown corporation decisions such as these.? In April, Washington Marine Group, which owns the Vancouver Shipyards, confirmed that they were not invited to bid on the construction of new super class ferries. James said that it doesn?t make sense to deny BC-based companies the opportunity to compete on a level playing field with their overseas shipbuilding rivals. ?BC-based companies should be given the chance to compete and to win contracts paid for with tax dollars,? said James. ?If the Premier really did believe in the strength of BC business, he would ensure that they were at the table with and given the chance to show what they can do.? To unsubscribe or change your settings go to: http://www.e-2ve6y.signup.bc.ndp.ca/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca Thu Jul 22 15:00:04 2004 From: newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca (BC NDP NEWSWIRE) Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 14:00:04 -0800 Subject: [LabComm] Campbell dismisses years of community planning with decision to cut parkland Message-ID: Today's decision to remove thousands of hectares of land from one of BC's most important protected areas undoes years of effort to establish a balanced land-use plan that works for BC communities, said BC New Democratic Party leader Carole James. "It took seven years to arrive at a consensus within the local community regarding the Lillooet Land and Resource Management Plan and the creation of the South Chilcotin Mountains Park," said James. "Now the Campbell government is turning back the clock -- shrinking one of BC most important parks." "It demonstrates once again that Gordon Campbell can't be trusted to listen and abide by agreements that were reached through open negotiation." "Local stakeholders spent years participating in the long and arduous consultation process at the LRMP table. Now the Campbell government is dismissing their efforts." "This is an effort to pit environment versus jobs and we reject those confrontational politics. We know they don't care about jobs ? if they did, they would not have taken steps to change forestry policies to sever access to timber from local job creation." James noted that the BC Liberal government's own socio-economic impact study demonstrated that the South Chilcotin mountains have far greater value preserved as parkland than they would if logging and mining were allowed. "This area supports a growing wilderness tourism industry that contributes $11 million annually to the provincial economy," said James. "On the other hand, there is little evidence of economically-viable mineral reserves in this area." To unsubscribe or change your settings go to: http://www.e-2ve6y.signup.bc.ndp.ca/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: