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B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan made his first campaign stop outside the Lower Mainland in Penticton Thursday.
Horgan toured Structurlam’s production facility in Okanagan Falls, followed by a media scrum in front of the new tower being constructed at the Penticton Lakeside Resort.
“The building behind us is, I believe, the future for our forest industry,” Horgan said, referring to the cross-laminated timber construction of the building, built with Structurlam product.
“A B.C. NDP government is going to be investing in infrastructure, building schools and hospitals, public infrastructure that will get our economy going again. And when we build public infrastructure, we want to build it using products like being used here,” he said.
Horgan went on to briefly outline his platform, released Thursday morning, underlining affordability pitches such as a $400 rebate for renters and freezes on BC Hydro, ICBC and BC Ferries rates.
Joined by Penticton candidate Tarik Sayeed and Boundary-Similkameen candidate Colleen Ross, Horgan said he was confident the “two outstanding candidates” would win in May.
B.C. Liberal Finance Minister Mike de Jong, attending a fundraiser for incumbent Penticton MLA Dan Ashton down the street at the SS Sicamous, said the NDP’s budget “is impossible to balance.”
“It’s going to lead to one of two things, it is either going to be a massive deficit, or a massive tax increase. I probably, I fear a combination of the two,” he said.
Horgan says the NDP is using B.C. Liberal party numbers, “so for him to say that you can’t trust the numbers is telling you that you can’t trust his, either.”
Ashton agreed with Horgan that cross-laminated timber from company’s like Structurlam “is the wave of the future,” but stated his government has been incredibly supportive of the company.
De Jong jumped in, claiming the B.C. NDP is opposed to free trade.
“That is not good for a company like the one we are talking about trying to get their products to other markets.”
The election is May 9.
