The Lester Centre of the Arts was the lecture hall on Thursday night, as the candidates for this Tuesdays General Election met in a political forum, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce.
The much anticipated opportunity to learn more about the local candidates representing the major parties covered a variety of topics over the two and half hours of political talk.
Port Development, Fisheries issues and the worrisome state of the national and international economy were among some of the key items up for discussion, though perhaps the most emotional of the issues covered was the Highway of Tears tragedies, as CHP candidate Rod Taylor called for public inquest into the cases.
Liberal candidate, Corinna Morhart called on the audience to observe a moment of silence for those that have been killed or disappeared along the stretch of Highway 16 between Prince Rupert and Prince George.
When it came to the participation from the floor, it became apparent that the Skeena-Bulkley Valley riding will be a battle between the Conservatives and the NDP, as both Sharon Smith, who originally was going to skip this debate and Nathan Cullen fielded numerous inquiries from the crowd in attendance, covering a variety of issues that they were asked to expand upon.
The Northern View has been the first with their observations on the debate, posted late Thursday evening to their website.
Candidates square off in Prince Rupert
By Shaun Thomas - The Northern View
Published: October 09, 2008 10:00 PM
Updated: October 09, 2008 10:59 PM
For two and a half hours on October 9 the candidates in the Skeena - Bulkley Valley riding interacted with the residents of Prince Rupert as the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce hosted its all candidate forum at the Lester Centre of the Arts.
After a two minute opening statement, candidates Hondo Arendt (Green Party), Nathan Cullen (NDP), Mary Etta Goodacre (Canadian Action Party), Corinna Morhart (Liberal), Sharon Smith (Conservative) and Rod Taylor (Christian Heritage Party) faced individual questions from a panel consisting of a Chamber of Commerce representative and a representative from each of the local media outlets.
When it came to the question regarding the future development of the container port at Fairview Terminal, the candidates indicated that the first thing that needs to happen is for the Federal Government to resolve the outstanding land issue raised by the Coast Tsimshian.
However, Cullen put the blame on the situation on the Conservative government, Smith said the incumbent MP didn’t do what was needed to reach a resolution, and Morhart, who is of Tsimshian descent, pointed out the need to have an MP who understands the First Nations protocol for an agreement to be reached.
One area that was a focus through much of the evening was the state of the fishery and its management by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
“The current fisheries management is not working. The DFO needs to be allowed to manage based on scientific data and not on pressure from the special interest groups and the wealthy,” said Smith.
“We need to take a lot more control of local management decisions. We definitely need more local control of the resource,” countered Arendt.
Another area of contention was the role that the sport fishery and fishing lodges play in the stock management and the lack of data from that sector.
“We have to start treating the recreational fishery and the sport lodges like what they are, which is a commercial fishery,” said Cullen.
“You can change the things you measure, but if you’re not measuring then you can’t change the management of a resource,” added Taylor.
On the subject of offshore oil and gas drilling, Arendt and Goodacre both said they would oppose lifting the moratorium currently in place.
“The fish are too important and the risk is too high,” said Goodacre.
In terms of the economy, each candidate outlined policies that their party has or would initiate, but Smith and Cullen once again differed on current economic conditions.
“Our leader did give the heads up that the Canadian economy would slow down and has started to pay down the debt…He has stayed the course, taken us through some troubled times and we are headed in the right direction,” said Smith.
“I worry about the fate of our economy right now,” countered Cullen.
When it came to questions from the floor, Smith and Cullen were the most frequently called upon with nine and six questions each, while Arendt fielded two questions and the remaining candidates fielded none.
The questions focused on trades training, which Cullen said the province messed up royally, the current state of the economy, tanker traffic, water rights, which saw Smith saying that no Canadian water would be sold or exported, and the role of the opposition.
Another issue that arose was that of the Highway of Tears. While Taylor said it was “high time” for a public inquest, Morhart also spoke of the Highway in her closing statements and used her final minute of speaking time for a moment of silence observed by all in attendance.
“Something has to be done in our region, and it has to be done now,” she said.
A small but attentive crowd came out for the forum.
Voting day is October 14, and detailed results will be available at thenorthernview.com.
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