Daily News Pressing Questions April 17, 2009

The Pressing Questions feature continued in Friday April 17ths edition of the Daily News, part of the papers ongoing election coverage.

The Question: "The provincial government has shown a commitment to South Delta Port. Do you believe it is time for the Port of Prince to become a priority for the provincial government?"

Gary Coons - New Democratic Party

Absolutely it is time for our port to become a priority. Our port is a more environmentally-friendly way to move products to Asia because it takes less time and the distance is shorter. Gordon Campbell assured British Columbians that funding would be provided on an equal basis for all BC Ports but the push for Delta has been foremost on his mind.

The economic health of the north is of the utmost importance. The BC NDP will be investing to support economic diversification and investments in port and rail infrastructure to all regions and sectors of the province.

Lisa Girbav - Green Party

Port expansion and the support of our container port should be a priority of the provincial government. The port provides long term sustainable jobs and brings much needed economic diversification to Prince Rupert. However, we do need to recognize that increased traffic can lead to problems. More ship traffic leads to increased pollution from fossil fuels as well as invasive species. As well, to fight climate change we need to rely more on local production and reduce long distance transportation as much as possible.

Herb Pond - Liberal Party of BC

Premier Campbell's government invested heavily into a strategy to attract Asian and North American cargo to ports in British Columbia - including funding for Fairview Phase 1, which created over 250 great work opportunities around Prince Rupert. Terminals are nothing without strong rail and road connections. The terminals of the Port of Prince Rupert benefited greatly from the $1 billion investment partnership that poured $185m back into the North through the Northern Development Initiative and that was the crucial catalyst for our new container Port. The Port of Prince Rupert was a priority of mine as Mayor of Prince Rupert. As MLA it will continue to be a priority for me and the BC Liberals.