November 30, 2009
Current and Ex-NDP MLAs Expose James’ Climate Change Hypocrisy

VICTORIA - Current and former NDP MLAs are speaking out as Carole James has once again revealed the NDP has no plan to address climate change or sustainability issues in British Columbia.

“After six years as leader, Carole James has provided no positive vision to combat climate change, only criticism and avoidance,” says Minister of State for Climate Action John Yap. “On the eve of a significant global summit in Copenhagen to address one of the greatest challenges to ever face our generation, the time has come for the Carole James NDP to simply stop opposing and bring forward real solutions."

During a policy debate with NDP members on the party’s sustainability policy at their convention, North Island MLA Claire Trevena said she was “immensely disappointed” in the party’s lack of policy direction on climate change. “We lost it in the platform debate. We lost it in the party machinery. We lost it in the caucus machinery,” she told delegates.

Criticism was even more direct from former NDP MLA David Cubberley, who went directly after NDP leader Carole James as offering no message on climate change or sustainability during her convention speech.

“It's like the dog that didn't bark in the night. The word 'climate change' was never mentioned. 'Sustainable' was a tack on," Cubberley said in an interview with The Hook. "[The speech] appeared not to be centred in the most paramount issue of our times at all…. For me I would say sustainability has not made it to being a value in this party and if it doesn't the party will become progressively less and less relevant.

"The question really now, especially after the last election campaign, is whether [the NDP] care about the environment and the sustainability of our economy and whether they see the shift that we have to make moving into a more sustainable economy as something they play a key role in and I didn't get a sense of that from this speech," Cubberley said. "[The environment] appears to be being suppressed as a discussion, which I don't really get."

Yap pointed out that the lack of any significant comment on climate change in the recent speech followed a number of policy decisions by the NDP that directly went against the province’s climate action agenda – most notably:

• Voting against the revenue-neutral carbon tax that has been  lauded internationally as a progressive move to reduce emissions while lowering taxes on families and business;

• Voting against legislation to implement the framework for a cap-and-trade system alongside other Canadian provinces and U.S. states; and

• Opposing the development of new clean, green energy sources in partnership with the private sector through independent power production that will result in billions of dollars in new investment and thousands of new jobs in rural communities.

“It’s clear from this speech that the NDP have nothing new to say on the critical issues facing our province and the world, and it continues to be the same tired rhetoric from the same old NDP,” says Yap. “The BC Liberals have a clear plan and clear targets to reduce emissions while making our economy a world-leader in green energy and technology development. It is not enough for the NDP just to pass resolutions and talk about climate change – they need to stop opposing and get behind the BC Liberal plan.”