Well, wasn’t that just a snappy, informative throne speech?
We should all be feeling a lot better now.
The irony of the New Democrat throne speech is that it was full of promises – filled to the brim with unsubstantiated promises.
READ MORE: NDP throne speech long on rhetoric but short on details
What are they smoking? It’s a scary pipe dream.
It’s scary because we only need to go back to the May 2017 provincial election to see what promises mean to Premier John Horgan and his New Democrat cohorts.
Let’s start with the evils of the dreaded liquefied natural gas.
Mr. Horgan successfully used that “No LNG” campaign to cut the head off the snake – Christy Clark – who convinced British Columbians that LNG was the goose that was going to lay a golden egg during her whirlwind bus tour through the province. How did that turn out?
Not good for NDP leader Adrian Dix, and the same can be said about Clark, who got bounced and ran away.
For his part, Horgan must have peered into the looking glass and realized leading a government wasn’t nearly as much fun and trying to bring one down.
It must have been frightening to realize you need to have money to run a government.
Where’s the money?
How are we going to get the money to build a budget on?
Hence the recent trip to Asia to talk a little LNG, even if it was just in passing – nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
That is why there wasn’t detail or costing on the promises in the Feb. 13 throne speech.
Likely the devil will be in the details when the budget is released on Feb. 20 and then debated.
Definitely the new government is going to need money to pay for the promises in the latest throne speech.
Is it possible the Horgan government is going to turn into the tax-and-spend New Democrats of the past. Remember: fees, fines and premiums are the new taxes.
That being said, what about the throne speech comments regarding the rights and needs of B.C.’s Indigenous Peoples being set aside for far too long and that the NDP government understands the enormous responsibility it has to Indigenous Peoples….
Just a minute here Mr. Horgan.
Are you speaking out of both sides of your mouth at the same?
Did you not make the decision to go forward with the Site C hydroelectric dam?
Didn’t that violate the rights of the Treaty 8 Indigenous Peoples?
Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs president Grand Chief Stewart Phillips seems to think so.
A lot of work to do, John.
Ken Alexander
Quesnel Cariboo Observer