On the eve of the provincial general election, B.C. Conservative Party Leader John Rustad shot back at the NDP’s claims he doesn’t believe in climate change.
“The climate change issue is real,” said Rustad, who has also said the situation, "is not a crisis. It is not an existential threat."
It has been unclear what Rustad’s thoughts on the issue are but he was unequivocal on the fact of climate change’s existence as he addressed the annual general meeting of the Union of B.C. Municipalities Sept. 20.
The NDP has said Rustad, a former B.C. Liberal Party minister, has called climate change a hoax and told The Globe and Mail it was “false” that humans burning fossil fuels causes climate change.
More recently, Rustad asked, “How is it that we've convinced carbon-based beings that carbon is a problem?”
Still, the Nechako Lakes MLA told conference delegates he’d dump the carbon tax and the low carbon fuel emissions standard, something he said would improve affordability for British Columbians.
"Taxing people into poverty is not going to change the weather,” said Rustad, a former B.C. Liberal minister of aboriginal relations and reconciliation and minister of forests, lands and natural resource operations.
"It's making us uncompetitive. It's a huge cost structure, and the Conservative Party of British Columbia is committed to getting rid of those costs and returning that money back to people to be able to deal with the affordability," Rustad said.
Rustad’s comments came a week after New Democrat Premier David Eby said that if Ottawa dropped the “backstop” legal requirement for carbon pricing, then his government would also drop the consumer tax.
“Complete removal,” he said.
The pitch to voters
“The system is broken,” Rustad said as he began his conference address.
Among his first topics was law and order.
“Crime is rampant,” he said. “It’s getting to the point where there are no consequences for people committing crimes in your communities.”
Rustad said significant investment is needed in the courts.
But, he said, crime is part of why people, particularly the younger population, are choosing to leave B.C.
Adding to the problems, Rustad said, is the drug and addiction crisis.
“This needs to come to an end,” he said. "We can’t continue with safety supply and decriminalization.”
He said hardcore addicts need recovery and treatment options along with life-skills training. That includes involuntary care, he said.
“We should be compassionate,” he said. “We should say it’s not OK for people to be living out on the street.”
Health care
Rustad said Eby has discussed hiring more medical professionals.
That’s not enough, Rustad said.
“The system is broken,” he said. “This is not a third-world country. We should be able to do better.”
He pledged to look at other countries with universal health care to see how B.C.’s system might be changed. Part of that, he said, is decreasing bureaucracy and ensuring health care dollars follow patients, not the system.
But, he stressed, his party has no plans to bring back the Medical Services Plan and its direct costs to taxpayers.
Municipal assistance
Rustad said infrastructure throughout the province is deteriorating, problems municipalities cannot fix alone.
He pledged a billion dollars for water and sewer upgrades, a commitment he said could translate into $25 to $30 billion after matching funds from Ottawa and municipalities.
