In the lead-up to the 2019 federal election MP Wayne Stetski talks a good line on climate change, but can we rely on him to oppose B.C. minority NDP and federal Liberal government fossil fuel expansion policies?
When Burnaby-South NDP MP Kennedy Stewart was arrested alongside Green Party leader Elizabeth May, in opposition to the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, Stetski and the rest of the B.C. NDP federal caucus were publicly silent. When the Green Party stood aside to support election of Jagmeet Singh in Burnaby-South, he then came out in support of B.C. NDP and federal Liberal expansion of LNG production and tax subsidies during an interview with Evan Solomon. Again Stetski was publicly silent.
The NDP say we are in a climate emergency, but in all 14 votes in the BC Legislature they have supported LNG expansion, increasing tax subsidies for fossil fuel development, and as a minority government continue to allow use of fracking; and their federal leader attended the Toronto Raptors celebration instead of the House of Commons climate debate.
Stetski also says he supports cross-party collaboration and co-operation on climate change, and then turns around and misleads voters on the content of the Green Party’s Mission Possible document, which mentions job creation explicitly in three of its 20 points and implicitly in four more.
Andrew Weaver and the B.C. Green caucus, Elizabeth May and now Paul Manly, are consistently opposing and voting against B.C. LNG expansion, increasing fossil fuel tax subsidies and continuing fracking. As our youth are correctly pointing out to us: we cannot both simultaneously say we are in a climate emergency and then turn around and vote for politicians who, by their silence and actions, support fossil fuel production expansion and use.
Andy Shadrack
Kaslo