Pubdate: Tue, 30 Apr 2013
Source: Langley Advance (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.langleyadvance.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1248
Author: Matthew Claxton

DEBATE HITS TAXES, POVERTY, DEBT, DRUGS

Fort Langley-Aldergrove's candidates vied for support in front of
prospective voters.

At several points on Wednesday night, candidates for Fort
Langley-Aldergrove's provincial seat reflected that it was difficult
to answer tough policy questions in 60 seconds.

Yet the four candidates gave it their best shot as they fielded
numerous questions in front of an audience of about 90 people at the
Langley Events Centre.

Incumbent Liberal Rich Coleman, NDP candidate Shane Dyson, Rick Manuel
of the BC Conservatives and independent Kevin Mitchell were asked a
series of policy questions that covered health care, agriculture,
taxes and tolls, debt and deficits, seniors, and marijuana.

While the candidates criticized other parties' policies, they avoided
taking verbal shots at one another.

- - On transit:

"Currently, we have no governance, no service, and no input," said
Manuel, after declaring his opposition to any new tolls in his opening
statement. "We can't get there from here," he said, summing up transit
service in Langley.

"Quite frankly, we are poorly serviced in the Valley," said Dyson.
TransLink needs new governance, and all three levels of government
have to work together on the issue, he said.

Coleman emphasized the widened Port Mann Bridge and Trans Canada
Highway. He said there has been a big improvement with the trip to
Vancouver from Langley now about 35 minutes.

Service always lags demand, said Mitchell, and added that people love
their cars.

- - On top economic priorities:

"We have to face some harsh realities," said Mitchell, criticizing the
NDP and Liberals for each offering to spend more.

Dyson focussed on skills training and creating new entrepreneurs,
while Coleman emphasized the Liberals promise to develop a huge liquid
natural gas industry in the north.

Manuel said deficits are the key problem.

"We need to have a balanced budget every budget," he
said.

- - On creating a light rail line to Langley

Dyson pointed to 12 years of Liberal cabinet ministers hailing from
the Fraser Valley, with no creation of rapid rail transit in the
region over that time.

"We don't necessarily need a Cadillac model like we've seen in other
areas, but we certainly do need a Chevrolet model," he said of light
rail.

Coleman played down the need for light rail, saying that it can be a
very expensive proposition until there's enough ridership for it to
make sense. He added that quicker access to SkyTrain through the wider
Port Mann has changed people's attitudes on the issue.

For Manuel, getting a rail line in the Valley should happen before
Vancouver gets its line to UBC, while Mitchell favours a system
similar to the West Coast Express north of the river.

- - On the need for an anti-poverty strategy:

"We have the dubious distinction of being the best of the worst on
child poverty," said Manuel, referring to B.C.'s second-place ranking
among provinces in child poverty. The province has often been first.

On adults, he spoke of offering aid to people in Vancouver's downtown
eastside.

"Some of these people don't want training, or don't want help, but you
at least have to offer them [training]," Manuel said.

Coleman emphasized the drop in child poverty, the largest decline in
any province, and the 40,000 families who now get government rent 
assistance.

Dyson said that in Aldergrove up to 50 per cent of students aren't
ready to start kindergarten, and many people are unemployed or
underemployed.

"I find more and more people are struggling with their pension
cheques," he said of seniors.

Child poverty in B.C. was historically high under the NDP in the
1990s, initially rose when the Liberals took office, and then began to
decline over the last decade.

- - On marijuana decriminalization:

Coleman was the only candidate to come out strongly against
decriminalization or legalization.

"I think you'd better know what the chemical effect of this particular
drug is before you decide that you're going to put it into your whole
population," Coleman said.

He said that drug addicts in recovery always mention either marijuana
or alcohol as the first drug they tried, while alcohol itself is the
drug that causes the most costs for society overall.

Dyson said he'd be open to a province-wide discussion about
decriminalization.

"Perhaps marijuana should be regulated the same way that we regulate
alcohol," he said, adding that like alcohol, any drug can be
dangerous, and responsible consumption and regulations are needed.

Mitchell mentioned Dutch decriminalization, which he observed on a
trip to Amsterdam.

"For a place that has legalized the use of marijuana, I've never seen
a more controlled place," he said.

"From a personal perspective, I'd like to open a discussion," said
Manuel, adding that questions about how much pot makes a driver unfit
to get behind the wheel should be answered first.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt