Skeena MLA, Ellis Ross is one of six candidates vying to be the leader of the BC Liberals and stopped in Cranbrook to discuss his plans for the party.
Back in 2017, Ross was appointed by Christie Clark to be the Minister of Natural Gas Development and Minister Responsible for Housing. Before that Ross was the chief councillor for the Haisla Nation.
Ross said job recovery is one of the most important issues as the economy transitions out of the pandemic.
“The Private sector got hit the hardest in the COVID era, I’ve driven from Kitimat to Vancouver and every community needs workers,’ added Ross.
“It’s actually quite scary, but what we have to do is start encouraging the private sector and we got to stop obstructing them, we need to stop making it harder for private businesses to succeed. If we don’t get our act together we’re going to get our butts kicked by the US, by Asia, or by some other jurisdiction.”
Ross added that the province needs to focus on resource development to strengthen the economy and not rely on taxes.
“Resource development in B.C. is actually done at a very high level and resource development is actually crucial to our society,” said Ross.
“Whether you’re Aboriginal or you’re not, it pays the bills and it actually enables people to build good lives, our society overall benefits when we have good strong economies.”
“We should be leaders in economic growth because we have high environmental standards and let’s face it, we’re a great province to live in, but we are not filling that potential we have because this NDP government is thriving on politics and dividing British Columbians.”
Local MLA, Tom Shypitka said the BC Liberals need to look at bringing back some of their old programs to help people get back to work.
“The BC Liberals had a really good skills training program, they really got people up and out of their houses,” said Shypitka.
“We also had the single parent initiative that was really good, that gave single parents the tools to get an education, it paid for their tuition, it paid for their transportation, it paid for their daycare and got them up and gave them the tools they need.”
Ross also added that the BC Liberals need to change and adapt to the times. Ross said the party stopped listening to people across B.C. but it’s time to get back to a community approach.
“I’m not going to come in here and tell you what’s good for Cranbrook and what you should do as Cranbrook. I think BC Liberals need to come into your community and ask what’s important to you.”
The deadline to become a member to vote for the Liberal leader of B.C. is on Dec. 17, 2021.
