Will Horgan comment hurt NDP in May election?

Jan 17, 2017 | 2:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops-North Thompson Liberal candidate Peter Milobar was quick to take advantage of a perceived gaffe by NDP leader John Horgan last week. Commenting on the mixed response to the approval of the project to twin the current Kinder Morgan pipeline from Alberta through B.C. to Burnaby, Horgan was quoted as saying, in effect, that Interior residents didn’t have the same perspective as those on the coast. Milobar jumped on the comment, suggesting the comment represented a “pat on the head” to Interior residents and was condescending. My guess is that Horgan meant his remarks  to say “people on the coast simply have a different look at this issue than people outside the Lower Mainland.” But the way the comment came out was certainly taken differently than that by many.

The NDP will likely struggle enough to unseat the Liberals in either of the Kamloops ridings in May’s election without having a comment like that hanging over their heads. From a strictly political perspective, Milobar jumped on the comment quickly, and certainly made full measure of the situation.

The NDP leader has his hands full trying to juggle a number of balls and this is just one of them. If he is suggesting that we in the Interior aren’t as concerned about the environment as people on the coast, he’s barking up the wrong tree. Certainly people at the coast are concerned about things like oil spills that could foul pristine marine life habitats and destroy things for years to come. But people in the Interior certainly aren’t blind to what damage a pipeline breach can cause to water supply and forest preserves in the Interior.

We all have different views on things like pipelines, power dams, and LNG plants. I believe that we cannot simply bring every project to a halt because there is a chance of an oil spill, or we’re going to flood some land for a dam that may have been good farm land. You have discussion, you weigh the options and you make a decision. Yes, there is the possibility of an oil spill, and if it happens, we have to deal with it, and yes, there could be tragic consequences. But to suggest we don’t allow tanker traffic because of that threat simply doesn’t make good practical sense. If we’ve done everything we can to mitigate any problems, and we determine the pros are greater than the cons, then so be it. If every project that had some risk to it were halted, we would certainly bring our economic growth to a snail’s pace.

For some projects, the risks aren’t worth going ahead. But we make that decision after we weigh everything and have experts look at it, and hear peoples’ opinions. And then we go ahead or we shut it down. That’s just good common sense, no matter what your perspective, and no matter where you live.

I am trusting that John Horgan wasn’t being condescending, that his comments weren’t meant as a pat on the head. But his comments in future will certainly be watched closely and give us a better perspective on how he really feels about those of us who live outside the big city.