The environment was a hot issue in the second BC Liberal leadership debate.

It’s an important issue for our provincial free enterprise coalition to get right if we want to defeat the NDP. 

We won’t beat the NDP by surrendering to the left’s use of climate and the environment as a purity test and a political wedge issue. But we can win with a common sense plan to capitalize on the huge economic opportunity.

We need to grow our whole economy and our whole province, not just part of it. 

Electric vehicles are selling like hotcakes right now, and working families in parts of BC are choosing to buy the increasingly affordable models - not as luxuries, but to save money against household budgets that are straining under the weight of taxes and inflation. 

They’re a solid environmental choice, especially here in BC where we generate electricity from falling water. But they still require an immense amount of natural resource products, like aluminum, copper, and nickel. Electric vehicles come with their own environmental impacts that need to be addressed - like disposing of batteries at their end of life. 

Here’s the upside, though, and it’s a big one: the growing global demand for electric cars is also a huge opportunity to export innovation and create jobs all over BC. 

If we get moving, it’s a huge boon for our mining sector, which is a global leader in responsible resource development. We should be talking about that all the time, and we should be making sure that we move faster to get to yes on the mining opportunities that will be critical to electrification. 

We can and should be the coalition that brings people together with a focus on the economic opportunities that come from exporting our environmental leadership - whether it’s in the form of wildfire prediction and detection, responsible resource development like mining and LNG, food security, or alternative energy.  

That’s my approach - pragmatism, not purity tests. Let’s all work together, move forward together, beat the NDP, and form a new government for the people of British Columbia. 

If you agree, don't forget to join or renew as a BC Liberal member before December 17th so you can vote in the leadership - just click here. 

If you’d like to support our campaign to move the BC Liberal Party forward, please consider making a donation.