While the official Opposition is good at pointing out problems, where are their ideas? asks Delta’s Liberal MP Carla Qualtrough.
“I think the Conservatives are very good at stirring up trouble, but not providing any solutions for Canadians,” she said Thursday following a visit by Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre to Delta.
“What would you do instead?” regarding childcare programs or housing solutions, she asked.
“As a voter, I would want to know what their solutions are. Governing is hard, and it takes a level of maturity that the Conservative party isn’t showing right now.”
Qualtrough said that it’s a reality that Canadians are struggling to make ends meet, but they still also want to address climate change.
B.C. has had a carbon tax since 2008, (currently at 18 cents per litre of gasoline,) and residents are aware of climate change and what happens if we don’t act, she said.
“And it is undisputed, regardless of what Pierre Poilievre says, that the most cost-effective way to address climate change is through a price on pollution,” she said, citing a recent letter from economists.
“This is not new to British Columbians at all. It’s kind of a false narrative in our province.”
She said it’s unlikely that removing the carbon tax would see a lower price at the gas pump. “It would just mean more profits for the oil companies.”
What’s good about Deltans is they ask the right questions, she said.
Qualtrough pointed out the recent $6-billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund announced last week with $1 billion of that directly available for municipal stormwater and wastewater infrastructure, could be used to fund the Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant if the province wants to make that a priority.
“It’s the exact thing that could fund that project,” she said.
Metro Vancouver has asked Ottawa for $250 million for the first phase of the project and for $3.3 billion in the long-term for the $10-billion wastewater project.
Federal money will also flow for the new Fraser River tunnel, allowing the second exit to Ladner Village at River Road.
Once the environmental assessment is completed, significant federal money will be available for the tunnel, she said.
“That’s going to happen … no doubt.
“It’s literally only a matter of the exact amount, which is in the process of being worked out with the province, and when it will flow,” she said, noting it’s a multi-million-dollar, multi-year project and it depends on the timeline as to when the money will be announced.
“I don’t want to scoop anything but I’m super confident it will happen. It isn’t a matter of if we’re going to do it, it’s a matter of when we’re going to do it.”
Qualtrough said she intends to run again in the next federal election.
“I’m not worried but I take nothing for granted and I intend to earn my job again,” she said.
