Frankly Speaking

For voters in Surrey-Fleetwood, which will be one of the most hard-fought races in the South Fraser area, I would like to invite you to an all-candidates meeting next Wednesday, May 3, at the Fleetwood Christian Reformed Church, 9165 160 St. It runs from 7 to 9 p.m. and is co-sponsored by the Fleetwood Christian Reformed Church and Northwood United Church. These two organizations have sponsored many such meetings in both federal and provincial campaigns and they have always been lively. I have been asked to serve as moderator and I’m greatly looking forward to it. The three candidates in the riding, Peter Fassbender for the BC Liberals, Jagrup Brar of the NDP and Tim Binnema for the Green Party, have all said they will attend.

Kinder Morgan photo A portion of the twinning of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain oil pipeline through Jasper National Park has already been built. The B.C. government hasn’t closed the door tightly on Kinder Morgan’s plan to twin the Trans Mountain oil pipeline, but Monday’s submission to the National Energy Board from the province is certainly a devastating blow to the twinning proposal. In particular, the province is unable to determine whether the project meets two of five conditions it has insisted upon for supporting heavy crude oil pipelines, based on the information provided. These relate to oil spills along the pipeline route and at the Burnaby marine terminal, and the company’s ability to respond to emergencies. Most B.C. residents support the strong stance the province has taken, and the five conditions that Premier Christy Clark has insisted must be met for B.C. to accept such a pipeline. It is important to remember that the Kinder Morgan pipeline played...

Peter Fassbender ran for the BC Liberals in 2013 because he wanted to get things done. He believed the party could win an election that pollsters and most of the public thought would be a cakewalk for the NDP. He was right. He won his Surrey-Fleetwood seat, which had been held by the NDP's Jagrup Brar, by 200 votes - with that margin of victory likely due to an intensive door-knocking effort in the final weeks of the campaign. He talked with voters about jobs, growth and issues that mattered to them. When he ran, he was mayor of Langley City. While he was mayor, a position he held for eight years, he served for a time as chair of the Mayors' Council - which has limited oversight powers over TransLink. He lost that position, which is voted on by other mayors, because some of them felt he was too close to the provincial government. Fassbender pushed hard for many initiatives in Langley City during his years as mayor, notably a downtown master plan, more condo development...