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Delta candidates debate environment

National and local environmental issues were the subjects of a federal election debate for the Delta candidates at KinVillage Thursday evening.
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Randy-Anderson Fennell, Craig DeCraene, Angelina Ireland and Carla Qualtrough gave their positions on Delta environmental issues.

National and local environmental issues were the subjects of a federal election debate for the Delta candidates at KinVillage Thursday evening.

Organized by several Delta residents, including the Delta Naturalists, the debate was one of the final opportunities to hear the riding’s hopefuls in a forum prior to the Oct. 21 election.

The event was the final in Canada for the “100 Debates on the Environment Project” campaign by the national environmental group GreenPac, which had over 100 debates focused on the environment throughout the country.

Liberal incumbent Carla Qualtrough, New Democrat Randy Anderson-Fennell, Green candidate Craig DeCraene and the People’s Party of Canada’s Angelina Ireland participated, answering a series of questions that were given to them in advance, although the candidates did get to answer some questions from the audience afterward.

The organizers also allowed independent candidate Tony Bennett to stand at the podium after the first four were finished to explain his position on the issues.

Not in attendance to participate was Conservative candidate Tanya Corbet, a fact Qualtrough made sure to point out as “telling” during opening remarks. It was also noted Corbet didn’t submit responses to the questions.

Also not in attendance was independent candidate Amarit Bains.

 

The first set of questions pertained to national issues with the first being what’s their key positions to meet international obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.     

DeCraene read his party platform’s which includes phasing out fossil fuels and oil subsidies.

Saying there was no climate emergency as it relates to human-caused global warming, Ireland explained there are other environmental emergencies that need to be addressed.

“The hyper-focus on carbon dioxide is detrimental to the overall conservation movement. It doesn’t focus on real drivers of climate change like land use or over development on urban areas, and it doesn’t focus on things like clean water. The price on carbon dioxide and the carbon tax accomplishes nothing. It doesn’t do a thing about plastics in the ocean, nothing about single-use plastic and nothing about the over use of chemicals…for me, it’s not about global warming but global government,” she said.

Qualtrough talked about her government’s climate change platform which includes banning single-use plastics to conserving water and land to protecting species at risk.

“This is more than just a simple series of actions. This is a fundamental change in how we do things and what we do, and it requires a culture shift in our country, so we have to take care of our people and bring them with us,” said Qualtrough.

 

delta debate

 

Anderson-Fennell also went over his party’s platform which includes a “bold” $15 billion plan that includes, among other things, an ambitious retrofit program to major investments in low carbon transportation infrastructure and help installing more electric vehicle charging systems.

The first question posed on local issues asked what plans the candidates have for raising the dikes with DeCraene saying a special task force is needed that has experts and all levels of government dealing with the climate situation, as well as establish a climate change adaption fund for areas hardest hit.

Ireland, saying it will take about $2 billion for a complete dike upgrade throughout Delta, noted the municipality does have a plan but federal and provincial funding is important.

Qualtrough noted the federal government should be a significant funding partner, adding they created a $2 billion disaster adaptation and mitigation fund, although it’s still not enough.

Anderson-Fennell, saying they would declare a climate emergency, noted Delta can count on his government to invest in public infrastructure such as the dike system.

 

delta federal election debate

Tony Bennett also went over his ideas which include building more hydroelectric dams and adding more electric vehicle charging stations

 

Asked if they would purchase privately owned land adjacent to Burns Bog to add to the ecological conservancy area, Ireland said she’s in favour of a federal heritage conservation program doing just that, while Qualtrough also said the federal government should play a role in protecting the rest of the bog.

DeCraene agreed, saying other levels of government should get involved, while Anderson-Fennell said experts such as the Burns Bog Conservation Society should have their voices heard as well.

Asked about their position on the proposed Wespac LNG facility on the Fraser River, Qualtrough noted gaps in environmental regulations need to be filled, and she would advocate for more rigorous environmental assessments that include cumulative assessments, while the others expressed outright opposition to the application. Ireland said the jobs are important but a better location is needed, while Anderson-Fennell talked about retraining those workers for different careers altogther.

Regarding the proposed Terminal 2, Qualtrough said she’s still not convinced of the business case and whether the environmental impacts can be mitigated, while the others expressed opposition to that project also with DeCraene suggesting other current facilities be utilized and Ireland also opposing to the Detaport Fourth Berth proposal.

Anderson-Fennell quipped he liked Qualtrough’ s earlier remark that the space now occupied coal terminal at Roberts Bank be converted for shipping containers.