I worked hard to elect John Horgan and David Eby. I believed in what the BC NDP promised. I believed we could work together to protect the forests, rivers and coastlines that make British Columbia extraordinary, while building a cleaner, safer and more prosperous economy and fighting climate change.

I gave them my vote, my time, my energy and — perhaps most importantly — my trust.

That trust has been broken.

Politics is about compromise. I understand that. I’ve spent decades working with governments, communities and even fossil fuel companies to find common ground. But there is a difference between compromise and abandoning your principles. There is a difference between making difficult decisions and breaking the promises you made to the people who elected you.

When the NDP came to power, they promised to take climate change seriously. They promised to protect our remaining old-growth forests. They promised to build a clean economy that would create good jobs and protect the places we love. They also promised reconciliation and a new relationship with Indigenous peoples based on respect, partnership and the recognition of Indigenous rights.

Instead, we’ve watched those promises unravel.

Despite years of commitments to protect old growth, some of the most endangered and irreplaceable forests in British Columbia are being logged. These are forests that have stood for centuries and store enormous amounts of carbon, shelter endangered species and sustain Indigenous cultures and communities. We are one of the few places in the world that still have thousand-year-old trees and healthy old growth ecosystems. 

The NDP promised to protect them. Yet their government has repeatedly failed to deliver the protection that scientists, Indigenous leaders and British Columbians have called for.

And then there is climate change.

Under Eby’s leadership, the government has increasingly embraced the very industries driving the climate crisis. Fracking and LNG expansion are being sold to British Columbians as part of our clean energy future. Public money and electricity are being directed toward new fossil fuel infrastructure while climate programs are weakened and delayed.

The government has weakened its climate commitments and dismantled parts of the machinery of government........

© National Observer