NDP slams BC Liberal Leader Wilkinson for not condemning Alberta’s ‘illegal actions’

Bruce Ralston

B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson is choosing to side with Alberta over B.C. even though he should know better, said Bruce Ralston, MLA for Surrey-Whalley, on Monday.
“Last week, Premier [John] Horgan challenged Andrew Wilkinson in question period to condemn Alberta’s actions as illegal, but he refused,” said Ralston. “It’s disappointing that he is choosing to side with Alberta’s illegal actions instead of protecting jobs in B.C.”
Ralston, who is the Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology, announced on Monday that the B.C. government is formally challenging Alberta’s ban on B.C. wines through the Canadian Free Trade Agreement’s (CFTA) dispute settlement process.
“Andrew Wilkinson is refusing to acknowledge that Alberta’s actions violate the Canada Free Trade Agreement even though the B.C. Liberal government signed this agreement,” said Ralston. “I’m proud to be taking action to protect B.C. jobs in the face of Alberta’s unfair attack on wine industry.”

2 COMMENTS

  1. BC’s NDP, and the green party, need to get some education. The illegal action is being taken by the parties in power in B.C. Let’s hope that the citizens in this great province wake up to the fact that we need competent representatives to run our province and country. BRUCE RALSTON is refusing to acknowledge that BRITISH COLUMBIA’s actions violate the Canadian Constitution. They should be aware that the FEDERAL government used its authority when it carefully reviewed the pipeline agreement prior to it being approved 100%. How can the NDP be proud to be taking action that’s DESTROYING jobs in Alberta, B.C. and the rest of Canada?

  2. There is no illegal action by BC – the Federal government, the oil industry, BC and Alberta all agreed that tests need to be done on bitumen in salt water – these tests need to show that bitumen will not cause problems when (not if) a tanker goes down in gale force winds that happen more often now on the coast. BC is just saying that until these tests are done there should not be any bitumen transported by tanker – BC has a right to protect its priceless environment. Just like the unions in Alberta who would rather see the oil processed in Alberta so that jobs are kept in the province – jobs in the oil patch are disappearing annually due to technology, so the only people really winning are the people who own the oil and the pipelines (The Americans and Chinese). Putting this pipeline through will destroy far more jobs in Alberta than if the oil was processed there – we would all win if this happened, and BC would be only too happy to ship refined oil, rather than highly toxic sludge.

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