The Council of Canadians Victoria chapter has endorsed the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) ‘Vote Anyone But Clark’ online campaign.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip says, “Christy Clark and the BC Liberals have demonstrated injurious arrogance and destructive ambivalence for our pristine ecosystems, for climate change, the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and for the sacred duty to protect the natural inheritance of our children and our families.”
The pledge says: “On May 9th, 2017, I will vote for the candidate in my riding with the best chance of defeating Christy Clark and the BC Liberals.”
The three main parties also completed a UBCIC questionnaire on Indigenous issues.
Grand Chief Philip says:
1- Liberals – “Clearly the BC Liberal government came up short.”
2- NDP – “The NDP responses to our questionnaire were the most comprehensive.”
3- Greens – “The BC Greens’ responses revealed their lack of understanding of Indigenous interests, Indigenous rights and Indigenous issues.”
Furthermore, the CBC reports, “Phillip mentioned a number of grievances First Nations have with the B.C. Liberals, including the push to go ahead with ‘market-dead LNG’ and the Site C dam, which he characterized as a ‘white elephant’ and a ‘sleazy, political make-work project to shore up the failings B.C. Jobs program’. ‘The Clark government has virtually neglected the people of British Columbia in her obsessive pursuit of large scale resource development projects’, he said.”
As noted above, voting day in the provincial election is May 9.
The Council of Canadians is a non-partisan organization that endorses no political party, but rather is committed to building a peoples’ movement capable of holding any government accountable to the public interest.
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