News

NDP candidate made salmon a key by-election issue, says Layton

OTTAWA – Today’s announcement of a judicial inquiry into the collapse of wild salmon stocks shows that NDP candidate Fin Donnelly is having an impact even before he gets elected, says NDP leader Jack Layton.

Layton noted that Donnelly and NDP west coast fisheries critic Peter Julian called for such an inquiry on Oct. 23. The call was backed by scientists and conservation groups, and the New Democrats have collected hundreds of petition signatures to support the inquiry.

New Dems' by-election strategy is to pin the much maligned tax on Harper.

If the Fin Donnelly campaign now underway in New Westminster-Coquitlam says anything about how the New Democratic Party may run in the next federal election, the message is this: Make the HST a federal issue, pin it on Stephen Harper, and keep Jack Layton in the picture.

Fin Donnelly and Peter Julian held a press conference last week calling for a federal government inquiry into the declining sockeye salmon returns.

The Conservative government will announce the conditions of a judicial inquiry looking into why the sockeye salmon stocks off B.C.'s coast are declining at an alarming rate.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the inquiry in the House of Commons today (Thursday).

The conditions of the inquiry will be announced tomorrow by Trade Minister Stockwell Day.

We tried to interview Diana Dilworth, who wants to win the New West-Coquitlam by-election. We really did try.

If the Conservative campaign now underway in New Westminster-Coquitlam says anything about how Prime Minister Stephen Harper hopes to win a majority in the next federal election, the message is this: Run for a strong economy, run against crime, and run away from public debate whenever possible.

View the video: http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/69154582.html

New Westminster-Coquitlam has been in the NDP’s column since 2006 and it is up to Fin Donnelly to make sure it doesn’t swing the other way on Nov. 9.

The two-term Coquitlam councillor is making his pitch to voters playing up his environmental credentials and his party’s opposition to the HST. Donnelly has been telling voters on the doorsteps that he wants to champion causes he has supported locally at the federal level.

New Democrat plan gives priority to workers’ pensions when companies go bankrupt

OTTAWA –Canadians who rely on company pensions for their retirement are being left out in the cold by firms underfunding their pension plans then declaring bankruptcy, New Democrat leader Jack Layton said today.

Voters in the federal riding of New Westminster-Coquitlam who want to see candidates in action have only two opportunities to do so before next Monday’s byelection.

The Douglas College Students’ Union is holding a forum today (Wednesday) at the New Westminster campus and the Burquitlam Residents Association is holding a meeting tomorrow in the Sir Frederick Banting middle school gym.

But Conservative candidate Diana Dilworth will attend neither, according to her campaign manager.

The catastrophe doesn't seem to concern Tories, Grits. In fact, they don't want to know.

The NDP tread where the Conservatives and Liberals fear to go as NDP Fisheries Critic Peter Julian and MP hopeful Fin Donnelly call for an independent judicial inquiry into the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye.

It should happen. It must happen. And it won't happen.

Voters deserve to know more about Dilworth’s views on HST and private health care,” says NDP candidate

New Democrat Fin Donnelly is urging his Conservative opponent in the New Westminster-Coquitlam and Port Moody by-election to attend the local candidate debates scheduled for later this week.

“Voters deserve to know more about Diana Dilworth’s position on the HST and health care privatization,” said Donnelly. “Unfortunately, she has not yet confirmed her attendance at a single public debate before an audience here in the riding.”

The federal New Democrats are calling for an immediate independent judicial inquiry into the catastrophic collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run to ensure that west coast salmon don’t go the way of Atlantic cod.

NDP Western Fisheries Critic Peter Julian and Fin Donnelly, NDP candidate in the New Westminster-Coquitlam by-election, say the inquiry is urgently needed to ensure the long-term viability of west coast salmon.