B.C. Conservative party leader John Rustad and caucus colleagues are in Cranbrook to attend the B.C. Cattlemen's Association annual general meeting and trade show, which hosts cattle ranchers and industry partners over the next few days.
"It's nice to be back in the Kootenays and back in Cranbrook," Rustad said. "The [BC] Cattlemen being here, there's a lot of talk about access to the landbase, being able to get range tenures, lots of concerns about water, water access as well.
"The good news is cattle prices are high, but everyone is concerned about how they're going to be able to build their futures."
Rustad also noted localized issues such as onerous wait times to get through permitting processes for range tenures, and wildlife conflicts and management with elk herds in decline.
The Conservative leader reflected on a number of topics now that Legislature business is standing down for the summer break.
The Conservatives swept into Victoria as the largest Official Opposition in B.C. history last election, sparring with the BC NDP, who govern with a tenuous majority. Polls returned 47 seats to the BC NDP, 44 seats to the Conservative Party of BC and two seats to the BC Greens.
"For me, what came out of the spring session was the real strength and growth I've seen in our MLAs," Rustad said. "We came in with a lot of new MLAs not knowing what to expect, wondering how all of this works, and by the end of it, I was so impressed. Happy to put any one of them up during Question Period."
Rustad also highlighted the unanimous support across party lines for successfully passing an official opposition private member bill from Judy Toor that seeks to integrate perinatal and postnatal mental health care into B.C.鈥檚 healthcare system.
He also pointed to Columbia River - Revelstoke MLA Scott McInnis' efforts to advocate for more operational funding for Angel Flight East Kootenay 鈥� a volunteer medical transport service that flies East Kootenay patients to 91大黄鸭 鈥攚hich was announced by Health Minister Josie Osborne in April.
"There still needs to be a longer tern solution, but these are the kind of things that we were able to move forward as Opposition, which I was really pleased with," said Rustad.
While the Legislature is on a break over the summer months, Rustad said he'll still be keeping an eye on major issues, such as the provincial and national response to the ongoing tariff saga and trade dispute with U.S. president Donald Trump.
Rustad slammed B.C. Premier David Eby for his absence at a meeting between Canada's premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney, as Eby is currently on a trade mission to Asia, however, Attorney General Nikki Sharma attended on his behalf.
"I found it very disturbing that all the premiers came together across Canada except for David Eby," Rustad said. "They came together creating trade opportunities to bring down barriers for labour and mobility , talking about how we build this nation, and what's David Eby doing? Selling a wooden soccer ball in Japan."
"...When the issue came up of getting a new oil pipeline out to the coast, I was shocked to hear David Eby say, 'Nope, not interested, we're not going to do it.'"
While new oil pipelines remain a delicate topic, the B.C. Assessment Office recently gave the go-ahead for the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT), which would take liquefied natural gas approximately 900 kilometres across northern B.C. from Hudson鈥檚 Hope in the east to a floating liquefaction plant near the Nisga'a village of Gingolx (approximately 50 kilometres north of Prince Rupert).
There, it would be loaded onto ships headed to foreign markets via the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG terminal.
As noise around separation in western parts of the country seemingly increases, Rustad said Canada is worth fighting for.
"Just like Sir John. A. Macdonald put the rail line to bring this country together, British Columbia can play a key role in getting our resources to tidewater and being the lead to making this happen and using it to unify this country.
"This is the best country in the world and British Columbia is in a position where they should be taking a lead role, and quite frankly, David Eby is absent on the field on this one."
