BC LIBERALS - Douglas Horne
The media and political pundits may be writing off the BC Liberals' chances of winning next week's election, but Doug Horne said he's hearing a different story from voters in his riding.
After weeks of knocking on doors, the BC Liberal MLA for Coquitlam-Burke Mountain said he is even more confident he will win next week and of his party's chances as a whole.
"I'm getting great reactions at the doors," he said. "I am confident, not just provincially but locally. People are aware of the job I have done."
One of the accomplishments he highlights is his government's part in bringing the Evergreen Line to the Tri-Cities.
While completion of the project is still a few years away, he said the Liberals were instrumental in breaking the "log jam" and getting construction on the rapid transit line started.
But there is still more work to do, he added.
More focus must be placed on how to maximize the Evergreen Line and connect residents to their local stations through an improved bus service, he said.
As for new schools in the area, Horne believes it is possible for the province to use seismic upgrading funds to build a new school in the area.
The incumbent candidate also takes issue with some of the NDP's spending promises. Contrary to the opposition party's assertions, he said their platform is not fully costed and would likely create a budget deficit or lead to larger tax increases.
"All the things they have done are on the back of a napkin," he said. "The math just doesn't make sense."
Horne acknowledges that the BC Liberals have also run deficits recently, but said that was in large part due to the 2008 global economic downturn.
Now that the crisis is in the rearview mirror, he said people want the provincial budget to be balanced, something he does not believe voters will get from the NDP.
"They are all the same guys that were there the last time they were in government," he said. "Most of their fresh faces are senior union leaders. It is all organized labour. We already played that movie once and it didn't turn out that well."
For more information go to www.douglashorne.ca.
