By Joe Johnson (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: July 18, 2012
Abbotsford South MLA John van Dongen, a man all about proper representation of the public, recently opened his office to The Cascade. Van Dongen has been a watchdog for the BC Rail case, a key player in the development of the newly-formed BC Conservative party, and just happens to have the riding in which UFV’s Abbotsford campus lies. Last March he left the BC Liberals, a party he stood with since 1995, and in the May 2013 Provincial election will look to run on a BC Conservative platform.
Why did you leave the Liberals to become a Conservative?
Well I think the basic issues were that the leadership race that started in November, December of 2010 was an opportunity for renewal in the BC Liberal party after Gordon Campbell had resigned. And I very actively supported a candidate, I supported George Abbott. There was one other candidate that I felt was highly qualified for the job but there was two candidates that I didn’t think were qualified very well for the job, and I was pretty vocal about that within the party. And moving forward with the government, with the Premier, I was disappointed that the renewal that should have happened with a new leader, that didn’t happen. And I was particularly concerned with issues about honesty and ethics and commitment to public service. And I cited as examples the Basi, Virk legal fees issue, the $6 million write off of legal fees owing by law…there was a pattern here that I saw and I didn’t believe it would change…they lost touch with their public, they lost touch with the basic hallmarks I think of a credible government which are things like integrity, and competency, and commitment to public service. And I made a very tough decision … but one that in terms of my belief about what my responsibility is—to my constituents—I was prepared to do because I believe it needed to be done; and I couldn’t carry on in good conscience as part of the government. So yes, that was a big decision.
Would you be personally in favour of eliminating interest on student loans?
I don’t know the numbers but I think it’s legitimate to look at that. You know, what is the cost to government of financing that, what is the cost of administration. But I think right now it’s prime plus two, which I think it’s legitimate to look at it. But it all has to be in the context of a balanced budget. And I don’t know the numbers. I did read that I think the provincial government has about $260 million out in student loans I believe.
Core funding for the educational institutions themselves haven’t seen any increases but the capacity issue has been increasing…
I’ve done a fair bit of work with your president, Dr. Mark Evered, and the University on the core funding issues and I think that one of the factors that are critical for UFV is the population growth that we have. We’re one of the fastest growing populations in this region in Canada and in BC and I’m not convinced that there’s enough emphasis placed on population growth in the funding formula.
At one point we had at least a dozen ministries where I felt there was a direct correlation between the lag time when population is increasing and the lag time for the dollars following it. And I think that’s one of the things that’s seriously pressuring our University – is population pressure that is not funded right away.
But Mark Evered will tell you that the single biggest right now, for him, is classroom space. And we’re working with him on both the short term and longer term project to try and alleviate that.
Where do the Conservatives stand on the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline? The recent report coming from the US has been somewhat damning of the company.
I take the recent report from the US extremely seriously. There were indications there that are quite disturbing. Any time that you’re doing a large project like this, there’s a social license, a public license that needs to be earned, that needs to be demonstrated that the company, A, takes the issue seriously and B, is willing and able to deliver on whatever the requirements might be. Our position as a party, and Cummins has spoken about this, we’re supportive of development but not at the expense of the environment. I’m going to say that this latest information about Enbridge is quite disturbing in terms of what we hear.
But I said in principle we would be supportive of economic development like that pipeline but subject to strong environmental assessment and proof that they’ve got the capability and will to meet high standards if a permit is granted. And John Cummins I’ll say this for him besides the other things I’ve said, he is an environmentalist. He’s got a track record of being very strong about environmental protection. I’m confident in saying just because he supports an economic development project in principle doesn’t mean that it’s a blank cheque, because it isn’t. He is simply not prepared to compromise the environment to build a pipeline. He is not prepared to do that.
And Enbridge has got a much bigger job to convince me that they’re ready for a big project like that. I’d be doing a lot more research before they ever got a permit in BC.
What are your personal key initiatives over the next year?
I’m working very actively … to help build up the party. Once I got out of the legislature I decided to get out and meet as many different members and constituencies in the BC Conservative party all over BC.
And helping build up candidate recruitment. This is certainly a big initiative … September 10 I’m in court on the Auditor Generals case. I’ve got some more documents coming as of a court order today. So I’ll be working on that, we’ll keep moving this forward. And I will continue to focus in particular, on my constituency going to as many events as I can… you pick up a lot of feedback talking to people and you get a chance to impart to them what you did and why you did it. I would say those are my three things.
Are you looking forward to the campaign?
Well, yeah I am in this respect I’m particularly looking forward to the campaign and my constituency. Yeah it was a very, very significant decision to leave the BC Liberal caucus, to leave friends behind, to take a riskier decision than I might have had if I stayed there. And I’m looking forward to what elections are if you’re an incumbent, being accountable for what I’ve done and why I’ve done it. … Because in a way people voted for a BC Liberal MLA. But I’ve had a lot of people say to me, “we didn’t vote for you because you’re a BC Liberal, we voted for you because of who you are.”
But like I said, that’s the ultimate accountability session is an election, and I am looking forward to it.
