Premier Christy Clark arrived in the East Kootenay yesterday, two weeks before the May 14 provincial election, to make appearances with the two Liberal candidates in the region.

She stopped first in Cranbrook and toured Fab-Rite Services Ltd. along with Liberal candidate Bill Bennett, vying for his fourth term in Victoria.

Fab-Rite, a family-owned business, provides steel structures and services to resource and construction industries and is an example of thousands of B.C. companies that depend on a healthy resource economy.

It’s the kind of company that is threatened if the NDP seize provincial power, Clark said.

“A strong economy demands strong leadership. It’s crystal clear from last night’s debate that Adrian Dix’s plan is to say ‘no’ to economic opportunity and say ‘yes’ to out-of-control spending that would raise taxes for families. Weak leadership means a weak economy,” she said.

“This company and the communities I serve need resource industries to thrive,” said Bennett. “The NDP put the brakes on East Kootenay’s economy in the 1990s. A vote for the NDP here is a vote for jobs in Alberta, not B.C.”

After the tour of the Cranbrook plant, Clark and Bennett boarded the Liberal leader’s decorative campaign bus, resplendent with a giant head shot of a smiling premier, and headed to Kimberley where they were greeted by Columbia River-Revelstoke candidate Doug Clovechok.

Clark and company headed into the Snowdrift Café, where the engaging Vancouver-Point Grey MLA and provincial leader spoke with a contingent, about 20 strong, of party supporters from the Columbia Valley.

After making some coffee and meeting with café patrons, Clark headed out to the Platzl for a walk-about, stopping first to chat with two young mothers from Fairmont Hot Springs, and their young children.

She ventured to the under-construction Spirit Rock Climbing Center and had a tour courtesy the three owners of the new business, and then made chocolate cherries, before engaging with more residents in the Platzl.

Clark departed Kimberley at 3:30 p.m. and headed back to Cranbrook for an evening rally and fundraiser for Bennett at the Heritage Inn.

The economy remains the hot button topic for the 47-year-old, 35^th Premier of B.C., tasked with trying to win an election most pundits believe is unwinnable from damages inflicted by her predecessor, Gordon Campbell.

“B.C. is standing strong in the face of global economic risk. Our jobs plan is driving growth, and controlling spending is protecting the economy with a balanced budget,” said Clark.

“NDP flip-flopping on the economy and their $3 billion borrow, tax and spend playbook is dangerous for the economy and would leave families vulnerable when they can least afford it,” she warned.

Please click on an image to begin self-directed slide show of Premier Clark’s tour of Kimberley, April 30.

Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

Article Share