The Conservative candidate for the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo says he missed an environment debate with other local candidates due to a meeting with small business owners.
Frank Caputo tells NL News he was given seven days notice about Wednesday’s debate hosted by Transition Kamloops and the Kamloops Chapter of the BC Sustainable Energy Association (BCSEA), adding he already had his other meeting scheduled.
“We weren’t consulted in advance on the date. We did have a previous commitment, and that commitment itself, at first blush, represented people who made up about 400 jobs in the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo area. Once I actually attended that meeting, it actually turned out to be closer to 800 to 1,000 local jobs,” he said.
He didn’t say who he met with, noting it was a private meeting with small business owners in the Kamloops area.
“Jobs are important, just like climate change is important. Erin O’Toole has a positive plan for the environment that will bring us to Paris 2030 targets without levying onerous carbon taxes,” he said.
Speaking on the NL Morning News, Caputo says his party has a strong environmental plan,, adding he’s excited about the proposed low-carbon savings account.
“That low carbon savings account means that when you are levied on carbon, that money goes directly back to you as a consumer, rather than into government coffers,” he said. “That means you can spend it on a bike, a high efficiency furnace, or in my case what I hope to spend it on is my first electric car.”
Other Conservative candidates have compared the low-carbon savings account to getting a refund for returning your bottles – saying consumers are credited for environmentally-friendly actions.
Caputo’s absence though was being called out by Bill Sundhu, the NDP candidate in Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo.
“When you got to the voters, its like a job interview and when you don’t show up for a job interview, you don’t deserve to get the job,” Sundhu said, adding he thinks the environment and climate change is the top issue for people in the riding after a devastating wildfire season this summer.
Speaking to NL News, Sundhu said both the Conservative and Liberals governments of the past have failed when it comes to the environment.
“It has been absolutely atrocious. Lytton was destroyed. Monte Lake. We’ve had extremely bad air quality that impacted people’s health and greenhouse gas emissions have gone up in Canada,” he said Wednesday afternoon.
“We have no alternative but to address it, and there is tremendous economic opportunities in a just transition and we are committed to doing it.”
He was speaking during a campaign event in Kamloops, where he touted the NDP’s $3 billion commitment over four years towards disaster relief and building “resilient infrastructure.”
“The province does have authority over property, natural resources and so forth, but the reality is that the federal government has the largest taxing power and it also has the responsibility, and we can’t leave people to cope on their own,” Sundhu added. “So, it was absolutely necessary to step up and help families because that is the Canadian way.”
“We should have each others back and this is about keeping families who are really really truly struggling to helping them out. That is the right proper role and leadership of government. We’ve had an absence of leadership in that area.”
On Monday, Sept. 13, Radio NL, Kamloops This Week, and the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce are co-hosting a local online all-candidates’ debate at 7 p.m.. You will be able to listen to the debate live on Radio NL or online on the KTW Facebook page.
Also running in Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo is the Liberal candidate Jesse McCormick, the Green’s Iain Currie, Corally Delwo of the People’s Party of Canada, and independent Bob O’Brien and Wayne Allan.
You can also watch a recording of the Sept. 8 debate on the environment in full, here.
– With files from Victor Kaisar
