B.C. Conservatives leader candidate talks energy and healthcare in Fort St. John visit

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A former MLA, minister and economic business CEO is throwing his name in the ring for the position of leader of the Conservative Party of B.C. 

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Iain Black moved to B.C. and worked in business technology before becoming a B.C. Liberal Party MLA for Port Moody – Westwood, later Port Moody – Coquitlam between 2005 and 2011. 

He also served as then minister of labour and citizens’ services from 2008 to 2009, the minister of small businesses, technology and economic development from 2009 to 2010 and as the minister of labour from 2010 to 2011. 

After exiting politics in 2011, Black served on the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade before returning to the business technology field. 

Black travelled to the Peace River region on March 11th and 12th to speak with residents of Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, and the surrounding rural areas. 

In an interview with Energeticcity.ca, Black explained he returned to politics on the advice of his former political mentors after mounting concerns about the state of the country caught his attention. 

“A year and a half, two years ago, I really became very concerned about the state of our country, and pointedly the state of our province within that country, and I realized that I have something to contribute to that, because I’ve got a unique blend of experience and skills,” Black said. 

“Some very wonderfully honourable and…integrity-driven individuals called me up [around September and October] and said, ‘if there’s an opening at the B.C. Conservative Party, you’re what we need… you have that right blend of skills and experience to actually get the place sorted out and prepare for the next election.’”

Black said he fell the province held “open hostility towards the oil and gas business,” calling it “unacceptable.” 

“They have devastated the forest receptor, and their recent interest in mining does not overcome the layers of delay they’ve also created on the permitting side, which has made most mining investment opportunities untenable and unattractive.”

Black promised if he were elected as the party leader of the Conservative Party of B.C., he would prioritize oil and gas development and rebuilding the resource sector. 

“The premier and the government have a responsibility to 5.7 million British Columbians, irrespective of the composition of the house,” Black said. 

“If you accept the economic linkage between the northeast and the Lower Mainland, then it doesn’t matter who your MLA is, in my view, because you’ve got a broader British Columbia imperative that requires you to pay attention to what’s happening in this part of the province and make sure that it’s thriving at every level, healthcare, education, natural resources, development [and] permitting.”

Black also touched on healthcare, proposing a system for healthcare recruitment and retention, and immigration, similar to that of the RCMP, in which individuals are assigned to hospitals and communities for a period of time.

“If they immigrate here under a program to do with healthcare, then we’ll say, ‘great, but we’ve got an assignment for you, and it’s this period of time,’… and you put incentives in place to stay longer,” Black said. 

“What starts to happen is if somebody comes into a place that the community is as welcoming as it is around here, after the two or four or whatever number [of] years [is], they don’t want to leave, they get settled here.”

The candidate claimed the province had “the most qualified taxi drivers” because it “doesn’t recognize foreign medical credentials the way it should.”

“I understand there’s a language barrier, which is fine, but I’ve personally been driven by wonderfully articulate people from different parts of the world who are former nurses [and] doctors,” Black said. 

According to Black, the province’s recent announcement regarding delays to the seniors housing project in Fort St. John is a sign the province has “lost control” of the budget. 

“[The province is] making those kinds of desperate decisions and damaging decisions because they’ve lost control of the budget, and they’ve lost control [of] the spending and the revenue generation [of] the province because they’ve been discouraging investments into our natural resources sector for so long,” Black said. 

“So, unfortunately, for this part of the province, those chickens have come home to roost.” 

The leadership candidate pointed to his experience in leadership and the economy as reasons for his qualification for the position, and praised the other eight candidates in the leadership contest.

“There are some great people in this [leadership] contest who are putting themselves forward into public life for the first time, and I not only believe in that [but] our democracy demands it,” Black said. 

“If [our democracy] is going to be successful, whether you’re running for school board all the way up to prime minister of the country, you need really great people to step forward, bring whatever experiences and skills they’ve got from their personal and professional lives, and put themselves forward to serve the public, it’s critical that [this] happens. I just don’t think the first job should be [the] premier of British Columbia.”

Black explained he plans to travel across the Peace River region on March 13th, heading to Chetwynd and Mackenzie before driving to Prince George to conclude his tour of northeast B.C.

Politicians running for the leadership position of the Conservative Party of B.C. have until April 18th to sell memberships to the party across the province.

On May 9th, members of the party can register for the leadership vote, which will begin on May 28th and conclude on May 29th. 

The new leader of the Conservative Party of B.C. will be determined and announced on May 30th. 

Black is one of several leadership candidates to visit the region, including Darrell Jones and Yuri Fulmer.