Times Staff
BC Liberal Party leadership candidate Todd Stone was in Clearwater on Thursday, Nov. 2, to campaign for the BC Liberal leadership.
A major part of his campaign platform appears to be a comprehensive plan to ensure a strong future for rural BC families and communities.
READ MORE: Todd Stone joins crowded B.C. Liberal leadership field
“Resource industries such as forestry, mining, and oil and gas, have built our province and will continue to do so for generations to come,” said Stone. “Rural B.C. holds so much potential to drive B.C.’s future for families and communities, but key investments do need to be made.”
Stone’s commitments include supporting people and industry, encouraging innovation and technological transformation, and helping job creators get their goods to market both here at home and around the world.
As a former tech CEO who established one of the first technology companies in Kamloops, Stone is pledging to do more to help emerging industries set up and thrive in communities across the province.
Specific tactics include ensuring high speed internet access for all B.C. communities.
“Technological innovation not only provides opportunities to diversify local economies and create jobs, but will also help our traditional resource sector innovate and thrive,” said Stone. “We’ve already seen great examples of this across the province and the potential for other communities is nearly unlimited.”
Other key elements of Stone’s rural commitments include a review of how taxpayers are charged for capital projects, such as new hospitals in different regions of the province to ensure fairness, doubling the BC Rural Dividend Fund, treating the forest industry as a priority sector for our economy, and expanding transportation access on key routes throughout rural B.C. to better connect communities and drive our economy.
“But first and foremost to all of these commitments is doing everything in my power to stand up against the NDP’s unfair and self-serving plans for a referendum on electoral reform,” said Stone. “John Horgan and the NDP have changed the rules to shut out the voice of rural B.C. in one of the most fundamental elements of our democracy, and I will not stand by and let them do it.”
Find further details and other information at www.toddstone.ca and join the conversation on Facebook.
First elected in 2013 from the riding of Kamloops-South Thompson, Stone is serving his second term as an MLA and is the opposition critic for Municipal Affairs. Married for the past 17 years, he is the father of three children, all still in the K-12 school system. Prior to entering public life, Stone was the founder and CEO of a successful tech company.