UBCM speech Dix about with little substance; misses our point

This morning I listened to the leader of the New Democrats here at UBCM. What I heard is that the Greens are making strides in setting the agenda for NDP rhetoric, if not actual policy.  I heard talk of local economies and money staying on main street – but I didn’t hear how.  I heard that we should "slow" the export of raw logs, and I heard that goods should be purchased in local communities – but I didn’t see a plan to do so. 
It’s one thing to tell people what they want to hear, but it’s another to deliver real proposals for action, otherwise the words are simply empty populism.

What we don’t hear from our friends in opposition is a criticism of the trade agreements or the corporate-controlled economic model that caused these problems in the first place.  What we don’t see from our friends is systems level thinking that leads to real change.  What we don’t see is a stance that will protect the environment and the people.

A Green B.C. needs strong new legislation for a truly Green world – anything less sells out our future which we have worked so hard for.  What we propose is a roll-back of free-trade agreements – starting with the Trade, Labour and Investment Mobility Agreement (TILMA) - because these agreements allow foreign companies to create low-paid workforces that sell low-quality goods made from our logs, our oil and our coal.

By clinging to a model based on rapid resource extraction, economic growth and prosperity tied to elsewhere, BC exports our future and the two large political parties continue to sell us out.  We are sold out when oil flows from tar-sands and we are sold out when our friends clamour for short-term high paying jobs for a few people and a few mere years.

Wake up Christy, come on Dix, we need to make some big changes and neither of you have the guts.