Burnaby candidates to face off

By Dan Hilborn
Published Nov. 30, 2005


The plug was pulled on the Paul Martin government on Monday night, leading the country into a national election that will take place on Jan. 23.

And in the city's largest electoral district, Burnaby-Douglas, the 2006 election will be a virtual rerun of the campaign held just 17 months ago, with rookie NDP MP Bill Siksay facing off against former Liberal Party of Canada in B.C. president Bill Cunningham and Conservative hopeful George Drazenovic.

Siksay, who said the riding will likely see another close-fought, three-way race between the major parties, focused most of his attention on the Liberals.

"I think the Liberals' record on corruption and the culture of entitlement that Gomery exposed is very important and on people's minds," said Siksay. "Health care is also an important issue. This is a system that we've built together that distinguishes us from other countries and that we've built so we can help each other when we're ill."

Cunningham, who put up his first campaign sign just minutes after the House of Commons was formally dissolved on Monday afternoon, is confident that the Liberal party can fend off criticism about the way it governs.

"I think what people have to remember is that, during the last federal election the dominant issue was sponsorship," Cunningham said. "That aspect hasn't change. But what has changed is the action the prime minister has taken to address it."

Cunningham cited the relocation of the Canada Tourism Commission to British Columbia, work on the Pacific Gateway bill and the new infrastructure program for Canadian cities as evidence that the Liberals are listening to the concerns of B.C. citizens.

Drazenovic said the Conservatives will present Canadians with a viable alternative to the Liberal party.

"The Conservative Party is going to offer a vision and principles," he said. "We're not going to waffle. We're not going to say tax cuts and then do a 180 and go on a spending spree like the Liberals have."

While the NDP and Liberals have their campaign offices and teams already lined up, Drazenovic confirmed that he will not have his organization in place until later this week.

"I guess that just shows that I'm not a politician," he said. "I've been working in the private sector for the past 18 months, working for a publicly traded company that is directly working to solve the problems of Kyoto."