Asked whether he can make the transition from local councillor to federal Member of Parliament, Craig Speirs didn’t hesitate answering.
“The right better take me seriously,” he said, adding that’s one of the knocks against Conservative MP Randy Kamp, that he has no local experience.
“For me, all politics is local,” he said Wednesday, adding that he sees little separation between all levels of government and that he’s looking forward to having NDP policies tested in a campaign.
“We need to reconnect with our grass roots and re-connect with our back yards. Here we have a federal government that’s not connected.”
Speirs won the NDP nomination Sunday, defeating Elizabeth Rosenau and allowing him to represent the party in Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission.
He blasted Kamp for his handling of the irrigation pipe installation and fish kill that took place in the North Alouette River in May 2009, an ongoing issue that has just resulted in charges being laid.
“All he can do is give us an interpretation of how things fell apart.”
Instead, Speirs wants an inquiry into the whole issue, “just to see what went wrong and how we can fix it.”
If an election is held and Speirs wins, which would require gaining about 10,000 more votes than the NDP received in 2008, then he won’t run in the November municipal elections.
He expects the federal budget later this month to trigger a federal election and expects Kamp to be aggressive in his campaign. But 2011 is different than the last three elections, which Kamp won against the NDP, Speirs said, adding there’s more voter volatility.
“We’re not viewed the same way we were six years ago.” Having a strong Liberal candidate running could also help the NDP, he added.
Speirs also took another shot at his Maple Ridge council colleagues, except Linda King.
“These guys have proven time and again, they can’t be trusted around farmland.”
He said the unsuccessful request to remove the former Pelton tree nursery from the Agricultural Land Reserve was strike one against the council, while the decision to request all of Albion flats be developed, most of which is in the reserve, was strike two.
Kamp welcomes Speirs to federal politics and couldn’t say if he would be a tougher candidate than Mike Bocking, who lost three times to Kamp.
“I know that Mike was a well-informed and articulate candidate in the last three elections and I think Craig has big shoes to fill.”
Kamp explained the Speaker’s recent ruling against the government for not providing enough information about the cost of its prison expansion program.
That was a question of privilege and the government will try to provide “all the additional information that we can.”
He defended the government’s Bill S-10, still in process, which calls for mandatory jail of six months for people growing more than six marijuana plants for trafficking.
“Our job is to ensure that Canadians are safe and secure and that the laws protect them as they should be protected.”
He said he hears from across Canada that people want tougher laws. “Families are feeling unsafe.” Kamp recently made a short speech on the topic in the House of Commons.
“We think it’s necessary to communicate to those who are growing marijuana … that it’s unacceptable in our society.”
The Liberals also plan on having a local candidate, said riding president Brian Rice.
If an election is called, the party can have a competitor who’s “competent and capable.”
That candidate is currently being vetted by the central campaign of the Liberals in B.C.
Rice said he wants the party to regain votes after slipping to fourth place behind the Green party in the 2008 election with only 3,394 votes.
“It’s a difficult riding to find somebody to run for the Liberals.
“Twenty-three, 24,000 votes would be nice. That probably would win us the election.”