John Cummins says he’s ready to bring honour into government
Posted May 2, 2013 8:32 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Conservative Leader John Cummins says he wants to bring integrity back into government.
During an interview before News1130‘s live twitter Q&A, Cummins identified integrity as the top issue in this election. “I think folks in British Columbia want a government that levels with them, gives them the straight goods, tells them where the province is at. I think with respect to the province’s finances and spending, I think those are important issues in British Columbia.”
Cummins isn’t shying away from the controversy surrounding his party over the vetting of candidates, after four were fired for various reasons.
“The fact is we had a very thorough vetting process, but it’s very difficult to find everything at once. We had one candidate that fell through the cracks and we upped our search. We had some difficulties with some others and when it was determined that these people had spoken improperly and intolerantly of others, I axed them just as fast as I could,” explains Cummins.
He says the way his party dealt with these candidates in question is in stark contrast to the way the Liberals and NDP are handling the same situation.
Cummins says the next provincial government needs to get spending under control. He says he would do that by ensuring a fall sitting in the legislature.
“At that fall sitting, the legislature would be divided up into three committees. One which would examine the spending of the various ministries of the government, another that would examine the spending of Crown corporations, and a third that would investigate the spending of the so-called SUCH sector, the schools, universities, colleges and hospitals. We think if we are able to turn the spotlight on the spending of these various groups, we would go a long way to getting spending under control,” he says.
On a lighter note, Cummins is giving a glimpse into his life outside of politics, saying when he’s not on the campaign trail he enjoys working on his property which he describes as a “family operation.”
How did Cummins come across in the Twittersphere?
Cummins answered questions ranging from whether he supports a ban on pesticides to how he’d invest in health care.
And he used the occasion to tell families he’d decrease their tax burden while scrapping the carbon tax altogether.
Dixon Tam, who manages social media for SFU, gives Cummins high marks for his twitter performance.
“He didn’t shy away from any tough questions. He could have easily agreed with some of the people who tweeted. In one instance, he did have a response that was not favourable but he gave it anyway.”
That question was: Do you agree personal income tax is theft? Cummins tweeted: We all want government services and need taxes to pay for them.
Tam says Cummins managed to stay on track, policy-wise.
“If you look at the responses, it was quite clear that his responses were straight from the platform. He didn’t stray too far from it. When you’re using Twitter, you need bullet points, because of the character restrictions and in this case he followed them.”
NDP leader Adrian Dix will participate in our final live twitter chat next Thursday between 7 and 8 p.m.
