Rob Fleming

Candidate Profile

I was elected MLA for Victoria-Hillside on May 17, 2005.

I'm the Chair of the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts, and the
Opposition Critic for Advanced Education and Tourism.

Before I was elected MLA, I served two terms as a Victoria City Councillor. I was the Chair of the City's Finance and Personnel Committee and the Council liaison to the Advisory Transportation Committee. I am a former vice-chair to the Capital Regional District Housing Corporation and a past commissioner to the Victoria Regional Transit Commission (BC Transit).

I live in Victoria with my wife Maura and my daughter Rory.

Questions

1. Please identify what you believe to be the most important issue in your riding and your plan to address that issue.
   

   Protecting and creating jobs . British Columbia had the highest level of job loss across Canada in March, and Victoria is not immune from the economic downturn.
   
   Critical industries like tourism and arts and culture have been let down by this government. According to Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts documents the Campbell Liberals are slashing the tourism budget by 40% and the arts and culture budget by 50% over the next three years. Communities need stable arts funding to ensure that heritage sites, landmarks, and museums are protected in the long term, not photo-ops and temporary funding followed by deep cuts.The arts and culture sector supports 117,500 jobs in the province, and is particularly important for our region . For every dollar invested in arts and cultural programs, $1.36 comes back.
   Our local film industry is discriminated against by the BC Liberals exclusion of the Capital Region from the provincial distant location film tax credit. Carole James and the NDP will ensure the distant location tax credit program works for Greater Victoria.
   
   An NDP government will restore and increase funding to tourism and the arts, increase support for the BC Arts Council, and ensure that Olympic tourism opportunities extend beyond Vancouver and Whistler. $50 million will be invested in large, medium and small capital projects that support the growth and sustainability of BC’s professional and community arts, culture and heritage sectors.
   
   As an MLA in the Victoria region, I will continue to advocate for tourism and transportation infrastructure that will create jobs, expand our South Island gateways and leverage more economic development. This includes "shovel ready" projects in Victoria such as a new Belleville Terminal in the inner harbour , an airport runway expansion to handle long haul direct flights from the U.S. and Europe, and planning and support for Light Rail Transit. I also believe the province needs to grow support and funding for university-based research and development. The Premier's own Progress Board ranked B.C. 9th of 10 provinces for overall R&D activity and linked this to our province's lagging productivity. BC needs to close the per capita $200 million dollar annual gap with Alberta, Ontario and Quebec in R&D. Our post-secondary institutions are critical to building the knowledge-based economy by generating new patents, transferring technology and starting new companies that create clean, green well-paid jobs in our region.