REALITY CHECK: Kevin Falcon claims he’s approachable

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KEVIN FALCON:” I’M VERY APPROACHABLE”

NDP: “GIVE ME A BREAK”

B.C. Liberal leadership hopeful Kevin Falcon claimed on Friday that he is “very approachable” and would be an “approachable premier.” The truth is, Kevin Falcon is better known for being anything but.

The Claim

  • “I have a different style. As you know, I'm very approachable. I mean, I think one of the things the public wants to have is a leader that they feel like they can just come and talk to, and I am a very approachable premier” (Kevin Falcon, KVRI, Jan. 15, 2011).

The Truth

  • Kevin Falcon's response to forestry workers who had lost their jobs? “Boo-hoo” (Hansard, Feb. 18, 2008).
  • After having to wait in traffic when police shut down the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge to save the life of a woman considering suicide, Kevin Falcon criticized officers for the delay, saying “If people are trying to kill themselves, it is tough to stop them” and “I am utterly perplexed how it can take six hours to deal with an elderly female” (Vancouver Sun, July 3, 2008).
  • When residents were concerned about the loss of Eagle Ridge Bluffs with the expansion of the highway near Horseshoe Bay, Kevin Falcon said they “have failed in the courts, they have failed in the election and they have failed in the public relations campaign” (Tyee, May 26, 2006). He later said “There is no room for co-operative negotiations, or any negotiations” (Vancouver Sun, April 19, 2006).
  • When lumber producers were upset that they couldn’t get access to rail cars to get their product to market despite a B.C. Liberal promise that B.C. Rail would handle the issue, Kevin Falcon’s response was, “This is tiresome in the extreme” (Williams Lake Tribune, Feb. 28, 2008).