Leap manifesto a bad fit for B.C. says NDP leader John Horgan

B.C. NDP leader John Horgan is being forced to defend his party's record on resource development in the wake of heated debate over the Leap Manifesto at the NDP national convention this past weekend.

• Leap Manifesto: Alberta NDP 'had nothing to do with this nonsense'
• Dominic Cardy distances N.B. NDP from Leap Manifesto
• Leap Manifesto: Radical rethink on fossil fuel economy

The Leap Manifesto is a document calling for a rapid shift away from fossil fuel development in the Canadian economy.

But Horgan says there are parts of the plan he doesn't agree with. 

"In total collectively it doesn't reflect the values of British Columbians. Our past and our future will be dependent on the development of natural resources," said Horgan.

Horgan says the NDP has the right to debate policies like the Leap Manifesto, but he is focusing on a made in B.C. plan.

The B.C. Liberals are using the debate to portray the NDP as the party of 'no', bent on killing jobs.

"It puts the western Canadian provincial NDP in a bad position," said Energy Minister Bill Bennett. "Workers in Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. rely on extraction of resources from the earth, including oil and gas."

Horgan isn't the only provincial NDP leader left feeling uncomfortable by the Leap Manifesto which calls for rejecting any new pipelines.

Alberta's NDP Premier Rachel Notley called the Leap Manifesto 'naive' and 'ill-informed.' She is asking her party to support the building of pipelines to deliver Alberta crude oil to seaports.

And New Brunswick NDP leader Dominic Cardy calls the Leap Manifesto 'something dreamed up in a downtown Toronto coffee shop.'

With files from Richard Zussman