All four Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee candidates were in attendance for a federal election forum on Thursday evening.

The forum was hosted by the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce and Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre.

Conservative candidate Scott Anderson, NDP candidate Leah Main, Liberal candidate Anna Warwick Sears, and Green Party candidate Blair Visscher discussed topics ranging from the economy to long-term care homes and the tensions between Canada and the U.S.

This is the first forum that has been attended by every candidate – Anderson didn't attend an environmental forum hosted by the Sustainable Environment Network Society due to scheduling issues.

How do you plan to grow Canada’s economy while ensuring affordability for businesses and families in urban and rural communities?

All candidates were asked their views on the current economy in the riding.

Main said that the NDP proposes to “take the money from the countervailing tariffs and apply them first to replacing lost income from lost jobs. She added that once the individual workers get the help they need, government can look at supporting small/medium-sized businesses.

Visscher stated that “we should be purchasing what isn't being purchased by our American partners in order to create a reserve.” She added that this would help prevent people from losing their jobs.

Sears made similar points to Visscher. She said the province should be processing their raw materials here instead of shipping it off to other countries, and rebuilding the local economy through trades training will make a huge difference in the community.

Anderson stated that he “doesn’t believe the workers need handouts. What they need is jobs in the rural areas.” He added that Canada is swimming in natural resources and if the Northern Gateway pipeline was built, “we wouldn't have an issue.”

This question was a highly talked about topic with each candidate using one of their two allowed rebuttals.

What specific federal tools would you deploy to address Canada’s housing crisis, particularly for missing middle and seniors who don’t qualify for support but can’t afford market rent?

Candidates were asked about how they would address the country's housing crisis.

Visscher said in terms of addressing the lack of resources, she believes Canada has all the resources with the Green Party policy idea: buying our own Canadian resources will address two issues at once. “We can protect ourselves from tariffs and we can protect our workers while building more homes.”

Sears stated “one of the biggest things that's really driving housing affordability is just a lack of supply. We need more houses and we need them fast. She added that Mark Carney’s housing plan will build houses faster “than we’ve seen since the Second World War” and build them with Canadian materials.

Anderson emphasized that the Liberals' plan “talks an awful lot about rental, and it does not talk about home ownership.” He added that the conservatives are going to get rid of GST on houses up to $1.3 million. Anderson said that “some of the problems are caused by floodgate immigration.”

Main said that “municipalities need to build infrastructure to service these houses before the houses and the apartment buildings can be built.”

Seniors are being placed in hospitals due to lack of senior facilities. I believe this is resulting in poor use of taxpayer dollars as well as filling hospital beds, which could be better utilized. How would you address this?

All candidates answered a question from the audience regarding the quality of life for many seniors in the province.

Sears said “the important thing is to build more long-term care homes and to staff them," adding “Trump's tariffs have been increasing the cost of materials, so that has driven up a lot of the costs for building those long-term care homes."

Anderson said that not "having adequate taxes or money in the federal government,” makes things harder to accomplish. He added that reducing the red tape that goes into these buildings and being able to fund it will be able to help the large demographic of seniors.

Main said that these types of facilities will look different in many areas of the province, and “we need to intervene at the beginning of that process and provide the services that seniors need to stay at home as long as they are able.”

Visscher said “we've heard from all three of the larger parties that they know what to do. And I'm just been sitting here thinking, ‘well, why haven't we done this? Why are people in this situation.’” She added that this exemplifies the need for a Green Party candidate in this riding.

The next all-candidates forum is being hosted by the Lumby & District Chamber of Commerce on April 22 from 6:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the White Valley Community Centre.

Advance polls open across the province today, people can find their polling station online or on their voting card.

The official federal election is April 28.