Candidates tackle #1 issue

Castanet News reached out to candidates running in the ridings encompassing the Central Okanagan. These include Kelowna-Lake Country, Kelowna-Mission and Kelowna West. Each candidate was given the same six questions, and asked to respond by Monday, April 24.

Here are the answers to question two from those who replied. 

Questions 2 - What do you believe is the number one issue facing constituents in the Central Okanagan in this election. Why, and how would you propose to tackle it as MLA?

Shelley Cook, NDP - Kelowna West  -  Complex issues like access to affordable housing and healthcare, the two main issues facing the Kelowna West riding, are by nature interconnected. As MLA for Kelowna West, I will address these issues by: 1) building an urgent care centre in West Kelowna and expanding in home support for seniors and people with disabilities, and 2) building affordable housing (i.e.: rental, supportive, assisted living, seniors, co-op) in partnership/cooperation with the municipalities of Kelowna and West Kelowna.

Building an urgent care centre in Kelowna West will allow residents to access much needed health services in their home community. In turn, this will reduce the backlog in emergency care, improving access to healthcare on both sides of the lake.

Seniors and people with disabilities want to stay in their own homes for a long as possible. Expanding in-home care also frees up spaces in residential care, reducing reliance on KGH/clinics. Expanding the availability of assisted living units in Kelowna West will also have the effect of reducing KGH/clinic backlog because people will be receiving much of their required medical care in their homes.

Chuck Hardy, BC Conservatives - Kelowna-Mission  -  There can't be just one thing. People first, keep jobs in B.C. for all of us, and safe Jobs,  Infrastructure, roads rutted and not safe, bases can't handle weights of the trucks. Managers with too many bonuses has to stop. Put people in place that know what they are doing.

Harwinder Sandhu, BC NDP - Kelowna Mission  -  I have talked with many people in Kelowna and people tell me over and over again that affordability is the number one issue for them.

The BC NDP has a great platform to address this issue. We will eliminate MSP premiums, freeze BC hydro rates, and stop Christy Clark’s 42% increase to ICBC premiums. We will give a $400 grant to renters and will immediately raise all income and disability assistance rates by $100/month.

We will encourage and support assistance recipients as they re-enter the workforce, by allowing them to keep an additional $200 a month earning exemption.

We will establish a $10/day childcare program, increase the minimum wage to $15/hour, eliminate student loan interest, and we will provide a $1000 completion grant to each student.

We will work towards keeping medication costs down.

We will create a comprehensive poverty reduction plan. Currently under Christy Clark and the Liberals, BC is the only province without such a plan.

We will create more good paying jobs with a sustainable economy.

Rainer Wilkins, Green Party - Kelowna-Mission  -  Affordability and job creation for the emerging economy. The BC Greens do not accept donations from Corporations or Unions because we put the citizens of this community and province first and our policies and platform reflect this. Banning corporate and union donations to political parties would create a positive shift in our provincial government’s policies.

The economy is a major issue in the 2017 B.C. provincial election, with the incumbent B.C Liberal government running primarily on the strength of the province’s economic performance. However, the B.C. Liberal’s measures of success — GDP growth and job creation — paint an incomplete economic picture. It ignores that GDP growth has been driven by a red-hot, but limited housing market, that the benefits of this growth have primarily gone to the already-wealthy, and that the jobs that have been created are frequently part-time, insecure and unevenly distributed throughout the province.

The BC Green Party believes that the economy is not an end in itself. Instead, the economy should promote the health and wellbeing of the people of B.C. At present, the B.C. economy does not live up to that measure of success.

The world is changing. Between automation, exponential advances in technology, climate change, global political instability and resource depletion, B.C. needs a strong vision and an actionable strategy in order to succeed amidst these rapid, tectonic shifts. However, the piecemeal approach of both parties does not provide the agility required to succeed under these fast-changing conditions.

The B.C. Green Party is the only party that is presenting a platform that ensures opportunities created today are also available to the next generation. The key objectives of our platform that will run through this release and the ones to come are:

Economic security. Sustainability and intergenerational equity. Responsible government.

Norm Letnick, BC Liberals - Kelowna-Lake Country  -  We are one of the fastest growth areas in the country and, along with the benefits that come to citizens with growth, also comes the challenges of keeping up with the public infrastructure necessary to maintain and improve our quality of life.

That's why, since becoming your voice in Victoria eight years ago, I've been advocating hard, with my colleagues, for local investments like the new cardiac surgical centre at KGH, Highway 97 expansion, a connector road from Glenmore to Hwy 97, more transit hours, safety medians, new schools, money for water, the rail trail, tree fruit replant, the Okanagan Centre for Innovation, expansions at Okanagan College and UBCO, more access to day care, more family doctors, and much more.

To "tackle it," I am committing to continue the fight to bring more private and public sector investment and jobs to our community. I'm focused on policies that expand the economy and jobs like investing in our fast growing high tech and agriculture industries rather than policies that increase taxes.

Raising taxes, as proposed by my two challengers, will only serve to shrink our long term economic and job prospects thus creating hardships on families and making it more difficult to deliver on those key investments in health care, education, roads, etc. that we all want and need.

Alison Shaw, Green Party - Kelowna-Lake Country  -  Kelowna-Lake Country residents want to be able to live and work in their community. They want a chance to get ahead and own a home. If there’s one issue that effects everyone, it’s the need for a thriving local economy. Making sure there are full-time jobs being created now and into the future in our communities so that people are earning and spending locally and
driving our local economies forward. I believe that when BC communities do well, BC does well.

We need to recognize that the world is changing and that this creates opportunity. The policies of the Green Party capitalize on this opportunity for BC residents. The Green Party's jobs plan addresses the needs of the 21st century economy by supporting innovation and entrepreneurialism to create good paying jobs in communities. Research shows small businesses are the economic engines in thriving communities.

BC was ranked as having the worst performing economy for our emerging generation of professionals (20-40 years). People are working harder for less. Over Christy Clark's term, median full time income has dropped $1,200, while the cost of housing has soared out of reach. Supporting and encouraging
opportunities for our young people to stay in our communities is critical. Building a skilled workforce for the 21st century will be key.

So will affordability. Our housing strategy has the strongest measures to end speculation and flipping,
bringing this neglected issue under control. Policies for free childcare and early childhood education, to further take economic pressures off families and help them participate in growing a stronger BC economy.

The Green Party is the only provincial party that has their eye on the future. The platform provides a fully costed vision for BC that is fiscally responsible and comprehensive. It integrates proactive responses to social and environmental challenges we face in the 21st century. The vision is something that speaks to BC
values.