Kelowna West NDP candidate Spring Hawes sits down with Castanet News

Small business owner Spring Hawes is looking for your support Oct. 24 as she carries the NDP banner in Kelowna West.

She previously served two terms on council in Invermere before relocating to Kelowna.

Hawes sat down with Castanet News for a one-on-one discussion about the campaign, supporting small business and issues pertinent to Kelowna West constituents.

On her decision to run:

"I am really proud of the record of the BC NDP, what has been accomplished in the last three years in the province. I think it's something we can see the effects of. We have made huge investments in health care. As an example, we have the new urgent and primary care clinic open in the Westside that has been wanted and needed for many years. Better seniors care, building schools, building hospitals. I would like to see it continue."

On campaigning:

"The people who have talked to me are really excited with what's happened in the province. To be honest, I feel much more optimistic about the campaign now than when I started, because I've had amazing conversations with people who really do think it's time for a change in the riding. That's been refreshing to me and really exciting to hear that people feel good about the way things are going in the province."

On assisting small business:

"It is a challenge, and I don't know all the answers to that at all. But, I think we do have to keep listening and hearing what people need to be able to continue to run their businesses. They've been so adaptable and have changed so much,. Restaurants completely changing their models to so much take-out. We have to be able to support businesses in making the changes they have to make in order to keep going through until we have a resolution."

On Kelowna West issues:

"I've spoken to quite a few local officials from local governments, and other people that I talk to at my meet and greets, and people are concerned about housing. That seems to be one of the most top of mind things, because people need a place to sleep.

"That's a big problem, and we have a lot of ground to recover because for many years we didn't invest in housing. And, we are making progress. We have started building supportive and subsidized housing. there's much more to come and much more planned which is great, but we have a lot more to build and a lot more to do."

You can watch the entire interview below.