Meet Linda Sankey, NDP candidate in Similkameen-South Okanagan-West Kootenay

Castanet has conducted a Q&A with candidates running to represent the Similkameen-South Okanagan-West Kootenay riding. Watch for the Q&A articles every morning this week.

Conservative candidate Helena Konanz declined to participate.

Interviews have been edited for clarity and brevity.

CASTANET: To start off, a roughly 15-second pitch: Why are you running to be our Member of Parliament?

LINDA SANKEY: I think the reason I'm running now is because we have a really big election in front of us, and people I know and care about want to make sure the Conservatives don't get elected in this riding, because our healthcare is seriously at risk, and Canadians need free healthcare.

C: This is a huge riding that encompasses cities like Penticton through to small villages and rural areas. You live in Penticton, what makes you qualified to represent the diverse and sometimes conflicting interests of the different rural/urban lifestyles in this riding?

LS: My current experience includes having worked through the South Okanagan and Similkameen areas as part of my job for the last 22 years. So I'm really familiar with that area as well. So, adding West Kootenays on there is new to me, but I've lived in this area my whole life, so I'm also familiar with it from just recreating in the area.

I think that people are very open in talking to me about what their needs are across the riding, whether that be mining, forestry or aluminum and steel. We've got a really diverse economic group of businesses in the Okanagan, including agriculture and tourism. It's an interesting place to try and be the MP.

C: This riding, with its previous boundaries, has been NDP since 2015. Your campaign has made it clear you feel “in this riding, we vote NDP to defeat the Conservatives.” Can you expand on what that means to you?

LS: We have had a history of being able to beat the Conservatives in this riding, the Liberals have not had a high showing in the last three to four elections in this riding. We haven't had a Liberal elected here since the early 1960s, so with that in mind, we [the NDP] probably are going to come out again having a higher percentage of the votes. For the Liberals to win in this riding, I would have to lose probably 90 per cent of the voters that I have. Our calls and confirmations on doors and phone calls are holding really strong. I feel very confident we're going to come through on this one.

C: Are you concerned there will be a split vote for centrist-left voters?

L: I think people are really facing a difficult decision, but I think in this riding, if people feel the need to ensure the Conservatives are not the government that gets in, then we have to vote centre together or progressives together so that we don't split that vote

C: Impacts of climate change are a big issue in this riding. Outgoing MP Richard Cannings was a vocal advocate for a national wildfire-fighting force that could be deployed where and when needed. Is that something you would support?

LS: It absolutely is. I attended an emergency management forum in Midway BC, just last week, and spoke with professionals there about the emergencies that we've had across the riding, whether that be fire, flood, landslide. Lots of those things have already happened in our riding, and we already know what the effects are to people who live here.

[It is] really important that we're able to communicate with one another during times of emergency. Parts of our riding do not have consistent WiFi setups. They don't even have good landline reliability. Radio and newspaper, and online media are incredibly important here. I think that a national firefighting force, or National Emergency Response Force, is really important, and this is what I've heard specifically from emergency management people this past week.

They're able to manage small-scale things, but when we have a widespread emergency, there are no additional resources close at hand, like we've seen the last two summers, both in Kelowna and elsewhere in the country.

We need to have a force that can come in, know what to do, be trained the same way across the country, so that all of the first responders know exactly how to communicate with one another, and not be trained in different ways in different regions, so they can be on the ground, quick to respond.

C: This riding encompasses multiple Indian Bands. What specifically would you do to collaborate locally with those bands for their needs and advancement?

LS: The 94 calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission are incredibly important, and I've had conversations with folks about that, and I think what I can do is be a liaison with them and hear their needs.

Because realistically, it's their information that we have to bring forward to the government to help change happen. So we've got a number of different bands. They often have many different angles on how they want to approach what their priorities are. So I will listen, I'll participate, and I'll be present for them. So that we can bring their message forward.

Also, I've received an endorsement from Grand Chief Stewart Phillip for me personally, who's asked me to be a representative, knowing that I have a strong social justice background, and I am very honoured that he's given me that endorsement. So I'm hoping that that helps the First Nations folks see me as a very good choice in this election.

C: Do you feel you already have a line of communication established with the Indigenous [community], or is that something you're looking to work on?

LS: I think communication is always something that we can grow, but I do have connections already.

C: Food insecurity is an issue for many Canadians. In this riding, what specifically do you believe the federal government’s role is in ensuring people here have access to affordable food?

LS: One of the things that we can do is ensure that we have adequate food programs that are funded properly so we don't end up with shortages. A lot of our food banks are funded by donations from the public — and that's wonderful that people feel that they can give — but as our economy shifts and change through all of the tumultuous things that are happening outside of the forces of our Canadian government, we also have to ensure that Canadians have the things they need, like food.

C: Many people in this riding are also struggling to afford housing. What, if anything, should the federal government’s role be in assisting provincial or municipal goals of meeting housing needs?

LS: This is a big one, and it's close to my heart. In my current day job, I run seven low-income housing properties, so I'm very familiar with the needs of Canadians that have a wide spectrum of housing needs, right from home buying as well as having to rent, needing low income housing, co-op housing and housing for the homeless.

The federal government can increase programs through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Years ago, other branches of government took some of the funding away from this branch and made it difficult for new housing starts to happen across the country. My government will make sure we increase funding for the Canada Mortgage and Housing to have new programs, but we're also going to be looking at offering opportunities to build new housing on federally owned properties.

I had some concerns from First Nations on this because they were concerned that the government would dictate where housing would go. That's not the intent at all. It's an opportunity for new housing starts, wherever that might be, and I think that includes offering support for new housing starts also on reserve.

C: Turning to international affairs, the specifics of an ongoing trade war between us and our American neighbours seem to change frequently. In your role as MP of a border riding, what would you advocate for in Parliament to help local businesses who rely on cross-border business?

L: This is also a really important one, especially in small communities. We've got many of them along the border there. They really rely on that cross-border shopping. We have to find a way to break down these trade barriers with the United States, and I think we'll get there. It's a matter of time. Good negotiation is one of those ways. But I think supporting small communities and helping them adjust in the short term, having new supply chains.

Talking to somebody the other day in a small community, they were saying the closest community to them is actually Colville [Washington]. It's not the town on the left or the right on the highway of where they live, and they need connections to those other cross-border communities because it makes affordability better for them.

We have to be able to ensure that folks also have those good-paying jobs so we have resiliency in those communities, and we've got lots of interesting, diverse businesses there that will help with that. I think the biggest thing we can do there is be the voice and ensure that the government knows what's going on so we can respond to their needs.

C: Parts of this riding are heavily agricultural and rely on temporary foreign workers. What should the federal government be doing to make it easier for those workers to find employment, and the local businesses to employ them?

LS: We have to look at a variety of different things here. This topic also has something to do with immigration and the temporary foreign workers program. Although it's very helpful to agricultural businesses, it's not great for the workers themselves and pigeonholes people to have to stay with an employer, even when an employer is not always in the best interest of the worker.

The workers themselves need someone to support their workers rights in that so our government would try and find a way to ensure that programs for immigration we're still there, but open up those opportunities so that workers, when they were in Canada as foreign workers, could have the ability to move back and forth between different businesses.

With temporary foreign workers, we want to be able to have them move between agricultural businesses as well because this gives them an opportunity to stay and move with the crop as it's coming along. They might not be stuck just with one type of fruit as an example. They might be able to start with soft fruit and then stay later and do apples and other types of fruit later in the season. But if one grower doesn't have that variety, it gives foreign workers less freedom as to where they can work. But we also know that those agriculture businesses really rely on having employees that can do that work

Finding Canadians to do it is a challenge for them often, so we have to find a way that those agriculture businesses can be more successful, and so we can ensure that we've got our own food products here, so we aren't looking at purchasing them from another country and flooding our market here, because we have good quality products here, we need to get them out to people.

C: In speaking with the agricultural community in this riding, what are they asking for?

LS: They're asking a variety of things. They want to have some more help with the packing issues that they've got going on. Some growers are interested in doing their own packing, and some need help with that. Part of that's provincial support.

Federally, we need to find supply chains across the country to make sure we can get that fruit and vegetables off to where they're needed within the country. It's difficult for a grower to have time to do their farming business and be their marketing side. So I think that's also another role that government can play.

C: The U.S. government has made recent policy changes that have caused concern for the Two Spirit LGBTQIA communities, and some fear those trends could spread north. Do you believe that the Canadian government has a role in policing gender affirmation?

LS: The government has a role to play in hate prevention. We have a really diverse country with people of all different colours and stripes, we have to ensure that people have the rights of free expression, but we also have to ensure that people can live free of fear in our country and have acceptance where they go, regardless of what sexual orientation or skin colour they might have. I think that's really important.

Canadians demand that. They want to see free expression at the same time that we have acceptance. Immigration is an important driver of our economy here, and if we aren't accepting of all people, it's going to make it more difficult for our economy to come out of this trade difficulty. We have to be able to put those people to work, whether they're 2SLGBTQ or whether they're immigrants. We have to find room for everyone in our economy.

C: So, does the government have certain actions they should be doing?

LS: That would be including support for colleges and universities to be able to continue to support these gender specific needs. Folks need to be careful how they talk about these things. People are really at risk. For young people in school, it's hard to grow up and not end up scarred when folks are faced with hate everywhere they turn. If we don't raise a community with people accepting, then we're just setting ourselves up for a hate-induced community. Nobody's looking for that, and everywhere I'm hearing, unity is the answer.

C: To conclude, what is something you wish voters knew about you?

LS: I'm kind of an open book. There's not a lot that I think is secret, but I think my experience is really broad. I have an interest in everything that folks have going on in life. My current work helps people put their life back together after a major life change due to health conditions, where folks have to reimagine their finances, they have to reimagine their social structure, and they have to reimagine how to spend their days, where they're able to work again or not.

So my experience is helping people get all of those things put back together, and that's helped me explore things like transportation jobs for someone to become a long-haul truck driver, or it could be to see someone getting involved in agriculture. Lots of different things really interest me.

This is also part of the reason why I think I'm well suited to take on the role of MP because my experience has taken me in so many avenues where I've met different folks, whether they're in the healthcare sector or in the small business sector. I know lots of different folks and understand a variety of the challenges that people have. I tend to be known to show up everywhere for all the different events. I have a habit of being in places, and I have a real interest in doing those things.

Editor's Note: A brief cut occurs in the video Q&A due to an interruption during filming. The conversation continues immediately following.