Dan Albas is seeking a fifth term as Conservative MP for newly named Okanagan Lake West South Kelowna riding

Over the next several days, Castanet News will feature candidates seeking your vote in each of the two Central Okanagan ridings leading up to the April 28 federal election.

Today, we focus on Conservative Dan Albas, who is running for re-election in the newly-named Okanagan Lake West South Kelowna riding.

In 2011, Dan Albas was elected as Member of Parliament in what was then know as Okanagan-Coquihalla. After winning re-election in 2015, 2019 and 2021, Albas is seeking a fifth term in the newly re-drawn Okanagan Lake West South Kelowna riding.

What constituents are telling him

"We have a lot of seniors now that had to make a lot of very tough decisions around heating, eating and medicine. We have a lot of young families that aren't sure of their future - they can't get into a house so they are asking 'should I stay in British Columbia or should I go to some place like Alberta.'"

“There is a sense of quality of life…physicians, nurses have told me they are working harder than ever, and they are doing a wonderful job trying to keep our healthcare system together, but people are saying our public services have deteriorated.

“This is an area where we have lost a decade. If you look at our per capita GDP, every single man, woman and child in this country, we are actually less wealthy than we were in 2017. A lot of those decisions were made by Mark Carney and Justin Trudeau because Mark Carney was Just Trudeau's economic advisor for five years.”

Conservative plan

"I am trying to bring people a message of hope. We are talking about how working seniors, those that have to, we are going to let them keep more of their money by raising the exemption to how much they can earn before paying taxes.

“For young families or seniors in the lowest tax bracket that are paying taxes, we are actually lowering the tax by 15 per cent in that bracket from 15 per cent to 12.75 per cent. That’s up to $900 per person.

“If we are going to build this country, if we are going to build this infrastructure, if we are going to be less reliant on Americans for trade and for security then we need to get our economy going. The Conservative plan, I believe is not just good for Canada in terms of building up our GDP...building more homes, I also think that it is going to help us keep our social safety nets strong, build that infrastructure so we can sell our products to the world and most of all, help a whole generation of Canadians so they can stay and live here.”

Trudeau/Carney

“You can just talk to Stephen Fuhr when he lost in 2019 and he basically said that Trudeau was an anchor around his neck and for obvious reasons. The decisions that they made from the very beginning…putting in C-69, the no new pipelines bill. We have seen $150 billion worth of energy and natural resource projects go south.

“People really felt Justin Trudeau didn't have the economy balance right. On that, Mark Carney when he came through Kelowna promised he would use his emergency powers to get pipelines built and five days later in Quebec he would honour what provinces want. Then this morning he was asked about C-69 and he said he would only take out some sections of it but would leave the no new pipelines as part of that.

“This is classic Liberal talk. They will promise you anything to get elected.”

Pierre Poilievre

“It seems it doesn't matter who we put up for prime minister, they seem to find a way to demonize that individual. But, the one I would say about Pierre Poilievre is he has grown as a person. Ever since he met his wife Anna, she was a Venezuelan refugee, essentially the Canadian story.

“Now the two of them are working to try to turn this country around for their children. And that is a very hopeful message. When he talks about how we want to restore the promise of Canada. That anyone from anywhere can achieve anything. That's the thing I like to hear from Pierre Poilievre.”

Housing

“We want to take the GST off of homes and we want to challenge every provincial government to do the same. That will make financing new homes easier, where people can buy new homes easier.

“A young couple here wants to move into an older home because an older couple wants to downsize. Now, they’ll get the benefit of that GST off that new condo. It’s a win-win.”

You can watch the entire interview in the player above.