To ensure the Sun Peaks community has a voice in the provincial election conversation, SPIN surveyed readers to identify their top questions and concerns for Kamloops-North Thompson candidates in the lead-up to the Oct. 19 election.
Now that the candidates in this riding for the upcoming B.C. election are finalized, SPIN has their responses.
Conservative Party of BC candidate Ward Stamer, BC NDP Party candidate Maddi Genn and BC Green Party candidate Tristan Cavers were each given five questions to answer based on survey responses collected from our readership.
What are your priorities in fighting climate change?
Climate change was identified as a concern of survey respondents, and each candidate has been looking at different solutions to fight the problem.
The focus on wildfires and their devastating effect on the area is something the BC NDP is prioritizing, Genn said, adding that the party is taking action to keep people safe by making wildfire fighting year-round, increasing training and prioritizing prevention.
“As the MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson, I will work to make sure we continue our efforts in prevention while making sure people feel safe in their homes year-round,” she said.
According to Cavers, the Green Party’s commitment to curbing fossil fuel emissions is incentivizing and encouraging alternatives like Edison Motors in Merritt. The company builds hybrid logging trucks and “is almost at the stage where they can retrofit gas or diesel pickups into hybrids.”
“For B.C. to be able to reduce emissions, as a way to fight climate change, we have to
look at electrification,” Stamer said.
Aside from hydroelectric power, he said the province should look at solar and wind, baseload natural gas, biomass and nuclear power generation to improve on the deficit in electricity he identifies as an issue.
“It’s hypocritical to import power from other jurisdictions, where we have no control over their emissions, and then put Net-Zero restrictions on our power producers,” he added.
How will you be looking at solutions to housing, the toxic drug crisis and overall mental health services?
A survey respondent asked this question to cover a few important interconnected issues.
These three topics are all at the top of Genn’s priority list.
“So far, the BC NDP has improved mental health access for youths, provided more treatment options for those struggling with addictions and increased the availability for supportive housing,” she said, adding that these services are essential to continue.
“Housing is the first need,” Cavers said, stating that addiction and mental health issues often stem from housing insecurity. “Getting more non-market housing is a key plank in the Green Party platform.”
Stamer’s response to this question focused on the last two points, saying he is against free, safe drugs and decriminalization.
“We believe in a compassionate solutions-based approach that prioritizes real treatment and recovery, while ensuring the safety and well-being of our communities,” he said.
A conservative government will introduce legislation to allow for involuntary treatment, intervening to leave less people with serious mental health problems and addictions “on the streets,” he said.
What are your priorities regarding providing accessible healthcare?
The BC NDP take accessible healthcare very seriously, Genn said. The NDP has been increasing the number of doctors and nurses and decreasing the time it takes for international healthcare workers to get licensed. They have also decreased wait times for MRIs and hip and knee replacement surgeries according to Genn.
“We know this is not enough and there’s a lot further to go,” she said, adding that the alleged cut to healthcare by John Rustad would only halt progress and make things worse.
This $4 billion proposed cut to healthcare is untrue, Stamer said, adding that BC Conservatives are committed to spending more on healthcare, and will implement a patient-first funding model.
By “reducing red tape and bureaucracy,” BC Conservatives plan to reduce wait times and administrative burdens on doctors and nurses.
“We will also expand programs to incentivize doctors and nurses to work in high demand communities, especially in rural and remote areas,” he said.
Where money is being spent on the system is something to look very carefully at, Cavers said.
“We need to be looking at student debt and encouraging more doctors into family practices where more illnesses can be caught earlier, as opposed to becoming an advanced illness requiring emergency treatment and costing more.”
How will you try to create more affordable housing options?
Each candidate has unique ideas on ways to improve housing needs in the province.
“B.C. needs more non-market housing,” Cavers said. “The two best examples are housing built by the government for our most vulnerable and co-operative housing.”
The BC NDP has implemented a cap on rent increases and plans to bring 300,000 homes across the province with the Affordable Housing Act, specifically with middle-income earners in mind.
“These are just some of the things we have done, and there is so much more in the works that I intend on bringing to Kamloops-North Thompson,” Genn said.
“We will be streamlining approval processes, proactive planning, providing tax incentives for purpose built rental housing like the Multi-Unit Residential Building, and unlocking land outside of Agricultural Land Reserve ,” Stamer said.
To support the middle class and ease pressure of mounting rents and mortgage payments, he points to the Rustad Rebate, which works to exempt up to $3,000 a month in housing costs from provincial income taxes.
An identified goal of the BC Conservatives is reducing the cost of living by eliminating things like the carbon tax.
Do you have any plans to rectify how the foreign buyers ban has affected Sun Peaks, as a resort community that has not been made exempt in the way most resort communities have?
The foreign buyers ban was a federal government decision, but readers were still eager to know what provincial candidates will be doing to address the impact it has on our community.
Candidates weren’t completely knowledgeable on the topic as it is a federal policy, but Genn said she understands the unique needs of communities such as Sun Peaks.
BC NDP has supported the community by not applying speculation and vacancy tax to short-term rental regulations and supporting the Growing Communities Fund and Sun Peaks Water Supply Line Project. As MLA, Genn said she’d ensure Sun Peaks is recognized and supported.
The other two candidates show support for Sun Peaks as well, but don’t seem to have plans to support the issue of the foreign buyers ban either.
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