SPIN asked our readers to fill out a survey identifying what themes and questions they want to be top of mind for local candidates of the upcoming B.C. elections. While the Kamloops-North Thompson candidates get the chance to mull over a few questions that summarize the inquiries from respondents, here is what readers have been hoping tops their agenda.
Housing in general was identified as a priority in nearly all survey responses, though few written questions specifically addressed it outside of inquiries on lifting the foreign buyers ban in Sun Peaks. However, a few asked about what is being done to create more affordable housing and a couple of respondents asked about solutions for homelessness.
“How will you remove restrictions to provide more supply of housing and encourage homeowners to rent their spaces,” one survey respondent asked.
With a respondent pool made up of mainly Sun Peaks residents, it wasn’t surprising that a common concern is on a topic that’s affected the resort community’s housing market. The foreign buyers ban is a legislation that has prohibited the purchase of residential property by non-Canadians. Areas outside of Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) and Census Agglomerations have been made exempt, which includes most resort communities. However Sun Peaks is one that hasn’t been made exempt because the CMA uses census data from commuter traffic to determine how interconnected communities are, and Sun Peaks is included in Kamloops’ CMA. Our survey showed locals are concerned about progress in fixing this oversight and lifting the ban in Sun Peaks.
Some questions touched on housing with emphasis on other issues, such as “how are [candidates] consulting local area staff in their region to discuss solutions to housing, toxic drug crisis and overall mental health services?”
In particular, concerns about the toxic drug crisis came up often in questions, despite it not being a specific option to respond to the multiple choice survey question: “What issues would you like candidates to tackle?”
Other major topics of concern revolved around improving healthcare delivery, particularly the challenge of getting a family physician, followed by climate change.
“How do they plan to get our economy back on track so that people can regain their footing and return to some normalcy with affordability [and] inflation,” one survey respondent asked.
Questions similar to the one above popped up in a handful of survey responses, in various forms of people wanting affordability and wondering how the government plans to “balance the budget.”
Keep your eyes out for an article with the candidate’s responses to questions linked to some of the main themes identified here, including the foreign buyers ban, housing, healthcare and climate change.
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