Ahead of the LangfordB次元官网网址揓uan de Fuca byelection, Black Press Media asked your candidates what they believe the biggest issues are facing the riding. Here are their responses in 300 words or less, listed in alphabetical order.
Camille Currie, B.C. Green Party
The top priorities I am hearing at the doorsteps are access to timely health care, affordability and the environment. As MLA, I will work to advance measures to streamline administration, increase patient access, and improve wait times. Our health-care system has been mismanaged and requires transformation.
We need more community health centres that can meet the physical, mental and supportive needs of our communities. The Green Party has called to reform the use of NDAs so voices can be heard without fear of retaliation. I am passionate about public engagement, universal health care, accountability and transparency.
Health care and wellness are often interconnected with affordability. I believe we need to start asking the question, B次元官网网址渨hat is causing your affordability issue?B次元官网网址� For some, it is the cost of prescription medications not covered by this government. For others it is lost wages while waiting to access health care.
For some itB次元官网网址檚 the cost of food and transportation. By improving access to health care we can get workers back to work sooner and benefit from a healthier economy. The BC Greens have called for free transit for teens, which will lessen the financial burden on families and increase mobility to respond to labour shortages.
Constituents are also expressing their concerns regarding the environmental devastation in their communities and across this province.
I will advocate for the preservation of passive space as opposed to pay for play space. As a member of the BC Green caucus, I will build on the work of Sonia Furstenau and Adam Olsen in advocating for real solutions, instead of more reports and deferring decisions to future generations. Joining them as a front-bench MLA will mean a voice for Langford-Juan de Fuca on government committees, speaking to legislation and introducing solutions based on research and evidence.
Mike Harris, B.C. Conservative Party
After spending months knocking on doors, talking with hundreds of people in Langford-Juan de Fuca, the biggest issues that I am hearing are traffic, lack of affordability and health care.
The highways are jam-packed; traffic is unreal. People are sitting in their vehicles for hours when they should be at home spending time with their family. This is the fastest-growing community in B.C. B次元官网网址� we deserve this investment in our infrastructure.
IB次元官网网址檓 in real estate. IB次元官网网址檝e seen Langford grow at an unbelievable pace first-hand B次元官网网址� weB次元官网网址檙e welcoming in so many new families. ItB次元官网网址檚 fantastic, but we need the province to step up and give us the investment we deserve. Frankly, this should have happened a long time ago, but the NDP took our votes for granted and BC Liberals didnB次元官网网址檛 make investments in us when they had the chance.
Langford-Juan De Fuca deserves commuter rail; Conservatives are going to fight for it. If you put your trust in me as your MLA, IB次元官网网址檒l fight and get it done. We shouldnB次元官网网址檛 be treated like second class British Columbians because weB次元官网网址檙e on Vancouver Island. Look at all the provincial funding Vancouver and Surrey gets B次元官网网址� weB次元官网网址檙e not asking for the moon; weB次元官网网址檙e just asking for fairness.
I will fight and advocate to bring commuter rail to Southern Vancouver Island, including rail service in Langford.
We must also be pragmatic. This byelection will not change the balance of power in the legislature. However, what it can do is give the Conservative Party of BC official party status. This will empower us to be a voice to advocate for common sense policy and hold the government to account. If you want someone to be your champion for Langford-Juan de Fuca, I ask that you vote for Mike Harris on June 24.
Elena Lawson, BC United
IB次元官网网址檝e been knocking on doors all throughout the riding, and I hear the same things over and over: unaffordable housing, child-care waitlists if you can get on one, a crumbling health-care system, maxed-out schools, rise in crime and more taxes. Life is not getting better under this Eby NDP government.
People want to afford a home that is close to transit and easy commute to work or school B次元官网网址� those are the homes that we want to build. Instead, the NDP take away community decision-making and will cram fourplexes onto every single-family lot in Langford, Sooke and the Highlands.
ItB次元官网网址檚 unacceptable that people feel unsafe walking around their neighbourhoods. There has been an uptick in gang-related violence, open drug use in our playgrounds and parks, along with vandalism to our small businesses. David Eby decriminalized drugs without the proper guardrails.
What shouldnB次元官网网址檛 be the norm is: child-care waitlists, schools with maxed-out number of portables, commutes that take an hour or more but they are under this NDP.
This NDP government isnB次元官网网址檛 listening to the concerns of our communities. They continue with their government-knows-best approach, whether it works or not.
When I decided to run for MLA, I committed to being the voice of this community, to ask the questions and hold this government accountable for their poor policy decisions that negatively affect everyone.
We need someone to stand up for our community and what is right, not one more NDP MLA to increase a majority, two-term government. I am that person; I will stand up for this community.
ItB次元官网网址檚 time for a change, and itB次元官网网址檚 time to be heard. Vote Elena Lawson, BC United on June 24 to keep this government accountable.
Ravi Parmar, BC NDP
Whether itB次元官网网址檚 Langford, Sooke, the Highlands, or Port Renfrew, people say they want to see more improvements to housing, education, health care and the cost of living.
Following years of neglect from Kevin Falcon and the previous government, our BC NDP government has made record investments in each of these areas.
But thereB次元官网网址檚 more work to do.
While Kevin Falcon wants to reverse our crackdown on speculators, I want to do even more to help make housing affordable. WeB次元官网网址檝e built housing of all types in this community, and thereB次元官网网址檚 more to come. But with housing growth, we need to also take care of the other infrastructure needs.
Across North America weB次元官网网址檙e seeing strains on health care, and in B.C. weB次元官网网址檝e taken major steps to improve services. WeB次元官网网址檝e developed a new payment model in B.C. that will help attract and retain more family doctors and health-care workers.
WeB次元官网网址檝e also allowed pharmacists to prescribe medicine for minor illnesses that will take pressure off clinic lines. I want to expand the Urgent Primary Care Centre in Langford and its staffing along with completing construction on the Heath Care Centre in Sooke and the long-term care beds in Royal Bay.
WeB次元官网网址檝e opened child-care spaces and made it more affordable for everyone so families donB次元官网网址檛 have to choose between having kids or building their careers, and weB次元官网网址檝e done away with MSP premiums entirely after Kevin Falcon and the previous government doubled the costs. We fixed the mess they left at ICBC, and have dropped premiums significantly for families and even issued rebates.
Since becoming the school board chair in Sooke, I helped open a record number of schools in this area, and now I want to continue delivering and working hard for this community as your MLA. I hope I can count on your support.
, Communist Party of B.C.
Working people in B.C. are facing numerous challenges, which after six years of NDP governance have grown increasingly worse. Rent and the cost of living have skyrocketed, while wages have remained stagnant or effectively fallen. A $23/hour minimum wage should be implemented immediately.
The CPBC believes housing should be a human right, not a commodity to increase profits for the rich. We therefore propose capping rents at 20 per cent of residentsB次元官网网址� income, along with the urgent construction of 100,000 units of new and renovated social and low-income public housing.
Even after abolishing provincial taxes on incomes under $40,000, annual provincial revenues could be increased by >$3 billion by eliminating the massive tax breaks granted to the wealthy and corporations by the Liberals, and which the NDP have kept in place.
Additionally, nearly $500 million is spent annually in B.C. on funding and tax breaks for private and religious schools B次元官网网址� funding desperately needed for our public education system, which spends $1,000 less per student than the Canadian average.
Each year, thousands of deaths in B.C. resulting from the opioid crisis necessitate the urgent implementation of a permanent, safe and regulated drug supply, alongside expanded mental health services.
We fully support calls to significantly cut police spending, which should be transferred to renewable energy, housing, health care and schools.
We demand an end to resource projects on Indigenous lands without full consultation and approval, in accordance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Site C Dam, LNG/Coastal GasLink project, and Trans Mountain expansion must be scrapped, along with subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. We propose free universal public transit, and public ownership and democratic control over natural resources.
Capitalism is killing the planet. We call for socialism B次元官网网址� where working people have political power, not corporations.
Important dates
The Langford-Juan de Fuca byelection was called on May 27 to fill the seat vacated by former premier John Horgan. Candidate nomination closed June 3 with voter registration (online and by phone) closing at midnight on June 14. Advance voting runs June 16 through 21 from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. and election day is June 24. Polls close at 8 p.m. with preliminary results expected that night. The final count and finalized results will be officially announced by June 28.
Where to vote
The district electoral office at 110-955 Reunion Ave. is open for voting between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on all advance voting days and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on election day.
On June 16-19 advance voting days and election day, voters can cast their vote at the Four Points Sheraton (829 McCallum Rd.) from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
On all advance voting days and election day, votes can be cast at the SEAPARC Leisure Complex in Sooke from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
On June 20 and 21, advance voting can be done at Gordon United Church (935 Goldstream Ave.) from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
On election day, the following additional polls will be open to cast votes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.:
East Sooke Community Hall (1397 Copper Mine Rd.)
Happy Valley Elementary School (3291 Happy Valley Rd.)
Highlands Community Hall (729 Finlayson Arm Rd.)
Juan de Fuca Area Services Building (3-7450 Butler Rd.)
Port Renfrew Community Centre (6638 Deering Rd.)
Shirley Community Hall (2795 Sheringham Point Rd.)
The Forge Church (2612 Sooke Rd.)
Willway Elementary School (2939 Mt. Wells Dr.)
For more information, go to .
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