YOU ASKED THE CANDIDATES …
Your Issues - Their Answers

Last month The West End Journal canvassed followers of our Facebook page as well as members of The Westenders, West End Connect, and Vancouver West Enders Facebook groups to ask what the three top questions are that they would like to ask the candidates in the October 19 provincial election. There were so many replies, and excellent questions, that we had to expand our reach to four key questions.

Among the dozens of responses, the four most frequently asked questions were about public disorder, housing, plans for local health care services when St. Paul’s Hospital is closed, and the proposed abolishing of the Park Board. Many respondents stated that they wanted specific action plans and not just vague promises. We have made that clear in posing the questions.

You’ll find each candidate’s response to those questions below. And you’ll be able to ask these and other questions directly at an all-candidates forum at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, October 8 at the West End Community Centre.

The candidates appear here in alphabetical order, in case you were wondering.

We close at the end of the following candidate’s responses with a message from Elections BC.

SPENCER CHANDRA HERBERT
New Democratic Party

PUBLIC DISORDER: What are your specific action plans for dealing with the rising and inter-connected incidence of drug use, homelessness, and public disorder and violence?

People deserve to feel safe in the West End, and I’ve been working hard to tackle crime, the causes of crime, and the often-interconnected challenges of mental illness, drug use, and homelessness.

Whether it’s speaking with seniors at the West End Seniors Network, young families out in the community with my mobile office, neighbours at Gordon Neighbourhood House, business leaders with the BIA, or advocates at the Community Policing Centre, I know the West End wants action, and we are taking it head on. We led the push for the federal government to toughen up the law to keep repeat violent offenders off our streets, which they finally acted on last year.

We are creating new, secure care facilities where people with concurrent brain injury, severe drug addiction, and mental health challenges, who pose a danger to themselves and to their communities, can get the dignified care they need.

Our plan calls for building more than 8,800 new supportive housing units across BC to help get people off the streets and into stable homes. In addition, we’ve added more than 650 treatment beds, with more on the way as we build more new treatment facilities than ever before, ensuring that those struggling with addiction and mental health issues can get the help they need.

Of course, it’s better to prevent homelessness and any addiction or mental health challenges that could be the root cause early rather than wait for them to grow. The BC Rent Bank, which I helped found, has helped keep thousands of people from losing their homes, our Foundry program has helped tens of thousands of young people get the help they need when they need it, and our new Rapid Addiction Treatment programs at St. Paul’s is getting people help when they ask for it.

I know what a difference housing makes to the life of someone who has been living on the street because I work and advocate to help them get it. Just this week, I helped a man I’ve known in the neighborhood get the keys to his first place, a home that would not exist had our government not built it. It’s all connected.

Alongside expanding care, we’re also cracking down on those who profit from the drug crisis. We are working closely with law enforcement and calling on Ottawa to step up its efforts to stop the illegal trafficking of drugs into BC, particularly through our ports.

Organized crime must be held accountable for exacerbating the toxic drug crisis that affects so many.

We’re not going to stop until the job is done.

HOUSING: What are your specific action plans for addressing the affordable housing crisis and that the so-called “market housing” costs are still beyond the reach of younger and middle-income renters? Will you support capping rent increases between tenancies? Will you advocate to increase the seniors’ rental supplement SAFER?

Everyone deserves an affordable place to call home, but housing is still too far out of reach for many. In Vancouver, we know this better than most. In this election, the choice between the BC NDP and the Conservatives regarding housing could not be starker.

John Rustad and his party want to end rent control, allowing landlords to increase the rent as much as they want every year. That would be a disaster for renters in the West End and across BC. We can't let that happen.

The BC NDP stands with renters. We banned renovictions, stopped landlord-use evictions in our apartment buildings, and toughened up enforcement and penalties for landlords who break the law. We have taken action to help renters with costs, cutting rent increases to inflation and bringing in a $400 renter’s rebate. Renters should feel secure in their homes. I am honoured to work with renters in the West End, TRAC, and other housing advocates to make change. We’ve done a lot so far together, and now is not the time to turn back that progress.

Our BC NDP government is taking on the speculators that are driving up housing costs: our Speculation Tax has turned over 20,000 empty condos into long-term homes, and we have cracked down on short-term rentals like Airbnbs to ensure our existing housing stock is used for homes, not an investment. And we have put a plan in place that experts say will build 300,000 middle-class homes, by slashing redundant rules, speeding up the processes, and allowing more homes to be built close to transit all across BC.

We have also brought in a new plan to make new home purchases affordable for middle-class people across BC, with the BC government backstopping up to 40 percent of the mortgage cost so new homebuyers can afford to get into these homes.

We also recognize that seniors, especially those on fixed incomes, need help to keep up with rising rental costs. That’s why I am committed to enhancing the SAFER (Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters) program, which provides direct financial assistance to seniors who are renting. If re-elected, I will continue to advocate for an increase in the SAFER supplement to ensure that seniors can afford their rent and live with dignity without fearing losing their homes.

And for leaseholders, I recently released a new report created with them that makes a strong argument for changes to protect them in their homes. I will keep at it until we get change.

HEALTH CARE: What are your specific action plans to prepare for the eventual move of St. Paul’s Hospital out of the West End, to ensure adequate emergency care? And what will you do about the fact that the so-called “Urgent Care” and “Walk-In Clinics” in the downtown and West End area are beyond capacity?

Vancouver, like all of Canada, has been facing big healthcare challenges. There are many causes, but two of the biggest are a shortage of doctors and other healthcare workers and the pressure brought on by the fastest-growing population we’ve seen in over 50 years because of our strong economy, job market, and federal immigration changes.

We are taking action to train and hire more doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers than ever before, with over 800 new doctors hired so far this year. We are also getting internationally trained doctors and nurses credentialed so they can get to work faster. We’ve added 128 spaces across all campuses to UBC’s medical school. And we are building the first new medical school in Western Canada in half a century to train even more doctors. Under the former government, 1 in 5 in our community didn’t have a family doctor. Partnering with doctors and nurse practitioners, we have managed to cut that number in half, and more people are getting access to a family doctor all the time.

And across BC, we are building, or expanding 29 hospitals - including the new St. Paul’s hospital.

We recognize that the downtown core’s urgent care centres and walk-in clinics are under significant strain due to high demand. Our government is committed to increasing the capacity of these facilities by providing more resources, expanding hours, and hiring additional healthcare professionals.

We are starting to turn the corner. But that’s at risk with John Rustad, who has promised to cut $4.1 billion from our healthcare budget. Now is the time to hire more doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers, not fire them.

THE PARK BOARD: Do you support the Vancouver City Council’s move to abolish the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation?

People in urban communities like the West End need green space more than most - living in apartments, our parks are like a community backyard. I was proud to serve as a Park Commissioner, and make major improvements to Nelson Park, our pocket parks, and Stanley Park.

When I need time to think, or breathe you’ll find me out in the forest of Stanley Park, cycling on the seawall, or out for a run around Lost Lagoon. I believe the people of Vancouver should be offered a chance to state their point of view on whether the Park Board should continue at the next municipal election, and not before.

JON ELLACOTT
Conservative Party

PUBLIC DISORDER: What are your specific action plans for dealing with the rising and inter-connected incidence of drug use, homelessness, and public disorder and violence?

A conservative government will increase funding for law enforcement, reform the justice system to ensure that repeat offenders and violent criminals face harsher consequences, reverse decriminalization of public consumption of hard drugs and introduce laws to allow for involuntary treatment for those at serious risk due to addiction or mental health crisis.

We need to continue empowering our law enforcement agencies to do their jobs and not be fearful of undue discrimination or backwards action from the public at large. Part of this is also making policing an attractive career to our youth, and supporting local departments in hiring more staff and training more professionals (not just officers, social workers and mental health professionals also).

A wise administration will partner with industry to build more units, for less than traditional market cost. It is to the detriment of all British Columbians that housing "affordability" has been tied to the common market price of end-user housing, instead - affordability should instead be measured by the actual cost of construction; with potential incentives to developer builders that deliver projects under a certain hard cost threshold.

We need to change how we build as well, with new methods and materials existing that will allow us to deliver high density projects in a fraction of the traditional timeline; so long as these methods are incentivized by our provincial government. The goal of these measures being - the increase of strategically affordable housing units to the market on a much faster scale than currently feasible.

In my opinion, demand side pressures such as rent controls do not always work in creating affordability rather than stifling the delivery of more units to market, and Argentina is perhaps a great recent example of this.

The BC Conservative Healthcare proposal is a robust universal, single payer public/private hybrid model that will allow all British Columbians to access healthcare services more frequently and with less hassle than they currently do. A more efficient system, regardless of the cost/savings - is a system that delivers greater value to its users.

Without getting bogged down in the minutiae of what is an incredibly important and large portfolio, and with regards to adequate care and beyond capacity facilities - a BC conservative government would hire back thousands of healthcare workers that are currently out of work due to the personal healthcare implications of previous NDP policy and repeal the "Health Professions and Occupations Act" Bill C-36.

THE PARK BOARD: Do you support the Vancouver City Council’s move to abolish the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation?

There should be a referendum.

EOIN O’DWYER
Green Party

PUBLIC DISORDER: What are your specific action plans for dealing with the rising and inter-connected incidence of drug use, homelessness, and public disorder and violence?

We need to immediately invest in social housing to get people off the street, so they can get access to addiction and mental health support and rebuild their lives. People can’t get clean if they don’t have a roof over their head. This needs to go hand–in-hand with improving access to voluntary mental health and addiction support which there is not enough of. On top of this, we need safe supply to stop deaths from drug poisoning and reduce the load put on emergency responders.

At the end of the day, policing and involuntary treatment will not solve these problems. We must recognize that addiction is a disease and solve these issues with evidence-based policies.

We need a massive investment in non-market housing (co-ops and non-profits) to create affordable rentals now, instead of waiting for market supply to drive down prices.

Unlike the other parties, who think we can just build our way to affordability or magically solve the housing crisis by cutting taxes, the BC Greens recognize that non-market housing is essential to addressing homelessness and affordability challenges for those with low to moderate incomes.

I support vacancy control to cap rent increases between tenancies. I will advocate for an increase to SAFER.  

The BC Green Party is committed to creating community health centers in each riding to ensure that everyone has a primary care home. These centers will not only provide access to regular health providers, like family doctors or nurse practitioners, but also provide team-based care and simplify access to specialists such as dietitians, geriatricians, and physiotherapists. Focusing on primary care will in turn reduce the pressure on our urgent care facilities and the stress on our healthcare providers.

THE PARK BOARD: Do you support the Vancouver City Council’s move to abolish the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation?

I am firmly opposed to abolishing the Park Board.

This is being pushed through without proper democratic consultation, and I am deeply worried about how this will affect our parks as well as the recreation services that the Park Board provides.

A MESSAGE FROM ELECTIONS BC

The BC provincial election has been called for Saturday, October 19, 2024. Advance voting will be available October 10-13, and October 15 and 16.

There are many opportunities to vote in the election, including at any district electoral office, by mail, during advance voting, or on October 19. Visit elections.bc.ca for more information on the voting opportunity that works best for you.

We’re here to help you vote in the election. Please contact us with any questions at 1-800-661-8683, or via email at electionsbc@elections.bc.ca.