Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart says that one of her focuses over the next 12 to 18 months will be the Fraser Canyon corridor: what she calls a “forgotten treasure” of British Columbia.
“In the past the Fraser Canyon has been split in half between MLAs, between tourism associations. It’s what I call the ‘forgotten highway’, but it’s absolutely spectacular. The more times I drive up the canyon, the more I realize we don’t have appropriate pull-outs, we don’t have appropriate washroom areas, we don’t have good signage to point out some of the incredible experiences that you can have coming up the Fraser Canyon. It is an absolutely prime location for day trips out of the Metro area on a weekend, but it has been totally under-utilized.”
Tegart says that while locals know places to stop along the route, tourists don’t, because of the lack of signage. “We have an incredible First Nations village at Boston Bar, which I’m sure people have driven by for the last five years and never even noticed it’s there. We have the Yale Historic Site, which is unbelievable, and the Alexandra Bridge and Hell’s Gate, to name a few.
“We need to look at how do we promote the canyon, and opportunities like train-watching. We have lots of pull-outs, but they’re dirt and gravel, they’re potholed. They would be fabulous places to sit and watch the trains. We need to pull the people together to talk about what the plan should look like, and find the funding to do it.
“I’m putting people on notice that we expect some work to be done on the Fraser Canyon, and I’m excited about the opportunities.”
Asked about the situation which sees a company in Merritt with no buses repeatedly given an extension on their licence to provide bus service between that community and Prince George—which prevents other companies from obtaining a licence for the route—Tegart says that she wasn’t aware that only one group could apply for a particular licence at a time.
“While the extension is there [for the Merritt company], my understanding from [Cariboo-Chilcotin] MLA Donna Barnett is they have a company that would like to put in a proposal that actually has buses and is ready to go. They’re finding it a bit frustrating that they’re in the queue, and not sure how long it will be before a decision is made about the previous application.”
She says that what she thinks government was looking for was businesses and groups that were interested in providing service, and they were panicky to get that process underway and say they had replaced the Greyhound bus routes. “I think what we see now is the need to be really diligent in making sure that those licence applications actually turn into service to communities.
“The concern here is that if an applicant is unsuccessful in putting together the funding and the business plan that needs to actually end up in service to community, how long should they take up that space in the queue?”
While ride sharing has mostly been framed as an urban issue, Tegart believes it’s important to the entire province. “I think as we look at communities that are challenged around public transit—particularly small communities that really don’t have enough business to support a bus route or a taxi company—ride sharing is something that could actually solve that problem.
“People who are looking for a ride to Cache Creek or Kamloops: to have the opportunity to be able to phone and schedule a ride would be a service that we haven’t seen in a long, long time. As much as the conversation about ride sharing tends to be around urban areas, I think there are all kinds of opportunities for ride sharing to solve a lot of our transportation issues in rural B.C.”
Tegart says she did not hear a lot of support for rural B.C. in the provincial budget, which was announced late last month. “I listen for support for natural resources, rural communities. In our area we’re looking for affordable housing and seniors’ housing. I always check to make sure the 10 Mile Slide money is still in the budget, which it is.
“But I think there has to be a focus on natural resources, which are the engine of British Columbia. So I look at agriculture, where I see very little increase; mining, where the very minimal increase is to do with oversight; and forestry, which is struggling in our province right now. When I look at the budget, I don’t see very much support for that.”
Tegart says she’s also concerned that this is a “spend” budget, with no plan about how to bring money in. She notes the 19 new taxes that have been introduced since last year, adding that while the government is cutting Medical Service Plan premiums, it has introduced the Employer Health Tax, which she describes as a burden on businesses and municipalities.
“Many municipalities are having to put up taxes on our homes and properties in order to pay the Employer Health Tax. So although [the government] says you’re not paying the MSP, I think we’re looking at what we buy from businesses going up, so in the end we are paying the tax for the Employer Health Tax.”
Tegart says there are some good things in the budget, such as support for foster parents and increases in payments to those with disabilities and on social services. “I guess the major concern is that in order to provide services and support we need to have a thriving economy that brings those tax dollars in, and I don’t see any emphasis on how we’re growing the economy.”
Regarding increased shipment of oil by trains, Tegart says we need to look at the safest way of getting that commodity to tidewater, which she believes are pipelines, of which she has been a very vocal supporter. While admitting she’s no expert on pipelines, she feels that the replacement of a 50 to 60 year old pipeline “just makes sense.” She also has grave concerns about how much foreign money out of the United States is being used to land-lock our oil and gas.
Tegart says she will once again be reminding government about the need for seniors’ housing: not only in Clinton, which was promised $2.9 million by the previous Liberal government for a seniors’ housing facility in 2017, but in other small communities.
“Our seniors want to live in their communities. They’re looking to downsize, or for a place with more support, and I will continue to lobby to ensure the Minister knows all our small communities are looking for seniors’ housing.”
editorial@accjournal.ca
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