For this year’s provincial election, The Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal and The Hope Standard asked all four candidates in the Fraser-Nicola riding several questions, and their answers follow. The questions were:
1) Your current occupation and place of residence.
2) Have you ever held elected office before? If so, what and when? If this is your first time running in provincial politics, what prompted you to run?
3) What do you see as the top two or three issues in Fraser-Nicola, and how would you address them?
4) What makes you the best candidate for Fraser-Nicola?
General voting day is May 9. Advance voting is taking place in Ashcroft (Community Hall) on May 5 and 6; Cache Creek (Community Hall) on May 6; and Clinton (Memorial Hall) on May 5 and 6. Voting hours on each day are 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.
1) I reside in the riding of Fraser-Nicola in beautiful Hope: rich in Sto:Lo culture, surrounded by majestic mountains and mighty rivers, known as the chainsaw art capital of the world and the birthplace of Rambo.
I have been a licensed realtor for the past 11 years, negotiating the best deals for my clients, which may be very useful in negotiating and advocating the best deals on behalf of residents in the Fraser-Nicola.
I am also a licensed property manager, and have at first-hand witnessed the many difficulties people are experiencing with their housing needs. I want to work to ensure the best role the provincial government can take to deal with the current housing crisis.
I believe there is no better an individual to deal with the current crisis than someone who has the experience in that field of work.
2) I have been president of a constituency association, a director in a regional district ratepayers [group], and have been a director on the Fraser Valley Salmon Society, working with First Nations groups, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and sport and commercial fishermen as co-managers in conservation and habitat protection.
3) The provincial government’s primary responsibility is to represent (serve) all citizens in the most efficient, transparent, and fiscally responsible way possible to create an environment that promotes prosperity and well-being for citizens.
To begin, it is essential that politicians’ allegiance is not biased to its citizens by private interest money to political parties as we have seen.
These massive corporate and union donations to political parties must be eliminated, to end the corruption and get politicians back working for who they are elected by!
The next step to provincial prosperity is to scrutinize provincial expenditures and eliminate bloated bureaucracy, red tape, and inefficiencies in the system that have plagued ministries such as ICBC and the health authorities. That way money goes to where we need it: doctors, nurses, and suitable facilities.
Royalty structures need to be improved to ensure British Columbians are receiving their share. We see in Hope $2.50 per million litres of water, or the stumpage fees equivalent to as low as $9 to $10 a logging truck load.
We need competitive corporate taxes with streamlined regulations that attract and support processors and manufacturers (jobs for British Columbians), so business—as we have seen in the forest industry—doesn’t leave the province.
We need business people fighting for British Columbians! We need tax reform in B.C., so taxation is directly allocated to improve government accountability and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy.
4) Much work and change is needed in provincial government.
I am committed to hear and learn the needs of citizens in Fraser-Nicola. I will stand and be outspoken on your behalf as someone skilled in business negotiations, to ensure prosperity and well-being for all area residents!