Question 1: Why should young people able to vote for the first time in this election support you and your party?
A recent report showed that the worst-performing economy for young people is here in B.C., and when you combine that with the fact that all of the new economic growth in B.C. happened in the lower mainland and the island - young people in northern B.C. are doubly impacted by Christy Clark's failures.
Post-secondary tuition has been hiked up, even though we know that more than 80 per cent of the jobs of the future will require some post-secondary education or training.
Our plan is to make B.C. affordable again. For students, that means interest-free loans for post-secondary education and training and a $1,000 completion bonus for finishing your program.
Voting empowers our young voters to decide their future so they have a place in our economy. I encourage all young folks to vote and decide the direction of our province.
Question 2: What are the major issues in education in your electoral district and what is your plan to address those concerns?
Christy Clark's wasted millions of taxpayer dollars in court instead of devoting that money to classrooms. In Mackenzie the Liberals closed two elementary schools and the one remaining is overflowing. Prince George has had more than a dozen schools closed and Christy Clark was forced to open Springwood elementary.
John Horgan and the B.C. NDP do not need a Supreme Court of Canada decision to tell us to properly fund our schools.
We are committed to replace Kelly Road secondary school and fix the funding formula that has left school districts scrambling to cut costs, leading to closed schools. We will make sure that our teachers have the resources they need to give our kids the education they deserve.
Question 3: What are the major issues affecting the aboriginal residents of your electoral district and what is your plan to address those concerns?
From the perspective of the provincial government, what First Nations deserve is a government that treats them with respect and dignity. What they have got from Christy Clark and the B.C. Liberals is anything but. Perhaps that's why the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs set up a website encouraging British Columbians to elect a new government May 9.
John Horgan made the bold declaration that a B.C. NDP government will implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as all the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Those actions are sorely needed, and long overdue. We need to treat First Nations with the respect they deserve.
The B.C. NDP will also develop, in collaboration with the First Nations themselves, new curriculum for aboriginal language and culture.
Question 4: What are the major environmental issues affecting your electoral district and what is your plan to address those concerns?
Air quality continues to be a problem.
Our land base, which not only sustains wildlife, but is also fundamentally important to our economy, since you can't have a healthy forest industry without a healthy forest, has been degraded.
We will take immediate steps to make sure our forests are healthy and our air is clean.
And we have a bold and well-regarded climate change plan which includes the means by which Prince Georgians can make their homes more energy-efficient, helping people save money and reduce their carbon footprint. Christy Clark's plan is simply to plan to increase the carbon tax to match the federal requirement.
Under our plan, nearly 80 per cent of all households will receive some form of carbon tax rebate, as we continue to address Christy Clark's affordability crisis.
Question 5: What are the major health issues affecting your electoral district and what is your plan to address those concerns?
Christy Clark said everyone in B.C. would have their own family doctor by 2015. It's 2017 and 10,000 people in Prince George are looking for a family doctor!
The B.C. NDP plan will deliver primary care through urgent care centres. They deliver the right type of care for the patient's need, when they need it.
It will shorten wait times, improve care and deliver health care more efficiently.
With regard to our seniors, of the six publicly-funded residential care homes in Prince George, none of them meet the minimum staffing government requirements.
We will make sure that minimum standards are met, our seniors get better home support and they get the care they need at a most vulnerable time in their lives.
Question 6: What are the major economic issues affecting your electoral district and what is your plan to address those concerns?
Unemployment is on the rise everywhere outside of the Lower Mainland. In fact, there are fewer people working in rural B.C. than there were in 2008.
We will get people back to work in Prince George and Mackenzie.
We'll revitalize and kickstart the forest industry by building government buildings with wood and encouraging builders to use wood and wood products.
In mining we will get to good decisions faster with a properly resourced application process and independent oversight for safety.
And we'll create jobs in communities by building in B.C. and create 96,000 construction jobs.
At the same time, we'll get more use out of the logs we're taking out of our forests, unlike Christy Clark, who has exported nearly six million cubic metres of raw logs each year since 2013.
