Natalie Fletcher, NDP
Question 1: Why should young people able to vote for the first time in this election support you and your party?
Young British Columbians are among the ones worst impacted by the failures and mismanagement of the Christy Clark government.
We know that B.C. has the worst-performing economy for young people. The sad fact is that the only place that there are jobs is in the Lower Mainland - jobs have been lost in every other region. A B.C. NDP government would create jobs in every region in B.C
Young people want what everyone wants - to participate in the economy and perhaps raise a family.
Question 2: What are the major issues in education in your electoral district and what is your plan to address those concerns?
A John Horgan government will examine and fix the flawed, one-size-fits-none funding model at the root of these closures. We'll put money back into classrooms so that kids aren't left reading from text books that are decades old.
It's important they our children have the resources they need.
Question 3: What are the major issues affecting the aboriginal residents of your electoral district and what is your plan to address those concerns?
In fairness, the people who should best outline the concerns of aboriginal residents are members of the First Nations themselves.
Sadly, that hasn't happened under the Christy Clark Liberals.
The bottom line is that we cannot move forward as a province if we continue to leave First Nations behind.
John Horgan and the B.C. NDP will implement all aspects of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and implement all the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In both cases, it's simply the right thing to do.
Question 4: What are the major environmental issues affecting your electoral district and what is your plan to address those concerns?
Unlike the B.C. Liberal plan, which is basically a plan to increase the carbon tax to match the federal requirement by 2022, John Horgan's plan gives allows British Columbians to make changes to reduce their carbon footprint, in part by revitalizing programs that make it easier for people to increase energy efficiency in their own homes.
And we'll do it without unfairly taxing people who can't afford it.
Under the B.C. NDP plan, approximately 80 per cent of B.C. households will receive some kind of carbon tax rebate cheque.
Question 5: What are the major health issues affecting your electoral district and what is your plan to address those concerns?
People in this region are waiting too long for publicly funded health care. Too many people don't have primary medical care, despite the promise from Christy Clark that everyone would have a family doctor by 2015. Her own health minister finally admitted that 700,000 British Columbians don't have a doctor.
A Liberal candidate told a forum that she wanted to see more privatization and Christy Clark, given the chance to say she was wrong, refused to do so.
Healthcare must be based on need instead of ability to pay.
Question 6: What are the major economic issues affecting your electoral district and what is your plan to address those concerns?
Despite everything you've heard from Christy Clark, rural BC is being left behind by the Liberals. She said last time she was singularly focused on LNG, and promised 100,000 jobs from it. Exactly one job was created in LNG, and that was a $150,000-per-year job to her friend Gordon Wilson.
We have an ambitious building program that will build schools and hospitals -using wood wherever possible - as well as 114,000 units of public housing.
This will create 96,000 family-supporting jobs.
