All four candidates vying to become the next MLA for Kootenay-Rockies answered questions from voters at a public forum in Cranbrook on Monday night.
Candidate statements
Kerri Wall – BC Green Party
Wall feels her party has a decent shot at winning the riding because of the number of candidates and voters’ desire for change.
“Since 2001, this riding has had an MLA from a right-wing party and voters have been telling me they would rather have someone who can represent a broader swath of the electorate,” said Wall.
“The Green Party is that choice for more and more people because of our commitment to fiscal responsibility, environmental conservation and social programs.”
Pete Davis – BC Conservative Party
Davis says the Conservatives are promising to tackle the economy if the party forms government.
“It’s troubling to see how many families are at their breaking point, struggling to pay their bills, buy food and keep a roof over their heads,” said Davis.
“We’re facing a crisis on multiple fronts: rising costs of living, high taxes deteriorating health care, homelessness, the opioid crisis and struggles in our natural resource sector. It’s clear we need a new approach and fresh ideas.”
Sam Atwal – BC New Democratic Party
Atwal says the BC NDP will build from its previous momentum if elected.
“We’re helping families and we’ve seen what the BC NDP have to been providing: we’re hiring and training more doctors and nurses, we’re tackling the housing costs and we’re building one of the strongest economies in Canada,” said Atwal.
“We’re starting to see the results and that’s why I’m part of this team. We believe in B.C.’s potential and we’re laser-focused on making your life better. There’s more to do, and I feel like I’m the best person suited to be your MLA.”
Tom Shypitka – Independent (incumbent)
Shypitka says his position as an independent politician gives him an edge to better represent constituents.
“This is not about partisan politics, it’s not about picking green, orange or blue, it’s all about you. This election is about your voice, your power and your future. It’s about making sure you have a voice that is unquestionably accountable to your community and nobody else,” said Shypitka.
“An an Independent, I answer to no party and no political master. The only leader I will serve is you.”
Housing
Sam Atwal – BC New Democratic Party
Atwal acknowledged there was a crisis in housing affordability and supply, saying the NDP will continue to work to tackle the issue.
“We’re fast-tracking B.C.’s factory home construction for quicker delivery and lower costs to middle-class families,” said Atwal.
“It helps cut down on red tape for construction on single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes and townhomes. Factory home construction is going to play a critical role in how we’re solving this housing crisis.”
Atwal says the NDP has funded some local projects and the party wants to expand that.
“When you look at what we’ve done in Sparwood, we’ve taken those affordable home construction pieces through BC Housing and put it through the housing society to operate those things,” said Atwal.
“In Fernie, know that the resort community needs housing, we’re building specific housing through BC Builds to make sure housing is affordable in different avenues.”
Tom Shypitka – Independent (incumbent)
Shypitka says more emphasis needs to be on creating more housing, rather than restricting demand.
“We need to build supply, that is the obvious answer. When I sat in opposition to the NDP, they attacked the demand side of things through speculation taxes and more taxes,” said Shypitka.
“We need to build more supply first and foremost. We can do that by incentivizing municipalities and regional districts to streamline the permitting process.”
Shypitka says the province needs better ways to get housing prices under control.
“What is an affordable home? What might be affordable for you might not be affordable for me. We need to get a definition like low-cost or below-market,” said Shypitka.
“We keep throwing this term ‘affordable housing’ around like it’s available to everybody, but it’s not.”
Pete Davis – BC Conservative Party
Davis said B.C. needs to triple the amount of housing built per year for the next decade to meet demand.
“That’s a big issue and we don’t have the money to do it. The other problem we have is that we don’t have the workers, we need to look at our own immigration and get the right people into B.C. that can build these houses for us,” said Davis.
“We need to work with municipalities as well and start helping them out with infrastructure. If you can’t get things in the ground, you can’t build things on top.”
Davis suggested repealing regulations to speed up construction.
“We need to get rid of Clean BC and the Step Code. It’s costing $30,000 to $80,000 more just to build a house. We need to go back to just building houses and get people into homes,” said Davis
“We need to start relying on our private sector to build housing. The government should not be controlling housing and we need to start relying on people who are good at their jobs. The people who have construction companies want to get out and start doing some work. We need to get rid of the permits and do one permit per project.”
Kerri Wall – BC Green Party
Wall says the Greens believe that housing is a fundamental human right.
“Housing is a cornerstone for health and wellness. It’s absolutely the bottom line and it intersects with so many other issues,” said Wall.
“We can’t have mental health without housing, we can’t look at actively solving the substance use and addictions crisis without housing, we can’t even face climate change if we don’t have housing.”
Wall says stable housing also plays a significant role in getting unhoused people off the street.
“The province needs to directly fund municipalities to manage homelessness that works for housing,” said Wall.
“BC Housing as a middle organization is another one of those bulky bureaucratic mechanisms that has been very difficult to work with, not only in Cranbrook but in many other municipalities as well.”
Climate change
Kerri Wall – BC Green Party
Wall feels her party has the strongest environmental platform.
“The Green party will definitely commit to meeting emissions targets. The science is absolutely clear on climate change,” said Wall.
“We in the Green Party want to stop subsidizing the big polluters, and that will help bring more money into government coffers. We know the fossil fuel industry is the number one polluter and we want to commit to clean energy solutions. We already have the know-how and technology, we simply need the political will to get these solutions started.”
Wall says carbon taxes are a useful tool to curb emissions while giving money back to working families.
“Carbon pricing is not a significant driver to the cost of living no matter what others might tell you. Look at the United States: the cost of living has been rising there dramatically and they do not have a carbon tax,” said Wall.
“Over 80 per cent of British Columbians get more back from the carbon tax than they pay. The carbon tax has only contributed to 0.15 per cent of inflation. Carbon pricing is one of the most effective and least expensive ways to reduce emissions.”
Pete Davis – BC Conservative Party
Davis says his party will commit to eliminating the carbon tax.
“Conservatives believe in climate change, nobody has said we don’t, we just believe in different ways to deal with climate change,” said Davis.
“We believe we need to use technology because taxing people into poverty is not working. We need to get rid of the carbon tax, it is causing so much pain to people, families and businesses.”
Davis says B.C.’s climate emergency is not as pressing as other issues.
“We have a crisis in every area right now, a crisis in taxation, decriminalization is a huge issue, we have a crisis in affordability and a crisis in crime,” said Davis.
“I don’t believe that climate change is a huge crisis we are facing today. It’s something we have to deal with, but it doesn’t need to consume our lives and the money of the people in our community.”
Sam Atwal – BC New Democratic Party
Atwal says the NDP has been taking action on climate change and will continue to do so if they win the election.
“We want to do better, we want to work with our indigenous partners, we want to make sure everything we’re doing is in a cleaner economy,” said Atwal.
“There are jobs there and there is a way to make the transition in a positive way.”
Atwal reiterated that the NDP plans to build on past progress.
“The program we built is Clean BC, it’s one of the most ambitious climate plans on the continent and it’s working,” said Atwal.
The NDP candidate said the party will follow federal government guidelines regarding carbon taxes.
“If the federal government scraps the carbon tax, we’ll be on board. We’ll take away the personal cost for the carbon tax and make sure that makes sense to us,” said Atwal.
“We have a system in place right now where we’re taking the funding and making sure we’re spending it on local British Columbians.”
Tom Shypitka – Independent (incumbent)
Shypitka says the carbon tax gives an unfair disadvantage to B.C.’s industry.
“Our metallurgical coal is an export that we send to countries like China and India, and that’s steelmaking coal to help electrify our economy. Those industries are being handcuffed because of the unfairness of the rising carbon tax,” said Shypitka.
“Once we don’t allow those export markets to get out to foreign buyers, that demand goes to other countries that don’t have the same environmental and social government standards.”
Shypitka says wildfire mitigation can also play a role in emission reduction.
“Wildfires are a huge carbon release and that’s something we can do proactively rather than what this government has done reactively,” said Shypitka.
“We need to get in touch with our First Nations communities and look at some of those traditional methods of prescribed burns. We’ve done a bunch here already and thank goodness we have.”
Voters head to polls on Saturday, Oct. 19.
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