Mid-Island candidates share ideas for high-paying, stable job creation in Nanaimo, Oceanside

Kathleen Jones (Liberals)

I will advocate for a new hospital, cardiac program, cancer clinic and patient tower making Nanaimo the destination for medical specialists. I want Nanaimo to be linked to the mainland via high speed E-Commerce infrastructure sufficient to accommodate data traffic needs to attract new and higher level E-Commerce and Green Business technologies. I’ll advocate for start-up funding and support for businesses here and funding for training programs for new and existing employees to increase their skills and technological development. I’ll seek Provincial help with market expansion, promotion of Nanaimo and funding for women, minorities and special interest groups to start new businesses here. For Nanaimo I will seek and promote innovative ideas, ways & means to get money flowing into Nanaimo through Gov’t funding sources, grants, incentives, subsidies.

Sheila Malcolmson (NDP)

When COVID hit, our BC NDP government worked hard to keep people safe and get the help they needed. Relaxing patio rules and rent support helped, for example. Now we’re building a Stronger BC recovery, supporting small businesses and sustainable jobs by providing:

* $300M in Small Business Recovery grant, protecting 200,000 jobs.

* $12M for businesses to boost e-commerce operations and increase digital marketing capacity.

* $21M for galleries and theatres.

* 15% refundable tax credit to help businesses grow and rehire employees.

* Temporary PST rebate on machinery and equipment to facilitate business investments in productivity.

* Targeted skills training in high-demand fields to support stable jobs.

* Hiring incentive, including for people with disabilities.

And I will keep learning from our Chamber, VIEA, Hospitality Association and TourismVI, advancing their ideas to Victoria, to keep moving BC forward for all of us. The ocean plastics cleanup I launched last month came from northcoast tourism operators, just the kind of innovation we want to partner on more. The BCNDP will support working people through the recovery and addressing the gaps the pandemic has exposed, so we emerge more resilient than before.

Lia Versaevel (Greens)

Again, I would advocate for a basic liveable income. Having a basic liveable income would help entry-level workers in retail and the service sector – as well as their employers – during these tough economic times.

I would also encourage the procurement of local goods and services, as well as promote the tech industry, tourism and arts and the production of local food. Ecotourism activities such as scuba diving, kayaking, and boating bring sustainable dollars to our community.

I would also work to ban the export of raw logs. This is something that would promote the development of local industry and businesses. We could use our local lumber for affordable housing construction, furniture, docks, smaller bridges, etc. to develop integrated wood processing industries that would benefit our local economy.

And finally, I would encourage a free transit service in the city, like that in Melbourne, Australia and so many other cities, to get people to shop locally, and access all the services they need within the city core. It would also make it easier for people to access entertainment and the arts, significant drivers of Nanaimo’s economy in pre-COVID times, once they can open up safely.

– – – – –

Chris Istace (Greens)

As a small business owner, I was directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, having to close my shop for two months. I was grateful for both my relationship with the Business Improvement Association and my local connections with in the community. We encouraged our community to shop local and support local businesses while we transitioned online, and with the addition of the federal small business support, we weathered the storm and strived to return to normal.

Support grants with funding from the province would have put money immediately in the hands of small businesses. Larger funds being made available to business advocacy organizations would allow businesses to work intimately with their immediate regions to build resiliency. We need to continue to show that value added resource sector businesses reach into the fabric of communities and champion regional work to strengthen the grass roots resurgence of “shop local support local”.

We believe in stable training for stable jobs, with a call for affordable post secondary education, allowing residents to access changing technologies and fields of work. Subsidies for the fossil fuel industry need to shift towards the renewable energy sector that will create high paying jobs in communities everywhere.

Duck Paterson (Liberals)

I stand for tax relief and financial supports for the safe reopening of small business.

We need incentives for companies that invest in B.C., invest in job creation and invest in capital improvements so they can continue to provide for the economic recovery of the province.

We are not going to get out of the pandemic hole we are in unless we can generate new sources of revenue, new jobs and investment. Limiting who can invest in B.C., who can build in B.C. and who can work in B.C. is NOT going to create investment or jobs.

Companies receiving tax relief and other financial supports will be required to supply visible criteria to show what they intend and will be doing, along with stringent timelines that lay out when they must reach those goals.

One more thing about COVID: this election is totally wrong. We shouldn’t be going to the polls during COCID. The current government didn’t need to do this – it had a year to run on its mandate.

The NDP wanting your vote for its COVID response is like asking to pick the Three Stars before the end of the First Period. Pick me instead.

Doug Routley (NDP)

COVID-19 has certainly highlighted problems that we already knew existed, but it is also showing us the path forward. The Provincial government is a major purchaser of goods and services and we need to ensure that we use that power to buy local and employ local. One step that we took prior to COVID, was implementing Community Benefit Agreements which ensure that smaller, local companies can more easily apply and be selected for government contracts and requires that workers on projects are hired locally. As part of our COVID recovery plan we announced that we would be creating 7,000 new health care positions and prioritizing the hiring and training of individuals who have lost their jobs in industries hardest hit by the pandemic- such as the tourism sector.

We have also removed interest on BC student loans and invested over $30 million into VIU to expand facilities and seats for high in demand trades, health services and engineering degrees. Combined these measures will help people in our community train for, and gain employment in, high demand, good paying jobs.

– – – – –

Robert Lyon (Greens)

Being a community largely based on tourism and retirement we have been especially hard hit by COVID-19. Add to that the snap election which has caused delays in businesses receiving the aid promised them, and its not a pretty picture. By strengthening our healthcare, assisted living and long term care environment in the province we will reduce the effects of future viral threats. This will help us avoid the massive shutdowns which were so devistating to our retail and service sectors. To influence the creation of high paying stable jobs I will work to streamline the development process with the municipality to provide reasonable timelines; reduce the red tape where ALR is concerned to allow more housing on working farms; provide progressive housing solutions for families wanting to move to the area; increase access to timber supply for secondary wood producers. These are all suggestions that were put forward by the citizens of Parksville and Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce. I strongly support the Chamber of Commerce and will work with them on all recommendations.

Don Purdey (Conservatives)

The pandemic has been a steep learning curve and things may get worse before they improve. Good jobs will come with growth in Parksville.

John St. John (Independent)

Being about to lose my business due to the incompetent handling of this ‘so-called pandemic’ and the governments over reaction before finding out the true facts is disgusting. The governments job is to reassure the public that all will be well, not scare the hell out of them with constant news clips of unproven facts. By locking people down and giving them CERB, they are taking away people’s ability to be self-sufficient, making them dependent on Government, then when all the small businesses close the people will have no option but do whatever the government tells them to do… that is not Democracy, it’s Dictatorship! I will do everything I can to ensure that small businesses and people survive.

Michelle Stilwell (Liberals)

The tourism industry illustrates the chaos and uncertainty of COVID, and the critical need for the right government policy to save jobs and entire industries. Tourism is, in many ways, the heartbeat of the Nanaimo-Parksville-Qualicum economy.

Restaurants have been crushed by COVID and struggle to survive. No business can survive an indefinite 50% reduction in business.

Whilte Government can’t create high-paying stable jobs, it can help with tax and regulatory policy. In our local economy, small businesses create the lion’s share of employment. They are the foundation of our communities and the hope for the future.

The NDP introduced 23 separate new or increased taxes in just 3 years. No business owner in BC will tell you these tax increases increased job creation. Having served as the opposition critic for Tourism, Hospitality and Sport, I have seen and heard firsthand the effects on small businesses.

The BC Liberal Party has committed to an historic $8 billion Rebuild BC plan. This plan will invest in the infrastructure that will support new economic activity here and around the province.

I will also continue to advocate for a smaller tax burden and regulatory relief for the Tourism and service industries.

Adam Walker (NDP)

The one thing that I am hearing most from voters is how impressed they are with John Horgan’s leadership throughout this pandemic. As we begin to build the recovery, John and the NDP will make sure no one is left behind.

Having operated a technology business in our community for over 15 years, let me assure you that there is no shortage of ideas or opportunity here. The BC NDP has prioritized advanced education and it is through these investments that our community has the best opportunity to grow a skilled and highly

paid workforce. These investments have prioritized training in healthcare, tech, skilled trades, and early childhood education to ensure that people’s skills match the demands of the job market.

Stronger BC, our economic recovery plan, will create stable jobs through these targeted investments in training. We will help businesses grow and rehire with a 15% refundable tax credit. Stronger BC also introduces a $300 million grant program for small- and medium-sized business, protecting 200,000 jobs in the hardest hit industries.

by NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Mid-Island candidates share ideas for high-paying, stable job creation in Nanaimo, Oceanside

More Local News