Mid-Island candidates outline plan to make life more affordable for Nanaimo, Parksville residents

Kathleen Jones (Liberals)

I will advocate for more Daycares, Daycare Workers, to eliminate waitlists, subsidies for parents and Daycares for children with special needs. I want pre and post school care, funding for business created daycares. I will advocate & promote Food Share and recycle & reuse programs, lower prices at the pump, job creation programs, training & skill upgrades & apprenticeships, bulk purchases of school supplies, grants and no interest loans for home renos and green improvements, work clothes, equipment and bicycles plus the continued elimination of PST. To stabilize housing I will advocate for more rentals, subsidies for Tenants, incentives to maintain existing rental rates & units renovated up to date as well as more affordable housing that starts small to family homes.

Sheila Malcolmson (NDP)

To cut costs for you, since 2017 we:

* Fixed a rent control loophole.

* Cut the allowable rent increase put in place by the BCLiberals.

* Provided renters up to $2,500 in Pandemic Temporary Rental Supplement.

* Funded 850 new affordable Nanaimo homes.

* Reduced childcare fees, saving Nanaimo families up to $19,000/year, while topping up childcare workers’ wages by $2/hour.

* Eliminated Medical Service Plan fees (which doubled under the BCLiberals), saving families up to $1,800/year – BC’s largest middle class tax cut ever.

* Child Opportunity Benefit is up to $1,600/year/child (starts this month).

* Pulled ICBC out of the mess BCLiberals left it in, and with our new care model, next year rates fall 20%.

* Eliminated student loan interest, saving ~$2,300/student

* Restored student grants cut by the BCLiberals (putting $4,000 back into the pockets of ~40,000 students this year).

* Raised the minimum wage three times.

* Cut ferry fares and restored the Seniors’ Discount.

* Waived prescription drug deductibles for ~90,000 low-income families.

There’s more to do, but the list above shows who WE are pulling for. Let’s not go back to the BC Liberals’ tax holidays for the super-rich. Let’s move BC…

(Editor’s Note: Candidates were limited to 200 words, NanaimoNewsNOW has trimmed the remainder of this candidate’s submission.)

Lia Versaevel (Greens)

I commit to working with all levels of government as well as private companies and not-for-profits to substantially increase the number of subsidized and affordable housing units. We must create liveable cities and neighbourhoods in order to reduce our footprint. We need walkable, accessible services and facilities and Nanaimo, as a HUB city, is well placed geographically and demographically to increase transit use, reducing and in some situations eliminating the need for privately owned vehicles. Ride Share and Car Share options are increasing where transit does not fill the gaps.

A Basic Living Income for all would ensure that people can focus on their well-being, housing, and child care, instead of compromising their mental health in worrying about their financial survival. Supports for Aboriginal Friendship Centres in Nanaimo must include more co-operatives and culturally embracing projects. Housing speculation schemes, renovictions and foreign-owned vacant properties must be curtailed within the RDN, just as they have been in Vancouver and Victoria.

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Chris Istace (Greens)

We need to immediately start government housing and social assistance for those most at risk. Federal and provincial governments have downloaded this responsibility to municipal governments. We need a Green government who will stand up and take action and make resources available. The provincial government needs to be accountable and build housing that is affordable and accessible to those most in need. Rent prices are often a victim of housing market inventory. The BC Greens would focus on low- and moderate-income earners who are paying more than is affordable on their rent. Work to close the gap between affordable rent and what renters are actually paying, and implement a means-tested grant that would apply to low- and moderate-income earners who are paying more than 30% of their income in rent. I have had success in doing these things when I was a city councillor. I was able to get incentives put in place so developers and homeowners could make more rentals available. This drove down shortages and rental prices. I am a firm advocate for universal childcare and early-years education and work to support our BC Greens promises for this.

Duck Paterson (Liberals)

The Liberal Party provincial election platform includes a pledge to eliminate the provincial sales tax for one year, and after that to lower it below what it is now. That’s a strong start to putting a few more dollars in everyone’s pocket – to save you money right away, get more people working and bring investment back to B.C.

Beyond that, I cannot personally say or do anything on my own. Economic solutions are a provincial challenge, far beyond the local level. What I can do as an MLA is to be prepared to work with any person or group that makes it a priority to make conditions more affordable for all British Columbians.

As I have demonstrated through my community involvements and work as a locally-elected municipal official, I am always willing to listen to any ideas, to talk to folks to get that “on the street” input that will help us get back to a better way of life.

My record, I believe, speaks for itself when it comes to “People Matter To Me” … I am a person you can trust.

Doug Routley (NDP)

This issue impacts so many families in our community and our government has made progress on the issue of affordability with the elimination of MSP premiums, reducing annual rental increases and implementing the Affordable Child Care Benefit. The reduction in childcare fees alone has put over $8 million back into the pockets of families in our community in just two years.

The measures we are taking in moving to a universal $10 a day childcare system will be one of the best ways to support families in getting ahead financially. When I visited a childcare center in our riding that was chosen for the $10 a day prototype spaces I heard from families who called these savings (typically $1000 a month) lifechanging- some spoke about no longer having to depend on the food bank, others spoke about finally being able to buy their son his first bike, and a father who was able to quit his second job on the weekends and now has days off that he can spend with his family.

We need to continue moving forward with reducing childcare fees, continue building more affordable housing and look at more ways to reduce cost pressures on families.

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Robert Lyon (Greens)

With children living off the island and longing to return, it breaks my heart to see the ever increasing cost of rental properties. The cost of housing and the lack of supports for our young families is driving them not just away but often out of the province. We propose a rental housing grant that would target low and moderate income earners who are paying more than 30% of their income in rent. We would earmark $500 million for this program to ensure that it can provide meaningful support. Greens support affordable childcare and early learning programs. We believe that all children are entitled to a warm and loving environment and the opportunity to become successful adults. These are serious problems that have been ignored by past governments. Due to the timing of this irresponsible election, many bold and experienced BCers have stepped forward to run for the Green Party. A highly skilled team of professionals have banded together to solve these and many other problems. Doctors, Professors, Scientists, Businessmen, Lawyers, Authors, Teachers, and others have put lucrative careers on hold to serve the citizens of BC. Not your run of the mill good old boy politicians.

Don Purdey (Conservatives)

This a long term project: teach students Home or family finance, save for unexpected problems, live within your means, avoid the credit card trap. It is far cheaper to own your home than rent. The 1st home owners program was a big help for us. We need to own the decisions that we make.

John St. John (Independent)

Again my family and I know what it is like to bring up a family on a minimum wage, we know what it is like to have to decide whether to eat or pay the rent… something that 99% of politicians have no idea about, and I’m not knocking that. No one should have to struggle, doing 2 or more jobs just to survive. I have seen politicians spend hundreds of dollars on lunch, while single parents end up with that amount to last them a month after paying rent etc. So many people are paying 80% of their income just on somewhere to live… how the heck can we expect them to be happy doing that? Making sure people have enough money to live a decent life would decrease poverty and crime rates considerably. We the people built this community and we should be the ones to make the decisions on its future… Financial assistance should be given to community ‘make work’ projects without government interference… my job is to make sure the job is done right and that no one is getting pay-backs and bribes, which increases the cost to the taxpayer.

Michelle Stilwell (Liberals)

As a parent, I understand how hard it is to make ends meet. Now the pandemic has made this problem so much more urgent.

Government can provide immediate relief by reducing the tax burden on families. This is why the BC Liberals have committed to reducing the PST to 0% for one year and then dropping it to 3%. The average BC lower and middle income family will benefit from $1700 in PST savings in that first year.

The NDP promised 10,000 daycare spaces at $10/day in 2017. Unfortunately, for young families struggling in our community, the NDP has failed to deliver. Now they are making the same promise. BC families can’t afford to wait for a complicated government program.

On housing, the NDP promised a $400 rent subsidy in 2017. Not one renter has seen any subsidy, and rents have only increased.

In Parksville-Qualicum-Nanaimo I pledge to utilize the personal relationships I have built with regional governments to encourage them to make affordable housing their priority. Their zoning decisions have a profound effect on housing supply and prices. We all need to work together to lower costs, and increase options, particularly for young families.

Adam Walker (NDP)

With two elementary school-aged children I know first-hand the challenges faced by many in our community when it comes to the cost of childcare and rising costs of living.

I have seen first-hand the support John Horgan’s NDP government has given to municipalities and communities to tackle issues like access to affordable childcare. During my term on Town Council in Qualicum Beach, I worked closely with the provincial government, local non-profit organizations, and my team on Council to successfully bring a non-profit childcare facility to Qualicum Beach.

The NDP government has taken steps to improve affordability for the people who rent their homes. In 2018, the annual allowable rent increase was reduced to the rate of inflation. And, in response to challenges faced by renters this year, we created the Temporary Rental Supplement, which provided up to $2500 for renters during the pandemic.

There is more work still to do. A re-elected BC NDP government will give a one-time non-taxable benefit of up to $1,000 for families and up to $500 for individuals, keep investing in housing and childcare, and build a recovery that puts people first.

by NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Mid-Island candidates outline plan to make life more affordable for Nanaimo, Parksville residents

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