The provincial election is happening on Oct. 19 and Black Press sent questions to the three candidates running in the Kootenay-Monashee riding that includes Castlegar, Trail, Rossland, Fruitvale, Slocan Valley and some communities on Lower Arrow Lake. Glen Byle represents the Conservative Party of B.C., Steve Morissette represents the B.C. NDP and Donovan Cavers represents the B.C. Green Party.
The candidates were each given 100 words to complete their answers. The answers appear as they were submitted, without editing.
What life experiences and character traits do you have that would make you a good MLA for Kootenay West?
Glen Byle: I have worked in healthcare for 18 years, and been a union steward in healthcare for 10 years. I have experience hearing from people about difficult situations, and helping find solutions to their challenges. I am 37 with 3 kids age 12, 10, and 8, and my wife is a nurse, so we are right in the thick of things with the struggles that young people and young families are facing. My journey overcoming PTSD has given me compassion for people working through mental health issues. I want to create a bright future for the next generation.
Donovan Cavers: 2011-2018 elected experience. Friendly, unless I’m way under slept. Know my limits but always push to maximize benefits to those I serve in whatever job I have. Business owner, teacher and potentially MLA with your support on October 19th. Understand the value of partnerships and collaboration. Passionate about understanding issues deeply. Solutions focused by nature. Will remain accessible to constituents after election day. Will never robocall you out of respect for your time and human dignity.
Steve Morissette: I love this community. Today, many people know me as the mayor of Fruitvale, but throughout the years, I have served in various leadership and volunteer roles spanning across education, regional development, transit, and economic development. I have experience building relationships across levels of government for the benefit of the community I represent, and I have every intention of staying locally-minded if given the honour of representing Kootenay-Monashee in the legislature.
West Kootenay residents are frustrated with gaps in the healthcare system such as doctor shortages, difficulty accessing specialist services, lower levels of care in the region compared to other areas, medical travel and lack of local diagnostic and treatment equipment. How do you or your party plan to address these issues?
Byle: We will expand access to care, reduce wait times, and support front line staff while creating a transparent and accountable system. By reducing red tape and directing funding to the front lines, we will increase hiring of nurses, doctors, specialists, and other healthcare professionals. We will consult with physicians and other primary healthcare providers to find ways to reduce administrative burden. As a healthcare worker for 18 years, and union steward supporting members in healthcare for 10 years, I would love to be able to take the voice of front line healthcare workers directly to Victoria.
Cavers: We need to outlaw unhealthy products and ideas (think: junk food, body image, overworking, etc) and simultaneously promote healthy ideas (sleep well, eat well, move regularly, maintain loving connections). This shift will alleviate unnecessary strain on the acute health system. “Better than bad isn't good”, is a quote I read this morning from a voter who had voted ndp their entire lives but has, for a plethora of reasons, decided to vote green this time. And doctor shortages in BC is a legacy we owe to the rebranded BC con-Liberals who underfunded training of new family doctors for years.
Morissette: The BCNDP are hiring doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and health care professionals. We will be training more doctors through a new medical school and hiring doctors worldwide. We’re going to build new hospitals and cancer centres. There are 835 new doctors in BC and 6,300 new nurses. We expect to connect 160,000 more people to a family doctor or nurse practitioner. We are extending medical travel assistance to cover the cost of mileage and payment will be upfront. We will also extend the length of job protection for people facing a serious illness from eight days to 27 weeks.
Many schools in the region are forced to use portables due to overcrowding or have very old buildings. How will you or your party address education infrastructure shortfalls in the region?
Byle: We are committed to creating enough permanent classroom spaces to eliminate the need for any portable trailer classrooms. If elected I will look forward to working with local teachers to find a path to that solution that works best for them, and for the students in this area. I would have more information to share but unfortunately our party has not released our full education platform by submission time for this question.
Cavers: Education is the most important investment we can make in the future well-being of society. I’m certainly biased as someone working as an elementary and secondary educator. Portables are a terrible learning environment. I can speak to this issue from liver experience. Even during moderate weather portables impact learning and a teacher’s ability to keep their class connected to the wider school community. Collaborative work is essential and must be prioritized. Green MLAs know the importance and value to society of investing in both operating and capital funds in education and healthcare.
Morissette: A quality public education system is crucial to our region, and the BC NDP is taking action to give our kids the quality education they deserve. An example of this is the new Glenmerry elementary school in Trail, which should be open in 2025. The province is investing $39.1 million to replace and upgrade Glenmerry Elementary School. The old school was built in 1959 and the new school will increase capacity with an additional 165 seats. The NDP platform for election 2024 also commits to building more than 20,000 new student spaces.
How do you or your party propose to create economic opportunities in the West Kootenay?
Byle: We will work to support many of the industries that are cornerstones of the economy in this area such as energy, forestry, mining, small business, and tourism. We will ensure the forestry industry has an adequate and predictable supply of fibre while protecting the ecological value of BC’s forests, we will expand the energy capacity in the province until we are energy independent, we will reduce the red tape and tax burdens for small business, and we will ensure healthy infrastructure for supporting mining operations.
Cavers: There is substantial economic inertia in key pockets of the region. The bc green approach would be bolstering creators and innovators of which there are many in the region. Tourism is critically important to the local economy. We need to be beyond cautious, before even putting forward ideas that may impact the areas reputation as the most beautiful place on earth. More details of our full platform can be found at: https://bcgreens2024.ca/2024-platform/
Morissette: BC is an economic leader in Canada. Our unemployment rate is one of the lowest, and we are a leader in growing wages and jobs. We are doubling apprenticeships & boosting housing construction, supporting more good jobs in manufacturing and forestry. We’re also building a clean-energy future for our economy. Locally through the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund the Government is contributing as much as $1.2 million toward two capital projects in the Kootenays with the Drop Group that will create more than 80 jobs and Kalesnikoff Lumber is receiving $6.7 Million for the new mass timber project in Castlegar.
How do you or your party plan to address the local need for more housing — market, affordable and supportive?
Byle: We will restore affordability and make sure that all British Columbians have the chance to own a home and thrive. We will identify areas of land that are able to support new communities with space for houses, stores, small businesses, and services all within walking distance of each other. We will reduce red tape and barriers that are preventing housing from being built quickly and affordably. We will work with municipalities to build housing in ways that work for their communities, and support building the infrastructure needed for that housing.
Cavers: Given the winters we have here, well designed and well built housing is very important. Not just the number of units. Building code rules, though not often popular by builders with tighter and tighter margins, do safeguard the quality of new dwellings. Retrofitting of older structures is important too. Not every solution requires government involvement... does your neighbour need a hand with that? Kootenay-Monashee, our riding, is a riding which has the potential of sending a green MLA to the legislature if people show up to vote Oct 19th.
Morissette: Under our housing plan, we’re creating 300,000 more homes and we’re helping first-time buyers break into the market. We are encouraging municipalities to get more market rental housing built with an infrastructure fund. We will waive provincial property taxes for new purpose-built rental projects and provide more land to build more non-market and co-op housing. We are also assisting BC’s factory-built home construction industry and removing pet bans from purpose-built rentals. In this region the provincial government has helped with new housing in Castlegar, Rossland, Slocan, Trail and Fruitvale who have all had new provincially funded housing built.
