2024 BC Provincial General Election Series: The Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce has invited all candidates running in the five Tri-Cities ridings to answer our questions, and provide a 60-second introductory video. Come and meet the candidates in person at the Chamber's Business Showcase on Tuesday, October 8th. Learn more >
Jodie Wickens, MLA Candidate for Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, BC NDP, Fall 2024
"As the wife and daughter of hard working small business owners, I know first-hand the challenges that you face daily. I'm a passionate supporter of our local businesses," says Jodie Wickens. Watch the video>
1. If elected, how would your government encourage more business investment, job creation, and higher wages in British Columbia?
British Columbians work hard to build a future for themselves and their families here.
Our economy is strong, but many people are still struggling. Global inflation has made everything more expensive.
We want BC to be a place where you don’t just get by - you get ahead.
David Eby and the BC NDP are taking action to build an economy for everyone:
-
We’re speeding up permitting times to get projects built and support good jobs across BC.
-
We’re training workers in the skills they’ll need in tomorrow’s economy, in fields like emergency response, education and construction, through the BC Access Grant.
-
We’re supporting small businesses in their recruitment efforts through skills training, as well as making BC a more attractive place to work through building more housing and reducing the cost of childcare.
-
And we’re reducing the cost of doing business in BC:
-
Making 90% of businesses fully exempt from the Employer’s Health Tax, and delivering savings to thousands more.
-
Keeping electricity rates low.
-
Keeping the small business tax 25% lower than when Kevin Falcon and John Rustad were in government.
-
Kevin Falcon and John Rustad would make BC a more expensive place to live, by rolling back David Eby’s housing reforms, planning a $500 ICBC tax hike, and more. That will make BC a worse place for workers to live, and hurt businesses’ efforts to recruit workers and grow.
2. How would your government address the rising cost of living, to make life more affordable in the Tri-Cities and throughout the province?
BC is a great place to live, but too many people are paycheque to paycheque. We want BC to be a place where you don’t just get by, you get ahead.
We’re acting to help people with daily costs so they can get ahead:
-
David Eby’s action to take costly lawyers out of ICBC processes is saving drivers thousands of dollars:
-
Reduced ICBC rates by $500 a year and then froze them
-
Delivered $530 in rebates back to ICBC customers since 2021
-
-
We canceled Rustad and Falcon’s tax cuts for the top 2% and gave it back to people:
-
Eliminated MSP Premiums.
-
More than doubled the BC Family Benefit and provided it to almost 200,000 more families.
-
Cut childcare costs in half on average.
-
-
We’re building an economy with higher-paying jobs and training people for those jobs.
-
By boosting skills training with programs like the $3,500 Future Skills Grant to help people get short-term training for in-demand jobs.
-
-
But we can’t stop there.
-
Freezing ICBC basic rates for another two years.
-
Creating 300,000 more middle-class homes that people can afford under David Eby’s Housing Action Plan.
-
Taking on the speculators driving up housing costs - flipping tax and crackdown on standalone AirBNBs.
-
Rustad and Falcon have a clear record: they’ll cost people more.
-
They doubled MSP Premiums to $1,800.
-
They hiked ICBC rates and hit drivers with unfair tolls.
-
And they let unchecked real estate speculation drive up housing costs for people.
3. What is your party's priority with respect to addressing the labour challenges we face today?
Our priority is building an economy that works for everyone. We are proud that we’ve created more than 250,000 jobs since 2017, and to have seen the highest wage growth among provinces.
When BC is a good place to live, and when workers are able to learn the skills they will need in tomorrow’s economy, businesses benefit.
We’re building an economy with higher paying jobs and training people for them - new supports to cover tuition like the BC Access Grant and thousands more training seats in high demand careers, like emergency medical responder, education, firefighting, and construction.
And we’re helping small businesses get the workers they need, with more housing and more available, lower cost child care helping parents return to work.
4. What are your party's vision and priorities for the transportation infrastructure and public transit service in the Tri-Cities?
Our communities, including the Tri-Cities, are growing. Building the roads and public transit people need helps with costs, and means people can spend more time with their families.
We’re building badly-needed infrastructure across the Lower Mainland, and we’ve cut tolls from the Port Mann and the Golden Ears Bridges.
People in the Tri-Cities are a step closer to enjoying the benefits of a comprehensive transit focused community, as the area around the Moody Centre SkyTrain station is being redeveloped to provide hundreds of rental units, child care spaces, health-care services, educational opportunities and retail spaces on a two-acre parcel of government-owned property.
John Rustad and Kevin Falcon would bring back tolls, hike fares, cut provincial capital investments leading to major projects being cancelled or delayed, and cut transit, making traffic worse. People can’t afford that.
View a map of the Coquitlam-Burke Mountain electoral district here.
5. If elected, how will you work with industry to help establish frameworks that enable both economic and environmentally sustainable growth?
We believe that good jobs for people and fighting pollution go hand in hand. We have the most ambitious climate plan in North America - CleanBC. And under CleanBC, our economy is growing, and emissions are going down.
We’ve seen the largest GDP growth of any province since 2017. And emissions are down since CleanBC started in 2018, despite our growing population.
There is also massive opportunity in clean energy as countries and the private sector alike look for ways to fight pollution. This sector is where the good jobs of tomorrow will be created. Rustad and Falcon would have BC miss out on these good jobs: they’d abandon climate action, and let BC get left behind.
6. What would you do to help the homeless throughout the Tri-Cities, and in particular those camped at or near businesses, impacting the business owners' ability to stay in operation?
Everyone deserves a home and a safe, healthy community. And there are still too many people on our streets without a safe home they can afford.
We’re taking action to close encampments, by helping people get the housing they need. Thousands of people have a home with supports today because of the BC NDP’s actions:
-
Almost 6,000 supportive homes open since 2017. Over 2700 on the way, with more to come.
-
We’re creating new rapid response teams and temporary spaces to help resolve encampments.
-
We’re taking action to get at root causes, so people can maintain their housing and prevent them from losing their homes in the first place:
-
More than 700 new complex care beds
-
Cracking down on bad-faith evictions
-
Extending support for former youth in care to age 27 - this is one of the groups most at-risk of homelessness
-
7. What changes would you implement to improve healthcare?
We’re facing big challenges. A shortage of doctors and nurses across Canada is straining things everywhere, and we are all competing for the same small pool of doctors and nurses.
We’re taking action to train and hire more doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers than ever before:
-
We’ve hired over 800 new family doctors in the past year alone. Over 400,000 people have been connected to family doctors and nurse practitioners since 2023. But there is much more work to do.
-
We’re training hundreds of new doctors. We’ve added 128 spaces to the UBC medical school and are building a new medical school in Surrey.
-
We’ve hired 6,300 new nurses in the last year.
-
We’re breaking down barriers to bring internationally-trained healthcare workers off the sidelines, with over 2,000 new nurses from these new international credential programs and over 900 internationally trained doctors licensed to practice here in the past year.
-
We’re building the infrastructure we need, with 29 new and expanded hospitals, building cancer centres and long-term care homes closest to home.
We are seeing good results. BC has more health workers, more people have family doctors, and people are saving money on birth control and medical fees. BC is ahead of other provinces because we weathered the pandemic better and because our efforts to attract and keep healthcare workers are working.
But we know there’s a lot more work to do. And we won’t stop until the job is done.
8. Please provide a link to your website and/or contact information where readers can follow up with you should they want more information.
You can visit the party’s website at bcndp.ca.
View more Candidate videos and Q&A stories here.
The Tri-Cities Chamber is neutral in all elections, as it is stated in its bylaws to not support any particular candidate for public office. We do encourage everyone to learn about local candidates, their positions on issues, and party platforms. Please vote on October 19th.