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Candidates go before voters

Shuswap candidates appear at forum in Enderby
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Local, regional and provincial issues were covered at the all candidates forum in Enderby Tuesday night.

About 60 voters attended the event organized by the Enderby Chamber of Commerce to pose questions and hear the views of the four candidates running for the Shuswap seat in the May 9 election.

After short opening statements, moderator Anne Pearson had the candidates provide answers to the 19 questions provided by voters prior to the forum.

Calls for more logging in the region prompted a question about clear cutting in steep terrain that can adversely affect community watersheds and residents.

Green Party candidate Kevin Babcock noted that logging companies are aware of liabilities associated with clear cutting but residents are not signing on for those risks when they purchase property.

“If companies are going to make safety number one for their employees, they need to make it number one for communities as well,” he said.

Liberal incumbent Greg Kyllo agreed that more has to be done to protect residents and said his endorsement of logging around Swansea Point would only happen if the project takes a cumulative approach and includes a watershed study.

NDP candidate Sylvia Lindgren said such projects have to include more up-to-date scientific research while Libertarian Kyle McCormack said clear cutting is an example of big corporations trampling the rights of citizens.

“Libertarians care very deeply about private property rights,” McCormack noted. “When somebody drops the side of a mountain on your private property, that violates your property rights.”

All the candidates agree that ride sharing provides viable transportation options to rural communities while opinions varied when it comes to implementing a $15 minimum wage.

McCormack and Kyllo agreed that increasing the minimum wage to $15 would be “a job killer” in B.C., Babcock called it a band-aid solution to poverty that would be better addressed by an affordable annual income, and Lindgren put her support behind the initiative with incentives for small businesses to make it viable.

The call to ban the grizzly bear hunt in B.C. also drew different responses.

“When we have people coming in from other countries and other areas specifically to hunt bears, we don’t agree with that. The NDP have vowed we will ban that completely,” said Lindgren.

Kyllo said the Liberals are focused on habitat protection, McCormack wants to see private sponsorship of conservation programs, and Babcock said wildlife is there for everyone to enjoy and not just a revenue stream.

Lindgren put her support behind a plan to provide $10 per day daycare but Kyllo added an opposing perspective on the issue.

“When we hear the NDP’s plan for $10 a day daycare – nothing is free. Let’s call it what it is: it’s a $1.5 billion childcare subsidy program. It will break the backs of taxpayers of this province,” said Kyllo.

Babcock said the repair and maintenance of rural roads needs to be a priority and include local input.

“I believe we should be taking care of the worst case scenarios before we move on with other larger projects,” he said. “Take care of the needs first and move on to luxuries later.”

McCormack said the Libertarian Party wants gas tax revenues spent only on roads, Lindgren questioned where and how transportation dollars are being spent, and Kyllo noted that the Liberals have increased funding for side road paving from $60 to $90 million.

Kyllo also highlighted his government’s health care spending of $19 billion annually, Babcock called for more focus on prevention and early detection while Lindgren panned McCormack’s suggestion of private alternatives to provide choice and ease health care costs.

“We don’t want private alternatives to health care because that means that rich people can get it faster while the rest of us wait in line. We want to make sure we have one system that meets the needs of all of us” Lindgren said.

McCormack said the Liberal plan for low interest loans for first time home buyers will be a heavy tax burden on future taxpayers.

“A safer way to keep prices reasonable in the market is to increase the supply. This is very simple economics: when the supply is high, the price will be high; we increase the supply of housing, the price will drop,” McCormack said.

Babcock, Lindgren and McCormack said more needs to be done to diversify the economy so more small businesses can thrive and Kyllo noted Liberal programs aimed at aiding small business including eliminating PST on hydro rates by the end of 2017.

“We want to continue to provide supports for small business so small businesses can grow into large businesses,” he said.

Other topics covered at the forum include the provincial debt, Hwy. 97A safety and improvements, the environment, mental health care, the opiate crisis, ever-increasing service fees and doctor shortages.

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