Stephanie Cadieux, BC Liberal, Surrey South
1) The City of Surrey’s decision to transition to a municipal police force has raised concerns among constituents over costs and transparency. How would you address these? Is a public referendum the answer?
A: It is never wrong to listen to the people, and the people are telling me they want a say on the police transition in Surrey so we will deliver transparency and a referendum.
2) Covid-19 has exposed some cracks in the system with regard to seniors health – particularly those in long-term care. What approach would you favour in dealing with this?
A: This will take many actions, first of all providing a new ‘Seniors’ Home Care Tax Credit’ for those receiving home-care services, to enable more seniors to live with comfort in their own homes, $1-billion five year investment to upgrade assisted-living and long-term care homes, and work with providers to implement measures to enable family members to safely visit seniors living in long-term care, assisted and independent living residences to bring residents comfort and companionship.
The success of these measures will depend on work with care home operators to develop a long-term health human resource strategy for the seniors’ care and living sector to address chronic worker shortages and improve quality of care, the improvement of home-care visits and supports for seniors living in their own homes and a cross-government commitment to eliminate ageism and unconscious bias, to ensure all services are free of any discrimination against seniors.
3) What is the best path to take in helping B.C. and the Semiahmoo Peninsula in its economic recovery, and for supporting business during, and after, the COVID-19 pandemic?
A: I believe in low taxes, because I believe you should decide how to best spend your hard-earned money, and I believe in creating a competitive business climate by reducing unnecessary red tape and making BC a safe and predictable place to invest and do business.
Right now, we need leadership and a practical plan that will help BC recover. The BC Liberals delivered the strongest economy in the country and steered BC out of two major recessions, we have a proven track record and with our commitments to eliminating the PST for a year and reducing it to 3% for a second year, coupled with a loan guarantee program and the small business tax elimination we can give individuals and businesses a helping hand as we restore confidence and rebuild.
4) What would you like to see done to improve educational facilities, and to address ongoing school overcrowding, in the riding?
A: In the 3 ridings I’ve represented since 2009, we opened 3,780 new seats and another 2755 seats were underway in 2017 - many projects are nearing completion and underway now but new schools will continue to be a significant focus with $1B of our $8 Billion accelerated infrastructure plan dedicated to schools.
John Horgan promised the moon in 2017 – no more portables in 4 years, but instead we have 34% or 95 more portables after just 3 years.
• ALSO RUNNING IN SURREY SOUTH:
5) What is/are the most pressing environmental concern(s) for residents in the riding and how would it/they be best addressed?
A: Locally, with a growing community there are valid concerns about protection of natural areas, tree loss, and preserving natural habitat for animals. With climate change and the projected rising sea levels, flood management is also an issue getting a lot of attention.
On a larger scale, we all know that the world is moving away from oil. BC is well placed for this challenge with our strong clean and green hydro resources that provide all of our electricity. Our next challenge is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and buildings. That means that we will need to invest in making electric transportation more widely available, and updating our building codes.
We can do this, and right here in BC we even have world leading technology for innovations such as carbon capture. So, let’s kick-start the change by planning for solar and wind power, preparing for increased reliance on electricity instead of oil, and making BC a leader once again in climate policy.
6) Strata dwellers in B.C. saw a sharp rise in their insurance rates over a single year, with Metro Vancouver residents seeing an average increase of more than 50 per cent. Has the current government done enough to address this issue. If not, what other steps should be taken?
A: We will take real action on skyrocketing strata insurance premiums. Massive spikes in insurance premiums and deductibles are hurting people across Metro-Vancouver. These increases result in unaffordable special levies or hundreds of dollars per month in additional strata fees.
To date, the BC Liberals have proposed 12 solutions to fix the skyrocketing insurance premiums facing strata property owners, including introducing Private Member’s Legislation, but these have been ignored by John Horgan’s NDP.
7) Transportation continues to be a concern for local commuters. What can and should be done at a provincial level to help relieve gridlock?
A: We’ve committed to an immediate start to build a 10 lane bridge to replace the tunnel, complete with dedicated transit lanes all the way from White Rock to Bridgeport. Additionally, we need to get to work on highway access at 24th Avenue and improving the choke point at 32nd. We will also continue TransLink expansion to go where the population is growing in Metro Vancouver - south of the Fraser and the Fraser Valley. The Skytrain to Langley must get underway and with that better connections for transit to Campbell Heights as priorities.
8) What is/are the most pressing health care concern(s) for residents in the riding and how would it/they be best addressed?
A: As our society ages, and drugs and technology costs increase, the challenges in our health care system continue to grow. The COVID-19 pandemic has made the challenges in our health care system even greater for patients and health care workers alike.
We need to keep building facilities. During my time in government we built a $500M expansion at SMH, and the $227M Jim Pattison Outpatient Centre, the expansion at Peace Arch is underway and we’ve committed $300M for a new hospital in Surrey South near Cloverdale.
Additionally, as part of an unprecedented and historic capital plan, the BC Liberals would upgrade and expand emergency rooms, mental health beds and primary care clinics and address the growing Mental Health concerns with expansions of Foundry Centres and Car 40 mental health services.
9) Would you support a cap on the percentage increase in rent/lease rates that commercial landlords in B.C. could impose upon tenants in a single year? Why or why not?
A: While a rent freeze may help in the short term, as we have seen with rental housing it can discourage new construction which in the long term only exacerbates challenges. This issue is even more complex in the commercial sphere, and would require investigation and cooperation at a local or regional level.