The Mission Record sent four questions to each of the candidates in the Maple Ridge East riding. Here are their replies.
Bob D’Eith
NDP (incumbent)
1. A lack of physicians impacted Mission’s emergency room this summer. What does the future of Mission Memorial Hospital look like for you and your party?
Anyone who’s been sick or had a sick loved one knows how important it is to have access to quality care when and where you need it. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for a lot of people right now, which is why the BC NDP has made unprecedented investments in healthcare to improve access to care in the province. In Mission, we’ve opened a UPCC to help cut down on ER wait times and opened the first ever CT suite. We introduced a new payment model for family physicians to help more doctors start or continue their practice. We're hiring and training more doctors, nurses and healthcare workers than ever before, and tripling the capacity of the program to credential internationally-trained doctors to get more trained health workers on the front lines.
We know there is more to do for our community, and we’ll continue to advocate for upgrades and improvements to health care and the Mission Memorial Hospital including more ER doctors and nurses. Pam Alexis and I have listened and advocated for improvements over our terms and we will continue to do so if we are re-elected.
2. What do you view as the biggest need for education in Mission? What is your party’s approach to inclusive education?
We all want our kids to have better opportunities than we did and to know when they go to school they will be provided a safe and inclusive environment. Overcrowding in schools because of cuts by the former government was one of the biggest reasons I ran to become an MLA. I saw portable after portable getting placed at my children’s school, which also took away their outdoor space.
It has been a priority for me since day one to get the new Mission Secondary School built, which I’m proud to say is on its way and will welcome new students in a few years.
Across the province we’ve hired over 5,700 new teachers and achieved the smallest class sizes in a decade, giving our kids more space and more attention to help them learn.
The implementation of a new K-12 curriculum and resources shared with teachers have integrated Indigenous knowledge, perspective, and content into B.C. classrooms.
We’re taking action to give our kids the quality education they deserve, and I will continue to advocate on behalf of our students and teachers.
3. What can the province do to increase affordable housing in Mission?
Everyone should be able to afford a home and build a good life here, but currently housing is too expensive. We’re up against high interest rates and real estate speculators who want to cash in on our housing market, which is why David Eby is taking on speculators and breaking down barriers to construction.
In Mission we have added hundreds of housing units, and we are not going to stop there. This includes 68 affordable units at Cedar Valley Suites, 74 seniors units at Boswyk Seniors Centre along with the new seniors activity centre, and 61 units of seniors housing in Welton Towers.
David Eby has a comprehensive Action Plan experts say will create 300,000 homes over the next decade. We’ve capped rent increases to inflation and froze rent hikes during the pandemic, and we’re providing a $400 rental rebate. In the last year rental prices have actually started to decrease across British Columbia. Along with this, we’ve opened almost 6,000 supportive homes since 2017, and there’s over 2,700 more on the way.
We know there is more work to be done, and we are committed to building more affordable and accessible housing in our area.
4. What will make you an effective MLA and how will this help you serve Mission?
Over the past eight years representing Maple Ridge-Mission, I have had the opportunity to build relationships with community leaders such as Mayor Horn and council, school trustees, the BIA, the Chamber of Commerce and community stakeholders. This has allowed me to focus on Mission’s critical priorities which span across healthcare, infrastructure, schools, childcare, housing, and highways. It remains my priority to ensure these issues are front and centre in Victoria, and as an advocate for Maple Ridge and Mission, I will continue to take action on the issues that matter to this community.
Lawrence Mok
Conservative
1. A lack of physicians impacted Mission’s emergency room this summer. What does the future of Mission Memorial Hospital look like for you and your party.
The BC NDP said the BC Conservatives are going to cut $4.1 billion in health care spending. But that is a lie. Instead, we are going to do just the opposite. The BC Conservatives will increase the hiring of doctors, specialists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. It will also streamline the hiring process of foreign doctors and specialists who have been trained in approved or certified institutions. Doctors from other municipalities can also come and work at the Mission Memorial Hospital temporarily until the doctor shortage problem is resolved. All these measures will help to prevent the Mission hospital from temporarily closing down the ER in the future.
2. What do you view as the biggest need for education in Mission? What is your party’s approach to inclusive education?
We have a students-first approach. Thanks to the BC NDP, schools across the province are perennially understaffed and underfunded. This hurts most in rapidly-growing municipalities like Mission where school construction has not kept up with the rate of new students enrolments. The Conservative Party of BC aims to have schools ready when and where they are needed, not after the fact.
3. What can the province do to increase affordable housing in Mission?
Under the BC NDP, British Columbians have to endure rising costs and face more than 3 dozens new taxes. People are being punished by having to pay for sky-high housing prices with their after-tax income. Families and individuals are being driven out of our cities because they can’t afford to live here. Statistics Canada shows that almost 70,000 Canadians have left our beautiful province last year–mostly for Alberta.
The Rustad Rebate program for the province, including Mission, will be a real solution to help families stay in their homes, support the middle class, and provide relief to those being squeezed by high housing costs and rents. This bold plan is specifically designed to help middle-class British Columbians cope with the mounting pressure of rent and mortgage payments. The program is designed to deliver real financial relief to renters and homeowners across the entire province.
Furthermore, a BC Conservative Government will encourage a stable and predictable housing market. This means getting housing prices under control by promoting the development of new housing supply.
4. What will make you an effective MLA and how will this help you serve Mission?
I have lived in Maple Ridge for 35 years. Therefore, I understand quite well the needs and aspirations of the people of Maple Ridge–Mission. After working more than 30 years in Canada, it has given me the negotiating skills, courage, creativity, and the ability to listen to the opinions and concerns of other people. All this will help me make an effective MLA. I know I can do a great job in making Maple Ridge-Mission a much safer and a more prosperous place to live and work.
NOTE: Green candidate Kylee Williams did not reply to the questions.