NAME: Chelsa Meadus
PARTY: BC Liberal Party
ABOUT: Meadus believes that part of Public Service is a willingness to hear from people during good times and bad, and is committed to meaningful relationships with every member. In Victoria, Meadus will assure your voices are heard, just as she has done as a City Councillor in Maple Ridge.
1. What are the biggest issues currently facing the District of Mission?
Mission is an expanding community facing rapid growth; to keep pace, cooperation from all levels of government and an approachable responsive MLA will be necessary.
Overcrowded and outdated schools, aging sewer infrastructure, delayed hospital investments as well as increased social pressures are leading to mental health, addiction and homelessness.
Mission residents need someone that wants to hear their concerns and wants to advocate on their behalf.
Politics has changed and people expect a representative they can reach, that hears what they say and responds.
2. Why does your party have the best solutions on these issues, and what are the biggest gaps in your opponents’ platforms?
Chelsa Meadus and the BC Liberals will commit $80 million dollars to build a new Mission High School, they will invest $20 million into the Mission Memorial Hospital and will continue their commitment to widening the Lougheed Highway.
This is all part of the $8 billion Rebuild B.C. plan that will be the largest infrastructure investment in B.C. history. The NDP have seemed content cutting ribbons and taking credit for previously approved projects such as the Lougheed highway upgrades.
3. What should government do to help people recover from the economic effects of COVID-19?
The government’s focus should be creating a comprehensive recovery plan that helps small business, first to stay afloat and second to be competitive.
Small business has been absolutely forgotten by the NDP, even prior to Covid.
Our job makers are in trouble and need strong leadership and solutions, not recycled unfulfilled promises. Eliminating the PST will have immediate positive impacts for our business community and provide a crucial boost in consumer spending.
The NDP became so distracted planning for a pandemic election they forgot to consider the struggles our citizens and businesses are facing, this forced them to rollout the same promises they didn’t keep from the previous election. While the BC Liberals provide options for stimulating the economy, the NDP were filming election commercials.
4. The provincial government provides vital services to thousands of vulnerable people. What personal experiences give you insight into how government services affect the lives of voters?
As a member of the Maple Ridge Council I have witnessed the impact of the NDP’s current one size fits all approach to addiction & homelessness.
Bob D’Eith and the NDP have promised to take care of our cities most vulnerable, however many of these projects have failed and left communities broken.
So much of this is due to the lack of meaningful community consultation and outreach. For the past 15 years I have served on the Youth Centre Society and I have seen how prevention has fallen by the wayside.
As a City Councillor, I expect our MLA to work hand in hand with our community to find a made in Maple Ridge approach to the challenges we face; Mission should expect the same.
It has been to my disappointment that this has not been my experience with the current MLA.