Candidates talk health care, child care

Leading up the May 9 election, the Star will publish a weekly series of question and answer sessions with the five candidates running in Nelson-Creston. For each session, we will ask all the candidates the same two questions. Today’s questions are about health care and child care. The responses were gathered by phone, and have been lightly edited. Their detailed platforms can be found on their parties’ websites.

Question 1: What should the government do to improve health care in Nelson-Creston?

Tanya Wall (B.C. Liberal)

In my opinion, I believe we need to stay focused on doctor retention. So it’s getting doctors to small rural communities and being able to support that, as well as increasing the infrastructure enhancement at our local hospitals.

We have Trail’s hospital and Cranbrook that service the smaller areas. It’s the regional hospitals that we need to ensure remain open and have the adequate resources for emergency care and have doctors who can provide that care.

Another opportunity that I see is working with community organizations. In Creston we have the Creston Valley Health Working Group that actually goes out and recruits doctors and nurse practitioners and medical services and personnel for communities. I think the province needs to look at that and how do they support those organizations. It’s that entity that knows the requirements of each community.

Michelle Mungall (B.C. NDP)

We want to make improving access to doctors and nurse practitioners our top priority. We want to stop the downward spiral on seniors care, and one of the ways we’ll do that is by investing in longer home care hours and expanding the scope of services. So if somebody needs their laundry done, their home-care provider will do their laundry.

We also want to reduce drug costs. One of the things we know is clogging up our very expensive emergency rooms in particular is anyone needing care after regular doctors’ hours. So we want to establish urgent family care facilities that have services evenings and weekends.

Finally, we have a mental health and addictions crisis in B.C. that is a result of 16 years of Liberal neglect. We want to create a Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction so we are targeting and tackling this crisis.

Tom Prior (Independent)

Nelson-Creston health care was decimated when the Interior Health Authority was contracted with bonuses to the B.C. Liberals when they started their reign here. There’s too much money being spent on the bureaucrats who are gutting the vital emergency systems in the Nelson-Creston-Kaslo area.

We need to stop the bonuses that were started by the Liberals. When the IHA came to power they gave bonuses to save money and they took a lot out of this area. Interior MLAs must help inspire citizens to organize and encourage government to return and improve our gutted health care facilities.

The province must also improve environmental standards for air quality, water and noise. Environmental degradation is a serious factor for our health.

Kim Charlesworth (B.C. Greens)

I think improvements need to happen in the areas of communication amongst our health-care professionals and we can support that happening.

In rural areas especially, people have to travel a long distance to get the health care that they need, and I think we can do a better job of reducing that both through better communication and increased funding for tools and equipment.

But primarily our vision is health care needs to be integrated into the community in a new way.

We envision health care teams caring for people in community health centres. These centres will offer a range of preventative and educational health care approaches and services designed to keep people healthy, which allows our hospitals to focus on urgent and serious medical conditions. The centres would be locally governed as well.

The community knows best what it needs and we need to empower our communities to make the decisions on what services are offered at what level.

Jesse O’Leary (Independent)

I question how much power a person in this position truly has to improve our health-care system in Victoria.

I think the most important thing to do would be gather more information, listen to the ideas and concerns of the Nelson-Creston riding and bring them to Victoria as accurately as possible. Our health care system could use many improvements. I would support other parties in their attempts to improve it as an independent.

Overall I feel more information is needed around dietary health. We need to take a proactive stance instead of dealing with the issues that arise from people eating too much sugar and junk food. We’d be educating the public better and potentially limit the advertising and distribution power of the food companies.

Question 2: How would you make child care affordable for families?

Tanya Wall (B.C. Liberal)

For me it’s about having access to child care and investing in making sure we have enough spots.

I know the NDP is looking at the subsidy programs of child care and the $10-A-Day Plan, but for me it’s not justifiable.

I think it needs to be looked at case by case. We need to ensure we have the right level of facilities and enough facilities in the area to capture that.

It’s not about subsidizing the child care. The families I talk to, having the cost of child care is one thing but it’s actually the wait to get into the facilities or to get their kids into the child-care programs that’s the bigger hurdle.

So I think it’s making sure we have enough child-care facilities and the right providers and giving that opportunity to families versus the subsidizing of it.

Michelle Mungall (B.C. NDP)

We are adopting the $10-A-Day Plan that has been developed, put forward and advocated by the child-care advocates and providers since 2011.

It was voted on and passed at our 2015 convention, and right here in Nelson-Creston it is clear families can not afford the cost associated with child care. We know that $10-A-Day childcare is very much needed. All the resources show it is good for children and it is good for our economy.

The Liberals’ subsidy plan doesn’t factor in that life has gotten more unaffordable for families.

You combine the cost of health care with the cost of housing, the increased cost of car insurance, MSP premiums, and families are struggling to make ends meet at a time when a child brings extra cost not associated with child care.

Tom Prior (Independent)

What I would do is what Quebec is doing. A $10-A-Day childcare system. Simple. That’s what’s got to be done and eventually it will be done.

The other thing I’d do is increase the minimum wage in two steps over a year to $15. I’d do that in two steps just to give small businesses a chance to adjust.

We need increase minimum wage. That will help people pay for the $10-A-Day childcare plan.

Kim Charlesworth (B.C. Greens)

Nelson-Creston has a chronic shortage of daycare spaces and they are affordable for many. This has a huge impact on families.

Successful children become successful adults who contribute to healthy and prosperous communities.

The life-long learning strategy that has been released by the Greens, with respect to child care, would increase the number of spaces and offer the much-needed support that parents need. Free daycare for working parents with children under the age of three, up to $500 a month for families with children under three and a stay-at-home parent, and up to 25 hours of free early childhood education per week for three and four year olds. That is substantial.

Jesse O’Leary (Independent)

First I would hold open meetings throughout our riding.

I would encourage parents, children and people working in the child-care system to attend. The topic of these meetings would be how to create new and improve upon present child care organizations to make them more accessible to parents.

I’m sure there are countless creative approaches that we can take to solve these issues for the parents facing these problems.

The most important factor for me is to connect with parents to come up with progressive community-based solutions that this demographic is facing in the quickest means possible.

I feel creating a more affordable child-care system for the parents in our area is something we can do easily in a better connected community.