BC United party leader Kevin Falcon chose the growing community of Chilliwack to pitch his plan to fix the problems plaguing B.C.

About one year out before the next provincial election, Falcon breezed into Smoking Gun, a downtown coffee shop in Chilliwack on Tuesday (Oct. 24) to share his vision for the newly renamed BC United party.

含羞草研究社淚 think we含羞草研究社檙e at a time in history when there含羞草研究社檚 a lot of division in politics right now, across North America and around the world. So uniting people together with a common purpose to try to fix things is something I think a lot of people can get behind,含羞草研究社� Falcon said in an interview with The Chilliwack Progress.

From health care, crime, and drug policy, to BC Ferries, transportation and infrastructure, a lot of things 含羞草研究社渁re broken含羞草研究社� right now, he said, 含羞草研究社渁nd need fixing.含羞草研究社�

He points to the effort by the NDP to decriminalize small amounts of hard drugs as a 含羞草研究社渇ailure.含羞草研究社�

含羞草研究社淗onestly, it was like throwing fuel on an already raging bonfire and made things so much worse,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淚 think if we get back to providing proper treatment for folks struggling with addiction, and make sure we fund it so that they get the care they need and deserve, and we will start to get different results than what we含羞草研究社檙e seeing on the streets today.含羞草研究社�

It ended up being a 含羞草研究社渞eckless含羞草研究社� mistake since it was rolled out without having 含羞草研究社渢he proper guardrails含羞草研究社� in place first.

So how will he tackle the thorny issue of housing?

含羞草研究社淲ell, first of all, we have to recognize that the NDP government made a fatal decision, misdiagnosing the problem,含羞草研究社� Falcon said. 含羞草研究社淭hey said that the problem was greedy developers and Chinese foreign buyers and they just completely missed the fact that lack of supply was also contributing massively to the problem we face.

含羞草研究社淪o what they did was they added a whole blizzard of taxes to housing, and yet if you含羞草研究社榬e adding more to the cost of housing, it doesn含羞草研究社檛 make it more affordable. And not surprisingly, seven years later, we含羞草研究社檝e ended up with the most unaffordable housing in North America and the highest rents in all of Canada.含羞草研究社�

He points to the pivotal issue of supply.

含羞草研究社淲e have to make sure we get more supply into the marketplace. The people that can best deliver that supply are the private sector and the not-for-profit sector, but they含羞草研究社檝e got to be properly incentivized, and working with local governments.含羞草研究社�

Falcon ticked off health-care concerns: one in five can含羞草研究社檛 get a family doctor; a million people waiting to see a specialist; and the government is sending cancer patients down south for treatment.

Attracting more trained physicians, and international medical graduates to come to B.C. as well as convincing the kids who 含羞草研究社渟tudied abroad含羞草研究社� to come back含羞草研究社� to practise medicine here would help.

含羞草研究社淎nd I含羞草研究社檓 going to make sure we take a chainsaw to the stupid rules and regulations that have built up over 100 years so we can get them in, and helping people,含羞草研究社� he vowed.

BC United would expand and invest in infrastructure 含羞草研究社渨hether it含羞草研究社檚 hospitals, and we含羞草研究社檝e got a record of building 14 hospitals while the former government, whether it含羞草研究社檚 highways and roads, or the 10-lane Port Mann Bridge.

含羞草研究社淭hat含羞草研究社檚 why we want to expand Highway 1 right through six lanes, right through to Chilliwack. We含羞草研究社檝e got to get on with these things though,含羞草研究社� Falcon said. 含羞草研究社淚t can含羞草研究社檛 just be about making promises and announcements, and re-announcements.

含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 got to be about actually getting things built and done.含羞草研究社�

It was no accident the leader of the Opposition was visiting Chilliwack this week with a press stop, and visits with business and agriculture leaders. Chilliwack含羞草研究社檚 two provincial ridings voted NDP in the last election, sweeping out the BC Liberal stronghold that had prevailed in an orange wave. So party officials are paying close attention.

含羞草研究社淚 think Chilliwack is a really important area for us because it含羞草研究社檚 one of the fastest-growing communities in the country,含羞草研究社� Falcon stated.

含羞草研究社淵ou含羞草研究社檝e got a lot of folks moving out of urban British Columbia that are moving to Chilliwack because there含羞草研究社檚 more affordability, you know, although that含羞草研究社檚 getting really tough now too and they含羞草研究社檙e facing all the challenges of a fast growing community, lack of transit, frankly, the difficulty of just getting around in the community.含羞草研究社�

Falcon was expected to name some new BC United candidates on Oct. 25, the day after he was interviewed about his future vision for B.C.

含羞草研究社淲e only changed our names six months ago, but I feel very, very confident by the time we come up to the next election, they含羞草研究社檙e going to look at the calibre of our candidates, the quality of our platform, and they含羞草研究社檙e going to vote for the people that actually know how to get things done.含羞草研究社�

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