2024 Provincial Election- Leaders Questionnaire

BC’s Urban Mayors are closely watching the developments of this upcoming provincial election, as are all British Columbians.

The BC Urban Mayors’ Caucus constructed a leadership priorities questionnaire that asked each provincial party leader about their vision and policies for BC, and how they intend to work with local governments to solve provincial issues. The BC Urban Mayors’ Caucus four priority action areas formed the basis of this questionnaire and reflect the challenges that cities are faced with everyday: mental health and substance use and treatment; community safety and wellness; affordable housing; and transit and transportation.

We appreciate that two parties, the BC New Democratic Party and the BC Green Party, submitted answers. The BC Conservative Party did not submit a response despite acknowledging receipt of the questionnaire on August 22 and several continued reminders. We hope this lack of response is not indicative of the way the BC Conservative Party MLAs intend to work with local governments.

Below you’ll find the unedited responses from the BC Greens and the BC NDP. We urge residents to consider these questions and answers when they mark their ballots, and encourage you to think about what kind of action is needed to build a better community.

Topic: Mental Health and Substance Use and Treatment

1. The lack of addictions treatment beds and facilities in communities across BC, large and small, puts undue strain on our healthcare services. As a result, local governments are forced to respond to the lack of services, and the various compounding community impacts that are caused. How would your government increase access to treatment and recovery facilities, and lessen the burden on local governments?

BC NDP Response:

The impact of the toxic drug crisis is hurting people across our province. These issues are devastating. Those impacted are our family, our friends, our neighbours.

We are taking action on all fronts to save lives, keep communities safe, and get people treatment so they can recover. We’ve opened 600 new beds with more on the way and are building new facilities to get people the help they need. Our new provincewide Treatment Access Line connects people with life-saving medications and same-day care. And we’re working with police to fight drug trafficking and put the criminals who deal these deadly drugs behind bars.

We are also opening new secure treatment facilities for people struggling the most and who aren’t in a place to ask for treatment themselves – starting with Maple Ridge and Surrey before rolling out across BC.

We saw John Rustad’s approach to this issue when he was last in government. Oversight of mental health and addictions treatment was eliminated, leaving communities to struggle with how to manage unregulated “treatment” homes that were too often run as drug dens by
organized crime. Rustad was there when his government closed down Riverview without proper community support and cut youth treatment just as the toxic drug crisis was growing.

We need more quality treatment, not less. We can’t afford to let John Rustad’s BC Conservatives take us backward in the fight to protect our communities and support those struggling with addiction. That’s why we will keep doing everything we can to fight this crisis and support local communities.

BC Green Party Response:

We believe many of the strains on the healthcare system cannot simply be attributed to a “lack of substance use treatment beds and facilities across the province.” The burdens facing our health systems, and mental health systems, are much more complex. Consecutive governments have failed to meet people’s needs – especially with regards to safe, stable, and affordable housing.

We must ensure we’re working towards meeting people’s basic needs. Even if we had enough beds for people seeking mental health and substance use treatment, there is a huge gap in the services that are available to people when their program is finished and they are discharged.

To address the strains facing communities across BC, we must work towards developing a robust system of care, including improving emergency mental health, regulating substance use and mental health treatment, and providing comprehensive education and prevention programs.

2. In recent months, significant research and discussion has occurred around “involuntary care” in BC as a method of providing care to individuals with complex needs who aren’t able to succeed in BC’s current supportive housing and care model. Do you support involuntary care? What is your plan to care for people who can’t respond to traditional services through BC Housing and provincial health authorities?

BC NDP Response:

People struggling with mental illness, addiction and brain injuries who are a risk to themselves or others, and who can’t make decisions about their own care, are one of the biggest challenges we face.

We’re taking action to keep these people safe and to keep communities safe. Our team has done the work to get this right – working closely with experts to develop a dignified, secure care system. We are creating new, highly safe, secure care facilities and more mental health beds across BC. We will ensure clarity in the law for doctors and make sure that people of any age can receive care when they are unable to seek it themselves, with a particular focus on youth.

These are extremely challenging issues, and we will keep moving forward to get people the care they need as this crisis evolves.

BC Green Response:

We first must invest in strengthening and expanding voluntary treatment options, including primary care, detox, treatment programs, publicly funded counselling services, residential mental health services, harm reduction programming, safe supply, and family programming.

Involuntary treatment has very little evidence of its efficacy – especially for patients with substance use disorders. Many people who have been involuntarily detained under the Mental Health Act are not set-up with safe housing and community supports when they are discharged – which often leads to greater harms or even death.

The BC Greens acknowledge that in our current system, involuntary treatment can play role in a comprehensive mental health system; however, proper supports after discharge will be required to support a safe and healthy reintegration to daily life. Alongside this, we will be establishing the framework for a strong preventative approach built on a substantial investment in mental health services. Partnering with voluntary and non-profit sectors like Canadian Mental Health Association will be key.

Topic: Community Safety and Wellness

1. Public safety concerns are making urban downtowns increasingly unsustainable for businesses, residents, visitors, and more. Graffiti, employee safety, theft, and vandalism force businesses to spend their limited resources on security, maintenance, insurance, and other unnecessary costs, often causing businesses to close their doors entirely. As Premier, how would you address community safety to support the business community, residents, and visitors in BC’s urban centers?

BC NDP Response:

Everyone deserves to feel safe in their community. But there are still far too many stories of crime – here in BC and across North America – impacting businesses and communities.

Our urban centres are the beating heart of BC towns and cities, and we’re determined to keep them vibrant, prosperous, and safe. That’s why we’re taking action to fight crime and keep communities strong. We’ve hired over 250 police officers and are launching specialized teams to go after gangs, guns, drugs, and organized crime.

We’re pushing Ottawa to strengthen bail rules to keep repeat offenders off our streets. And we’re strengthening services to support victims of crime and survivors, like bringing back stable funding for sexual assault centres.

John Rustad would cut the services that help prevent crime and keep people safe – just like his government did before when he repeatedly voted for budgets that slashed funding for crime prevention and victim support. His cuts would make crime and street disorder much worse. We
can’t afford that.

BC Green Party Response:

While the statistics vary, we hear from people and business owners that they feel less safe, especially in our cities, over the past years.

The Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act released their report ‘Transforming Policing and Community Safety in British Columbia’ in 2022. The report provides an evidence-informed, thorough, plan for improving access to justice and reforming policing in the province. It had agreement from all parties represented in the Legislative Assembly. Unfortunately, the government chose not to enact the recommendations in the report, a huge missed opportunity. The BC Greens would implement the recommendations from the report, to ensure that the Police have the resources and tools they need to do their jobs, and that all people can feel safe, secure, and well protected.

The homelessness crisis in British Columbia has become more pronounced over this time period. The growing toll of homelessness on people and communities is something that needs to be solved with urgency. It is the job of the provincial government to make sure that the social safety net prevents the deep poverty that we’re seeing right now. The BC Greens would focus on solutions that would very rapidly end the crisis of homelessness in our communities.

2. What is your plan to relieve the burden on communities caused by repeat offenders?

BC NDP Response:

We know that repeat offenders are a significant problem, impacting communities all across BC. Some people are just too dangerous to be out of jail. Ottawa must ensure federal bail rules keep repeat offenders off our streets.

We’re doing our part in BC. We’ve launched 12 new dedicated teams of police, prosecutors, and probation officers, currently monitoring almost 400 offenders and driving down offence rates in real and measurable ways. But there’s still more to do.

BC’s bail policy is now the strictest in the country, and due to our pressure, the feds have finally required violent repeat offenders to prove they should be released, not the other way around. We’ll keep up the pressure on Ottawa until we get the changes BC communities need.

We have four former police officers running for us and guiding policy – three of them retired, decorated, senior officers – because we’re tackling the root causes of crime by taking strong action to put people on a better path before they can become repeat offenders. We’re expanding support for young people, opening new complex care housing, helping homeless youth via Covenant House, enhancing mental health and addictions treatment, and delivering evidence-based programs in corrections facilities to reduce recidivism. John Rustad’s cuts would put all this progress at risk.

BC Green Party Response:

No response provided.

Topic: Affordable Housing

1. Municipalities have been clear that we want to be partners in housing. If elected as Premier, how would you work in partnership with local governments to address the housing crisis? What do you see as the role for local governments as we collectively respond to this crisis?

BC NDP Response:

BC is a great place to live, but housing is too expensive. That’s why we’re taking action to create an additional 300,000 middle-class homes that people can actually afford.

We’ve eliminated cumbersome red tape blocking the construction of small multi-unit homes, and introduced a Speculation Tax that has turned well over 20,000 empty condos into long term homes. We’ve turned short-term rentals into long-term homes by cracking down on standalone Airbnbs while protecting people’s ability to rent out secondary/basement suites.

We’re also using public land to build more middle-class housing, capping rent increases to inflation, delivering new Complex Care homes, supporting small landlords with a new insurance program if tenants don’t pay the rent, and bringing in a new flipping tax so regular homebuyers don’t have to compete with house flippers.

We’re finally seeing rents come down – we can’t stop the work now. But that’s exactly what John Rustad wants to do. The BC Conservatives want to get rid of rent control for vulnerable seniors and everyone else. They would cancel the speculation tax and the hundreds of
thousands of homes on the way for you and your family.

John Rustad’s promise to return to the old status quo won’t fix the housing crisis; it will just make it worse.

BC Green Party Response:

The BC Greens approach to solving the housing crisis is through partnership – with Municipalities, with Indigenous governments, with non-profit housing providers, and with developers.

We propose a comprehensive shift away from relying on private, for-profit housing models. Instead, we will focus on expanding non-market and co-op housing to meet the growing demand for affordable homes. In particular, we will:

• build 26,000 new units of non-market housing annually, ensuring that this housing remains
  protected from market forces, to create long-term affordable rents.
• Implement province-wide vacancy control to prevent evictions for profit, increase housing
  stability, and preserve affordable housing stock.
• Provide housing cooperatives with access to grants, forgivable loans, and guarantees,
  ensuring that they have the financial support needed to maintain and expand affordable
  housing options.

2. Local governments, and our partner service provider organizations across BC, have reported significant and deep-rooted problems within BC Housing for months. What do you see as the future for BC Housing, and do you have any plans for its reform?

BC NDP Response:

We’re overhauling BC Housing to meet the expectations of all British Columbians. From deeper engagement with communities when locating social housing, to transparent and accountable decisions when awarding contracts and building, BC Housing is getting back on track.

Through our initiative to provide secure housing for those with mental illness, brain injury and addiction, we are ensuring that social housing is focused on people who need assistance without disrupting neighbours, as it was always meant to be.

John Rustad is planning dramatic cuts to BC Housing’s budget for shelters, supportive housing, and other interventions to break the cycle of homelessness – cuts that will make the homelessness and housing crisis so much worse. Downloading BC Housing’s provincial responsibilities to cities or regions without funding – a standard approach when John Rustad was in government before – will force already strained local governments to choose between asking local taxpayers to pick up the slack or giving up on housing. Neither work for communities in this province.

BC Green Party Response:

We have heard these concerns too, and foresee the need for reform of BC Housing, to make sure it’s truly oriented to working with partners and delivery. We think there is a specific need to streamline operations and improve efficiency and transparency.

Topic: Transit and Transportation

1. Public transit is critical for BC in many ways: reducing carbon emissions; supporting British Columbians with convenient and cost-effective transportation choices; fostering commerce business; and supporting housing development. How would you increase access to, and availability of, public transit, if elected Premier?

BC NDP Response:

People need to be able to go to work, run errands, and get home quickly, efficiently, and without straining their budget. That’s why we’ve made transit more affordable, including making it free for kids 12 and under, while expanding service. We had the fastest recovery of any transit system in North America post-pandemic because our support for BC Transit and Translink ensured people kept access to service.

As our communities grow, we’ll continue taking action to reduce costs and get people moving faster by completing the Surrey-Langley Skytrain and Broadway Subway extensions, increasing bus services throughout BC, and making cabs and ride-shares more responsive, affordable, and safe. New “bus on shoulder” transit lanes on the expanded Highway 1 will ensure efficient transit access through the Fraser Valley.

John Rustad has already made clear his plan to cut transit funding and cancel new projects. Maybe he should have to ride the bus once in a while to understand why transit funding is critical for our communities so people spend more time with their families and less time in
traffic.

BC Green Party Response:

The BC Greens are focused on delivering fast, frequent, free public transit. We see public transit as being a key part of our solutions to the climate crisis and the cost of living crisis. Fewer cars and more buses, pedestrians and cyclists bring vibrancy to our cities, and we know that mobility is good for business, with returns of up to $5 for every $1 invested in public transit.

We’ve committed to making public transit, doubling buses on the roads within three years and doubling within six, and at least hourly service for key routes and at least four services per day on all other routes across the province.

2. Provincial roads and highways in urban communities continue to be congested with private and commercial vehicle traffic, causing excessive diverted traffic on local government roads. What will you do to ease traffic congestion in urban and suburban communities?

BC NDP Response:

Traffic congestion due to massive population growth is a major concern in many BC urban centres and surrounding areas. That’s why we’re expanding badly needed infrastructure and cutting ICBC rates to get people moving faster and save people money.

We know people living in or near rapidly growing urban communities can’t afford empty promises on transportation. John Rustad refused to widen Highway 1 even as the Fraser Valley population was skyrocketing. That job should have been done more than a decade ago, but
now we’re getting it done.

Rustad described the removal of tolls as “a slap in the face” – but we’ll never bring them back. He’s been clear that he would cut provincial capital investments, leading to major transportation projects being cancelled or delayed. His party finished their last term with ICBC on the brink of collapse. Now, our car insurance rates are among the lowest in Canada.

There’s more to do. We can’t afford to cancel these projects – we need to keep people moving.

BC Green Party Response:

We know that induced demand is real, and we cannot build our way out of congestion – fast, frequent, free public transit must be the way forward.

Our free public transit plan (see above) will help to relieve congestion by offering real incentive for commuters, students, and others to make use of public transit rather than drive. The B.C. Greens are also committing to making public transit the go-to choice for long-distance commuters and travelers by offering bus trips at a minimum of hourly intervals between 5am and midnight on all major routes, e.g. between Victoria and Nanaimo, between Prince George and Prince Rupert and along the Highway of Tears, and from Whistler and Squamish to Vancouver.

Moving more people onto public transit frees up space for people who need to drive, reducing congestion and improving travel times, without the need for additional infrastructure.