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.

91裸聊视频淚 think we91裸聊视频檙e at a time in history when there91裸聊视频檚 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,91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频渁re broken91裸聊视频� right now, he said, 91裸聊视频渁nd need fixing.91裸聊视频�

He points to the effort by the NDP to decriminalize small amounts of hard drugs as a 91裸聊视频渇ailure.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淗onestly, it was like throwing fuel on an already raging bonfire and made things so much worse,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淚 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 we91裸聊视频檙e seeing on the streets today.91裸聊视频�

It ended up being a 91裸聊视频渞eckless91裸聊视频� mistake since it was rolled out without having 91裸聊视频渢he proper guardrails91裸聊视频� in place first.

So how will he tackle the thorny issue of housing?

91裸聊视频淲ell, first of all, we have to recognize that the NDP government made a fatal decision, misdiagnosing the problem,91裸聊视频� Falcon said. 91裸聊视频淭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.

91裸聊视频淪o what they did was they added a whole blizzard of taxes to housing, and yet if you91裸聊视频榬e adding more to the cost of housing, it doesn91裸聊视频檛 make it more affordable. And not surprisingly, seven years later, we91裸聊视频檝e ended up with the most unaffordable housing in North America and the highest rents in all of Canada.91裸聊视频�

He points to the pivotal issue of supply.

91裸聊视频淲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 they91裸聊视频檝e got to be properly incentivized, and working with local governments.91裸聊视频�

Falcon ticked off health-care concerns: one in five can91裸聊视频檛 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 91裸聊视频渟tudied abroad91裸聊视频� to come back91裸聊视频� to practise medicine here would help.

91裸聊视频淎nd I91裸聊视频檓 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,91裸聊视频� he vowed.

BC United would expand and invest in infrastructure 91裸聊视频渨hether it91裸聊视频檚 hospitals, and we91裸聊视频檝e got a record of building 14 hospitals while the former government, whether it91裸聊视频檚 highways and roads, or the 10-lane Port Mann Bridge.

91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 why we want to expand Highway 1 right through six lanes, right through to Chilliwack. We91裸聊视频檝e got to get on with these things though,91裸聊视频� Falcon said. 91裸聊视频淚t can91裸聊视频檛 just be about making promises and announcements, and re-announcements.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 got to be about actually getting things built and done.91裸聊视频�

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. Chilliwack91裸聊视频檚 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.

91裸聊视频淚 think Chilliwack is a really important area for us because it91裸聊视频檚 one of the fastest-growing communities in the country,91裸聊视频� Falcon stated.

91裸聊视频淵ou91裸聊视频檝e got a lot of folks moving out of urban British Columbia that are moving to Chilliwack because there91裸聊视频檚 more affordability, you know, although that91裸聊视频檚 getting really tough now too and they91裸聊视频檙e facing all the challenges of a fast growing community, lack of transit, frankly, the difficulty of just getting around in the community.91裸聊视频�

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.

91裸聊视频淲e only changed our names six months ago, but I feel very, very confident by the time we come up to the next election, they91裸聊视频檙e going to look at the calibre of our candidates, the quality of our platform, and they91裸聊视频檙e going to vote for the people that actually know how to get things done.91裸聊视频�

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