The Richmond all-candidates meeting for the upcoming provincial election was marked by some controversy and a shortage of innovative proposals.
Eleven of 16 MLA candidates for Richmond’s four ridings shared their political positions with the community on Thursday evening at an event organized by the Richmond Centre for Disability, Richmond Poverty Reduction Coalition, the Jewish Seniors Alliance and the Kehila Society of Richmond. It was moderated by Richmond News' acting editor Maria Rantanen.
The event was held at the Minoru Centre for Active Living with an attendance of 200 people, where candidates were questioned on their solutions to social justice issues like housing, homelessness, food security, transit, health and more.
Three of four BC Conservative Party candidates did not attend the meeting, including Teresa Wat for Richmond-Bridgeport (who was ill), Hon Chan for Richmond Centre and Steve Kooner for Richmond-Queensborough.
BC NDP candidates Henry Yao for Richmond Centre and Aman Singh for Richmond-Queensborough did not attend either.
Six of the 11 candidates who attended the meeting were independents, including two former BC United candidates, Jackie Lee and Wendy Yuan, and another candidate, Glynnis Chan, who was previously affiliated with BC United.
The event began with a brief introduction from each of the candidates, stating their experience, community involvement and motivations.
Presentations were a mixed bag, with some highlighting their vast experience and others admitting to their political debuts.
A common theme among the independents was the benefit of not answering to any political party, bringing balance and remaining committed to the needs of residents.
Theme question focuses on social justice
The theme question of the night was, taking into account the social justice issues such as housing, homelessness, food accessibility, transportation, health and income security on the local and provincial stages, what would be each candidate's actions to increase accessibility and affordability.
Chan, who's running in Richmond-Bridgeport, opened the floor by saying transportation systems should be looked at carefully amid the rapid rise in Richmond’s population, adding affordability has also decreased due to the current government’s fund mismanagement.
“The young generation is leaving us,” she said. “Today we have two extreme parties, one to the left, one to the right. We need to have someone like us, independent candidates.”
Running for re-election in Richmond-Steveston, Kelly Greene of the BC NDP focused her answer on the party's achievements to date, underscoring the benefits of the currently underway Richmond Hospital project.
On the theme of health, she added the BC NDP has hired over 800 new family doctors over the last 14 months and created a new online platform to find one more efficiently.
Greene then moved on to affordability and housing, saying the NDP has taken action with speculation and vacancy taxes, restricting short-term rentals and unlocking public land for middle-class homes.
“For the first time, of any major city in Canada, our rents are going down by a little bit, six per cent; it's not a lot, we need to do more, but it shows that we're on the right track for affordability.”
Michelle Mollineaux, running for the BC Conservatives in Richmond-Steveston, said she envisions a safe and thriving community with affordable and appropriate housing.
“So if a family wants to have children, or if a senior wants to stay in their own home, they have the choice to find the kind of home that's going to best suit their needs.”
Mollineaux then touched upon drug prevention, advocating for more support programs to prevent youth from turning to drugs, especially for those coming out of foster care.
“Too many children who are in foster care are left to their own devices, and a lot of them do end up on the streets,” she said. “We need to have a proper infrastructure place that children can go to.”
Regarding schools, Mollineaux said these should be safe havens for students, adding there should be no space for discrimination.
“When it comes to the sexualization with the curriculum that's going on with SOGI 123… I do believe that a child should learn about sex education. But I also feel that a child should be taught to respect other children, no matter what their background is or what their orientation is.”
A hot topic brought up by the public and discussed by Mollineaux and Greene was involuntary care under the Mental Health Act, with the BC NDP proposing this option for extreme cases, and the BC Conservatives promising a zero tolerance position.
Greene started by saying those struggling with addiction should not be dehumanized, adding prosecuting them for these issues will not help them get better.
“In terms of involuntary treatment, that would happen in cases that were extreme, where there was situations where that individual is violent, is addicted to drugs, [and] is suffering from mental health issues,” she said.
“When that is the case, they've had a traumatic brain injury over and over again because of the addiction taking control of their life.”
Mollineaux responded by saying those with long-term addictions can no longer take care of themselves, adding it’s cruel and inhumane to allow them to stay on the streets without the proper care they deserve.
“We also just experienced another family, a 13-year-old daughter died… in one of those homeless camps with safe supply paraphernalia wrapped around her,” she said.
“Her parents wanted her to be taken care of, to have her put into an involuntary place where she can get the help that she needed.”
Candidate questions solicited online, from audience
The candidates were also asked questions solicited online before the event and from the audience.
Independent candidate for Richmond Centre Sunny Ho, when asked how we would rectify the issue of seniors living under the poverty line, said he would deliver affordable senior housing and provide more resources to this age group.
“We need a new hospital and also more health care,” he said. “The jobs for seniors are also important.”
On the theme of poverty reduction, independent candidate for Richmond Centre Dickens Cheung was asked what policies he would put in place to alleviate the stress on vulnerable Richmond families.
Similar to his other answers, Cheung stated he believes in greater transparency and reducing wasteful spending of tax dollars. He added poverty is a money problem and should be tackled from the root.
“The first thing we need to do is to audit the provincial government from the top down, see where there is money that's being wasted,” said Cheung. “If we have the money in place, then we can implement a lot of programs.”
He added once the books are cleaned up, money can then be directed to those that need it the most.
“Nice sounding policies don't solve the problem. We need the money to do all this. So that's my solution.”
Queensborough candidate blames immigration for problems in Canada
Independent candidate for Richmond-Queensborough Errol Povah was asked what steps he would take in order to reduce the need for food banks, as an approximate 1,300 residents depend on it weekly, of which 30 per cent are children.
Povah answered frankly saying he hadn’t given much thought to the solution to this specific problem, but wondered why the province imports so many goods from California and other parts of Canada, adding B.C. should be 100 per cent self-sufficient.
“Canada is supposed to be a first world country, and I don't understand why we have these completely out-of-control problems,” he said.
In a sharp turn of events, Povah stated a root cause of these issues is what he calls “the completely out-of-control immigration crisis.”
“We've got more than enough problems here already, and yet we keep bringing people in, so many of them unvetted,” he said. “I'm not a racist, but that tap has to be turned off at least temporarily.”
BC Green Party candidate Tamas Revoczi for Richmond-Bridgeport was questioned on how he would ensure everyone has access to affordable and accessible transport.
As the president of the Sea Island Community Association, Revoczi alluded to his previous work with the community of Burkeville in the early stages of the meeting.
His answer was simple - to ensure fast, frequent and free transit for all residents.
Revoczi added this is an ambitious goal, but it’s one that would tackle affordability and climate change.
Former BC United candidates questioned
Regarding the controversial Richmond supportive housing project that has been put on hold, Jackie Lee, independent candidate - and the former BC United candidate - for Richmond-Steveston, was asked what his stance was on the project.
Lee didn’t provide an exact answer to this question, but said he was involved in constant dialogue with the city on this topic, saying the city is responsible for the location of the project and he would act on what the people want.
“In my position, as (an) unaffiliated candidate, this is a good opportunity for… the people living in Richmond… to tell me exactly what they want,” he said.
He underscored the benefits of being an independent, and not having to listen to big party politics.
Wendy Yuan, independent candidate for Richmond Centre, also another former BC United candidate, was questioned on the significant enrolment growth of Richmond schools, and how she would address this issue.
Funding is the main contributor to this problem, as very little is being done by the current governments to build capacity, Yuan replied.
Encouraging the city, the school board and the province to come up with more solutions and investing in modular spaces could be a viable option to addressing this issue, she said.
“I think there is a lack of communication (with the provincial government), and I don't think our school needs and parents' needs and students' needs are being addressed at all right now.”
On the topic of food security, BC NDP candidate Linda Li for Richmond-Bridgeport, was asked how she would ensure access to affordable local food in the years to come, as ALR land was reduced by 300 acres in 2020, further decreasing farmland.
“This is not a climate change problem,” she said. “So right now we just encourage people to just eat local.”
Although no specific policies were suggested, Li focused her answer on the BC NDP wanting to preserve land for food production, as well as highlighting their investments in clean energy and the creation of green jobs.
The question of improving healthcare, given the strains the system is under, Cindy Wu, independent candidate for Richmond-Queensborough, drawing on her experience studying abroad, she mentioned one of the keys towards solving this problem is attracting more professionals to stay in the community by increasing wages.
Furthermore, Wu said, making it easier for those with foreign degrees to stay and work would be beneficial to alleviate some of the pressure on the system.
“I think we can also think about some creative ways to take care of each other,” she said.
Wu then proposed a time bank system where children can accompany seniors and learn from them, while providing companionship for seniors.
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