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㽶ƵֱA lot of broken things need fixing,㽶Ƶֱ BC United leader says from Chilliwack stop

One year out from election, BC United leader Kevin Falcon touts vision under renamed party
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Kevin Falcon, leader of the BC United party, was in Chilliwack on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)

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.

㽶ƵֱI think we㽶Ƶֱre at a time in history when there㽶Ƶֱs 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,㽶Ƶֱ 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 㽶Ƶֱare broken㽶Ƶֱ right now, he said, 㽶Ƶֱand need fixing.㽶Ƶֱ

He points to the effort by the NDP to decriminalize small amounts of hard drugs as a 㽶Ƶֱfailure.㽶Ƶֱ

㽶ƵֱHonestly, it was like throwing fuel on an already raging bonfire and made things so much worse,㽶Ƶֱ he said. 㽶ƵֱI 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㽶Ƶֱre seeing on the streets today.㽶Ƶֱ

It ended up being a 㽶Ƶֱreckless㽶Ƶֱ mistake since it was rolled out without having 㽶Ƶֱthe proper guardrails㽶Ƶֱ in place first.

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Kevin Falcon, leader of the BC United party, was in Chilliwack on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)

So how will he tackle the thorny issue of housing?

㽶ƵֱWell, first of all, we have to recognize that the NDP government made a fatal decision, misdiagnosing the problem,㽶Ƶֱ Falcon said. 㽶ƵֱThey 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.

㽶ƵֱSo what they did was they added a whole blizzard of taxes to housing, and yet if you㽶Ƶֱre adding more to the cost of housing, it doesn㽶Ƶֱt make it more affordable. And not surprisingly, seven years later, we㽶Ƶֱve ended up with the most unaffordable housing in North America and the highest rents in all of Canada.㽶Ƶֱ

He points to the pivotal issue of supply.

㽶ƵֱWe 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㽶Ƶֱve got to be properly incentivized, and working with local governments.㽶Ƶֱ

Falcon ticked off health-care concerns: one in five can㽶Ƶֱt 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 㽶Ƶֱstudied abroad㽶Ƶֱ to come back㽶Ƶֱ to practise medicine here would help.

㽶ƵֱAnd I㽶Ƶֱm 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,㽶Ƶֱ he vowed.

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Kevin Falcon, leader of the BC United party, was in Chilliwack on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)

BC United would expand and invest in infrastructure 㽶Ƶֱwhether it㽶Ƶֱs hospitals, and we㽶Ƶֱve got a record of building 14 hospitals while the former government, whether it㽶Ƶֱs highways and roads, or the 10-lane Port Mann Bridge.

㽶ƵֱThat㽶Ƶֱs why we want to expand Highway 1 right through six lanes, right through to Chilliwack. We㽶Ƶֱve got to get on with these things though,㽶Ƶֱ Falcon said. 㽶ƵֱIt can㽶Ƶֱt just be about making promises and announcements, and re-announcements.

㽶ƵֱIt㽶Ƶֱs got to be about actually getting things built and done.㽶Ƶֱ

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㽶Ƶֱs 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.

㽶ƵֱI think Chilliwack is a really important area for us because it㽶Ƶֱs one of the fastest-growing communities in the country,㽶Ƶֱ Falcon stated.

㽶ƵֱYou㽶Ƶֱve got a lot of folks moving out of urban British Columbia that are moving to Chilliwack because there㽶Ƶֱs more affordability, you know, although that㽶Ƶֱs getting really tough now too and they㽶Ƶֱre facing all the challenges of a fast growing community, lack of transit, frankly, the difficulty of just getting around in the community.㽶Ƶֱ

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.

㽶ƵֱWe only changed our names six months ago, but I feel very, very confident by the time we come up to the next election, they㽶Ƶֱre going to look at the calibre of our candidates, the quality of our platform, and they㽶Ƶֱre going to vote for the people that actually know how to get things done.㽶Ƶֱ

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Jennifer Feinberg

About the Author: Jennifer Feinberg

I have been a Chilliwack Progress reporter for 20+ years, covering city hall, Indigenous, business, and climate change stories.
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