Downtown sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 problems with homelessness and crime won鈥檛 be easy to solve but progress is being made, NDP candidate Loyal Wooldridge says.聽
More housing and greater support for businesses affected by street disorder are necessary to address the issues, Wooldridge said at an election forum sponsored by the chamber of commerce on Thursday.聽
鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely not there yet. Theresa国际传媒 a long way to go,鈥 said Wooldridge, a two-term city councillor who is hoping to make electoral history and become the first NDP candidate to win a riding in the sa国际传媒 area.聽
鈥淥bviously, we鈥檙e faced with big challenges. We have the largest (homeless) encampment outside of downtown Vancouver,鈥 Wooldridge said. 鈥淎nd thatsa国际传媒 something we need to deal with, and have been grappling with on council.
鈥淭hese are not simple, easy, quick or cheap problems to deal with. They鈥檝e been building over decades,鈥 he said. 鈥淚tsa国际传媒 going to take time to overcome.鈥
Wooldridge noted the City of sa国际传媒, by provincial law, cannot run a deficit, suggesting it is hampered in its ability on its own to spend as much money as it might like to addressing social issues that generally fall under the purview of the provincial and federal governments.聽
Michael Humer, Independent, noted the NDP had massively increased the provincesa国际传媒 deficit and debt since being elected in 2017. Generations of future sa国际传媒 taxpayers will be saddled with the effects of the partysa国际传媒 fiscal recklessness, Humer said.聽
Humer also said downtown sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 problems are considerable and needed addressing from a variety of perspectives.聽
鈥淒owntown businesses are having difficulty with the financial implications, with the crime, addictions issues, mental health issues. I would say housing is not the only solution to homelessness or even to poverty. Itsa国际传媒 prevention,鈥 said Humer, a retired surgeon.聽聽
鈥淚 absolutely believe we need to get away from a reactive world where we鈥檙e responding to extreme ideologies on different parties, and we need to prevent these situations,鈥 he said.聽
If everyone had access to a family doctor, he said, many of the social problems now evident on the streets of sa国际传媒 communities would be lessened.聽
Humer also took a jab at Wooldridge for often using the word 鈥渨e鈥, particularly on a question related to housing availability and affordability, wondering if he was speaking as a city councillor currently on leave or as an NDP candidate.聽
鈥淲hen you talk about 鈥榳e鈥, I need to have clarity whether itsa国际传媒 the party you鈥檙e running for, the New Democrat party, which has been the government for the past seven years, or whether itsa国际传媒 you in your council role,鈥 Humer said.聽
鈥淏ecause itsa国际传媒 very hard to believe that the NDPsa国际传媒 housing policies have been good for sa国际传媒,鈥 Humer said.聽
Wooldridge defended the NDPsa国际传媒 directive to municipalities not to hold public hearings for residential projects that conform to an existing official community plan. He said expedited delivery of new housing was critical and described the holding of public hearings as a form of 鈥渞ed tape鈥 the NDP was right to do away with.聽
Kristina Loewen, the BC Conservative candidate for the riding, did not attend the forum.聽
Her response to the chambersa国际传媒 invitation was that she was 鈥渢oo busy鈥 to attend, debate moderator Sarah Penton said. Loewen also did not respond to an email about her debate absence sent to her by The Daily Courier.聽
During the forum, Humer said Loewen actually lives in West sa国际传媒, not in the sa国际传媒 Centre riding.聽
