The feasibility of a second crossing across Okanagan Lake within eight years was touted and denounced at an all-candidates meeting on the weekend.听
BC Conservative candidate Macklin McCall said the bridge, promised by his partysa国际传媒 leader to be open by 2032, would address a lot of the 鈥渞oot causes鈥 of transportation problems in the Central Okanagan.听
鈥淚t will make things better for travel, and safety, and commerce,鈥 McCall said. 鈥淚t would be a good way to actually address root causes and make things better. I鈥檓 excited to get this up and running. I think it will do a lot of good, not just for here, but for the region as well.鈥
But Independent candidate Stephen Johnston dismissed the feasibility and necessity of having a second bridge open by 2032.
鈥淭hatsa国际传媒 never going to happen you guys,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he second crossing built within eight years is nothing more than a flashy campaign promise that ignores all the deficient infrastructure needs that we have presently, and have had for two decades. Itsa国际传媒 not the way forward, and don鈥檛 be fooled by that.鈥
The debate for the riding of West sa国际传媒-Peachland was hosted Sunday by the North Westside Communities Association, which represents residents living in unincorporated areas along Westside Road. It was notable for being the first, and likely only all-candidates debate at which McCall and Krystal Smith, the NDP candidate, participated.听
In response to Johnstonsa国际传媒 criticism of the second bridge campaign promise made by the BC Conservatives, McCall said traffic congestion was one of the most common issues that has come up as he has door knocked at 10,000 Westside homes in the campaign.听
鈥淲e have to do something to alleviate congestion,鈥 he said. 鈥淒o we do it now, do we start looking at it now, or do we do it 20 years from now and just kick the can down the road? I think just having a conversation into this is definitely worthwhile and important.鈥
For her part, Smith cited recent Ministry of Transportation studies that suggested a second bridge wouldn鈥檛 do much to address congestion because most highway traffic in the Central Okanagan is local.听
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think itsa国际传媒 the right promise for people right now,鈥 Smith said. 鈥淲e need to invest money into services that matter for people, like housing and health care.鈥
Johnston said new interchanges along the highway at Boucherie Road and Westlake Road, projects which he said were currently at the land negotiation stage, would do far more to speed up traffic than building a second bridge.
鈥淭hese are priorities that should come into play long before a second crossing,鈥 Johnston said. 鈥淭his promise that has been made for a second crossing has been made without consultation with the regional district, City of sa国际传媒, Westbank First Nation, or City of sa国际传媒.鈥
Adding a third sa国际传媒-bound lane to the W.R. Bennett bridge would help improve traffic, Johnston said, as would addressing intersections in the first few blocks of sa国际传媒 in the highway corridor.听
Some North Westside residents have long complained about what they say is poor value for the tax dollars they pay to the sa国际传媒-based Central Okanagan Regional District. All three candidates said they would support a study that could see North Westside communities transferred to the Vernon-based North Okanagan Regional District.
They also said they would support allowing parents in the unincorporated areas to send their children to schools in Vernon, rather than sa国际传媒, if they so choose.听
McCall and Johnston said they favoured ending ICBCsa国际传媒 monopoly over vehicle insurance, but Smith said the current system works well for drivers in sa国际传媒 Both Johnston and McCall said the province's current deficit, approaching $9 billion was a sign of the NDP's fiscal mismanagement, but Smith said the province would return to a balanced budget "over time".听
McCall is a retired RCMP officer who said he resigned from the force because he believed he could make a bigger impact addressing problems such as homelessness and drug abuse as a politician rather than a policeman.听
Johnston is a two-term West sa国际传媒 city councillor who had been named as the BC United candidate for West sa国际传媒-Peachland before that party essentially dissolved before Labour Day.听
Smith said she has worked in various offices of NDP cabinet ministers since the party won the 2017 election.听
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