Jordan Sturdy, Liberal MLA for the West Vancouver-Sea to Sky riding, might have been surprised by the NDP government’s decision to call a fall election, but he’s not complaining about the short-and-sweet campaign.
“Honestly [campaigns] are not my favourite part of the job,” he said with a laugh.
“It came as a shock to the Greens and all of us, frankly, that [NDP premiere John] Horgan decided the political opportunity was too attractive to ignore. He could attempt to manufacture a reason, but it’s been pretty clear that rationale was thin.”
But, back on the campaign trail, Sturdy said one of his major priorities, if re-elected, is regional transit that would connect Mount Currie, Pemberton, Whistler, Squamish, Pinecrest, Britannia Beach, and Furry Creek with Metro Vancouver.
“I believe that’s a service that is due and that will be of tremendous benefit to the corridor if, for nothing else, the limited capacity we have on the Sea to Sky Highway,” he said. “This summer, I’ve seen many people at my [North Arm] farm who had never been to Whistler, let alone Pemberton. I am confident that they will be back.”
To that end, he’s also confident that the Sea to Sky’s tourism industry will rebound post-pandemic. The problem is how to help in the short-term.
“We do have an acute problem, there’s no question about that,” he said. “I believe shorter-term strategies are more challenging right now. We need to be supporting local and small business … Certainly, the federal government supports are critical with the wage subsidy piece. It’s a piece that has had a profound impact on allowing some of these businesses that have been challenged to remain open and keep their people employed and working.”
BC Parks also plays an important role in recovery, he said. He doesn’t believe shutting down the parks and implementing a pilot day-pass program in the busiest ones—such as Garibaldi Provincial Park—was the right move.
“I posed a question to Dr. [Bonnie] Henry [provincial health officer] when we had caucus briefings with her,” he said. “I said, ‘Can you please advocate with the minister to open up B.C. parks as opposed to keeping them closed because it just doesn’t serve the community well. They should be open.’ She said, ‘… the minister is not acting on my advice.’ I think, generally speaking, we need significant investment in BC Parks.”
More funding could mean better staffing and plans in place at Joffre Lakes Provincial Park, which has not reopened since closing at the beginning of the pandemic.
“My general philosophy around a place like Joffre is let’s have more people at Joffre and manage them better rather than having fewer people at Joffre and people dispersing everywhere,” he said. “I think we can do a better job there, but it means we need better garbage collection, rangers on site, communications up there. None of that has happened. Closing the park, that was the solution. It was not a solution at all.”
Another major local issue this election is childcare. Pemberton in particular was recently turned down for Childcare BC New Spaces Fund because the cost-per-space of $60,000 was deemed too high.
“That $40,000-per-space [cap] does not work here,” Sturdy says. “You can’t build for that and that’s not going to change.”
On the staffing front, he added, a career in childcare needs to be seen as a liveable, competitive job—and more should be done to make sure credentials from other provinces translate here.
“That seems to take far, far too long,” he said. “We have to find a way to make it an attractive occupation.”
For more, visit votejordan.ca.
