Friday October 11, 2024 | ESQUIMALT, BC
BC ELECTION CAMPAIGN DAY 21 of 28
BC Election 2024 news coverage by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Your 28-day voter’s guide for BC Election 2024
With the entire stage her own, BC Green candidate for Esquimalt-Colwood Camille Currie addressed an audience at Esquimalt High School on Wednesday evening about her campaign and her party’s platform.
The October 9 all candidates meeting organized by the Esquimalt Chamber of Commerce to showcase all three candidates decided to carry on with the evening even though two of the candidates did not show: John Wilson (BC Conservative) and Darlene Rotchford (NDP) did not attend.
The evening’s host and moderator was Esquimalt Chamber of Commerce president Holly Courtright.
The event was on Day 19 of a 28-day provincial campaign. Election day is Saturday October 19 and voting stations are already open for advance voting (October 10, 11, 12, 13 and also October 15 and 16).
Attentive audience:
Currie held the attention of about 80 people in the school auditorium for nearly an hour with her replies to prepared questions about housing affordability, housing density, infrastructure funding, small business, and crime in downtown areas.
Currie answered the moderator’s questions based on her university background in economics and political science but also from her life experience with the health-care system and being small business owner. In recent years she has been known to the community as the founder of Health Care Matters which highlighted the doctor shortage problem for all British Columbians.
With her husband Shawn she owns and operates a marine repair business and she also has a business as a personal trainer. “I understand small business and how vital that is”, with reference to how small business creates most of the jobs in the BC economy. “The NDP have lost track of small business,” Currie said.
While she seeks to votes of people in Esquimalt-Colwood (which includes Esquimalt, Colwood, View Royal and VicWest) she points out that “you don’t need a title to create real change”.
“The power of the people led to the new payment model for family doctors,” said Currie about how her health-care advocacy efforts resulted in a new government payment model for Doctors of BC. Now more doctors are moving to BC and the BC NDP government can claim success in “turning the corner” (as they say) with more people becoming attached to family doctors.
Housing affordability is a barrier to workers in many sectors who might choose to come to Greater Victoria or BC for their careers, in fact to remain in BC. Lately the BC Conservatives have been capitalizing on the fear that (according to one poll) about half of young adults in BC consider leaving BC in order to find greater affordability. That not only impacts the economy but splits up families.
The cost of housing and overall living is a barrier to apprenticeships, Currie pointed out during her comments to the audience.
Overall affordability is a challenge where the latest stats show that about half of British Columbians live on less then $44,000 per year. “The system is flawed and lacks accountability to the public,” says Currie.
Though it should be pointed out that people with low incomes are shored up to some degree with various tax rebates (e.g. renter’s tax credit, BC Hydro credits) and the quarterly federal tax credits (e.g. carbon tax rebate, grocery rebate) to which the Province contributes.
Attention is paid to this, but clearly the system has allowed many individuals, families and households to fall between the cracks. Pulling out of poverty is a hard process. Currie said the BC Greens would invest $1 billion in small and medium-size businesses. They’re aren’t like to form government on October 19 but might possibly win enough seats to essentially form some balance of power.
The audience was attentive and offered applause after some of Currie’s responses.
Folks seemed to particularly like this, that people provincial and municipal leaders should “speak up for your communities, at a time you’re telling me that you’re feeling unheard”.
During this campaign in the 43rd BC general election Currie has so far knocked on 8,000 doors in Esquimalt-Colwood. Holding the stage on her own to answer questions from the audience as well, is part of how she delivers the BC Green message with her own mellow but intense style.
“I’ve shown up here today because I want to be accountable to you, I want to answer your questions,” said Currie.
There was coffee, water and pastries in the lobby at intermission.
Trends in Election 2024:
This was not the only community-organized candidate event at which some of the candidates were a no-show. It’s a short campaign — just 28 days — with lots to get done.
Candidates obviously focus their attention on where they can find or create committed voters. For some that’s showcasing their grasp of current issues during debates and all-candidates meetings but for others the focus is on door-knocking, events at their campaign offices, or mingling with their target voter base at other events and activities (like sports events or watch-parties).
Campaign organizers are likely to keep their candidates back from the public-facing challenge of an on-stage debate if they are brand new to politics and not familiar with a broad scope of the issues.
Time is spent with media when a candidate’s campaign feels the result will impact a voter-rich audience.
A number of community organizations have hosted events across various ridings in this election. they are trying provide a service to their community (or at least be seen as attempting to do so).
With the proliferation of debate-style events offered in this election campaign cycle it’s understandable if the premium time of candidates is esconded for other appearances, without so much as a reason for declining the invitation. How it appears to the public who do attend these events is another matter.
===== RELATED:
- BC Election 2024: advance voting on now for six days (October 10, 2024)
- Six days of Advance Voting in BC (October 3, 2024)
- Camille Currie on why she’d be the right MLA for Esquimalt-Colwood (September 21, 2024)
- NEWS SECTIONS: BC ELECTION 2024 NEWS | POLITICS | 28-DAY BC ELECTION CAMPAIGN ITINERARY CALENDAR