Back in May, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix announced a cancer care centre is to be built in Kamloops on the Royal Inland Hospital campus (Image credit: CFJC Today/File photo).

By Todd Stone, Kamloops-South Thompson MLA

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A NEW YEAR always brings with it the opportunity to pause and reflect, both on the year that has passed, as well as everything you hope to achieve in the coming year. Whether you embrace the tradition of new years resolutions or not, there is something to be said for setting goals and working hard to achieve them.

Setting goals is something that I’ve tried to do throughout my life — personally, as a small businessperson, and as an elected official. In 2024 there are many vital issues that I will continue to focus on for my constituents as MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson. My BC United colleagues and I will continue to put pressure on the NDP government to deliver results on the issues that matter most to our communities and all British Columbians.

We know that going into this year, affordability and the cost-of-living crisis is on the top of everyone’s minds. Everyday necessities like food, housing, utilities, and fuel are set to get even more expensive over the next year, unless this government gets serious about taking meaningful steps to deliver tangible relief for people.

We have called for the elimination of the up to 14 cents/litre fuel tax that will save you every time you fill up your vehicle at the pumps, and the elimination of carbon tax on all home heating fuel sources and on-farm production. We will eliminate the carbon tax entirely if there is a change in government federally resulting in the canceling of the carbon tax mandate across the rest of Canada.

There are also many other tax reductions we’ve called for. Regrettably, the NDP government has said no to all of these proposals, and instead have opted to go in a different direction adding 30 new or increased taxes over the past 7 years. British Columbians are left with the worst housing affordability in North America, the highest rents in Canada, and a cost-of-living crisis that’s worse here in B.C. than almost anywhere else in the country.

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Throughout the Interior Health region, we have become all too familiar with a massive and worsening family doctor shortage, frequent ER closures, and chronic low hospital staffing levels. These problems are having a terrible impact on our health care workers, and the negative impact on patients is immeasurable. We will put forward thoughtful plans to address these challenges, as we have already done with respect to the primary care crisis.

Additionally, cancer care is getting worse by the day. The NDP have started sending patients to the U.S. for treatment because they cannot get them the care they need here in B.C. What could possibly be a worse indictment on B.C.’s cancer care system than the fact that British Columbians are being shipped to private hospitals in the United States for cancer care they can’t receive in their home province in a timely fashion?

The NDP’s failings on cancer care are abundantly clear in our community where we all see their continued broken promise to the people of Kamloops. In 2020, then-Premier John Horgan committed to building a cancer centre in Kamloops that would be up and running by the end of the government’s next term – namely by October 2024.

Yet, with only 9 months to go we haven’t even seen plans for the project, let alone broken ground. In fact, the NDP just missed another of their own deadlines on this. Minister Dix promised that he would release a business case for the cancer center by the end of fall last year. Well, the end of the year has come and gone and Kamloopsians are still waiting to see this business case. All there is to show for this project is a dirt parking lot up behind Royal Inland Hospital, meaning patients from Kamloops and surrounding communities requiring radiation treatment will have to continue to make the trek back and forth to Kelowna multiple times a week for years to come. This is totally unfair and unacceptable.

There are so many other unreached NDP goals on important things like housing affordability, mental health and addictions, crime and public safety, and infrastructure. That said, my BC United colleagues and I are continuing to work every day to push government in the right direction. We have put forward bold plans for affordability, mental health and addiction, healthcare, and wildfire management — with more to come over the next number of months. Plans that do not just include goals, but that also lay out the steps required to reach them.

We will also keep advocating and working on the unique issues that impact our local communities. For example, you will see MLA Peter Milobar and myself continue to call on government for serious highway infrastructure investments through the Highway 5 corridor north of Kamloops through Barriere, Clearwater and beyond. This work is desperately needed to ensure that people can travel safely and efficiently through our region.

We will work to ensure the NDP deliver on the health care commitments they have made to Kamloops and call for common sense measures to improve affordability. As we enter 2024, it’s time for a government that will fix the challenges facing our province and deliver the results British Columbians truly deserve.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.