Vernon Conservative candidate Dennis Giesbrecht focused on improving healthcare, making life affordable in B.C.

“I can’t get into to many specifics, but when that happened the [Conservative] party asked if I would do this, and it’s always been in the forefront of my mind [to move to Vernon], and I jumped at it,” Giesbrecht told Vernon Matters.

Kevin Acton, the mayor of Lumby and former B.C. United candidate for Vernon-Lumby, had expressed interest in joining the Conservatives. Giesbrecht said he has not met Acton, but said the decision to move him to the riding and not bring in Acton ultimately came from the party.

“Our goal, our only goal, is to defeat the NDP, that’s where we’re at,” Giesbrecht said. “The party felt that I gave them the best chance at doing that, and that’s the choice behind every candidate going forward.”

He said he and the CPBC are looking to “bring common sense” to B.C. politics, noting the party has a plan for improving health care.

“A big [point in our platform] is Patients-First in Healthcare,” Giesbrecht stated. “Our policy of putting patients first is about making sure they get the treatments. [It’s] about things like changing the funding models and how hospitals work, and not just a block of cash at the beginning of every year, have it based on how many patients they get through the system and help.”

Giesbrecht said treating more people will mean spending more money, but is confident that once services improve and wait times drop, then more people will be able to get healthcare they need.

The Conservatives also have plans to address affordability.

Giesbrecht said his party would end the carbon tax, and while the current tax British Columbians pay is a provincial one, he said he believes the Liberals will not win the next federal election, so any tax implemented by that government would come to an end shortly after, and that B.C. should not be the last province to be paying a carbon tax.

He also said the Conservatives want to tackle the housing affordability issue by getting more homes built without government interference.

“There’s supply and demand, and I’ve talked to a lot of the local builders and developers and none of them want a handout, they just want government to get out of the way. They want to be able to build the homes that people need,” Giesbrecht told Vernon Matters. “That’s what they do, that’s their job, so the government needs to get out of the way and let the builders build and bring some balance back to the housing market.”

He also stated that the CPBC would not want to dictate how municipalities handle their zoning, but instead incentivize construction through infrastructure funding.

Another key point for the Conservatives is tackling the toxic drug crisis with a treatment-first model.

“We know drug addiction is a disease, but we know what the cure is,” Giesbrecht said. “It may not be easy and there may be relapses along the way, but let’s give treatment the first priority when it comes to helping these people out on the streets.”

Giesbrecht ran for the Conservative Party in the last provincial election, and though he has not held office, he said his past experience as a safety inspector in heavy industry, such as refinery and ship construction, allowed him have some experience in bringing people together to work on major projects towards a common final goal.

General voting day for the provincial election will be October 19.

by Liam Verster-Vernon Matters

Vernon Conservative candidate Dennis Giesbrecht focused on improving healthcare, making life affordable in B.C.

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