Liberals to announce community safety plan as NDP focuses on education Thursday

BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson will be in Vancouver on Thursday to discuss his plans for community safety.

Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson removes his face mask before speaking during a campaign stop in Vancouver, on Saturday, September 26, 2020. A provincial election will be held in British Columbia on October 24. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Wilkinson is expected to roll out solutions to address community concerns over tent cities emerging in parks across the province. The Liberal leader has focused the early part of the campaign on community concerns connected to homelessness issues in Maple Ridge, Vancouver and Victoria.

The BC Liberals have spent the last three days talking about cutting the PST for the next year if elected. On Thursday, Wilkinson will be alongside Liberal candidates George Affleck, Jas Johal and Cheryl Ashlie.

Wilkinson is attempting to address both the issues connected with addictions and homelessness while addressing the concerns of communities members who are worried about an increase in crime and violence in their neighbourhoods due to the encampments.

Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau will be in Sidney tomorrow to announce the party’s plan for long-term care.

The BC Greens have been calling for accountability in the long-term care sector for months.

The Greens have raised concerns about the transfer between the provincial government and the contracted care home sector in British Columbia as one of the largest transactions that takes place at $1.3 billion a year.

The party has stated there is a significant lack of accountability, monitoring, transparency and financial oversight in these transactions, which raises serious concerns in the sector.

“As a province, we must do more to protect the well-being of our seniors and envision quality health care as a right. We do not have all of the information we need to improve the quality of care in contracted care homes due to a lack of transparency on how the $1.3 billion provided by the government is spent,” Furstenau said in June.

The Greens have called for financial statements to be made public by care homes funded with public money. The party also wants expense reports to be audited with a more uniformed approach taken to funding building capital costs, a clearly defined breakdown of lump sum payments and all care homes reported on individually.

The party has also pushed for a move to a living wage for care home staff at all facilities.

NDP Leader John Horgan released his party’s plan for long-term care on Wednesday. The plan includes $1.4 billion in funding over the next 10 years to build more care homes in order to provide all seniors with their own room. The plan also includes a commitment to improved wages and sticks with the single site plan, where workers can only work at one care home.

Horgan will be focusing on post-secondary education on Thursday. He will be making an announcement at Langara Park in the riding of Vancouver-Langara. The NDP leader will be chatting with Langara students before the announcement.