The BC NDP’s candidate in the Kelowna Centre riding has defended his party’s long stint in government, insisting: “You don't correct housing and health care in nine years.”
Loyal Wooldridge, who has been a councillor in Kelowna for six years, said the BC NDP has been “looking to adjust course from 15 years of disparity that was caused by the BC Liberals.”
The BC NDP has been in power since May 2017, or a little over seven years.
In an interview with NowMedia video host Jim Csek and reporter Kent Molgat, Wooldridge accused his opponents in BC United and the Conservative Party of BC of “a lot of the same political bravado from the past” related to making cuts to spending.
“These [cuts] have impacts,” he said. “People are going to say, we're just going to find efficiencies, fire some bureaucrats, and we're going to balance the budget.
“But at the end of the day, it's going to mean cutting services.”
Wooldridge also repeated a controversial claim often made by his party’s leader, Premier David Eby, about a plan from the BC Conservatives to “cut $4 billion from health care.”
That claim is based on documents released by the BC Conservatives last month to accompany the launch of their health plan.
The documents highlight a report from accountancy firm Deloitte projecting that health spending as a proportion of GDP, now 12.4 per cent, will grow to 13.9 per cent by 2040. It suggests "modernization" can bring that down to under 11 per cent.
The BC NDP has said that means the BC Conservatives plan to cut health spending by 1.4 percentage points of GDP, amounting to several billion dollars.
Rustad has strongly pushed back against the BC NDP's claims, however, branding them “outright lies.” He told NowMedia that “we need to expand the funding” of health to “deal with the backlog.”
Wooldridge, however, doesn’t appear to think very highly of the BC Conservatives.
He told NowMedia it was “pretty easy” to see the party’s weaknesses.
“I don’t think you need to have the research,” he said. “You could just scroll through social media feeds and see what some of their candidates are saying – and that's what's really concerning. This is who we're electing to lead our province, our government.”
Discussing his own politics, he stressed that he’s “been a centrist my entire political career.” He added: “My heart lies with helping people [while] also having a business brain.”
Wooldridge said he’s “really asking people to vote for the person, not necessarily the party.”
“If someone supported the Conservatives in the past, or the Greens, I'm asking for that support,” he said.
During his interview with NowMedia, Wooldridge also said:
He “truly” believes he has a chance to win the riding
He doesn’t feel “restricted at all” by the BC NDP in what he can say
The carbon tax “has to be re-evaluated”
Housing is an “urgent crisis”
There’s “no question” Premier Eby was right to highlight BC’s “unprecedented” population growth
He doesn’t think “tourism is down solely because of [a lack of] short-term rentals" but also because of fires and high costs
He wants a “made-in-Kelowna” solution to problems associated with provincial restrictions on short-term rentals
The election is set to be held on Oct. 19.
To watch the full interview on YouTube, head here.
