Vancouver Quadra candidates discuss housing, overdose crises at federal election debate

Candidates running to represent the Vancouver Quadra in the upcoming federal election met last Friday in the Michael Kingsmill Forum to debate their stances on housing affordability, the Canadian health care system and the future role of federal public service.

Candidates Tom Digby from the Green Party, Wade Grant from the Liberal Party and Alim Fakirani from the NDP attended. Conservative candidate Ken Charko did not respond to his invitation and AMS VP External Solomon Yi-Kieran told The Ubyssey that People’s Party candidate John Ede wasn’t invited since the federal leaders’ debates is excluding People's Party Leader Maxime Bernier.

In their opening statements, Digby introduced himself as a “climate-first” intellectual property lawyer with experience in both municipal and federal government. Grant used his statement to establish himself as a member of the Musqueam First Nation with “deep roots in [the Vancouver] community,” and Fakirani presented himself as a father and educator “intimately aware of the issues students [at UBC] face.”

First up for discussion was how each party plans to address Vancouver’s ongoing housing crisis.

Fakirani blamed previous leadership for housing challenges he called “unprecedented” and listed creating incentives for first-time homebuyers and increasing housing supply as examples of the “strong ideas" the NDP has to combat the crisis.

Digby joined Fakirani in criticizing prior party-leadership, and he said “the real role” of the federal government is to invest in both low-income and co-op housing.

“We thought for 20 years, the liberals and conservatives had led us into the path where big business was going to solve our housing problems,” said Digby. “They did, but they only built at the high end of the market.”

Grant named Prime Minister Mark Carney’s promise to double home construction in Canada by up to 500,000 units per year as an example of how the Liberal Party has supported housing. He also said the government should partner with First Nations in the future, as Indigenous nations “have a very big part in producing housing that can be both affordable and parental.”

On how each party would better Canada’s health care system, all candidates agreed on the importance of expanding care but differed on their areas of focus.

Grant stressed the importance of extending quality care specifically to more remote communities and added the federal government should fast-track the time it currently takes immigrant medical professionals to begin practicing in Canada.

Fakirani agreed qualified immigrants shouldn’t have to re-certify themselves, but questioned why the Liberal government — which has been in power for the last decade — hasn’t already changed the process. He named the NDP’s advancement of universal pharmacare and universal dental care as party accomplishments.

Digby said the federal government needs to increase its funding for mental health coverage and that every person across Canada should have access to a family doctor.

Candidates were then specifically asked about the federal government’s role in addressing Canada's overdose and toxic drug supply crises.

Digby called the number of deaths from fentanyl overdoses “staggering” and said he had supported Carney’s prior decriminalization policy in BC before it was eventually revoked. If elected, he said he would work toward a safe and clean drug supply across the country.

Grant said he has been personally touched by the epidemic and that he supports the 10-year strategy on the social determinants of health by the First Nations Health Council and First Nations Health Authority.

“We have to look at outside environmental reasons why people are being lost to mental health and addictions in this province,” he said. “When you look at things like ensuring that people are able to be housed, to live a life where they … are represented and respected, it allows them to live a life that's happy.”

Fakirani agreed with Grant on the essentiality of addressing the root causes of addiction, and said while he would support the safe supply of drugs, the federal government also needs to further mental health support.

On what each party envisions as the future of federal public service, the candidates all stressed their desires to champion civil workers.

Grant said public services provide tremendous value to Canadians, which are especially important in light of the United States' recent actions threatening Canadian sovereignty.

Digby said he has been honoured to work with the Canadian public service in the past, but that it’s important to manage the service in an economically sustainable way.

Fakirani said he would attempt to link international development with international trade to provide more jobs in the sector.

“A strong public service is something that's absolutely necessary to apply the vitality of our democracy,” he said. “We need to continue to endeavour to make sure that there are opportunities for people who are graduating to enter the public service and to continue to contribute to Canadian society.”

Voting for the election will conclude at 7 p.m. on April 28.