What are you doing for our community? What have you accomplished while in office? These are questions I frequently get. Although it seems like a simple question, the answer is complex.
In politics, we work as a team. The premier and ministers discuss issues and make decisions as a cabinet, and the Treasury Board, which I sit on, works collectively to decide how to allocates taxpayers’ money. The premier and the ministers frequently present to our BC NDP caucus so they can hear the opinions of MLAs directly. Those discussions are enlightening because our province is so diverse – the views of people in Surrey may be very different from people on the Island or in the Kootenays.
As a BC NDP MLA, I am part of the government – but I don’t personally decide which roads get paved, which trees get preserved or logged, when a new housing development gets built, or if a grant is awarded to a local non-profit. My job is to represent your collective and individual opinions to the government. I speak up in caucus meetings, I work collaboratively with my colleagues, go directly to ministers and, when necessary, to Premier David Eby, on your behalf.
I am also co-chair of our rural caucus, where BC NDP MLAs representing rural areas work together to advocate on behalf of rural British Columbians. We meet regularly to discuss challenges our residents are facing, and propose solutions. Over the last two years, we have focused on health care, transportation, and transportation for healthcare needs, as well as having a rural lens on all government decisions.
As a result of this work, our government announced $73.1 million for retention and recruitment incentives to encourage more nurses to take jobs in rural communities. We’ve also expanded funding to support rural cancer patients with the expenses and logistics of travelling for treatment.
To improve rural transportation, our government provided funding to the Northern Development Initiative Trust, the Island Coastal Economic Trust, and the Economic Trust of the Southern Interior (ETSI) to study the transportation needs of rural communities. This will allow us to make improvements that will work for the people in these areas. ETSI is already using results of this study to implement projects that will make a difference in our riding.
When David Eby first became premier, he sat down individually with every MLA in our caucus to hear about our priorities for our communities. I told him I hoped that we could allow British Columbians to work for the public service from home and from rural communities. Having people from across B.C. working on government policies and programs would help to make the government better at serving rural residents. Several months later, the head of the public service declared that going forward, jobs would be open to “any B.C community where the hiring ministry has an existing office.” This was great news for our community and for B.C.
Another area where we’ve been able to make progress has been expanding the work of the Youth Climate Corps. I have been a big supporter of this organization from the beginning. As the Premier’s Special Advisor on Youth, I shared the amazing work they are doing with Premier Eby and George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. As a result, they recently secured $3 million in funding to hire more young people in jobs that tackle climate change.
Across our region, we’ve also invested in schools, hospitals, child care, bridges, bike lanes and much, much more. I have brought both premiers Eby and John Horgan to the Kootenays so they can hear directly from you. At every step, I’ve advocated for the needs of people in our communities. But as a BC NDP MLA, I’m one part of a great team, and these investments and improvements in services are thanks to the leadership of those premiers and the hard work of our government as a whole.
We know there’s lots more still to do, and our team is committed to continuing this work for people.
Brittny Anderson is MLA for Nelson-Creston.
