The incumbent is first out of the starting block when it comes to campaigning in the provincial election in Cariboo North.
Coralee Oakes says one of her main focuses this time around will be economic recovery…
“Today the BC Liberals announced that if we are elected the first step that we would be looking at is elimination of the PST for the first year, and then eliminating it the second year to three percent.  And what that does it puts on average, you know an average family households, it talks about putting about 17 hundred dollars back in people’s pockets, and for a lower income family it’s about 979.”
Oakes says it would have a positive impact on the building market…
“In fact, the Urban Development Institute estimates that PST relief could save nine dollars per square foot on wood frame construction and what that would mean is it makes construction more affordable and we could see more developments, and here in our community we have worked so hard, I got into politics quite frankly to help our communities look at how we re-invent ourselves and how we attract invest into our communities and how we transition from a forest sector.”
Oakes says other priorities for her include more supports when it comes to mental health and addiction…
“I am really proud of the fact that Andrew Wilkinson, as our leader, has started a different dialogue in how we support our communities with the devastating effects that we see from homelessness and addiction. When you look at addiction we have to make sure that we have fulsome supports, and in our community and working with community members to try and get a detox center, we desperately need treatment facilities, we need a women’s treatment facility in the north.”
Oakes says community safety is also a key election issue…
“It is critically important that the provincial government has a strong role in looking at how we can ensure every single citizen has the right to be safe in their community.  My grandmother, who is 93, shouldn’t be concerned about walking downtown in our community.  We have to have a stronger approach to looking at public safety and again that comes from looking at a much broader approach to what are the issues at hand, and how do we treat the causes to prevent the harm, but how do we also ensure that there is accountability.”
Oakes says Cariboo North needs an MLA on the ground in communities that is willing to fight for a long time to make sure that the riding’s voices are heard.