The Liberal MLA for Cariboo North says she found some of yesterday’s (Monday) throne speech ‘offensive.’
Coralee Oakes was referring to what she calls the NDP doing victory laps over how they’re making life more affordable.
“Come to some of our forest dependent communities and see how they feel the government is making life more affordable, or supporting a lot of our resource-based communities. I think it’s hollow words for a lot of our communities that are struggling right now.”
Oakes says one part of the throne speech that caught her ear was talk about a new program.
“It’s called the Rural Community Strategy that will be investing in roads, bridges and childcare. I will make sure that we work with our local government, our Regional District, to make sure that they are following up on that. Again, you take record money out of our communities and one only needs to drive across the Quesnel River Bridge right now to say ya maybe an investment would be an important step.”
Oakes adds that it’s not just about Quesnel either, as she says that bridge would be an investment in the transportation of goods and services for all of BC.
On the promise to crack down on repeat offenders and make communities safer, Oakes says she hopes the NDP follows through with some of their suggestions on the topic.
“We’ve been calling for specific things the NDP could do around going after prolific offenders, more around the criminal justice system. We’re hoping that the NDP, through what we’ll see in the budget, that they’ll actually take action on a lot of the items that we have been putting forward as the BC Liberals.”
There was also talk about healthcare training, which Oakes says she supports.
“We’re absolutely in support of finding a way to make sure the right type of training happens, whether its healthcare or workforce investment strategies, to ensure there is support right across the province. We very clearly know that training has to happen close to communities to have a real specific impact. That’s why we’ve been very clear on calling for greater supports for our colleges and our post secondary, specifically in the north, where it’s so hard to recruit and retain people.”
Oakes says one of the best opportunities for our region continues to be increased programming at the North Cariboo Community Campus, as well as an investment in student housing.
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