Local Mayoral candidate also running for MLA seat

“The plan was to be conservative once we got down there in the long run anyways, but it certainly didn’t work out the way we had hoped.”

This time around, Acton is confident in his chance with the party.

“I’m really happy with what they’ve been releasing so far, this platform, but as you know this election was called so quickly, the fact that the team and leader can get these platform ideas together so quick and get them out to everybody is actually pretty impressive,” he stated before going on to discuss key points of the platform that had been developed so far.

Healthcare

Acton, who sits as the Chair of the Columbia-Shuswap Hospital District, said the Conservatives would want to see the health care strengthened by restructuring the system, should they be elected.

“The management of the whole health sector probably will get looked at by the government,” Acton told Vernon Matters.

“[The party] has talked a bit about the fact that there’s one manager for every four nurses, so I’m sure they’ll be looking at how that’s stacked up. But definitely we need to be working towards having more boots on the ground.”

Acton said “there’s a lot of management in the health authorities” and believes some of that money could be redirected to hiring more nurses or doctors, or seeing those managers with medical training get back on the floor to treat patients.

The candidate also told Vernon Matters his party would not cut health care spending, deciding instead to invest in resource extraction to fund the system.

Housing

The Vernon-Lumby candidate said the Conservative Party has not flushed out full details as to how they plan to address the housing shortage or affordability issues, but stated they would want to cut red tape and ensure shovels could get in the ground without much delay or costs.

“There’s a lot of hidden costs [in building homes]. I think I heard that up to one-third of the cost of a new house is soft costs,” Acton said.

“So the engineering, the tech, architecture, the ground soil compaction, environmental assessment. There’s just really a lot of stuff stacked onto the costs of building a home, and then there’s also the codes. So I’m sure the leadership will be looking at how to fine tune that so people can actually get affordable construction underway.”

Economy

Acton also sat on the Municipal Finance Authority while serving the Regional District of North Okanagan, and said during that time he watched the provincial credit rating fall from AAA to Aa2 as of the latest report in May while the deficit increased.

To address the changes to those economic metrics, Acton said the Conservatives would “get the resource sector open, get things running, get jobs, get people paying taxes,” and adding “you don’t have to raise taxes if you raise the number of people paying taxes.”

The local candidate also said his party would like to see the doubling or tripling of natural gas extraction, though noted those plans are still in development.

Additionally, Acton said the Conservatives wanted to “increase the investor security and trust” to avoid losing workers and businesses to other provinces, and to not put forward any new taxes so as to create a sense of stability for business owners to plan for the future.

Public Safety

“The part of the platform I like to pull out and talk about the most is the fact that [the Conservatives] are going to give police the ability to arrest people under the Mental Health Act,” Acton told Vernon Matters.

He shared some anecdotal stories about unhoused people being unsafe on the streets or in shelters, and said there had to be a better solution.

“Whoever made the mistake in the past, a long time ago, of closing these mental health facilities, that’s in the past but we know it isn’t working and we need to get [the system] fixed,” Acton stated.

“Other than the fact that we’re going to hire more police, more judges, more prosecutors, we’re going to hire more public servants and sheriffs and build the system up, I think a really big part of this is getting people the care they need so they’re not on the streets.”

Wildfires and Climate Change

Acton said his party would want to tap available resources to better manage the forests so as to prevent future wildfires.

“There’s a lot of people in industry that have the ability to interact or help with forest fires in the sense of either getting rid of the fuel, putting in fireguards, doing the things that could be happening before the fire starts, or after the fire starts,” he said.

He noted prevention would be a key piece to the Conservative approach, as it would be better and more cost effective to take proactive measures to protect critical resources like the Aberdeen Plateau, which provides drinking water to Vernon and surrounding area, rather than having to deal with the ramifications that would follow a fire.

Acton also said the party would like to see the province purchase it’s own water bombers to be prepared for wildfires, rather than renting them when needed and potentially facing delays in their arrival. He also noted this would give the province the ability to rent out their resources to other jurisdictions and help them out during emergencies.

The Conservative platform is being updated on the party’s website.

As well as his provincial aspirations Acton is also running to retain his seat as Mayor of Lumby in the municipal election, but he said if he won both races he would step down as Mayor and call for a by-election.

Acton told Vernon Matters he had heard that other people aside from his mayoral opponent, Bradley Weston, had expressed interest in running, but decided not to so as to allow him to run without much competition. To ensure the democratic process was upheld, Acton said he would see another election called, allowing those other interested people be able to step forward and run for the position.

He noted the cost of running a by-election in Lumby would be around $10,000, but told Vernon Matters he would make a donation to the village to help cover the costs, stating anyone can make a donation to a municipality for any purpose and likening it to someone putting forward some money to help pay for new boards at their local ice rink.

Votes for the provincial election will be cast October 24, exactly one week after residents go and cast their ballots in the local municipal election.

by Liam Verster

Local Mayoral candidate also running for MLA seat

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