2017 Provincial Election – Candidate Responses

May 8, 2017
Provincial News

Dear Members;
 
With the provincial election closing tomorrow, it’s not too late to reach out and speak to the candidates in your communities so you can make informed decisions based on the facts and the best choice for you, and your families. 
 
I continue to encourage all members to make sure they place their vote on May 9th.
 
We contacted each of the 369 B.C. electoral candidates, and requested feedback on the following questions, for which the Ambulance Paramedics and Emergency Dispatchers of BC are advocating change:

  1. If your party forms government, will you commit, to the Ambulance Paramedics and Emergency Dispatchers of BC, the creation of a sixth separate, stand-alone bargaining unit?
  2. If your party forms government, will you commit that you will make an investment in rural community pre-hospital medical care by converting all standby paramedic shifts to paid positions?
  3. If your party forms government, will you commit to improve mental health support for BC Paramedics and Dispatchers?

 
Response from B.C. New Democrats (NDP)

  1. The B.C. New Democrats (NDP) party have committed verbally to moving the Ambulance Paramedics out of the FBA bargaining unit and giving us a stand-alone bargaining unit.
  2. The BC NDP has long championed the rural community paramedic model, and we intend to invest and implement it across BC if we form government.  This will involve fully utilizing paramedics currently working in rural areas, which in turn will stabilize staffing and improve both response times and health care delivery in smaller and remote communities across BC.
  3. The New Democrats have tabled legislation that recognizes PTSD as a presumed workplace injury. We are also committing increased mental health supports for emergency responders. Such support is critical to protecting paramedics from mental health injury, especially in the wake of the overdose epidemic.

 
Attached are the responses we received from/on behalf of the electoral candidates:

Justin Greenwood, BC Conservative MLA Candidate – Langley

Leon David Dunn, Independent – Vancouver-West End

Eric Kolotyluk, BC Green Party – Vancouver-Fraserview

Josie Bleuer, BC Green Party – Chilliwack

Arthur Alexander Green, BC Green Party – Fraser-Nicola

Beat Klossner, Communist Party of BC – Kamloops-South Thompson

Richard Percival Pattee, The Vancouver Island Party – Saanich South

Duncan Boyd MacLeod, Independent – Columbia River-Revelstoke

Jerry Kroll, BC Green Party – Vancouver-Mount Pleasant

Julian Fell, BC Conservatives Party – Mid Island-Pacific Rim

Adam Olsen, BC Green Party – Saanich North and the Islands

Roy Sakata, BC Green Party – Richmond-Steveston  

Michelle Stilwell, BC Liberal Party – Parksville-Qualicum
 
We also met and had discussions with a number of candidates from various parties and reiterated our core issues.
 
Again, we encourage you to place your vote, and be heard.
 
Sincerely,
 
Bronwyn Barter
Provincial President
Ambulance Paramedics and Emergency Dispatchers of BC 
CUPE Local 873
 
Cc:      Provincial Executive Committee
 
Click here to download a PDF version of this message

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