I was born in Vancouver in 1982 and have lived in Quilchena my entire life. First a student of Lord Kitchener elementary school, I graduated from Lord Byng High School in 2000. During my school years I was active in the Dunbar Soccer League.
I have a keen interest in history and political science and enjoy camping and hiking. I have traveled throughout parts of Europe, South East Asia and North America.
Since graduating, and after a summer of working for the Vancouver Parks Board, I am now working for a small food industry business in Quilchena. I believe sincerely in the ideas behind the NDP. It is a very dangerous time in BC politics. The upcoming election will not only decide the next five years but the entire future of BC since there are so many critical decisions to be made.
I believe that it is time for the youth of BC to make themselves heard. Political parties in this province must realize that young people can no longer be ignored. I believe that everyone in this province regardless of age, race, faith and creed needs to be listened to and I am fully prepared to do this in the future.
The following is a summary of what I would work for in the future. It is broken down into categories for easy reference. I believe the NDP accomplished a remarkable number of achievements while in power in BC. I believe more is still required and that we also need to move the Party toward its more Democratic Socialist roots.
The NDP's track record on education is well documented but we need to continue the important achievements made so far. We need to continue with the in-school meal programs for the children of BC because without proper nutrition it is impossible to learn. 60,000 children are already involved in the program yet we need to involve every child in BC so they all have an equal opportunity to learn regardless of wealth, ethnic background or where they live.
We need to eliminate the need for portables by building more classrooms. I personally know what it is like to try to learn in a portable - it is too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. Overall it is far different from learning in a real classroom and not nearly as good.
We must continue the tuition freeze that the provincial government has put in place. Higher education is needed by people in all levels of society and by keeping tuition fees down we can ensure that everyone has fair and equal access to higher learning.
We need to ensure that Canada is a world leader in as many areas as possible and that a large cross section of youth are sufficiently educated to help our province and the nation compete on a global scale.
Universal health care is one of the many reasons I am proud to live in Canada and in BC, where the NDP is especially dedicated to the ideal of universal health care and the concept that no matter where you live, no matter what your background, no matter what your perceived social standing and no matter how much you make, you deserve the same access to health care as any one else.
I believe nurses are definitely underpaid for the service they provide and I feel a increase of 30% over 3 years to nurses in the province is fully justified. Also we need to train more nurses to keep up with the growing demand for qualified health care workers.
Unfortunately our Federal government has not held up its end in ensuring the continuation of Universal Health care. Jean Chretien and his Liberal government in Ottawa have promised more funding for health care ever since they were elected in 1992. Not surprisingly, given Mr. Chretien's problems with keeping his promises and telling the truth he has slashed health care funding while BC is the only Province in Canada to increase health care funding consistently.
I am sick and tired of politicians making promises to the people of this country and not fulfilling them. What I would like to do is sue the federal government for breach of contract for not providing the funds they promised. We have the evidence on tape in the Liberal TV ads and in their own reports. I am tired of campaign promises being treated as empty promises that don't have to be fulfilled because they were made during an election. The reason we vote for someone is because of what they promise they would do if elected. I believe that if you make a promise you must fulfill it. It seems to me that politicians have forgotten that they are employed by us, the people, and can be fired, plain and simple.
The environment is one of the most important issues in this election. To make sure that the environment is preserved for the future and that the lumber industry is going to be able to sustain itself for decades to come we must institute selective logging practices. Selective logging means that instead of clear cutting all the trees in a certain area, only a small percentage of trees in a given area are harvested. This allows the area to sustain the logging without destroying the ecosystem's ability to regenerate itself.
Although the logging companies are now replanting the trees they cut, the ecosystem can never return to the way it was. British Columbia's rainforests are more than just trees - they are a delicate balance of trees, undergrowth and wildlife. The NDP government has also set aside 12% of the province into Provincial parks which is a major achievement but we should not finish here - we must continue until a full 15% is set aside.
Like it or not the lumber industry plays a huge role in BC's economy. If American politicians get their way, the province's lumber industry could be in major trouble. The idea of tariffs as high as 40% on softwood lumber is just another example of the USA's hypocritical stance on free trade. The current NAFTA treaty allows the massive American industry with access to huge pools of underpaid labour to undercut Canadian business. This has cost the jobs of many Canadians and the bankruptcy of many Canadian companies.
The hypocritical part of this is that the one area of trade in which we have a natural advantage is lumber, and the US's response is to cripple our industry. Our simple response should be that we cannot allow this to happen. Unfortunately I have absolutely no faith in the weak willed Federal Liberal government and the ability of their untruthful leader, Mr. Chretien, to stand up to American politicians and industry on BC's behalf. Sooner or later he will give in to American demands like he always does.
Some people will tell you that the provincial government has no leverage in this current situation but that is not true. We hold the trump card. BC Hydro is a crown corporation and, as such, we the people can decide who to sell power to. If anyone has seen the news lately the Americans are in a power crunch so our simple response should be that if the Americans persist in the demands for a 40% tariff on our lumber, we will cut off all current power supplies as well as any in the future.
Unfortunately, it looks as though NAFTA is going to prevent BC Hydro from making this kind of decision. Perhaps BC Hydro will have to sell power to the Canadian government at market price, who can then sell it under the terms they have negotiated for themselves.
It's time in this province that politicians and government stand up for ourselves instead of caving to foreign pressure.
It seems to me that politicians these days have forgotten their purpose: to listen to the people and the problems that they have and to try to fix them. Unfortunately politicians in this country have reversed this role and presume to tell people what their problems are and tell the people what is good for them. This is simply wrong. The concept of democracy is that the people have fair representation in the government and that the government is there to listen and act upon the issues as put forward by the people.
Politicians are employed by the people not the other way around.
Since the October 1991 election in which the NDP came into power in BC, we met our goal of making fully 12% of the area of BC into Parks. We are committed to continuing this tradition and to ensuring that commercial and forest related activities in the balance of the land and within the parks respect the environment and preserve our heritage and the heritage of our native peoples by requiring responsible harvesting of timber and selective logging practices.
Since 1991, British Columbia is the only province in Canada where there has not been a decrease in public funding of Health Care despite the continued decrease in Federal transfer payments and depressed economic conditions prevalent throughout the 90's due to factors beyond our control such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization.
During the last 10 years, BC is also the only province in Canada
not to reduce financial support for education.
300 million dollars has been budgeted on March 2, 2001, to ensure
that, during the critical and crucial primary years of ages 5 to
9, Kindergarten class sizes will not exceed 20 and Primary
classes will be limited to 22. This assures that the length of
contact time between pupil and teacher - fundamentally important
to the quality of education - will be maximized during these
important years.
We have eliminated 600 portable classrooms and provided over
15,000 students with permanent classroom facilities since 1998.
In 1991-2 we started the School Meals program in which 60,000
students in 345 schools are provided lunch, breakfast and snacks
- nutrition which is absolutely essential for proper learning and
development.
There has been a freeze on post-secondary student fees for the
last four years and next year the fees are slated to decrease by
5%. BC is the only province in Canada to do this and our fees
are second lowest in the country, behind Québec.
During our tenure we have created three new universities: The
University of Northern BC, Surrey Technical University and Royal
Roads University on Vancouver Island.
We are committed to the continuation of this important process along with the Federal Government and the pursuance of equity and the granting of long-awaited rights to self-government which have been guaranteed to natives across BC since the beginning of contact.
These are the major issues of concern to me, and, I believe they are also shared by the people of Quilchena. I promise I will fight for these issues in the future.
NDP Turns to Teenagers in Bid to Field
Candidates by Ian Mulgrew
This article generated the following letters to the editor,
printed in the Vancouver Sun, April 3:
`When Gareth Richmond says "it is time for the youth of B.C. to
make themselves heard," he couldn't be more right (NDP turns to
teenagers in bid to field candidates, Ian Mulgrew, March 29).
What he forgets is that youth have been trying to make their
voices heard for ages.
He should have said it is time for the politicians to listen to
youth. The voices are there, they just are not being effectively
listened to. Whatever the NDP's reasons for fielding young
candidates, we should applaud them.
The concerns of youth have been ignored for far too long. When
governments propose new bills that affect youth, like the Secure
Care Act or the new "law-and-order" Young Offenders Act, they
rarely involve the youth who will be most affected by the law
changes. Too often the government kowtows to the "concerned
citizens" who demand more safety and think the only solution to
the "youth" problem is to lock them up. Too often do we follow
this logic without looking to the structural problems to see why
the crime is committed.
Can our politicians imagine what it would be like to be young,
with few opportunities to succeed because of unemployment ever-
increasing debt loads because of high university costs (if they
can even afford to go to university), little to no respect from
their elders, negative portrayals in the media and little chance
to make their voices heard?
Maybe the NDP has the right idea and it's time to have some youth
voices represented in government. Maybe it's time all politicians
consulted with youth.'
SPENCER HERBERT
Vancouver
`Gareth Richmond is obviously a man of vision and courage, even
if he hasn't been on the planet very long. If he wants to listen
to the people, his constituents -- young and old, then he will
make a difference. All politicians need to remember that they are
the hired employees of the people who elected them.
Good luck, Mr. Richmond.'
LIZ STONARD
click on the third link on the excellent 'NDP Socialist Caucus Cuba Tours Past Tours Page'
Last modified: 2002-Jan-19