Q&A with Ken Holowanky, independent candidate for Coquitlam-Maillardville

Candidates were given one week to respond to questions. Candidates were asked to limit answers to approximately 100 words. Aside from minor spelling/grammatical errors, responses have not been altered.

How will you improve patient care at Eagle Ridge Hospital?

More walk-in clinics. Emergency room visits are for real emergencies. Patients need to bring someone for language translation issues to save time. The recent re-fit of the emergency room is excellent.

Increase nursing and physician levels to handle the influx of people to our area. We are still recovering from mass layoffs and privatization of cleaning and support staff from the mid-2000’s. A key factor limiting increase of staff is cost of housing in the vicinity due to influence of the real estate lobby. Offer mortgage assistance to those in trades or health professions that add value.

How should the next government address the shortage of doctors in B.C.?

Fund or provide office space. Provide substantial funding for staff to handle clerical duties, as well as general office operational issues. Doctors need to doctor. I believe many doctors take early retirement because it is “just too much trouble.” Income after expenses is not putting them better off than real estate flippers. Or, reduce financial rewards to real estate flippers and speculators.

Admissions to med programs in university have increased recently, and we are fast-tracking accreditation of foreign trained doctors, but we are still fighting the early 1990’s decision to limit domestic family doctor training “because we had too many.”

How will your party approach negotiations with the Kwikwetlem First Nation regarding the future of Səmiq̓wəʔelə, (suh-Mee-kwuh El-uh) formerly the Riverview Lands?

As an Independent I am able to advocate for what the majority of people in our riding want to see. I am hearing those people want to see the Riverview Lands left largely intact. Renovate or rebuild existing buildings. It is in the best interest of our province as a whole to return the lands to their most recent last use, care of the mentally challenged while preserving greenspace. Outcome of the current court challenge against DRIPA will play a role. The real estate lobby is already playing a role.

What will your party do to improve ambulance response times in the Tri-Cities?

Change location of ambulance stations. Make stations comfortable for paramedics in-between calls, as short as the time may be. Paramedic pay rates have improved recently, but can improve more.

Vehicles themselves are good, but we live in hilly terrain. Going uphill or downhill at high speed is trouble not only for the vehicles, but for safety of crews and patients. Stations need to be between hospitals not “as the crow flies”, but taking into account local geography. Hiring more paramedics is hindered by the high cost of housing, largely induced by influence of the real estate sector in politics.

How will you incentivize the construction of more affordable housing?

Halt teardown of affordable housing that is already here. Coquitlam has lost a great many older (but well kept) low rise rentals. In their place are towers with a limited number of smaller rental that go for much more money. Tax incentives could be increased for developers to temper the lure of market-based shoeboxes. If margins are still too low, they need a second job. Re-instate the federal supportive housing program that was ended by 1993. Coquitlam is also losing affordable single family and duplex homes to land assemblers that take them off the market awaiting development potential.

Do you believe financialized landlords and outside investors are leading to higher rents in B.C.? If so, what should be done about it?

Yes. No ownership unless you are a tax paying resident of B.C. Our flipping tax does not have teeth. After two years it diminishes to zero. Not long enough. It is not difficult to determine if someone had to sell for a good reason (even if for it is not liking the neighbourhood) and be exempt. One would not be allowed to “not like it” more than once. We are at risk of private equity firms continent-wide getting into our housing market. If you add value by way of renovations and improvements, you have every right to earn a profit.

What will your party do to help low-income people and the disabled?

I am sensitive to the issue that not everyone possesses a skill set that is worthy of high pay. Many are not able to work at all due to health issues that are no fault of their own. Either way, their income has got to be enough to keep a roof over their head. The only reason they are not able to do this is because the housing market is no longer connected to the local value adding economy.

The City of Coquitlam has been especially critical of the province’s small-scale, multi-unit housing legislation. Should the legislation be altered? If so, how?

I find that a bit rich. Coquitlam has systematically decimated relatively affordable neighbourhoods by way of encouraging demolition of older homes in favour of monstrosities with the highest roofline height and greatest square footage of anywhere in the province. They have encouraged demolition of low rise older rental apartment buildings in favour of towers that block sunlight for great swaths of our town. That being said, I wholeheartedly agree with Coquitlam that the current government Bill’s 44 and 47 are an affront to planning at the local level.

Right now, there’s one homeless shelter in the Tri-Cities. Would you support the construction of a second shelter? If so, how and where? How will you help the region’s homeless population?

This could not be put into 100 words. With different management, I could support a second shelter.

The reason we need shelters in the first place is due to influence of the real estate sector by way of demolition of low-income housing with no replacement. I qualify my answer by saying that in no way can either 3030 Gordon or any additional shelter operate in the same manner with no rules and people living outside the door.

There is a portion of the residents that are not capable of living without full time oversight and need to be re-located to a facility like Riverview with mental health programs. There is a portion that may indeed have some skills that could result in gainful employment. I would try to set them up with sympathetic and tolerant employers.

There is the final portion that are looking for the easy way out. They need to be dealt with by a judicial system that is not so lenient. The courts have told us that those that do not fit in at all, and are not drug dependent, cannot be stopped from living as they so please. This does not allow them to give any perception of danger to the general public, impede day to day life of the general population, pose any environmental risk, or be untidy and unsanitary. Sanitary is a challenge. Substance abuse is exacerbated if one does not have a roof over one’s head. That being said, any government supplied use needs to be in a supervised environment that is part and parcel of living accommodations that have a robust rehab facility in house.

Do you believe we need to reduce regulations for industry? Why or why not?

No, with a caveat that there needs to be a higher number of technically minded elected officials that will not enact “silly” regulations. Red tape is there to ensure that safe practices are being followed for the workers, and that a modicum of engineering knowledge is being followed. Local industry is very good and ethical, however it is prudent to have outside oversight.

Under what conditions, if any, should an employer be able to require a sick note from an employee?

If an employer reaches the point they feel they need a sick note, then the relationship and respect between employer and employee is already broken.

Do we need to hire more teachers and/or counsellors in schools? Why or why not?

Yes. Teachers need to teach. Teachers need to be sensitive to bullying against any child for any reason, but they cannot be expected to solve issues without support from well trained auxiliary support staff who have the time to get parents involved. I am not in favour of the limited time teachers have to teach being taken away from the 3 R’s. Counsellors and teaching assistants help challenged students cope in classrooms every bit as much as they help foster tolerance among the rest of the student population.

Some independent B.C. schools receive up to 50 percent of the funding given to public schools. Should B.C. continue to subsidize private and faith-based schools?

There is an argument that subsidizing private schools saves the system money, because if those students were to return to the public system it would cost considerably more. This argument is tempered by the fact that not all students would indeed return to the public system as their parents would just contribute more to keep them in private. It would not be correct to ask taxpayers in general to fund schools that are founded solely to promote one religion over another.

Should B.C. bring back letter grades on report cards?

Yes. If not in whole, then at minimum for math and science-based courses, and for all courses Grade 9 and above. I will advocate for what the majority of parents want to see.

What should be done with the Burrard Thermal site?

Keep it as a standby generating facility. Keep it out of the hands of condo builders. It has had a recent upgrade. Other forms of energy production could be incorporated on site in addition to natural gas. Distribution infrastructure is already there. We rely on hundreds of miles of powerlines running through the most adverse territory in the world. If these fail for any reason, we have no power. We can live with Burrard Thermal running one week a quarter to keep it in shape. The gas used has not had energy wasted to liquefy it for transport across oceans.

How will you improve government transparency?

First step, do not waste black felt pen by redacting page upon page when one requests an FOI. Second step, why do we need an FOI in the first place? I participated in a California Energy Commission webinar regarding independent power producers. In one day I was given more information about a power utility in a foreign country than I was after years of asking BC Hydro and our provincial government, no matter who was in power. No pun intended. This is our information, why is this even a question?

Given the recent news of the RCMP officers facing discipline for racist comments in a group chat, what will you do to ensure police officers can be trusted to enforce laws equitably?

As an Independent I am able to advocate for what the majority of people in the riding want to see on this issue. I am not bound by big party policy. I do not believe this event reflects on all RCMP officers. I do believe in local hiring and administration of police such that they are more in tune with local issues and more connected to the community. We need to maintain a federal police force that can concentrate matters of national security. I think the RCMP fits that bill.

Do you accept the scientific consensus that human actions contribute to climate change? How will you ensure we reduce our emissions?

I do, with the caveat that the increase in number of humans in the world is a driving factor. Balance is key. The public will buy in with small suggestions that will go a long way. Drop temperature of our houses by a couple degrees in winter, raise temperature of our shopping malls a couple of degrees in summer, allow a second efficient vehicle on the same ICBC policy (motorcycle, electric, hybrid or small IC engine). There would be immediate positive change without howls of discontent. World population issues are above the payscale of an MLA.

What steps should the next government take to balance B.C.’s budget?

Set up an apolitical body that is a part of the civil service and responsible for examining the design and oversee construction and vendor selection of all infrastructure, transportation, and health facility improvements. They would be engineers and industry peers that are employed by the province and report to the taxpayer. Milestones would dictate cost overruns are dealt with before the million-dollar mark, not after the multi billion-dollar mark. This would result in savings to pay for a great array of tax incentives. We cannot have politicians that have never had a real job in their life make technical decisions.

Regarding TransLink, do you believe the current funding model is broken? If so, how will your government rectify the situation?

The funding model is not as much broken as it is struggling to deal with the world’s most expensive and proprietary rapid transit system. Skytrain is devouring our transit budget. Route selection is based on land speculation and not on getting people to areas where they work. Do not use this technology (or at least not from this manufacturer) for any more extensions. The funding model will take care of itself if that apolitical body of civil service engineers is listened to when the time comes to expand. Above all, I commit to fixing the noisy wheels.