The Kootenays, like other parts of B.C. is suffering from uncontrolled development As the corporations get richer, our environment is further degraded in the take and take all you can get mentality in which the corporations and government are now so closely working together that you can t tell them apart. Forest renewal money was to go to workers who lost their jobs from logging and to make transitions in communities. As a result of corporate policies, we have all had to struggle to keep our health care, including the threat of hospital closures and cutbacks to all of our services. Social programs for the poor are ever more difficult to get funding and our rural education system has meant the closure of many schools and programs. Government policy has also meant no jobs for our community.
Unemployment is rampant in many communities and there are no opportunities for our young people.
The Greens are the only party that will speak up for the environment and social justice. We have a very strong environmental movement in the Kootenays and we need to garner that movement to become a powerful voice for change in the next election. If I am selected as your Green candidate for the next election, I will give all the energy I have to make a difference in this region. An end to industrial pollution and use of pesticides and other chemicals. I will work to keep and expand recycling and reduction in the region.