BC Liberal leader Kevin Falcon met with constituents in Williams Lake Friday, July 15.
It was one of the places he is visiting during a week-long tour of some parts of the province.
He met with the Williams Lake and District Chamber of Commerce executive in the morning and then attended a barbecue in Boitanio Park hosted by Cariboo Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson.
From the chamber Falcon heard concerns about health care, he said.
“That’s interesting because it’s a business organization but they are smart enough to realize with a health system in crisis that makes it difficult to attract businesses and investment into the community.”
The conversation also covered concerns about the “catch and release” of prolific offenders.
“It’s causing a situation where people are losing their trust in the police and it isn’t the police’s fault,” Falcon said. “The police are not going to waste time filling out paper work, sending it into the Crown prosecutor and they do what is called a no-charge assessment.”
Falcon said “no charge” assessments are up by 75 per cent in the last five years and “the problem is it is wreaking havoc on communities.”
Another issue he heard was the downloading of costs onto small businesses that are still struggling coming out of the pandemic.
“The increase in minimum wage, the five paid sick days, or health costs depending on how large the employer is. All of these costs are being downloaded.”
Falcon said it was a good discussion with the chamber that reflected the same issues he hears about everywhere in the province.
“Government never gets everything right,” he said. “We certainly didn’t when I was in government … I feel like the public is increasingly feeling that we are going in the wrong direction in B.C.”
Falcon visited 100 Mile House on Thursday and is going to Quesnel, Barkerville, Prince George, Terrace and Kitimat next.
While he said he liked being in government better than 0pposition, one of the advantages of being in opposition is having the time to sit down and listen to the public without having to be rushed to go to the next appointment.
“I do enjoy this opportunity, especially in the summer. I find it very valuable.”
READ MORE: Kevin Falcon promises ‘bold solutions’ to B.C.’s affordability problems
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