By Shane Simpson

It was an extraordinary privilege for me to be elected as the MLA for Vancouver-Hastings in 2005, and I am proud of the work I have done over the last four years representing the people who live in our community.

Despite the arrogant and neglectful attitude of the Campbell government, I have stood up for the residents of Vancouver-Hastings and spoken out on issues such as child-care, housing, poverty, and raising the minimum wage.

I have spoken out against the proposed closure of schools experiencing temporary low enrollment, based on a short-sighted school facilities review plan that directed the Vancouver School Board to count classrooms being used for community or extracurricular purposes as empty, and urged the school board to ensure that valuable school land and buildings remain in public hands.

I have also stood up for Vancouver-Hastings schools that were initially unable to access provincial playground improvement funds, distributed randomly via lottery to elite private schools and schools with newly purchased equipment.

As environment critic, I have pushed for the adoption of sustainable aquaculture practices to protect our wild salmon stocks from sea lice and other risks associated with open net fish farms. As part of the Legislative Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture, I know how important this issue will continue to be as wild salmon stocks dwindle.

I have also brought attention to our lack of legislated protection for species at risk through a private members bill, especially habitat protection, which lags behind every other Canadian province with the exception of Alberta, and raised your concerns about the use of public rivers and streams by private power corporations

The upcoming election on May 12 is really an election about values and the kind of priorities we want our province to embrace. This election is, above all, about the kind of province we want to live in, work in, raise families and grow old in.

On Gordon Campbell’s watch we have seen homelessness more than double, and B.C. has taken the top spot in Canada for child poverty. More than half of those children live in a family with at least one adult working full-time outside the home. This is simply shameful.

It is true that B.C. is one of the most beautiful places in the world, but it is also a very expensive province to live in. Gordon Campbell has not raised the minimum wage in eight long years. Now, our province has the lowest minimum wage in the country.

Carole James and the B.C. NDP have committed to reversing these trends. Our platform emphasizes more affordable housing, more support for families, and a plan to develop a targeted poverty reduction strategy, which is long overdue. Our plan will see the minimum wage raised to $10 an hour, and indexed to the cost of inflation so that our lowest paid workers will never have to wait eight years for a raise again.

Gordon Campbell has made life harder for ordinary British Columbians. It’s time to take B.C. back by investing in the people who build this province everyday.

Shane Simpson is the B.C. NDP candidate for Vancouver-Hastings.