British Columbians should be able to feel safe in their communities. Unfortunately, we know that because of rising crime and other crises, this is not the case for so many people across our province.
Every corner of B.C. is struggling to deal with the negative repercussions of the NPD’s catch-and-release justice system and its ineffective approaches to mental health and addictions. We’ve felt it firsthand here in the Cariboo with numerous prolific offenders wreaking havoc on our communities.
While David Eby and his government have done little to address this serious issue, our BC United leader Kevin Falcon recently announced his ‘Safer B.C.’ plan— a roadmap of clear steps a BC United government would take to restore public safety and put the interests of law-abiding British Columbians first.
The plan is designed to address the issues British Columbians face every day. It would include working to fill the 500 police vacancies across the province, ending the NDP’s failed drug decriminalization experiment, and focusing instead on a compassionate and evidence-based recovery approach to mental health and addictions, as articulated in our ‘Better is Possible’ mental health and addictions plan.
Safer B.C. also includes implementing alternative sentencing and rehabilitation, giving individuals the choice between traditional incarceration and secure treatment. The central objective of this measure is to ensure people do not get released back into the public with unresolved addiction or mental health challenges — protecting them as well as the surrounding community.
A BC United government would take all crimes seriously, ensuring people face consequences for illegal activity like shoplifting, bike theft, hate crimes, and vandalism. All crimes will not require jail time, but they should have consequences.
Those consequences should be especially serious when people’s lives are put at risk or lost because of illegal activity. As such, our Safer B.C. plan would include pursuing civil consequences for drug dealers who sell lethal drugs that result in death by overdose. Drug dealers should have to face severe repercussions for preying on vulnerable British Columbians and selling dangerous drugs like fentanyl and it’s time to make sure they are held accountable for the harm they have caused to so many British Columbians.
Wherever you live in B.C., whether it’s 100 Mile House, Fort St. John, or the heart of Vancouver, you should be able to feel comfortable in your neighbourhood and have confidence that government is working everyday to keep you safe. Sadly, over the last six years, we have watched that sense of security vanish under the leadership of the NDP government and that is simply unacceptable.
All British Columbians deserve a government that fights each day to create a safer B.C.
