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When Ben Stewart first won a seat in the legislature it was 2009 and the riding was called Westside-Kelowna. After vacating his seat for Premier Christy Clark, he took it again in 2018. Now he's the favourite to win again.
"Our track record shows that we have fiscal responsibility, we do care about the economy," he said. But it's quickly followed by "We care about people's lives."
Quickly Stewart brought our conversation to homelessness.
"People who are wandering the streets dealing with mental health and addictions," as he described it. "That one is a very visible one. And that's one that I know that we've been very clear that we feel that there's more to be done."
He acknowledges that housing has been created or secured under the NDP but he questioned the planning behind it. "Those have not been well-thought-out integrated strategies," he told KelownaNow outside his campaign office in West Kelowna.
In the strange world of BC Politics, the Liberals occupy the right end of the political spectrum. So it's the Liberals who often claim to be the best stewards of the economy.
And with all that's been happening, Stewart says voters are worried about the financial difficulties generated by the pandemic.
"They are now questioning 'How are we going to pay all this money back?'", he said. "We need to get back to rebuilding the economy."
Stewart went through some of the solutions that have been put forward by his party since the election was called.
"Eliminate PST for a year, reduce it to 3% until the economy recovers," said Stewart, "eliminate small business tax, make sure we protect our tourism and hospitality industry and invest in infrastructure, seniors, mental health and addictions."
Will Ben Stewart sail to another victory in what's seen as a safe Liberal riding? We'll find out when British Columbians go to the polls, October 24.
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