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Don Jefcoat

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Misc. topics

Affordable Housing

Don Jefcoat's promise

Encourage municipalities to discourage senior only housing.
Work with municipalities to stream line and speed up development applications. Make room for profits to build and operate low income housing.

Libertarian's promise

Reduce Government Interference that Makes Housing Unaffordable

Housing prices reached new highs during the past year, making the dream of ownership more difficult. The BC Liberals want to spend billions on interest-free loans, which place a heavy burden on taxpayers while further inflating home prices and put our economy at risk of a 2008 style sub-prime mortgage crisis. A safer and less costly way to keep home prices reasonable is to increase supply. Bringing new housing stock to market is restrained in numerous ways. For example, over 80% of the land in Vancouver is zoned for single-family residential only. By relaxing or removing these restrictions, we can free up the market to provide more housing at lower cost.

Work with municipalities to reduce development costs, streamline building permit processes, and simplify and accelerate rezoning

Budget and Taxes

Don Jefcoat's promise

We believe the government should run balanced budgets. We don't believe in spending cuts that harm but will challenge and encourage ministries to reduce spending, and restructure spending habits. Our desire is to see less reliance on government coffers which allow us to reduce and eliminate some taxes.

Libertarian's promise

Make Taxes Lower and Easier to Understand

Because we don't pay directly for services offered by government, politicians come up with incomprehensible formulas to make us think that someone else (the rich, corporations) will pay more. But there is no free lunch and funds must come from somewhere. By trying to hide costs, politicians just add costs, complicate our lives and create dissension among us over conflicting meanings of "fairness". Taxation is compulsion and libertarians seek to minimize compulsion. Wherever possible, government services should be financed by fees paid by willing customers. In a transition period, we seek taxes which are as simple to understand as possible (so government can't hide the cost of their programs) and ones which cause the least damage to our economy.

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Personal income tax: Remove all tax credits and exemptions and replace them with a lower overall tax rate. Make filing simple by using a BC Income Tax form that fits on a postcard.

Business and Sales taxes: Encourage business growth and job creation by replacing the complex and burdensome PST and corporate income tax with a simple and low tax on business revenue.

Carbon tax: Repeal it. Fuel prices are already too high, with nearly half the cost made up by various taxes.

Children in Care

Don Jefcoat's promise

Children in the care of the crown need special care. Better monitoring of contracted homes must happen.

Education

Don Jefcoat's promise

Create a voucher system that will allow parents to chose and fund the school of their choice.

Libertarian's promise

Provide Real Choice in K-12 Education

In an age when knowledge is widely available online to suit anyone’s individual interests and learning styles, our public education system seems decidedly old-fashioned. And the labour struggles that shut down schools would seem like relics of a bygone era if they weren’t such a recent memory. The problem with the current system is that responsibility for how schools are run flows the wrong way—up to administrators, bureaucrats and union leaders, instead of down to students and parents. We believe that parents are the best advocates for their children’s educational needs, and that teachers who have been freed from the one-size-fits-all model will be empowered to bring out the best in each child. If schools have the right incentives and the flexibility to customize curriculum to the diverse learning needs of children, they can prepare them well for 21st century life.

Instead of funds going to each school district, each family with children will receive a voucher to spend at the public or independent school or home learning plan of their choice

Maintain provincial standards for core subjects such as math and English, but provide greater autonomy and flexibility for schools (public, private, and home schools) to meet the diverse learning needs of children

Environment and Natural Resources

Don Jefcoat's promise

We believe that protecting the environment is every ones job. We will work with major industries to keep the environment safe.

Fentanyl Crisis

Don Jefcoat's promise

I would like to risk management programs used to combat drug use. I would like to see addiction treated through health service rather then through the courts and jails. We would save $90,000 or more per client.

I would also like to see dealers who lace drugs with harmful substances be prosecuted.

Libertarian's promise

End Prohibition and Let Police Focus on Real Crimes

BC is experiencing an epidemic with fentanyl and other powerful opioids that is claiming hundreds of lives. It's also tying up emergency responders, making it harder for everyone to get an ambulance when they need one. All options need to be on the table when dealing with a crisis like this, and decriminalization is a key part of the solution. By confronting this as a health issue instead of a criminal issue, we will discover new ways to reduce harm, encourage treatment of addictions, and make our communities safer. And eliminating victimless crime from the police’s mandate we allow police departments to focus their limited resources on catching real criminals (those who assault people or steal their stuff). Exclude the enforcement of victimless crimes from the provincial Police Services Agreement

First Nations

Don Jefcoat's promise

We need to build strong relationships with our first nation neighbors. We need to consult with more on issues and policy reforms.

Health care

Don Jefcoat's promise

Restore Universal Health funding. Recruit more doctors to the area. Create an no guilt fund to help patients who are victims of negligent actions. Get rid of CMPA in BC.

Libertarian's promise

Create Choice in Healthcare

Let's admit that the performance of our public healthcare system is lousy. A trip to emergency rarely takes less than several hours. It can take months to see a specialist. Patients on waitlists see their conditions worsen or even die, yet the lines get longer. Why? It isn't because we don’t spend enough on healthcare, which is the single largest item in our provincial budget and continues to grow. No, the problem is that this sector of economy hasn’t been provided with incentives to innovate or be more efficient. If patients had more control over how resources were allocated, there would be much better service and much less waste.​ allow health practitioners (doctors, nurses and paramedics) to offer services for mutually agreeable fees that are not covered by MSP (home visits, phone prescriptions, etc.) allow health insurance alternatives to MSP so that consumers can choose an insurance plan better tailored to their own needs allow more experimentation in care delivery models, such as primary direct care (where health providers contract to provide patients with a clear set of medical services for a low monthly fee)​

Homelessness

Don Jefcoat's promise

Improve funding for treatment services to help get homeless off the street.

Human Rights and Equality

Don Jefcoat's promise

We believe in personal freedoms. These freedoms are protected by the Charter.

Oil and Gas Industry

Don Jefcoat's promise

It is not wise to just walk away from this industry. This may change down the road as market dictate. We need to ensure safe transportation of product. We need to work to ensure environmental impacts are lessened.

Political Party Fundraising

Don Jefcoat's promise

I believe fundraising should be held only at the riding level. Parties should not fund candidates over a small seeding transfer. Funding should only come from constituents. Exemptions could be made for family and friends of the candidate. Party funding should come from membership events.

Post-Secondary Education

Ride-Sharing

Don Jefcoat's promise

I would like to see regulations preventing ridesharing repealed.
We need to encourage use of all methods of public transportation.

Seniors

Don Jefcoat's promise

We need to invest spending to ensure our seniors have a safe place to live, are able to meet their financial obligations, and have access to appropriate supports for medical, living, and social issues.

Social Programs

Don Jefcoat's promise

Supports for people need to be client specific with the goals in place to see improving and empowering of the client

Trade

Don Jefcoat's promise

I believe we need to remove all barriers to trade. Our economy use to be strong. We need to see this occur again. Moving product should be easy to do whether it is across the street, across the country, or even globally we need to have unrestricted trade. This also includes trade in professions/trades, qualifications/tickets/endorsements.

Transit

Don Jefcoat's promise

We need to improve Transit in Vernon. One thing we need is a transit that reflects the needs of users of 2017. We need restructure the service.

Biography

submitted by the candidate or their team

I have extensive experience in working in community and non profit groups. I have lived in Vernon since 2003.

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