YOUR PERSPECTIVE: NDP health care delays and blame games costing lives

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Bluesky
• Share on X
• Copy Link

Because of this, the NDP aren’t getting as positive a response to their announcement as they expected. People are tired of flashy announcements that fail to have any immediate impact on the current, quite literally deadly situation. British Columbians want results that will save lives, not empty promises and nice words. The lukewarm reaction to their announcement has sent the NDP scrambling for ways to blame the previous government for their own delays and failures.

The Old Switcheroo

Abbotsford couple charged after seat-swapping in RV to avoid arrest

2h ago

Police investigations

Abbotsford PD investigating two more school arsons

6h ago

Traffic Incidents

Crews tackle two collisions at Langley Bypass, 2 taken to hospital

7h ago

They point to statements made more than 13 years ago, and decisions that were made in entirely different contexts, as if they haven’t been in power themselves for nearly six years. If the NDP had chosen to start this second medical school when they first came to power, it would nearly be graduating doctors by now. They forget they have their own half a decade of history to answer for.

But if the NDP wants to compare their track record on health care with our previous BC Liberal government, we are more than happy for them to do so. I am proud of the high-quality health care we delivered for British Columbians.

Under the BC Liberals, B.C. had the highest life expectancies in North America, the best survival rate for heart disease in Canada, the lowest incidence of cancer and the very best survival rates. We more than doubled the number of seats for first-year medical students from 128 to 288, brought in Divisions of Family Practice as a cornerstone for health system integration, and attached more than 178,000 previously unattached patients to family doctors. Funding for health care went up every year we were in government, and we invested billions in capital projects like the hundreds of millions spent on expanding Surrey Memorial Hospital and building the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre.

These are real tangible outcomes. Actual results our BC Liberal government delivered for British Columbians, not just rhetoric.

But after almost six years of the NDP, these previously nation-leading outcomes are slipping. We are seeing stage four metastatic cancers diagnosed in emergency rooms, year-long waits for specialists, people dying in ERs and while waiting for ambulances, and nearly one in five British Columbians without a family doctor. In Surrey, the NDP’s planned second hospital is set to have a truly inadequate 168 beds, with no maternity or pediatric departments, in a location that is not easily accessible by transit.

All of this has happened on David Eby and the NDP’s watch, and yet they still want to pass the blame onto others. But British Columbians do not want to hear who their leaders think are to blame for problems, they simply want their government to fix them. Unfortunately, the NDP has so far proved they are incapable of delivering actual results. By nearly every metric, our health care system is slipping, and everyday people are bearing the consequences of government inaction.

It’s time for this government to take responsibility for their own record and take the urgent steps needed to solve the health care crisis — because lives depend on it.

——

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of Fraser Valley Today or Pattison Media.