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MLA alarmed at government roadblocks and inaction
Letter to the Editor
According to the BC NDP website, John Horgan and the BC NDP are working for you. Really? Based on the lack of service the folks of Kootenay East are receiving I would disagree.
My job as your MLA is to represent you, advocate for you and work on your behalf. This has become significantly more difficult as a growing number of the enquiries, concerns and suggestions go unanswered. Minister’s offices, government departments and service delivery agencies simply refuse to respond.
Currently, my constituency office in Cranbrook has over 20 emails to various ministries and Interior Health waiting for responses. The wait times range from two weeks to three months, and some are time sensitive. My staff have diligently followed up, but those emails remain unanswered. This is alarming.
Another factor I want to highlight are the rules implemented by certain NDP government Ministers which do not allow my staff and I to speak with ministry employees working in our local offices. This is adding layers of bureaucracy as my office is forced to write to the Minister’s office in Victoria, who then reaches out to the local office. Local staff then provide an answer which goes back to the Minister’s office and eventually is sent back to my office. This is inefficient and adds unnecessary steps and time and wastes resources.
Everyone deserves to have a government that responds as promptly as possible and an explanation for any delay. My office works hard to provide a maximum turnaround time of two weeks. Currently those responses are letting people know we are still waiting. This very disheartening as my priority is to do what I was elected to do: advocate for your concerns and ensure you are treated fairly.
This is not a partisan game. My office is waiting on permits for businesses, responses regarding the urban deer situation in Cranbrook, healthcare inquiries, a nuisance bear endangering children and the list goes on. None of the concerns are political and need to be dealt with in a reasonable amount of time.
My staff and I will continue to push for resolutions for every enquiry, concern and suggestion you bring. However, this would be much easier if the government was prepared to acknowledge that there is a breakdown.
Our office works hard to be a problem solver and I just wish this current government felt the same way. I assure you our office will continue to advocate and fight to be a voice for you and our region.
Tom Shypitka, MLA,
Kootenay East
