Joan Isaacs — Liberal Party

In 2017, Isaacs won the riding of Coquitlam-Burke Mountain.
Since then, she has been devoted to making the lives of
Coquitlam residents better. Isaacs is hoping that her and the
Liberals can win the election so she can start implementing
policy decisions that will help British Columbians through
the pandemic and into the future. Isaacs’ reason for joining
politics was a desire “to help people to get the help they
need.” This could be seen last year, when she was honoured
with a Senior Advocate Award.

When it comes to helping Douglas College students
who are struggling with finding appropriate housing,
Isaacs has a u nique solution to the problem. She is
recommending that students be connected with seniors
who have available rooms through a student housing
registry. “We need to come up with outside-the-box
solutions,” she said in an interview with the Other Press.
Isaacs does recognise though that this is merely a stop gap
measure, and in the end more student housing needs to be
built. “It has to be purpose-built housing for students, and
it has to be affordable,” she said.

While in the legislature, Isaacs has put forward
private members’ bills for access to flu vaccines, and a
split assessm ent bill that aimed to stop a measure that
made it so when someone's business was rezoned for
development, the business on that land would not be
charged the postdated property taxes of that business.

These bills did not get passed though, because as Isaacs
said: “Opposition rarely passes bills.” She said if the BC
Liberals win the election, she would like to revisit these
policies.

In helping people during (and coming out of) the
pandemic, Isaacs highlighted the Liberal government's
plan to eliminate the PST for one year, and reduce it to
three percent for the year after in order to “kickstart the
economy.” A previous small business owner herself, Isaacs
understands the burden being put on the small business
community by the loss of Douglas College students coming
to the Coquitlam area. She believes that the savings of this
and the elimination of the small business tax will help offset
the costs brought on by the pandemic.

To showcase Isaacs’ love of connecting with people,
| will mention that Isaacs asked me how | was doing with
my studies. Though she cannot meet voters in person this
election due to the pandemic, she is enthusiastic about
getting back into the legislature to advocate for every
resident of Coquitlam-Burke Mountain.

Who will win in the critical riding of Coquitlam-Burke
Mountain? Early mail-in balloting starts October 15
through to the 24—and election day is October 24. To
find more information and ensure that you are eligible to
vote, visit the Elections BC website.