BY GREG SAKAKI

Federal NDP members of Parliament gathered in Nanaimo last week for a B.C. caucus meeting and discussed some of the issues that are on the minds of constituents.

Five NDP MPs were at Nanaimo鈥檚 Vancouver Island Conference Centre on Friday, July 28, for the 鈥榟ybrid鈥� caucus meeting, with some MPs, including party leader Jagmeet Singh, participating virtually.

鈥淲e wanted to talk about our priorities as a B.C. caucus of affordability, housing, the climate crisis鈥︹�� said Lisa Marie Barron, Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP. 鈥淭hese issues, as we know, are very much impacting us right here in the riding.鈥�

The caucus meeting was followed by a round-table with community members, including front-line workers, with discussions focused on health and housing.

Barron said the conversation included discussions of affordable housing, health care including mental health care, and the toxic substance-use crisis. She said some of the responses to these issues aren鈥檛 looking at the full picture of a person鈥檚 needs 鈥� even if someone is provided with a roof over their head, they may lack access to mental health support, for example, or primary health care.

鈥淪o it is frustrating that we鈥檙e not seeing that wrap-around person-centred approach being taken,鈥� the MP said.

There was lengthy discussion of housing policy, and MPs noted that high costs of housing are particularly challenging for Canadians as increased rent and mortgage payments overlap with other inflating costs.

Alistair MacGregor, MP for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, the NDP鈥檚 critic for food price inflation, said statistics show record numbers of Canadian families are accessing food banks.

鈥淔amilies are making these difficult choices every single week, trying to figure out how they are going to feed their family, not only in the quantity of food, but in the quality of food, because it鈥檚 a big difference depending on the price,鈥� he said.

MacGregor said large corporations are gouging people who are struggling to meet their budgets week to week, and said Canadians need policy makers to take a firmer stand in looking into the issue. He suggested more resources and a strengthened mandate for the competition bureau, and also an excess profits tax that disincentivizes corporate gouging.

鈥淲e need to take a firm stand against it because if left unchecked, we are going to see more and more families struggling with their housing costs, struggling with the basic needs of their families,鈥� he said.

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