NDP leadership hopeful Anjali Appadurai promises raise for nurses, free mental health counselling

Anjali Appadurai,the onlyB.C. NDP leadership candidate challenging former attorney general and housing minister David Eby, made some big promises on Thursday, including araise for nurses and free counselling for everyone in the province.

Speaking on Vancouver's Commercial Drive, the one-time federal NDP candidate and climate activist presented a health-care plan she says will put people first andpush back againstprivatization.

Appaduraicited the stories of family members, friends and other British Columbians whohave facedyears-long waitlists for family doctors, turned to private clinics for cancer treatment or been frustrated by the limitations oftelehealth services.

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg," she said.

"Our hospitals are beyond capacity and there's an epidemic of burnout sweeping the system. For-profit companies are capitalizing on these challenges."

Some of Appadurai'sbiggestpromises include:

• raisingthe pay for registered nurses by 25 per cent.
• providing free and accessible mental health counselling to all British Columbians.
• scaling up community health centres in every health authorityto bring family physicians, social workers, nurse practitioners andmental health professionals under the same roof.
• creating more attractive alternatives to the fee-for-service model for family doctors.
• increasingsalaries for home care and long-term care workersand implementing cost of living increases.
• immediately implementing a provincial safe supply program.
• removingthe three month wait period for new immigrants or people returning from abroad to access health care.

Appadurai said British Columbia needs to rebuild both from the effects of COVID-19 and "decades of under-investing" in health care. She says the province needs anintersectional approachto what she calledoverlapping crises.

"To achieve our health goals, we must address poverty, the housing crisis, the climate emergency and systemic racism," she said.

JeffFerrier, a public affairs specialist and senior vice president ofwestern Canada for Hill + Knowlton Strategies, said Appadurai's health platform is "solid"but similar to what the B.C. government is already doing.

"She says she'll make progress faster," said Ferrier. "Many politicians have made that pledge with respect to health care over the years few deliver."

Ferrier says he supports the idea of raising salaries to keep workers in the health system and attract new ones, butwonders why Appaduraisaidnot everyone will get the same pay bump.

"I was surprised that her proposal was a two-tier lift," he said. "Twenty-fiveper cent for registered nurses, but much less for other nurses, other workers in the health system."

Membership investigation

At Thursday's event, Appadurai was asked about a recent spike in B.C. NDP memberships and a party auditthat found "a significant number of current and former B.C. Greens" were applying to join the New Democrats.

In September, Elections B.C. and the NDP also launchedinvestigations into the actions of an environmental group supporting Appadurai's campaign.

Appadurai said she's "fully in support" of efforts to ensure the legitimacy of all party members but insists her leadership hasbrought in "thousands" of new people.

"I don't support the assumption of fraud," she said. "I want a fair race, just like everyone else."

From Ferrier's perspective, Appadurai needs to show accountability and leadership to be able to move forward from both the investigations into her campaignand her reputation as a one-issue candidate.

"She needs to talk about more than just climate," he said.

"She needs to talk about health care ... affordability and cost of living, she needs to have a plan on public safety."

Appaduraisaid sheand her team willunveil the rest of theirpolicies on climate, economy and democracy in the coming weeks as they roll out their full platform.

The B.C. NDP is expected to start its leadership votein November with a new premier and party leaderdecided by Dec. 3.