MERRITT HERALD EST. 1905
THURSDAY, October 10, 2024 • www.X.com/merrittherald • www.merrittherald.com
FREE
Merritt hosts All Candidates forum Laísa Condé editor@merrittherald.com
The Merritt Centennials have clinched their second win of the season, still aiming for their first home victory. Page 34. Photo/Laísa Condé
PEOPLE’S CHOICE
The people have spoken – see inside for the winners of the annual Merritt Herald People’s Choice Awards.
FIRE PREVENTION
/PAGE 14-27
This year’s campaign aims to educate everyone about the importance of having working smoke alarms in their home.
/PAGE 28-32
need instead of waiting at the emergency room to see a doctor, nurse or counsellor. For Tony Luck, MLA candidate for the BC Conservative Party, criminality is one of the topics at the top of his list. His concerns and goals are focused on shelters, a big concern to Merritt residents as BC Housing announced a new homeless shelter location in town. Luck aims to work closely with BC Housing and the housing minister to possibly close down shelters in the communities across the riding. “I would go and find the housing minister, sit down with him and find out if there’s a possibility somehow (to) close down these facilities here in this community. We cannot afford to have crime happening right in our communities.” Francyne Joe, candidate for the BC NDP, hopes she can bring the rural perspective forward at the Legislative Assembly when it comes to the healthcare crisis and criminality. “I think both those issues are really important to this community and these are issues across this country,” he said. “What I would
Provincial election candidates for the FraserNicola riding fielded a range of questions on housing crisis, natural resources industries and their top priorities once elected at an All Candidates forum on Wednesday, Oct. 2. The event was held at the Canadian Country Music Hall of Honour in Merritt and hosted by the Merritt & District Chamber of Commerce. Approximately 100 people attended the event to hear all three election candidates answer questions that had been submitted during the event. One question asked candidates what they consider as a priority to address. Jonah Timms, MLA candidate for the BC Greens, said that “we desperately need healthcare reform in this province” and doesn’t believe that privatization is the solution to it, but rather to rethink how the government does healthcare. “We would open up healthcare centres throughout the province, which offer a holistic look at how we do healthcare,” he said. According to Timms, the Greens’ holistic approach would ensure that patients are getting the treatment they See MLA CANDIDATES Page 3
Merritt Funeral Chapel Celebrating each life like no other
A Division of Service Corporation International (Canada) ULC
Local & Caring. Proudly supporting our community since 1929. Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri.: 10:00am - 3:00pm • Wednesday 1:00pm - 6:00pm / 2113 Granite Ave., Merritt, BC
On-call 24 Hrs. a day: 250-378-2141 or 1-800-668-3379 • www.MerrittFuneralChapel.com O