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The NDP's deficit after nine years
in government

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is fairly serious. What's your view?

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Nobody should want to see a deficit,

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because a deficit means our kids
will have to pay

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that debt. But sometimes

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we also look at it from another angle.

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This deficit: Richmond Hospital
should have been built long ago.

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We're already 50 years late. This is

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the price our generation is paying

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for not investing enough in the past.

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So over the next four years,

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in terms of planning ahead,

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what new plans will you put forward?

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In BC,

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the mountain snow is melting really fast

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because of the greenhouse effect, so our

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water storage isn't in good shape now.

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I'm also worried that in the future
we'll face

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droughts and floods,

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and food shortages too. I hope

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we can work with the government

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and really find ways to protect

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our future water security. That way,

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our society can be stable in the future.

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There was hardly any snow last year.
Right.

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Barely any snow last year. This year,
if I remember right,

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starting in May or June, we couldn't

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freely wash our cars. So water

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is slowly becoming a big problem.

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Our biggest water use is actually

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agriculture. Farming uses the most.

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If we don't protect our water properly,

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and farms run short of water,
we'll end up with

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food shortages. We also know that now,

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our trade war with Trump —

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that trade war reminds us of one thing:

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we must... we use something called

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Economic Sovereignty,

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meaning we need to be
economically independent.

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We need to diversify our economy, so that

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we won't be tied down by any one side.

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Richmond is actually low-lying land.

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Whether it's an earthquake or otherwise,
does Richmond

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have disaster and earthquake
preparedness plans

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and measures?

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I also know Richmond seems

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to still lack Urban Search and Rescue.

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It's a team that specializes in

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what to do if a big earthquake hits
and buildings collapse,

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how to send people in to rescue others.

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That department hasn't been set up?

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It's not that it doesn't exist.
Burnaby has one,

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but Richmond doesn't. I think

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for Richmond, I hope that for Richmond

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I push a bit, because if the bridges
collapse, we're stuck.

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When disaster strikes, I think

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if you want to get out of Richmond,

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it's very, very hard.

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Because of traffic jams.

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And all sorts of things. Right.

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Very hard. And when lives are at stake,

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like I said, when it's about saving lives,

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we have to fight for
every minute, every second.

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So we hope... I hope that if I have

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the honour, I'll fight for Richmond to get

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Urban Search and Rescue funding

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and the staff we should have here.

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Great. I think you're thinking
very long-term.

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But I also know that now

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the community faces another big issue:

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the number of homeless people in Richmond

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is growing very fast.

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Back in 2023,

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as we know, at Richmond's Brighouse Park,

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some homeless people suddenly

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set up tents.

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When I found out about it,

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I called a meeting with federal
and city officials,

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provincial officials,

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various community services

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and the RCMP.

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Because it happened so fast,

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we couldn't cope right away.

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So I was glad the city

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decided then to step up and say

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we'd first extend the emergency

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weather shelter.

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So I hope to use this opportunity

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to keep helping our community

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reduce the number of homeless,

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help seniors

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on fixed incomes stay in their homes,

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and care for women facing
domestic violence,

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so they can escape it. We also hope

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that people with unstable mental health

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or people dealing with addiction

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can find a safe place to settle,

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so they're not roaming the streets,
wandering around.

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That wandering issue. Another key point

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is that many of our homeless people

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are women. For women

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living outside on their own,

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it's very dangerous,

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and it's very sad.

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They're often exploited,
coerced and exploited.

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So we hope caring people in the community

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will work with us to care for

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every one of them. After all, everyone

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is someone else's

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father, mother, brother or sister.

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What went wrong last time?

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At the time, people were very unhappy

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about supervised injection sites
in many communities.

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And even though I stepped up back then,

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because city council passed it 7 to 2,

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and through the province, we blocked it,

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people were still unhappy about it,

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so emotions ran very high.

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Richmond didn't want it back then,

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so we took those concerns

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to Vancouver Coastal Health to ask them.

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Their experts and doctors back then

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said Richmond's death rate was low,

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the addiction rate was low.
No need, not the...

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The numbers.

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No need, right. Not the numbers.

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So first, I spoke out. Second,

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I also hoped, through education and

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working with the community,
to keep it down. But back then,

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many voters wanted me to say
I'd never accept it.

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But from a government's standpoint,

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we can't flatly reject

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any life-saving measure.

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So what I said at the time, personally,

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was that I hoped we'd rely on community

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efforts to lower the death rate
and addiction rate.

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This time, Premier David Eby
called an early election.

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What's your view on this?

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Privately speaking, I was hoping

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he'd wait until after the civic election.

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I wanted to finish my civic campaign.

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So I hoped to see the civic race through

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and then talk about any provincial
opportunity after that.

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You were originally running for mayor.

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For mayor. But it was because they wanted

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me in the provincial race
that I was called on to run.

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Will you still run in the civic election?

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No, no, I won't. I think as a candidate,

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if you have a foot in both camps,

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it's not fair to the community.

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If you win both, which do you pick?

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That's not reasonable for them.

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We face many new challenges, like

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tariffs, our

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economic downturn, rising oil prices,

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and the troubles facing the world economy.

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We also hope to diversify our trade.

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All this needs a capable government

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to take things forward.

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Although for me, timing-wise,

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I'd rather the election weren't now,

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I can understand why he needed

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to call it now. It's not something anyone

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wants, but when it's necessary,

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this hard decision has to be made.

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Take today's traffic,
especially on Fridays:

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the bridge in Richmond basically

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gets badly jammed. I'd heard before that

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another bridge would be built, which

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would take about ten years to complete.

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What do you think about that?

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You're right. I think for the BC NDP,

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what's unfortunate is that

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when we took over
the provincial government,

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Richmond Hospital was designed

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for just 50,000 people, but we

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already had 200,000 people by then.

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So a government can save money, but when

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infrastructure doesn't keep up,
in the end

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you pay that debt in the future.
That is, if your

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hospital isn't adequate, then when people

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need a hospital, it can't keep up.

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Because these things
should have been done long ago.

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So back to your question:

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why build a bridge? If we need a bridge,

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we should do it as early as possible,
not keep delaying.

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But as a government,

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we also have to consider
whether the budget can afford it.

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The NDP's deficit after nine years
in government

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is fairly serious. What's your view?

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I think anyone, whether they're from

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the NDP, the Conservatives,

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the Greens or the Liberals,

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none of us wants to see a deficit.

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Nobody should want a deficit,
because a deficit means

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our kids will have to pay that debt.

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But sometimes we

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also look at it from another angle.

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This deficit: like I just said,

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Richmond Hospital should have been
built long ago.

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We're already 50 years late.
If you can imagine,

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if it had been built 50 years ago,

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today's deficit wouldn't be ours to bear.

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Not enough schools, not enough hospitals,

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not enough doctors. It's all a problem.

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This is all needed infrastructure
that never got done.

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This is the price our generation

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is paying for not investing enough
in the past.

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So we have debt now.

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Of course we don't want debt.

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And we want them to rein in the debt.

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But I think another important point is

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that infrastructure investment we need

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still has to be made. The infrastructure
that should be built,

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we still need to invest in
our infrastructure.

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Great. It's been an in-depth talk today.

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Thank you.