MLA touts large projects
Cariboo Press - Vernon Morning Star
January 9, 2008

When Tom Christensen is asked to take stock of the last 350 days for the first time in 2007, he begins to grin, a bit like a boy who was the star in a game or who was behind a thoughtful gesture and is trying to be humble.

"This was a really big year," said the Okanagan-Vernon MLA, sitting in the boardroom of his downtown office.

… If it seems like there was a lot of provincial funding announcements in 2007, there was. According to Christensen, it all boils down to more people working in B.C. With the employment rate at historical lows and income tax revenue increasing with so many people punching in a card each week, the government has more money to spend.

"It's the strength of the economy that allows us to make those announcements, " said Christensen.

But with a boom comes burden, from a shortage of labour to a lack of child care spaces and affordable housing. Christensen attended as many meetings about the Okanagan's problems as he did parties in 2007.

"The challenge I hear about now as an MLA is where do we find the people to do the work? Whereas when I was elected, it was people needed work, so that presents some real challenges and opportunities."

Vernon-area residents were outraged and protested throughout the city on two occasions last winter when both provincial and federal child care funding took a shortfall. The issue is another one of those problems created by a strong workforce, said Christensen. More people working means more children in care, and a competitive job market is luring away early childhood educators.

"Now the problem is space. The other piece of the challenge is we can build the space, but we need the staff to work there."

While some are benefiting from the boom, others - the low income families and homeless - are finding the North Okanagan an uninviting home….

Away from his work in Vernon, as Minister of Children and Family Development in Victoria, Christensen's department has come under fire this year for not acting on recommendations made by its watchdog to reduce child poverty in the province.

"It's one of the most challenging ministries, but in my opinion, it does some of the most important work government has a hand in….