Anjali Appadurai proposes 25% raises for nurses in health-care plan

NDP leadership candidate Anjali Appadurai speaks to a member of the public at an event in East Vancouver on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. (CTV)

B.C. NDP leadership hopeful Anjali Appadurai has announced her plan to tackle health care in the province by improving the lives of front-line workers.

Speaking in an East Vancouver park Thursday morning, Appadurai unveiled a seven-point plan she calls "Healthy People, Healthy Communities."

Among its promises is an immediate, 25-per-cent pay raise for nurses, as well as compensation increases for home care and long-term care workers.

"These workers are our front-line heroes," the candidate said, referencing the outpouring of support for health-care workers at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"They deserve more than applause and the sound of banging pots and pans. They deserve pay raises, better protections, mental health supports and better working conditions."

In a news release, Appadurai's campaign said the plan was developed with "broad input from health-care experts, community members, frontline health care workers and social movements."

In addition to the wage-increase pledge, it includes calls to scale-up community health centres with more doctors, social workers, nurse practitioners and mental health professionals working under the same roof, expand Indigenous-led primary care services across the province, and implement a "safe supply" of drugs for those struggling with addiction and at risk of overdose.

The health-care plan is the first major policy announcement that Appadurai has made. Her campaign promises announcements on climate, economic and democratic reform policies in the coming days, as part of the candidate's platform, dubbed "A New Deal for B.C."

Appadurai is challenging former Attorney General David Eby in the race to succeed Premier John Horgan, who announced his retirement from politics earlier this year.

Eby has been endorsed by a majority of the NDP caucus and is seen as the favourite to be the party's next leader.

Appadurai, a climate activist and former federal NDP candidate for Vancouver-Granville, has run a campaign based on energizing the party's grassroots and pushing for a greater focus on environmental issues.

Her campaign has also come under scrutiny from the party, which has been investigating the phenomenon of new members who also hold – or recently held – membership in the B.C. Green Party.

The party's provincial council is expected to make a decision on Appadurai's candidacy next week.