Frank Caputo — MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo — recently sat down with Black Press to discuss his work on behalf of constituents.
Caputo is in his first term as MP, having been elected in the 2021 federal election. He took over the riding from long-time Conservative MP Cathy McLeod, who did not run in 2021. Caputo is currently serving as the Associate Shadow Minister for Justice and Attorney General, sitting on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
Caputo speaks proudly of his hard-working parents, who came to Canada with nothing and built a life for their family through hard work and sacrifice.
“Forestry fed my family growing up. My parents worked hard to provide for us. My dad came from Italy, and he first worked for Balco, which then became Tolko. This area has always been home to me. I left here for school three times, coming back with three different degrees, but I’ve always come back because my heart is here.”
Caputo addressed the current health care crisis, noting that he has hired a student just to look at the delivery of health care.
“I live in this riding with my family, and I estimate about half the people here don’t have a family doctor. Right now we are working with this student who is doing his PhD and is focused on researching health care needs in the region.
“We are on a campaign to try to attract more doctors. Frankly, I’ve gotten one too many letters saying [someone doesn’t] have a family doctor and it doesn’t feel right to just say ‘Contact your MLA.’”
Although they have now had a doctor for a decade, Caputo and his family went without a family doctor for five years. While Caputo says they feel very lucky to have a doctor now, he can relate to the level of frustration many people are experiencing when they don’t have a regular physician to rely upon.
Noting that Interior Health has a marketing and job recruitment wing, Caputo says he has a different perspective and approach.
“[I’m looking to] showcase what the riding has to offer. The recreation is so attractive, and there’s the quality of life here. If you are someone who enjoys a quality lifestyle and the outdoors there is so much to offer, as well as the opportunity to own a larger piece of land in a rural area.
“As an MP I can mail across Canada for free, so if I have to send a letter to every doctor in the country we can do that. I’m tired of having no answer for anyone on this issue.”
The discussion turns to the current wildfire and drought situation as Caputo mentions a recent briefing he had with the BC Wildfire Service.
”I feel terrible for people who are on alert or on evacuation order. I was supposed to be out of province, but I cancelled my trip because of the fires. It didn’t feel right to leave. We have the Wells Gray Park fires, with two major ones there, and another one here in Kamloops that’s threatening wildlife and a lot of ranches. I’ve been doing a lot of briefings, and people are doing their level best with the resources that they have.”
Caputo believes that, moving forward, we have to approach things in a different way when it comes to dealing with more frequent natural disasters such as wildfires, floods, and drought scenarios:: not only here in B.C. but across the country.
“I obviously want to have a sound economy,” he adds. “In the North Thompson we’ve got a lot of resources that we can be using, but people are telling me all the time that they are getting nickel-and-dimed every day. They tell me they just can’t make it the way things are going. Some people say they want limited government, and my goal is to have efficient government that truly makes a positive difference in people’s lives.”
A former prosecutor, Caputo is passionate about community safety and reform, particularly offences against children, which he focused on as a prosecutor. Two of the four private member bills he has introduced in Ottawa are on bail reform, and he notes that even in small communities in the North Thompson, people still see the impacts of “catch and release”.
The other two bills are focused on sexual offences. One of them is at third reading in the senate, and concerns changing the term “child pornography” to “child sexual abuse and exploitation material”. Caputo believes it’s an important distinction.
“Words do matter. When you look at something like pornography there’s an element of consent there, or at least there should be if it’s legal. Children can’t consent. Calling what is happening to them using a term that implies consent is really inaccurate because children can never consent to the harm that’s caused.”
