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From YouTube: JULY 15 2020 Question Period
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
5th Session
41st Parliament
C
Thank
you,
mr
speaker,
we've
become
aware,
through
the
announcements
yesterday
about
the
state
of
the
province,
finances
that
roughly
five
billion
dollars
of
employers,
health
tax
sales,
tax
and
other
taxes
have
been
deferred
with
collection
expected
during
the
fall
we
understand
in
late
september
now.
This
is
going
to
be
a
very
onerous
expectation
for
small
businesses,
all
over
british
columbia,
which
have
been
living
on
fumes,
to
put
it
politely
for
four
months
now.
C
A
You
very
much,
mr
speaker,
and
thank
you
to
the
leader
of
the
opposition
for
the
question.
I
want
to
begin
by
first
saying.
Thank
you
to
say
thank
you
to
the
incredible
businesses,
the
workers,
the
people
of
british
columbia,
who
have
done
an
extraordinary
job
when
it
comes
to
bending
the
curve
when
it
comes
to
paying
attention
to
dr
bonnie
henry,
and
we
all
know
that
the
very
best
economic
recovery
that
we
can
have
is
a
smart,
careful
restart
to
be
able
to
build
that
confidence.
A
The
member
asked
specifically
about
one
of
the
initiatives
that
we
have
put
in
place
for
businesses.
I
know
I'll
have
an
opportunity
to
talk
about
many
more
of
those,
including
the
tax
cuts
we
have
given.
In
fact,
when
it
comes
to
property
tax,
we
have
in
fact
made
a
cut
of
25
700
million
dollars.
That
is
not
a
repayable
in
the
supports
for
businesses.
When
it
comes
to
the
taxes,
we
have
deferred,
we've
deferred
them
till
the
end
of
september
and
that'll
be
reviewed
as
we
go
through
the
summer.
C
However,
it
doesn't
answer
the
question
for
the
hundreds
of
thousands
of
small
businesses
in
british
columbia,
who
will
want
to
know
urgently
whether
they
are
expected
to
permit
the
full
outstanding
sum
of
taxes
due
on
september
30th.
So
it's
a
very
simple
question
to
the
finance
minister
and
it's
in
her
ministry.
Not
the
ministry
of
health
will
full
payment
be
expected
from
all
small
businesses
in
british
columbia
on
september
30th
or
not.
A
A
Ideas
are
coming
forward
through
the
economic
free
process
as
well
to
add
to
the
supports
that
we've
already
put
in
place
for
businesses,
as
I
said,
the
cut
that
we've
made
in
property
taxes
the
support
that
we've
provided
through
hydro
bill
forgiveness
for
businesses,
the
support
we
put
in
place
around
evictions
for
the
commercial
tenants
who
were
in
buildings
where
the
landlords
weren't
applying
for
the
support.
So
we
have
a
whole
range
of
support
for
businesses.
The
deferrals
are
one
and
we'll
be
looking
at
those
over
the
next
months.
D
Thanks,
mr
speaker,
so
yesterday
the
finance
minister
presented
an
update
that
was
unprecedented
in
our
province's
history,
including
a
staggering.
I
think
that
was
her
word,
not
mine
and
record-setting
deficit,
and
and
for
all
of
that,
I
think
british
columbians
understand
the
circumstances
that
have
led
us
to
this
point
today,
but
they
also
understand
that
the
situation
is
not
sustainable.
D
D
A
Thank
you
very
much,
honorable
speaker.
Well,
in
fact,
I
would
say
to
the
member
as
the
member
well
knows,
that
everything
we
are
doing
is
about
economic
recovery.
If
we
did
not
put
in
place
the
plan
to
be
able
to
keep
people
safe
to
be
able
to
address
the
health
care
crisis,
there
would
be
no
economic
recovery.
A
We
won't
have
any
economic
recovery
in
this
process
and
is
there
another
payment
of
1.5
billion
dollars?
Yes,
there
is,
and
we're
asking
british
columbians
to
engage
with
us,
just
as
other
sectors
have,
and
I
look
forward
to
those
dollars
coming
out
in
addition
to
the
dollars,
as
we
announced
yesterday,
that
we
put
in
place
to
make
sure
we
have
a
long-term
sustainable,
restart
process
and
economic
recovery
in
british
columbia.
D
A
A
How
do
you
ignite
the
economy
if
people
are
not
feeling
safe
to
go
out
to
businesses
and
businesses
and
workers
don't
feel
safe
to
get
their
businesses
going?
Everything
we
have
been
doing
through
the
pandemic
is
about
economic
recovery.
Member.
We
have
been
focused
on
making
sure
we
do
this.
Well
that
we
do
this
safely.
We
have
an
additional
1.5
billion
dollars
that
will
be
put
in
place
as
well.
We
certainly
saw
glimmers
of
hope
when
it
came
to
the
june
employment
numbers.
A
40
of
the
jobs
that
have
been
lost
since
february
are
now
back
again
again
you're,
seeing
more
people
get
back
into
the
workforce,
the
signs
are
positive.
The
people
of
british
columbia
are
going
to
stand
together,
and
I've
asked
the
member
and
the
members
on
the
other
side
to
join
us
to
join
us
in
being
positive
about
the
economy
and
supporting
the
people
of
british
columbia
and
making
sure
that
we're
able
to
do
just
as
we
did
through
the
pandemic
come
out
the
other
side
with
a
strong
recovery
here
in
british
columbia.
E
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker
at
one
point
in
time,
the
bc
ndp
were
highly
critical
of
the
greenhouse
gas
emissions
from
lng
as
a
government.
They
have
rightfully
criticized
the
trans
mountain
pipeline
as
being
too
risky
a
proposition
and
have
suggested
that
clean
bc
will
be
the
driving
force
for
how
the
government
makes
recovery
funding
decisions.
E
An
expanded
oil
and
gas
industry
is
not
where
the
future
of
our
economy
lies.
It
creates
stranded
assets
and
disappearing
jobs.
My
question
for
you,
honourable
speaker,
is
to
the
minister
of
finance.
Will
she
commit
to
not
spending
any
of
the
1.5
billion
in
recovery
funding
on
subsidies
to
the
fossil
fuel
industry?.
A
A
But
we
also
know
that,
as
we
rebuild,
we
have
an
opportunity.
We
have
an
opportunity
to
make
sure
we're
doing
it
with
the
values
that
matter
to
british
columbians
and,
of
course,
those
values
mean
building
an
innovative,
sustainable
economy
for
the
long
term.
In
british
columbia,
it
means
helping
people
get
the
training
and
the
education
that
they
need
to
be
able
to
get
the
jobs
that
will
be
available
in
british
columbia.
It
means
making
sure
we're
investing
in
cleaner
transportation
and
cleaner
projects
in
british
columbia.
A
So
I
can
assure
the
member
that
the
funding
is
going
to
be
used
and
earmarked,
in
fact,
for
a
sustainable
economy.
We've
made
that
statement
both
the
premier
and
I,
and
it
certainly
will
as
well
be
used
to
be
able
to
move
ahead
on
our
clean
bc
project.
So
we
share
those
values
as
as
caucuses.
We
also
share
those
values,
I
believe
with
british
columbians,
and
we
have
an
opportunity
through
economic
recovery,
to
do
just
that.
E
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker,
I'm
gonna
take
that
as
a
hopeful.
Yes,
there
won't
be
any
spending
on
subsidies
to
the
fossil
fuel
industry,
but
I'll
I'll
frame
it
again
in
a
more
of
a
positive
throughout
this
pandemic
bc
has
been
a
global
leader
has
been
seen
as
a
global
leader
in
our
response
showcasing
that
when
we
agree
to
work
together
towards
an
objective
we
actually
are
able
to
achieve
it
and
by
working
together
with
the
green
caucus.
E
This
minority
government
has
put
together
one
of
the
continent's
leading
climate
plans
with
clean
bc,
which
has
been
recognized
as
an
economic
plan,
and
the
premier
has
repeatedly
pointed
to
the
role
it
will
have
in
recovery.
Just
yesterday,
the
minister
of
environment
said
it
will
be
at
the
heart
of
the
recovery,
the
minister
of
finance.
We
just
said
that
in
her
response,
these
are
encouraging
signs,
but
words
are
not
enough.
The
1.5
billion
earmarked
for
a
recovery
must
be
spent
on
a
green
recovery
package
that
will
not
just
revitalize
but
actually
transform
our
economy.
A
Thank
you
very
much,
honourable
speaker.
There
is
no
question
that
I
expect
that
a
significant
amount
of
the
recovery
funding
that
we
have
will
be
used
in
meeting
our
climate
goals
and
in
the
work
that
we're
doing
with
clean
bc,
and
I
want
to
also
express
my
appreciation
for
the
work
that
we've
done
with
the
green
caucus
with
the
member
for
oak
bay,
gordon
head
around
clean
bc.
There
is
no
question
that
is
world
leading
when
we
come
to
the
work
that
we've
been
doing.
A
We've
invested
over
1.3
billion
dollars
in
the
clean
bc
strategy
over
the
last
couple
of
budgets,
and
we
know
how
important
it
is
to
make
sure
we're
doing
everything
we
can
to
move
that
ahead.
We're
continuing
to
engage
as
the
member
knows.
We've
had
extraordinary
proposals
come
forward
for
a
number
of
groups
across
the
province,
including
many
many
that
have
come
forward
around
the
sustainable
agenda
and
the
opportunity
to
look
at
sustainability.
F
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker,
honorable
speaker,
many
indigenous
communities
in
british
columbia
anticipated
being
able
to
sell
surplus
electricity
to
bc
hydro.
Despite
this
government's
professed
commitment
to
reconciliation.
The
decision
by
bc,
hydro,
to
cancel
its
standing
offer
program
has
placed
these
communities
in
a
very
difficult
position.
As
I'm
sure
the
minister
is
aware,
reconciliation
is
a
multi-faceted
process
that
involves
building
genuine,
long-lasting
economic
partnerships
with
indigenous
communities.
Otherwise
many
such
communities
will
continue
to
struggle
economically.
F
More
recently,
honourable
speaker,
with
the
proposed
changes
to
the
self-sufficiency
clause
in
the
clean
energy
act,
first
nations
aspiring
to
become
clean
energy
producers
will
be
dealt
yet
another
serious
blow.
My
question
through
you,
honorable
speaker
through
the
is
to
the
minister
of
energy
minds
and
petroleum
resources.
How
can
this
government
claim
that
it
is
committed
to
reconciliation
with
indigenous
peoples
while
at
the
same
time
introducing
measures
that
will
restrict
their
opportunities
for
economic
development.
G
I
want
to
thank
the
the
member
for
oak
bay,
gordon
head
for
his
question
and
let's
begin
by
remembering
that
the
old
government
signed
insider
deals
for
power
at
five
times
the
market
price
that
created
a
16
billion
dollar
obligation
owed
by
british
columbians
at
16
billion
dollars
in
unnecessary
costs.
G
We
are
committed
to
keeping
bc
hydro
rates,
low
and
building
a
low
carbon
economy
for
people
maintaining
affordable
electricity
is
critical
to
electrifying
our
economy
and
meeting
our
clean
bc
goals.
The
standing
offer
program
was
not
compatible
with
this.
Our
government
understands-
and
I
acknowledge
the
import
of
the
members
question-
that
many
indigenous
communities
view
small-scale
private
power
as
economic
development
opportunities.
F
F
Honorable
speaker.
Over
the
last
decade,
numerous
first
nations
have
banked
heavily
on
clean
energy
projects
as
an
economic
development
strategy.
Many
have
entered
into
agreements
with
independent
power
producers
to
do
the
same
on
vancouver
island.
For
example.
Honourable
speaker,
thirteen
of
the
fourteen
new
childhood
first
nations
are
either
current
or
prospective
stakeholders
in
the
renewable
energy
pro
in
renewable
energy
products
that
likoit
taiko
yet
pipeline
nation
has
poured
over
50
million
into
clean
energy
projects
and
have
plans
to
spend
an
additional
100
million.
F
Successful
endeavors
such
as
the
soup
nation,
solar
farm
in
the
premier's
own
riding,
have
helped
get
indigenous
nations
off
diesel,
while
others
have
received
financial
backing
from
the
government
promised
to
do
the
same
for
many
indigenous
communities
across
british
columbia.
The
opportunity
to
excel
to
sell,
elect
excess
electricity
is
a
vital
component
of
their
future
economic
plans.
My
question
once
more
through
you
honorable
speaker,
is
to
the
energy
minister
of
energy
minds
and
petroleum
resources.
F
Will
the
minister
instruct
bc
hydro
to
declare
force
major
on
the
existing
site
c
construction
contracts,
as
opposed
to
the
ipp
contracts
to
save
billions
upon
billions
of
ratepayer
dollars
and
instead
instruct
bc
hydro
to
issue
calls
for
power
at
market
rate
for
any
future
power
needs
and
to
remind
the
minister
market
rate
is
not
20
cents.
A
kilowatt
hour
is
not
15
cents
a
kilowatt
hour.
G
G
They
will
allow
bc
hydro
to
consider
out-of-province
energy
as
one
option
one
option
among
many
to
providing
clean
and
affordable
energy
as
part
of
their
next
20-year
plan.
These
changes
support
our
climate
plan
clean
bc
and
they
allow
bc
hydra
to
continue
purchasing
power
from
first
nations
own
projects.
G
My
ministry
has
a
wide
range
of
programs
that
support
indigenous
communities
to
transition
to
clean
energy
and
improve
energy
efficiency.
For
example,
we've
invested
5
million
in
the
bc
indigenous
clean
energy
initiative.
This
initiative
supports
community
clean
energy
projects.
I
appreciate
the
members
questions
on
this
important
topic.
Our
government
will
continue
to
work
with
indigenous
communities
to
identify
clean
energy
opportunities.
H
H
H
I
I
Thank
you
very
much,
mr
speaker.
I
want
to
be
very
clear
with
the
members
opposite
that
we
have
offered
to
maintain
these
leases.
Honorable
speaker,
we
were
very
clear
that
we
were
happy
to
keep
both
of
these
tenants.
We've
done
that
in
other
buildings,
where
we
have
commercial
tenants
where
we
purchase
the
buildings,
they're
absolutely
welcome
to
continue
to
stay.
H
Wow,
mr
speaker,
to
be
very
clear
for
the
minister.
The
problem
is:
the
businesses
do
not
want
to
stay.
The
businesses
do
not
want
to
be
held
to
their
lease.
The
businesses
had
operating
businesses
inside
hotels,
with
regular
traveling
clientele
coming
and
going
now
there
are
homeless
shelters.
They
do
not
want
to
continue
to
operate
there
and
bc
housing
is
refusing
to
allow
them
to
leave,
which
is
bankrupting
them.
H
We
are
asking
these
questions,
mr
speaker,
on
behalf
of
the
real
people
and
local
entrepreneurs
who
have
lost
tens
of
thousands
of
dollars
and
we've
had
to
let
go
dozens
of
staff
to
quote
cliff
the
owner
of
paul's
diner.
We
employ
people
with
meaningful
work,
support
local
farms
and
donate
food
to
the
homeless
and
those
marginalized.
H
I
Thank
you
very
much,
mr
speaker,
and
and
again
I
I
want
to
let
the
members
of
the
house
know
that
we
are
prepared
to
work
with
everybody
around
this,
and
if
these
tenants
feel
like
that,
they
cannot
sustain
their
business
or
or
work
with
with
bc.
Housing.
We're
absolutely
prepared
to
work
with
them
to
create
a
transition
for
them.
J
Well,
thank
you
very
much,
mr
speaker.
Every
day
the
minister
of
tourism
says
we're
listening
and
working
on
a
plan,
but,
mr
speaker,
tourism
operators
need
a
plan
right
now.
Here's
what
john
wilson,
wilson
transportation
had
to
say-
and
I
quote
75
to
85
of
our
revenue
stream
is
made
from
april
through
september,
and
that
season
is
pretty
much
gone
to
make
it
through
the
fall
and
winter.
So
many
will
require
continual
or
added
support
from
government.
J
K
Thank
you,
honourable
speaker,
and
I
want
to
thank
the
member
opposite
for
the
question.
We
have
the
same
goals
for
tourism.
We
both
want
to
see
a
strong
and
resilient
tourism
sector
here
in
our
province
and
as
the
minister
of
finance
spoke
earlier,
every
action
we've
taken
to
date
is
to
ensure
that
we
have
that
economic
recovery
in
place
here
through
our
economic
recovery
process.
K
Over
these
past
months,
we've
been
able
to
provide
a
number
of
reliefs
that
the
sector
has
personally
asked
for,
such
as
wholesale
liquor,
pricing
supporting
patio
expansions,
creating
a
program
to
help
displace
tourism
workers,
find
jobs,
flexibility
and
grant
funding
that
they've
been
having.
We
are
addressing
the
needs
directly
from
the
sector
and
I'm
going
to
continue
working
closely
with
the
sector
and
with
those
leaders
as
we
go
through
our
covid19
action
plan
and
we
move
towards
recovery
together.
J
Many
interior
communities
have
seen
tourism
hit
hard
over
the
last
few
years
from
forest
fires
and
flooding,
and
that
means
the
number
of
visitors
have
dropped
dramatically
and
small
businesses
have
already
been
suffering
and
now
ad
covert,
19
and
many
of
these
businesses
may
have
to
close
their
doors
permanently
as
part
of
the
economic
recovery
plan.
If
one
ever
comes,
is
the
tourism
minister
prepared
to
accelerate
tourism-related
infrastructure
projects
immediately.
K
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker,
and
thanks
to
the
member
for
the
question.
There's
absolutely
no
doubt
that
the
tourism
sector
has
been
impacted.
You
know
extremely
hard
by
by
the
covid
pandemic,
and
that's
why
our
government
has
set
aside
1.5
billion
dollars
for
economic
recovery.
We
want
to
support
economic
resilience,
business
recovery.
K
We
want
to
help
people
whose
livelihoods
have
been
impacted
by
the
pandemic
and
I'm
going
to
keep
working
with
the
industry
leaders
as
we
work
towards
recovery
together
and
listen
to
their
ideas
and
we've
been
taking
action,
and
we
will
continue
to
take
action.
We're
going
to
update
our
tourism,
strategic
framework
and
destination
bc's
corporate
strategy,
we're
going
to
continue
to
support
destination
development
and
implement
key
tourism
experiences
and
infrastructure
projects.
K
As
the
minister
as
the
member
was
mentioning
you
know,
these
can
include
everything
from
trails
and
cycling
networks
or
it
could
be
arts
and
culture
installations.
It
could
be
accessible
infrastructure.
You
know
all
these
pieces
will
drive,
demand,
they'll,
create
jobs
and
they'll
help
increase
tourism
here
in
our
province.
We're
going
to
continue
to
be
nimble
with
our
our
provincial
marketing
funding
and
we
want
to
protect
our
international
spaces.
K
We
want
to
encourage
all
british
columbians
to
travel
throughout
the
province
and
we
want
to
maintain
bc's,
you
know
global
competitive
edge,
and
so
I'm
going
to
keep
working
with
the
sector,
I'm
going
to
keep
working
with
industry
leaders
as
we
work
together
to
find
the
best
way
to
move
forward
for
to
develop
a
strong
resilient
tourism
sector
as
we
move
towards
recovery.
Thank
you.
L
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
Last
month
the
official
opposition
wrote
to
the
premier
about
the
worsening
opioid
crisis
and
may
was
the
deadliest
month
in
this
province.
History,
and
we
offered
four
immediate
steps.
The
premier
could
take
to
help
make
an
impact.
One
of
those
steps
was
the
implementation
of
a
prescription
drug
monitoring
program
to
help
prevent
cases
of
addiction
in
the
first
place
to
the
premier.
Will
he
be
implementing
a
prescription
drug
monitoring
program.
M
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker,
and
thank
you
to
the
member
for
the
question.
We
are
in
fact
implementing
a
prescription
monitoring
system.
We've
been
working
very
closely
with
the
college
of
physicians
and
surgeons
for
about
a
year
and
a
half
now
on
this
program
and
other
other
other
improvements
around
prescription
medication
in
order
to
keep
people
safe
and,
as
I
have
reported
to
this
house
previously.
In
answer
to
previous
questions.
In
january
2019,
we
signed
a
contract
with
the
college
of
physicians
and
surgeons.
M
We've
learned
from
our
experience
with
pharmanet
that
these
types
of
systems
absolutely
need
buy-in
from
prescribers
and
from
pharmacists,
and
that's
why
we've
been
doing
this
in
close
partnership
with
the
college
of
physicians
and
surgeons,
the
college
of
pharmacists,
the
college
of
nurses,
nursing
professionals,
the
college
of
dental
surgeons
of
bc,
naturopathic,
physicians,
college
of
midwives
and
the
bc
coroner
service
and
work
on
the
planning
of
this
project
is
now
complete.
We're
moving
towards
implementation,
there's
a
lot
of
work
ahead
to
establish
the
program,
but
we
are
moving
forward.
M
An
honorable
speaker,
I
I
do
want
to
be
clear
and
the
the
college
of
physicians
and
surgeons
has
certainly
said
this
very,
very
clearly
that
there
are
limitations
to
the
prescription
monitoring
program
and
the
prescription
review
program
in
combating
the
opioid
crisis.
Primary
prevention
is
only
one
line
of
attack.
As
the
member
knows,
we've
been
working
on
a
wide
variety
of
programs
related
to
prevention,
but
he
says
neither
the
prescription
review
program
nor
the
creation
of
a
prescription
monitor
monitoring
program
will
be
the
sole
solution
to
this
complex
public
health
emergency.
L
M
M
The
coroner
has
been
absolutely
crystal
clear.
So
has
the
provincial
officer
of
the
health
officer
that
the
principal
reason
for
the
spike
in
overdose
deaths
in
this
province
is
because
we
are
dealing
with
a
drug
supply,
a
street
drug
supply
not
first
and
foremost,
prescription
meds,
which
is
that
you
know
a
primary
cause
in
some
other
places
of
some
parts
of
the
united
states
in
our
province
at
this
time
in
our
province.
M
At
this
time,
the
spike
is
due
to
a
drug
supply
that
is
seeing
combinations
of
drugs
very
high
concentrations
of
fentanyl,
sometimes
mixed
with
benzodiazepines
that
are
a
direct
result,
and
so
honorable
speaker,
we
have
been
working
to
prevent
deaths.
We
rolled
out
within
a
couple
of
weeks
of
the
pen
of
the
pandemic
being
declared
a
new
risk
mitigation
program
in
order
to
get
safe,
prescription
medications
out
to
people
to
separate
them
from
the
illegal
drug
supply.
M
M
The
death
rate
has
gone
up,
is
5.6
percent
of
the
population
at
large,
and
that's
why
we
are
working
in
very
close
partnership
with
the
first
nations
health
authority,
honourable
speaker,
on
opening
on
renovating
and
rebuilding
six
indigenous
treatment.
Centers,
two
new
urban
indigenous
treatment,
centers
mental
health
and
wellness
programs,
land-based
healing
and
a
number
of
other
initiatives.
They're
part
of
the
continuum
of
care
that
we
need
to
be
building
and
that
we
are
building
at
the
same
time
as
we
try
and
keep
people
safe
from
overdose
and
prevent
more
people
from
tragically
dying.