►
From YouTube: MARCH 4 2021 Question Period
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
1st Session
42nd Parliament
A
A
Wendy
writes
for
her
mom,
and
this
is
what
she
said.
It
means-
and
I
quote
another
two
months
of
being
locked
in
their
facility
with
no
interaction
with
the
outside
world.
End
quote:
well,
I'm
sure
the
premier
and
everyone
in
this
place
can
understand
how
upsetting
a
last
minute
cancellation
of
a
second
vaccination
would
be.
A
C
Thank
you
very
much,
and
thank
you
very
much
to
the
honorable
member
for
her
question.
The
member
will
know-
and
she
acknowledged
that
I
think
in
her
question-
that
long-term
care
and
assisted
living
facilities
have
been
the
top
priority
in
our
immunization
plan.
It's
it's
extraordinary
that
97
of
staff
members
targeted
of
our
target,
92
percent
of
long-term
red
care
residents,
have
received
their
first
dose
and
you
can
see
the
impact
of
that.
We
went
from
42
active
outbreaks
in
long-term
care
homes
in
on
january
15
to
6.
C
Member
will
also
know
that
british
columbia,
and
indeed
all
jurisdictions
in
canada,
it
would
appear,
have
changed
their
position
with
respect
to
second
dose
and
the
immediacy
and
the
need
for
the
second
dose,
which
has
now
been
extended
to
16
weeks
and
and
so
that
decision,
which
has
been
put
in
place
this
week,
isn't
intended
to
provide
more
protection
for
people
across
the
province
to
allow
us
to
deal
with
the
pandemic
better.
I
agree
with
the
member
and
the
member
knows
this.
C
We've
talked
about
it
on
a
number
of
occasions,
personally,
the
impact
of
the
pandemic
on
people
in
long-term
care,
and
we
will
be
preceding
people
who
will
not
have
to
wait
for
changes
in
activity
and
access
and
long-term
care
based
on
the
science
and
the
evidence.
Provincial
health
officers
and
our
public
health
officer
team
have
made
decisions
about
vaccinations,
but
we
will.
We
will
now
be
moving
to
improve
access
for
seniors
and
long-term
care.
A
The
theme
of
the
question
today
is
about
the
fact
the
minister
just
said
that
we
will
be
moving
too
then
perhaps
there
should
be
a
discussion
with
the
very
people
that
are
still
expecting
a
second
dose,
some
of
the
most
frail
vulnerable
british
colombians,
and
that
situation
wasn't
the
only
one
if
this
government
is
going
to
move
to
a
new
protocol,
the
very
people
who
are
expecting
a
second
dose
and
they
were
expecting
a
second
dose
should
at
least
have
been
told
they
were
promised.
They
believed
it.
Let's
look
at
what
else
happened.
A
People
were
anxious.
They
were
waiting.
They
fully
expected
a
second
dose.
If
this
government
is
making
a
conscious
choice
to
move
away
from
that
protocol,
they
forgot
to
tell
the
very
people
who
believed
they
were
going
to
get
a
second
vaccination.
There
is
inconsistency
in
british
columbia.
Many
long-term
care
residents
have
received
a
second
dose.
There
is
confusion
and
inconsistency
on
tuesday
about
200
residents,
essential
visitors
and
staff
were
scheduled
to
receive
their
second
vaccination
at
orchard,
manor
and
hawthorne
park.
They
were
scheduled
to
receive
it.
A
If
the
government
is
moving
ahead
and
making
a
decision
to
extend
the
period
of
time,
the
very
people
the
most
vulnerable,
frail
british
colombians
should
at
least
have
been
told
and,
more
importantly,
this
government
should
have
delivered
on
the
promise
for
phase
one
residents.
Will
the
premier
commit
to
doing
that
today?.
C
Speaker,
honourable
speaker,
in
british
columbia
to
date
in
thousands
of
locations
around
british
columbia,
the
public
health
officials
have
delivered
doses
to
british
columbians
300
000
doses
roughly
today.
The
majority
of
those
doses,
of
course,
are
first
doses
and
all
of
the
people
who
receive
first
doses
will
receive
second
doses,
all
of
them
the
decision
that
was
taken
based
on
the
evidence,
evidence
that
was
presented
last
week
for
evidence
that
has
been
presented
to
british
columbians
evidence
that
was
announced
publicly
in
a
decision
that
was
announced
publicly
on
monday.
C
We're
doing
so
to
help
keep
people
safer,
given
the
supply
vaccine
in
canada,
we're
doing
so
to
ensure
that
people
who
are
suffering
from
other
aspects
of
the
pandemic
may
be
able
of
the
pandemic
and
then
the
effect
of
the
pandemic
on
all
aspects
of
our
life
in
british
columbia
can
receive
relief
sooner
and
we
are
doing
so
in
a
way
that
absolutely
protects
those
in
long-term
care
and
assisted
living.
And
so
I
think,
honorable
speaker.
C
I
know
that
the
member
is
correct
to
advocate
for
people
who
have
already
received
their
first
doses
and
to
make
that
case
on
their
behalf.
They
will
receive
second
doses,
but
to
proceed
with
this
and
to
allow
us
to
expand
our
immunization
campaign
based
on
the
science,
was
a
decision
taken
by
public
health
officials
and
a
decision
of
course
that
I
support
is
supported
by
the
national
advisory
committee
on
immunization,
supported
by
by
provincial
health
officers
in
every
jurisdiction
in
canada.
D
D
See
people
don't
understand
why
some
vulnerable
seniors,
who
are
expecting
to
receive
a
second
dose
had
that
promise
broken
kyla
coates
said
her.
Family
was
so
relieved
when
her
92
year
old
grandmother
who
suffers
from
dementia
was
given
her
first
shot
and
now
she's
upset
as
to
why
her
grandmother's
home
was
excluded
or
singled
out
from
the
completion
of
phase
one
after
she
authorized
for
42
days
consent.
D
C
Honorable
speaker,
I
I
would
say
this
that
I
think
the
priority
that
british
columbia
has
given
to
people,
especially
in
long-term
care
to
vulnerable
seniors
to
vulnerable
communities,
is
clear
from
the
data
we
release
every
single
day.
That
has
been
our
priority
from
the
beginning
and
that
effort
is
working.
Look
at
the
evidence
to
show
the
impact
that
has
had
and
the
quality
of
life
already
in
long-term
care
and
will
have
in
the
coming
weeks
as
we
make
changes
to
improve
that
quality
of
life
in
long-term
care.
C
We
are,
of
course,
adapting
through,
as
we
have
and
as
every
person
listening
to
us
has
in
the
course
of
this
pandemic,
our
plan
to
the
evidence.
That
is
what
I
think
everyone
would
expect
us
to
do.
The
idea
that
you
would
make
a
decision
to
extend
the
period
between
first
and
second
doses
and
then
delay
that
for
weeks
and
weeks
and
weeks
and
months,
if
that
is,
the
opposition's
plan,
is
not
the
correct
approach.
C
The
correct
approach
is
to
follow
the
science,
to
follow
the
guidance
of
public
health
to
make
decisions
that
are
in
the
interests
of
people.
The
interest
of
our
most
vulnerable
and
the
interests
of
people
around
the
province
and
that's
what
dr
bonnie
henry
has
done
with
this
decision,
and
I
encourage
the
member
to
support
it.
D
D
D
If
fraser
health
was
able
to
notify
me
by
text
to
make
an
appointment,
could
they
not
also
have
easily
sent
went
out
cancelling
it
end
quote:
does
the
premier
think
it's
fair
to
have
health
care
workers
arrive
to
an
empty
room
when
they
were
expecting
to
get
a
second
dose?
Can
he
promise
to
do
better
for
health
care
workers.
C
Honorable
speaker,
I
think
it's
fair
to
say
that
our
commitment
to
supporting
health
care
workers
is
a
matter
of
public
record.
The
member
will
know
in
this
house,
and
this
came
before
the
pandemic,
and
it
has
been
in
place
since
the
pandemic.
It's
the
reason
why
essential
health
care
workers
have
immunized
in
such
large
numbers,
56,
000,
frontline
healthcare
workers,
20
000,
community
workers,
39
000
workers
in
long-term
care,
thousands
more
in
assisted
living
and
in
the
community
and
throughout
british
columbia.
C
It
indicates
our
priority
in
immunization,
but
it's
not
just
an
immunization
when
we
implemented
the
single
site
model
in
bc
more
effectively
than
in
any
jurisdiction
in
canada
was
because
we
recognize
the
fundamental
inequality
that
healthcare
met.
Workers
had
faced
for
a
decade
and
a
decade
before
that,
as
a
result
of
policies
that
had
explicitly
targeted
them.
Of
course,
there
are
challenges
in
managing
an
immunization
campaign
of
this
nature
and,
of
course,
we
feel
for
everyone
involved.
C
I
wish
everyone
in
dc
would
have
all
their
shots
right
now,
but
we
are
dealing
with
the
vaccine
supply.
That's
provided
by
the
federal
government
with
the
limitations
that
our
federal
government
is
facing
and
we
are
delivering
that
with
based
on
the
evidence
directed
by
public
health
officials,
not
by
politicians
but
by
public
health
officials
in
order
to
keep
people
as
safe
as
possible
during
a
pandemic.
I
am
proud
of
those
healthcare
workers.
I
am
proud
to
be
on
the
government
that
has
always
backed
healthcare
workers
and
we're
going
to
continue
to
do.
E
Thank
you,
mr
speaker,
for
my
question
today.
I'd
like
to
start
with
a
quote
from
dr
alicia
sasser
modestino
who's,
a
public
prof
policy,
professor
at
northeastern
phd
in
economics,
from
harvard
university
this
week
on
cbc.
She
stated-
and
I
quote:
it's
no
secret-
that
unless
you
measure
something,
you
can't
really
talk
about
it
and
you
can't
fix
it
as
an
issue
throughout
our
society.
As
we
are
collecting
data,
there
is
bias
on
who
we
are
collecting
that
data
on
how
it
is
interpreted
and
who
gets
studied.
E
B
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker,
and
thank
you
to
the
member
for
the
thoughtful
question
we
as
a
government
and
the
parliamentary
secretary
who
is
leading
this
work
around
the
importance
of
data
to
inform
government
decisions
to
inform
our
policies
and
the
importance
of
disaggregated
race
data,
to
understand
our
blind
spots
and
to
understand
whether
the
initiatives
that
we
have
put
in
place
are
disadvantaging
a
particular
group
or
are
not
addressing
underlying
concerns.
B
So
I
agree
with
the
with
the
quote
that
what
we
measure
and
how
we
measure
it
is
critically
important
and
I'll
put
a
caveat
on
it.
B
We
asked
the
human
rights
commissioner
to
advise
us
about
how
best
to
move
forward
in
this
area,
and
she
cautioned
us-
and
this
is
the
second
second
and
third
sentence
of
her
executive
summary
by
making
systemic
inequalities
in
our
society
visible,
that
it
can
lead
to
positive
change.
Some
members
suggesting,
but
the
same
data
used
or
collected
poorly,
can
reinforce
stigmatization
of
communities
leading
to
individual
and
community
harm.
B
E
I
thank
the
the
attorney
general
for
that
thoughtful
response
and
I
I
appreciate
the
agreement
that
that,
with
that
statement
there
is
a
a
cost
to
delay.
There's
a
cost
to
to
every
moment
that
there's
a
delay
and
while
the
government
sits
on
the
sidelines
with
this
issue,
we
have
to
ask
the
question:
who
is
paying
that
cost?
E
E
E
E
Nine
months
has
passed
and
every
day
that's
passed
since
then
there
have
been
negative
impacts
on
on
british
columbians.
I
ask
my
question
again
through
your
honourable
speaker
to
the
premier.
What
substantial
progress
has
your
government
made
in
nine
months?
That
puts
us
in
a
different
place
than
when
that
letter
was
drafted
back
in
june.
B
Minister
of
health
or
attorney
general.
Thank
you
very
much
honorable
speaker
and
thank
you
again
to
the
member
for
drawing
attention
to
this
very
important
issue.
B
The
member
asks
what
steps
our
government
has
taken
any
quotes
human
rights,
commissioner,
who
didn't
exist
before
we
were
elected
into
government,
and
I
thank
the
member
and
the
agreement
that
we
had
that
reestablished
the
human
rights
commissioner.
So
she
could
give
us
advice
on
important
issues
like
this.
B
B
We
have
upcoming
anti-racism
public
education
programs.
I
I
understand
the
member
wants
to
move
quickly.
Everybody
wants
to
move
quickly
on
this,
but
I
also
want
to
emphasize
challenge
of
of
moving
quickly
by
yourself
and
the
importance
of
going
a
long
distance
in
partnership
which
is
slower
but
necessary
and
critical
in
this
in
this
realm
again
to
the
human
rights
commissioner,
as
experts
in
their
own
lives,
community
members
are
the
ones
best
equipped
to
identify
priorities
and
risks
in
potential
data
collection
projects.
B
F
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
Bc.
Teachers
and
education
staff
have
kept
our
schools
open
and
are
on
the
front
line
every
day,
they're
stressed
and
afraid,
but
this
government
has
failed
to
listen
for
their
calls
for
additional
layers
of
protection
in
our
schools
line.
Essential
workers
in
our
schools
need
to
know
if
they
are
being
prioritized
and
when
and
how
they
will
be
vaccinated.
F
C
Minister
of
health,
honorable
speaker,
we
were
informed,
of
course,
last
friday
of
the
decision
by
astrazeneca
by
the
government
of
canada
and
health,
canada
to
approve
astrazeneca
as
a
vaccine
as
our
third
vaccine
in
our
immunization
efforts
in
british
columbia
and
across
canada.
C
We
were
informed
earlier
this
week
or
on
the
weekend
in
fact,
that
some
astrazeneca
would
be
coming
next
week.
Initially
that
astrazeneca
will
be
used
to
deal
with
outbreaks
and
issues
around
the
province
that
require
immediate
attention
of
vaccination.
G
G
H
C
C
First,
that's
why,
in
long-term
care,
for
example,
more
than
70
000
people
have
received
their
first
immunizations
and
you've
seen
the
effect
of
that
we
said:
we'd
do
it,
we
did
it
well
with
respect
to
assisted
assisted
living
the
same.
We
said
we
did
it,
we
did
it,
we
do
it
and
we
did
it
with
healthcare
workers
and
our
acute
care
settings
the
same
for
indigenous
people
in
rural
and
remote
communities.
C
The
same
we
did
it
by
following
public
health
and
by
the
extraordinary
work
of
public
health
professionals
and
health
care
workers
around
our
province,
and
that
continues
now.
We
have
laid
out
our
age-based
approach
with
respect
to
pfizer
and
moderna,
meaning
that
we're
going
to
protect
those
most
vulnerable
first,
because
those
who
are
older
are
the
most
vulnerable
to
severe
outcomes
from
covet
19,
and
that
is
the
plan
we're
going
to
continue
to
do.
We
have
a
relatively
small
amount
of
astrazeneca
coming
into
the
province.
C
We
are
going
to
use
it
to
effectively
deal
with
situations
and
communities
in
initial
stages.
We
are,
of
course,
going
to
use
all
of
it
and
then
we're
going
to
present
a
plan.
That's
again
systematic
and
follows
the
advice
of
public
health
and
addresses
those
who
are
most
vulnerable
to
covet
19
and
addresses
those
who
are
most
likely
to
spread
covet
19..
That's
the
way
you
would
expect
a
a
competent,
thoughtful
province
and
immunization
campaign
based
on
the
people
who
do
immunization
campaigns
every
day.
C
I
Well,
thank
you.
Let's
be
clear,
this
is
not
about
being
distressed
disrespectful
to
any
health
leaders
at
all.
This
is
about
asking
questions
that
the
people
of
british
columbia
have
because
there
have
not
been
clear
direction
and
clear
answers
given
by
this
government.
All
we're
asking
for
is
a
clear
criteria,
an
order
that
the
vaccination
priorities
will
be
for
groups
in
british
columbia.
These
people
are
asking
we
all
know
the
pandemic's
been
here
for
a
year.
I
C
We
we
got
word
this
past
weekend
about
amount
of
vaccine
in
british
columbia.
Now
the
opposition
has
now
mentioned
hundreds
of
thousands
of
people
that
they
believe
should
get
priority.
Of
course,
we
have
right
now,
in
the
month
of
march,
we're
going
to
have
probably
around
60
000
doses
of
astrazeneca
doses
that
we
will
use,
of
course,
and
the
the
approach
here
is
to
lay
out
a
can
a
layout,
an
immunization
response,
that's
based
on
the
science
that
protects
those
most
vulnerable.
That
takes
the
most
action
we
possibly
can
to
reduce
community
spread.
C
That
is
the
approach
that
has
been
recommended
by
a
provincial
health
officer,
dr
bonnie
henry,
the
team
at
the
bccdc,
and
we're
going
to
continue
to
follow
that
approach
and
honorable
speaker,
one
can
play
politics
and
trying
to
pit
groups
against
groups.
I
don't
think
that's
where
british
columbians
are
at.
I
think
they
overwhelmingly
support
our
approach
to
protect
those
most
vulnerable.
First,
they
are
happy
that
people
in
long-term
care
have
received
doses
across
this
province.
More
than
90
percent.
Honorable
speaker
they're
happy
about
that,
even
if
it
means
they
don't
get
their
dose.
C
H
For
evansville
west,
mr
speaker,
the
the
problem
the
minister
doesn't
want
to
seem
to
acknowledge
in
fact
seems
to
take
a
great
offense
at
the
opposition.
Pointing
out
is
that
when
you
pull
the
rug
out
from
under
a
90
year
old
at
the
very
last
minute,
by
denying
them
the
vaccine,
they
were
promised
people
lose
confidence,
they
stop.
Trusting
you
stephanie
smith
of
the
bcg
eu,
says
this.
H
Our
members
work
in
corrections,
supportive
housing,
child
care.
They
want
to
know
where
their
where
their
turn,
when
their
turn
will
be.
Now
the
premier
has
said
nothing
and
nothing.
The
minister
has
said,
quite
frankly,
provides
anything
approaching
clarity,
despite
the
passage
of
time,
if
the
premier
and
the
minister
are
prepared
to
unilaterally
change
the
rules
on
vaccinations
for
a
90
year
old
in
a
long-term
care
facility,
how
can
a
child
care
worker
or
a
corrections
worker
have
any
faith
in
any
of
the
assurances
that
the
minister
purports
to
make
today.
C
Honorable
speaker,
I
I
I
guess,
the
honorable,
the
the
honorable
member
wishes
that
we
engage
in
immunization
politics
by
some
sort
of
political
popularity
contest.
That's
not
what's
happening
here.
We
are
protecting
those
that
are
most
vulnerable.
First,
we
have
we
laid
out
our
plan
on
january
17th
for
phase
one
on
when
we
announced
our
plan
on
march.
C
First
for
the
next
phase
of
immunizations,
we
made
significant
a
significant
change
between
first
and
second
dose,
one
that
was
supported
by
the
science
and
if
the
opposition
disagrees
with
the
national
advisory
committee
on
immunization,
if
the
opposition
disagrees
with
dr
bonnie
henry,
if
the
opposition
disagrees
with
dr
rake
augustus
and
if
the
the
opposition
disagrees
with
public
health
officials,
they
of
course
have
every
right
to
make
that
disagreement
clear.
But
you
can't
you
can
have
it
your
way.
You
can't
have
it
both
ways.
We
support
public
health.
C
We
support
an
immunization
campaign
that
protects
our
most
vulnerable.
First,
I'm
proud
of
the
officials
that
have
put
it
together
and
I'm
proud
of
the
effort
that's
been
made
by
everyone
in
british
columbia,
public
health
officials
and
the
people
of
bc
to
deal
with
this
pandemic
over
the
last
year.
And
I
know
they
will
show
the
same
courage
and
the
same
determination
in
the
coming.