►
From YouTube: NOVEMBER 25 2021 Question Period
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
2nd Session
42nd Parliament
C
The
forest
minister's
message
of
don't
worry
be
happy
is
not
going
over.
Well
with
these
families,
the
government
admits
their
politically
motivated
policies,
will
cost
thousands
of
jobs,
thousands
of
jobs,
and
yet
the
minister
will
not
release
the
details
to
these
families
if
their
jobs
will
be
lost,
and
now
we
have
a
doubling
of
the
unjust
and
punitive
duties
which
will
most
assuredly
cost
more
jobs
in
this
province.
D
Thank
you,
mr
speaker,
and
I
thank
the
member
for
the
question
and
I
do
want
to
acknowledge
the
guests
who
are
in
the
in
the
gallery
today
and
I
I
do
want
to
say
that
I
we
are
moving
ahead
with
revitalizing
the
forest
industry.
D
We
are
doing
it
in
a
way
that
not
only
is
going
to
protect
all
growth
in
this
province,
which
is
something
that
we've
all
agreed
on.
I
think
every
person
in
this
house
agreed
with
the
old
growth
strategic
review
that
was
tabled
in
this
legislature
last
year.
I
think
everybody
agreed
with
and
as
the
majority
of
the
province
agree,
that
we
need
to
do
something
and
we
need
to
ensure
that
we
are
protecting
those
rare
and
iconic
trees
from
irreversible
laws.
D
We
have
also
committed
to
working
with
indigenous
nations
another
part
of
our
visions
for
forestry,
and
we
are
committed
to
doing
that
and
we
are
committed
to
working
with
communities
with
workers
with
industry
to
bring
our
forest
industry
into
the
21st
century.
We
will
have
supports
in
place
for
workers.
We
will
have
supports
in
place
for
families.
We
will
have
supports
in
place
for
communities.
D
We
know
what
it's
like.
I
lived
through
the
times
when
the
former
member
was
in
the
government
and
there
was
thousands
and
thousands
of
jobs
lost
without
supports
in
place.
I
know
what
it's
like
to
live
in
a
forest
dependent
community.
I
know
what
it's
like
to
be
a
fourth
generation
in
a
family
where
four
generations
have
worked
in
the
forest
industry.
I
get
it.
I
understand
the
grief,
I
understand
the
concerns
we
will
be
there
for
people.
C
D
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
We
have
been
clear
that
when
we
talked
about
the
deferrals
we
are
looking
at
2.6
million
hectares
that
potentially
could
be
deferred.
We
are
talking
about
potential
job
losses.
If
every
area
was
to
be
deferred
in
the
new
year,
we
would
expect
about
four
thousand
five
hundred
jobs
to
be
lost.
D
B
D
D
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
We
have
been
very
clear
with
that
and
we
will
have
supports
in
place.
We
have
also
been
very
clear
with
that.
We
will
have
supports
in
place
for
workers,
we
will
have
supports
in
place
for
communities
for
industry
and
we
have
had
industry
reaching
out
to
us.
We
have
had
industry
who
have
said
to
us
that
we
understand
the
direction
that
you're
moving
in.
We
understand
your
vision,
we
agree.
It
is
time
to
bring
the
forest
industry
into
the
21st
century,
something
that
shouldn't
be.
E
Thanks
honorable
chair,
well,
if
the
minister
thinks
that
the
people
in
the
gallery
today
take
any
comfort
whatsoever
from
her
throwing
out
figures
and
trying
to
minimize
the
impact
of
her
government's
policies
in
the
absence
of
providing
any
documentation
or
analysis
whatsoever,
I've
got
news
for
they
don't
take
any
comfort
from
that.
They
will
leave
here
justifiably
concerned
more
concerned.
E
She
said
we're
fear-mongering!
Well,
you
know.
Yesterday
the
minister
wouldn't
even
stand
up
and
confirm
on
the
record
that
the
tariffs
were
being
doubled.
She
couldn't
bring
herself
to
provide
that
level
of
information.
Here's
something
else.
She
probably
doesn't
want
to
acknowledge
last
week,
an
analysis
from
the
rbc
from
the
capital
markets.
Here's
what
they
are
saying
about,
the
policies
that
she
and
her
government
are
embarking
upon
implications
of
british
columbia,
harvest
deferrals.
The
impact
is
clearly
negative
for
the
bc
forest
industry.
The
ongoing
forest
industry
exodus
will
only
accelerate.
E
We
suspect
that
sawmills
will
pull
back,
pull
back
on
local
investments,
given
the
uncertain
future
of
forestry
in
bc.
The
province
has
already
moved
from
a
low-cost
producer
to
by
far
the
highest
cost
region
in
north
america,
and
the
unfortunate
thing
is
that
less
lumber
will
make
it
more
challenging
to
grow
the
value-added
applications
such
as
mass
timber.
Given
that
lumber
costs
will
be
far
higher
than
other
regions
now,
are
they
fear-mongering
as
well?
That's
an
analysis
that
says
this
minister
and
this
government's
policies
are
putting
those
people
out
of
work.
D
Thank
you,
mr
speaker,
and
we
know
that
our
forests
have
a
special
place
in
it
for
people
in
british
columbia,
but
we
also
know
that
we
need
to
manage
our
forests
differently.
We
need
to
ensure
that
we
have
a
forest
industry
for
generations
to
come,
but
also
have
a
forest
industry
for
people.
Today.
We
need
to
ensure
that
we
are
protecting
our
forests,
those
that
are
at
risk
of
irreversible
loss.
We
have
to
ensure
we're
protecting
them.
We
have
to
ensure
we
have
supports
in
place
and
we
are
doing
all
of
that.
D
We
are
going
to
do
it
and
we
are
going
to
continue
to
do
it,
and
I
can
only
I
mean
I
can
continue
to
say
it,
but
we
are
also
acting
on
it.
We
are
also
working
with
indigenous
nations.
We
are
working
with
industry,
we
are
working
with
workers
we
are
going
to
reaching
out
to
communities.
We
are
doing
that
work
to
ensure
that
there
are
minimal
effects,
because
we
know
what
it
is
like.
We
know
what
it
is
like
to
lose
jobs
and
not
have
any
support.
D
B
E
Mr
speaker,
well
I
got
news
for
the
minister
if
she
doesn't
get
this
the
people
here
today.
They
don't
want
to
bridge
to
to
retirement.
They
want
to
work
in
the
forest
sector.
E
And
all
the
minister
can
say
is
you're
fear-mongering.
Well,
here's
here's
the
good
news!
One
of
the
flagship
forestry
companies
in
british
columbia
yesterday
announced
a
half
billion
dollar
investment.
It's
great
news,
except
they
made
the
investment
in
ontario
and
quebec.
Mr
speaker,
they
didn't
invest
in
bc.
They
made
the
investment
there
and
and
listen
to
the
numbers.
All
the
members
got
lots
of
things
to
say
you
should
go
out
and
talk
to
these
people
after
the
session.
E
One
of
british
columbia's
flagship
forest
companies
in
response
to
the
policies
introduced
and
advanced
by
this
government,
the
absence
of
a
softwood
lumber
agreement-
interforest
production
will
be
as
follows:
62
of
the
lumber
they
now
produce
will
be
from
their
u.s
operations.
20
will
be
from
eastern
canada
and
18
will
be
from
british
columbia.
That's
one
of
our
flagship
forest
companies.
Surely
the
minister
isn't
proud
of
those
numbers
and
that
trend
is
going
to
continue?
The
people
here
in
the
gallery
today
want
to
know
the
details.
D
D
D
G
Thank
you,
honourable
speaker.
Earlier
this
week
the
second
quarterly
report,
the
province's
finances,
was
released.
It
showed
a
deficit
that
wasn't
as
big
as
expected
and
a
growing
inflation
rate.
The
report
also
showed
that
so
far
this
year,
bc
has
brought
in
1.8
billion
from
the
property
transfer
tax.
G
That
means
that
each
time
a
house
is
purchased
in
bc,
a
slice
of
that
profits,
the
provincial
government
and
1.8
billion-
is
a
lot
of
money.
In
fact,
it's
more
than
what
has
been
raised
in
actual
property
taxes,
which
amounts
to
1.5
billion
bc,
is
in
a
housing
crisis,
and
a
large
part
of
that
is
due
to
the
fact
that
we
treat
housing
as
a
commodity
and
investment
housing
is
a
way
to
make
money
not
a
way
to
shelter,
families
and
communities.
G
Housing
prices
for
all
types
have
increased
by
17.1
percent
this
year,
so
a
home
that
would
have
sold
for
800
000
last
year
would
now
go
for
936
000
and
by
taking
a
cut
of
that
growth
in
the
property
transfer
tax,
the
government
is
profiting
from
the
housing
crisis
is
profiting
a
lot
through.
You,
honourable
speaker,
to
the
minister
of
finance.
G
H
H
Our
government
has
taken
a
number
of
steps
to
address
speculation
in
the
housing
market.
We
put
in
place
the
speculation
tax,
which
was
an
innovative
and
a
brand
new
tax,
actually
under
former
finance
minister
carol
james
who's
in
that
house.
Here
today,.
H
A
remarkable
and
critical
tax
to
say
housing
is
not
an
investment.
Housing
is
for
people
to
live
in.
I
notice
the
members
on
the
other
side
oppose
that
tax
continue
to
oppose
it
in
their
leadership
debates.
I
hope
they
don't
sit
on
this
side
to
bring
speculation
back
in.
In
the
same
way,
we
supported
interventions
to
to
force
the
other
government
when
they
were
in
power
to
limit
foreign
foreign
investment
in
our
housing
market
will
continue
those
measures.
It
is
a
risk
to
be
dependent
on
this.
H
I
know
the
member's
not
suggesting
we
get
rid
of
that
tax,
but
we're
trying
really
hard
to
shift
housing
into
a
situation
where
the
supply
that
we
have
in
the
province
meets
the
demand.
We
had
about
50
000
new
british
columbians
move
to
this
province,
because
the
opportunities
that
are
here
we
need
the
housing
to
support
them.
That's
why
we're
working
with
municipalities,
the
minister
for
municipal
affairs?
That's
why
bc
housing
has
2
billion
dollars
going
to
workforce
housing
from
this
government
as
we
build
the
housing
budget.
G
Thank
you
honorable
speaker,
and
thank
you
to
the
attorney
general
mister
for
housing.
For
that
response,
however,
what
I'm
asking
about
is
diversifying
provincial
revenues.
Well,
the
province
makes
billions
of
dollars.
One
in
three
renters
are
worried
about
making
next
month's
rent
bc
has
the
highest
rent
in
the
country.
Homelessness
is
on
the
rise.
It
takes
the
average
british
columbian
35
years
to
save
for
a
down
payment.
G
Racial
inequality
is
being
exacerbated,
we're
in
a
housing
crisis,
and
this
government
is
profiting
from
it
with
zeal.
It
looks
like
a
conflict
of
interest
to
have
a
government
making
billions
off
a
crisis.
They're
supposed
to
be
addressing
our
over-reliance
on
the
revenue
generated
from
the
unsustainable
housing
market
makes
us
vulnerable,
especially
as
we
use
it
to
fund
recovery
from
severe
weather
events
that
we're
facing
all
year.
Through
you,
honourable
speaker,
again
to
the
minister
of
finance,
we
need
to
have
the
confidence
that
this
government
is
taking
seriously
the
responsibility
to
diversify
bc's
economy.
H
H
H
We
need
to
have
the
housing
ready
for
them.
We
need
municipalities
to
be
building
the
supply.
That's
there
bc
housing's
partnering
with
them.
The
minister
for
municipal
affairs
is
working
with
them
to
expedite
approvals
processes,
and
it
is
working
the
member
suggesting
that
we're
not
acting
on
this.
I
don't
understand
it.
As
of
of
april
2017,
the
previous
government
had
about
2
000
units
of
affordable
housing
under
construction
and
development.
As
of
february
2021
19108
units,
our
government
has.
I
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
Well,
documents
obtained
under
foi
reveal
that
the
minister
of
citizen
services
undertook
a
complete
a
sham
of
a
consultation
into
hiding
information
from
the
public.
On
march
31st
2021,
the
minister
received
cabinet
approval
to
gut
freedom
of
information.
Her
caucus
briefing
notes
that
confirm
that
every
key
element
was
decided
before
consulting
with
the
privacy
commissioner,
before
consulting
with
the
public
and
before
consulting
with
the
indigenous
peoples.
I
J
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker,
and
I
want
to
thank
the
member
for
the
question.
So
the
the
freedom
of
information
and
privacy
of
protection
act
has
not
been
updated.
Since
2011.
the
legislation
is
outdated
and
it's
not
serving
the
needs
of
british
columbians.
We've
been
contemplating
changes
to
the
foipa
act
since
2017.
J
there's
been
consultation
ongoing
since
then,
2018
2019,
2020,
20
and
2021.
we've
been
listening
to
people.
It
is
our
role
as
government
to
listen
to.
What's
going
on
in
people's
lives,
we've
been
hearing
from
businesses
from
public
bodies,
from
universities,
from
health
authorities
from
the
tech
sector
that
the
current
legislation
is
out
of
date
and
that
it
wasn't
serving
the
needs.
It's
not
allowing
them
to
be
competitive,
and
it's
not
allowing.
J
Thank
you
and
it's
not
allowing
them
to
provide
the
services
that
people
have
come
to
count
on
during
covent
19..
We
had
to
implement
a
ministerial
order
so
that
people
were
able
to
face
time
with
their
doctors
or
so
that
we
could
use
google
classrooms.
It's
these
types
of
important
services
that
are
embedded
in
the
amendments
in
our
legislation
we
have
before
us
today
that
will
allow
us
to
continue
serving
british
colombians,
allow
them
to
keep
accessing
the
services
that
they
have
come
to
expect
and
that
they
rely
on.
Thank
you.
F
B
F
F
More
bureaucracy
and
bad
results
for
families
romizelle
april
kennedy
is
a
landed
immigrant
who
has
invested
her
family's
life
savings
into
children,
child
care,
centers
that
serve
over
250
parents
in
surrey,
and
she
says
these
are
her.
Words
quote
90
of
my
60
women
workforce
are
members
of
a
visible
minority.
F
The
ndp
is
not
only
risking
my
livelihood,
but
that
of
all
these
minority
women.
I
plan
to
open
new
spaces
for
over
400
families,
but
today
I
have
to
cancel
these
plans.
Suri
needs
these
spaces
and
it
is
shameful
that
families
will
be
hurt
by
these
unjustified
changes.
End
quote
so,
mr
speaker.
Will
the
minister
explain
why
she
is
threatening
the
child
care
spaces
of
these
250
families
and
tens
of
thousands
of
families
across
bc?.
K
K
Speaker,
families
in
my
community
have
a
long
commute
to
work,
but
because
there
were
so
few
child
care
spaces,
they
had
to
commute
for
child
care
and
then
commute
for
work.
That's
bad
for
me.
It's
bad
for
the
environment
and
it's
bad
for
quality
family
life.
Honourable
speaker,
since
2018
nearly
26
000
new
licensed
child
care
spaces.
K
A
Mr
speaker,
we
began
this
session
asking
about
how
600
frail
elderly
british
colombians
died
in
a
heat
dome
through
an
foi.
We
discovered
the
ndp
had
been
warned
about
the
dangers
we've
asked
about
the
delays
and
frustrations
the
residents
of
litton
are
feeling
as
they
try
to
rebuild
their
lives
after
a
devastating
fire,
and
we
hoped
that
the
government
would
have
learned
lessons
from
these
tragedies.
A
L
We
know
that
there
are
challenges
ahead
as
we
are
facing
climate
change
and
the
reality
of
that
and
the
impacts
and
we've
seen
that
in
fires
we've
seen
that
in
floods.
It's
one
of
the
reasons
why,
since
in
since
2017,
we
started
to
make
changes
to
do
just
that.
L
It's
why
we're
undergoing
the
largest
overhaul
of
the
emergency
protection
act
in
this
province
is
history,
since
it
was
introduced
in
1993
that
work
has
been
ongoing
for
more
than
a
year
and
will
continue
to
ongoing
with
legislation
expected
in
the
fall
of
this
year
or
sorry,
the
fall
of
next
year.
The
leader
has
raised
questions
about
alerting,
and
we
have
said
also
in
this
house.
There
are
going
to
be
significant
improvements
in
terms
of
our
capacity
online
for
next
summer.
L
There
is
additional
work
that
will
no
doubt
have
to
be
done,
and
it
may
well
involve
the
ability
of
all
members
of
this
house
to
participate
through
committees
to
be
to
to
to
work
on
some
of
those
on
some
of
those
issues.
A
Well,
thank
you
very
much
and
I
don't
think
there
is
a
single
person
in
this
house
or
probably
in
british
columbia.
That
would
disagree
that
british
columbians
are
resilient.
They've
come
together
in
times
of
crisis
that
include
wildfires.
They
include
a
heat,
dome
floods,
you
name
it
british
colombians
came
together.
A
I
have
no
idea
why
the
government
resists
the
offers
of
both
opposition
parties
to
step
up
and
behave
in
a
way
that
shows
british
columbians.
We
are
prepared
to
tackle
tough
issues
together
and
let's
look
at
why
that
might
be
even
more
important
to
members
on
the
government
side
because
in
the
mandate,
letters
to
every
single
cabinet
minister
on
that
side
of
the
house,
it
says-
and
I
quote
that
means
seeking
out,
fostering
and
championing
good
ideas,
regardless
of
their
origin.
A
End
quote:
those
are
the
words
of
the
premier
of
british
columbia
and
it's
not
just
floods,
and
the
minister
knows
that
when
we
think
about
reconciliation,
it
is
one
of
the
most
significant
challenges
of
our
time
and
all
of
us
were
devastated
devastated
when
we
learned
of
the
confirmation
of
unmarked
graves,
not
just
in
kamloops
but
across
our
province
and
country,
and
even
more
devastating,
when
we
think
about
what
we
could
do
together
in
british
columbia.
Today,
an
average
of
six
people
die
as
a
result
of
an
opioid
crisis.
A
The
leader
of
the
third
party
and
myself
months
ago
said
to
this
government.
We
want
to
work
with
you
across
party
lines.
How
on
earth
could
that
be
seen
in
a
negative
light?
The
premier
said
that
means
seeking
out,
fostering
and
championing
good
ideas,
regardless
of
their
origin.
Look
across
the
aisle
it's
time
to
show
british
columbians.
We
can
actually
do
business
differently,
we
can
be
better
together
and
we
must
be
so
to
the
deputy
premier.
A
When
will
the
government
recognize
the
importance
of
sending
that
message
to
british
columbians,
especially
at
times
like
this,
whether
it's
related
to
the
pathway
to
reconciliation
or
to
deal
with
the
opioid
crisis
in
british
columbia?
We
call
on
the
government
today,
both
opposition
parties.
We
want
to
work
across
party
lines
on
those
two
critical
issues
as
well
as
look
at
emergency
response.
L
House
leader,
thank
you,
honorable
honorable
speaker,
and
I
thank
the
member
for
that
question.
I
think
all
of
us
in
this
chamber
want
to
ensure
that
we
are
doing
everything
we
can
to
address
the
crises
that
we
face,
and
there
is
amazing
work
being
done
right
across
this
province
by
british
columbians
of
all
political
persuasions
from
all
walks
of
life,
and
there's
amazing
work
being
done
in
this
house
on
cross-party
lines
on
a
daily
basis.
There
is
significant
cooperation
that
takes
place.
L
In
touring
disaster
sites,
for
example,
whether
it
has
been
fires
or
in
floods,
we
have
brought
along
members
of
the
opposition,
and
I
I
I
there's
a
serious
question
the
member
raised
and
I
really
appreciate
it
but
I'll
also
remember.
I
will
also
remind
members
particularly
new
members
on
that
side
of
the
house.
There
was
a
time
when
you
guys
sat
on
this
side,
and
you
didn't
do
things
like
that.
B
L
Absolutely
there
are
opportunities
to
for
for,
for
cross-party
cooper
members.