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From YouTube: NOVEMBER 23 2021 Question Period
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
2nd Session
42nd Parliament
A
A
A
C
I
I
can
agree
with
the
member
that
things
have
gotten
more
difficult
since
covet
for
sure
they've,
certainly
they
certainly
have,
but
I
also
want
to
remind
the
member-
and
I
want
to
remind
everyone
in
this
house-
and
I
want
to
remind
british
columbians
that
when
they
sat
over
here,
they
gave
tax
breaks
to
the
wealthiest
2
percent
and
made
everyone
else
pay
for
it.
And
I
want
to
remind
everybody
what
that,
what
that
meant
for
ordinary
british
columbians?
What
that
meant
was
that
their
msp
health
premiums
doubled.
So
what
did
we
do?
C
Hundreds
of
dollars
in
people's
pockets,
mr
speaker,
icbc,
car
insurance
when
they
were
on
this
side
of
the
house,
went
up
30,
and
what
do
we
have
now?
We
we
actually
have
icbc
has
a
surplus,
mr
speaker,
and
not
only
that
it
was
able
to
give
rebates
checks,
not
one,
but.
C
A
Well,
thanks
very
much,
you
know
the
minister
can
stand
up
and
all
her
colleagues
can
clap,
but
there
are
families
today
in
british
columbia
who
want
an
answer
from
this
minister
and
this
government
about
exactly
how
they're
going
to
pay
for
their
groceries
tomorrow
morning.
That
is
on
this
government's
shoulders.
This
is
a
two-term
government
that
made
big
glossy
promises,
big
brochures
about
how
life
was
gonna,
get
better
and
they
have
simply
failed
to
deliver.
British
columbians
are
struggling
and
that
answer
just
doesn't
cut
it.
A
A
British
columbians
deserve
a
better
answer
than
that
and
what
they
deserve
is
a
plan.
They
deserve
support
and
help,
and
this
government
to
keep
the
promises
it
made
during
two
election
campaigns.
So
to
the
minister
again,
maybe
this
time
she
can
look
british
colombians
in
the
eye
and
tell
them
how
they're
going
to
pay
for
their
groceries
tomorrow.
B
D
Well,
thank
you
very
much,
mr
speaker.
Not
only
has
this
government
broken
its
promise
on
affordability,
but
they're
also
breaking
the
premier's
promise
to
not
download
costs
onto
small
businesses,
especially
those
that
can
least
afford
it.
Now
we're
still
in
the
pandemic,
but
in
39
days
39
days,
the
ndp
are
cutting
sick
leave,
funding
for
workers
and
businesses
and
they're
putting
the
entire
cost
on
businesses
that
are
again
hanging
by
a
thread.
D
Yesterday
in
the
q2
report,
the
government
confirmed
that
310
million
dollars
budgeted
for
sick
leave
will
be
unspent
and
returned
to
general
revenue.
So
my
question
to
the
minister
of
labor
is
this:
instead
of
letting
this
310
million
dollar
sick
pay
funding
expire
in
39
days,
will
the
labor
minister
today
commit
to
extending
government
paid
sick
leave
so
that
it
doesn't
expire
at
the
end
of
the
year?.
B
C
Thank
you
very
much,
mr
speaker,
and
I
think
the
fact
that
in
my
q2
report
yesterday,
what
we
saw
around
the
the
sick
pay
was
the
fact
that
british
columbians
recognize
that
you
take
sick
time
only
when
you
need
it
and
we
prepared,
as
part
of
our
pandemic
contingencies,
to
make
sure
that
we
had
resources
available
to
support
a
british
columbians
as
we
go
through
covid,
making
sure
that
that
we
had
the
the
resources
to
make
sure
that
there
was
support
for
so
that
workers
didn't
have
to
go
to
work
sick,
and
I
think
everyone
in
this
house
agrees
how
important
that
is.
C
But
what
we
saw,
mr
speaker,
was
that
british
columbians
recognize
that
you,
you
only
take
sick
time
when
you
need
it,
and
I
think
we
can
all
rest
be
comforted
by
the
fact
that
workers
know
what
they
need
to
do
in
order
to
keep
themselves
and
to
keep
their
colleagues
and
to
keep
their
customers
safe.
D
Well,
we
agreed
that
workers
shouldn't
have
to
go
to
to
work
if
they're
sick,
that's
why
we
supported
the
sick,
the
sick
leave
plan,
but
we're
also
going
to
ensure
that
the
premier
and
that
this
government
are
held
accountable
for
the
commitments
that
were
made
to
ensuring
that
the
the
the
costs
of
sick
leave
were
not
going
to
be
thrown
entirely
onto
the
shoulders
of
of
small
businesses
in
this
province
again
in
only
39
days,
employer
paid
sick
leave
comes
into
effect,
and
workers
and
employees
still
have
absolutely
no
idea
what
will
be
implemented.
D
The
premier's
specific
commitment
around
this
was
crystal
clear.
He
said,
and
I
quote,
we're
looking
at
how
we
can
implement
sick
pay
in
a
seamless
way
without
putting
more
burden
on
business
at
a
time
when
business
can
least
afford
it.
End
quote,
mr
speaker:
government
should
do
what
what
we've
been
we've
been
doing.
Through
this
session.
There's
there's
been
an
extension
of
a
variety
of
covid
measures.
D
The
government
should
be
taking
the
opportunity
immediately
to
eliminate
all
uncertainty
and
and
concern
and
anxiety
out
there
with
with
small
businesses
and
workers,
and
they
should
roll
over
this
this
program.
They
should
roll
over
the
310
million
dollars
available
and
continue
the
current
government
funded
program
until
businesses
in
this
province
are
fully
recovered.
So
again,
very
simple
question.
Looking
for
a
straightforward
answer
from
the
labor
minister,
will
the
labor
minister
extend
the
310
million
dollars
for
government
paid
sick
leave
that
fail,
if
it
isn't
extended,
is
going
to
expire
in
only
39
days?.
E
E
B
E
B
E
E
This
is,
mr
speaker,
mr
speaker.
There
is
an
economic
cost
of
her
not
having
paid
sick
leave
in
place.
Mr
speaker
and
the
mr
speaker,
the
member
seniors,
advocate
in
her
report
last
two
three
weeks
ago.
I
urge
all
of
you
to
read
that,
mr
speaker,
she
said
that
the
workers,
because
they
didn't,
have
paid
sick
leave,
they
came
to
work,
sick
and
then
they,
mr
speaker,
spread
there
to
the
patients
and
to
the
workers.
Therefore,
mr
speaker,
many
deaths,
so
there's
a
human
cost.
E
E
F
Thank
you.
Honorable
speaker,
coastal
gas
link
has
been
found
to
have
violated
multiple
environmental
requirements
over
the
past
year
and
a
half
over
the
course
of
constructing
their
natural
gas
pipeline
in
wet
soweton
territory.
Cgl's
failures
to
comply
with
environmental
requirements
have
resulted
in
damaged
habitat
eroded,
waterways
and
the
contamination
of
watersheds
and
pollutants
with
pollutants.
F
F
Coastal
gas
link
have
failed
to
reclaim
and
restore
the
waterways
that
they
have
polluted.
The
company's
infractions
have
impacted
indigenous
rights
as
well.
In
july,
coastal
gaslink
was
issued
a
warning
after
wrongly
blocking
a
wet
soweton
woman
from
attempting
to
monitor
pipeline
construction
in
her
territory.
F
My
question,
honourable
speaker,
is
to
the
minister
of
environment
and
climate
change.
On
the
one
hand,
the
rcmp
have
eagerly
enforced
an
injunction
on
behalf
of
cgl
and
this
government's
fossil
fuel
expanding
agenda
and,
at
the
same
time,
there
have
been
multiple
instances
of
environmental
violations
on
the
cgl
pipeline.
Since
construction
began
with
little
or
no
enforcement,
what
will
the
minister
do
to
ensure
timely
enforcement
of
these
environmental
violations?.
G
Thank
you
very
much
honorable
speaker
and
thank
you
to
the
member
for
the
question.
Coastal
gaslink
as
part
of
its
environmental
assessment.
Certificate
has
to
abide
by
a
number
of
conditions
has
to
continue
to
abide
by
those
conditions,
staff
and
inspectors
that
are
part
of
the
environmental
assessment
office
have
regularly
conducted
inspections.
G
They
have
issued
orders,
they
have
issued
directions
when
they
found
those
directions
were
not
being
complied
with.
They
upped
the
level
of
inspection
and
they
have
issued
more
orders
and
are
now
going
through
the
process
of
considering
the
application
of
administrative
penalties.
To
make
the
point,
we
take
the
conditions
on
the
certificate
seriously.
I
continue
to
be
briefed
by
staff,
but
I
don't
take
over
the
role
of
staff
and
ensuring
that
an
orderly
application
of
orders
and
ultimately
penalties
if
required,
are
administered.
F
F
This
advocacy
abdication
extends
to
basic
charter
rights
too.
Last
week,
two
journalists
were
illegally
arrested
when
reporting
in
wet
soweton
territory.
They
were
jailed
for
the
entire
weekend
and
only
released
yesterday,
we're
now
learning
that
the
rcmp
had
been
tracking
these
specific
journalists,
which
makes
it
very
hard
to
understand
how
the
police
were
saying.
We
didn't
know
that
they
were
journalists
when
we
arrested
them.
F
Yesterday,
more
than
40
news
outlets
and
journalists
signed
a
letter
directed
to
the
minister
of
public
safety
of
this
house,
calling
on
him
to
uphold
the
rule
of
law
and
ensure
that
police
actions
are
not
infringing
on
press
freedom.
This
isn't
the
first
time
this
government
has
restricted
press
freedom.
F
He
has
said
that
press
freedom
is
important,
and
yet
what
we
have
seen
in
this
province
this
year
tells
a
very
different
story.
What
will
he
do
to
ensure
that
the
charter
protected
freedom
of
the
press
recently
reiterated
by
justice
thompson
in
a
bc?
Supreme
court
decision
is
upheld
in
this
province.
H
Thank
you,
honourable
speaker,
and
I
thank
the
member
for
for
the
other
question,
and
I
have
to
take
issue
with
a
couple
of
points.
The
first
being
government
has
not
infringed
on
freedom
of
the
press.
Freedom
of
the
press
is
a
fundamental
foundation
of
our
democratic
system
in
this
province
and
in
this
country,
and
continues
to
be
so,
and
we
take
that
very
seriously.
H
Nor
should
it
be
what
I
can
also
tell
the
the
member
that,
when
it
came
to
the
issue
of
the
the
journalists
that
went
in
the
appropriate
in
the
appropriate
place
in
terms
of
the
of
the
court
who
issued
a
a
decision
around
bail
and
the
undertaking
of
which
the
the
journalists
agreed
to
do,
and
they
were
subsequently
released.
So
in
other
words,
so
in
other
words,
the
judicial
process
worked
appropriately
and
that's
as
it
should
be
not
being
directed
by
politicians.
I
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
So
weeks
ago
weeks
ago,
the
premier
said,
businesses
impacted
by
the
northern
circuit.
Breaker
quote
still
have
opportunities
to
access.
Provincial
programs,
end
quote,
but
here's
the
problem.
There
are
no
programs
right
now,
there's
nothing
for
them.
They
all
closed
once
again
from
this
government,
false
hope
for
people
and
businesses
that
are
struggling
and
the
regional
health
restrictions.
The
circuit
breaker,
that's
been
announced
has
now
been
extended
indefinitely.
I
That
means
no
hope
for
many.
The
premier
said
that
this
minister
of
jobs
would
be
quoting
quote.
Observing
the
activities
in
the
region.
End
quote:
what
does
that
mean?
We
need
people
to
not
be
observing.
We
need
this
minister
to
be
doing
his
job.
We
need
this
minister
to
be
support,
supporting
businesses
who
need
help
now.
So
a
very
simple
question
to
the
minister:
will
the
minister
of
jobs
commit
today
to
new
circuit,
breaker
programs
for
northern
businesses
that
are
struggling.
J
The
members
know,
because
we
can
discuss
yesterday
as
well
part
of
another
debate
that
the
measures
that
have
been
put
in
place
in
northern
health
are
similar
to
ones
that
were
put
into
some
of
the
fraser
valley
as
well,
and
the
major
restriction
that's
been
put
in
place.
Right
now
is
a
liquor
can't
be
served
past
10
o'clock,
restaurants
can
continue
to
function.
Restaurants
can
have
continue
to
have
people
visiting
them.
J
Restaurants
can
continue
to
serve
food
past
10
o'clock,
but
they
cannot
serve
alcohol
past
time,
and
so
we
appreciate
that
has
some
impacts,
but
we've
also
offseted
that
impact
by
reducing
liquor,
pricing
for
businesses
by
twenty
percent,
so
they're
making
more
money
on
liquor
sales
now
than
they
have
ever
made.
This
and
they've
been
advocating
for
that
for
10
years
on
our
speaker.
Members
on
the
other
side
will
know
because
they
knocked
on
their
doors
several
times
asking
for
that,
and
so
we
have
lowered
their
costs.
J
But
we
know
because
of
the
pandemic,
and
the
high
case
counts
and
the
loss
of
life
that
measures
were
needed
to
be
put
in
place,
and
that's
why
there
are.
There
are
moderate
measures,
and
certainly
our
hope
is
that
that
the
vaccination
rates
continue
to
rise.
That
cases
continue
to
fall
so
that
we
can
relieve
those
moderate
measures
so
that
people
can
return
to
a
normal
which
they're
comfortable
with.
I
Thank
you,
so
I'm
trying
to
figure
out
and
figure
out
why
this
minister
wants
to
treat
different
parts
of
the
province
differently.
Last
time
there
was
a
circuit
breaker
announced
we
made
sure
unanimously
in
this
house.
We
all
got
together
to
make
sure
there
were
programs
and
supports
for
struggling
employers
and
families.
I
It
was
very
easy
to
do.
It
was
easy
to
do
then.
Now
we've
announced
another
circuit
breaker
that
is
hurting
families
and
employers,
and
this
minister
is
sitting
on
his
hands,
he's
doing
nothing
to
help
them
even
yesterday
in
this
house
he
quoted
this
is
certainly
not
a
circuit.
Breaker
end
quote:
it's
almost
like
he's
trying
to
play
a
word
game
to
avoid
helping
people,
because
exactly
what
dr
henry
said
when
she
announced
these
restrictions-
and
I
quote
it's
a
circuit
breaker
so
is
dr
henry
right.
Is
it
a
circuit?
Breaker
is
the
minister
right?
I
This
is
not
a
circuit
breaker,
it
doesn't
matter
the
employers
and
the
families
are
hurting
and
need
help.
Now,
even
arts
groups
up
in
the
region
right
now
are
seeing
the
curtain
drop
and
they're
losing
and
losing
another
part
of
a
busy
time
of
year
for
them
where
they
could
be
operating
to
make
it
worse
to
make
it
worse.
The
government
has
said
now,
there's
no
end
date
for
this
circuit.
Breaker,
no
hope
for
these
people.
The
government
has
an
opportunity.
This
minister
of
jobs
has
an
opportunity
today
to
give
hope
to
these
struggling
people.
J
Minister
of
jobs,
thank
you,
honorable,
speaker
and,
and
I'd
remind
the
member
that
we
have
provided
the
highest
per
capita
supports
for
people
and
businesses
in
the
entire
country
and.
J
Minister,
speaker
I'll
say
it
again:
we
have
provided
the
highest
per
capita
support
for
people
in
business
in
the
country.
In
fact,
the
recent
budget
had
additional
supports
by
the
way
the
members
didn't
support.
It
didn't
support
the
additional
measures
that
we
put
in
place,
which
was
a
shame
I
don't
know
speaker
and
the
member
also
is
not
clear
when
he
refers
to
the
circuit
breaker,
which
we
put
significant
dollars
on
the
table
was
when
businesses
were
members.
J
It
was
at
a
time
when
businesses
were
shut
down.
All
speaker,
businesses
couldn't
serve
patrons
inside
their
establishment.
They
had
only
takeout,
they
couldn't
serve
any
alcohol,
we
had
complete
shutdowns
and
that's
when
the
the
historic
amount
of
dollars,
the
528
million
dollars,
that
we
supported
22
million
dollars
in
grants
directly
going
into
the
pockets
of
businesses
in
their
communities
on
our
speaker
and
so
to
compare
the
circuit
breaker.
J
J
J
Thank
you
honorable
speaker,
as
I
already
have
highlighted
I'll,
say
it
again.
The
measures
that
we've
put
in
place,
the
the
measures
that
the
provincial
health
office
has
put
in
place
are
very
moderate
measures
to
ensure
that
case
counts
come
down.
The
core
point
of
what's
being
done,
is
to
save
lives
on
our
speaker,
businesses.
J
J
K
Thank
you,
mr
speaker,
in
the
gallery
today
are
hard-working
men
and
women
of
the
forest
sector
and
they
represent
tens
of
thousands
of
workers
across
this
province.
Amanda
short
read,
who
co-owns
west
prologuing,
writes
that
the
minister's
deferral
announcement
has
had
immediate
consequences,
and
I
quote
much
to
our
shock
and
dismay.
We
found
out
that
one
and
a
half
weeks
ago
that
much
of
our
winter
plan
has
now
been
deleted.
End
quote:
I've
received
hundreds
of
emails
from
across
the
province.
As
I
know,
the
minister
has
as
well
of
similar
stories.
K
L
L
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
We
do
have
a
vision
for
force
in
this
province
and
our
vision
ensures
that
workers
and
communities
benefit
from
secure
innovative
forestry
jobs
for
generations
to
come.
I
want
to
make
sure
that
we
have
a
forest
industry
that
is
sustainable
resilient
and
that
our
kids
and
grandkids
can
not
only
work
in
today
if
they
so
choose,
but
they
can
work
in
it
for
generations
to
come
and
we
have
to
make
changes
in
the
forest
industry,
but
we
will
be
there
to
support
families
who
are
in
forestry,
dependent
communities.
K
Thank
you,
honourable
chair,
and
according
to
stats,
canada,
more
than
ten
thousand
or
about
ten
thousand
force,
job
gains
between
2009
and
2017
and
they've
all
disappeared.
Now,
under
this
government.
K
B
K
13
families,
13
families
that
rely
on
west
pro
logging
and
as
amanda
says,
and
I
quote
the
way
in
which
this
has
been
handled
and
implemented
has
been
irresponsible,
hasty
and,
quite
frankly,
shady.
I
don't
trust
that
you
will
be
there
to
help
anyone.
I'm
sad.
I'm
scared,
I'm
worried
for
my
family
and
for
the
families
that
rely
on
us
end
quote,
and
I
can
tell
you,
mr
speaker,
I
doubt
there's
very
many
people
on
that
side
of
of
the
house
that
have
ever
signed
the
front
side
of
a
paycheck.
K
L
L
Unlike
the
other
side
of
this,
have
the
house
here
we
will
be
supporting
members
and
we
will
be
supporting
workers.
We
will
be
supporting
communities
that
will
be
impacted
by
these
potential
deferrals
deferrals
that
have
not
been
made.
Yet
we
will
have
a
set
of
comprehensive
suite
of
supports
for
people,
including
connecting
workers
with
with
other
employment
opportunities,
providing
education
and
training
opportunities.
L
Funding
those
people
that
are
interested
in
bridging
to
retirement,
which
was
widely
widely
oversubscribed.
B
B
L
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
Yes,
we
know
that
there
is
interest
in
bridging
to
retirement
because
it
was
well
subscribed
in
2019
when
we
did
the
same
program
when
there
was
a
turn
in
the
industry,
but
we
are
also
supporting
new
infrastructure
projects
and
innovation
in
rural
communities.
So
there
are
opportunities
for
employment.
We
are
going
to
work
in
collaboration
with
with
local
communities,
with
workers
for
with
contractors
and
with
industry
to
ensure
we
get
this
right,
because
this
is
critical
for
jobs
today,
but
also
for
jobs
in
the
future.