►
From YouTube: APRIL 13 2021 Question Period
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
2nd Session
42nd Parliament
C
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
Well
today
there
are
4
400
fewer
businesses
in
vancouver,
since
the
onset
of
the
pandemic
and
cfib
actually
confirms
that
tens
of
thousands
more
businesses
are
at
risk
of
closing
their
doors.
This
government
has
botched
the
small
and
medium-sized
business
grant
program
support
for
the
struggling
restaurant
industry.
After
another
surprise,
this
government
gave
them
is
not
new
money
and
it
will
not
cover
expenses,
much
less,
provide
support
for
displaced
employees,
and
now
this
government
is
placing
a
speculation
tax
on
the
air
on
the
air
above
already
struggling
small
businesses.
D
Honorable
premier,
thank
you,
ronald
speaker
and
I'll
just
correct
some
of
the
comments
in
the
members
preamble.
She
made
reference
to
the
canadian
federation
of
independent
business
and
took
a
quote
and
I'll
throw
one
back.
Honorable
speaker,
the
head
of
cfib,
said
just
last
week:
quote:
bc
stands
out
among
provinces
in
keeping
our
small
medium
enterprises
open.
The
devastation
that
I
hear
from
my
colleagues
in
ontario
is
heartbreaking,
so
the
very
quote
that
the
member
used
is
contradicted
by
the
very
people
that
she
quoted.
D
D
I
appreciate
the
leader
of
the
opposition
has
limited
material
to
work
with
in
these
difficult
times,
but
to
quote
people
that
say
we're
doing
a
good
job
on
on
one
day
and
finding
a
negative
quote.
The
other
is
not
helping
us
get
through
this
together.
We're
focused
on
three
key
priorities,
as
I
said:
people,
communities
and
businesses,
and
we're
going
to
keep
doing
that
with
respect
to
the
circuit
breaker
program
that
was
announced
in
lightning
speed.
I
know
the
member
the
minister
will
get.
The
minister
will
get
up
shortly.
D
C
Thank
you
very
much,
and
the
premier
needs
to
actually
stop
and
think
about
what
he
just
said.
He
provides
cold
comfort
to
the
hundreds
of
business
owners
across
british
columbia
that
are
struggling
today
and
the
ones
that
have
been
forced
to
close
their
doors.
So
he
can
trade
quotes
all
he
wants,
but
the
fact
of
the
matter
remains,
businesses
have
closed.
Hundreds
more
are
at
risk
of
closing.
And
what
does
this
premier
do?
He
taxes
the
air
above
their
heads?
C
Let's
look
at
another
quote,
since
the
premier
seems
interested
in
talking
about
them.
Let's
see
what
the
vancouver
bia
had
to
say
about
this
issue
regarding
taxing
the
air,
the
empty
air
above
businesses,
including
restaurants,
here's
what
they
had
to
say-
and
I
quote,
the
owners
of
businesses
specifically
zoned
that
are
affected
by
this
new
tax-
are
on
the
brink
of
closing
their
doors
permanently.
C
C
They
also
went
on
to
say
this
to
the
premier.
This
tax
is
unfair.
It
is
unjustifiable,
justifiable
and
completely
wrong,
so
the
premier
can
quote
all
the
quotes
he
wants
here
are
the
facts.
Businesses
are
closing,
more,
are
at
risk
of
closing
and
he
decided
to
implement
a
tax
on
the
air
above
these
businesses.
E
E
It's
also
a
fact,
mr
speaker,
that
a
small
number,
a
very
small
number
of
commercial
landlords,
have
reclassified
their
properties
to
either
begin
the
development
process
or
to
avoid
paying
commercial
property
taxes
and
those
same
commercial
landlords.
Mr
speaker,
they're,
now
trying
to
pass
the
cost
on
to
their
tenants.
E
E
B
F
This
government
has
bungled
and
dithered
with
this
challenge,
for
so
many
of
these
small
businesses
on
this
unfair
tax
on
air.
Many
of
these
businesses
are
in
the
ridings
for
the
member
from
vancouver
falls.
Creek
the
member
from
vancouver
west
end
the
member
from
vancouver
fairview,
the
member
from
vancouver
point
grey,
as
well
as
my
riding,
the
member
from
vancouver
langara.
F
They
found
out
two
months
ago
that
there
would
be
this
additional
speculation
tax
on
air,
and
this
is
what
the
government
had
to
say.
They
said
we
expect
quote
the
number
of
affected
properties
to
be
quite
low.
That's
what
the
minister
just
said:
65
well,
there's
been
others
in
the
community.
Of
course
those
who've
been
advising
many
small
businesses
across
vancouver.
That
say,
this
number
is
actually
in
the
hundreds
over
400
400,
in
fact,
but
regardless
this
government
has
failed
small
business
owners
and
done
this
in
the
middle
of
a
pandemic.
F
E
Thank
you
very
much,
mr
speaker.
It
would
appear
that
the
opposition
has
a
hard
time
to
pivot.
They
can't
seem
to
change
their
questions,
given
that
we've
provided
them
with
an
answer
that
we
are
bringing
in
a
fix
for
the
very
few
number
of
properties
where
this
is
a
an
issue.
Now
I
want
to
remind
the
members
opposite
that
there
was
a
two-year
exemption
for
vacant
land
that
expired
this
year
and
many
of
those
with
split
assessments,
there's
about
190
of
those
properties,
are
moving
into
redevelopment.
This
is
a
good
thing.
E
This
is
a
good
thing,
honorable
member,
because
we
want
to
make
sure
that
we
have
the
ability
to
build
more
housing
for
people.
Residential
zoning
should
be
to
build
housing.
We
need
more
housing
in
this
province
and
that's
what
this
is
about.
Making
sure
that
those
who
have
the
capacity
to
redevelop
are
doing
it.
Honorable
speaker-
and
this
is
making
that
happen-
absolutely
there
are
a
number
of
a
very
small
number
less
than
65.
I
would,
I
would
suggest,
because
many
of
those
65
are
in
the
redevelopment
process
which
gives
them
an
exemption.
E
Mr
speaker,
those
that
are
being
redeveloped
have
an
exemption
opportunity
and
we're
going
to
be
working
with
those
landlords
to
make
sure
they're
taking
advantage
of
the
exemption.
Unfortunately,
there
are
a
number
of
landlords.
There
are
a
number
of
landlords
they're,
making
a
different
choice,
they're
choosing
to
pass
on
the
speculation
vacancy
tax
to
their
tenant.
We
think
that's
wrong,
we're
developing
a
fix.
It
will
be
imminent
and
making
sure
that
those
businesses
do
not
have
to
pay
that
property
tax.
F
F
F
F
The
member
from
kamloops
south
thompson
has
brought
up
repeatedly
in
this
house
a
private
member's
bill
that
is
well
considered
to
deal
with
the
split
cast
assessment
so
that
businesses
are
not
being
forced
to
pay.
What
is
a
very
unfair
tax
that
is
driving
many
of
these
businesses
out
of
business.
This
is
before
the
pandemic.
F
E
You
very
much,
mr
speaker.
Well.
First
of
all,
I
want
to
point
out
that
the
speculation
of
vacancy
tax
has
brought
forward
18
000
homes
into
being
the
opposition
might
might
choose
to
ignore
that,
but
that
has
had
real
effect
and
real
impact
for
british
columbians.
I
also
want
to
point
out,
mr
speaker,
that
the
the
member
referred
to
his
colleagues
private
members
bill.
E
Well
that
doesn't
address
the
situation
at
all
because
it
doesn't
deal
with
with
residential
class
at
all,
so
it
wouldn't
it
wouldn't
be
a
fix
at
all
and,
as
I've
said
previously,
as
and
as
I've
said
previously,
mr
speaker,
we
are
dealing
with
the
issue
that
is
at
hand.
It
will
be
resolved.
G
Thank
you
honorable
speaker
for
months,
we've
been
asking
this
government
about
data
and
asking
them
to
be
more
transparent
with
data
as
a
way
to
ensure
that
the
public
understands
the
reasons
behind
health
orders
and
recommendations,
and
can
also
understand
what
is
informing
government
decision
making
today
the
toronto
star
headline
captures
this
issue.
Rather
starkly
quote
as
whistler
launches
vaccination
push
experts
say,
bc
has
a
covid19
data
problem.
G
The
article
points
out
that
bc
quote
has
generally
stood
out
as
a
jurisdiction
that
is
particularly
poor
at
data
transparency
in
ontario
data
collection
is
informing
vaccine
rollout
in
a
more
transparent
way,
with
clear
communication
from
government
about
what
is
informing
their
decisions.
As
john
paul
susie
of
covet
19
data
open
data,
canada,
open
data
working
group
points
out
far
from
promoting
stigma
for
these
neighborhoods.
G
What
it's
done
is
actually
pointed
out:
deficiencies
and
inequalities.
It
drives
the
conversation
around
how
policy
can
change
to
ameliorate
these
existing
inequalities,
we're
in
the
third
wave
honorable
speaker
with
variants
of
concern
spreading
throughout
the
province
and
decisions
about
vaccine
rollout
are
shifting,
as
has
happened
with
whisser.
I
have
no
doubt
that
data
is
informing
the
decisions
here,
but
for
the
most
part,
british
columbians
are
left
to
connect
the
dots
themselves
and
questions
are
being
asked
about
other
regions
and
neighborhoods
where
caseloads
are
high
and
decisions
aren't
shifting.
H
Thank
you
very
much,
honorable
speaker,
thank
you
to
the
member
for
her
question.
The
member
will
know
she
refers
to
variance
of
concern
that
we
have
done
more
genomic
testing
in
bc
than
any
other
jurisdiction
in
north
america.
The
reason
is
because
clearly,
variants
of
concern
are
driving
and
helping
to
drive
the
current
third
wave
of
the
kobit-19
pandemic.
H
Last
thursday,
dr
henry
briefed
british
colombians,
the
media
british
columbians
everyone
at
length
on
this
question.
There
will
be
further
a
further
briefing
this
thursday,
with
more
detailed
information
about
variants
of
concern
about
where
we
stand
in
the
pandemic.
G
Thank
you
honorable
speaker.
I
expect
part
of
the
reason
why
bc
is
doing
more
genomic.
Testing
of
variance
of
concern
is
because
we
have
more
variance
of
concern
than
almost
anywhere
else,
but
let's
consider
honorable
speaker
how
bc
has
handled
variants
of
concerns.
G
Unlike
other
provinces,
there
was
initially
a
significant
lag
in
reporting
on
variants
of
concern,
as
the
faster
pcr
results
were
not
released,
meaning
that
the
variant
data
was
only
released
after
genomic
testing.
There
has
been
a
shift
to
this.
Last
week
the
provincial
health
officer
announced
that
quote.
We
will
no
longer
routinely
genome
sequence
for
confirmation,
we'll
just
assume
that
the
those
screen
positives
will
be
the
variants.
G
There
is
confusion
around
this
honorable
speaker,
and
so
my
question,
for
you
again,
is
to
the
minister
of
health.
Can
the
minister
please
explain
exactly
what
the
process
is
and
will
be
in
bc
for
testing
variants,
whether
bc
will
be
screening
all
positives
for
variants,
and
how
will
this
data
be
shared
with
the
public.
H
Well,
honorable,
speaker,
with
respect
to
the
latter,
there
was
a
detailed
briefing.
Last
thursday
there
will
be
a
detailed
briefing
this
thursday,
led
by
the
extraordinary
epidemiological
team
at
the
bc
center
for
disease
control
and
our
extraordinary
provincial
health
officer,
dr
bonnie
henry
she'll,
take
the
member
and
all
british
columbians
through
the
most
up-to-date
information
about
the
copa
19
pandemic,
as
she's
done
from
the
beginning
of
the
pandemic.
The
member
is
quite
wrong
with
respect
to
genomic
testing
in
bc.
It
may
make
a
good
line
in
question
period,
but
that's
not
the
case.
I
J
You
honorable
speaker,
and
thank
you
to
the
member
for
the
question
and
honor
zinger,
we're
very
proud
that
we
were
able
to
launch
a
program
to
support
businesses
after
the
order
by
dr
henry
last
monday
in
record
time.
In
fact,
I'm
not
aware
of
any
program
in
provincial
history
that
was
turned
around
in
a
week.
Honorable
speaker,
it's
it's
quite
remarkable,
and
I
want
to
thank
the
public
servants
of
british
columbia
for
their
extraordinary
work.
J
Many
of
them
worked
over
the
long
weekend,
arnold
speaker,
to
make
sure
we
had
a
program
available,
50
million
dollars.
That's
available.
The
program
in
fact
launched
this
morning.
I
encourage
small
business
to
apply.
We
had
over
a
hundred
businesses
apply
within
the
first
25
minutes
of
the
grand
opening
up
honorable
speaker,
it's
50
million
dollars
available
for
small
businesses,
and
we
all
should
be
proud
of
all
the
money
that
we
have
collectively
approved
in
this
house
to
ensure
that
businesses
have
the
supports
they
need
as
the
pandemic
changes
so
have
the
supports.
J
Thank
you,
honorable,
speaker
and
and
clearly
question
period
is
not
the
same
without
joss
hall
enough
in
this
place
on
our
speaker,
I'll
I'll
share
with
the
member
a
couple
of
quotes.
We
had
a
quote
here
from
fiona
famlock
who's,
the
new
ceo
of
bc
chamber,
who
said
we're
delighted
that
the
minister
callum
announced
the
circuit
breaker
business
relief
ground
on
friday.
It's
exactly
what
businesses
needed.
J
Honorable
speaker,
we
also
heard
from
bridget
anderson
the
ceo
of
greater
vancouver
board
of
trade
who
helped
us
in
making
sure
that
this
program
will
be
accessible
to
as
many
business
possible.
Saying.
First
and
foremost,
the
government
responded
very
quickly,
and
I
think
that's
really
important
to
commend
them
for
that.
Honourable
speaker,
we're
very
proud
at
the
speed
that
we
moved
again
thankful
to
the
public
servants
for
their
incredible
work.
To
get
this
program
in
place,
we've
streamlined
it.
J
We
took
the
advice
of
all
the
associations
which
represent
members
and
restaurants
and
breweries,
even
those
that
represent
members
that
are
in
the
fitness
sector.
Honorable
speaker,
they
gave
us
advice.
We
worked
with
them.
We
created
this
program,
we're
incredibly
proud
and
we
encourage
as
many
businesses
as
possible
to
apply
for
these
dollars.
Thank
you.
A
J
A
J
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker,
and
what
I'll
share
with
all
the
members
of
this
house
is
that
what
I've
just
shared
previously,
which
is
every
business,
even
businesses,
that
don't
have
any
employees
that
operate
by
themselves,
will
receive
the
dollars.
Businesses
that
were
open
prior
to
the
pandemic
on
our
speaker
can
use
their
employment
numbers
before
the
pandemic
came
in
place,
so
they
can
maximize
the
dollars
that
are
available.
Businesses
that
open
up
during
the
pandemic,
honorable
speaker
can
use
the
numbers
that
they
had
prior
to
the
circuit
breaker.
J
So
we
can
ensure
that
all
businesses,
regardless
of
when
they
open,
can
access
these
dollars.
Speaker,
we
are
proud
of
the
supports
we've
put
in
place.
Members
across
the
aisle
should
be
proud
as
well.
Highest
per
capita
supports
for
businesses
and
people
across
the
country.
This
program
was
put
in
record
time,
and
I
know
it's
being
well
received,
and
certainly
the
members,
if
they
talk
to
the
associations
that
represent
members
that
are
affected,
will
tell
them
the
exact
same
thing.
K
J
You,
honorable
speaker,
and
I
will
say
that
businesses
honorable
speaker,
that
applied
and
and
successfully
received
the
money
for
the
small
business
grant
that
were
also
impacted
by
the
circuit.
Breaker,
don't
need
to
reapply.
They
automatically
get
this
additional
dollars
on
our
speaker,
businesses
that
also
are
in
the
process
of
their
application,
but
have
not
been
notified
of
their
approval,
yet
also
don't
need
to
reapply
we've
proactively
reached
out
to
them
to
let
them
know
that
these
dollars
are
available.
J
Honorable
speaker,
the
the
program
is,
is
already
popular,
and
I
want
to
do
a
special
shout
out
and
thank
you
to
all
the
business
association,
the
chambers,
cfib,
able
bc
the
restaurant
associations,
the
breweries
associations
for
working
so
proactively
with
us
to
make
sure
this
program
is
right.
This
program
has
launched
fast
and
it's
accessible
to
as
many
of
their
members
as
possible.
Credit
goes
a
lot
to
them
for
their
feedback.
I
really
appreciate
their
commitment
to
serving
their
members
and
serving
the
province.
J
Thank
you
honor
speaker,
and
I
think
you
know
the
members
in
this
chamber
will
know
that
every
business
has
been
impacted
differently.
You
know
the
throne
speech
referred
to
all
of
us
being
in
the
same
storm,
but
all
of
us
being
impacted
differently
and
that's
certainly
the
case
for
businesses.
J
Again,
I
encourage
all
the
members
of
this
house
to
help
spread
the
word
in
their
communities
to
make
sure,
as
many
of
their
businesses
that
are
affected
can
access
these
dollars.
Honorable
speaker,
we
know
that
it's
a
challenging
time
for
businesses
working
closely
with
the
minister
of
tourism,
arts
and
culture
to
make
sure
that,
as
many
businesses
that
are
impacted
can
get
the
supports
they
need
again
highest
in
the
country
per
capita.
Enormous
speaker,
we're
very
proud
of
it.
J
Thank
you
speaker.
We
estimate
about
fourteen
thousand
businesses
have
been
impacted
by
the
circuit,
breaker
and,
and
our
hope
is
that
all
fourteen
000
businesses
apply
for
this.
That's
why
the
minister
of
finance
worked
so
closely
with
us
to
ensure
50
million
dollars
were
available
estimated
on
our
off
our
estimates
of
how
many
businesses
were
impacted.
J
Certainly,
our
hope
is
that
businesses
that
are
affected
during
the
pandemic
use
the
job
numbers
of
the
employment
numbers
that
they
had
prior
to
the
circuit,
breaker
and
businesses
that
were
open
prior
to
the
pandemic,
use
the
employment
numbers
they
had
prior
to
the
pandemic
coming,
so
they
can
maximize
the
dollars
that
are
available
to
them
again.
Honorable
speaker,
this
is
not
just
one
program
again,
I'm
going
to
go
back
to
a
comment
that
fiona
the
ceo
chamber
of
commerce
made.
I
think
it's
important
to
hear
this.
J
It's
important
to
remember
that
it
supplements
the
many
other
financial
programs
that
are
available
through
both
the
provincial
and
federal
governments
that
have
been
created
to
keep
businesses
in
business
through
the
pandemic
and
beyond.
Honorable
speaker,
this
is
a
a
quote
from
the
ceo
of
the
bc
chamber.
Again,
I
want
to
thank
all
those
associations,
because,
honorable
speaker,
we
would
not
have
been
able
to
get
this
program
right
for
everyone
without
their
subtitles.
B
I
J
Honorable
speaker
again,
the
quote
I
just
shared
a
moment
ago:
we
have
the
highest
per
capita
supports
in
the
country.
We're
proud
of
that.
I
know
the
minister
of
finance
is
working
on
the
budget
which
will
be
coming
out
soon,
but
our
focus
is
to
keep
supporting
businesses.
The
premier's
been
clear,
we're
going
to
continue
to
support
people
and
businesses
through
this
pandemic.
J
We
know
that
the
the
light
of
the
end
of
tunnel
is
getting
brighter,
but
at
the
end
of
the
day,
we're
still
in
this
and
we're
in
for
a
little
while
still
so
we're
going
to
continue
to
support
business
normal
speaker,
businesses
can
apply,
as
I
mentioned,
we
already
had.
You
know
over
100
businesses
applied.
That
was
an
hour
ago.
L
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
Well.
Well,
the
premier
and
the
minister
can
say
how
proud
they
are
of
this
program,
but
the
reality
is
today.
Mr
speaker,
we
have
asked
eight
very
succinct,
very
direct
questions
specifically
about
the
circuit
breaker
program,
and
the
minister
has
dodged
around
every
single
answer.
L
We
asked
very
clearly
if
a
business
with
four
employees
would
get
two
thousand
dollars.
No
answer
from
the
minister
directly
to
that
no
answer
directly
about
a
business
with
five
employees
receiving
five
thousand
dollars.
For
that
one
extra
employee.
We
asked
about
how
many
businesses
would
qualify
for
the
full
ten
thousand
dollars.
L
L
The
simple
math
would
say:
fourteen
thousand
divided
into
fifty
million
is
thirty
five
hundred
dollars
on
average,
but
the
minister
won't
be
forthright
with
that
answer,
mr
speaker,
about
how
many
people
would
even
qualify
for
the
full
ten
thousand.
In
fact,
the
backgrounder
in
the
press
release
made
it
very
clear
that
the
majority
the
government
expects
the
majority
of
applicants
to
qualify
for
five
thousand
dollars.
J
Thank
you
honorable
speaker.
In
fact,
I've
answered
all
the
questions
that
the
members
have
asked:
donald's
eager
businesses,
businesses
that
have
no
employees
qualify
for
money,
businesses
that
have
over
a
hundred
employees
qualify
for
money.
In
fact,
the
process
is
very
simple
and
I'll
share
that
for
the
members
honor
speaker,
businesses
go
online.
The
website
is
live
right
now
the
member
from
kamloops
may
want
to
hear
the
answer.
It
might
help
his
businesses
and
his
community
honor
speaker.
J
Business
can
apply
we're
asking
them
to
submit
either
a
business
license
or
a
liquor
license
to
confirm
their
business
is
operating.
We're
asking
them
to
share
with
us
how
many
employees
they
had
whether
that's
a
business
that
opened
during
up
during
the
pandemic
can
share
the
numbers
they
had
before
the
circuit
breaker
businesses
that
open
up
pre-pandemic
and
use
that
number
and
they
can
give
us
their
information
on
where
we
can
send
them
the
money
on
our
speaker
very
simple
process.
J
Again,
we
are
incredibly
proud
and
the
members
should
be
proud
as
well,
for
supporting
the
highest
per
capita
supports
for
people
and
businesses
in
the
country
this
month
in
the
labor
force
survey
we're
at
100.8
percent
of
pre-pandemic
job
level,
honorable
speaker
and
now
all
of
us
should
be
proud
of
that.