►
From YouTube: APRIL 15 2021 Question Period
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
2nd Session
42nd Parliament
C
Well,
thank
you,
mr
speaker.
Local
restaurants
and
in
fact,
restaurants,
right
across
british
columbia,
are
barely
holding
on
under
current
dining
restrictions.
We've
now
seen
countless
media
reports
and,
in
fact,
comments
from
the
sector
itself
that
they
believe
that
the
restrictions
that
are
in
place
will
be
extended.
C
Hundreds
of
thousands
of
workers
in
british
columbia,
especially
young
people,
have
been
impacted.
So,
let's
take
the
words
of
nikita
who
owns
a
cafe
here
in
victoria,
and
I
quote,
I
hired
new
staff
to
supplement
increased
revenue.
I
will
need
to
let
them
go
after
only
two
weeks
of
employment.
End
quote
so.
My
question
today
is
a
simple
one
to
the
premier
in
the
event
that
the
circuit
breaker
restrictions
are
extended.
D
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker
and
and
thank
the
member,
the
leader
of
the
official
opposition,
and
I
agree
with
her.
This
is
a
very
difficult
time.
I've
shared
many
times
in
this
house.
My
family
ran
a
restaurant
for
a
decade
here
in
victoria,
and
I
remember
how
difficult
that
was
at
that
time
and
with
a
pandemic,
it's
extremely
difficult.
D
Our
restaurants
have
been
working
overtime
to
try
to
make
their
businesses
as
safe
as
possible
to
ensure
that
their
customers,
their
workers,
can
be
safe,
but
we've
seen
an
increase
in
cases
and
the
provincial
health
officer
has
made
decisions
that
impacts
them.
We
knew
the
decision
that
came,
came
suddenly
and
many
businesses
had
purchased
food,
some
had
purchased
alcohol,
some
had
workers
that
were
lined
up
to
be
on
shift
and
they
were
stuck
with
some
additional
costs
because
of
the
suddenness
of
the
decision.
D
That's
why
we
introduced
the
circuit
breaker,
I'm
grateful
for
the
minister
of
finance
and
the
work.
The
ministry
has
done
to
expediate
that
process
to
make
the
process
so
quick,
so
that
we
could
get
that
circular,
breaker
online.
That
being
said,
there's
also
additional
supports
that
are
available
for
businesses.
C
C
So,
let's
be
clear,
lightning
speed
is
hardly
announcing
restrictions
and
then
days
later
coming
up
with
a
program
that
requires
a
business
to
have
a
hundred
employees
to
get
ten
thousand
dollars.
I'm
not
sure
how
many
restaurants
I
certainly
know
in
my
community.
There
are
very
few
if
any,
that
have
a
hundred
employees.
So
let's
get
back
to
the
basic
question
and
maybe
the
minister
can
figure
out
the
answer.
C
The
question
is
a
simple
one.
People
today
have
invested
their
life
savings
in
restaurants.
There
are
people
who
are
being
forced
to
put
closure
signs.
They
are
club,
they
are
closing
restaurants
across
british
columbia,
so
the
premier
needs
to
listen
to
people
who
actually
run
and
own
and
operate
and
hire
employees
in
british
columbia.
Here's
what
haseeb
sawari
of
the
afghan
kitchen
in
surrey
had
to
say,
even
if
he
got
the
full
amount
of
the
grant,
it
wouldn't
cover.
C
D
Thank
you,
mr
speaker,
and
again
thank
you
to
the
leader
of
the
opposition
for
the
question
and
also
thank
her
for
acknowledging
that
within
days,
we
we
did
get
a
program
up
in
place
to
support
businesses
that
had
to
to
pivot,
under
short,
short
notice
from
the
provincial
health
office.
As
I've
highlighted,
many
businesses
were,
I
had
purchased
alcohol
and
purchased
food
and
the
circuit
breaker
was
designed
to
give
them
relief
for
the
suddenness
of
the
of
the
decision
that
was
made.
D
That
being
said,
businesses
have
access
to
the
small
medium
business
size
grant
program.
I
know
the
the
opposition
doesn't
like
to
hear
this,
but
it's
the
truth.
We
collectively
approved
the
highest
per
capita
support
for
people
and
businesses
in
this
country.
We
all
should
be
proud
of
that
and
in
the
me
and
the
leader
of
the
opposition
mentioned
listening,
we
have
been
listening.
D
We've
been
working
collaboratively
with
them.
I
can
read
all
the
quotes
from
all
the
associations
about
how
how
much
they
appreciate
that
work.
We've
been
doing
with
them.
It's
a
difficult
time.
It
is
a
difficult
time,
no
doubt
about
it,
but
we
will
make
it
through
honor
speaker.
E
E
Steve
from
mitt's,
kitchen
and
kamloops
says,
and
I
quote,
I
spent
about
5
000
last
week
alone
in
tables
chairs
patio
heaters
and
daily
trips
for
propane.
We
have
over
30
employees.
We
are
also
trying
to
just
keep
employed,
but
they're
not
going
to
be
able
to
pay
their
rent
end
quote:
what
money
will
the
premier
provide
to
help
young
restaurant
workers
pay
their
bills
at
the
end
of
the
month?.
D
Speaker
again,
thank
you
to
the
member
for
the
question
and
again
I
have
to
highlight
that
we
did
put
in
place
the
highest
per
capita
support
for
businesses
and
people
across
the
country.
You
know-
and
it's
it's
unfortunate.
We
know
that
young
people
will
be
impacted.
D
We've
known
that
from
the
beginning,
especially
those
that
are
working
as
servers,
there's
going
to
be
an
impact-
and
you
know
this
week,
minister
of
labor
announced
changes
to
minimum
wage,
and
I
and-
and
I
hope
all
members
of
this
house
can
support
that,
because
those
are
the
workers
that
are
impacted.
Imagine
a
government
that
would
give
servers
a
lower
wage
than
everyone
else.
Honorable
speaker,
imagine
what
that
says
to
young
workers
when
they're
working
in
the
hospitality
industry.
So
honorable
speaker,
we
have
put
supports
in
for
people.
E
E
E
D
Thank
you,
honorable,
speaker
and
again
fully
acknowledge
that
this
is
a
challenging
time.
It's
unprecedented
time,
and
this
is
not
just
british
columbia.
Every
province
of
across
the
country
is
dealing
with
the
same
issues.
In
fact,
most
countries
in
the
world
are
dealing
with
the
same
issues
and
that's
why
we
put
in
the
highest
per
capita
support
for
people
and
businesses
in
the
country
very
proud
of
that.
The
member
may
want
to
look
at
the
labor
force
survey
that
came
out.
100.8
percent
of
jobs
recovered
from
pre-pandemic
levels.
D
On
our
speaker,
the
average
wage
for
workers
has
gone
up,
and
I
know
that
workers
in
the
hospitality
and
tourism
industry
are
going
through
a
very
challenging
time.
We
know
that
honourable
speaker
and
again
supports
are
in
place
and
it's
not
about
kicking
it
to
the
federal
government.
We've
been
working
closely
with
the
federal
government
from
the
beginning
to
make
sure
that
our
programs
are
aligned
with
theirs.
Everybody
wants
all
levels
of
government
to
work
together,
honorable
speaker
and
that's
what
we've
been
doing
since
the
beginning.
F
Since
then
the
government
reduced
the
number
of
briefings
and
media
availabilities
and
over
time
many
people
stopped
paying
attention.
Since
that
time,
government
has
faced
a
worsening
communication
challenge.
Travel
advisories
have
changed
from
within
your
local
health
region
to
within
your
city
to
within
your
neighborhood.
Groups
of
10
are
encouraged,
except
for
when
they're,
not
data
is
released,
sporadically
across
multiple
resources
and
timelines.
F
The
public
is
reliant
on
journalists
and
experts
to
piece
it
together
and
interpret
the
data
for
them.
We
are
in
the
peak
of
this
third
wave
hospitalization
reached
hospitalizations
reached
an
all-time
high
yesterday
and
our
icus
are
filling
up.
The
concern
of
variance,
has
people
worried
and
wanting
a
deeper
understanding
of
the
risk
that
they
pose.
F
British
colombians
need
our
government
to
increase
communication.
We
need
government
to
be
forthc
coming
and
answer
the
questions
directly.
My
question
honorable
speaker
is
to
the
minister
of
health:
will
he
increase
accessibility
for
british
columbians
and
return
to
daily
briefings,
minister
of
health.
G
G
We,
dr
henry
and
myself
and
other
public
health
officials
do
not
just
daily
briefings
from
monday
to
friday,
sometimes
written
sometimes
in
person,
but
also
due,
of
course,
every
week,
dozens
and
dozens
of
interviews
where
the
questions
are
selected
by
the
interviews.
We
do
open
line.
We
do
all
kinds
of
communications
in
order
to
ensure
that
the
public's
questions
are
answered,
we
have
detailed
data
that
we
make
available
the
bc
cdc
website
every
single
day.
That
is
the
basis
of
the
very
analysis
the
member
is
talking
about.
G
What
I
want
to
emphasize
today
is
the
importance
of
the
public
health
guidance
and
the
public
health
orders
that
are
in
place
they're
in
place
for
a
reason
because
covet
19,
transmits
through
social
interaction,
and
we
simply
all
of
us-
have
to
reduce
our
social
interaction.
Those
orders
have
been
in
place
since
november.
F
Thank
you,
mr
speaker,
and
thank
you
to
the
minister
for
the
response.
We've
often
heard
the
minister
and
public
health
officials
start
their
responses
with,
as
the
member
knows,
or
as
we've
heard
many
times
british
colombians
are
asking
members
of
this
chamber
are
asking
reporters
are
asking
because
they
don't
know
the
answers
to
the
questions
and
because
they
are
seeking
clarity.
F
Weeks
ago
the
premier
announced
that
we
were
on
the
right
track.
Then,
a
week
later
cases
spiked
and
the
government
increased
restrictions.
We
were
told
not
to
travel
yet
bc.
Ferries
increased
their
sailings
over
the
easter
long
weekend,
masks
were
not
necessary
until
they
were
mandatory.
The
potential
of
a
third
wave
was
downplayed
by
this
government.
Despite
experts
force
forewarning
it,
and
now
here
we
are,
the
government
must
regain
the
trust
of
a
skeptical
public.
It
starts
with
being
accessible
admitting
in
perfection
and
consistent
disciplined
communications.
F
My
question
honorable
speaker
is
to
the
minister
of
health.
When
will
the
reporters
who
are
awaiting
answers
to
the
questions
that
they've
been
tweeting
about,
that
they've
been
waiting
for
those
answers
that
they've
been
asking
for
the
minister
to
provide
answers
on?
When
can
they
expect
the
answers
to
those
unanswered
questions?
G
Honorable
speaker,
every
day,
we
receive
dozens
of
questions,
detailed
questions
from
reporters,
and
we
seek
to
answer
those
questions
on
a
regular
basis.
We
provide
don't
have
provided,
briefings,
accessibility
and
direct
interviews
where
we
don't
select
the
questions.
Reporters
do
almost
every
week,
for
example,
on
cbc
and
on
ckw
and
other
stations
around
the
province.
I
do
a
regular
interview
frequently
dr
henry
does
where
we
don't
select
the
answers,
the
questions
and
we
provide
answers.
G
I
think
we
can
always
do
a
better
job,
but
here's
what
I
would
also
say
we
have
done
an
extraordinary
job
and
by
we
I
mean
all
of
us
together
in
an
immunization
program
that
is
immunized
with
first
doses,
more
than
1.1
million
people,
as
of
tuesday
taking
doses
that
come
from
the
federal
government,
sometimes
inconsistency
and
delivering
them
in
the
arms
of
people.
We
set
up
a
registration
system
for
immunizations
that
has
more
than
a
million
people
registered
and
more
than
350
000
appointments
booked
and
with
respect
to
public
health
messaging
and
orders.
G
From
the
beginning,
dr
henry
has
been
accessible
in
detail
to
members
of
the
legislature,
members
of
the
media
and
providing
responses
to
questions.
Sometimes
honorable
speaker,
there
are
delay
and
answers,
and
I
appreciate
that
and
we
try
and
do
their
job
we're
also
doing
as
you
can
see,
vaccination
contact,
tracing
testing,
helping
people
in
the
hospital,
the
extraordinary
work
of
our
critical
care
staff,
we're
also
doing
extraordinary
work
around
the
province
in
helping
people
dealing
with
the
covenant
pandemic.
G
H
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
The
price
of
an
average
bc
home
has
jumped
a
staggering
20
percent
from
last
year.
Instead
of
taking
action,
the
finance
minister
said
that
she
wants
to
wait,
and
I
quote,
as
things
rebalance
themselves,
end
quote
the
same
government.
That
said
they
didn't
want
to
balance
the
budget
on
property
print
property
transfer.
Tax
is
now
profiting
off
of
this
extremely
unaffordable
housing
market.
Instead
of
breaking
in
rate
record
property
tax
trans
transfer
tax.
Will
the
premier
deliver
a
plan
to
stop
soaring
housing
prices?
I
Very
much,
mr
speaker
well
well,
certainly
no
one
could
have
predicted
this
pandemic
and
the
impact
it
would
have
on
our
lives
and
on
our
economy,
and
I
have
to
say
that
low
interest
rates
that
were
intended
to
bolster
the
economy
through
the
shock
they
have
led
to
big
price
increases,
certainly
for
first
time
home
buyers,
making
it
very
difficult
to
get
into
the
market
and
our
pre-pandemic
efforts,
mr
speaker,
to
moderate
the
market.
They
were
having
positive
results.
I
The
spectacs
alone
brought
18
000
homes
available
to
british
columbians,
which
is
quite
significant.
H
H
Despite
the
promises
that
have
been
made
in
this
house,
a
new
report
from
national
bank
says
it
will
now
take
young
buyers
34
years
to
save
for
a
down
payment
for
a
vancouver
home
34
years.
Mr
speaker,
now
we're
hearing
ndp
mlas
say
that
they
will
be
quote
the
last
generation
to
own
a
home.
End
quote,
and
this
is
happening
under
the
premier's
second
term.
I
might
add:
will
the
premier
stop
these
soaring
house
prices,
or
will
he
blow
it
for
all
young
people
of
this
province?
B
I
B
I
I
I
Not
interested
in
hearing
how
tackling
speculation
is
making
a
difference
for
british
columbians,
mr
speaker,
how
increasing
supply
for
families
uncles,
mr
speaker,
how
that's
impacting
the
market
as
well?
We
are
tackling
supply,
there's
actually
going
to
be
another
housing
announcement
and
five
recall
members.
B
B
J
Thank
you
very
much,
mr
speaker.
Four
years
ago,
in
his
first
term,
premier
horgan
deceived
renters
by
breaking
his
promise
to
implement
a
renter's
rebate
again
promised
just
seven
months
ago,
and
now
in
his
second
term,
the
throne
speech
made
no
mention
of
a
renter's
rebate,
despite
the
premier
promising
it
for
a
second
time,
this
renter's
rebate
appears
to
be
as
elusive
as
a
spotted
owl
in
bc.
Will
the
renter's
rebate
be
in
the
budget?
Yes
or
no.
K
J
Well,
thank
you
very
much,
mr
speaker.
Well,
it's
interesting
that
you
know
the
math
that
you're
counting
and
seeing
26
000
new
rental
properties
that
are
under
construction.
Frankly,
bc
housing
isn't
reporting
that,
but
we
can
talk
about
that
another
time
with
the
renter's
rebate.
Nowhere
to
be
seen,
renters
are
paying
more
than
ever
under
the
ndp
20
to
39
year
old
renters
in
bc
or
in
metro
vancouver
are
particularly
hard
hit
according
to
cmhc,
renters
are
paying
two
thousand
five
hundred
and
thirty
two
dollars
more
per
year.
K
Thank
you
very
much
honorable
speaker,
so
when
you
don't
build
rental
housing
for
16
years,
this
is
what
happens.
Rents
go
up
due
to
supply,
so
on
being
elected,
our
government
made
a
multi-billion
dollar
commitment
to
build
affordable
rental
housing
across
the
province
that
is
rolling
out
in
record
numbers.
The
member
knows
that
the
member
also
knows
that
in
the
pandemic,
in
in
some
of
the
areas
that
have
seen
the
biggest
rent
increases,
because
the
previous
government
did
not
build
housing,
we've
actually
seen
renting.
K
We've
actually
seen
rent
decreases
in
those
markets,
and
so
the
pandemic
has
had
unpredictable
impacts
on
homes
for
purchase
and
homes
for
rent
government
is
responding.
There'll
be
another
announcement
about
how
we're
supporting
people
to
get
into
affordable
housing
again
this
afternoon,
part
of
our
billions
of
dollars
of
investment
in
british
columbians
to
address
the
housing
crisis
that
was
created
by
the
opposition,
and
there
is
no
debate
about
that.
A
K
Well,
thank
you.
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker.
Well,
when
you
take
just
one
stream
of
funding
that
the
government
is
putting
into
housing,
then
yeah
you're,
going
to
get
a
smaller
number
of
housing
units
than
the
government's
actually
building
the
member
the
member
is,
is
pulling
out
just
one
stream
of
funding.
Let
me
just
give
one
example
of
how
absurd
that
number
is.
Even
when
you
talk
about
even
when
you
talk
about.
K
Let's
talk
about
housing
starts,
memphis
bc
is
on
track
for
42.
More
housing
starts
than
the
old
government
would
have
delivered
than
they
committed
to
in
their
budgets.
That's
58
000
more
homes
across
the
province
than
the
previous
government
in
2020,
we'd,
already
registered
more
rental
units
for
construction
by
july
than
the
old
government
ever
did
in
an
entire
year.
Honorable
speaker,
I
can
go
on
and
on
about
all
the
housing
that
our
government
is
building
that
they
did
not
do.
They
did
not
commit
to,
and
they
never
would.
A
Such
pontification
from
the
member,
the
the
minister,
is
talking
about
the
private
sector
building
homes,
but
I'm
talking
about
the
promise
that
the
government
made
to
build
homes
with
just
3
200
homes
open
under
after
four
years.
It
will
take
the
premier
and
this
premier
in
waiting
100
years
to
meet
their
114
000
home
promise.
A
This
is,
according
to
their
very
own
report,
the
ndp's
bc,
housing,
affordable,
housing,
quarterly
progress
report,
their
own
report
and,
according
to
that
same
report,
one
in
five
of
the
units
open
today
are
re-announced
bc,
liberal
projects.
So
can
the
premier
confirm
exactly
what
date
he
will
meet?
14
members
promised
by
not
the
private
sector.
A
Well,
thank
you,
mr
speaker.
Clearly
they
don't
care
about
the
truth.
The
reality
is,
mr
speaker,
that
one
in
five
of
the
units
open
today
are
re-announced
bc,
liberal
projects,
and
if
the
minister
wants
to
continue
referring
back
to
16
years,
he
needs
to
bring
that
point
forward.
Can
the
minister
confirm
exactly
what
date
the
ndp
government
will
meet
their
114
000
home
promise
by.
K
Well,
thank
you.
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker,
and
thank
you
to
the
opposition
for
the
welcome
the
member
was
concerned
about
people
not
wanting
to
listen
to
her
question.
It
was
actually
the
opposition
that
was
yelling
during
her
question,
but
and
I
don't
blame
them
because
the
in
just
three
years
our
government
has
26
sixty
seven
homes,
complete
or
underway,
including
six
thousand
eight
hundred
and
sixty
one
complete.
Ninety
two
hundred:
seventy
two
in
active
construction:
nine
thousand
nine
hundred
thirty
four
in
planning
stages.
Now
from
2001
to
2017.
K
Oh
pardon
me.
As
of
april
2017,
the
old
government
only
had
roughly
2
000
units
under
construction
or
development.
As
of
february
201
2021,
we
have
19
000
units
under
development.
The
the
member
also
helpfully
neglects
the
opposition's
opposition
to
the
speculation
tax
that
brought
18
000
vacant
homes
on
to
the
rental
market,
and
yet
they
continue
to
oppose
it.
L
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
Well,
it's
been
an
interesting
afternoon
of
revisionist
history
by
the
minister,
but
here's
a
here's,
a
question
about
our
program.
L
L
L
The
developer
was
supposed
to
build,
affordable
rental
units,
but
instead
the
developer
slashed,
the
affordable
rental
units,
the
2019
units
out
of
the
development-
it
still
gets
the
loan.
Why
is
this
premier
giving
a
developer
16
million
dollars
to
slash
20,
affordable
housing
units
out
of
his
development.
K
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker,
I'm
incredibly
proud
of
the
housing
hub
program
that
was
started
by
the
previous
housing
minister
now,
minister
of
finance,
this
is
a
program
that
provides
low-interest
construction
financing
to
developers
in
the
for-profit
and
not-for-profit
sector
in
exchange
for
commitments
around
delivering,
affordable
housing
for
purchase
and
for
rent.
It's
an
amazing
program.
It
was
wildly
oversubscribed
and
it's
a
really
exciting
program.
I
hope
the
member
stays
tuned
for
that.
I
I'm
not
familiar
with
the
specific
development
the
member's
talking
about.
K
L
Thank
you.
Well,
that's
a
shocking
lack
of
oversight
by
this
government
when
it
comes
to
how
they
loan
money.
The
project
was
supposed
to
be
for
95
units.
It
then
got
slashed
down
to
75
units
with
the
19
affordable
units
gone.
L
L
The
announcement
happened
after
the
units
were
already
slashed
out
of
the
project,
there's
no
net
increase
in
affordable
units
in
the
merit
area
as
a
result
of
this
loan.
Why
is
this
premier
rewarding
developers
for
slashing
affordable
rental
units
from
their
project,
and
why
is
there
so
little
oversight
on
a
project
attorney.