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From YouTube: OCTOBER 5 2021 Question Period
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
2nd Session
42nd Parliament
C
C
C
C
D
Thank
you
very
much
to
the
member
for
her
question.
I
want
to
say
at
the
beginning
of
this
of
this
period,
for
me
of
this
fall
setting
how
important
it
is
that
100
of
the
people
in
this
house
are
vaccinated
and
that
100
of
these
people
in
in
this
house
are
advocates
of
vaccination.
I
appreciate
it.
I'm
grateful
to
the
leader,
the
opposition,
to
the
premier,
to
the
leader
of
the
third
party
for
their
leadership
in
that
regard,
and
I'm
appreciative
of
that.
D
It
is
the
case
that
the
heat
wave
that
affected
british
columbia
affected
people
in
all
communities
of
the
province,
in
particular
in
metro
vancouver,
but
in
other
regions,
as
well
as
the
as
the
leader
of
the
opposition
has
said
in
her
preliminary
review.
The
coroner
has
attributed
570
deaths
to
that
heat
wave.
So
I
want
to
put
it
in
context
with
the
previous
significant
deadly
heat
wave
in
british
columbia
was
in
2009,
110
people
died
or
deaths
were
attributed
to
that.
D
The
temperatures
on
the
weekend
in
question
on
the
june
28th
29th
weekend
were
five
degrees
higher
than
that.
This
was,
as
dr
sarah
henderson
has
said,
a
one
in
a
thousand
year
event,
but
it's
happened
is
no
longer
one
in
a
thousand
years
and
it
requires
action
to
deal
with
resiliency
and
to
support
people.
D
I
everyone
in
this
house
is
gutted
by
the
fact
that
people
that
we
know
in
our
community
passed
away
that
weekend.
Gutted
by
it.
We
know
that
health
authorities
responded
in
advance
of
the
event
with
heat
warnings.
We
know
that
those
efforts
were
made
around
british
columbia.
We
know
our
ambulance
service
responded
and
was
challenged
with
not
just
more
calls
than
they'd
ever
received
before,
but
dramatically
more
calls
people
acted
appropriately,
but
we
need
to
learn
the
lessons
of
this.
That's
why
there's
a
corners
review
going
on?
D
That's
why
the
bccdc
is
doing
a
review
and
its
preliminary
findings
were
produced
were
delivered
to
the
ubcm
and
that's
why
I'm
committed
to
working
with
everyone
for
action
so
that
we
have
more
resiliency,
because
the
fact
of
the
matter
is
this
is
attributable
to
climate
change.
It's
no
longer
a
one.
In
a
thousand
year
event,
we
have
to
take
action
against
climate
change
and
we
have
to
take
action
collectively
to
make
our
society
more
resilient.
C
In
fact,
he
was
warned
in
multiple
reports
about
the
danger,
not
one
but
two
reports,
and
he
knew
that
it
would
have
consequences
for
people
like
howard,
kalpas,
howard
is
60
years
old
and
he
lives
next
door
to
oppenheimer
park.
In
vancouver,
howard
happened
to
be
in
vancouver
island
when
the
heat
wave
hit,
but
his
neighbors
were
at
home.
C
Three
of
howard's
neighbors
died
as
a
result
of
the
heat
wave.
Here's
what
howard
had
to
say,
and
I
quote
they
died
in
their
apartments
and
they
found
them
a
day
later.
End
quote:
it's
simply
not
good
enough.
A
premier
who
said
he
was
giddy
a
premier
who
in
essence,
said
people
had
a
personal
responsibility.
C
D
Minister
of
health,
thank
you
and
the
member
is
right.
I
think,
to
this
extent,
that
those
affected
most
by
the
heatwave
were
the
most
vulnerable,
lower
income
people
who
live
in
more
social,
isolated
circumstances.
We
saw
that
in
the
report
presented
by
dr
sarah
henderson,
dr
bonnie,
henry
of
the
ubcm.
You
see
that
in
the
evidence
that
we've
done
and
in
the
case
by
case
analysis
that
will
be
coming
from
the
coroner,
I
think
we'll
see
the
evidence
as
well.
So
there's
a
number
of
things.
D
I
think
we
need
to
do
in
response
to
this
one,
and
this
is
not
just
a
ministry
of
health
question.
This
is
a
broader
question
for
all
levels
of
government
and
for
all
ministries.
One
we
need
to,
of
course,
continue
jointly
to
take
action
on
the
issue
of
climate
change,
the
central
issue
of
our
time
too.
We
we
understand
that
climate
change
nonetheless
is
happening
and
we
have
to
become
more
resilient.
D
This
event
was
substantially
worse
than
any
other
event.
We
had
seen
in
the
entire
history
of
british
columbia
and
it
present
challenges
and
the
health
care
system
responded
to
an
extraordinary
extent,
but
the
member
is
right.
There
is
ev
570
stories
to
tell
of
people
who
passed
away
on
that
weekend
and
we
want
to
give
value
to
that
and
we
want
to
respond
to
that
with
action.
The
government
has
already
responded
with
action.
E
E
E
E
Can
the
premier
explain
explain,
can
the
government
explain
why
they
failed
to
heed
the
warnings
contained
within
a
report
that
they
commissioned
in
2019,
which
would
have
ensured
vulnerable?
British
columbians
had
a
fighting
chance
to
survive
the
heat
wave,
and
can
the
premier
explain
why
instead
of
heeding
the
warnings
in
this
report,
he
instead
responded
to
the
tragedy.
By
saying-
and
I
quote,
fatalities
are
a
part
of
life.
End
quote.
D
Minister
of
health,
thank
you
very
much
honorable
speaker
say
to
the
member
that
the
story
that
he
told
this
one,
obviously
that
affected
people
in
my
constituency,
people
I
know
and
affected
the
whole
province.
This
is,
as
dr
henderson
said,
a
1
000
year,
event,
but
an
event.
D
The
ambulance
service
everywhere
in
the
province
as
we've
responded
with
changes
in
long-term
care
to
bring
in
in
facilities
particularly
facilities
that
hadn't
had
air
conditioning
to
add
air
conditioning
and
air
conditioning
capacity
in
those
facilities,
but
the
primary
place
where
mortality
happened,
where
people
passed
away
was
alone
at
home,
and
so
steps
have
to
be
taken.
I
will
take
the
member
through
the
steps
that
were
taken
by
dr
henry
by
health
authorities
by
others
by
the
solicitor
general
to
warn
people
of
the
situation
in
the
heat
dome.
D
But
I
think
it's
fair
to
say
living
as
I
do
in
an
apartment,
an
air-conditioned
apartment
in
east
vancouver
that
none
of
us
had
had
felt
the
actual
effects
of
what
happened.
That
weekend
ever
before
living
in
british
columbia
living
in
the
metro,
vancouver
and
simply
put.
We
have
to
respond
by
becoming
more
resilient
as
a
society.
And
I
intend
to
work
with
everyone
to
see
that
that
happened.
E
Well,
mr
speaker,
the
fact
of
the
matter
is
this:
the
the
premier
and
the
government
ignored
their
own
reports,
which
they
had
commissioned
several
years
in
advance
of
of
this
tragic
situation
and
as
a
result,
thousands
of
british
columbians
were
not
truly
and
fully
aware
of
just
how
serious
the
risk
was.
E
E
E
E
D
Minister
of
health.
Thank
you
very
much.
Honourable
honourable
speaker.
The
government,
as
the
member
will
know,
is
pursuing
an
exceptional
leading
climate
action
plan
led
by
the
minister
of
the
environment.
The
government
has
been
addressing
issues
of
inequality,
because
this
is
fundamentally
a
question
of
inequality.
D
F
Thank
you,
honourable
speaker.
It's
it's
astonishing
to
hear
this
conversation
back
and
forth
between
the
two
parties
and
to
be
discussing
climate
change
and
to
hear
this
government
talk
about
their
climate
change
plan
and
ignore
the
fact
that
they
doubled
the
public
subsidies
to
oil
and
gas
that
the
previous
government
had
to
1.3
billion
dollars
a
year.
This
government
is
funding
climate
change.
It
is
funding
these
outcomes
with
public
money.
F
After
hundreds
of
cases
of
covet,
19
were
diagnosed
in
victoria's
unhoused
population.
Last
month,
the
government
hastily
promised
50
new
beds
for
people
to
use
to
isolate
and
recover,
but
the
number
of
beds
is
inconsistent
with
the
number
of
cases
and
people
don't
have
a
month
to
wait.
They're,
sick,
it's
getting
colder
and
the
virus
is
spreading.
F
D
Minister
of
health.
Thank
you
very
much
honorable
speaker,
some
of
that
questions
for
the
minister
of
housing.
So
he
may
respond
on
the
second
supplementary
to
the
member's
question.
D
But
what
I
would
say
is
this:
we
are
in
the
fourth
wave
of
the
covet
19
pandemic,
that's
the
position
of
every
health
authority
and
that's
my
position
that
that's
why,
in
our
step-by-step
reopening
plan,
we're
still
at
step
three,
it's
why
we
did
more
tests
in
the
month
of
september
than
at
any
time,
and
our
focus
from
the
beginning
of
this
pandemic
has
been
to
focus
on
those
who
are
most
vulnerable
in
every
way,
whether
in
long-term
care
with
assisted
living
or
their
most
vulnerable
in
the
community.
D
I
am
very
proud
of
the
work
of
health
authorities
in
communities
around
the
province
that
we
started
in
congregate,
living
circumstances
to
vaccinate
people
and
continued
that
effort.
While
we
provided
unprecedented
housing
options
and
isolation
options
for
people.
There
are
challenges
now
because,
as
the
member
will
know,
some
of
the
facilities
that
we
did,
some
of
that
cohorting
of
people
who
are
sick
are
now
being
used
for
guests
and
visitors
and
so
on.
Nonetheless,
it
is
an
unprecedented
continuing
effort
to
support
to
vaccinate
our
most
vulnerable
people.
D
I
think
the
fact
that
we
did
it
early
and
the
fact
that
that
that
effort,
I
think,
unders
created,
maybe
a
false
impression
that
we
were
ahead
in
those
areas
of
everywhere
else.
The
downtown
eastside,
for
example,
of
vancouver,
has
over
80
percent
of
people
vaccinated
about
82
percent.
F
Kovit
isn't
just
impacting
unhoused
people
in
victoria
across
the
province.
Unhoused
people
are
getting
sick
and
have
nowhere
to
go
in
kelowna
130
cases
in
the
unhoused
population,
weren't
even
recorded
on
interior
health
list
of
public
exposure,
because
it
wasn't
quote
a
risk
to
the
public,
but
unhoused
british
colombians
are
the
public
and
they
are
at
risk.
F
These
are
people
with
lives
and
loved
ones.
People
who
deserve
the
supports
they
need
to
keep
them
themselves
and
their
communities
healthy.
The
similarities
between
this
and
the
lack
of
action
on
the
drug
poisoning
crisis
are
striking.
Unhoused
people
do
not
receive
the
same
level
of
care
or
investment.
F
My
questions
for
you,
honourable
speakers,
to
the
attorney
general
and
minister
for
housing.
Yesterday
the
minister
said
that
his
government
is
working
to
find
isolation,
spaces
for
unhoused
people
in
duncan
nanaimo
and
prince
george.
When
can
unhouse
people
in
these
and
other
communities
across
the
province
expect
to
have
their
needs
met
urgently.
B
Attorney
general,
thank
you
very
much,
honorable
speaker
and
thank
you
to
the
member
for
the
question.
There
are
a
number
of
assertions
the
member
made
in
her
question
that
are
not
accurate
people
who
are
covet
positive
in
victoria,
who
are
unhoused,
can
come
inside
if
they
choose
to.
We
have
space.
The
same
is
true
in
vancouver.
The
same
is
true
in
kelowna,
but
it
is
not
the
case
across
the
province,
and
I
accept
that
we
have
a
very
serious
situation
and
trail
and
bc.
B
I
would
just
underline
the
fact
that
the
member's
question
starts
at
a
certain
point
in
time.
Omitting
all
of
the
work
that
was
done
by
health
authorities
by
bc,
housing
by
nonprofit
organizations
to
get
people
inside
300
people
were
living
in
an
encampment
in
strathcona
park,
250
people
in
parks
and
victoria.
B
And
it
was
a
heroic
effort
by
bc,
housing
and
by
nonprofit
organizations,
and
that
work
continues
and
the
system
is
stretched.
It
is
strained.
People
are
working,
overtime,
staffing
has
stretched
the
limits
and
even
so
50
additional
spaces
were
opened
in
victoria
to
respond
in
time
to
make
sure
people
could
get
inside
if
they
wanted
to.
So
a
huge
amount
of
work
is
done.
I
just
want
to
thank
everybody
who
helped
deliver
those
results
and
who
is
still
working
overtime
to
respond
to
the
fourth
wave
across
the
province.
A
In
2019
government
received
a
strategic
climate
risk
assessment
that
said
quote
over
100
excess
mortalities
could
occur
in
bc
and
over
a
thousand
people
could
experience
negative
health
impacts
and
quote,
but
instead
of
acting
on
the
warning,
the
premier
blamed
those
who
died.
Saying
quote
it
was
apparent
to
anyone
who
walked
outside
that
we
were
in
an
unprecedented
heat
wave
again.
There's
a
level
of
personal
responsibility.
A
A
D
Minister
felt,
thank
you
very
much
honorable
speaker,
I
simply
and
I'll
just
say.
I
disagree
with
the
assertion
of
the
honorable
member.
But
what
I'll
say
is
this
that
what
you
see
in
terms
of
vulnerability
is
the
challenge
of
social
isolation.
A
D
D
If,
if
understanding
was
needed-
and
I
think
it's
fair
to
say
all
of
the
actions
taken
on
the
issue
of
climate
change-
demonstrate
that
commitment
that
has
been
there
for
years
for
people
in
this
legislature,
the
need
to
take
even
more
action
to
be
more
resilient.
This
was
an
unprecedented
event.
We
had
an
event.
The
member
refers
to
the
report.
D
We
had
an
event
in
2009
at
that
time:
110
excess
deaths
as
a
result
of
a
heat
event
that
was
mostly
centered
in
the
fraser
health
authority
at
that
time,
and
but
it
took,
I
would
say,
until
2018,
for
the
heat
warning
system
that
applies
everywhere
else
in
the
country
to
be
applied
by
the
federal
government
to
british
columbia.
D
These
events
are
the
result
of
climate
change
and
action
is
needed
to
respond
to
them.
Since
2017,
the
premier
has
shown
his
commitment
by
addressing
inequality
by
addressing
climate
change
by
supporting
people
where
they
need
help.
I
think
he
is
committed,
as
every
member
of
this
house
is
committed,
to
supporting
people
into
responding
to
the
impact
of
this
unprecedented
heat
wave.
We
are
going
to
receive
soon,
I
believe,
sometime
in
the
future,
the
report
of
the
coroner,
which
will
be
a
case-by-case
analysis
of
what
happened.
D
That
is,
the
independent
reviews
that
require
the
bccdc
and
the
provincial
health
office
is
doing
is
doing
its
own
review.
You
saw
the
preliminary
findings
at
the
ubcm,
which
was
shared
with
the
opposition,
and
it's
our
intention
to
continue
to
become
more
resilient
as
a
society,
but
also
continuing
our
efforts
to
deal
with
inequality.
Continue
our
efforts
to
deal
with
social
isolation
and
continue
our
efforts
to
fight
climate
change.
G
G
Brian
bertuzzi
is
the
assistant
chief
or
the
assistant
fire
chief
at
fire
hall
number
five
in
vancouver
and
on
june
28th
brian
describes
the
chaos
at
the
fire
hall
like
it
was
a
war
zone.
Every
fire
truck
in
the
city
was
out,
and
firefighters
were
stretched
to
their
limits
and
unable
to
help
everyone
who
needed
it.
On
the
fire
hall
driveway,
an
elderly
man
was
dying
as
chief
bertuzzi
administered
cpr.
G
D
And
I
believe,
no
honorable
speaker
and
I
was
agreeing
the
I
think
the
member,
the
leader
of
the
opposition
is
misunderstanding.
I
wanted
to
make
the
point
that
everybody
who
worked
that
weekend
and
responded
above
and
beyond
the
call
deserves
our
thanks,
and
I
know
that
the
opposition
agrees
with
that.
That
was
not
a
point
to
be
made
in,
or
even
a
suggestion
that
anyone
else
thought
differently.
D
This
just
to
be
clear,
I
think,
what's
required
now,
and
what
we've
done
with
respect
to
first
responders,
for
example,
is
taken
in
addition
to
the
largest
increases
other
than
mental
health
and
addictions.
The
largest
ministry
of
health
increases,
since
I
became
minister
of
health
were
to
the
ambulance
service
number
one
has
been
mental
health
and
addictions.
That's
been
dealing
with
the
overdose
crisis.
In
particular,
number
two
has
been
ambulance
paramedics,
which
also
to
a
great
extent.
D
We'd
all
agree
is
addressing
the
overdose
crisis,
because
ambulance
paramedics
are
frequently
and
firefighters
are
frequently
on
the
front
lines
of
that,
and
so
what's
required.
It
seems
to
me
is
continued
investment
in
first
responders
people
call
for
an
ambulance.
They
need
to
get
an
ambulance
and
the
fact
that
we
went
from
424
million
to
559
million
is
great,
but
when
you
need
an
ambulance
that
doesn't
come,
that's
not
good
enough,
and
so
we
add
services.
And
so
what
has
that
meant
since
then?
D
We're
hiring
85
new
ambulance,
paramedics,
24
new
ambulances,
30,
more
dispatchers
upgrading
services
in
24,
rural
communities,
upgrading
services
to
24,
7,
full-time
staffing,
upgraded
services
in
26
other
communities,
because
that
response
is
needed
as
well.
When
people
call
for
an
ambulance,
they
need
to
get
an
ambulance
and
that's
what
we're
committed
to
seeing
happen.