►
From YouTube: FEBRUARY 16 2022 Question Period
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
3rd Session
42nd Parliament
B
Well,
thank
you,
mr
speaker.
Last
week
the
premier
and
the
minister
of
citizen
services
were
recognized
with
the
code
of
silence
award
quite
the
award
it's
for
outstanding
achievement
in
government
secrecy.
The
award
confirms
that
the
bc
ndp
are
officially
the
most
secretive
government
in
canada.
Well,
here's
what
the
premier
had
to
say
in
2015-
and
I
quote-
I
think
all
british
columbians
should
be
concerned
when
their
government
hides
things
from
them.
End
quote:
well,
I
guess
that
was
then,
and
this
is
now
now.
B
His
minister
of
citizen
services
is
facing
scrutiny
because
of
how
she
managed
to
push
through
her
bill
that
gutted
freedom
of
information
in
this
province,
technicalities,
evasiveness
and
most
of
all,
secrecy.
In
fact,
we
still
don't
have
the
decision.
Note
that
shows
exactly
how
she
decided
on
the
application
fee.
Well
before
bill
22
was
passed
well
to
the
premier.
B
A
C
Thank
you,
honourable
speaker,
and
again
it's
surprising
for
a
member
of
this
house
who
was
in
cabinet
for
almost
her
entire
time
of
the
bc
liberal
mandate
to
not
understand
how
decisions
are
made
they're
made
by
cabinet
they're
not
made
by
individual
ministers.
It's
a
collective
decision-making
process,
and
I'm
surprised
that
the
member
doesn't
know
that
the
speaker
ruled
on
the
the
privileged
question
yesterday
and
I
believe
the
case
is
closed.
What
I
do
want
to
talk
about,
though,
while
I'm
on
my
feet,
honorable
speaker.
Well,
I'm
on
my
feet.
C
Armored
speaker
is
that
that
this
is
coming
from
an
opposition
that
had
a
triple
delete
scandal
that
led
to
international
headlines,
not
just
not
just
by
some
protest
organization
but
across
the
world,
that
the
freedom
of
information
process
in
the
premier's
office
of
the
former
government
was
post-it
notes.
Honorable
speaker,
what
could
be
more
transparent
than
post-it
notes?
What
could
be
better
than
the
minister
coming
from
a
high-tech
background
teaching
other
members
how
to
triple
delete
information?
What
we
have
done,
since
we
came
to
government
auto
speaker,
is
proactively
released.
C
Releasing
information
like
budget
estimates
documents
like
transition
documents
duty
to
document
is
now
part
and
parcel
of
doing
business
in
the
government
of
british
columbia.
Those
are
real,
tangible,
evidences
of
change
since
the
last
government.
Now
I
appreciate
that
people
want
to
know
my
scrabble
scores.
I
appreciate
that
I
continue
to
get
requests
for
a
look
at
the
front
of
my
telephone.
Anyone
who
wants
to
look
at
my
telephone
cause
happy
to
come
to
my
office
and
look
anytime.
They
want
to.
B
Well,
I
I
hardly
think
it's
amusing
and
I
think
that
british
columbians
are
probably
pretty
embarrassed
that
this
premier's
managed
to
top
the
country
by
winning.
Let
me
repeat
it
again:
the
code
of
silence
award
that
isn't
an
award
that
was
given
in
the
last
10
or
12
years,
that
is
on
this
premier's
watch
and
it's
time
he
actually
looked
in
the
mirror
and
said.
Well,
maybe
I
should
be
proactive
about
releasing
a
briefing
note
that
brings
into
question
this
minister's
behavior.
B
B
She
didn't
listen
to
colin
gableman,
the
original
drafter
of
the
legislation
and
much
worse.
She
didn't
even
listen
to
the
commissioner
who
was
responsible
for
the
act.
That
is
this
premier's
minister,
and
if
he
wants
to
talk
about
being
proactive,
then
I
would
suggest
that
he
gets
up
today.
Does
the
right
thing
and
tables
an
unredacted
copy
of
of
the
decision
note
of
october
27th?
If
there's
nothing
for
the
minister
to
be
worried
about,
then
the
premier
should
table
the
document
unredacted
today.
C
Premiere,
thank
you.
Ronald
speaker,
and
the
finance
minister
reminds
me
that
no
one's
ever
accused
me
of
being
silent
in
any
circumstance,
and
I
and
I
guess
I
should
take
it
as
a
badge
of
honor-
that
the
leader
of
the
official
opposition
wants
to
declare
me
silent
on
important
public
policy
matters.
I
was
quite
vocal
when
the
former
government
was
literally
deleting
everything
when
requests
were
made.
Nothing
came
back.
The
changes
we
made
to
the
freedom
of
information.
D
C
D
C
The
government
time
taken
up
to
find
out
what
I
have
on
my
scrabble
score
is
not
a
national
concert.
What
is
of
concern
to
british
columbians
is
that
they
can
access
information
held
by
government
on
their
business,
and
that
is
what
we've
done.
We've
streamlined
that
process.
We've
we've
tried
to
delete
the
number
of
fishing
expeditions
that
the
official
opposition
makes
so
that
citizens
can
access
documents
as
they
should
be
able
to
in
a
free
and
democratic
society.
E
Thanks
honorable
speaker,
while
only
the
the
premier
could
describe
as
a
fishing
expedition
the
release
of
a
document
that
will
confirm
whether
or
not
one
of
his
ministers
was
telling
the
truth
or
not,.
E
E
E
There
is
a
very
reasonable
and
simple
step
forward.
The
document
referred
to
in
the
emails
from
the
minister's
office,
referring
to
the
decision
note
of
october
27th,
presumably
will
lay
this
question
to
rest
conclusively
once
and
for
all.
Will
the
minister
will
admit?
Will
the
premier
order
the
tabling
of
that
document
now.
C
Premiere,
thank
you
all
speaker.
Well,
clearly,
the
member
from
abbotsford
doesn't
adhere
or
abide
by
the
rulings
of
this
place
and
that's
his
business.
That's
his
business,
but
the
issue.
The
issue
here
is:
when
was
the
decision
made
with
respect
to
a
fee
for
accessing
government
documents
by
not
all
citizens?
C
If
you're
looking
for
information
on
yourself,
that's
freely
available
to
anyone
who
asked
for
it,
we're
at
proactively
releasing
information
that
they
used
to
hold
as
if
they
were
the
sacred
scrolls,
simple
things
like
transition
documents,
budget
estimate
documents
that
happened
and
transpire
in
this
place?
They
wouldn't
do
that.
We
did
now
the
member
on
that
side
who
just
asked
the
question
speaker
is
the
most
experienced
member
on
that
side
of
the
house,
and
he
knows
that
decisions
like
this
are
not
made
by
ministers
they're
made
by
cabinet.
C
E
It's
entirely
implausible
and,
and
the
evidence
strongly
suggests
that
it
is
not
the
case.
Mr
speaker,
the
the
premier
refers
to
the
the
ruling
that
we
received
in
this
house.
He
might
want
to
remind
himself
of
what
that
ruling
was
in,
in
speaking
to
the
documented
evidence,
the
email
centered
around
a
decision
note
and
an
application
fee.
However,
a
copy
of
the
decision
note
wasn't,
provided
it
wasn't
provided
because
when
the
opposition
made
a
request
for
the
documents
the
government
refused
to
give
it.
E
Mr
speaker,
the
defense
hangs
the
defense,
hangs
on
a
procedural
move
by
the
government
and
the
minister
responsible
for
access
to
information
not
to
provide
access
to
that
information.
Mr
speaker,
there
is
a
strong
suspicion
that
the
minister
didn't
tell
the
truth.
There
is
a
document
that
is
in
the
government's
possession
that
can
confirm
that
one
way
or
another.
Why
won't
the
premier
release
that
document.
C
Well,
I
I
look
forward
to
the
next
night
at
the
abbotsford
comedy
club,
when
the
member
is
up
doing
his
riffs
there,
but
when
I
think
of
when
I
think
of
freedom
of
information
and
the
member
from
abbotsford,
I'm
reminded
of
an
icbc
report
that
was
released
with
with
pages
literally
ripped
out
of
it.
Honorable
speaker,
that's
that's
freedom.
That's
that's
the
severing
from
the
former
minister
of
finance's
office.
Their
severing
wasn't
done
through
the
professional
public
service.
C
G
C
H
Thank
you,
mr
speaker,
and
if
we
were
to
be
taking
the
the
premier's
defense
on
this,
then
members
of
this
outside
of
the
house
should
never
be
on
members
on
that
side
of
the
house
and
members
on
that
side
of
the
house
should
never
be
on
this
side
of
the
house,
because
what
I'm
about
to
point
out
is
what
one
of
his
members
one
of
the
premier's
members,
said.
Well,
they
were
on
this
side
of
the
house,
an
article
published
in
the
vancouver
sun.
H
On
august,
the
3rd
2018
highlighted
telus's
100
million
dollar
purchase
of
medicis
quote
the
acquisition
involves
about
30
boutique
clinics
which
operate
under
medicis,
copeman
healthcare
and
horizon
occupational
health
solution
brands,
some
of
them
charge
hefty
annual
membership
fees
for
affluent
families
and
executives,
reflecting
on
copeman's
business
model.
In
his
past
role
as
health
critic,
the
minister
of
health,
the
current
minister
of
health,
is
quoted
in
a
2007
thai
article
written
by
andrew
mcleod,
saying
quote,
people
aren't
paying
for
those
services
and
everybody
knows
it
you're
paying
for
the
right
to
see
a
doctor.
H
End
quote:
the
vancouver
son
states
quote:
copeman
healthcare
has
four
swanky
clinics
in
bc
and
alberta,
catering
to
well-heeled
patients,
corporate
health
programs
and
business
executives.
End
quote:
telus
purchased
medicis
because
quote
it's
a
profitable
entity,
end
quote
and
they
have
a
lot
of
stake
as
they've
got
billions
of
dollars.
Developing
health
records
software.
H
I
Thank
you
very
much
honorable
speaker,
and
what
the
member
has
suggested
is
that
the
issue
that
he's
been
raising
has
been
around
for
a
long
time,
which
is
the
provision
of
non-medically,
necessary
supplementary
services
and
there's
a
debate
about
those
services
in
2018
after
I
became
minister
of
health,
I
think
it
was
2008,
I
think,
was
the
proper
reference
on
2018,
but
in
2008
after
I
became
minister
of
health,
the
cabinet
decided,
after
jew
consideration,
to
bring
into
force
an
act
of
the
legislature
that
had
been
passed
under
the
previous
government
and
never
been
brought
into
force
over
the
previous
15
years.
I
That
action
that
was
taken
by
me
as
minister
of
health
and
by
the
cabinet
ensures
that
the
provisions
against
extra
billing
have
been
strengthened
in
bc.
With
respect
to
issues
raised
last
week
by
the
minister
by
the
member,
the
medical
services
commission
did
take
action
and
work
to
ensure
that
a
provider
was
brought
into
compliance.
I
If
the
member
believes
that
telus
health
is
not
in
compliance
of
the
medicare
protection
act,
he
should
bring
that
information
forward.
But,
for
my
part,
I've
we've
brought
in
to
force
a
new
law.
We've
brought
in
force,
repeated
actions
that
support
public
health
care
and
limit
private
intervention
and
public
health
care
repeatedly
done
so,
and
in
this
case,
we're
asking
the
medical
services
commission
to
review
all
these
issues
to
make
sure
that
everybody
is
in
compliance.
H
The
heart
of
this,
mr
speaker,
is
the
reality
that
a
primary
feature
of
the
tech
industry,
of
course,
is
the
disruption
of
business
models
can
happen
very
quickly
in
jurisdictions
that
do
not
have
the
proper
regulatory
framework
in
place
are
vulnerable.
H
Josh,
claire,
head
of
telus
health,
said
at
the
time
that
vancouver
sun
article
quote
when
you
look
south
of
the
border,
you
see
american
tech
giants
moving
into
this
space,
so,
together
with
telus
and
medicis,
our
intention
is
to
create
a
canadian
health
tech
champion
that
can
be
an
alternate
to
the
american
tech
giants.
End
quote
in
the
vancouver
sun
article,
dr
brian
day,
co-owner
of
the
canby
surgery
center.
An
advocate
for
private
clinics
pointed
to
the
entrance
of
amazon,
berkshire,
hathaway
and
jpmorgan
chase
into
the
american
health
sector
and
said
quote.
H
I
expect
to
see
a
positive
and
much
needed
disruption.
Disruptive
innovation,
end
quote:
the
minister
of
health
should
not
be
brushing
this
off.
He
spoke
to
the
clear
and
present
danger
to
our
universal
equitable
primary
health
care
system
in
the
past.
My
question
is
this:
do
corporations
like
telus
have
a
place
in
the
ndp's
vision
for
primary
health
care
delivery
in
our
province.
I
Felt
well,
honorable,
speaker,
telus
has
the
same
obligation
as
everyone
else,
which
is
to
support
and
to
follow
the
law,
which
is
the
medicare
protection
act.
The
idea
that
the
member
is
singling
out
what
is
a
bc-based
company
as
the
sole
the
sole
target
of
this
quote.
This
criticism,
I
think,
is
incorrect.
I
But
it
seems
to
me
what
we
also
need
is
to
improve
what
public
health
care
does
for
people
and
that's
why,
in
bc,
we
have
12
mri
machines,
operating
24
7
in
the
public
system.
Why
we've
increased
the
number
of
mris,
for
example,
an
area
where
private
health
was
strong
by
47
to
improve
services
for
people?
Why
we've
added
54
primary
care
networks,
26,
urgent
and
primary
care
centers?
Why
we've
added
surgeries
to
reduce
wait
times?
Why,
even
during
a
pandemic,
there
are
fewer
people
waiting
for
surgeries
than
before?
We
don't
just
need
to
defend.
J
J
Now,
sadly,
it's
it's
not
just
the
the
minister
of
citizen
services,
who
appears
to
be
deeply
committed
to
a
culture
of
secrecy
in
government.
J
C
Well.
Thank
you,
honourable
speaker,
and
I
appreciate
the
question
from
the
member
I'm
not
aware
of
the
context
of
which
she's
bringing
this
forward.
I'm
happy
to
speak
to
anyone
offline
about
that
to
get
to
the
the
heart
of
the
matter,
but
if,
if
it's
theatrics,
you're
looking
for
then
again
it's
odd
to
have
this
member
talking
about
freedom
of
information
and
access
to
information
when
he
was
the
he
was
the
architect
of
the
triple
delete
scandal.
C
J
Thank
you
very
much,
mr
speaker.
I
I
think
that
the
premier,
it's
time
for
the
premiere
to
look
in
the
mirror
and
and
what
he'll
see,
is
he'll
see
the
head
of
a
government
that
has
just
been
acknowledged
in
this
country
by
the
assad,
the
canadian
socialism
of
journalists
as
the
most
secretive
government
in
canada.
J
That's
the
this.
This
premier's
record
the
most
secretive
government
in
canada.
The
bc
ndp
is
notorious
for
requiring
non-disclosure
agreements
to
hide
information
and
keep
people
from
speaking
out
on
everything
from
labor
policy
to
front-line
healthcare
workers.
J
This
this
government
even
forced
their
own,
their
own
attendees
at
their
own
convention
to
sign
an
nda.
Now
the
ndp
wants
to
pull
the
member
from
fraser
nicola
into
their
secret
society
of
non-action
with
respect
to
litten.
C
Well,
thank
you
rama
speaker,
as
the
member
I'm
sure
will
know.
As
the
newly
minted
opposition
house
leader,
there
is
a
bill
before
this
house
to
assist
in
the
rebuild
of
of
the
city
of
the
village
of
litton,
and
that
is
being
debated
right
now.
I
I
traveled
with
I
traveled
with
the
member
from
fraser.
C
Did
the
government
house
leader
in
the
minister
responsible
for
emergency
preparedness
we
have
been
reaching
out
repeatedly,
but
in
some
instances
and
again
people
who
have
been
in
government?
I'm
surprised
they're,
not
aware
of
this.
In
some
instances
there
are
issues
that
may
well
be
adversaries
adversarial
to
the
outcomes
that
we're
looking
for
and
that's
why
one
would
use
a
non-disclosure
agreement.
But
I
I
can
say
categorically
to
the
member
from
fraser
nicola
that
she
has.
My
number
she's
always
had
my
numbers
anything
she
needs.
She
just
asked
a
call.
K
K
And
on
monday,
what
do
we
hear
from
the
member
from
langley
east?
We
hear-
and
I
quote,
no
decisions
have
been
made.
End
quote
now
that
member
must
have
gotten
that
information
from
somewhere
and
I
think
in
this
house
we
can
all
agree
that
it
is
actually
extremely
cruel
to
give
these
families
false
hope.
So
will
the
minister
of
children
and
families
stand
up
today
and
tell
us
who
is
right
and
who
is
wrong?
Is
it
the
member
for
langley
east,
or
is
it
this
minister
of
children
and
families.
L
Honourable
speaker,
I'd
like
to
take
this
opportunity
to
express
my
deep
gratitude
to
everybody
who's
on
the
minister's
advisory
council.
It's
a
mixture
of
advocates
and
service
providers,
and
parents
and
grandparents
people
who
have
a
deep
passion
for
the
the
diverse
community
of
families
who
are
taking
care
of
children
and
youth
with
support
needs.
It's
really
important
that
we're
able
to
speak
to
them
first
about
policy
direction
and
programming
and
areas
of
decision
making
that,
as
as
the
member
said,
there
are
many
decisions
that
have
not
been
made.
L
Yet
we
have
two
years
honorable
speaker,
we
have
two
years
before
provincial
implementation
members,
so
we
are
engaging
with
families
with
advocates
with
groups
who
represent
families
with
service
providers
and
we're
consulting
with
them
so
that
we
can
build
this
framework
that
is
desperately
needed
in
our
province,
because
so
many
children
have
been
getting
left
behind
under
the
patchwork
of
programs.
That
was
the
design
of
the
other
side
of
this
house.
F
F
We
have
a
budget,
that's
going
to
be
released
next
tuesday,
yet
the
budget
lock
up
this
year
has
been
restricted
to
10
percent
capacity
of
the
room
that
has
been
booked
by
the
government.
Even
under
previous
covet
gathering
rules,
you
could
have
had
50.
Mr
speaker,
this
has
resulted
in
the
denial.
Let's
hear
the
question
please.
This
has
resulted
in
the
denial
of
many
many
groups,
most
of
which,
at
some
point
over
the
last
year,
have
taken
issue
with
some
form
of
government
policy.
F
They
won't
be
allowed
in
the
budget
lock-up.
They
won't
be
allowed
to
give
their
impressions
of
the
budget
to
the
media
that
are
in
that
lock-up.
The
the
restrictions
have
been
released
yet
starting
at
midnight
tonight.
Will
the
minister
instruct
the
budgetary
office
to
open
up
the
capacity
back
to
the
usual
invite
list
and
make
sure
people
have
proper
access
to
budget
documents
that
directly
impact
their
organizations.
G
Thank
you
very
much,
mr
speaker,
and
I
am
looking
forward
to
next
tuesday
because
it
is
budget
day
here
in
north
chamber
and
on
that
day
everybody's
going
to
hear
about
where
this
government
is
headed
and
where
we're
investing
to
make
sure
that
british
columbians
can
get
the
services.
G
British
columbians
can
hear
about
how
this
government
has
their
backs
and
how
this
government
is
going
to
continue
to
invest
in
the
services
that
people
can
count
on.
That's
what
they're
going
to
hear
on
tuesday
they're
going
to
hear
it
right
here
and
I
invite
everyone
to
tune
in
we're
going
to
we.
We
just
learned
yesterday
honorable
speaker
about
the
changes
in
the
in
the
in
the
restrictions
and
and
we
have
a
plan
for
a
hundred
people
for
sure
who
are
going
to
be
there.
F
F
No,
it's
right
here.
Actually,
the
the
groups
fundamentally
need
to
have
access
to
the
budget
lockup
in
fact,
they've
canceled,
the
media
budget
lockup
in
vancouver
this
year
as
well.
Mr
speaker
they've
asked
businesses
over
the
last
two
years
to
pivot
on
24
hours
notice
to
change
repeatedly
change
their
operations.
Yet
this
minister
is
saying
that,
with
even
a
week's
notice,
she
can
add
a
few
more
people
to
a
thousand-person
ballroom,
let
alone
the
fact
that
her
own
minister
was
working
on
the
reopening
a
month
ago.
G
You
very
much,
mr
speaker.
Well.
First
of
all,
I
think
it's
important
to
to
recognize
that
all
along
the
public
health
office
has
been
monitoring
and
it
depended
on
how
things
played
out.
So,
mr
speaker,
we,
the
the
the
public
health
officer,
has
been
monitoring
and
we
never
knew
frankly
until
just
this
week
what
was
actually
going
to
be
happening
in
the
next
couple
of
days.
G
Having
said
that,
mr
speaker,
having
said
that,
mr
speaker,
we
also
heard
complaints
last
year
when
we
had
all
online
and
the
challenges
that
came
with
doing
an
online
budget
lock-up,
and
so
we
have
found
a
way,
mr
speaker,
and
I
know
that
the
members
opposite
know
that
it
does
take
some
time
to
plan
a
budget
and
it,
mr
speaker,
clearly
they're
not.
D
D
We've
seen
litten,
basically
forgotten,
and
the
local
mla
asked
to
sign
an
nda
to
get
information,
and
now
hundreds
of
princeton
flood
victims
are
facing
being
homeless
due
to
bungling
by
the
ndp
government
and
a
refusal
to
provide
funds
for
temporary
housing,
the
mla
for
boundaries
to
milk
blames
outdated
legislation
for
his
failure.
Maybe
he
didn't
sign
an
nda,
so
he
doesn't
know
that
the
province
declared
a
state
of
emergency
to
cut
through
red
tape
like
this.
D
M
Thank
you
honorable
speaker,
it's
a
pleasure
to
to
answer
the
question
for
the
member,
because
I
want
to
assure
him
that
not
only
is
the
the
member,
the
mla
for
the
area,
doing
an
amazing
job
in
standing
up
for
his
constituents
and
working
to
deal
with
the
issues
in
grand
forks.
M
But
that
member
is
also
wrong
in
his
assertion
that
the
people
of
princeton
are
facing
eviction.
I
can
tell
you
that
the
article
that
he
has
been
quoting
from
is
full
of
incorrections
or
mistakes.
I
can
tell
you
that
the
the
supports
that
are
in
place
are
there
until
at
least
mid-march,
when
they
will
transition
to
more
permanent
housing
and
that
the
red
cross
is
working
very
hard
to
ensure
that
those
supports
are
there.
M
I
can
also
tell
the
the
member
that,
in
terms
of
the
grant
that
the
city
of
princeton
is
wanting
to
have,
there
is
significant
engagement
between
my
ministry
and
the
community
on
that
particular
issue,
and
so
what
I
would
say
to
the
member
is
stay
tuned.