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From YouTube: MAY 31 2022 Question Period
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
3rd Session
42nd Parliament
C
Thank
you.
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
Mr
speaker,
we
are
in
the
middle
of
a
health
care
crisis
with
one
in
every
five
british
columbians
unable
to
secure
a
family
doctor,
and
it's
only
going
to
get
worse
with
a
wave
of
retirements
coming,
but
yesterday
the
premier
had
the
worst
excuse
ever
for
building
his
billion
dollar
vanity
museum
boondoggle.
C
C
D
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker
and
the
training
of
new
healthcare
staff
and,
as
you
know,
we've
added
30
000
people
to
the
bc
health
care
system
over
the
last
two
years.
D
We've
led
the
country
honorable
speaker
in
new
registered
nurses
since
2017
now,
albeit
honorable
members
members,
albeit
honorable
speaker,
we
were
starting
in
last
place
at
that
time,
honorable
speaker,
but
nonetheless,
honourable
speaker,
we
have
legends
in
new
nursing
spaces.
We
established,
as
the
members
will
know.
We
said
at
the
time
of
the
last
election
over
the
next
three
years,
we'd
be
adding
through
the
age
cap
and
other
programs,
seven
thousand
new
healthcare
workers
and
long-term
care
we're
at
six
thousand
six
hundred
today.
D
We're
adding
new
training
positions
around
the
province,
in
particular
honorable
speaker,
in
different
regions
of
the
province
and
and
the
members
talk
about
doctors,
we've
added
60
new
residency
spaces
for
doctors
in
bc,
giving
us
the
largest
family
residency
program
in
canada.
C
Well,
mr
speaker,
you
know
stats.
Canada's
own
numbers
show
that
actually
in
british
columbia,
we
have
over
10
000
fewer
people
working
in
hospitals
today,
the
worst
record
in
canada
and
demonstrating
that
they're
voting
with
their
feet
and
leaving
the
system.
Mr
speaker,
but
you
know,
mr
speaker
when,
when
the
bc
liberals
were
in
government,
we
more
than
doubled
the
number
of
medical
training
spaces
from
128
to
288.
C
Expanding
the
ubc
medical
program
to
the
university
of
northern
british
columbia
to
the
university
of
bc
okanagan
and
to
the
university
of
victoria.
The
ndp
now
in
their
second
term,
have
failed
to
add
a
single
new
space,
not
one
in
spite
of
the
fact.
In
spite
of
the
fact
that
we
have
a
doctor
shortage
crisis
and
when
the
ndp
promised
their
new
sfu
surry
medical
school,
they
failed
to
mention
that
the
premier's
billion
dollar
vanity
museum
project
was
going
to
be
a
higher
priority.
C
Here
is
the
ndp
commitment,
and
I
quote,
the
first
graduating
class
could
be
in
2023
2024,
end
of
quote,
but
instead
the
ndp
have
chosen
a
billion
dollar
vanity
museum
project
instead,
which
means
that
any
graduating
class
on
their
broken
promise.
New
sfu
training
spaces
would
be
at
least
eight
years.
C
D
D
B
D
Honorable
speaker,
I
mean
it
is
what
the
the
leader
of
the
opposition
says
is
contrary
to
what's
actually
in
the
stats,
canada
numbers,
I
will
speak,
it's
contrary
to
it.
All.
There
was
at
stats.
Canada
was
a
reclassification
of
the
numbers.
Ten
thousand
was
added
to
one
category.
Ten
thousand
was
taken
to
another
category.
D
That's
all
that
happened,
and
the
leader
of
the
opposition
knows
this,
because
I
believe
he
can
read
a
spreadsheet
honourable
speaker,
and
so
he
knows
honourable
speaker,
he
knows
I
I
give
him
more
credit
than
a
lot
of
people
would
give
him.
Some
people
would
argue
honorable
speaker
that
he
can't
read
a
spreadsheet
members.
Canada
numbers
show
in
2020
was
an
increase
of
14
000
health
care
workers.
What
the
psec
numbers
knows
you
know
he
was
minister
of
finance.
You
remember.
D
The
public
sector
and
colors
council
showed
that
the
last
two
years,
honorable
speaker,
an
increase
of
30
000
health
care
workers.
Why?
Because
we
added
nurses,
we
added
health
sciences,
professionals,
we
added
health
care
assistance.
Honorable
speaker,
we
added
doctors,
honorable
speaker
and
we've
got
to
continue
to
do
that,
work
to
continue
to
build
the
health
care
system
of
the
future.
B
E
E
It's
not
the
words
of
the
opposition,
it
is
the
numbers
that
stats
canada
provides,
and
here
for
the
minister's
information
is
that
there
are
10
000
fewer
people
working
in
hospitals
under
this
government,
the
worst
in
canada.
Those
are
the
facts,
those
are
the
numbers.
Let's
take
a
look
at
what
happened
in
british
columbia.
Over
the
last
weekend,
we
had
emergency
rooms
closing
all
across
this
province.
The
primary
care
clinics
that
the
ndp
and
this
minister
use
as
a
magic
bullet
we
know,
are
woefully
understaffed
and
people
can't
get
the
care
they
need.
E
That's
the
fact-
and
the
minister
knows
it,
stands
here
and
dismisses
the
concerns
of
british
colombians
every
single
day.
Let's
talk
about
marian
howard,
maybe
this
will
get
the
minister's
attention.
Here's!
What
marion
said.
I
have
stage
four
metastatic
breast
cancer
and
I
live
in
an
isolated
area.
E
We've
lost
the
services
of
three
family
doctors
since
the
beginning
of
this
year.
End
quote:
I
think
that
the
minister's
words
echo
pretty
hollow
with
marianne
and
thousands
of
other
people
like
her
so
can.
Can
the
premier
tell
us
why
his
million-dollar
vanity
museum
project
is
more
important
than
providing
the
services
that
british
columbians
like
marion
need
and
deserve.
D
Minister
of
health,
honorable
speaker,
I
take
the
issues
that
people
raise
with
me
every
day
about
health
care
extremely
seriously.
D
The
fact
is
that,
over
the
last
two
years,
we've
added
30
000
people
to
our
health
care
system,
they're
doctors
and
nurses
and
health
care
workers
to
support
people
such
as
marian
we've
taken
through,
I
think,
taken
the
province
through
and
are
taking
the
province
through
to
public
health
emergencies
that
have
had
a
significant
and
lasting
effect
on
our
health
care
system.
It's
why
we're
taking
the
steps
we've
taken
to
increase
the
number
of
family
residency
positions
in
bc?
E
The
fact
of
the
matter
is-
and
the
minister
knows
this-
that
not
one
new
training
seat
under
this
minister's
watch
when
it
comes
to
physicians
in
british
columbia,
not
one
zero
and
he
talks
about
people
serving
in
the
health
care
system.
Then
why
on
earth
are
emergency
rooms
closing
day
after
day
weekend
after
weekend,
and
people
are
afraid
the
minister
can
stand
up
and
and
say
what
what
he
he
wants
to
say.
But
here's
what
british
columbians
are
saying
they
are
afraid
they
have
their
doctors
retiring
the
longest
wait
times
in
the
country.
E
Clinics
are
at
capacity
and
closed
emergency
rooms.
That's
under
this
minister's
watch.
The
er
in
clearwater,
for
example,
has
closed
five
times
this
month
and
guess
what
those
patients
were
sent
to
kamloops
where
staffing
shortages
are
acute
and
getting
worse
every
single
day.
That's
the
system
under
this
minister's
watch.
So
here's
what
one
nurse
told
us-
and
I
quote-
nurses
are
beyond
done:
they
are
beyond
the
point
of
exhaustion,
they
are
defeated,
every
shift,
every
shift
is
grossly
understaffed,
staff
are
taking
stress,
leaves
or
they
are
outright
leaving
the
profession.
E
D
Minister
of
health,
the
member
knows,
and
when
you
know
you
ask
a
question,
look
I
think
the
question
was
about
clear
water.
There
was
some
rhetoric
at
the
end
that
at
times
there
was
a
time.
D
Honorable
speaker,
the
member
will
know
that
it
is
the
responsibility
of
the
healthcare
system
and,
in
this
case
of
interior
health,
to
ensure
that
treatment
can
be
provided
safely
for
people.
The
member
knows
this.
D
It
is
because
of
it
and
the
leader
of
the
opposition
can
heckle,
but
it's
those
nurses
that
are
dealing
with
the
reality
of
them,
the
leader
of
the
well
the
previous
week.
It
was
sixteen
thousand
five
hundred
years
and
though
and
three
four
weeks
ago,
it
was
17,
500
and
typically
typically,
and
they
can
heckle
all
they
want.
D
Honorable
speaker,
but
typically
those
numbers
are
about
half
of
that
and
that's
because
of
covid19,
I'm
very
proud,
under
these
very
challenging
circumstances
of
the
work
of
our
healthcare
workers
in
kamloops
and
in
clearwater,
and
in
vancouver
and
prince
rupert
everywhere
in
our
province.
We
have
to
continue
to
do
that
work
and
continue
to
support
healthcare
workers
like
we're
doing
when
we're
adding
602
nursing
space
training
spaces
in
british
columbia.
A
Yeah.
Thank
you,
mr
speaker,
as
we
continue
to
talk
about
this
unfolding
health
care
crisis
in
british
columbia.
It's
nice
to
see
this
bc
ndp
government
proactively
working
on
another
growing
emergency,
the
climate
emergency.
A
Last
summer,
climate
disasters
brought
an
unprecedented
heat,
dome,
a
devastating
wildfire
that
entirely
destroyed
the
town
of
lytton
and
a
record-setting
wildfire
season,
darkening
the
skies
of
our
province.
For
months.
Mr
speaker,
a
recent
study
examining
20
years
of
health
data
in
canada
found
that
people
who
live
near
wildfires
for
the
past
decade
were
more
likely
to
develop
brain
tumors
and
lung
cancer.
The
worst
three
fire
seasons
on
record
in
bc
have
occurred
in
the
last
decade.
Last
summer,
over
867
000
hectares
of
our
province
burned.
A
Wildfire
smoke
contains
hundreds
of
dangerous
particles,
gases
and
chemicals,
including
carbon
monoxide,
carbon
dioxide,
nitrogen
oxides.
Anyone
who's
been
exposed
to
wildfire
smoke.
Even
hundreds
of
kilometers
away
from
the
source
will
know
the
on
how
unbearable
air
quality
is
and
how
difficult
it
is
to
breathe.
Mr
speaker,
through
you,
honourable
speaker,
to
the
minister
of
public
safety
in
three
of
the
five
summers
that
he
has
been.
The
minister
wildfire
smoke
has
choked
out
our
communities.
A
F
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker,
there's
a
number
of
initiatives
that
have
been
underway
every
fire
season,
one
to
ensure
that
we're
prepared
as
possible
as
as
proactively
as
possible,
whether
it's
through
the
the
fire
service,
which
is
under
the
jurisdiction
of
the
minister
of
forests
through
embc,
by
ensuring
that
we've
got
the
emergency
social
and
health
supports
in
place
in
communities
where
people
are
evacuated
to
overall
honorable
speaker,
we,
it
is
also
ensuring
that
we
have
a
climate
action
plan
that
is
able
to
deal
with
with
with
climate,
with
the
changing
climate
here
in
british
columbia,
and
we
will
continue
to
do
the
work
and
part
of
that
is,
of
course,
as
related
to
the
overhaul
of
the
emergency
program
act
that
is
currently
underway.
A
I
suspected,
mr
speaker,
that
our
government
is
doing
nothing
to
protect
the
air.
A
A
Like
heat
waves
like
wildfire
smoke,
they
mandated
heat
protections
like
paid
breaks,
drinking
water,
a
heat,
illness
prevention
plan
and
access
to
shade,
wildfire
protection
measures,
specifically
including
n95
masks,
which
the
minister
of
health
talked
about.
In
estimates
having
18
19
million
on
on
hand
and
as
well
medical
checks,
the
bc
ndp
government
likes
to
think
of
themselves
as
the
workers
party
and
yet
they've
not
done
anything
to
protect
workers
from
the
impact
of
climate
change.
A
They
failed
to
protect
schools.
They
failed
to
protect
public
spaces
and
have
failed
to
put
plans
in
place
to
protect
british
columbians
from
the
polluted
air,
the
worst
of
which
comes
from
these
wildfire
seasons.
My
question,
honourable
speaker,
is
through
you
to
the
premier.
He
says
he
is
a
friend
of
the
worker.
F
Whether
it's
ensuring
that
we've
increased
the
standards
in
terms
of
the
removal
of
asbestos
honorable
speaker,
whether
it's
ensuring
that
we
have
some
of
the
toughest
health
and
safety
standards
and
worksafe
standards
of
any
province,
any
jurisdiction
in
this
country.
Honourable
speaker,
it's
ensuring
that
when
firefighters
go
out
to
work
that
they've
got
the
presumptive
cancer
security
systems
in
place,
we've
done
that.
Sometimes
the
opposition's
done
that,
but
all
of
us
in
this
house
have
taken
that
very
seriously.
Honorable
speaker.
F
At
the
same
time,
we
ensure
that
when
our
fire
crews
go
out
on
those
front
lines
on
the
fighting
fires,
they
have
the
protective
equipment
that
they
need.
That's
always
been
the
case
for
the
fire
service,
and
it
will
always
continue
to
be
the
case.
So
to
suggest
that
that
that
that
is
not
happening.
Remember
is
absolutely
not
true.
G
Thank
you,
mr
speaker,
probably
shouldn't
come
as
a
surprise
to
the
house
that
you
know
I
I
rise
to
talk
a
little
bit
about
this
transit
strike
in
the
sea
to
sky,
which
is
been
going
on
for
17
weeks
now.
Squamish,
whistler
and
pemberton
have
not
had
bus
service
families,
workers,
employers,
communities
are
all
saying
this
has
got
end
enough
is
enough
tomorrow.
G
I
think
we'll
bring
this
ndp
government,
the
distinction
of
presiding
over
the
longest
transit
strike
in
the
history
of
british
columbia,
the
longest
bc
transit
strike
as
a
matter
of
interest,
though
they
hold
the
current
record
right
now
that
the
previous
longest
transit
strike
was
still,
it
was
under
the
ndp
as
well,
so
maybe
they're
looking
to
break
it.
One
would
hope
not,
but
this
house
is
in
on
the
last
week
of
session.
This
is
the
last
opportunity
that
we
have
to
force
these
parties
into
binding
arbitration.
H
Thank
you
chair.
I
I
shared
the
frustration
brought
on
by
the
member
of
the
the
the
residents
of
whistler,
pemberton
and
squamish,
and
I'm
not
happy
that
the
both
parties
are
not
able
to
resolve
this
dispute
this
long
into
the
dispute.
H
Mr
speaker,
I
have
spoken
to
both
parties
yesterday
because
both
parties
were
able
to
negotiate
a
tentative
agreement.
It
was
put
to
vote
for
ratification
and
the
members
of
the
union
rejected
that
attentive
agreement.
So
I've
spoken
to
both
of
them
last
night
and
this
morning,
and
I
have
I
have
reminded
them
their
responsibility
not
only
to
their
members
or
to
the
shareholders,
but
also
to
the
residences
of
that
region
that
they
serve
and
that
we
have.
I
have.
I
H
I
I
J
Thank
you
very
much
honorable
speaker
and
I
thank
the
member
for
the
question
and
I
do
have
to
say
it's.
It's
a
welcome
opportunity
to
talk
about
the
investments
that
our
government
has
made
in
education,
both
on
operating
and
certainly
in
a
capital.
J
I
would
want
to
highlight
the
fact
that
over
the
last
three
years,
we've
invested
close
to
three
billion
dollars
in
education
to
build
new
schools
to
build
replacement
schools
additions,
seismic
to
seismically,
upgrade
schools
so
that
our
children
have
safe
places
to
learn
and
in
fact,
we've
been
doing
that
at
a
rate
much
more
more
quickly
than
the
the
the
the
bc
liberals
ever
did
when
they
were
on
this
side
of
the
house,
they
spent
574
million
dollars
between
20,
2012
and
2017..
J
Those
projects
have
resulted
in
50
those
58
projects
have
resulted
in
32
000,
safe
seats
for
british
columbia
students
over
the
next
three
years.
We
will
invest
close
to
800
million
dollars
to
accelerate
our
seismic
mitigation
program
so
that
we
can
build
safe
seats
for
british
columbia
students.
That
is
a
record
that
is
unmatched
in
the
history
of
this
program.
Honorable
speaker.
K
K
Mr
speaker,
from
the
royal
bc
museum
in
archives
that
came
out
in
2018.,
that's
150
million
they'd
still
have
another
800
million
to
spend
on
school
and
seismic
upgrades
in
surrey.
The
rating
has
gotten
worse
of
the
average
school
by
50,
since
2017
under
this
government
and
chilliwack
is
worsened
by
180
percent.
J
Well,
you
know,
honorable
speaker,
I
have
to
say
that
the
the
the
record
of
our
government
is
really
clear
with
when
it
comes
to
the
investments
that
we
have,
that
we
have
made
in
in
ensuring
that
students
have
the
spaces
that
they
need
in
terms
of
new
schools,
that
we
have
built
the
additions
that
we
have
built.
J
The
investments
that
we
have
made
working
in
partnership
with
school
districts
across
the
province,
and
I
appreciate
that
it's
a
little,
perhaps
not
not
something
that
they
that
the
members
opposite
are
familiar
with,
because
when
they
were
on
this
side,
they
closed
250
schools
across
our
province.
J
So
we're
investing
200
2.65
million
dollars
over
the
next
three
years,
that's
on
top
of
numbers
in
the
last
four,
a
1.3
billion
to
expand
and
replace
schools
to
address
growth,
close
to
800
million
for
seismic
upgrades,
554
million
for
for
routine
capital
and
those
projects.
The
projects
we
have
approved
honorable
speakers
since
2017
include
18
new
or
expanded
schools
in
surrey.
J
One
edition
and
the
whole
time
they
were
on
this
side
of
the
house:
eighteen
hundred
new
seats
in
suit
four
new
and
expanded
schools
in
chilliwack
we've
replaced
quinnell
high
school,
a
new
middle
school
in
lake
country
and
honorable
speaker.
The
list
goes
on
and
on
and
on
and
I'd
be
happy
to
spend
as
much
time
as
the
other
side
would
like
enumerating
the
many
projects
that
we
are
investing
in.
Thank
you.
K
Thank
you,
mr
speaker.
Well,
the
minister
might
want
to
pay
attention
to
the
vancouver
school
board
meeting
today,
because
they're
talking
about
closing
schools
in
vancouver
at
the
board
meeting
today
under
this
government's
watch.
The
question
was
about
the
prioritization
of
dollars,
putting
the
premier's
vanity
museum
project
ahead
of
schools
unnecessarily.
K
It's
about
the
prioritization
of
this
government,
choosing
that
school
safety
should
take
a
back
seat
to
the
premier's
billion
dollar
vanity
museum
project.
In
fact,
seismic
upgrades
to
school,
mr
speaker,
under
this
government
we
can
only
find
net
18
new
schools
that
this
government's
even
been
working
on.
They
know
how
to
spend
a
lot
of
dollars.
They
don't
know
how
to
get
any
results
for
the
dollar
spent.
K
150
million
dollars
mr
speaker
made
in
2018,
but
instead
the
premier
wants
to
keep
a
hundred
schools
worth
of
children
at
risk
from
seismic
upgrades,
so
his
museum
project
can
jump
the
queue.
When
will
this
government
stop
this
ridiculous
billion
dollar
vanity
museum
project,
follow
the
treasures
for
generations
and
get
100
extra
schools
seismically
upgraded
instead,.
J
Thank
you
very
much
honorable
speaker
in
20
in
2016
2017,
the
capital
budget
for
our
k-12
system
was
less
than
500
million
dollars
this
year,
it's
over
900
900
million
dollars.
Last
year
we
spent
over
a
billion
dollars
investing
in
schools.
J
We
are
except
we
are
producing
seismic
upgrades
to
schools
at
a
rate
much
faster
than
the
previous
government
ever
did.
Our
budget
for
seismic
upgrades
is
twice:
we've
spent
more
than
twice
what
they
have
spent
and
over
the
next
three
years
we
are
investing
over
close
to
800
million
dollars
to
ensure
that
we
can
accelerate
our
seismic
mitigation
program.
This
is
work
we
do
in
partnership
with
school
districts
to
ensure
that
we
are
delivering
safe
seats
for
british
columbia's
children
as
quickly
as
we
can.