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From YouTube: FEBRUARY 17 2022 Question Period
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
3rd Session
42nd Parliament
C
C
Driven
mostly
because
of
the
rental
increases
of
almost
four
percent
that
we've
seen
here,
look
gas
prices
are
up,
grocery
prices
are
up,
housing
and
rent
prices
are
up.
Almost
every
single
thing
is
more
expensive
in
the
province
of
british
columbia.
Under
this
ndp
government,
the
premier
promised
british
columbians
that
he
would
fix
the
rising
cell
phone
bills,
never
happened,
he
promised
he
would
fix
gas
prices
that
are
going
up,
never
delivered
on
that
promise
and
he
promised
a
renter's
rebate.
C
None
of
the
premier's
promises
are
coming
to
fruition,
he's
not
delivering
on
any
of
them.
So
can
the
premier
tell
the
legislature
today,
after
five
years
of
saying,
well
we're
working
on
it?
It's
been
five
years.
When
will
he
deliver
on
any
of
his
promises?
Let's
start
with
the
400
renters
rebate,.
D
Thank
you
very
much,
mr
speaker.
Rising
prices
are
no
doubt
a
concern
for
british
columbians
and
it's
and
it's
a
concern
for
canadians
right
across
this
right
across
this
nation,
we're
seeing
a
it's
a
national
issue.
5.1
percent
increase
nationally
4.3
percent
here
in
bc,
which
is
the
lowest
among
the
major
provinces.
D
D
D
Don't
they
don't
like
that?
We're
delivering
child
care?
So
let's
talk
about
something
else,
mr
speaker:
msp
premiums
are
gone
eliminated
and
I'll
leave
with
one
more
before
I
take
my
seat
because
I
believe,
there's
probably
more.
Let's
talk
about
the
tolls
have
been
eliminated
and
what
that
means.
It
means
money
in
the
pockets
of
british
columbians
who've
had
to
pay.
C
C
Look
house
prices
are
an
all-time
high.
The
average
family
now
in
british
columbia
is
paying
over
3
600
a
year
more
if
they
are
eligible,
if
they
can
even
live
in
british
columbia
anymore.
Under
this
government,
affordable
government
has
sorry,
affordable.
Housing
has
gotten
so
bad
under
the
ndp
that
they've,
even
secretly
called
in
outside
auditors,
ernst
and
young
to
send
their
housing
plan
back
to
the
drawing
board
to
be
looked
at.
C
C
The
rent
itself
is
extremely
expensive.
All
our
expenses
just
leave
nothing
for
savings,
end
quote
so,
instead
of
grandiose
statements
and
broken
promises,
maybe
the
premier
can
try
something
different
and
deliver
on
a
promise
to
help
bring
relief
for
the
renters
of
british
columbia.
Will
they
do
that
today?.
D
Thank
you,
mr
speaker,
and
I
I
thank
the
member
for
the
question.
We've
continued
to
address
housing
in
this
province
since
we
formed
government
in
2017,
and
I
know
the
members
really
don't
like
that.
We've
been
active
on
this
file,
mr
speaker,
I
know
that
they
don't
like
that.
We
have
been
making
progress
whether
it
was
fixing
the
the
fixed
term,
lease
loophole
that
they
said
was
too
complicated.
It
was
the
very
first
thing
that
we
did
as
a
government.
D
The
fact
the
fact
that
we
eliminated
the
additional
two
percent
automatically
on
every
every
year.
We
eliminated
that
that
saved
thousands
of
dollars.
For
british
columbians.
Mr
speaker,
we're
continuing
to
work
on
the
on
on
the
all
the
elements
of
the
30-point
plan.
Ev
every
single
of
those
30
points
has
been
worked
on
or
completed.
I'm
sure
that
the
housing
minister
has
all
the
specific
details
on
how
on
on
on
all
the
ones
that
are
complete.
D
I
think
it's
I
want
to
say
it's
11
or
complete,
or
it
could
be
16.
So
if
the
members
want
clarity,
I
can
we
can
certainly
get
that
for
him.
The
other
thing
I
want
to
leave
the
members
with
is
that
one
of
the
things
that
we've
certainly
been
seeing
since
we
formed
government
is
that
the
average
hourly
wages
in
bc
have
increased
more
than
any
other
province
in
canada.
F
Well,
thank
you,
mr
speaker,
and
I
might
point
out
to
the
minister
there's
a
huge
difference
between
making
promises
and
making
progress,
and
I
can
tell
you
which
side
this
minister's
on
and
one
of
the
key
elements
that
this
housing
minister
has
forgotten
to
pay
attention
to
in
five
years.
Is
the
supply
side
completely
missing
an
action?
F
F
G
Thank
you
honorable
speaker,
the
in
2018
we
increased
the
rent
ceiling
for
safer.
It
increased
the
average
monthly
payment
to
seniors
by
about
seventy
eight
dollars
or,
and
and
so
I
don't-
I
don't
know
what
data
the
member
is
talking
about.
There's
three
percent
more
three
percent,
more
there's.
E
G
G
G
The
the
members
on
the
other
side
are
so
unattached
about
housing.
Let
me
just
give
you
one
idea
about
how
a
touch
on
housing
they
are.
This
is
the
this
is
the
monday
morning,
motions
okay
from
february
13th.
The
motion
was
be:
it
resolved
that
this
house
support
this
government's
actions
to
create
affordable
housing
for
all
the
member
for
kootenaise
says.
I
just
like
to
say
it's
appalling
that
this
government
would
put
this
motion
forward
and
I
don't
support
it.
That's
how
you
don't
support
action
on
affordable
housing.
That's
no
surprise
to
me.
F
F
And
he
may
want
to
stand
up
and
be
flippant
about
this.
But
let's
look
at
what
the
facts
in
the
report
laid
out.
The
facts
speak
for
themselves.
The
wait
list
is
up
45
in
the
last
four
years,
in
the
words
of
the
seniors
advocate
of
british
columbia,
our
government
for
the
record
created
almost
13
000
new
units
of
sea
of
seniors
housing
when
we
were
in
government.
B
F
Units
the
number
of
units
have
decreased.
The
report
yesterday
that
was
released,
made
it
clear.
There
are
less
units
today
than
there
were
five
years
ago,
the
rate
of
senior
subsidized
housing
relative,
the
to
the
population.
Guess
what
news
flash
to
the
minister
decreased
by
14
and
guess
what
else
happened
for
seniors
in
british
columbia?
The
median
wait
time
has
increased
to
two
years,
which
is
a
19
increase
over
last
year.
Not
our
watch.
This
minister's
watch.
F
The
facts
are
clear:
this
this
two-term
ndp
government
has
been
an
abysmal
failure
when
it
comes
to
affordability
in
british
columbia,
whether
it's
housing
or
rent
or
groceries,
or
now
subsidize
housing
for
seniors
by
every
single
measure.
This
minister's
legacy
is
one
of
failure.
Can
he
get
up
today
and
tell
the
nine
thousand
seniors
and
their
families
whether
it
is
acceptable
to
be
on
a
two-year
wait
list
for
subsidized
housing
under
his
government's
mandate?.
G
Honourable
speaker,
we
know
that
there's
been
huge
pressure
on
housing.
We
have
a
significant
number
of
people
choosing
to
move
to
british
columbia,
putting
pressure
on
our
housing
stock.
We
put
a
huge
amount
of
emphasis
on
increasing
the
supply
available
of
housing
available
to
people
increasing.
The
member's
question
was
about
safer.
She
suggested
that
we
reduced
access
when
in
fact,
we
increased
access
to
safer.
That
was
what
my
point
was
about.
G
I
don't
disagree
with
the
seniors
advocate
that
it
is
hard
for
seniors
out
there,
it's
hard
for
renters
out
there
and
we
are
working
as
hard
as
we
can
to
bring
housing
on
and
the
member
to
stand
up
and
say
in
16
years
they
built
13
000
units
and
that's
a
point
of
pride
for
them.
Honorable
speaker,
that
is
a
point
of
pride
in
16
years,
less
than
a
thousand
units
a
year
and
they
stand
up
and
say
what
an
accomplishment
of
our
government
we
were
prepared.
B
G
B
H
Thank
you.
Honorable
speaker,
indigenous
people
in
bc
comprise
less
than
five
percent
of
the
province's
population.
Despite
this,
indigenous
children
have
been
and
continue
to
be
disproportionately
represented
in
care.
Indeed,
in
2020
indigenous
children
were
19
times
more
likely
than
non-indigenous
children
to
be
in
the
child
welfare
system.
H
H
I
Thank
you,
honourable
speaker,
thank
you
to
the
member
for
the
question.
As
she
mentioned,
and
as
she
knows,
the
matter
is
before
the
court,
so
it
is
not
possible
for
me
to
speak
to
the
particular
matter
that
she
mentions.
I
would
like
to
acknowledge,
however,
that
indigenous
children
and
youth
have
been
over-represented
in
the
child
welfare
system
for
far
too
long.
I
Our
government
is
absolutely
committed
to
a
transformation
of
the
system
to
make
sure
that
indigenous
communities
are
able
to
exercise
jurisdiction
and
take
care
of
their
children
and
youth
and
families
in
the
way
that
they
want
to.
We
know
that
it's
critical
for
the
health
and
well-being
of
children
and
youth
to
be
connected
to
family,
community
and
culture.
Honourable
speaker,
we've
already
made
changes
to
provincial
law.
We've
been
investing
in
indigenous
communities
for
children
to
stay
with
aunties
or
grandmas,
or
people
in
the
community.
H
You,
honorable
speaker,
and
I
wasn't
asking
for
a
comment
on
the
case.
I
was
asking
for
this
government
to
reconcile
how
it
justifies
spending
money
to
fight
against
survivors
of
the
child
welfare
system,
instead
of
spending
that
money
to
support
them
for
50
years,
the
bc
government
has
failed
to
apply
for
benefits
and
compensation
for
tens
of
thousands
of
children
in
care
who
have
been
the
victims
of
crime.
H
For
decades,
children
have
been
taken
from
their
families
only
to
be
neglected
by
the
government
that
was
supposed
to
be
taking
care
of
them.
On
ctv
news,
the
representative
plaintiff
stated
quote:
I
made
suicide
attempts
as
a
child
and
I
still
struggle
with
suicidal
ideation
to
this
day.
I
wonder
what
my
life
could
have
been
like
if
I
had
had
timely
access
to
those
benefits
in
the
throne
speech
given
just
last
week,
this
government
said
that
they
were
committed
to
quote
healing
the
wounds
of
the
past,
but
this
issue
is
not
only
from
the
past.
H
This
government
is
choosing
to
spend
public
funds
and
resources
to
fight
the
victims
of
the
child
welfare
system.
Instead,
as
has
happened
in
other
provinces
of
working
collaboratively
with
them
and
compensating
them
for
the
decades
of
neglect
that
they
experienced
as
wards
of
the
province,
my
question
honorable
speaker
is
to
the
attorney
general.
B
I
Thank
you
honorable
speaker,
honourable
speaker.
This
is
a
serious
issue,
the
over
intrusion
of
government
into
the
lives
of
children
and
families
in
indigenous
communities.
It
has
gone
on
for
far
too
long
and
our
government
is
committed
to
reconciliation
and
to
making
sure
that
children,
youth
and
families
are
properly
supported
and
that
communities
exercise
jurisdiction
so
that
children
youth
remain
connected
to
their
family,
community
and
culture,
because
we
know,
honourable
speaker,
that
that
is
the
most
successful
outcome
for
those
children
and
youth
and
their
communities.
I
We
have
been
doing
work
to
change
this.
We
currently
have
the
lowest
number
of
indigenous
children,
youth
in
care
in
20
years,
and
there
is
a
lot
more
work
to
do.
Honourable
speaker,
we
are
supporting
and
investing
additional
funding,
for
example,
into
cultural
connections,
programs
and
budget
2021
provided
more
than
13
million
dollars
of
new
money
to
support
alternatives
to
care
so
that
indigenous
children
news
can
stay
with.
E
I
J
Well,
thank
you,
mr
speaker,
and
and
we're
hearing
time
and
again
about
the
affordability
crisis
and
the
lack
of
action
from
this
government.
You
know
rental
housing,
be
it
on
seniors
rental,
housing,
be
it
on
gas
prices.
We've
heard
time
and
again
from
this
premier
that
he
had
a
plan
to
bring
down
the
price
of
gas
hasn't
happened,
we're
seeing
record
high
gas
prices.
Now
we
have
the
highest
gas
taxes
in
north
america.
J
The
ndp
has
used
every
tool
in
the
toolbox
to
try
to
constrain
our
supply
through
the
trans
mountain
pipeline
and
now,
as
of
january
1st,
there's
new
rules
from
the
provincial
government
that
is
further
shutting
off
access
to
fuel.
From
alberta,
we've
heard
the
minister
talk
about
trying
to
deflect
again
by
having
the
bcuc
do
yet.
Another
review
of
gas
pricing
in
british
columbia,
which
we
all
know
last
time,
was
a
bit
of
a
sham
because
government
policy
and
taxation
was
excluded
and
they
were
not
allowed
to
look
at
that
so
to
the
premier.
J
If
we
were
going
to
see
the
bcuc
be
asked
to
do
another
review
of
gas
prices,
will
they
actually
stop
interfering?
Let
the
bcuc
actually
do
their
job
and
look
at
the
impact
of
government
policy
government
taxation
on
the
gas
prices
in
british
columbia.
So
we
can
explain
why
we
have
the
highest
gas
prices
ever
seen
in
british
columbia
under
this
of
water.
K
Thanks
very
much,
mr
speaker,
as
the
minister
of
energy,
my
responsibility
is
to
make
sure
that
bc
consumers
are
treated
fairly
by
gas,
wholesalers
and
retail
chains.
That's
why
we
initiated
the
fuel
price
transparency
act
and
that's
why
the
bcuc,
the
energy
watchdog
is
investigating
retail
prices
and
the
setting
of
those
retail
prices
here
in
british
columbia.
K
What's
clear
in
the
opposition's
approach
is
that
all
they
wish
to
do
is
give
a
huge
gift
to
the
major
oil
and
gas
companies?
What
what
werner
antweiler
said,
the
professor
at
the
sauder
school
of
business
is
the
focus
on.
K
J
B
J
They've
ignored
the
mounting
on
affordability,
they
ignore
the
supply
as
any
issue
at
all.
When
it
comes
to
pricing
of
anything
housing,
gas,
you
name
it,
we
have
the
highest
gas
taxes
in
north
america
and
we
have
government
policy
that
is
further
restricting
supply,
putting
pressure
on
the
prices.
In
fact,
I
have
a
customer
pricing
notification
from
a
fuel
supplier
in
alberta,
and
it
says
due
to
government
restrictions
in
you
may
want
to
listen,
because
I
have
news
for
the
members
opposite.
Our
gas
comes
from
alberta.
J
Due
to
government
restrictions
in
bc,
we
are
unable
at
this
time
to
sell
fuel
from
alberta
into
bc.
Past
december
31st
2021.,
that's
government
of
british
columbia
policy
that
is
restricting
the
gas
supply
into
the
bc
market
and
if
they
do
ship
it
in
by
truck
mr
speaker,
they
have
to
pay
an
extra
25
fee
to
the
provincial
government
to
be
allowed
to
fill
up
at
their
gas
station.
K
K
K
A
Oh
well,
thank
you
very
much.
Mr
speaker.
Last
year
the
most
secretive
government
in
in
canada
exempted
half
a
billion
dollars
of
taxpayers
money
from
the
scrutiny
of
foi.
The
minister
of
jobs
claimed
at
the
time
that
his
high
risk
venture
capital
scheme
would
be
making
investments
by
last
fall.
A
He
also
had
said
that
he
hoped
that
there
would
be
a
business
plan
put
out,
and
I
quote
in
the
very
near
future,
end
quote:
well:
after
almost
a
year
since
the
scheme
was
announced,
there's
no
chief
investment
officer,
they
haven't
published
any
investment
criteria.
They
haven't
pushed
a
single
dollar
out
out
the
door
for
economic
recovery
and
there
still
isn't
a
business
plan.
Mr
speaker,
if
only
results
mattered
to
this
government
but
like,
but
like
housing,
gas
prices
and
affordability,
this
government
simply
can't
deliver.
A
But
let's
come
back
to
the
secrecy
element
of
this,
this
high
risk
in
in
investment
scheme,
there's
a
there's,
a
pretty
there's
a
pretty
good
reason
why
the
government
doesn't
want
the
public
to
have
access
to
any
of
the
the
information
about
this
about
this
scheme.
We've
obtained
documents
that
hint
at
what
some
of
those
activities
might
be
within
the
scheme
and
I'll
read
a
quote.
I
quote:
the
bc
government
has
access
to
incredible
data
sets,
including
via
the
bc
cancer
society,
allowing
that
data
to
be
accessed
and
monetized
could
be
a
huge
draw.
A
L
L
Just
just
this
week
we
saw
that
the
minister
who's
actually
responsible
for
promoting
access
to
information
refused
to
release
the
one
document
that
can
confirm
whether
or
not
she
was
telling
the
truth
in
explaining
how
the
government
imposed
fees
and
actually
limited
people's
access
to
information.
L
We
we
just
heard
about
a
half
billion
dollars
in
public
money
that
the
government
refuses
to
make
applicable,
make
freedom
of
information
rules
applicable,
but
now
interesting,
I
guess
to
end
the
week
another
decision,
another
decision
from
the
office
of
the
information
and
privacy
commissioner,
this
one
involving
the
premier's
office
directly,
another
attempt
by
the
the
premier,
the
premier's
office
and
the
government
to
withhold
information
and
in
rejecting
the
premier's
arguments
in
favor
of
withholding
the
information.
L
Here's
what
the
adjudicator
had
to
say
about
those
arguments,
mr
speaker,
she
characterized
the
premier's
arguments
as,
in
her
view,
vague,
cryptic,
speculative
and
hypothetical,
and
refused
the
government's
attempt
to
withhold
the
information
that
was
subject
to
this
application.
So
my
my
question
is
actually
to
the
minister
responsible
for
protecting
access
to
information.
L
What
steps
has
she
taken?
What
specific
steps
has
she
taken
to
address
this
culture
of
secretiveness
from
the
most
secret
government
in
canada
that
really
revealed
itself
yet
again
in
this
ruling
from
the
adjudicator
who
described
the
approach
of
the
government
as
big
cryptic,
speculative
and
hypothetical.
M
Thank
you
so
much
honorable
speaker
and
I'm
really
happy
to
answer
this
question,
because
I
absolutely
can
continue
to
be
astounded
by
the
members
opposite
and
and
their
their
assertions
around
openness
and
transparency.
I
mean
we.
We
all
do
not
forget
how
the
opposition
house
leader,
who
just
asked.
M
His
own
staff
had
to
whistle
blow
after
colleagues
deleted
emails
regarding
the
highway
of
tears.
After
an
foi
request
came
in
but
like
speaker,
we.
M
Okay,
we're
going
to
hear
from
the
member
himself.
I
have
triple
deleted
my
emails
from
time
to
time.
End
quote
now.
I
know
we
were
also
all
shocked
to
learn
when
the
member
also
removed
pages
from
an
icb
icbc
document
before
releasing
it
to
public,
resulting
in
the
infamous
dumpster
fire
we
have,
and
the
member
who
just
asked
the
question
is
famous
for
not
using
government
email
or
emails
to
conduct
government
business.
M
B
M
Just
said,
I
was
answering
the
question,
so
I'm
very
happy
because
I
think
we
need
to
correct
this
record.
So,
under
the
bc
liberals,
there
was
no
obligation
to
document
decisions
made
by
government.
M
M
These
are
arguably
the
most
valuable
information
available
online
to
all
for
free
we've,
increased
the
amount
of
data
sets
available
to
people
and
organizations
to
3
200.
I've
implemented
mandatory
breach,
reporting
increase
the
number
of
public
bodies
that
fall
under
fipa.
Oh,
I
added
a
new
offense
for
willfully.
Deleting
documents
like
they
did.
M
The
leader
have
the
official:
had
the
opposition
house
leader
triple
deleted
right
now
under
our
watch
it
would
have
cost
the
member
fifty
thousand
dollar
fine.
Thank
you!
So,
oh
and
we're
consulting
in
this
province
more
than
any
other
government
before
us
yeah
we're
do.
We
are
currently
at
about
250
consultations,
because
it's
important
to
hear
from
people.