►
From YouTube: MAY 8 2023 Question Period
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
4th Session
42nd Parliament
C
Thank
you,
Mr
Speaker,
Mr
Speaker,
this
Premier
buried
a
BDO
audit
of
a
Tira
that
was
already
underway
when
he
didn't
like
the
results.
It
was
covered
up
and
it
was
canceled
in
fact,
Mr
Speaker
the
premier
ignored
the
warning
signs
of
Financial
mismanagement
and
he
went
much
further
and
actually
tripled
the
funding
for
atira.
C
D
Premier
Well,
thank
you,
honorable
speaker
to
the
member
for
the
question
the
BDO
report
that
the
member
refers
to
was
initiated
under
the
previous
administration
and
covered
their
time
in
government.
Now
I've
been
accused
of
a
number
of
things
in
this
house,
but
covering
up
mismanagement
that
took
place
under
the
watch
of
the
previous
government
is
not
one
of
them.
That's
it.
That's
a
new
one.
D
Within
within
120
days,
honorable
speaker
of
being
sworn
in,
this
housing
Minister
I
directed
staff
to
undertake
a
review
of
BC
housing
that
led
to
the
report
that
was
released
today
spoke
to
it
in
the
house
today.
Happy
to
take
questions
from
members
on
that
issue.
C
Thank
you,
Mr
Speaker
I
would
just
like
to
remind
the
premier
that
it
was
the
BC
liberals
that
instigated
the
BDO
audit
of
attire
in
2017
and
the
premier
and
the
NDP
canceled
it
covered
it
up
and
then
tripled
a
terrorist
funding.
So
after
six
years
and
two
terms
of
this
NDP
government,
housing
and
homelessness
have
never
been
worse,
as
we
all
know.
Nowhere
is
it
more
evident
than
in
this
report
released
today
explosive
and
scandalous
mismanagement
of
BC
housing,
but
at
every
turn,
Mr
Speaker.
C
This
Premier
has
sought
to
avoid
accountability
and,
in
fact
conceal
his
disastrous
record
overseeing
BC
housing.
The
report.
The
report
highlights
that
Financial
reviews
again
of
atira
were
stalled
after
2020
right
when
this
Premier
was
the
housing
Minister
and,
during
that
time,
again
tripled
the
fun
ending
of
its
hero,
so
Mr
Speaker.
When
will
this
Premier
acknowledge
his
direct
responsibility
and
his
direct
accountability
for
the
mess
that
happened
under
his
watch
at
BC
housing.
D
Thank
you
honorable
speaker.
The
member
directly
notes
that
the
BDO
report,
as
I
understand
it,
commissioned
by
the
BC
liberal
government
into
activity
that
took
place
under
their
watches,
government
and
I
understand
the
members
accusing
me
of
burying
that
information
about
what
happened
while
the
BC
liberals
were
in
government.
Well,
when
we
had
the
ICBC
report
about
the
BC
liberal
style
in
government,
we
released
it
when
we
had
the
money
laundering
report
about
BC
liberals
time
in
government,
we
released
it.
D
And,
and
with
respect,
as
soon
as
there
was
an
indication
when
I
was
housing,
Minister
that
there
was
an
issue
I
reached
out
to
my
colleague,
the
then
Minister
of
Finance,
to
ask
the
Comptroller
General
to
initiate
a
forensic
investigation
of
BC
housing
and
I.
Assure
the
members
concern
about
the
the
spike
in
funding
at
a
tour
during
the
pandemic.
I
do
not
and
did
not
as
housing
Minister
direct
funding
to
any
particular
organization.
D
Those
were
recommendations
that
came
to
government
from
BC
housing,
and
the
issue
in
this
report
that
we
released
today
is
that
those
recommendations
were
tainted
by
the
fact
that
the
CEO
was
interfering
in
a
way
that
he
shouldn't
have
by
circumventing
the
conflict
of
interest
guidelines.
Now
that
is
a
serious
issue.
A
Thank
you,
Mr
Speaker.
Well,
the
premier
continues
to
pretend
that
everything
is
fine,
but
he
actually,
he
actually
buried.
He
buried
the
warning
signs,
while
tripling
funding
to
atira
this.
This
happened
while
he
was
the
housing
Minister.
Let
me
say
that
again
he
buried
these
warning
signs
this
video
report
and
then
he
at
the
same
time
he
tripled
the
premier
tripled
a
terrorist
funding.
He
buried
the
2018
video
audit
that
showed
warning
signs
of
financial
mismanagement.
A
Frankly,
a
report
that
nobody
would
have
known
about
if
it
hadn't
been
leaked
by
a
whistleblower
and
under
the
premier's
time
as
housing,
Minister
and
I
quote,
BC
housing's
Financial
reviews
of
atira
have
been
substantially
delayed.
The
most
recent
recently
complete
financial
review
was
for
2020.
End
quote:
that's
on
page
seven
of
the
report
released
today.
A
He
also
tried
to
hide
the
eny
report
by
quietly
posting
it
on
a
website
over
the
Canada
day-long
weekend
and
then
firing
the
BC
housing
board
on
a
Friday
evening,
claiming
at
the
time
that
it
had
nothing
whatsoever
to
do
with
quote
unquote:
wrongdoing
Mr
Speaker.
Why
did
the
premier
triple
the
funding
to
a
Tira
without
any
proper
oversight.
D
D
B
B
D
That's
why
we
released
the
report
so
that
the
members
could
all
see
it
and
so
that
we
could
ensure
accountability
for
BC
housing
for
government
as
a
whole
and
to
make
sure
that
everybody
in
the
house
is
on
the
same
page
on
where
we're
at
this
is
the
first
time
in
30
years.
A
report
has
been
released
in
this
manner,
we're
proud
of
that.
But
we
do
not
accept
the
conduct
that
took
place
at
BC
housing
and
our
work
is
not
yet
done.
We
have
more
work
to
do
with
material
we'll
do
that.
A
Well,
thank
you
very
much.
Mr
Speaker,
well,
you're
darn
right.
You
got
more
work
to
do
and
the
premier's
also
got
some
some
explaining
to
do.
Mr
Speaker,
the
the
2018
video
report
was
buried
by
this
premier
and
at
the
same
time
as
he
buries
this
report,
which
was
only
known,
became
known
to
the
public
because
it
was
leaked
by
a
whistleblower.
A
This
Premier,
who
was
the
BC
housing
minister
at
the
time,
increases
a
terrorist
funding
by
triple
from
17
million
dollars
to
over
74
million
dollars
in
2022.
That's
a
335
percent
increase
in
funding.
All
the
while
there's
he's
become
known
through
the
BDO
report.
He
was.
It
was
made
known
to
him
that
there
was
a
significant
financial
mismanagement
taking
place
at
atira
Mr
Speaker
as
housing
Minister.
The
premier
also
signed
off
on
nearly
400
million
dollars
in
hotel
purchases
at
nearly
double
their
combined
assessed
value.
A
But
the
Ernst
young
report
says
several
of
those
hotels
are
suspect
purchases
like
the
Buchan
and
Columbia
hotels,
because
their
purchases
didn't
have
proper
oversight.
The
eny
report
singles
out
Burns
block
a
property
that
the
premier
personally
celebrated
the
purchase
of
even
calling
it
sweet
Justice
for
one
of
his
first
files
as
a
lawyer,
but
the
report
said
this
on
page
16
about
the
funding
that
the
premier
personally
announced
and
I
quote.
We
were
unable
to
identify
a
rationale
for
a
Terra
being
directly
awarded
the
operating
agreement
for
this
property.
A
D
Premier,
thank
you.
Honorable
speaker,
it
was
shortly
after
I
was
appointed
as
Minister
for
housing
that
I
directed
staff
to
hire
an
external
body
to
come
in
and
review
BC
housing.
It
was
that
work
that
led
to
the
report
that
has
the
member
asking
these
important
questions
here
today
now
I,
don't
pretend
to
know
whether
the
opposition
will
understand
this,
but
having
stood
on
the
sidewalk.
Let
me
finish
the
sentence
having
stood
on
the
sidewalk.
D
Having
stood
on
the
sidewalk
out
front
of
the
burns
block
with
my
clients,
as
they
were
given
two
hours
to
clear
out
their
rooms
and
be
made
homeless
as
the
landlord
went
to
Home
Depot
to
buy
plywood
and
tools
to
nail
up
boards
over
the
front
door.
So
they
couldn't
return
and
then
actually
sell
the
building
for
more
money,
because
it
was
worth
more
vacant
than
with
people
inside
it
to
see
that
building
come
back
into
public
hands
and
provide
housing
for
women
fleeing
violence.
That
is
indeed
sweet.
Justice.
D
E
You,
honorable
speaker
today,
the
government
replaced
released
the
Ernst
young
forensic
investigation
into
BC
housing.
The
report
found
and
uncovered
quote
significant
risk
to
public
funds
and
serious
questions
about
BC
housing's,
Financial
oversight
capabilities.
The
report
outlines
a
pattern
of
disregard
for
conflict
of
interest
rules.
E
E
This
is
a
pattern
and
it
undermines
the
public
trust
in
our
institutions.
I
heard
him
speak
earlier
about
how
he
sees,
though,
that
trust
as
so
important
will
the
premier
extend
the
recommendations
of
the
Ernst
and
Young
report
insofar
as
they
improve
whistleblower
protection,
transparency
and
conflict
of
interest
rules
to
other
provincial
institutions.
D
Premier,
thank
you
to
the
member
for
the
question
and
it
is
an
important
one.
Public
trust
in
public
institutions
is
important
for
them
to
be
able
to
respond
to
the
challenges
we
Face.
Everything
from
the
housing
crisis
to
climate
change,
the
toxic
drug
crisis
and
I
think
the
member
for
the
important
question
this
government
has
introduced
whistleblowing
legislation
first
implemented
in
core
government
now
going
out
to
now
out
to
health
authorities
across
the
province
and
that
work
is
going
to
continue
in
response
to
the
recommendations
from
this
report.
B
E
We've
used
10
to
result
in
thorough
reports.
We
tend
to
hear
about
wrongdoing
and
recommendations
for
government
to
work
on
and-
and
then
we
see
often
in
this
place,
as
historically
has
happened,
is
one
side
points
at
the
other
and
and
then
switch
sides
and
on
we
go.
E
But
at
this
point
honorable
speaker,
we've
seen
a
lot
of
evidence
that
there
are
problems
widely.
We've
seen
evidence
of
wrongdoing
and
mismanagement
at
the
BC
Lottery
Corporation
in
real
estate
in
BC
housing,
mcfd,
professional
Reliance.
The
effects
include
mining
disasters,
missing
children,
outright
crimes.
The
perception
of
of
conflict
of
interest
goes
all
the
way
to
the
former
premier's
board
appointment
with
a
mining
Corporation
with
whom
his
office
has
significant
dealings.
E
While
he
was
in
executive
office,
any
reasonable
person
would
look
at
this
and
see
a
systemic
problem
and
one
that
requires
a
systemic,
all
of
government
solution
and
a
commitment
to
transparency
through
you,
honorable
speaker
to
the
premier.
Does
the
premier
have
a
plan
for
proactively
improving
transparency,
whistleblower
protection
and
conflict
of
interest
safeguards
across
all
government
Ministries
and
agencies.
D
Thank
you
to
the
member
for
the
question.
This
is
an
area
where
certainly
our
government
shares
an
interest
with
the
third
party
and
during
our
time,
working
together
in
the
minority
Parliament
brought
in
significant
reforms
around
lobbyists,
for
example,
to
address
some
of
these
issues,
we
have
expanded
and
continued
that
work
through
whistleblower
legislation
to
make
sure
that
whistleblowers
are
protected
and
integrity
and
public
trust
in
government
is
core.
Certainly
to
this
government
and
our
Administration
and
and
I
appreciate
the
members
attention
to
that
important
issue
to
all
British
Columbians.
F
You
Mr
Speaker
well
earlier
today
the
premier
said,
while
he
doesn't
involve
himself
on
on
the
sending
of
money
to
certain
groups
like
atira,
while
he
was
the
housing
Minister.
Well,
here's
the
problem
with
that
answer,
Mr,
Speaker
and
I
think
it
shines
a
light
on
on
the
problem.
We
have
right
now
with
how
this
whole
process
is
played
out
news
flash
for
the
premier
when
he
was
the
housing
Minister,
it
was
called
Minister
responsible.
Someone
needs
to
be
responsible
for
what
was
going
on
at
BC
housing,
foreign.
F
This
Premiere
simply
wasn't,
and
despite
numerous
warning
signs
and
a
growing
body
of
evidence
pointing
to
severe
mismanagement,
the
premier
has
consent
continued
to
divert
resources
into
a
failing
housing
program
while
covering
up
the
existence
of
problems
under
the
premier.
The
funding
for
Materia
has
more
than
tripled
Mr
Speaker,
from
17
million
to
over
74
million
in
2022,
in
fact,
from
2020
to
2022,
mainly
the
time
that
he
was,
the
minister
went
from
33
million
to
74
million,
while
he
was
the
minister
responsible.
F
The
ultimate
accountability
for
these
taxpayers
dollars
is,
with
this
Premier,
with
the
overwhelming
evidence
pointing
to
financial
and
organizational
mismanagement
at
a
Tira.
How
does
the
premier
justify
his
decision
to
Triple
funding
an
organization
at
the
same
time
that
the
financial
mismanagement
report
after
report
after
report
was
being
presented
to
this
premier?
G
B
B
G
When
it
comes
to
his
work
at
the
Lottery
Corporation
when
it
comes
to
his
work
with
ICBC,
it's
a
consistent
pattern
that
he's
shown
that
when
he
sees
something
wrong
that
he's
a
man
of
integrity,
he
takes
action.
Honorable
speaker
now,
we
have
talked
about
this
already
and
I'm
happy
to
go
through
it
again,
but
we
fundamentally
disagree
with
with
the
actions
taken
by
the
former
CEO
I
mean
in
many
cases.
G
The
report
lays
out
cases
where
the
staff
were
directed
to
award
certain
contracts
to
aterra,
suggesting
that
nobody
else
would
they
have
the
capacity
without
testing
the
market.
We
think
that's
wrong
normal
speaker.
All
the
things
in
this
report
are
just
as
alarming
to
us
as
they
are
to
the
members
across
the
way,
but
that
is
why
it
was
vitally
important.
B
G
Why
we
thought
that's
why
I
felt
that
it
was
vitally
important
for
the
first
time
in
30
years
to
use
section
25
to
make
sure
that
this
report
is
available
to
everyone,
because
our
goal
is
to
ensure
we
shine
light
on
where
there's
dark
places,
but
also
to
ensure
that
we
can
the
member
says
six
years.
Honorable
speaker?
Can
the
member
tell
me
one
time
in
his
time
in
their
time
in
government
where
they
didn't
sever
reports?
Honorable
speaker,
members
reports
where
they
were
transparent
with
anything
that
they
did
Arnold
speaker.
G
F
You
Mr
Speaker,
well,
this
premier's
track
record
is
he
sets
out
a
narrative
and
then
he
takes
whatever
steps
and
fixes
the
rules.
However,
he
needs
to
try
to
get
the
result.
He
wants
he's
just
done
it
with
Bill
26.
Where
he's
saying
the
courts
don't
matter,
it
doesn't
matter
what
the
courts
say
about
Arbutus.
F
Well,
here's
what
the
minister,
here's
what
the
premier
had
to
say
in
2022
about
the
Arbutus
project
when
those
same
residents
came
forward
and
had
concerns
about
BC
housing.
He
said.
Oh,
this
is
just
another
excuse
to
oppose
that's
what
he
said
about
the
residents
of
Arbutus
when
they
were
saying
that
there
was
problems
at
BC
housing
and
they
didn't
have
confidence
in
BC
housing
in
the
project
in
their
neighborhood
and
in
fact
the
premier
went
one
step
further
in
the
Vancouver
Center
article
in
June,
15
2022.
F
He
says
the
changes
to
the
board
are
not
related
to
any
sort
of
wrongdoing.
Mr
Speaker!
That's
what
this
Premier
said
as
he
was
admonishing
a
neighborhood
for
having
concerns
about
BC
housing
in
their
neighborhood,
fit
the
narrative
to
whatever
this
Premier
needed
for
that
day
and
time,
Mr
Speaker.
How
can
the
premier,
in
light
of
this
50-page
report,
still
stand
in
this
house
and
try
to
say
that
the
firing
of
the
board
had
nothing
to
do
with
wrongdoing
and
wrong
actions
going
on
a
PC
housing.
D
D
Please
I
was
profoundly
concerned
about
the
conduct
of
the
CEO
reached
out
to
the
board,
and
the
board
was
unprepared
to
put
the
CEO
on
leave
or
to
fire.
The
CEO,
in
addition
to
that,
I
saw
some
significant,
heavy
lifting
ahead
for
the
board.
This
was
a
housing
board
and
we
needed
a
board
with
experience
around
organizational
transformation.
So
the
members
right
I
did
remove
the
board,
but
it
was
a
difficult
decision.
It's
important
to
note
that
there
was
no
wrongdoing
on
the
part
of
the
board.
There
wasn't.
D
D
The
second
component
is
a
significant
difference
between
our
side
of
the
house
and
that
side
of
the
house.
We
believe
I
believe
strongly
that
there's
a
housing
crisis
and
we
need
to
take
action
to
House
people
and
that
side
of
the
house
will
take
any
opportunity
to
say
that
we
need
to
slow
down
or
not
take
action.
They
opposed
our
housing
targets
before
they
voted
for
them.
Now,
I
hear
now
I
hear
that
they
don't
want
to
build
that
badly
needed
housing
at
Arbutus
that
they
would
rather
wait
on
that.
D
Home
should
be
able
to
divide
that
home
into
two
or
three
units,
and
so
continually
members.
The
the
consistent
theme
from
the
other
side
is
to
slow
down
to
not
take
action
that
it's
not
urgent.
I
disagree
strongly.
This
report
today
is
around
ensuring
as
best
we
can
public
confidence
that
we
are
a
taking
action
to
protect
tax
tax
dollars
and,
second
members,
that
we
will
do
what's
necessary
to
address
the
housing
crisis.
While
that
side
will
take
every
opportunity
to
slow
walk.
It.
H
H
I
would
remind
the
premier
that
at
the
Winter's
Hotel
there
was
a
fatal
fire
that
killed
two
people
and
displaced
hundreds
of
others,
and
that
BDO
report
that
this
Premier
wants
to
dismiss
warned
the
premier
about
the
dysfunction
of
a
Tira,
and
it
said
this:
it
led
staff
to
quote
look
for
ways
to
reduce
the
pressure
on
cash
flow
with
other
Downstream
consequences.
End
quote:
it
should
come
as
no
surprise
to
this
Premier
that
foi
documents
revealed
that
fire
extinguishers
at
the
winters
Hotel
were
empty
and
had
not
been
replaced
by
staff.
H
G
Thank
you
so
much
honorable
speaker,
and
certainly
the
the
fire
at
Winters
Hotel
was
a
tragic
event.
Just
an
awful
thing
for
anyone
to
go
through
and
I
know
that
many
of
the
survivors
are
in
court
right
now.
So
I
can't
comment
too
much
on
that
other
to
say
honorable
speaker,
that
when
the
premier
saw
something
that
was
inappropriate,
he
took
action
honorable
speaker,
the
reason
why
you
have
a
forensic
investigation
released
under
section
25.
G
The
reason
why
we're
having
this
discussion
in
the
question
period
is
that
when
the
premier
became
the
minister
responsible
for
housing,
he
saw
something
and
he
took
the
steps
to
ensure
that
there
was
public
accountability,
that
that
steps
were
taken
to
ensure
that
anything
that
was
found
wrong
would
be
would
be
addressed.
That's
why
we're
having
this
discussion
on
all
speakers
so
to
suggest
otherwise.
This
is
simply
simply
wrong.
Now
we
have
said-
and
we're
going
to
say
it
again.
G
The
report
that
found
mismanagement
and
around
the
conflict
of
interest
is
simply
wrong,
where
just
as
appalled
as
the
members
across
the
way,
honorable
speaker
and
that's
why
this
report
being
made
public
was
important
and
the
steps
that
the
recommendations
that
have
been
made.
Many
of
them
already
been
enacted
and
and
the
ones
that
remain
all
will
be
done
by
Spring
2024..
H
Well,
No
One
Believes,
that
about
the
premier,
let's
be
clear
at
every
single
opportunity
that
he
had.
He
avoided
taking
accountability
for
the
mess,
but,
let's
be
clear,
he
was
responsible
for
he
buried
the
BDO
report
that
outlines
severe
financial
and
organizational
mismanagement
at
BC,
housing
and
atira.
Foi
documents
show
a
massive
spike
in
dysfunction
and
problems
at
BC
housing.
When,
when
the
current
Premier
was
sitting
there,
as
the
minister
responsible
for
housing,
guess
what
happened?
Here's
a
quote:
there
was
a
dramatic
increase
in
staff
departures
over
previous
years.
H
End
quote:
what
did
the
premier
do?
Nothing
he
downplayed
and
in
fact,
quietly
tried
to
release
that
original
ey
report
when
over
the
Canada
Day
long
weekend
and
then
firing
the
BC
housing's
NDP
appointed
appointed
board
on
a
Friday
even
without
explanation,
except
to
say
that
there
was
no
wrongdoing.
H
G
Thank
you
honorable
speaker.
The
fact
that
there's
a
forensic
investigation
report
made
public
is
because
of
the
Premier
the
fact
that
every
time
he
comes
forward,
we
see
something
wrong.
There's
change
that
happens
honorable
speaker
when
it
comes
to
the
money
laundering
which,
by
the
way,
was
buried
on
the
other
side
of
the
government
ICBC
which,
by
the
way,
had
Pages
ripped
out
of
the
reports
made
public
honorable
speaker,
so
I
I.
You
know
they
can.
They
can
talk
about
this
all
they
want
if
they
want
to
talk
about
the
importance
of.
G
What's
in
the
findings,
happy
to
do
that,
but
they're
in
no
position
to
to
talk
about
anyone's
Integrity
in
this
place,
honorable
speaker,
because
consistently
in
government,
they
sure
showed
the
exact
opposite
now
now
the
members
are
talking
about.
You
know
the
the
fact
that
there
was
some
real
serious
mismanagement
when
it
came
to
Breaking
the
conflict
of
interest
rules
in
BC
housing,
and
we
agree
with
the
members.
It's
it's
simply
not
acceptable,
and
so
our
goal
now
is
is
multi-pronged
one.
There
are
recommendations
in
place.
Many
of
them
have
already
been
put
enacted.
G
There
are
some
that
we
will
be
following
up
and
making
sure
they
get
done
by
Spring,
2024
and
honorable
speaker.
We
know
that
this
work
is
going
to
be
vitally
important
to
be
done,
not
only
because
we
want
public
accountability
of
dollars,
but
we
want
to
ensure
that
BC
housing
can
continue
to
do
the
work
that
they
need
must
do,
which
is
provide
the
critically
important
housing
for
the
most
vulnerable
people
in
this
province.
B
I
I
I
The
most
recently
completed,
Financial
review
was
for
fiscal
year,
2020
finalized
in
August
22..
At
least
19
million
in
public
funds
was
Advanced
to
a
Tira
between
the
end
of
fiscal
year,
2020
2020
and
the
completion
of
BC
housing's.
Most
recent
financial
review,
the
financial
review
for
fiscal
year
2020
contained
inaccurate
and
misleading
components.
I
I
When
he
fired
the
entire
NDP
appointed
board
at
BC
housing,
he
went
out
of
his
way
Mr
Speaker.
He
went
out
of
his
way
to
make
the
point
that
there
was
no
suggestion
of
any
wrongdoing
when
we
know
that
to
be
fundamentally
untrue,
Mr
Speaker
and
despite
all
of
those
warning
signs,
despite
all
of
that
information,
he
signed
off
on
tripling
the
funding
tripling
the
funding
to
this
very
organization.
My
question
to
the
premier
is
this:
does
he
understand
the
concept
of
ministerial
responsibility?
Does
he
accept
it
or
is
it
just?
G
Thank
you
honorable
speaker.
It's
tough
hearing
that
question
from
that
member.
G
I
mean
this,
this
50-page
report
would
have
been
44
Pages
if
that
member
had
had
this
report
on
the
speaker.
So
of
course
we
take
this
serious
honorable
speaker.
Of
course
we
take
this
serious
honorable
speaker.
Of
course
we
take
this
seriously.
That's
why,
when
the
premier
saw
what
he
saw
when
he
saw
when
he
was
shown
text
messages
of
potential
wrongdoing
that.