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From YouTube: FEB 15 2023 Question Period
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
4th Session
42nd Parliament
A
C
D
Thank
you,
Mr
Speaker,
and
my
thanks
to
the
premier
for
doing
the
right
thing.
There
I
appreciate
that
and
I
applaud
it
on
another
note,
Mr
Speaker.
Once
again
we
see
a
huge
gap
on
another
issue
between
what
the
premier
government
are
saying
and
the
terrible
results
that
British
Columbians
are
seeing
when
it
comes
to
a
government
and
their
outcomes.
D
D
D
According
to
a
recent
report
from
RBC
that
points
out
that
a
family
now
needs
in
Vancouver
an
income
of
over
a
quarter
of
a
million
dollars
just
to
afford
a
home
in
that
City
and
if
you're,
a
renter,
you're,
also
worse
off
than
anywhere
else
in
the
country,
because
rents
are
up
over
four
thousand
dollars
per
year.
Under
this
NDP
government,
so
to
summarize
after
six
years
and
two
election
campaigns
promising
more
affordable
housing,
NDP
housing
policy
is
an
absolute
abysmal
failure
by
every
metric.
C
Premier,
thank
you
honorable
speaker
and
thank
you
to
the
member,
the
leader
of
the
opposition
for
the
question
the
RBC
report
that
he
references
is
an
important
one.
C
We
know
that
British
Columbians
are
struggling
across
the
province
with
housing,
affordability,
issues,
it
doesn't
matter
if
you're
trying
to
get
into
the
housing
market
or,
if
you're,
trying
to
find
a
place
to
rent
and
that's
why
our
government
has
taken
unprecedented
action
to
address
this
issue
from
the
very
most
affordable
housing
for
people
living
on
disability,
on
social
assistance,
social
housing,
opening
thousands
of
units
across
the
province
to
expansion
into
doing
work
on
middle-income
housing,
housing
for
people
who
otherwise
earn
a
decent
income
through
the
housing
Hub
initiative.
C
The
member
knows
that
the
RBC
report
talks
about
Rising
interest
rates
and
the
impact
that
has
had
on
British
Columbians
in
terms
of
the
affordability
of
their
mortgages,
which
is
devastating
for
many
families
and
the
impacts
of
inflation
that
have
been
felt.
Global
inflation
that
have
been
felt
here
in
British
Columbia
impact
on
our
construction
Market
we
are
taking
on
the
housing
issue
head
on
in
the
member
may
not
recall,
but
when
they
were
on
this
side
of
the
house,
we
were
on
that
side
of
the
house.
C
We
insisted
over
and
over
that
they
take
action
on
housing,
affordability
and
they
said,
don't
worry
the
Market's
going
to
take
care
of
it.
Don't
worry
Market's
going
to
take
care
of
it
when
we
had
a
bill
in
front
of
this
house
on
the
fact
that
we
added
a
hundred
thousand
people
to
this
province.
Last
year,
record
growth
in
our
population,
placing
strain
on
housing
to
compel
municipalities
to
build
the
housing
that
we
need.
C
The
opposition
voted
against
it
before
they
voted
for
it,
so
they
need
to
figure
out
what
they
would
do
on
housing.
We
know
what
we're
going
to
do
on
housing,
which
is
everything
we
can
to
ensure
affordability
for
British
Columbians.
D
Well,
thank
you.
Mr
Speaker,
well,
facts
and
results
matter.
Mr
Speaker
and
the
fact
is
when
I
was
in
government,
the
average
price
of
a
town
home
in
Surrey
was
450
000.
Today,
it's
over
a
million
dollars
after
six
years
of
the
NDP
government.
Great
result,
the
clock
is
ticking
and
we're
almost
at
the
end
of
The
premier's
vaunted
100
days,
but
instead
of
better
results.
What
do
we
see?
Nothing
but
vague
announcements
and
press
releases
and
in
typical
NDP
fashion?
None
of
these
announcements
come
with
any
Targets
or
any
timelines.
D
And
now,
after
six
years,
the
current
housing
Minister
says
and
I
quote
in
two
years,
we
are
not
going
to
solve
the
housing
crisis,
end
of
quote
so.
Eight
years
of
excuses
and
delays
are
unacceptable.
Given
this
Premier
and
government's
track
record,
given
his
own
track
record
as
housing
Minister
creating
the
most
unaffordable
housing
in
North
America,
will
he
at
least
acknowledged
today
that
what
they
have
been
doing
have
produced?
None
of
the
results
that
everyday
British
Columbians
would
expect
and
demand
from
a
government
that
repeatedly
makes
the
promises.
B
C
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker,
and,
and
thank
you,
the
member
for
the
question,
because
this
this
is
a
priority
for
British
Columbians.
Ensuring
they
can
find
an
affordable
place
to
live
is
important,
not
just
for
them.
It's
important
for
business
in
our
province
that
they
can
find
the
employees
that
they're.
Looking
for
it's
important
for
communities
that
are
trying
to
grow,
we
announced
a
billion
dollars
to
support
cities
across
the
province
with
the
growth
that
they're
seeing
to
ensure
that
they're
able
to
support
the
additional
housing
that
we
need.
This
is
vital.
C
We
have
to
get
homes
built.
We
have
to
increase
that
housing
Supply,
but
the
member
is
mistaken
if
he
thinks
the
British
Columbians
don't
remember
their
time.
On
this
side
of
the
house
vacant
homes
unused
held
by
investors,
we
brought
in
the
speculation
tax,
you
don't
know
how
many
homes
have
brought
back
20
000
vacant
homes.
C
Muffins
say
that
he
wouldn't
repeal
that
tax.
He
has
spoken
out
again
and
again
against
that
tax
that
opened
vacant
homes
for
British
Columbians
to
be
rented
to
them.
Does
he
stand
for
investors,
or
does
he
stand
for
British
Columbians?
Looking
for
affordable
housing,
because
his
government
helped
create
that
housing
crisis,
then
he
went
to
profit
from
it
in
the
private
sector
and
now
he's
back.
E
Protecting
biodiversity
and
Forestry
is
one
part
of
the
equation
in
addressing
the
climate
crisis.
The
second
part
is
to
stop
emitting
and
to
stop
organizing
our
economy
around
industries
that
are
harming
the
planet
and
us,
as
Gary
Merkel
said
today
quote.
If
you
don't
take
care
of
the
land,
it
will
end
up
killing
you.
The
premier
stated
in
an
interview
last
fall.
We
cannot
continue
to
expand
fossil
fuel
infrastructure
and
hit
our
climate
goals.
I
agree.
E
My
questions
for
you,
honorable
speakers
to
the
premier
and
I
urge
him
not
to
use
clean
BC
as
a
shield.
A
climate
plan
is
meant
to
get
us
to
lower
emissions,
not
defend
the
growth
of
the
fossil
fuel
industry.
Can
the
premier
assure
British
Columbians
that
BC
will
not
approve
any
more
fossil
fuel
infrastructure.
F
Thank
you
very
much
honorable
speaker
and
thank
you
to
the
member
for
her
question
and
her
sincere
concern
about
climate
change.
I
will
say,
however,
that
when
our
government
developed
clean
BC
with
the
members
of
the
third
party
and
when
we
presented
Queen
BC
to
British
Columbians
as
a
comprehensive
plan
and
road
map
to
reduce
emissions
in
communities
in
homes
in
industry
in
transportation,
we
didn't
develop
that
to
be
a
shield.
We
developed
it
to
be
a
solution
to
the
climate
crisis
that
we
all
face.
F
Foreign
I've
said
in
this
house
many
times
and
my
colleague,
the
minister
of
energy
minds
and
low
carbon
innovation
has
said
the
same
thing.
We
have
a
plan
in
the
roadmap.
We
have
a
clear
commitment
to
emission
reductions
of
33
to
38
percent
in
the
oil
and
gas
sector.
We
have
a
clear
commitment
to
reductions
in
other
Industries.
We
have
a
clear
commitment
to
reductions
in
transportation
and
in
communities
and
buildings.
We
are
working
hard
to
develop
the
specifics
with
all
stakeholders
that
have
an
interest
to
show
British
Columbians
over
the
next
months.
E
Thank
you,
honorable,
speaker
of
environment,
answering
the
question
I
put
to
the
premier
and
doing
exactly
what
I
asked
him
not
to
do,
which
was
use
a
climate
plan
as
a
shield.
The
clean
BC
accounted
for
half
of
LNG
Canada's
phase.
One
emissions
half
doesn't
even
account
for
all
of
phase
one
emissions.
E
This
government
uses
clean
VC
as
a
way
to
insulate
themselves,
and
it
must
come
to
an
end
because
decisions
need
to
be
made
that
shape
the
future
of
this
province
and
this
planet
that
we
all
live
on.
Having
airbags
in
my
car
honorable
speaker
does
not
make
it
safe
for
me
to
drive
off
a
cliff
having
a
climate
plan
does
not
absorb
a
massive
increase
in
greenhouse
gas
emissions.
It
doesn't
work
that
way.
We
need
a
paradigm
shift
in
our
energy
sector
if
we
have
any
chance
of
meeting
our
targets.
G
I
reiterate
my
colleagues
comments
and
we
have
always
been
clear
that
any
LNG
development
must
fit
our
conditions,
and
that
includes
our
climate
commitments.
But
beyond
that
Mr
Speaker
and
the
future
ahead
of
us.
The
plans
that
we
have
the
policies
we
have
is
the
action
that
we're
already
taking.
And
so,
let's
not
forget
the
broken
system
of
fossil
fuel
subsidies
that
the
Old
Government
refused
to
take
a
look
at
or
take
any
action
on.
G
As
a
result
of
this,
we
can
redirect
that
funding
into
programs
that
help
heal
the
land
and
support
a
clean
energy
future,
and
this
is
what
the
member
is
talking
about-
our
Clean
Energy
Future.
This
work
hasn't
stopped.
The
premiers
directed
me
in
my
mandate
letter
to
be
looking
at
other
subsidies
and
how
we
can
direct
that
into
that
clean
future.
G
B
H
You
Mr
Speaker,
the
premier
hasn't
just
failed
to
help
middle-class
families
with
housing
razon
to
labian,
and
her
husband
has
he
they
have
made
it
worse
for
them.
This
is
a
young
couple.
They
are
expecting
their
first
child,
but
instead
of
helping
them
find
a
home,
this
Premier
has
handed
them.
In
essence,
an
eviction
notice.
It
is
the
exact
opposite
of
what
has
been
promised
by
this
Premier
in
this
government
as
a
direct
result
of
the
chaos
that
has
been
created
through
the
premier's
legislation.
H
Their
strata,
like
Manny
Stratus
across
British
Columbia,
have
now
voted
to
make
their
Building
55,
plus
forcing
this
young
couple
to
sell
their
home
once
their
child
is
born.
Just
last
month,
Mr
Speaker,
the
premier,
was
asked
directly
about
stratas
that
are
voting
to
convert
to
55
plus,
and
he
said
no
quote.
It's.
I
I
Yeah
Minister
will
continue.
Thank
you,
honorable
speaker,
and
you
know
part
of
the
work
that
we've
done.
We've
taken
advice
and
we've
taken
advice
from
the
seniors
Advocate.
The
seniors
Advocate
urged
us
to
ensure
that
55
plus
would
remain
available
for
buildings.
It's
in
line
with
the
Human
Rights
Code
and
all
the
speaker.
What
I
don't
understand
from
the
BC
liberals
is
there.
Is
this?
The
policy
they're
proposing
that
they're
going
to
eliminate
55
plus,
is.
K
Thank
you,
Mr
Speaker.
Let's
look
at
some
other
failed
housing
initiatives
that
this
Premier
has
brought
forward.
We've
just
heard
the
example
of
around
the
Stratos
and
Mr
Speaker.
The
premier
can
try
to
pretend
otherwise,
but
he
knows
that
his
much
touted
housing
HUD
model
has
been
a
massive,
posing
flood.
In
fact,
we've
raised
concerns
before
about
the
Olympic
Villas
in
Merit,
which
received
a
17
million
dollar
low
interest
loan
from
this
government.
The
response
from
the
premier
didn't
quite
like
those
questions
being
asked.
So.
K
What
this
letter
actually
did
it
committed
in
black
and
white,
signed
by
the
premier,
then
the
housing
minister,
that
the
most
expensive
rent
in
that
housing
project
was
going
to
be
sixteen
hundred
and
fifty
dollars
a
month
says
it
right
on
page
three,
so
you
can
imagine
the
shock
when
we
read
in
the
news
that
Olympic
Villas
is
now
charging
twenty
four
hundred
dollars
a
month
for
rent
more
than
750
a
month.
More
then,
this
Premier
promised
in
writing
would
happen.
K
C
Foreign
well,
thank
you
Mr
speaker
now
this
member
stood
up
in
this
place
and
made
some
very
serious
allegations
about
this
particular
project.
Previously
and
I
wrote
to
him
as
housing
minister
at
the
time
and
I
explained
to
him
how
every
single
thing
he
said
in
this
place
was
incorrect
completely
wrong.
He
said
that
we
were
subsidizing
and
there
was
no
increase
in
affordable
units
in
the
Merit
area
as
a
result
alone.
He
was
wrong
then,
and
he's
wrong
again.
C
Today
we
subsidized
45
of
75
units
and
those
45
units
are
part
of
the
housing
Hub
funding.
Now
it's
it's
quite
possible
for
the
remaining
30
units
that
the
rents
are
up.
We've
seen
significant
inflation,
but
for
the
housing
Hub
commitment
it
was
for
45
of
75
units
and
and
the
member
I
asked
him
to
apologize
actually
to
the
developer
of
the
project,
who
worked
closely
with
the
province
to
deliver
affordable
housing.
The
Merit
area
that
was
badly
needed,
I,
don't
think
that
ever
happened.
C
K
Thank
you
very
much,
Mr
Speaker,
it's
simply
not
the
case.
The
premier
does
not
want
to
back
up
his
own
letter.
Affordability
in
these
units
is
insured
for
middle-income
households
and
Merit
for
a
decade
at
least
that's
his
words,
not
mine.
He
signed
the
letter
very
end
of
it.
He
says
well,
I
will
leave
it
to
you
to
consider
appropriate
next
steps.
Well,
that's
the
next
steps
here
we
are
today
so
the
problem
with
the
17
million
dollar
low
interest
loan.
K
K
This
is
where
the
so-called
affordable
housing
project
is
now
listed
as
vacation
rental
for
the
low
low
bargain
price
Mr
Speaker
of
250
a
month
or
eight
thousand
or
at
night
or
eight
thousand
dollars
a
month
in
Merit.
It's
no
wonder
this
Premiere
is
so
quick
to
try
to
not
have
any
more
questions
answered,
because
not
just
this
project
is
a
wide
range
of
them
again.
Why
is
this
Premier
17
million
dollar
so-called
affordable
housing
project
being
listed
on
Airbnb
for
outrageous
prices
and
actually
have
rent
750
a
month
more?
C
You,
honorable,
chair
and
I,
know
it's
a
frustration
for
renters
across
the
province
when
they
see
a
badly
needed
rental
housing
that
rents
out
on
short-term
rental
websites
like
Airbnb.
That's
why
we've
been
working
with
ubcm
and
why
we'll
be
introducing
legislation
to
address
that
very
serious
issue
that
the
member
has
raised.
I
think
it's
really
important
to
recognize
that
in
communities
like
Merit
they've
been
struggling
to
get
purpose-built
rental
housing
constructed
for
a
long
time.
C
Now
I
am
glad.
I
am
glad
that
the
member
I
am
glad
that
the
member
brought
that
to
my
attention.
Absolutely
we
will
look
into
that
issue.
But
when
you
look
at
what
we
have
done
in
relation
to
Bringing
on
new
housing
across
the
province
and
honorable
speaker,
I
acknowledge
we've
got
a
lot
more
to
do,
but
from
student
housing
they
built
130
units,
We,
Built,
7,
700.,.
B
C
B
L
Sadly,
Mr
Speaker,
the
answers
that
we're
receiving
today
are
absolutely
no
Comfort
to
the
residents
of
this
province,
dealing
with
the
rising
cost
of
our
housing.
This
is
just
the
tip
of
the
iceberg
when
it
comes
to
the
housing
club's
unaffordable
projects,
take
the
Carrington
View
Apartments
in
West
Kelowna,
for
example,
the
NDP
promised
they
would
cost
no
more
than
1590
per
month
to
rent,
but
today
they're
listed
for
a
whopping
twenty
one
hundred
dollars
per
month
and
that's
an
increase
of
more
than
five
hundred
dollars:
monthly
Mr
Speaker.
C
Premier,
thank
you.
Thank
you.
Honorable
speaker,
I'm,
happy
to
look
into
the
the
members
allegations.
I'll
say
this:
we
have
allegations
often
raised
by
the
opposition,
especially
on
the
housing
file.
When
we
look
into
them,
we
look
into
them
and
we'll
address
them.
If
they
need
to
be
addressed,
that's
how
our
government
works,
but
I
do
want.
B
C
I
do
want
to
underline
the
difference
in
our
approaches,
so
we
just
announced
a
500
million
dollar
fund
to
buy
up
rental
buildings
or
or
tenants
are
at
risk.
C
Parents
are
at
risk
of
eviction
and
potentially
homelessness,
and
the
reason
we're
doing
that
is.
Are
these
big
corporations
called
Real
Estate
Investment
Trust
buying
up
these
properties?
Doing
these
superficial
renovation,
Renovations
evicting
people
increasing
rents,
the
behavior
is
decreasing:
affordability
and
hurting
British
Columbians.
Now,
there's
a
reason.
I
think
that
British
Columbia
should
know,
there's
a
difference
between
this
side
of
the
house
and
the
BC
liberals.
C
B
C
Is
great
yeah
he
thinks
it's
wonderful
and
the
reason
he
thinks
it's
great
is
that
is
exactly
what
he
did
in
Calgary
and
Edmonton
and-
and
you
don't
need
to
take
my
word
for
it,
take
his
word
for
it.
Talking
about
his
work
with
a
partner
quote,
we
together
set
up
a
joint
venture
and
started
acquiring
apartment
buildings
in
Calgary
and
Edmonton
and
renovating
them,
fixing
them
up
and
then
selling
them
off.
J
M
J
M
Well,
thank
you
and
I'm
happy
to
point
out
that
that
occurred
just
before
the
speculation
tax
was
actually
enacted
here
in
British
Columbia.
Let's
also
correct
the
record
for
the
premier's
sake
on
a
few
things.
First
of
all,
we
spent
five
billion
dollars
on
housing,
while
this
Premier
as
the
housing
Minister
promised
to
build
a
hundred
and
fourteen
thousand
affordable
homes.
Guess
what
12
000
are
open
today,
out
of
those
hundred
and
fourteen
thousand
and
by
the
way
student
housing
doubled
under
our
government.
M
M
Let's
just
do
a
quick
summary
for
the
premier.
His
housing
flub
rents
are
turning
out
to
be
hundreds
of
dollars
more
a
month
more
expensive
than
he
promised
developers
are
getting
millions
of
dollars
to
list
affordable
housing
on
Airbnb.
The
stratic
chaos
caused
the
eviction
of
young
families
because
of
this
premier's
half-baked
legislation
and
the
housing
Minister
had
to
delay
his
recycled
housing
plan
until
the
fall
just
adding
to
a
pile
of
broken
promises.
It
is
absolutely
no
wonder
that
middle
class
families
in
British
Columbia
have
zero
faith
in
this
Premier
to
deliver
on
a.
C
Thank
you
very
much.
Honorable
speaker,
you
know
I
I'm
pleased
to
hear
that
the
member
was
excited
about
doubling
the
amount
of
student
housing
from
what
I
guess,
65
to
130..
C
We
built
7
700
students.
J
C
Do
we
do
have
a
serious
housing
issue?
Honorable
speaker,
we
have
created
an
economy
that
works
for
everybody.
It's
attracting
people
from
other
provinces
from
other
countries
around
the
world
in
record
numbers.
A
hundred
thousand
people
last
year
were
setting
records
the
first
two
quarters
of
this
year,
because
people
are
excited
to
live
in
BC,
but
we
have
to
build
housing.
Members.
C
Carry
on
I
make
absolutely
no
apologies
for
changing
strata
rules
to
make
sure
that
people
can
rent
out
vacant
units.
That's
an
important
thing
when
you
have
a
housing
crisis.
Every
single
scrap
of
housing
counts,
but
I
do
take
some
exception
to
the
member
suggestion.
Around
speculation
in
real
estate
I
mean
they're
housing,
critic,
flipping
houses,
the
leader
of
the
opposition,
I
wanna,
I,
wanna,
I,.
C
C
It's
been
great
honorable
speaker,
we
do
have
different
perspectives
on
our
side
of
this
house
and
that
side
of
the
house
we
stand
up
for
renters.
We
stand
up
for
people
looking
for
affordable
housing.
We
stand
up
for
people
with
decent
jobs.
Looking
for
a
place
to
live,
we
will
keep
doing
that
work.
We'll
hold
municipalities
to
account
to
hold
investors,
speculators
to
account
short-term
rental
companies
to
account
we'll
do
that
work.
The
other
side
needs
to
figure
out
what
they
would
do.