BC Premier David Eby’s first throne speech promises dollars for housing and education

BC Premier David Eby Commits to Investing in Education and Affordable Housing in Inaugural Throne Speech

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David Eby’s first speech from the throne promised to expand access to addiction treatment, improve the province’s ailing cancer care system and introduce new legislation to ensure polluters pay for clean-up costs

Lt. Gov. Janet Austin delivers the Speech from the Throne before the Legislature in Victoria, BC on Monday February 6, 2023. Photo by CHAD HIPOLITO/THE CANADIAN PRESS

BC’s NDP government pledges to prepare for an expected economic downturn with spending on middle-class housing, a skills strategy to address labor shortages and legislation to ensure equal pay.

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David Eby’s first speech from the throne as prime minister, read by Lt-Gov Janet Austin on Monday, also promised to expand access to addiction treatment, improve the province’s ailing cancer care system and introduce new legislation to ensure polluters pay the costs wear tidying up.

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But opposition leaders say the government’s announcements so far have not yielded better results in the areas of housing, healthcare or public safety.

The government has a $5.7 billion surplus fiscal cushion that Eby said will be used to address the affordability crisis before the fiscal year ends on March 31. More details will be released in the budget on February 28, but the speech from the throne lays out the government’s agenda, including undisclosed measures to deal with the rising cost of living.

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The government promised an updated housing strategy that would see more housing and services built near public transport hubs in the province. It is backed by legislation to be introduced in the fall session. Eby has pledged a reconsideration of the province’s public housing program and pledged to increase the stock of housing for middle-class families whose prices are above the market.

When asked why the legislation would not be introduced by then, Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said the work was underway.

“We’ve been hard at work putting a lot of the pieces together,” like the $500 million rent protection fund, said Kahlon, who is also an NDP house director.

“Some say we should respond to a downturn by withdrawing, reducing benefits or letting people pay for private health care out of pocket,” Eby said in a statement. “But that would only compound many of our biggest challenges and pass on the costs at a time when people can least afford it. There is too much at stake right now to pull the rug out from under the British Columbians.”

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Eby was not in Victoria for the speech from the throne. He met with the other prime ministers in Ottawa on Monday before meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday to negotiate a healthcare funding deal.

The throne speech doubled down on the government’s opposition to private healthcare as a way to reduce wait times for surgeries, calling privatization a “dangerous step towards a two-tier system that we know the British Colombians don’t want.”

People waiting for cancer treatment have been hit with potentially life-threatening wait times, and the speech promises to hire BC Cancer staff and increase access to screening and early detection, diagnostic imaging and treatments.

The speech recognized the need to improve access to treatment for drug users through expanding treatment and recovery services.

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BC Liberal leader Kevin Falcon last week unveiled his party’s $1.5 billion plan to expand addiction treatment should he become prime minister in the next election.

Before the speech from the throne was unveiled, Falcon said he was pessimistic about the government’s ability to improve addiction treatment and said the New Democrats had narrowly focused on harm reduction.

“The best we can get from (the government) is more announcements,” Falcon said. “Implementing a system-wide massive change in mental health and addiction like the one I proposed last week is a lot of hard work.”

Falcon also criticized Eby’s “soft approach to crime” and accused him of overseeing a “catch-and-release” system that lets violent repeat offenders onto the streets. The speech reiterated Eby’s commitment that BC would work with the provinces and territories to press Ottawa for urgent reform of the Penal Code’s bail rules.

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The government said it will introduce legislation to crack down on gangs and money laundering, as well as a new law to regulate the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.

BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau said in a statement that while today’s Throne Speech represents a slightly more honest assessment of the challenges facing the people of BC, it was more of a reflection on what the BC NDP says it has accomplished than a vision for the challenging path ahead.”

Furstenau said the government has shown no commitment to “transformative” climate action like ending subsidies to fossil fuel companies.
Supporting clean energy innovation and expanding BC’s public transportation network.

Acknowledging that BC is far from meeting its greenhouse gas emissions targets, the speech pledged to take action on climate change “with increased urgency.”

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The government will introduce legislation this spring to ensure polluters foot the bill for cleaning up abandoned sites. New laws will also improve access to electric vehicle charging stations in condominiums.

As the province heads for an economic slowdown, the government said it will roll out a program to address labor shortages. The skills plan will make education and training more accessible, affordable and relevant to fill jobs where they are needed.

The BC NDP also said it would expand trade ties through trade missions, including to Korea, Vietnam and Japan.

The government will introduce wage transparency laws that would require some private companies to disclose their wages to ensure women are paid the same as their male counterparts.

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BC, one of four provinces without pay transparency or pay equity laws, has one of the largest gender pay gaps in Canada, with women earning an average of 20 percent less than men.

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Key takeaways from BC Prime Minister David Eby’s first speech from the throne
Vaughn Palmer: BC Speech from the throne with long promises, short with details

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