Friday, May 24, 2019 ~ COLWOOD
~ West Shore Voice News
The Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services — a parliamentary committee of the legislative assembly — will hold a public hearing in Colwood on Monday, June 10 as part of its Budget 2020 consultation.
The committee invites British Columbians to meet with the committee to share their priorities and ideas on what should be in the next provincial budget.
The public hearing will be held at the City of Colwood municipal hall, in council chambers, from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Colwood City Hall is nestled in a residential area at 3300 Wishart Road, next to an elementary school.
British Columbians can participate in person or by teleconference.
Registration to reserve a time with the committee opens Monday, May 27, 2019, at 9 a.m. via the committee’s website: https://bcleg.ca/FGSbudget
Teleconference opportunities can be requested by calling: 250-356-2933 or 1-877-428-8337 (toll-free in BC).
The committee will also provide opportunities to share written input, make an audio or video submission, or fill out a survey via its website beginning Monday, June 3.
The full BC-wide consultation closes at 5 p.m. (Pacific time) on Friday, June 28 following visits to various communities and receiving input online. The committee intends to release its report on the consultation in late July or early August.
“The timing this year allows for analysis of the feedback over the summer, to give to ministers to inform their budget-building,” said Mitzi Dean, MLA (Esquimalt-Metchosin) who spoke with West Shore Voice News enthusiastically about the committee’s work. Her riding includes Colwood, even though it’s not in the name of the riding.
Last year the public consultation was held in September which didn’t allow a lot of time for budget decisions to be informed by that input before ministries submitted their 2019 budgets to the Finance Ministry, explains Dean.
“We tour the province every year to get feedback for priority in upcoming budget. This year we’ve moved it forward from September to June so we can get the feedback, analyze it in July, and give it to ministers to inform their budget building,” said Dean.
Also the Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity, Mitzi Dean says each ministry must include a gender-based analysis as part of their budget process.
Members of the committee are:
- Bob D’Eith, MLA Maple Ridge-Mission (chair)
- Dan Ashton, MLA Penticton (deputy chair)
- Doug Clovechok, MLA Columbia River-Revelstoke
- Rich Coleman, MLA Langley East
- Mitzi Dean, MLA Esquimalt-Metchosin
- Ronna-Rae Leonard, MLA Courtenay-Comox
- Nicholas Simons, MLA Powell River-Sunshine Coast
The June 10 meeting in Colwood kickstarts a series of 15 meetings being held around the province. Three of those meetings are Vancouver Island (the Colwood meeting June 10, then in Courtenay and in Qualicum Beach on June 13). The other 12 meetings are on the BC Mainland, with Vancouver’s meeting on June 14 and Surrey’s meeting on June 21 wrapping up the schedule.