Thursday September 19, 2024 | VANCOUVER, BC [Posted at 2:16 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Premier David Eby took questions from media after his speech to delegates today at the Union of BC Municipalities convention in Vancouver.
Media attending in person included Richard Zussman (Global News), Penny Daflos (CTV), Fran Yanor (The Northern Beat), Les Leyne (Times Colonist), Michelle Gamage (The Tyee), Wolf Depner (Black Press), Darryl Greer (Canadian Press), Shannon Waters (The Narwhal), Jeremy Hainsworth (Glacier Media), and Dan Romano (Vancouver Sun).
More media representatives were online remotely for this media session including and Mary Brooke (Island Social Trends).
Recording time limits and the unpredictable length of questions and answers often curtails the participation of all media who follow BC government news announcements.
Priority is also given to larger outlets who will ask today’s news-clip questions.
Media questions:
Media questions today covered the expected range of topics that emerged during Premier Eby’s speech to UBCM delegates (e.g. housing attainability, infrastructure in communities, revenue impacts if the carbon tax gets dropped by the federal government) as well as other topics like Indigenous relations.
Most questions were rightly framed within an election-season context.
Just ahead of the media session Eby told UBCM delegates that housing is a top issue, along with the infrastructure that requires.
UBCM and election timeline:
Eby said the BC Government did ask UBCM to change their convention date to better align with the scheduled BC provincial election, but that suggestion was not acted upon. Coming just ahead of the election, municipal leaders would likely have wanted to hear more about party platform details but the campaign doesn’t officially start until this weekend (the writ drops on September 21).
The next federal election could come as soon as late October or early November, based on insights revealed this week.
The general election is on October 19, 2024. [See BC ELECTION 2024 NEWS COVERAGE]
If the federal carbon tax is dropped:
Premier Eby said that if the NDP are re-elected that his government would need to revisit the provincial budget to make sure that socioeconomic program supports are maintained. It will be “a challenge to meet various expenses”, he said about potentially not having federal carbon tax revenues coming in.
Supports to low and middle-income British Columbians include the quarterly carbon-tax rebate (automatically deposited into people’s bank accounts), supports for renters through RAP (for renters & families) and SAFER (for seniors), child care subsidization, and the BC Family Benefit. For the 2023 tax year there was also a one-time renter’s tax credit and this year there’s a year-long BC Hydro rebate and an ICBC auto insurance rebate.
By contrast, BC Conservative Leader John Rustad says that applying carbon pollution levies on industry means “potentially killing LNG Canada, mining, forestry, farming, trucking — industries that pay for BC’s core services”, as posted today in social media after Eby’s speech.
Community safety:
Eby articulated some items about community safety including how the province has hired additional police officers (250 additional police officers added across the province in particular for smaller communities), and has worked with downtown business owners (e.g. providing washrooms and dealing with vandalism coming out of the pandemic).
He mentioned about “people who need care related to mental health to get them the residential care that they need”. That ties into the homelessness issue which was not mentioned specifically.
Eby says “downtown needs to feel safe” but that it’s not just about police but also peer services, housing, mental health teams, and health interventions.
Climate change policy:
Eby commented on climate change policy and dealing with the carbon tax that has been levied in BC for about 15 years (introduced under the previous BC Liberal government).
Eby says people are being forced to choose between taking action on climate change as a priority versus covering basic expenses. I don’t want British Columbians to be put into that position of having to make that choice.
“We have to take climate action in BC because we are directly impacted. We’ve got to protect our communities,” said Eby. “There’s a huge economic opportunity for us. A lot of the same people who are struggling with costs and having to make that difficult decision are directly involved in building that clean economy and ensuring we deliver it. And we them on side and supportive for the work that we have to do.
I don’t know how you square the reality and the massive advantage we have for a low carbon future with someone who wants to be the premier who says that a low carbon future is a stupid thing to work for because climate change is a hoax. Giving up all that investment in our province that we’ve seen.
He notes “70% more investment in the last two years” than achieved in the last two years by the previous government. “This is the direction that has helped our province grow while other provinces are really struggling.”
Substance use crisis:
Eby was asked if he has ‘changed his tune’on decriminalization and secure care. How do you respond to some abrupt switches lately on major policies. And Eby’s response: “The Conservatives can call me names or whatever they’re going to do in the election campaign. It will never stop me from doing what’s right for the province,” said David Eby today.
“The toxic drug crisis is highly complex. Involuntary care for youth is very straightforward — we want to look after young people and make sure they have the care they need. Caring for them as if they were family members and getting them into treatment when they can’t ask for it themselves,” said Eby.
“But the counterbalance of that is the factor of ‘will somebody call 9-1-1’ a young person, if their friend overdoses, if they think that the outcome might be that they’re going to hospital and not coming out,” said Eby.”Will they go to an authority figure and say I’m struggling with addiction if they think that the possible outcome is that they’re going to go into a treatment centre and not be able to get out.”
“Those are serious counterweights. This is a serious discussion and there are strong opinions on both sides for good reason,” said Eby.
“And so to turn that into a Tweet or a meme or anything to try to advance a political interest rather than treating this issue with the seriousness that it deserves and the hard choices and the different directions we’re going to have to try to address this crisis, I think is a real disservice to British Columbians who are struggling with addiction and the people who love them.”
===== RELATED:
- Premier Eby addresses municipal leaders at UBCM in Vancouver (September 19, 2024)
- Province approaches mental illness & severe addiction on multiple fronts (September 15, 2024)
- More on-campus student housing coming to UBC (August 21, 2024)
- New housing coming to DND base in Esquimalt (August 17, 2024)
- Most BC municipalities have new bylaws to allow for small-scale multi-unit housing (July 25, 2024)
- Housing is a top election issue says Eby (July 22, 2024)
- Canada’s Premiers prioritize housing, affordability, skills training, infrastructure, energy and emergency preparedness (July 16, 2024)
- New conservation financing mechanism: protect ecosystems & strengthen the economy (October 27, 2023)
- NEWS SECTIONS: BC PROVINCIAL ELECTION 2024 | HOUSING