On February 8th, Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin delivered the Speech from the Throne to open the next session of the Legislature. The speech outlined steps taken by the provincial government to address the impacts of Covid-19 on British Columbians as well as commitments for the coming year on housing, reconciliation, climate change and land management.
The Speech made the following commitments:
• implementing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People Act through an action plan;
• working with local governments to speed up approvals and seek new tools to curb speculation, moving more underutilized units into the market;
• introducing a cooling-off period on home purchases to protect home buyers in volatile markets;
• investments in a new housing model to meet the needs of those with serious, complex mental-health and addiction issues;
• doubling $10-a-day child care spaces and reducing average fees by as much as 50% by the end of this year;
• additional climate change actions to reduce emissions and increase community capacity to build critical projects and reduce emissions;
• undertaking a comprehensive review of BC’s oil and gas royalty system; and
• improving land management by creating a new ministry to better support the goals of reconciliation, economic development and environmental protection.
The February 22nd budget will provide greater detail on many of the Province’s plans for the upcoming year.