The BC Legislative Assembly resumed sitting Monday with the appointment of a new Speaker of the House, Raj Chouhan, and a Throne speech that promised continued measures and spending to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and a plan to "quickly and safely" deliver COVID vaccinations to those most at risk.
The Legislature is scheduled to sit for the next two weeks, then break for Christmas.
Speaking on behalf of the Horgan government, Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin recapped the measures the B.C. government has already taken to reduce the spread of the virus and compensate people and businesses affected by lockdowns.
That included spending, announced in the fall, to hire 7,000 new front-line health and long-term care workers, more for child care and a number of supports for business, including an exemption on the PST for machinery and equipment and a small business recovery grant.
"In the months ahead, your government will build on the measures already in place," Austin said. "Some programs will be extended or expanded, and new ones launched."
She added the government plans to "ramp up" investment in infrastructure and transportation.
Horgan gambled on a snap election in the fall – a gamble that paid off when he won a healthy majority of 57 seats, at the expense of both the Liberals and the NDP government’s erstwhile allies, the Green Party.
The Liberals were reduced from 41 seats to 28 and the Greens reduced from three to two seats. Horgan’s new majority government gives him the mandate to pass legislation without the help of the Greens.
Over the next two weeks, Horgan has said hopes to pass the necessary legislation to make good on at least one of the campaign promises he made during the recent provincial election campaign: a one-time cheque of $500 per person or $1,000 per family.
The one-time tax free payment was framed as a relief cheque to help British Columbians deal with the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. But as some pundits have pointed out, even residents who continued to work full-time will be eligible for the cheques.
One other promise Horgan made appears to have fallen off the radar screen: a one-time $400 rebate for all renters. It's not clear if the Horgan government intends to try to get the rent rebate approved before Christmas, as well.
The next parliamentary session will resume with a new leader of the Green Party, Sonia Furstenau, and a leaderless Liberal Party. Former Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson resigned as leader following the October 24 election, and a new leader has not yet been selected. Shirley Bond will be serving as interim leader until the Liberals elect a new leader.
The Horgan government has some significant challenges ahead of it, not the least of which is continuing to manage a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a major impact on the province’s budget, driving it from surplus to deep deficit.
The Horgan government may also have some controversy to deal with in the form of Site C dam, which may have some significant cost overruns. Horgan appointed former B.C. bureaucrat Peter Milburn to assess the project’s health.
Despite calls from the Greens and others to simply scrap the project, that appears to be an unlikely outcome, as $6 billion has already been spent on the project, which is roughly half-way through construction.
While the pandemic has had a dramatic impact on B.C.'s employment and economy, Austin pointed out that, prior to the pandemic, B.C. led the country in job and economic growth. And it appears to be leading in terms of recovering jobs lost during the pandemic lockdowns.
"Among the large provinces in Canada, B.C. has the highest job recovery rate of pre-pandemic employment levels," she said.
