Premier John Horgan confirmed this week he’s calling a session in B.C.’s legislature following a brief throne speech on Monday (Dec. 7).
As COVID-19 continues to rage through the province, the Victoria commons has had to make adjustments and put extensive protocols in place that will allow a certain number of members to be in the house for the next two weeks.
This presents a challenge for the Official Opposition as most Liberal MLAs are from northern and interior B.C. and with Dr. Bonnie Henry discouraging travel during these times, the party will be making key decisions on who will be representing them.
Interim Liberal Leader Shirley Bond says she’s been grappling with this particular issue.
“We want to obviously do our part to deal with the orders and restrictions that Dr. Bonnie Henry has put in place, but with the calling back of the legislature, it is essential that members of the opposition be present in Victoria,” the Prince George-Valemount MLA said during a news conference this afternoon (Dec. 3), noting that whoever goes to Victoria will be following COVID-19 protocols to the letter.
“There are those of us that will have to travel and be present in Victoria and as you can imagine, that’s one of the concerns we’ve addressed. [...] It does present specific challenges for the opposition because of the geography of our members.”
Bond is also calling the question: Why is a session taking place, tentatively for two weeks, when there’ll likely be a single piece of legislation?
That legislation, tabled by the NDP, is set to address the $1,000 COVID-19 recovery benefit, a promise Premier Horgan was keen on from the 2020 snap-election.
Bond believes promises should be kept when it comes to addressing the needs of the province, especially when it comes to producing a budget timeline.
“When I stopped to think about an agenda that could be put in place, we had promises from this government, for example, that the accessibility act would be covered in the first session of the legislature. Well, that apparently is not going to happen.
“This is a government that has had plenty of time in advance of the election even to prepare for these things.”
With new Liberal MLAs elected from the Oct. 24 campaign, Bond also says private member’s bills are also wanting to be addressed.
She says the challenge of hosting a single-legislative session also comes into play.
“Obviously, we have new members who also have brought ideas to the table, so we’re working on our way through that process determining which bills we may choose to re-introduce, but in the meantime, I want to encourage the Premier to speak to his word. [...] It’s the Premier’s and government’s prerogative to call the session and I think that British Columbians would expect that if we are going to open the legislature and bring MLAs potentially from across the province in limited numbers and with COVID protocols, that there should be a substantive agenda if that’s going to take place.”
Bond’s earlier mention of accessibility legislation is likely to start in spring 2021.
Her full comments on the upcoming legislative session can be heard in the post below:
