Cariboo Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett said the region will benefit from the announcements in Thursday’s throne speech.
Speaking to reporters at her constituency office in Williams Lake Friday, the Minister of State for Rural Development Barnett said money has been promised for more health care workers, daycare spaces, help for senior citizens, opportunities for the education system and at Thompson Rivers University in the lakecity.
“We committed as a government, not in the throne speech, to the Cariboo Memorial Hospital upgrade and basically whoever is in government I will make sure that happens,” Barnett said. “I will also make sure our resource industries stay strong and stable. It will be a battle with the NDP and Greens if they take over government because they are not interested in the resource industries. During the election they were only interested in the Lower Mainland and the social programs.”
When asked if some of the promises in the throne speech were based on ones made during the election by the NDP and the Green parties, Barnett said they were in the party platforms but were not costed-out.
Barnett said on Monday, June 26, the legislature will resume and debate the throne speech in the afternoon from 2 to 6:30 p.m., continuing Tuesday, Wednesday and possibly vote on Thursday, June 29.
“Everyone will have their eyes on the vote to see if the government is dissolved or not. How that will go, time will tell. It could go to amendments on the floor.”
This week has been “business as usual,” Barnett said of being back in the legislature.
“Steve Thomson will be the speaker and it was interesting seeing the predictions of who it would be,” she added. “Everyone thought it would be someone like Jackie Tegart or Eric Foster.”
John Rustad, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation will be adding the forests ministry to his portfolio in the interim, Barnett said.
Whenever she’s been in the riding, Barnett said she has been busy explaining the state of the government to constituents.
“The opposition says it’s been six weeks already, but the final count was not in from the Chief Electoral Officer until May 31, so it has not been that long. There have been times in the past when it has been longer. It’s a very interesting time in history.”
A commitment in the throne speech promised an increase from $25 million to $50 million a year for the Rural Dividend Fund Program which the Liberals introduced in September 2015.
“We have to build bridges, ” Barnett said of all parties working together as the government. “This province has to be inclusive and that is our objective.”