Well, it was a long couple of months, but a very productive couple of months.
As most of you may know, the fall legislative session wrapped up after sitting from Oct. 3 to Nov. 24. With briefings, meetings, debates on bills, and events — all while travelling back to the Cariboo for meetings and constituency work on weekends — it was a very busy stretch. During my time in Victoria there was some significant legislation passed that will strengthen our laws about crimes around metal theft and refocus the Family Law to make sure that the well-being of a child in a divorce or family breakup is the first priority. While all this legislation being passed is good, I have to mention that so many things have been accomplished in the past few months and not all of it happened in the Legislative Assembly. To further recognize the positive progress and forward action, this government has made over the past eight or nine months the website www.changethatworksforyou.ca. The website was launched following the end of the fall session to highlight the achievements and accomplishments under Premier Christy Clark and I’m pleased that rural B.C. has seen significant funding. The list of successes is far too long to list, but here are a couple examples of support for rural British Columbia:
• $2.3 million to expand broadband Internet access to more than 60 rural B.C. communities.
• A total of $2.9 million for the Northern Skills Training Pilot over the next 18 months.
• $1 million towards an Innovative Clean Energy project in Anahim Lake to support the development of clean energy technologies and benefit the local community.
• $3 million for the Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition to help continue its fight against the mountain pine beetle epidemic.
As I said, this is just a sample of the accomplishments of the past year and I’m confident there are many more to come. This government’s commitment to families, creating jobs, and opening government is a real one and I encourage you to check out the Change That Works For You website to see how we can continue to move forward together.
Donna Barnett is the Liberal MLA for the Cariboo-Chilcotin.