B.C. government outlines plans to build stronger, more secure future

Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin delivered a forward-looking speech from the throne on February 6, 2023, laying out actions the B.C. provincial government will take to tackle today’s biggest challenges.

“Our government will build a stronger, more secure future with British Columbians, because there’s nothing we can’t accomplish or overcome when we work together,” Premier David Eby said.

The speech focused on the issues that matter most to people with measures to help with rising costs, build more affordable homes, improve access to health care and mental-health care, and fight climate change, while training people for good-paying jobs in a cleaner economy.

Highlights from the speech from the throne include:

Helping people with rising costs by introducing new measures targeted to support people hardest hit, including those with lower incomes and families with children;

Tackling the housing crisis by continuing to get tough on speculators, while launching a refreshed housing plan and increasing homes and services near transit hubs throughout the province;

Strengthening access to public health care after the pandemic by investing in new hospitals, a new medical school, better cancer care, substance treatment and recovery services, and getting internationally trained health professionals into B.C. clinics to provide care;

Making communities safer with actions to get violent offenders off the streets and new laws to crack down on gangs, money laundering and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images; and

Fighting climate change and building an economy for everyone by launching a new job skills plan, expanding low-cost clean-energy solutions, introducing a new pay-transparency law that moves B.C. closer to equal pay for equal work for women, and working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.

Learn More:
Read the full throne speech:
https://www.leg.bc.ca/parliamentary-business/legislation-debates-proceedings/42nd-parliament/4th-session/throne-speech