How the BC Govt is working to make life better for you

After 16 years of BC Liberal gov’t neglect on the issues that are important to British Columbians, Premier John Horgan and the New Democrat gov’t have been making different choices to make life better for people across the province.

Since the New Democrats formed government in 2017, we’ve already:
  • Invested a record $1 billion in child care over three years to lay the foundation for a universal child care system that will give B.C. parents access to affordable, quality child care when they want or need it.
  • Made child care more affordable for 80,000 B.C. families through the launch of a new Affordable Child Care Benefit, saving parents up to $1,250 per month and the Fee Reduction Initiative, saving 50,000 families up to $350 per month.
  • Supported 1000 children with extra support needs through a $30 million investment as part of the Early Learning and Child Care agreement.
  • Took the next step towards affordable universal child care by announcing 53 prototype projects around the province, limiting costs for families to $200 per month per child.
  • Supported families struggling to find quality child care by funding the creation of 22,000 new licensed spaces over three years.
  • Funded municipalities and regional districts to plan and build licensed child care spaces that will best meet the needs of local families.
  • Invested in Early Childhood Educators by providing wage enhancements, on-the-job training opportunities and other measures designed to support professionals at the centre of B.C.’s child care system.
  • Ensured Indigenous children and their families have better access to culturally enriched early learning by expanding Aboriginal Head Start programs across the province.
  • Froze ferry fares on all major BC Ferries routes, reduced fares on smaller routes, and restored the 100% Mon-Thurs seniors discount.
  • Putting up to $1,800 a year back in people’s pockets by eliminating MSP premiums by Jan. 1, 2020, one of the biggest tax cuts for middle-class families in B.C.’s history.

  • Invested close to $1 billion since September 2017 in new schools, expansions, seismic upgrades and property purchases – the largest school capital investment in B.C. history.
    • Invested in new schools to create 5,560 new student spaces in growing communities across B.C.
    • Invested in seismic upgrades and replacement schools to create 15,236 safer seats for students in the event of an earthquake.
    • Approved 24 seismic projects since September 2017 – the most ever in a single year and more than double what the BC Liberals approved in 2016/17.
    • Bought land in fast-growing communities like Sooke, Surrey and Chilliwack to build future schools.
  • Better supported our kids in schools by:
    • Reducing class sizes and increasing support in classrooms by funding up to 3,700 new teachers, including 390 special education teachers, and 140 more psychologists and counsellors
    • Hiring 1,000 new education assistants (EAs) to better support students with special needs.
    • Launching an annual $5 million school playground fund, to ensure that having safe and appropriate playground equipment is not dependent on parents’ ability to fundraise.
    • Addressing the shortage of French-language teachers in B.C. by creating additional spaces in teacher education programs and certifying new teachers from France to work in B.C.
  • Increased affordable and accessible education and training by:
  • Improved health care for British Columbians by:
    • Announcing that starting January 1, 2019, PharmaCare deductibles will be reduced or eliminated for 240,000 families and individuals, helping to ensure people can afford the prescription medications they need.
    • Opening the first five urgent primary care centres in Surrey, Kamloops, Quesnel, the West Shore, and Vancouver, to reduce the demand on emergency rooms, and promote team-based, patient-centred care.
    • Giving the green light for a new patient care tower in Richmond, and new and redeveloped hospitals for people in Terrace, Fort St. James, Williams Lake and the Cowichan Valley.
  • Taking long-overdue action to announce a new intensive care unit in Nanaimo, replacing what was identified back in 2013 as “by far one of the worst” ICUs in Canada.
  • Repealed Bills 29 and 94 to restore labour protections for care aides and other healthcare workers, end chronic contract flipping and improve care for seniors and people with disabilities.
  • Dramatically boosting the number of MRI exams by 37,000 in just the first year of our surgical and diagnostic strategy.
  • Increasing staffing levels in residential care homes to make sure seniors are getting the quality care they need and deserve.
  • Investing $75 million to expand respite care and adult day programs to better support seniors and family caregivers.
  • Restored and increased funding for the UBC Therapeutics Initiative, an initiative aimed at keeping drug costs down and patients safe.
  • Taking an important step for women’s health by becoming the first province to share breast density results with all women and their health care providers.
  • Making PrEP — a preventative HIV medication — free for people at risk of infection in B.C.
  • Removed age restrictions on insulin-pump coverage, so that everyone who needs this device to manage diabetes is able to live their lives to the fullest.
  • Created a stand-alone Ministry for Mental Health and Addictions to take province-wide action to combat the overdose crisis, and help people living with mental illness and addictions.
    • Allocated $322 million over three years to combat the overdose crisis.
    • Funded 20 Community Action Teams (CAT) to provide on-the-ground support in response to the overdose crisis in the hardest-hit communities.
    • Provided the First Nations Health Authority with $20 million over three years to support First Nations organizations and Indigenous Peoples in addressing the ongoing impacts of the overdose crisis in their communities.
    • Launched a class action lawsuit against opioid drug companies, whose marketing practices have had devastating impacts on the lives of thousands of British Columbians.
    • Expanded Foundry to seven centres, giving young people and their families access to a one-stop-shop to support their mental health and wellness.
    • Broke ground on a new state-of-the-art mental health and addictions centre on the Riverview lands.
    • Announced a new training program for B.C. pharmacists dispensing opioid replacement treatments to reduce stigma and better support pharmacists in caring for people living with opioid use disorder.
    • Opened a therapeutic recovery community in Greater Victoria for men who have repeat experiences with incarceration, homelessness and addiction, which if successful may be expanded to other parts of the province.
    • Signed a tripartite agreement with the federal government and the First Nations Health Council to improve First Nation mental health wellness outcomes in B.C.
    • Expanded the opioid treatment prescribing standards to allow nurse practitioners around the province to prescribe medication like injectable hydromorphone, buprenorphine-naloxone and methadone. All are used in the treatment of opioid addiction.
  • Patnered with the Vancouver Canucks and BC Lions on an anti-stigma campaign aimed at ensuring people feel safe accessing treatment and the supports they need.
  • Started cleaning up the financial mess at ICBC left by the BC Liberals so that it works better for those injured and all British Columbia drivers.
    • Launching a new BC Bus North service in response to Greyhound’s decision to eliminate service on routes in northern B.C., ensuring people in the North have access to safe, reliable and affordable transportation.
    • Retaining over 83% of Greyhound’s long-haul bus routes by working with local service providers and fast-tracking applications.
    • Paving the way for a modern, safe taxi and ride-hailing service by fall 2019.
    • Committing $1.82 billion in provincial funding for the Broadway Subway project to reduce congestion in Metro Vancouver.
    • Fully funding the Patullo Bridge replacement, bringing commuters one step closer to a modern, safer crossing.
    • Conducting a review of the George Massey Tunnel corridor to find a solution that gets people and goods moving.
    • Expanded wireless coverage and high-speed internet in rural, remote and Indigenous communities across the province.

  • Ensured good-paying jobs, better training and apprenticeships, and more trades opportunities for Indigenous peoples, women and youth in key public-sector infrastructure projects in B.C. through Community Benefits Agreements.
  • Established a new LNG Framework that helped deliver a record $40 billion investment by LNG Canada and met our four conditions: a fair return for B.C.’s natural resources, guaranteed jobs and training opportunities for British Columbians, respect and partnerships with First Nations, and protection of B.C.’s air, land and water, including living up to the Province’s climate commitments.
  • Protected temporary foreign workers from exploitation and abuse.
  • Kept our commitment to fight for B.C. forestry jobs in the U.S and to advance B.C.’s interests in the ongoing softwood lumber dispute.
  • Strengthened relationships and expanded economic ties with China, South Korea and Japan, three of B.C.’s largest trading partners.
  • Supported our creative and tourism industries:
    • Established AMPLIFY BC, the province’s new music fund aimed at supporting people working in our diverse music industry.
    • Supported our province’s vibrant communities and creative economy by boosting funding for the BC Arts Council and Creative BC.
    • Put an end to the grizzly bear hunt, ensuring the protection of one of B.C.’s most iconic species.
    • Helped people who live and work in resort municipalities with new investments to better support our tourism industry.
  • Introduced a new, simplified procurement strategy to take advantage of government’s buying power to help grow local economies, create jobs throughout the province, and make good use of made-in-B.C. innovation.
  • Protected B.C.’s farmland by addressing mega-mansions and speculation on ALR land.
  • Boosted B.C.’s agriculture industry and connected people to products grown and made in B.C. by relaunching Buy BC.
  • Supported access to affordable farmland for young farmers through the B.C. Land Matching Program.
  • Established rigorous new rules and expectations for the renewal of salmon farm tenures in B.C. waters.
  • Took action to help ensure that disasters like the Mount Polley Mine tailings pond spill never happen again, by implementing science-based public oversight in the management of B.C.’s natural resources.
  • Modernized environmental assessment to ensure that good projects that respect B.C.’s environment, Indigenous peoples and the public are approved.
  • Launched CleanBC: our plan to reduce climate pollution, while creating more jobs and economic opportunities for people, businesses and communities.
  • Put B.C. on a path to require the sale of all new light-duty cars and trucks to be zero-emission vehicles by the year 2040, removing a major source of air pollution and climate change.
  • Took action on climate change by increasing the cost of carbon pollution, while putting money back into the pockets of low- and middle-income families.
  • Empowered the motion picture industry to implement sustainable production practices by funding the Reel Green Initiative.
  • Announced $1.1 billion in retrofits to B.C.’s social housing stock to make it more energy efficient, less polluting, and safer for residents.
  • Took action to protect our environment, economy, and our coast from the drastic consequence of a diluted bitumen spills.

  • Protected people from excessive fees by introducing tougher rules on payday loans and cheque-cashing services.

  • Made Reconciliation a cross-government priority by mandating all ministries to fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
  • Agreed to share gaming revenue with B.C. First Nations starting in 2019, to ensure Indigenous peoples have the funding they need to invest in their communities.
  • Announced that B.C. First Nations will co-develop legislation with the province to implement UNDRIP.
  • Signed an Accord to transform treaty negotiations in B.C., to get results in a shorter timeframe that lead to prosperous, healthy and self-determining Indigenous communities.
  • Partnered with the Aboriginal Justice Council to develop an Indigenous Justice Strategy to reduce the over-representation of Indigenous peoples in B.C.’s justice system.
  • Working with Indigenous communities on child welfare solutions that will keep children and youth in their communities and connected to their cultures.
  • Renamed three provincial parks to reflect their historic and cultural significance as part of reconciliation efforts with Indigenous peoples.
  • Supported the revitalization and preservation of Indigenous languages through a $50 million grant to the First Peoples’ Cultural Council.
  • Provided dedicated funding to Aboriginal friendship centres for the first time, ensuring the continuity of these critical services for urban Indigenous peoples.

This is only the beginning. We’re going to keep working for you to fix problems, get results for people, and build a better future for everyone in BC, together.