The MLA for Kootenay East says the speech marking the beginning of the current legislature session was a contrast between ideology and reality.
Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin’s speech addressed issues like mental health and addiction, housing costs and rising violent crimes.
However, Tom Shypitka feels the speech did not properly address rising crime rates in his riding.
“We’ve got residents in my community that are, I don’t want to say it but, some of them want to take matters into their own hands,” Shypitka says. “It’s almost like they’ve had enough. There’s people breaking in so there’s store owners who will wait inside now with bats or something. Somebody’s going to get hurt. We have to get a handle on this, we need some money allocated, and we need some time to think about where we’re going.”
Shypitka was confused by the speech announcing a $6-billion surplus while also suggesting that COVID-19 set government back.
“Simply put Madame Speaker the BC Government’s bottom line benefitted from rising inflation, high oil and gas prices, and increased consumer demand and activity,” he says. “This had nothing to do with financial management and tightening the purse strings, when the rest of the Province was expected to do.”
The throne speech marked the start of the current legislature session.
You can watch Shypitka’s debate on the throne speech here.
Click here for more information about the throne speech.
– Article contains information provided by the Government of British Columbia
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