[LabComm] NDP refuses to let Liberals sneak in and out of Legislature

[BC NDP Newswire]

NDP refuses to let Liberals sneak in and out of Legislature



VICTORIA -- The B.C. Liberal government was hoping to sneak in and out of the Legislature without facing any real scrutiny. Opposition New Democrats had other ideas.

Opposition MLAs kept the House lights up all night until the speaker's list ran out around 8:30 Tuesday morning. After completing the appointment of Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond to the position of Child and Youth Representative, government House Leader Mike De Jong introduced a motion to adjourn the Legislature, essentially shutting down what was one of the shortest sessions in B.C. Legislative history.

"The B.C. Liberals said there was nothing for the House to discuss, that it would not engage in what they called 'busy work,'" said NDP House Leader Mike Farnworth. "We've never believed that trying to improve the lives of British Columbians is 'busy work.'

"So we kept the House open all night and gave the Liberals some idea of what we could have discussed if we had had a full fall session."

NDP MLAs spoke on diverse subjects, ranging from the state of B.C.
Ferries to the growth of credit-card medicine, to homelessness, to the lack of support for women's centres.

"These are significant challenges facing British Columbians, and we were sent to Victoria to address those challenges," said Farnworth, the MLA for Port Coquitlam - Burke Mountain. "The Legislative Calendar -- had the Liberals chosen to follow the rules they put in place -- would have given us seven weeks to go into some of these issues in great detail, and actually come to decisions that would have been beneficial to British Columbia.

"Instead, in their arrogance, the Liberals cancelled the session and left all these things undone," Farnworth said. "It's a shame, and it's a waste."

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