On this edition of Journal, seniors services. For 11 years, British Columbia’s Seniors Advocate has been measuring the challenges facing our seniors.

Sad to say, it’s not a pretty picture. In fact, Dan Levitt, our Seniors Advocate, says when you look at the data, we are actually going backwards – not nearly meeting today’s requirements, let

alone preparing for the future as a tsunami of aging hits our society.

Waitlists are growing: for seniors, hip surgery waits have increased 72% over the last 6 years and knee replacement waits are up 61%.

In the recent provincial budget, seniors were hit hard with new sales taxes on basics – hard to swallow when you are on a fixed income.

More importantly, 7 long-term bed projects already in process around the province were withdrawn, to be “re-paced” – a euphemism for “good luck if they ever come back.” But the need for these beds is extreme. Last year there were over 7,000 seniors in BC on a waitlist for a long-term bed: an increase of 200% over six years ago.

I am cognizant of financial restrictions. But think of this: for every senior taking up a hospital bed they no longer require, it costs the government an average of $1,200 per day. However, they can’t be released because there isn’t a care bed available in the community. If there were, that cost would be much less – around $300. So this is an example of government inaction costing money rather than saving money.

As BC’s Seniors Advocate, Dan Levitt has been collecting this data and trying to get the attention of the government while there is still some hope for action.

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Carole Taylor's Journal is a public affairs dialogue that digs deep into the most pressing issues of our times. For more, see our website at http://www.caroletaylorsjournal.ca.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did DRIPA, the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act – supposedly a step forward in reconciliation – become such a political and legal mess?

On this edition of Journal, we speak with a man who was a member of the British Columbia legislature that gave birth to the now-controversial DRIPA bill, Mike de Jong.

No stranger to this file, Mike served as the aboriginal critic when in the BC Liberal opposition and then Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation in the Gordon Campbell government.

This was, of course, in addition to serving as Attorney General, Minister of Finance, Minister of Health, and on, and on. In other words – a senior politician to be taken seriously.

Not surprisingly, on this complicated and controversial DRIPA bill, Mike had questions. A lot of questions. How would it work? Had the bill been vetted by the province’s lawyers?

And there were other voices expressing concern. Jody Wilson Rayboud also warned this would be unworkable.

Yet, even after a passionate speech from MLA and former Haisla chief Ellis Ross, warning of the dangers of this bill, DRIPA was voted on and passed – unanimously.

Two years later, adding more fuel to the fire, the government introduced an amendment to the Interpretation Act, saying all provincial laws “must” be consistent with UNDRIP. It’s that word “must” that has been taken seriously by the courts.

What happened?

Well, we know what’s happened: court decisions against the government, lawsuits, accusations, and flip-flops. A fine mess.

To bring context to how we find ourselves in this position, Mike de Jong.

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Carole Taylor's Journal is a public affairs dialogue that digs deep into the most pressing issues of our times. For more, see our website at http://www.caroletaylorsjournal.ca.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of Journal, we ask the question: Why, in a recent front page story, was one expert quoted as saying he was not too concerned about reported job losses in the construction sector?

Meanwhile, another in the same article says the current situation in terms of residential construction is the worst he has seen in decades.

So, where does that leave us? To worry or not to worry?

We do know layoffs overall in the construction sector are happening in numbers not seen since the 1990s. In British Columbia: 6,900 job losses in February alone.

In some ways, it doesn’t make sense. We have a federal government, a provincial government, and a municipal government all tripping over themselves making big housing announcements – big dollars, big numbers.

Prime Minister Carney, early in his mandate, promised 500,000 residential units to be built annually. This was “passing strange” since Canada has only managed to build an average of half of that in previous years. As well, major infrastructure projects are touted and fast-tracked – all good for the construction industry, right?

But despite this political zeal to “build, build, build,” a number of developers are just walking away from projects that have already been approved and many real estate companies have announced major layoffs.

In addition, there are now thousands of already completed condos sitting empty and unsold in Metro Vancouver.

What is going on?

To help us understand the whole picture, we are joined by Chris Gardner, President and CEO of ICBA (Independent Contractors and Business Associations). His members are on the front lines during this challenging time for the construction industry.

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Carole Taylor's Journal is a public affairs dialogue that digs deep into the most pressing issues of our times. For more, see our website at http://www.caroletaylorsjournal.ca.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.