Health care, Crime and public safety themes dominant for Nathan Cullen's view of Speech from the Throne

With the Introduction of the Speech from the Throne last week, members from all sides of the Chamber have had an opportunity speak to the blueprint delivered by the Lieutenant Governor on February 6th.

In something that probably doesn't surprise anyone, the BC Liberals so far have found little to cheer from Premier Eby's vision for the path forward, while members of his party have been making use of it as part of their talking points for progress as the debate has moved forward.

Yesterday, was the opportunity for the MLA for Stikine to put together a few words in support of the Speech, a project that Nathan Cullen provided a presentation towards that followed a few current themes of interest in the province.

"The Speech from the Throne, of course, is two things. It's a moment in time — if one looks back to previous throne speeches, one can see the mood of the moment in the province, what was happening, what we were just coming from — and, of course, it's meant to do the second thing: point to the future. 

What is the government's plan? What is the agenda? What is the path forward? 

Both of these, as I looked through the throne speech again today, are very much alive and well for those that watched or read the captions.  Because as we emerge from a global pandemic and as we come through the strains and stresses on our society — and our individual communities, individual families, the loss of life, the desperate illness that many people went through — it is also that time to reflect on where we are now and what have we learned. 

We knew, obviously, that our health care system, our front-line workers, were of such great and vital importance to us. I don't know how many times they were referenced in this place that way — many, many thousands over the years. There's no further need to make the argument of the importance of health care workers of all varieties, from folks that are cleaning our hospitals and nursing homes to those that care for our elders — the doctors, the nurses, and on down the line — and that the system went through extraordinary strain. 

The speech talks about that, acknowledges it and then says what we'll do about it, because it is unsustainable, that pressure on those that serve our communities from the health care professions, from mental health and addictions, through primary care, and on down the line. 

I was very much, as well, pleased — well, I suppose, pleased — but appreciative of the acknowledgment of the strain that there has been on our communities. 

You and I both see this, Madam Speaker,  that from our largest cities to our smallest towns: the issue of street disorder, the issue of repeat offenders and, of those that are committing offences, the relatively small but incredibly important and dangerous ones who commit violent offences, and then again, acknowledging what is, and that we've seen that rise. Then what does one do about it? 

It's acknowledged in several steps that the government seeks to take. I was appreciative of that because, coming from northern B.C., rural B.C., we certainly weren't the first to acknowledge this, of seeing your downtown and your main streets change, and the feeling — and sometimes this is a feeling — either a direct experience that one has or a sense of the loss of safety that, once lost, is more difficult to regain. 

As Canadians and British Columbians, we generally experience an incredibly high level of safety in our communities and our homes, especially compared to the rest of the world. This is something that we need to cherish and value. I was very glad that what is a complex issue was not treated in a simplistic way in the Speech from the Throne."

Mr. Cullen is somewhat legendary towards his oratorical flourishes and stamina for delivery of a good stemwinder; but the clock was working against him on Tuesday, with his commentary that last of the evening and quickly using up the last minutes of the Legislature Day.

He had barely started into his view of the Government's plans for crime and social issues, with a note of how they are a challenge, when the clock ran out.

"Of course, there was the commitment to seeking further bail reforms from our federal partners, who set the rules on how bail works. There was direction to our own Crown prosecutors on how the prosecutions went out, and an increasing supply of funds to local small communities, rural communities, for policing. 

We know that municipal budgets are incredibly strained when it comes to paying for local police services. Especially if you're in one of those small communities, just above 5,000 people, you get quite a bit of the burden of the share, yet you don't have the tax base, necessarily, to cover those costs. 

So our government is coming in with more support and more mental health supports, more support for street nurses, more support for those who are suffering through addictions. The path to recovery is incredibly important.

"What we need is an all-of-government — all-of-society, in fact — approach to our ability to deal with what is a significant issue for everybody. I would add, as my own home community of Smithers has struggled with this issue, that there is no great safety in the tent encampments that we see around. 

For those that are in those places, for many variety of sometimes generational issues that they face, we know that their own personal safety is often quite threatened, more so than anybody else's. 

And so the progressive thing, the right thing to do, is to wrap around services around each individual, provide the housing and the supports, be they mental health or addictions treatment or whatever the case may be, but they're sensitive to the person individually."

Also spoken on during the session was some of the impact on small businesses in the province and importance of those businesses to their communities.

"There were some that saw the global pandemic — particularly, for some reason, conservative governments — and their instinct was to pull back, was to withdraw, to do less government, as conservatives are sometimes fond of saying. Well, tell that to the small business communities, the local chambers in the North, who received significant and steady support from our government and were able to sustain themselves even though their doors were closed for some significant time. There is a number of aspects of our economic recovery, which I think are very important. 

 I know the foundation of our communities is our local business sector, our small businesses, and they, at times, struggle to see themselves in the discourse of this place. We have to do more, I would argue, and more to make sure that they both feel welcome and supported and engaged and that we're able to do things that continue to support our small businesses in ways that matter and will matter for future generations."

 Considering the scope of the Speech from the Throne last week and the MLA's engagement with the Legislature process, we may hear more of his observations as the days move forward.

What is available for review can be examined from the Legislature Minutes here, as well the video of the session provides for a visual forum for the commentary which starts at the 6:10 PM mark.

Update: The Conclusion of Mr. Cullen's Speech from the Throne observations came on Wednesday with the MLA picking up on his train of thought at the 4:01 PM portion of the afternoon session 

From the Minutes here, the video of the presentation is available here.

More notes from the Legislature can be explored here.