Premier Christy Clark was in Kelowna on Friday, selling her government's budget to chamber members.
With occasional jabs at the opposition, Clark’s campaign style speech hit key highlights from the budget, including the 50% cut to MSP for household incomes of $120,000 or less and the .5% reduction on the small business tax.
She also promised a three-year investment of $2.7 billion to hospitals, $2 billion to schools, $2.6 billion to post-secondary education, $4.5 to transportation and $2 billion in affordable housing.
Clark finished her speech sharing stats from 5 years ago that put the province 3rd in economic growth, 9th in job creation and 4th in unemployment, adding B.C. is now number 1 in all 3 categories. She said this was proof the BC Jobs Plan is working.
Following her speech, during the Q&Q, Clark defended concerns the provincial budget doesn't offer much for seniors. She said the MSP cut will be a big help to seniors as well as investments being made to health care.
“$4.1 billion investment in our health care system is an investment people are really going to feel," she said “They’ll feel it in terms of investment in new hospitals but also in access to reduced waiting lists, more access to health professionals"
Growing concerns about invasive mussel protection also made its way to the Q&A.
“We’re working on every year how to improve the system that we have,” Clark said “It was successful last year- no evidence of any invasive species- but now that the mussels are get even closer and into Montana, we’re re-examining it to see what more we can do”
She said there would hopefully be an announcement in the coming weeks.
Clark also boasted the creation of thousands of jobs in the province during her speech, but while Vancouver and Victoria saw an unemployment rate of 5.2 per cent in December, the rate in the Kelowna area was 8.9.
When asked during a media scrum what she was doing to boost jobs in the region, she said investments were being made in technology, education in technology and infrastructure.
“The 30,000 jobs in infrastructure building that are happening, much of that will happen in the Interior, in the Okanagan”
She also said she wanted to make sure the softwood lumber agreement would be settled to get the forest industry “really humming” here.