North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice speaks to BC Government response to COVID as part of Legislature discussion

North Coast MLA 
Jennifer Rice speaking from
Prince Rupert to the Leg Monday

Monday's morning session of the British Columbia Legislature provided an opportunity for MLA's to share some thoughts on the ongoing challenges of COVID and how communities across the province are handling these times.

Many of the participants  in the Monday session shared stories of their constituents and how they have faced adversity or lent assistance to their community in its time of need.  

The oral snapshots from the various regions of the province, providing a glimpse of how communities are coming together to support each other during a most stressful time in the province's history.

Others participating in the Monday discussion, mostly on the government side of  the house, chose to focus on the level of assistance provided by the government or to review past announcements on COVID assistance. 

For North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice, her five minute contribution was one of sharing some of the initiatives that the provincial government have provided for as part of its COVID response.

"First and foremost, we're here to help people, communities and businesses to implement whatever public health protections are necessary to address outbreaks. Those supports also include the B.C. recovery benefit, which became available to people at the end of last year. Our provincial vaccination plan is now underway and being distributed to all British Columbians as quickly and as safely as possible, beginning with the most vulnerable. 

Key investments in health care allow more patients to receive treatment at home, reduce wait times and train and hire more doctors and nurses. We're also taking significant steps to assist small and medium-sized businesses in weathering the economic storm caused by COVID-19. New tax measures reward businesses for hiring and help them grow and become more productive by making it easier for them to invest in equipment and machinery. 

The province's $10 billion COVID-19 response is protecting people's health and livelihoods and investing in stronger communities and a bright future. 

We've taken action to help hard-hit industries while we build a stronger economic recovery. Our COVID-19 response included a further $1.6 billion investment in health care and mental health supports to build on our improvements and make sure critical services are always there when people need them."

Ms Rice also relayed some of the government efforts on housing with local governments as well as a range of  programs for small business mainly through the recently announced circuit breaker initiatives from the NDP government.

"To help the 14,000 businesses that have been further impacted by the recent restrictions, we have put a $50 million circuit breaker business relief grant in place. Applications will remain open until June 4 or until the funds are dispensed, whichever happens first. 

This grant provides businesses $1,000 to $10,000 in one-time funding to help with expenses like rent, employee wages, maintenance and utilities. 

It also helps support unexpected costs that may have resulted from the order, such as perishable foods that a restaurant may have purchased but were unable to sell. 

To ensure businesses in these categories can access funds quickly, the circuit breaker business relief grant is designed to be a streamlined and easy-to-use application. 

Through a yes-no check mark application, a business simply declares that they were affected by the recent provincial health orders, are registered as a B.C. business, demonstrate majority ownership and operations, and payment of taxes in B.C. 

A business is required to provide their direct-deposit information and produce a single business validation document — such as a lease agreement, business or liquor licence, or notice of assessment — at the time of application. 

If you receive this grant funding, it will have no bearing on the regular small and medium-sized business recovery grant program. These two streams are completely different. "

The full archive of the discussion on how communities are coping with COVID started at 11AM,  Ms Rice's commentary for the Monday morning session can be reviewed here starting at the 11:30 mark.

The MLA has also provided a video of her presentation to the Legislature from Monday, through her social media page.   

For more notes on the work of Ms. Rice at the BC Legislature see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.