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Premier Horgan: Question:
Women have long been underrepresented in the trades and we want The opioid crisis disproportionately affects young, male construction
to make sure we provide supports to change that. The new workers. The province of BC has been hit particularly hard by this
Workforce and Labour Market Development Agreements we crisis. What has your government done to address this issue?
negotiated with the federal government provides added support to
Premier Horgan:
people with disabilities, women and Indigenous peoples; groups
I’m so proud of the work we’re doing in B.C. with Canada’s first-
under-represented in the workforce. This includes up to $1.8 million
ever Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions. We’re taking a
over two years to support recruitment and retention for women in
leading-edge, evidence-based approach and it’s saving lives. By
the trades.
expanded access to naloxone kits, increased Overdose Prevention
We’ve also joined LNG Canada to launch the Your Place campaign Sites and improved post-overdose care, we’re saving more lives
– a program geared at removing barriers for women who want to and reversing more overdoses. Over 4,700 lives have been saved
enter the skilled trades and pursue a career in B.C.’s energy sector. since April 2016, when a public emergency was declared on the
About 71,000 job openings are expected in trades in B.C. over the overdose crisis. But there’s more work to do. We recently
next decade, due to retirement and economic growth. To help meet announced our Pathway to Hope for better mental health and
this demand, we’re working to open doors for women to become addictions care - a shift to focus on early intervention and prevention
electricians, millwrights, heavy-duty mechanics and carpenters, and after too many years of band-aid solutions. We’re going to keep
to pursue other trades. working on this problem and looking for ways to provide support to
people who need it until we turn the tide on this terrible crisis.
Question:
What are some of the other ways your government is addressing Question:
the growing skills trades shortage? At the Council of the Federation meetings earlier this year, yourself
and the other premiers came out and reaffirmed their commitment
Premier Horgan:
to a national pharmacare program. Why is this important to your
B.C. is facing a major skills shortage that the BC Liberal government
government and what are you doing to move the yardstick forward
ignored for years. And the people who want to work are there. Only
on this file?
9.5% of apprentices are women and 7.3% of apprentices are
Indigenous. Less than half of all apprentices complete their training, Too many people are forced to choose between the medication they
due to inaction by the BC Liberals. We need to get those numbers up. need and other essentials like rent and food. We need action from
Ottawa on national PharmaCare to lower prescription costs for
We’re taking action by breaking down barriers and help people who
people but we haven’t waited for Ottawa to act. We eliminated or
have been excluded from the workforce. And we’re working to
reduced PharmaCare deductibles for almost a quarter-million lower-
increase the number of employer sponsors so more apprentices
income households so more people can afford the prescriptions
can train and earn their Certificate of Qualification. We’re allocating
they need. Our government has also expanded the use of biosimilar
funds to help ITA increase its number of apprentice advisors from
drugs to allow us to cover more drugs and boost existing coverage
15 to 20. We are lifting as we climb as apprentices are helping
for patients.
build, create and maintain the best B.C.

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