The legislative finance and government committee made a stop in Kamloops this week and got an earful on what should be budget priorities for the NDP government.
Maple Ridge-Mission NDP MLA Bob D’Eith, who chairs the all party committee, says while they heard from charities, students, and community groups it was climate change that really grabbed their attention.
“There seems to be a feeling of more urgency in regards to the impacts of climate change. When you have, like we had this morning, the insurance companies coming out and saying we are seeing the claims. They are not climate change deniers because they are seeing the pay outs that are being made for insurance claims because of climate change.”
D’Eith says they also heard from Thompson Rivers University students who were happy about interest on student loans being wiped out in the last budget but then told the committee concerns still remain.
“Textbooks and funding for that and they are also really happy about student housing and funding for that. But they are also concerned about tuition fees going up. They are also concerned about, even though the student loan debt, there is still the cost of housing and just being able to go to school and looking at that affordability piece. So they are still pushing hard.”
D’Eith credits Thompson Rivers University students for consistently having the best presentation of any university student group the committee sees.
He says the other big concerns the committee heard about were around invasive species, water issues, and youth aging out of care.