B.C. Liberal Leader Falcon takes legislature seat; knocks museum 'vanity project'
British Columbia Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon said that if elected premier he would halt plans to build a new Royal B.C. Museum, calling it a “billion-dollar vanity project” after he took his seat in the legislature.
The Opposition leader also attacked the New Democrat government's record on affordability after he was officially sworn in Monday, having won a byelection in Vancouver-Quilchena last month.
The former Liberal cabinet minister used question period to criticize the timing of Premier John Horgan's announcement that a new museum in Victoria would be built at a cost of about $800 million.
A satellite facility for research and storage in the neighbouring community of Colwood, announced two years ago, has been budgeted at $224 million.
“Sadly, six people are dying every day from an overdose under this government's watch,” Falcon said. “The worst in history. One in five British Columbians don't have a family doctor and when they try to go to a walk-in clinic, they face the longest wait times in Canada.”
Outside the legislature, Falcon said he was “massively disappointed” at the timing of the museum project, “when British Columbians are struggling with the highest housing and the highest fuel prices in North America at $2.34 per litre.”
“I also want to be clear about this: should I become the next premier of the province, we are cancelling that billion-dollar vanity project,” he said.
Falcon called on the NDP to use the money from the project to help people pay their bills instead.
Horgan said on Friday that the museum, next door to the legislature, needs to be brought into the 21st century, making it seismically safer, inclusive, accessible and modern.
He said the project would protect B.C.'s collective history and he urged Falcon and the Liberals on Monday to support the project.
In November, the museum announced some sections were closing while work was done to decolonize Indigenous exhibits. The move came in response to calls from Indigenous leaders after reports alleged there were racist and toxic working conditions at the institution.
Falcon, 59, was sworn in during a brief ceremony in which he signed the oath of office and entered the chamber as its newest MLA.
He won the BC Liberal leadership last February, replacing former leader Andrew Wilkinson, who resigned the Vancouver-Quilchena riding earlier this year, his party having lost the October 2020 election to the New Democrats.
Falcon's return to the legislature comes after about a decade away from politics to help raise his young family and work in the private sector with a Vancouver property investment company.
He had held portfolios of finance, health, transportation, and the deputy premiership in former B.C. Liberal governments, before he finished second to former premier Christy Clark in the party's 2011 leadership race.
At the signing ceremony, attended by his wife, Jessica, and daughters Josephine and Rose, Falcon said he would lead an Opposition that kept the government under pressure.
“In the coming weeks, months and years, you will see that we will be holding government to account for results or lack of results,” said Falcon at the ceremony. “I truly believe at the end of the day, we should always be judged not by what we say but by what we do.”
The next B.C. election will be held by October 2024.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
WHO likely to issue wider alert on contaminated cough syrup
The World Health Organization is likely to issue a wider warning about contaminated Johnson and Johnson-made children's cough syrup found in Nigeria last week, it said in an email.
WATCH Video shows dramatic police takedown of carjacking suspects chased through parking lot north of Toronto
Police have released video footage of a dramatic takedown of a group of teens wanted in connection with an attempted carjacking in Markham earlier this month.
Canada, G7 urge 'all parties' to de-escalate in growing Mideast conflict
Canada called for 'all parties' to de-escalate rising tensions in the Mideast following an apparent Israeli drone attack against Iran overnight.
'It was all my savings': Ontario woman loses $15K to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
Families to receive Canada Child Benefit payment on Friday
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.