Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, has released the following statement regarding the BC Coroners Service year-end report on illicit drug toxicity deaths:

B.C. farmers and ranchers are being supported with a new round of funding to help prepare and protect their farms and animals from extreme-weather emergencies, ensuring people will continue to have access to local food in a changing climate.

The Province has approved funding for a new Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique (CSF) kindergarten-to-Grade 6 elementary school to meet the growing enrolment needs of the region’s francophone community. 

Changes to the Residential Tenancy Regulation (RTR) will provide increased safety for staff and tenants living in supportive housing.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and its maintenance contractors are preparing for freezing rain and snow through the Fraser Valley, in Metro Vancouver, along the Sea to Sky Highway, and on southern and central Vancouver Island.

New funding for six wood-product manufacturers and two fabricated-metal manufacturers will create and protect hundreds of resource-sector jobs for people and strengthen B.C.’s value-added wood sector and local economies.

Homeowners in designated taxable municipalities covered by the speculation and vacancy tax will soon receive their annual declaration letters, as part of the Province’s work to fight real estate speculation and deliver more homes to people.

The Province is taking action to better protect people from related human papillomavirus (HPV) cancers by extending eligibility for free, publicly funded vaccines to males born in 2005.