 Welcome to today's event a reminder to media on the line. Please press star one to enter the queue You will be limited to one question and one follow-up with that. I will hand it over to minister Farnworth Good afternoon everyone. I'm Mike Farnworth the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General for the province of British Columbia And I'm honored to be here on the traditional territory of the Laquungen speaking people and the song he's in the squimalt nations Joining me today are Rolly Russell parliamentary secretary for rural development and Jennifer Rice parliamentary secretary for emergency preparedness They are the provincial recovery liaisons liaisons who have been working with the village of Lytton, and I want to thank them for joining me here today I'd like to start by acknowledging how incredibly difficult it's been for the people of Lytton To see their homes and community burned to the ground and to have their lives uprooted and All this while there's so much other uncertainty happening in the world It requires strength and resilience and so today I'd like to also thank the leadership and residents of Lytton for having those qualities and spades For having a strong and inspiring sense of community Now that the weather has warmed up in Lytton and following the fall flooding The roads are clear and we are at the point where we can start to rebuild and accelerate the work of rebuilding Today we are announcing an additional 18.4 million dollars in new provincial funding to support the rebuilding of Lytton This will cover the substantial costs of debris removal Archaeological work and soil remediation for all the uninsured and underinsured properties in the village The debris removal work will start with the municipal property sites tomorrow And expand to residential properties once that work is complete We are taking action to speed up the progress and support the community through the very challenging task of rebuilding ahead This recovery is a partnership and the province continues to have the backs of the people of Lytton To make sure this work moves forward and takes place as quickly and as smoothly as possible We are removing some of the cost obstacles for both the village and residents And we're working closely with insurance providers non-government organizations and the village to coordinate it all First we're financing the immediate removal of debris including ash soot metals bricks and other building materials from more than 200 properties Following this the province is coordinating and funding the costs for the archaeological work This is an area of significant cultural importance and we need to be careful and respectful That said we do not want the cost of archaeological work to be a barrier to the people of Lytton This work will identify and preserve any findings in the area and will further our reconciliation and Collaborative resource management with the Entle Capem Nation The last step to this important work is site remediation Soil remediation will remove any contaminants from the ground and restore the landscape into a safe site for the village and residents to rebuild on To help meet these milestones quickly the province is also funding a work site with temporary housing for up to 30 staff consultants and construction workers Who are going to be doing a lot of this work on the ground? As well we have dedicated An assistant deputy minister to work hand in hand with the village of Lytton and ensuring that things move as they are supposed to Clearly there's a lot of work ahead And we're backing the community to get this done and get it done right The funding announced today will clear the way for the rebuilding of Lytton In closing I'd like to say that the province continues to be there for the community of Lytton And as partners in this recovery. We will continue our support Thank you, and I'll now pass it on to parliamentary secretary russell Thank you. Mr. Farmer earth I'm very pleased to be here today to celebrate this hopeful news for Lytton It has certainly been a difficult road for everyone in the community and we know people are eager to rebuild and get home Today's announcement will help mitigate future delays and will help everyone in the community move forward together faster through this recovery As recovery liaisons for the province parliamentary secretary Jennifer rice and myself have visited Lytton and have been working closely with their mayor and council We've also been attending regular town halls with the community Listening and bringing their feedback back to minister farnworth cabinet and ministry staff We have certainly heard from community and echoed by the mayor that there is a desire for more clarity around what the process will look like To get back to swinging hammers and rebuilding So we want to assure the people of Lytton that we will be continuing to clarify and support that need It's so important that governments at all levels work in partnership in times of great need or struggle And so I'm grateful for Lytton spirit and determination to build back their community I hope that today's announcement will reassure the people of Lytton that despite challenges The province is here to help the support the community wherever and whenever obstacles arise And together we are making progress We look forward to moving into this stage of recovery that will bring us closer to getting those shovels into the ground Thank you, and I'll pass it over to parliamentary secretary Jennifer rice Thank you I want to echo parliamentary secretary russell's As to enthusiasm for this significant milestone We know the community has been through a lot since last summer Including several setbacks along the way We experienced a long difficult wildfire season Followed by unprecedented fall flooding Throughout these past months It's been a privilege to work directly with the community and their leaders in our work as provincial recovery liaisons The work and funding we're announcing today is a huge step in the right direction on the path to rebuilding Lytton This will build on other supports. The province has provided for Lytton's recovery We recently provided 9.3 million dollars in funding to support the village with its ongoing operations and recovery 2.1 million of the funding is supporting the village through three years of core operations So they can focus on planning recovery and rebuilding Rather than on generating revenue And we're directly funding several positions in Lytton's recovery team to provide the community with the personnel needed through the next steps This includes a project manager who is overseeing key work streams on debris removal and water systems This previous funding and getting Lytton the support they require on the ground has gotten to us where we are today And i'm so proud to see that work that work come together With this new announcement which will greatly accelerate the recovery We all want to get Lytton rebuilt as soon as possible And with the work that starts tomorrow, we're on track to do just that Thank you, and i'll now turn it back to minister farnworth We're accepting questions from the media now. I will remind the media to press star one to enter the queue You will be limited to one question and one follow-up. Our first question today comes from less lane times colonist Well, thanks minister 250 days as Is continually raised in the legislature with Not much in the way of any sign of progress there. Is there can you isolate a reason or It seems like an excessive amount of time to get going even if you discount the rainfall over the fall. I mean you BC rebuilt two major highways over that period of time And they can't seem to get anything started on this village in As I said 250 days. What's the reason for that? There's been a significant amount of work done In terms of the rebuilding a lot of it has been work that needs to be done before the actual rebuilding can take place So first off the site was very much a toxic site And so there has to be dealing with the toxic materials that were there There had to be a lot of sifting done for that was done on a By a volunteer basis and organizations to try and recover what personal artifacts remain to For for for for people At the same time working very closely with the village of Lytton in terms of their their capacity to function As a community we put staff resources to them brought in a An acting or a new Administrative officer for the community Working to ensure that they're able to deal with their bylaws And the reality is in terms of the the weather event It had a significant impact on the the timeline in terms of the debris removal Because a lot of the debris removal has to go to specialized locations At the same time on the existing road that was available There are Significant load limits on that particular highway route So there have been many challenges on a community That was completely and totally destroyed That being said we're now at a point where we are able to make Significant progress in terms of the rebuilding of the of the community so that people can return to it Lest you have a follow-up Some people are suggesting that As you said the community is completely and totally destroyed It didn't have a lot of capacity to begin with as a small village And the leadership was just as traumatized as everyone else was should there have been the more direct Provincial control or I don't know Administrative ship or more direct guidance and all those countless decisions that have had to be made over the last several months We've been working very closely with the the village of litten Um, I know that the uh in terms of when you said administrative or trusteeship Um, there's not much of a precedence for that In this province or anywhere for that matter that I am aware of The best way forward is to work with the community on the ground That's why my two colleagues the parliamentary secretaries were tasked with liaising liaisening with the community which they have done Part of the rebuilding process, of course Must involve the residents and how they would like to see their community rebuilt along with the the council In terms of what is their direction and their future that the future that they see for litten All of those things are are are critical if this rebuilding is to take place successfully It's not a case for the province to come in and start dictating. This is how you how your community is going to be rebuilt Uh, what's critical is is that the local people are involved Uh, and being able to deal and address with the concerns that we are dealing with today such as you know, how many, um Buildings are how many individuals there are insured how many are uninsured Uh, the relationship with the first nations band As well, uh, also involving the the federal government All of those things are are critical components. So, uh, the approach Has it taken time? Yes, it has recovery nearly always does But we're on the right track and this announcement today is going to significantly um Allow that that recovery to to Pick up at a very rapid pace Our next question today comes from mandy wen fairchild radio Um, hi minister fan work Um, I have a question regarding the litten chinese history museum Which was also destroyed by the wildfire last year So i'm wondering is the province planning to rebuild the litten chinese history museum Thank you Uh, certainly that's one of the important aspects of litter of litten As i've said in my remarks, this is an important heritage site Not just in terms of first nations heritage, but also the broader community and in particular the the chinese community There was some significant work in trying to recover Artifacts from that site and obviously that's something we want to work with Going forward Mandy, do you have a follow-up? Um, no, i'm good. Thank you. Thank you very much for the next question. We go to joel ballard cbc Yes, hello minister. Thanks for taking my question Um, I am wondering if you can give us a clearer timeline I know in the short term work starts tomorrow But in the long term what we're looking at especially for People who have lost their homes and and are waiting to find out when they will eventually be able to move Back into their community Well this the debris removal is the critical the critical start of that process. So it's starting with the municipal structures and then is being coordinated with the fully insured the and the under and uninsured Residents in terms of that that debris removal and we would like to see that take place as quickly as possible That being said, of course That's one of the reasons why we're picking up the cost the cost of the archaeological work and coordinating that work But we want to see this Move as quickly as possible and that's why the resources are in today's announcement to do just that Joel, do you have a follow-up? Yes, um, do you mind clarifying the amount that the province is providing now? I know you announced the 18.4 million I'm just wondering if all the other announcements you made around funding construction work site Living site is that all included in the 18.4 million or is there a more financially? That's in the 18.4 million At the same time that's over and above the additional 9.3 that we have already announced Which was to assist the the village of Lytton in terms of its recovery It's its recovery as an as an administrative unit But also with some of the other infrastructure that's there Our final question for today comes from Shannon waters bc today They have a question on another issue for the minister back in 2019 when um, British columbians were still learning in bits and pieces sort of what had gone on in terms of alleged Misspending and misappropriation of public funds at the bc legislature by the former clerk whose trial has just wrapped up You said that you were looking at making changes to make the legislature subject to foi Make things more transparent and make it easier for Every day British columbians and journalists to get access to information about what's going on in the bc legislature Whatever happened to that effort? Well, uh, we've actually done that In terms of increased transparency and your ability to get information In fact, you're able to access more information now than ever before So for example all spending uh in the clerk's office all spending, uh in the speaker's office Is now public information and you don't have to file an foi request to get it Shannon do you have a follow-up? Yeah, have you spoken to the independent officers who were calling for very specific sort of amendments to be made to legislation? now some of those um Practices and procedures within the house have changed but the calls from the independent officers remain the same Having spoken to some of them back in january They'd still like you to make the changes that you promised to make back in 2019 Is that something you plan to do? There are still some changes that we would like to make but we also need to make sure that that uh That the changes don't impact the the standing of the legislature So currently for example the independent officers of the legislature are independent officers of the legislature and We if you were to make uh Any additional changes it would be to make sure that that role stays the stays in that way that it does not make them What would be known as independent officers of the legislative assembly? Which would mean that the legislature would be subordinate, uh, and that's not how our system works That being said, um, we're quite open to uh to making additional changes in terms of improving improving transparency and we will continue to do that You know, uh, we have a lot of work as as as governments and that and that work will continue But what we were particularly, um Clear on and given the what we saw back in 2019 with the the results that uh that came In terms of what was happening in the clerk's office, for example We moved very quickly, uh to ensure that there is full transparency in that area And so that now you are able to access receipts And spending uh in the clerk's office and in the speaker's office without having to access freedom of information It it is all online and so, uh, you know, I think that's what the public wanted to wanted to know That uh, that they could, you know, see those things and and you can do just that Thank you very much everyone for your participation. That concludes today's availability