 I'm Rajna Singh, I'm BC's Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-Racism Initiatives. And I'm so grateful to be here on the territory of the Lekwangan-speaking people of the Songhis and the Eskimoil First Nations. Thank you all of you for joining us for an historic announcement for Indigenous peoples and racialized communities of British Columbia. Today, we are introducing the Anti-Racism Data Act. This new act will help us to combat systemic racism and to make government systems and programs better for more people. It has taken a lot of time and effort to make this act a reality, as well as the support of countless people, many of whom are joining us today, in person and also virtually. Thank you to the countless people who have supported this work. Thank you to the Indigenous peoples and community organizations who took part in our engagement, the thousands of British Columbians who shared their thoughts, and key stakeholders such as Kasari Gawandar, BC's Human Rights Commissioner, Dr. Mary Ellen Terpal LeFond, and members of the First Nations Leadership Council, Regional Chief Terry T.G., Grand Chief Stuart Phillip, Chief Lydia Whitson, Chief Dawn Tom, Coopy Judy Wilson, Robert Phillips, Cheryl Kessimer. To talk more about this important legislation, I'm joined by Premier John Horgan, Dr. June Francis, Director of the Institute for Diaspora Research, Engagement, Associate Professor at BD School of Business, SFU, and Chair of the Horgan's Early Society. Unfortunately, Grand Chiefs Stuart Phillip and Chief Lydia Whitson are unable to join us in person today due to separate, unforeseen circumstances. But we are very pleased to be joined virtually today by representatives of the First Nations Leadership Council, Robert Phillips, the First Nations Summit Political Executive, and Regional Chief Terry T.G. of the BC Assembly of First Nations. This is a province shaped by diversity, with people from all over the world choosing to come here and build a better life. Yet too many people are held back by systemic racism and colonial biases, preventing them from getting ahead. We can and we must do better. Over the last year, we have worked closely with people from communities, most impacted by systemic racism to deliver meaningful and lasting change. Thousands of people across British Columbia shared their diverse perspectives and experiences of using government services. Their voices are reflected in the Anti-Racism Act, which we are introducing today. The legislation has also been co-developed with the Indigenous and Metis leadership, the first of its kind in Canada to be co-developed with Indigenous peoples. This legislation will not just benefit Indigenous, peoples, Metis, people and racialized communities though. It will help us to make programs and services better for everyone in this province. We have already seen how government can use data to bring about positive change. For example, we know that Indigenous, Black and people of colour are underrepresented in BC's tech sector. That's why we are working with key sector partners to provide 29 million funding through the Innovator Skills Initiative program. This funding will help up to 3,000 people from underrepresented communities, including women and non-binary people, to S, LGBTQ+, Indigenous, Black and people of colour, get their first job in the tech sector or in a tech-enabled role. We all know that data is a powerful tool to bring about change and as we roll this legislation out across government and the public sector, we expect to see more positive outcomes like this. The introduction of this act is a monumental step but it does not mean that data collection will start today. Instead, it allows government to put in place a framework to collect the information in a way that is safe, secure and sensitive to communities' needs. It prioritizes transparency and accountability by requiring the province to release statistics annually to show how data is being used. And it also focuses on preventing and minimizing community harms so that communities do not experience further marginalization or discrimination as a result of this act. We know that some Indigenous peoples and members of racialized communities have concerns about government collecting personal data. It's important to note that this act will not require anyone to provide information if they are not comfortable doing so. And what our recent engagement has shown us is that Indigenous peoples and racialized communities see this legislation as being a vehicle of change. I would like to welcome our first speaker, Dr. June Francis, to talk a little bit more about just what this means to the racialized communities in British Columbia. Dr. June Francis. Well, that was quite a welcome and I must say this is indeed a glorious day. A day that we can all celebrate. I think it's so important, I'm Jamaican and I must say that we take time to rejoice, to take joy in the moments when we succeed. And I just say before I get into any remarks that I think we must always take these moments to recognize and acknowledge the enormous work and the moment that has brought us to be here. And think about the ancestors, I know my own ancestors and the ancestors of Indigenous people and racialized communities need to be acknowledged today for the work that they did to bring us to this point and I just want to acknowledge that. I want to thank the leadership here and I am usually a critic, okay? So it takes a lot for me to get to the moment but I think I just want to acknowledge the enormous leadership of the Premier, of Piercing, of people like DM Angela Cook and a whole host of other people that I cannot all name today. But I just want to, as we say, big them up. I acknowledge as well as a stolen person who is sitting on stolen lands that I work, I know we have done the acknowledgement for Victoria but I would like to also acknowledge the Musqueam, Swarmish and Swelettu people on whose lands I work and play on a daily basis at Downtown SFU and at Hogan's Alley Society and in my home. And I say today when we look at where this is going to be tabled, I want you to take a look at this hall and the Hall of Honor heroes I think and the library and all the places that we have had a tour of today. And I say it's auspicious and important to recognize that this was a space that was meant for some people, people of European ancestry. And they made that statement by importing marble from Italy so that we all knew that. And it was put on indigenous land and excluded the indigenous people and subsequent generations. So the fact that we are reclaiming this space. And that's what I'm saying, this legislation reclaims this space. And as you look at those pictures, you know the ones on the walls of the legislature, we're expecting those colors to change too. So the tabling of this important legislation represents an enormous moment of opportunity. A promise, the promise that the government is making, right? A promise to black indigenous and racialized community and in fact all British Columbians because that promise has been far too long in coming. But because for far too long communities have not received equitable access treatment in government services. Whether it's in housing, employment, education, I know that from my own field. Social services, we talked about public service. You talked about economic opportunities, the justice system in health and we could go on. Yet these inequities were hidden. This is a key here. So it was always you couldn't find it. Because when you said it exists, people would say, how do you know that? Where is it? Prove it to me. Are you sure? Come up with a new reason. Now with this data legislation, we have an opportunity to shine light into dark places. To reveal and make transparent these inequities. We see because without data, without understanding a problem, you cannot fix it. You cannot actually fix it because you don't know what you're fixing. So this gives us the chance, the possibility to fix the inequities. This is what this represents. What I really think is also that the process that led to the legislation is as anti-racist and decolonial as the legislation itself. And I again applaud the process. The government engaged with communities and listened to us to the very end and responded. And I have seldom seen this. I just want to say that model is now a model that we can use to create the flourishing for all British Columbia process matters. While I'm so delighted, this is only a start. The goal is, as I said, to fix and address the inequities. What this legislation is a promise to all British Columbians, particularly those most impacted by racism, that the government will transform what they learn and what they understand from this data into transformative action. That is a promise that we must hold the government to as well. I see among us many people, many, many people who have been working and calling for this and the advocacy of the community. I just want to say thank you to all my colleagues and all the people who have been speaking tirelessly to get us to this day. The government listened, but they wouldn't have anything to listen to if the advocates were not out there and communities were not putting themselves on the line to speak. And I just want to applaud that work and recognize it because it's only through this co-creation process that true change will come. So yes, I believe this is a moment of promise. And it's a moment that will allow us to lead to the kind of transformation and the changes that we will be holding the government to. And I know more legislation is coming. I assume resources are coming to back up this legislation because without money and resources, this is just talk. I will close with the African Ubuntu promise that I am because we are. In other words, each and every one of us in British Columbia will only flourish when we're all flourishing. Thank you. Thank you so much, Dr. Francis, like I just don't even have words like how much this means to us like your advocacy, your commitment to work to make life better for the vulnerable marginalized communities. So thank you so much. And I'm always amazed by your energy. So thank you for that. Thank you. Thank you. And now I would like to invite Robert Phillips with the First Nations Summit political executive to speak. He's joining us virtually today. Wait, Chuck Winook, Robert Phillips with the First Nations Summit, and certainly that's an excellent start to an excellent announcement. And I'd like to acknowledge where I'm at. Acknowledge the Samath peoples of the Stalin nation. And also, as I live very near to Sumas First Nation where the Samath are and the Matsby First Nation as I live in Abbotsford. And certainly acknowledge Parliamentary Secretary Singh and Premier Horgan who are also in attendance for their advocacy and hard work and commitment towards this important legislation. Today is all about all of those who have been victims to systematic racism for those that have faced terrible instances of being pushed to the side, marginalized, and subject to discrimination and intolerance. This is not the end, but it's just the beginning to chart a collective path to addressing this very important issue. While the legislation deals with racism experienced by many ethnic groups, we can only talk myself and regional chief Teri Tiji about the indigenous experience. We know that other affected marginalized groups will speak on their own experiences as we move forward. For far too long, our people have been disproportionately impacted by systematic racism, whether it be the legal system, medical system, government institutions, or in all other areas of society. This is reflective of the past 150 years of colonial legacy of discrimination that's been inflicted upon indigenous people. We have a long history of being victims of racism. We've been banned from our cultural practices, traditions, to the horrific residential school system that's been brought to light again in the announcements now of our lost children. And we're overrepresented as well in the justice system and to just to name a few things. Today, we continue to be victims of systematic racism. In 2020, we saw the instances of systematic racism uncovered in BC's medical system, and resulting in an investigation by Mary Ellen Trappell Lafon, which led to her recommendations in the Plain Sight Report. We commend the government for taking action to implement these recommendations. We applaud the commitment by the province as well for Minister Jennifer Whiteside, who's going to conduct an independent investigation into the systematic racism and public education system. These are important commitments to addressing racism, but a quality data will be necessary to make the informed decisions leading to institutional and systematic change. Unfortunately, in many instances, the injustice of systematic racism has been invisible due to a lack of data. The anti-racism data legislation being introduced today will collect enhanced collection of data analysis and utilization of that data. However, in order to build trust in the data, it will be imperative to adhere to the principles of accountability and transparency and include oversight. As we have said many times over and over, nothing about us without us. We see the support of legislation as a critical step to addressing systematic racism that exists within our society. We look forward to continuing to work to address the deeply important issues that affect us towards creating a more inclusive and just society. And this announcement is looked very favorably among indigenous people and society. And I look forward to the work that's ahead. Cooks job. Thank you. Thank you so much, Robert Phillips, for your remarks and also for joining us virtually today to mark the introduction of this legislation. And now I'm pleased to welcome regional chief, Terry T.G., to speak. He's also joining us virtually today. Thank you, parliamentary secretary Singh. I want to thank you, parliamentary secretary Singh and Premier Horgan, for this invitation to speak. I would like to thank all of you for joining us today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, parliamentary secretary Singh and Premier Horgan, for this invitation to speak at this very important event in the history of British Columbia. I want to acknowledge Dr. June Francis, with your good words this morning, starting us off in a good way. This new anti-racism data legislation that is being introduced today is a huge step in the right direction in terms of data collection regarding systemic racism and the discrimination faced by BIPOC peoples, Black, Indigenous people of color. It's a very important step and acknowledge the good work of two PSS in regarding and engaging with our Indigenous peoples and also many of our racialized peoples. This legislation will move towards identifying and eliminating systemic racism and advancing racial equality. Many First Nations citizens have directly felt the impact of racism and hate in their lives as we've seen in the last several years as we've seen in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission where there is racist policy that imposed against Indigenous peoples. We worked with the province to engage with our First Nations peoples and to solicit feedback to ensure a strong legislation that will improve in data collection, use and access to race-based data. We worked in partnership to develop this legislation as per the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. I really want to emphasize Bill C-41, the Declaration of Rights Indigenous Peoples Act. It's important to acknowledge the critical step that this government took in enacting the DERPA Act. The legislation intends to reduce systemic racism by enabling the collection, use and disclosure of information to help identify, illuminate racial inequities, gaps and barriers in a variety of sectors, including the justice system, healthcare and education system. This really complements the work that we are doing at the First Nations Leadership Council in implementing the recommendations of the In Plain Site Report. I hope to see improved access to services and closing the gaps and barriers for all BIPOC people. I'm pleased and encouraged to see the legislation introduced today. This legislation will benefit First Nations and all British Columbians as we strive towards a more inclusive and equal society. I want to thank you all for being here today. I want to thank the government of B.C. and in particular yourself, Parliamentary Secretary Singh, for bringing us forward and bringing this legislation forward. And a really important day. I want to thank you all. This is a first step and a long journey. Masai Cho, thank you. Thank you so much, Regional Chief T.G. for your remarks. I wish you could have been here in person and you could have felt the energy and the joy and the excitement that there is in the room. But thank you so much. Now I would like to invite Premier Horgan to speak. Thank you very much, Roshna. Invited guests. It is just truly an honor to be here today to participate in the introduction of a first ever race-based data legislation in the country. I want to thank all of you particularly Parliamentary Secretary Singh for all of the work that went into preparing to bring forward this legislation. And it is with a significant amount of pride that I know Minister E.B. will stand in a few short minutes and be recognized by the first ever South Asian speaker in the legislature of British Columbia to introduce that legislation. And when he does so, he will be surrounded by the largest collection of non-caucasian members that have ever sat in the BC legislature. Members of Chinese descent, members of South Asian descent, Filipino descent, LGBTQ, Indigenous descent, all of that the first time ever, the largest group ever to be collected in a legislature, bringing forward legislation that is indeed long overdue, but process matters. And Dr. Francis, your remarks were inspiring as they always are, and it makes it extremely difficult to follow. But, and I know that there will be questions later on and process will be indeed part of that, but it is important. It's the creation of the legislation that I'm most proud of. Parliamentary Secretary Singh went out into the community and said, how do we create legislation that will work for you? As Dr. Francis said, for too long, racialized communities have been said, prove that. How do you know that? And the answer was, you have the information. Why don't you look at it better yet? Why don't you share that information with all British Columbians so that we can build the inclusive, diverse society that all of us talk about when we celebrate our multicultural heritage? I always say that I'm the son of an Irish immigrant, but it's got to be more than where you came from. It's what can we do tomorrow to make this dynamic, diverse, multicultural community also an anti-racist community? Working with regional chief TG and Robert Philip from the First Nations Summit and indeed all of the leadership council as bringing forward the Declaration Act to gain a first in North America. Now that we're a couple of years into it, of course through a global pandemic, we're working on the action plan to deliver on the promise of the legislation. But again, as I look at this first steps when it comes to race-based data, I can look with some pride to the work that we have done with Indigenous communities, with government officials across the board to build a work plan so that the Declaration does have more than just the promise of introduction, but the reality of an equitable society with first peoples at the foundation, not at the periphery. It is truly inspiring to be in a caucus that is more than 50% women. I was raised by a single mom and my sister, who I rarely give credit to. But those were the two most important women in my life until my wife came along and made the other two less important. But I always tell Ellie that when I'm going to work, I'm going into a room full of women who are from different backgrounds, different experiences that help shape the government policies that all of us want to see today. And this legislation was put together predominantly by women, Roshna and Dr. Francis, among them. But many of the women that are sitting and I'm looking at today were key participants in the creation of this legislation. And we're so proud of that. This is just the first step on the road to building the anti-racist British Columbia we all want to see. But, as we all know from people more famous than me, with each journey, you have to take that first step. And this has been a challenging step. We are now coming up to the fifth year since the swaring in of my government. And from day one, the direction to all ministers and all members of the government caucus was to build out the province we all wanted to live in. One that was inclusive, one that reflected the diversity that we represent outside of this building that was built for other purposes by other people a long, long time ago. But today is the first step on that journey to reclaim this building, not just for those who sit in the legislature, but all of those in British Columbia who are represented by a diverse dynamic group of people opposition and government that come here to make life better. And the accountability that will be within this act will be a result of the advocacy that's sitting in front of me. Never stop the advocacy and will never stop the accountability. Lastly, because I know that we're all anxious to get on to the genuine celebration of being together and going into the legislature and preparing for the speaker, Raj Shohan, to recognize the Attorney General who will stand and continue to stand and stand and stand to deliver the legislation. I want you all, I want you all to know and acknowledge in your hearts that without you, this would not be happening. Without the countless people who came before you, this would not be happening. Without those who came before Roshna and I and Raj and Ravi and David. Without those who built the foundation, we would not be on the precipice of the glory and the greatness that we want for this province. Inclusive, diverse, dynamic, and ready to take on any challenges at any time, together, arm in arm, men and women, people of color, and non-people of color working together, striving for the community that we all have in our hearts. What a great way to spend our day. Hallelujah. Thank you so much, Premier, for your commitment to the anti-racist VC but also to like mandate letter that you gave to me to bring out this legislation and also our broader anti-racism act. But the mandate letter that you have given to all my colleagues to see their work from an anti-racism lens. Thank you so much. Thank you for paving this way. This act is the first step to put an end to systemic racism in government services and programs and paving the way to a more equitable, inclusive province. But we know that the work doesn't end here. It is clear that racism is very much alive in British Columbia. The staggering increase in discrimination during the pandemic has made that very clear. We need to come together as a society to commit to being anti-racist, as Premier has said, and calling out discrimination in all its forms when we see it. We will continue to engage with Indigenous peoples and racialized communities over the coming months. It's essential that communities remain a part of the conversation around how their data is collected, used, and stored, and how we tackle racism more broadly. And next year, this work will be strengthened by the introduction of BC's First Anti-Racism Act. For now, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to make this legislation a reality. The 13,000 people who shared their thoughts and experiences of using government services during our engagement process. Indigenous and Métis leadership across the province who have been involved in drafting in developing this legislation. The Sari Gawander, BC's Human Rights Commissioner, and Dr. Mary Ellen Terpal Lafond, whose reports in 2020 were the foundation for this work. And staff from the ministries of Attorney General and Citizen Services who have supported the engagement and drafting of this legislation, many of them are sitting here a big round of applause for them. Without your contributions, this historic legislation would not have been possible. And I want to make personal thank you to two people, Minister Evie, without his support, I wouldn't be standing here and presenting all this information that I have. And this legislation is in partnership with our Ministry of Citizen Services. A big thank you to my friend, Minister of Citizen Services, Lisa Beer. Thank you to all of you for joining us today. This is a historic moment, as I said, but I really appreciate you all coming here. Thank you so much. And now this is an opportunity for some questions. Thank you. As a reminder to all reporters on the phone and in person, you are limited to one question and one follow-up. We'll start in the room with Richard Zussman, Global News. Premier, can you explain why police are not included here in terms of being required to track data based on activity police are doing? And considering the report that you were presented last week, what are your thoughts on reforming the Police Act in terms of how quickly you can move on some of those recommendations, including getting rid of the RCMP policing daily in this province? Well, there's a lot packed into that question. That's how Richard gets one question and a follow-up. But let me start, firstly, with the role and function of this legislation and how it will fit into the range of transformations we want to see during the remaining term of this government. Premier Secretary Singh talked about the introduction of the anti-racism legislation, which will follow the creation of this legislation and the implementation and the monitoring of the data as it comes forward. It was built on the in-plane site review that Mary-Ellen Chapellefond undertook, and we will take the work of the all-party committee with respect to updating the Police Act and incorporate that in the work that we do. I don't believe they're separate. I believe that they all come together, which speaks again to process. There are a lot of things to pack together and unpack in the colonial history of British Columbia, and we won't be able to do that with one swing of the bat. We will have to do that by focusing on a range of component parts. The Declaration Act is a foundational piece in that transformation, and there will be many more to come. With respect to the key elements of the all-party committee's findings, those will be reviewed by the Public Safety Minister and the Solicitor General, and also, of course, we want to focus primarily on the mental health components. We need to revitalize the Mental Health Act. The work done by the committee will help us do that. Law enforcement do not have the tools to deal with the myriad of challenges they face when they come to a doorstop or when they come to any other engagement with the public. We want to make sure that they are as equipped as they can be, having access to social workers, having access to other health care providers so that a law enforcement situation doesn't emerge from a mental health situation. That's, I think, the most powerful recommendations in the all-party committee report, and we're going to be moving quickly on those. The rest of it, Minister Farnworth, we'll have more to say about that in the days ahead. With respect to law enforcement and data, do you want to respond to that, Prashna? Yeah, Premier has already said it, but when we introduce this legislation, when we start implementing, we want to focus on our core government programs first. And then, obviously, the scope is immense, moving on to the broader public services, and policing is one of the key areas that is emerging. The Police Act Reform Report that has also talked about some key recommendations, but this is a process that we are taking. We are taking the steps to move towards that direction. That will come, but right now it's the core government programs. Thank you. Do you have a follow-up, Richard? Are there metrics to determine if this is working in terms of the legislation, especially considering restoring confidence that many racialized communities don't have right now in our institutions, from healthcare to policing? How do you measure if this is working? I was just going to see if Dr. Francis wanted to have a go. You get a much more comprehensive answer from her. Do you want to try and answer that question? Because I think, and I appreciate the question, it is obviously we need to build confidence in racialized communities that this is real, and the way you do that is by, as the Prime Secretary is saying and her team did, is engage with those racialized communities, to engage with First Nations, and to bring them forward to create the act. The level of confidence is very high at this stage. We now, after introduction and then implementation, have to maintain that level of confidence by being transparent, by being accountable, and by turning to advocates periodically, and I'm not putting a time frame on that. The advocates will know when we've mis-stepped, and they will be quick to tell us that, and the challenge will be to respond effectively. But do you want to try and come into that? I've never had this opportunity for the first, but I just want to applaud the question, because in fact, if we do not put in milestones and measures, we don't know where we're, if you don't know where you're going, and if you're getting there, then there's no point in collecting the data. But I do want to say a few things about data. We have a tendency to use the colonial understanding of data. Data is not just about numbers. Data is about knowing. Indigenous ways of knowing, racialized communities have different approaches through storytelling, through many other metrics that will help us to figure out if we're getting there. But I completely suggest two things. One is metrics matter, and that doesn't necessarily only mean numbers, and we need to decolonize that idea. And secondly, how are these numbers being used to turn into actual action? And that is what we need to look at. And then to measure at the end, if we have gotten there, and again, decolonize that. How are we flourishing? How do we feel? Are we happy? You know, it doesn't, you know, how many times we go to the government office is not the point now, is it? It's that we want to feel we belong, we're healthy, we have healthy families, and we're part of this enormously beautiful province. Next question is from Rob Shaw. Premier, how confident are you that the input of data here, which is primarily this BC stats population survey of random households voluntary in November, is going to give you the data that you need to identify systemic racism in the core government services? And when do you, as Premier, expect to start getting that data in cabinet so you can make decisions about changing those services in a kind of real way? Well, that's a very good question. We get data in cabinet all the time now to build policies and frame decisions, but we have been missing this key component. And now we're going to be able to, based on the receptivity of racialized communities to share that information, because quite oftentimes sharing information has led to negative outcomes, not positive outcomes. That's part and parcel of why Roshna did such a comprehensive review, made sure that we went back again and again and again to build the confidence so that the community and the range of communities have confidence that we were going to follow through. When we start, I guess we'll be starting in the fall and then continuing into the creation of the budget in 2023 and then again in 2024, the more data we have, the more time we have to consult about what it means, the better outcomes are going to be. This is a beginning and I don't think anyone who's worked on this for their entire lives and those who worked on it before the people in this room came to be in front of organizations or in front of government officials to put forward their case, I don't think they anticipated that there would be a solution in September. They are just grateful that we're taking that first step and we're doing it together. Premier, thank you so much. Thank you so much. So what we, that's a, I think, a very valid question. We have been consulting with the communities and we have mentioned 30,000 people have already participated in our consultation and those are the people, those are the community partners. We want to take along as we implement this legislation. But today is the first step. The work does not stop today. The work basically starts after the introduction of the data legislation and about the population survey, that is one of the key ways to reach out to the population, but we will be consulting with the indigenous and racialized communities and partner with them to reach out to the most marginalized and more vulnerable population so that everybody can be part of this data initiative. Nobody's left behind. Everybody is part of this important historic legislation and also the impact, the results that are going to come out of this legislation. So continuous talks, continuous collaboration with the community partners. Rob, do you have a follow-up? And if I could, before you have a follow-up, Rob, I'll use an example of the Declaration Act. In and of itself, the tabling of the act was a historic moment, but more relevant to indigenous communities was an announcement a few weeks ago about the action plan. Here are the steps we're going to take together to realize the promise of the Declaration Act. And similarly, this legislation combined with that that we'll bring forward with respect to an anti-racism piece of legislation will be that foundation on the journey ahead. So I'm confident that this is the best start we could have possibly hoped for, but we have miles to go and I know that we'll be walking that journey together. And that someone who had been a critic more than I've been in government, that is something that I'm very much looking forward to. Go ahead, Rob. In a somewhat related question, could you speak about the criticism you heard from indigenous and racialized community leaders about Bill 22, the involuntary mental health youth detainment overdose bill, and your government's decision to not proceed with that legislation? You've spoken in the past about your desire to do it, but clearly there's opposition to that, and maybe you could speak about that. Yeah, well, that's a good question, and I'm grateful to be answering it in the context of what we're doing here today because I felt very strongly that having met with parents who lost children during the opioid crisis, the poisoned drug supply that has affected thousands and thousands of families in British Columbia, and I've spoken to those parents and they were desperate for some action by government that would show that their child's life was not lost in vain. And I felt that the work that had been done about ensuring that if you were admitted to a hospital, an acute care facility, as a result of an overdose, and if clinicians determined that your well-being would benefit from a two or three more days in that acute care setting to perhaps get into some other treatment regime, I thought that was a good first step, and I heard that from many parents. When we went to consult with the broader community, we met with significant resistance, and I go to Dr. Francis' comment that process does matter. And what I've tried to do in my time as government, when I have such capable people as Roshna and many others who are here today, is to not stand over their shoulder and tell them what I think is best, but to encourage them to go into the community and come back with what the community thinks is best. And I am absolutely ready to step away from my personal view on a piece of legislation to make sure that it is more reflective of the views of the broader community. And that is in fact what we're doing when it comes to the Mental Health Act. And there will be people that are disappointed with that, but there will be others, I hope, who will take that as an opportunity to redouble their efforts to fully engage with government so that we can put in place policies and programs to protect vulnerable populations from a toxic drug supply. And there are a range of issues that we're already working on. I don't need to inventory them today. But on the question you're asking, did I want to see the legislation come forward? Yes, I did. I was given evidence that that wouldn't be the best way forward. And as my mom raised me, look at the new evidence and take your direction from that. Don't hold fast to yesterday's ideas. Hold fast to the competence that you should have in the people who are working on this each and every day. And that's where we're going. Katie D'Rosa, Coober Sun. Could you give a better explanation of which government core agencies will be collecting this, for example, BC Corner Service, the Independent Investigations Office, which deals with police shootings or police-involved injuries, healthcare system, like where will we, which core agencies will collect this? So as we have consulted with the communities, the indigenous communities, the racialized communities, and we will continue to consult with them, like the key areas they would like us to focus, but also the population survey that we are going to initiate after this legislation is passed in the legislature, and also the introduction of the Anti-Racism Committee, taking the feedback from them. And also a lot of data is already collected that has been reported, like a lot of data, the aggregated data that we have, just combining the data with the race variables, and then putting into the core agencies that those can be health core agencies like healthcare or education, but we will take the feedback from the communities, what are the organizations, what are the key sectors they would like us to focus on. Katie, do you have a follow-up? Yes. And so how will you, how do you think this will restore trust with some of the racialized groups who have, again, lacked that trust? How long will that take, and how will you rebuild that? Well, it's difficult to answer how long does it take to rebuild trust? All of us have been in situations where we've lost faith in an institution or an organization, and it's the steps that you take as an individual and as an organization to rebuild that trust that is the measurement of success. So I can't predict how or when that will happen, but I can say confidently, based on how responsive the community was to Parliamentary Secretary Singh and her overtures and the work of others to get to a place where we can walk together, that, you know, I'm, I'm, I know it's, you know, we, it's been minutes since we said we were going to do this. Surely the goodness we should have had a result by now, but, but I apologize because the question is a legitimate one. I don't mean Katie to diminish your question, but I think that we should reflect for a moment on the journey to get here, celebrate that moment as Dr. Francis is so ably done for all of us, I think, and then tomorrow we get back to work and we continue to try and realize the society that we all want to be part of. But I think that motivation when, when racialized communities see a response as we did, and there's work to be done on the in-plane site report, for example, Minister Dix immediately reached out to Dr. Mary-Anne Spell-Lafon was available. She did a comprehensive review and we're still working on implementing those recommendations. The work with regional chief TG and Robert and grand chief Stuart Phillip and the rest of the leadership council is foundational to building trust, not just with the leadership council, but rights and title holders across British Columbia. And there has been an uneven response to that because of the experience that various rights and title holders have had to their engagements with colonial governments. So we have to build support and trust every day and you do that by walking the walk and being accountable, being transparent, outlining what you want to do, how you want to get there and encouraging people to take that journey with you and that's what we're doing today. Next question, Rob Buffum, CTV. Premier, I'm wondering if you can articulate or help me understand once this data is gathered, you know, there's been concerns about systemic racism, for example, at the Royal BC Museum, within health care as we've talked about the in-plane site report. How do we take this data and then remove those barriers or get or eliminate systemic racism? How is this data practically going to be used to do that? Well, I'd like to just pause for a minute on the Royal BC Museum and the leadership that's been shown there by the board and by senior executives to acknowledge and recognize systemic racism and to work before they were told to work on finding a solution. So I think there are organizations and institutions throughout British Columbia who with new leadership and new challenges are working with stakeholders, working with staff and other resources to identify problems and deal with them. The advantage of having a comprehensive race-based data collection is that we can shape policies at the provincial level and then implement those throughout governments and indeed throughout communities with competence that we're doing so based on data driven by the evidence which again as Dr. Francis said so many times in the past race-based organizations or individuals have been asked well how do you know this is so, how do you know this is the case and now we'll be able to say because this says so right here and it won't just be the metrics that we talk about in terms of data in and data out, it will be a comprehensive understanding of what that means talking about storytelling, talking about traditional cultures, traditional laws which we see in Indigenous communities particularly but not exclusively. The Chinese Canadian community has been in British Columbia for hundreds of years. The first Chinese settlers go back well before Confederation in British Columbia and those stories are going to be reflected in a Chinese Canadian museum and for me education is the beginning of understanding and all things and telling the stories are critical and the storytellers should be those who walk that walk and that's why we're putting together a similarly historic and museum-based solutions to the various communities that make up our great problems. Yes, I'd invite you up to answer if you have a thank you so much. So throughout this legislation we have talked about the transparency and also about what we are going to do after this legislation is introduced. The appointment of the anti-racism committee, data committee collecting the population survey and then also the first report coming out, the timeline that we have like next year we will have the first report coming out. A lot of the policy work is already done but using the race variables that will come out through that report and also it is transparent. It is going to all the communities to check those numbers like what are the inequities, what are the gaps, what are the barriers that we are facing and also to make us accountable. Dr. Francis has talked about it like how to make governments accountable and this is like what those reports are going to do. On behalf of a colleague who wanted me to ask a question of regional TG, if that is possible. I wonder if the PMERC could weigh in. The question was directed towards an indigenous leader. I don't know if there is somebody available. Maybe Robert Phillips if he is available. It relates to the recommendations of the police act that would have indigenous communities having input into their police services and a reaction to that as well as providing a provincial police service instead of the ACMP. You are right. I can't speak to how indigenous communities and rights and title holders can respond to that. Robert, have you reviewed the police act report yet? The police reform work that is occurring is pivotal. Policing and justice institutions in BC and across Canada have been challenged. We reckon that there has been a history, as you know, very similar to systemic, not systematic. I think I said systemic racism. For indigenous people, it is a matter of life and death in some circumstances and the reforms are looked forward to in the justice system and in policing. So, you know, because there has been so much harm at times and circumstances, there has been, you know, we want to improve the encounters between policing and our indigenous peoples. And we know that when it comes to this work, we want to do a reset and set a new foundation. The BC First Nations justice strategy emphasizes the need to revitalize and stand up First Nations justice systems and laws because it has been in place since time immemorial. Certainly, we want this to be on a government-to-government basis with BC and a nation-to-nation with Canada. So, the vision we have is a self-determined system of justice that has to be recognized. And it does need, we do believe, a complete overall. And because we have had jurisdiction over our territories, our peoples, and it is based on our legal orders, cultural protocols, and our own understandings and approach to justice. So, again, we applaud the NDP government because they brought in the United Nations Declaration and the Declaration Act and the Action Plan. And we can get involved with the Attorney General and help co-develop these laws, which will make these reforms possible. And I think because of that engagement with First Nations and all stages of the work, we can make this happen. But I do believe it does need a reset. Cooksha. Next question, Shannon Waters, BC Today. I think my colleagues have pretty thoroughly covered this legislation that's being introduced today. But I did want to ask both the Premier and the Parliamentary Secretary about the legislation that will sort of come out of this. The Parliamentary Secretary mentioned that next year, we'll get an anti-racism act specifically. What kind of scope do you see for that legislation at this point in time? And what, I guess, what issues are you hoping to learn about through the data you'll be collecting over the next year? That's a good question. And I don't want to foreshadow that too much. I'll leave it to the person I've tasked to do that to give you more detail. But our objective is to build on each of the blocks that we've put in place since coming to government, like re-establishing the Human Rights Commission, for example, was pretty fundamental. And I want to, he's still here, I was going, I thought he might have disappeared, but he has no caucus to go to. The Speaker, he has an office to himself. But it was Raj and I have been colleagues for coming on 18 years. And I think the first thing he said to me when we met was, we need to re-establish the Human Rights Commission. And so, and almost every day from that point on, continue to remind me about these first steps that need to be taken. We all want, and it's a result of the era that we live in, of instant gratification, making sure we get the things we want right away. But you have to build confidence. You have to build process. And you do that by taking sometimes small steps so that you can realize larger steps later when there's unanimity of purpose within community. And that building will be a result of the success of this piece of legislation and the process that Rochner was involved in. And then we'll build on that going into the larger piece of legislation. I would love to say that we're going to do it next week. But again, I've already a very good question from one of your colleagues. At no time do I impose my will on my colleagues. I say to my colleagues, this is what I'm hearing. What are you hearing? And when new information becomes available, all of us, whatever we do, wherever we do it, should assess that information and then reassess how we're going forward together. And that's the intention here. And I'm confident that based on the enthusiasm for the work that Parliament Secretary Singh has done to get to this stage, that as we go to the next step, we'll see more and more people participating and we'll get a better product as a result. The process is the key. The extensive process that we went through to come to this legislation, to have this legislation be presented in the legislation, the more than 13,000 people who participated in our consultations. And that's the same process that we want to continue. It is we are making it as a standard for any kind of consultations that we do. And I know with our consultations that we did for this legislation, a lot of excitement, a lot of enthusiasm for the broader anti-racism act, but we really want to go back to the communities, the indigenous black and racialized communities to hear from them. What would they like to see in their act? Thank you. We have time for one more question. We'll go to the phone lines. Lisa Yuzda, City News. I guess a pretty quick question. I was wondering, for someone who's sitting at home who'll be looking to my story or reading someone's story, I'm wondering, you know, how does this help them that they're hesitating going to the hospital because they're concerned about racism or if they're just not going to go? How is this going to help them or do they just have to wait a couple more years for things to change? And not just hospitals and all kinds of different services? Well, I would like to think that people from racialized communities who are hearing and seeing this perhaps for the first time, as you know, I live by the adage, you wouldn't worry what people thought of you if you knew how seldomly they did, because most people are living their lives. Whether they be in racialized communities or not. And so the people that have gathered today, the people that have worked on this, understand the value of bringing forward legislation that can help affect positive policies to change systemic racism. If you're in need of medical care, you should go to an acute care facility, whether you're a racialized community or not. We need to build confidence in communities over time. And this is a step in that direction. The Declaration Act is a step in that direction. Re-establishing the Human Rights Commission, a step in that direction. But it takes time to build back confidence where none existed for decades. In fact, for literally generations of Indigenous peoples who have been traumatized by policies that were made long before most of us were even a thought in the eyes of those who brought us into the world. But that does not change the fact that all of us have a responsibility today to acknowledge and recognize that generational trauma and take steps today and tomorrow to ensure that A, that doesn't happen again, and B, what comfort can we give to those who are traumatized that we are going to be there for them, to lift them up and celebrate all of the fantastic things that we have to celebrate in British Columbia. That's what I hope your listeners will hear when they think about this legislation. A new day is dawning in British Columbia, where all of our diversity is celebrated each and every day, not as a moniker of multiculturalism, but as a beacon to the rest of the world, that if you come to British Columbia, you're part of a greater undertaking, a great experiment in justice and love and equality. Lisa, do you have a follow-up? So what I'm hearing, I guess, is a little bit of patience and knowing that each of these things are building. And I don't know if Parliamentary Secretary Singh, I just be hoping for a little bit more detail following up on Rob Bowman's question about how this will practice the youth. Am I to understand that many of these policies are sort of sitting there waiting to go, and this data will give the evidence to back it up, or will there be new policies written, and are there any particular that you're thinking might be the focus to start? As Prime Minister has already mentioned that we are moving towards a province, a system, especially in our programs, that are equitable, like the where there are no gaps for the racialized or the indigenous communities, and the process that we are going to take, like it is not something that will happen instantly. We are on the path towards creating British Columbia, and through this act, and also the upcoming act, making an anti-racist British Columbia. But the process, I think, has started, like the process started to create the framework for this legislation. We will start collecting the, we will do the population survey, have the anti-racism data committee look on any kind of, like, if any kind of community harm is being done to point it out. So a lot of emphasis has been done on no community harm, no further marginalization or stigmatization of the communities that have been left behind for far too long. And also to, once the results of those population survey come out, and the report comes out, as I mentioned before, putting those in the policies that are already, already in place, the policies that the work is already happening, but putting that the racial angle, all the social factors, the intersectional factors, combining them and putting them into the policy work that is already happening. So we will start seeing the changes about this in the coming, especially after the first report, that we will see these changes that will impact all the communities, all of us, and benefit us. That's all the time we have for questions.