 Hello and welcome. My name is Mitzi Dean, I'm the MLA for Esquimalt Machosan and I'm also the Minister of Children and Family Development and I'm very, very honored to be here today and to be your emcee this morning. I'd like to start by recognizing we're gathered on the traditional territory of the Lekwangan people, the Songhis and Esquimalt nations who I represent in the Provincial Legislature and I also represent Chianu Nation as well. And to get us started in a good way, it's my honor to introduce Clarence Buchdik from the Songhis Nation. Hello, I'm Chianu and I'm from Esquimalt Machosan. My first nation name is Eucalyptan and my English name of course is Buchdik and I'm also honored to be here and I'd like to recognize acknowledged the chiefs in attendance and the elders and our children. Thank you very much for this honor a very exciting day and another beautiful Lekwungen day. Thank you very much and this is very exciting for me and I was I was involved to a certain point at Royal Roads when it first started being talked about and I think it's very exciting and it's also a time to recognize the potential that we have in all of our communities and recognizing and acknowledging that potential to create accessible real opportunities for young people and people with young families. It's vital and important that we do so in this day and age. Also to be to be open and acknowledge the need for young people and their special needs with the growing economy and the growing inflation. So we have to recognize that part and create real opportunities that are holistic in approach and also relevant to young people's needs and especially the young people with young families. So I congratulate and acknowledge all the people here that are in collaboration and we hope for a good foundation of this building and which we call Lelum in our way. It's the home and it's going to be home of education and continuing education for many many people. So thank you for this opportunity and and I wish you a good day. Thank you. Thank you so much Elder Dick. We really appreciate your wise words and support. Just like to introduce the speakers who we do have here today starting with Premier John Morgan. We also have Minister An Kang of Advanced Education and Skills Dr. Philip Steenkamp the President of Royal Roads University Chief Russ Chips from Chianu Nation Stuart Young City of Langford Mare Ravi Parma chair of the Board of School District 62 and Connor Hogan who is a student at Belmont High School. It is an absolute pleasure for me. Thank you. An absolute pleasure for me now to introduce the Premier of British Columbia John Hogan. Thank you Mitzi and it's great to see so many of you here in the traditional territory of the Lacongan speaking people the Escrime Alton Song He's First Nation. I want to thank Elder Butch Dick as always for getting us started in a good way and reminding us how fortunate we all are to live in this territory and to be able to do everything we can to realize our fullest potential as citizens of the world and of course as citizens here in British Columbia. I want to thank Mitzi for stepping up today to help us and I think there you go. We were waiting for the wind. Thanks guys. I'll step out of the way. There we go. No harm done. We're already underway and it is a real thrill to be here. I want to acknowledge a few other people who are in what is now quite a large audience. Our Member of Parliament Alastair McGregor is that there he is right there. We have mayors and councillors from around the region. We have past mayors who have stepped up to be on the board at Royal Rose, an example Dave Saunders is here and a host of others and it speaks to the collaboration that went into the announcement we're making today. It was over a decade ago that I was first approached by representatives from School District 62 to try and find a way to kickstart a provincial investment here in Lankford in the West Shore to ensure that we could start to reduce the barriers that we're getting in the way of young people or those that were transitioning to new work and looking for opportunities to upgrade their skills. An opportunity to get those skills right here in the West Shore. And so fast forward 12, 13 years later, at least on my watch. And again, I know there are people here who I've been talking to who have been talking about this issue for a lot longer than I've been involved in it. But today I'm delighted to announce that effective today we will be making a 77.8 million dollar investment on behalf of the province matching $19 million that was put up by Royal Roads to purchase this land. An additional $27 million being provided by the city of Lankford to ensure that the amenities around this site are in place for a total of $125 million to develop a West Shore campus for Royal Roads, the University of Victoria, Comoson College and the Justice Institute of British Columbia. Unprecedented collaboration, unprecedented collaboration by our post-secondary institutions. And why this is so exciting. And I want to, I want to, Phillips going to have an opportunity to come up and speak for himself. But I want to acknowledge how extraordinary Phillips role was in all of this because it is unprecedented to have not one, not two, not three, but four post-secondary institutions collaborating together to find the best product for the citizens that they want to serve. Working with Ravi Parmar and District 62, we can now start to push up those rates of participation and post-secondary education here in the West Shore. We have very high graduation rates among the highest Indigenous graduation rates in the province. But it starts to fall off when young people start to think of a three hour commute there and back to the University of Victoria. Fortunately, there are multiple Comoson campuses, but still it's a challenge to get from here to where you need to get to to get the skills that you need. And I want to also really lean into the Justice Institute of BC, putting their home here in the West Shore. So many people looking to upgrade their skills if we're going to be having the almost 80% of the million jobs that will go wanting in the next decade will require post-secondary education. So to be able to have a one stop shop here in Lankford for all of the West Shore and indeed all of the South Island is truly, truly remarkable. And Philip to to be able to get all of the participation from the other institutions is truly, truly amazing. I firmly believe that education is the great equalizer in our society. It gives people an opportunity to realize their full potential. And it's the job of governments and leaders, whether they be at the school board, whether they be at municipal tables, or on the boards of our universities and other post-secondary institutions. It is our job to reduce barriers so that we can train the next generation of nurses, of doctors, of lab techs, of any number of other vocations that you can imagine, all of them are wanting for people right now. And the best and fastest way to address that is to make spaces for post-secondary education so that the diversity of people in our community can recognize and acknowledge the diversity of opportunity that's available for them that benefits all of us in the long term. This is a very exciting day for the people in the West Shore. So many people participated in getting us to this place. That would explain why on a hot August day, we have as many people as are behind the cameras. You're not picking that up on the live stream, but there's a lot of people here in downtown Langford celebrating a landmark decision by a group of people that normally would not come together. But they did because this is so important. They did because this is the future of education, not just in British Columbia, but indeed across Canada and indeed around the world. Micro credentials is something you probably haven't heard a lot about. You're going to be able to learn a whole bunch about that right here. As young people and those who want to retrain and reskill for the challenges and the opportunities of the future can do that in their home community. The fastest growing community on Vancouver Island, among the fastest growing communities in British Columbia. What a great place to put a new post-secondary institution. I, as you well know, could talk longer, but there are two or three thousand other people following me, and I want to just again, from the bottom of my heart, thank all of those who have been on this journey for a decade and more to make sure that we could put in the heart of Langford, an institution that the whole West Shore, all the way out to Port Renfrew, could be proud of and they could access the services they need. Whether it's the Innovation Centre, which will be part of this five-story mass timber, BC mass timber building, whether it's the Indigenous Spaces that I'm sure Chief Chips will talk about. Again, Chief Chips was someone who said to his community, the Sianu people, the Beecher Bay people, when he was talking to his young people, he said, you need to get that education. And they said, well, you haven't done it. So what did Chief Chips do? He went down the street to the West Shore Learning Centre, got his dogwood and said to the kids in his community, if I can do it, you can do it. And it's that type of leadership that's represented here today. So my hands go up to you, Russ, and to all of those who have been here today. Heishko, Siem, I can't wait to get kickstarted. I understand that it's going to be opening soon. I might register for a course or two down the road. We'll see how it goes. Thank you. Thank you so much, Premier. It's a really exciting announcement and your words are inspirational as always. And again, I would like to just reinforce the collaboration that's coming together here. And how wonderful it is to see so many leaders from our community in West Shore here today from all the different aspects of leadership that serve our community and make our community the amazing place that it is. I want to give a special shout out to Mayor Rob Martin of Colwood, which is the original home of Royal Roads University. You know, really, this is such a great collaboration across communities and across the post-secondary institutions as well. And with that, I'm very honored to welcome the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Training, Ann Kang, who will be sharing a few words with us. Thanks Ann. Thank you so much, Mitzi, and I'm so glad to be here on the Premier's city. I also see that there's a small step on the side. I was wondering if I'm vertically challenged, and I should use the stepping stool there. But today's so exciting. I think I might fall over, so I better stay well grounded on the ground here. But I would like to recognize that I am on the territory of the Lekwungen speaking people, the Songhees and the Squimalt, and this is just an absolutely delightful day for us to be here. As the Premier has mentioned, we are announcing a funding for a new post-secondary institution, a campus right here in Langford that will access, support access and expansion of education here for local students. And this campus will be one of its kind. Led by Royal Rhodes University, in partnership with University of Victoria, in partnership with Kamosan College, and as well Justice Institute BC, and Sukh School District. This collaboration is one of its kind, and we are looking forward to more collaborations in the education system because we are putting students first. We are making sure that we are creating the workforce that we need for the future because we know that there will be one million jobs openings in the future. This new campus will bring a range of programs focused on the in-demand jobs of the future and ensuring that students are prepared for these opportunities that we see in front of us, and these are very exciting times. Like I said, there will be one million job openings in BC over the next decade, and 80 percent of them will require some sort of post-secondary education or skills training, and you will find all these opportunities in this new campus here. It is clear that the investments in post-secondary institutions are more important than ever to help British Columbians be future-ready. That is why we're investing in 77.8 million dollars in the construction of this new collaborative campus. So let's talk about the impacts that this will have on our community here. Why this location? Why now? We've been looking at this situation for years, and working on a plan to set this project in motion since March of 2018. The West Shore is one of the fastest growing regions in all of Canada, with a population spike of nearly 50 percent between 2011 and 2016, and not only is the population growing, but this community has more residents under the age of 15 than the rest of the province. That's a lot of British Columbians who will be looking for education they need to support their chosen careers. Right now, though, there are barriers in the way. Students from this region need support and resources to access and attend public post-secondary institutions, and students have identified three main barriers to pursuing post-secondary education. One of them is tuition cost. The second is limited and expensive housing options, and the long commute. Our government has cap tuition increases and introduced new grants and funding to help the concerns of the tuition cost. To address the second concern, we're building 8,000 student housing spaces throughout the province. We are already at 68,000, sorry, 6,800, and we're going to be building more because we know that students are excited about living on campus and enjoying campus life. And with today's announcement, we are addressing the third concern. This new West Shore campus will allow more students to continue to live at home if needed or desired, and will drastically cut down the commute times between home and school, providing students with more in-campus life to make friends, to study, and contribute back to their community. The campus will also provide clear pathways for Suke School District students to engage in higher learning, encouraging them to pursue further studies. That means more people can get the education they need, thrive, helping themselves in the province, and to help build a stronger BC. Post-secondary education is about exploring new ideas and making life better. And this campus is a phenomenal example of how a new idea can be turned into an incredible opportunity for British Columbians. Each of these institutions bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise on its own, and by partnering together, they are truly walking the walk, talking the talk on how collaboration and partnerships are an important part of meeting the needs of British Columbians, putting students at the center of our decision making. This is a new way of thinking, and I commend everyone for being involved and for their amazing work to create opportunities that will change the lives of students. Great job everyone. Thank you so much for your hard work. Thank you. Thank you so much Minister Kang, and thank you for putting our students first. Thank you for listening to our families and our students and for supporting this wonderful collaborative effort and listening to the knowledge and the wisdom of our school district and supporting our local post-secondary institution in their vision. And talking of our post-secondary institution, Royal Roads University, I am now going to invite Dr Philip Steenkamp, president of Royal Roads, representing all of our post-secondary partners here today. So that's the University of Victoria, Camoson College, and the Justice Institute of British Columbia. Philip. Well, thank you so much, Mitzi, and I also want to acknowledge and thank Elder Butch Dick for the welcome. Butch, it's always so great to have you with us, and I want to acknowledge our presence here on the lands of the Cossops and Laquangan ancestors and families today too. What an incredible, exciting day this is. It's been a long time coming, and it's sort of a little unreal to me that we're actually here, but here we are. And I can't begin to tell you how amazingly grateful I am to the many, many partners who made this possible. First to Premier John Hogan, Minister Ann Kang, Deputy Minister Shannon Baskerville, who isn't with us today and ministry staff, thank you so much for making this a reality, and of course, thank you for the incredibly generous financial contribution for this spectacular new building, which is going to be just phase one of this incredible new development. To Mayor Stu Young and the City of Langford, thank you so much. You know, simply put, Stu, this would not have happened without you. Langford's incredible support and unprecedented contributions, financial and otherwise, helped us get this project over the line, so I really want to thank you for that. And to all the mayors and all the chiefs in the region, thank you for your support and advocacy. I want to acknowledge Mayor Rob Martin too, who is Mayor of Colwood, where our campus is, and of course, Chief Russ Chipsen-Russ, thank you so much for your support. This is a partnership and we look forward to working in partnership with you. And of course, a very special shout out to my colleagues at UVic and Kamosan College, Kevin Hall, President Kevin Hall and President Lane Trotter are not able to join us today, but I want to thank them and their teams, and I want to acknowledge Elizabeth from Elizabeth Croft from UVic, who is here with us. Elizabeth, thank you so much and Jeff Wilmhurst from Kamosan. So thank you, amazing cooperation and collaboration. I'd also like to acknowledge other partners, including Ravi Parmar and Scott Stinson of School District 62. And of course, Michelle Taco is here from the Justice Institute of BC. Michelle, thank you so much and it's a wonderful addition to this project. It was a late addition, but a fabulous addition, so thank you. Now, I would be lying if I said this was easy, that this was easy to put together. There were many, many twists and turns along the way, including a global pandemic. And you know, that challenge down navigation. In fact, the journey here today brings to mind that wonderful line from the song Trucking by the Grateful Dead. You know, what a long strange trip it's been, but here we are. Notwithstanding the multiple challenges, we kept trucking along because we owe it to the students, the families, and the communities of the West Shore to provide them with the access to high quality post-secondary education and training closer to home. And proximity matters, and this new facility here in the heart of Langford will make it much easier for learners across the West Shore to access post-secondary opportunities and get the skills that they need to survive and thrive in this ever-changing world. This new campus will also be unique in Canada, a bold, collaborative innovation in post-secondary education that truly represents the future. Learners will be able to access programs from multiple institutions, ranging from high school completion to skills training to advanced degrees. So the focus here is on students and adult learners, not on institutions. It's on the students. And we will make a special effort to attract students who have been traditionally underrepresented in post-secondary education to give them the opportunities that others enjoy. And we are working collaboratively with Indigenous communities to understand and address their needs, and this will be a very important component of this initiative. In addition, we see this campus acting as a catalyst for tackling the big economic, social and environmental challenges that we are all facing. We are committed to working with local governments, community groups, and businesses to address issues of importance to them as we build a prosperous and sustainable future together here on the West Shore. Finally, I want to thank Chancellor Nelson Chan of Royal Roads University who's here and joining us. Our Board of Governors, thank you Chancellor for your support. And I really want to thank the amazing team at Royal Roads University, some of whom are here and many of whom are watching this on live stream who literally work day and night to make this a reality. I'm hugely grateful to you for all your efforts. Our new vision is inspiring people with the courage to transform the world and here at this new campus working with our partners that is exactly what we will do. So thanks again everybody. What a fantastic day. Thank you so much Dr. Steenkamp and thank you for your leadership and your your partnerships and collaboration in our community. It's always been a pleasure for us to be working together and thank you to all of your team and thank you for your recognition of all of the hard work of everybody in your team that has really worked you know just so in such a dedicated way to make this become a reality. And to talk about the importance of this campus it's now my honor to welcome Chief Ross Chips from Chianu Nation. Just want to start off by thanking excuse me Elder Butch Dick thank you for starting us off in a good way. It's always nice to stand beside you and see you at these events and and here in in Langford there there's talk about barriers there's talk about investment and there's talk about community and I can't think of a better place to have our children be looked after here in the heart of Langford. Like that's where you keep your your your greatest investment and your investment is your children that's your greatest investment and you keep them close to your heart right here in Langford is where I like to see that. I've been working with school district 62 for a long long time it is the best district it does have the highest rates of Aboriginal graduation and that's because of inclusivity they include us in everything we're standing here today ready to put the shovel in the ground in a new institution with all the post-secondary students gathering to get all the post-secondary institutions gathering together and that excites me because our children are leaving and going to another place away from home but here this community the people in this community look after us and treat each other like human beings where it's the it's the I don't know it's the poster child for for reconciliation it's the poster child for inclusivity all the acronyms that come around that that make us want to work together are not acronyms here they it's just people looking after people and and I always stand close to that if long as you're treating me like a human being I'll work with you all day long and that happens the greatest here in Langford and the western communities in general which includes McChosen in Langford Calwood that's all the western communities it's just a great place to be it's it's been a struggle for me to grow up in the community when I was going to school it was it was very hard wasn't easy but I see now our students are looked after very well I want to thank you Ravi and I thank you Mary Young for what you do for our our people our students our children like I said the best place we could have is close to our heart the best place we could look after our children is close to our heart and that's here in Langford thank you everybody and thank you for having me here thank you so much Chief Chips it's always a pleasure to be working in partnership with you and to see you as such an integral part of this project and to hear your words it's very heartwarming my daughter also attends school in school district 62 and I was gifted a drum recently on a tour I was on as a minister and I came home and my daughter saw my drum and she was so excited she's like mum I can teach you all about drumming I can show you how you have to get it warmed up and and teach you about drumming because she'd been learning about drumming in school and it's great the work that school district 62 is doing in our schools and for all of our children and I hold my hands up to everybody at the school district all of the staff and all of the board members as well and of course we've heard that everybody there's so many integral parts to this project and the city of Langford is certainly one of those and I want to thank all of the elected members and councillors who are here from the city of Langford and of course the mayor Stu Young and I'd like to invite you to come up and say some words thank you good morning everyone and thank you for joining us today marks a historical day not only for Langford but for the entire west shore for over 25 years we have been advocating for post-secondary opportunities for our youth in our community this unique partnership and first of its kind in Canada with Royal Roads the University of Victoria commotion college local First Nations Suke School District 62 and the Justice Institute will remove barriers to access and will provide pathways to higher learning for adults and youth today I am pleased to announce that the city of Langford has committed three hundred and seventy five thousand dollars to form a Langford scholarship fund which will provide opportunity and financial support to Langford residents the city has also committed one point five million dollars over 10 years to form an innovation studio Langford is an innovative and entrepreneurial city and by forming this center we will bring together students and businesses to create new ventures Langford is also contributing twenty six million dollars for infrastructure parking green space to support the campus which makes the total value of this project as mentioned by Premier Horrigan one hundred and twenty five million dollars that's the single biggest investment in Langford's history that we have to date and it's about education and that is very fitting because everybody said here you know this is a really important part of all of our communities in the West Shore and the mayors and everybody and the counselors that have supported this I do appreciate that as we re-envision and densify the downtown core and create a walkable modern city the addition of the urban campus will complement that vision support local businesses and bring even more vibrancy to our diverse community Langford is a family community over the last 30 years we have been working tirelessly to put our community first by providing education employment recreation access to amenities green space and a variety of housing to accommodate all the needs today we add a major piece of the puzzle to our complete community and I couldn't be happier to know that in the very near future the youth of our community will have access to the educational opportunities they deserve I would like to thank Premier Horrigan Minister Ann Kang Mitsy Dean for their support of this project and for recognizing this critical need we need more students to transition to post-secondary to gain employment and then to contribute to our local economy I would like to welcome and thank Felix Steenkamp and the entire project team at Royal Roads and the universities and the First Nations and everybody involved in this project and their commitment and passion for this project announcements like this don't just happen it is through the hard work of the provincial and local governments and educational partners working collaboratively so that it can become a reality Langford is rated as the number one city for work and most resilient city in back to back years in BC this project will solidify Langford's position as the best city for educational infrastructure and programming and I want to give a shout out to Ravi on this he is the one responsible for doing a lot of new schools in Langford we're not talking just about this university this is the icing on the cake of course but I'm telling you the work that has been done by Ravi and his partners in the provincial government as well for bringing these new facilities to our community so thank you again very much for that in my 30 years as mayor this is a single most significant project in Langford's history a $125 million investment in education and I am proud to be part of it this is just phase one of our modern urban downtown campus the youth are our future and today we show our commitment to this statement and invest in our most important asset the inspiring residents that make Langford the community that we all call home and all the future students that are going to be well served by our communities here in the West Shore with this new campus so again thank everybody here I mean everybody here is interested in what's really important in our community and that's education and moving forward and looking to the future of Langford for investment as well as investing in our students thank you thank you so much Mayor Young and to everybody at the city of Langford and of course thank you to the city for just being so welcoming you know from my previous work I know chatting to young people who live in the West Shore and not in the nations they don't they don't see where the boundaries are we do as elected officials we know we know which boundary is which the youth don't and you know this is going to be a centre for youth across West Shore and let's remember youth from Suke and all the way up to Port Renfrew as well and it's going to be a wonderful welcoming safe and inclusive space for them to come and learn and for them to really thrive and fulfill their potential and thank you for your appreciation for the chair of the Board of Trustees of School District 62 we've certainly seen a lot of investments in K-12 across the whole of School District 62 and it's my honour now to invite Ravi Parma who's the chair to say a few words Thank you Minister and good morning everyone it is great to be here on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples the Songhees and Esquimal First Nations I want to thank my friend Elder Dick for welcoming us and I also want to recognize as a School District we have the honour to work with many other nations the Shianu Nation Beecher Bay Salk Nation including the West Coast Pachadat Nation Chalmouth and thank them for sharing these beautiful day with us here today on a sunny day in Langford you've heard it folks today is an exciting day for our community a day we've been waiting for for a very long time Premier your announcement of a new post-secondary campus in the West Shore has invoked a lot of memories for me it was 10 years ago it certainly doesn't feel like it but it was 10 years ago this past June that I graduated from the old Delmont Secondary School and I began my journey as a student at the University of Victoria I was a first year student I was a bit of a keener and so I signed up for all the morning classes that started at 8 30 a.m. let's just say that mentality didn't last very long if you had an early class at UVic or Komosen and you lived in Langford Callwood or Suc you were often up at 5 30 and out the door by 6 30 a.m. You either jumped in your car and were stuck in traffic bite the galloping goose or jumped on a crowded BC transit bus choose any option and you were in for a long drive and an even longer day those were not fun days but I also recognize that personally I came to do it with a lot of privilege and many others didn't have that same privilege for them getting a post-secondary education was a dream or a challenge they were working hard to overcome today's announcement is a real game changer for the West Shore and Suc community it's going to allow our students in SD 62 like Connor who you're going to hear from in a moment to have the option to learn closer to home offer them a viable option that removes some of the more traditional barriers of accessing post-secondary education like finding a rental near campus or cumbersome daily commutes to attend classes the Suc school district is proud to be a partner in this first of its kind collaborative post-secondary campus in Langford this investment demonstrates a serious commitment to the future needs of our community and preparing our young people for the opportunities of tomorrow so premier ministers Mayor Young Chief Chips and all of those who are here and those who are not here but have been a part of this journey thank you because of your efforts people in the West Shore and Suc will now have the opportunity K to 12 and beyond to live learn work and play closer to home thank you very much thank you so much and thank you for sharing your story and really explaining the reality for so many of our young people here in the in the West Shore and of course this is all about the young people this is all about our students and our youth and our future leaders and it's really important that we actually hear from them today as well so I'm really pleased to invite Connor to Connor Hogan who's from Belmont High School to come and share his thoughts about this facility thanks for having me at today's event as a current Belmont student going into grade 12 I'm really excited for this announcement Langford University would shorten the commute and give us much more study time it would also make it so we don't have to worry as much about living cost and working so we could have a work-life balance knowing that this campus being built will be very nice because it will offer much more options for things to do it's important to me and my friends to have options for us in our home communities nobody should have to face a barrier of trying to get to school I'm looking forward to this campus and I might be attending it thank you thank you so much Connor that was great we really appreciate you being here and I'm sure that everybody who's here today can think of young people in their lives who they think also might end up coming here as well I know I can as we've talked about West Shore is one of the fastest growing areas in British Columbia in fact in in Canada and there's been a lot of work over a long time to get to this point where we are today and what we've heard and what we know is that this is going to remove obstacles that have been in the way for our young people here in the West Shore and and West to Sook and Port Remfrew as well and it's there have been those obstacles that has meant that they haven't been able to get post-secondary education and skills training but this is now going to allow people to stay much closer to home to be able to study and to work and to play and build those important relationships with other young people from the community as well and we've had a lot of thank yous today but I also want to extend my deepest gratitude to everybody who has worked so hard on this project for so long and I know it's a hole in the ground we have a lot more work to do but the relationships are there the collaboration is there and we're all very excited about the next steps and I want to say thank you to the students and the families as well who also provided amazing feedback as part of this process thank you to the post-secondary institutions to the nations the school district and everybody and there's so many people here today from across the west shore some people I've been working with for 15 or so years now who are so dedicated to our west shore community and it's just wonderful to see you all here and thank you for your support thank you to everybody for the vision and for working hard together to bring this announcement and this facility to our community here in the west shore I'm now going to open it for Q&A for media and after that we're going to invite local dignitaries and leaders to come and join us for a photograph thank you there we go just before we get to the questions I have to add a little bit of background knowledge on roads it was a federal institution it was the sister college of the royal military college until the mid-1990s when the federal government withdrew funding and the provincial government of the day filled that void by taking over royal roads and that was when I first met Phil Steenkamp Dr. Steenkamp when he was deputy minister in the government of the day and so I've been following the history of royal roads for coming on 30 years now and I'm not sure if everyone's aware of this but you've probably seen the Hatley Castle when you're watching Deadpool 2 because Ryan Reynolds made a visit there I'm hopeful that he will do Deadpool 3 here in Lankford Stu we got to get working on that but royal roads is not just the castle down by the beach it is also one of the greatest natural environments we have in Calwood and in the West Shore and so there's been a stewardship responsibility at royal roads and when I first started talking to Phil when he took over the presidency I said it's time to get out of the castle and into the community I think that's a great bumper sticker I'm throwing it out there right now out of the castle into the community and oh by the way we brought some partners the University of Victoria commotion college and the Justice Institute as well as District 62 the city of Lankford and everyone involved that's truly exciting and Deadpool if you're watching we'll see you in 2024 so over to you there are media on the phone line as well so we will start over here in person Katie has a microphone if you can please identify yourself and where you're from for media on the phone line please press star one to enter the queue go ahead Mary Brooks Mary Brooke Island social trends so in the eight or more years that I've been covering SD 62 I've heard a lot about the low graduation rates and people are low rates of people going on to post secondary and so how much of a step forward in that project do you think this is I think we already know the answer to that part but royal roads has been also talking about for years to have undergrad courses there so I'm just wondering what is the structure of what this campus will offer compared to what royal roads will be offering and we know what you've been commotion offer in other words will this still will royal roads be continuing with their plan for I think it was first two years undergrad there and will this campus since you're including skills training and adult education as well will this be kind of just a one year sort of starting point for students that you're trying to capture to stay in the area well it will be it will be all of those things Mary thanks for the question I'll let Philip answer the division and the future for royal roads outside of this facility but the vision that the idea was to bring into the urban center of the West Shore an accessible institution that young people and late in life learners could access whatever courses they want I should also mention that royal roads was an early adherent to virtual learning well before the pandemic royal roads was leading the nation in educating people virtually and so this was the pandemic was a bump along the road for all of us of course a significant one for many but for royal roads it was business as usual and so the plan to get more undergraduate courses there I'll leave to Philip to answer but as Minister Kang said we have been focused on reducing barriers since we formed a government in 2017 capping tuition rates reducing loan the interest rates for student loans creating more spaces I was talking to the University of Victoria representative the provost today about stem seats with science technology engineering and math creating more spaces to meet the challenges of the future this institution here the West Shore campus we'll be able to incorporate all of those learnings from the institutions knowing where we need to get to Minister Kang's working on a labor force development strategy that includes institutions like this but it comes back to the people at the end of the day I believe it was Mitzi who said it at the end of the day it's all about the people and how can we best give them the skills they need to meet the challenges of the 21st century and that's what this represents today I don't know if you want to come in on the other stuff Phil? Mary thank you for the question and as the Premier said I mean this is a unique collaboration in Canada student can come in here take courses from Kamosan from UVic from Roar Roads from the Justice Institute potentially more partners in the future there is nothing like this in the country so it's an incredible offering to the precise question about undergraduate we intend and we are working closely with the ministry to offer all four years of undergraduate education here in addition to adult education in addition to micro-credentials all of those things that have been mentioned so that is the whole point is to provide access here and as an example UVic and Kamosan probably have the strongest university transfer program in the country I would say and have lots of experience in doing that so students will have access to that right here thank you follow up? yeah thank you so the buzzword or phrase used a couple of times here today is urban center and Langford has developed itself as sort of a satellite urban core to the greater Victoria area and I'm just wondering if the and maybe this is also a curriculum question but I'm just wondering if urban studies will be a highlighted focus of curriculum here I have no idea what the curriculum is but I'll have some time on my hands if you want me to help you to develop that but I moved to Langford 30 years ago I grew up in what used to be the core of the Capital Regional District and it was in 2000-2012 that the regional growth strategy for the Capital Regional District was developed and it was determined at that time that the West Shore would be the focus of growth and minister or Premier Young and other counselors that are here today have achieved that we've seen extraordinary growth here and it continues to grow because this is a desirable place to live but as we do that we've also been building out job opportunities and I lift my hands to the councils in the entire region that they've been collaborating to the extent that they can and I think collaboration is what I would like people to take away today it's not just the post-secondary institutions the school board it's the mayors and councils in for those who are unfamiliar with the Capital Regional District and I see my friend Mike Hicks the lone regional director within that body there's a lot of different interests at that table and somehow we've managed to continue to have one of the most livable and desirable places to live in the region so to get back to your question will urban studies be a part of the curriculum? Could be should I don't know Next question is from April Lawrence check news Hi Premier my questions about the timing of this project I've been listening to the mayor of Langford talk about this wanting a university here for many many years I'm just curious why the funding has been freed up now Well it's it's a process that as Minister Kang said it's been going on for at least four years on my watch when I was an opposition member I was working with representatives from the community to try and get the former government to pay attention to these issues that with Rabi Parmar and my constituency office used to be just over there and you'll note that although there are garbage cans there now it was a drive-through I had a window I would open up and lean out the window and talk to constituents and that's what they were talking about then back in 2005 and have been continuing to do that until today but it is the work of Langford to prepare the site to make sure that the services are going to be there for the infrastructure this is a very quick turnaround on the build again it's a result of having in this community a labor force that's able and ready to do the work but it's the timing is what it is it took Minister Kang and her predecessor four years to get the business case right to go through Treasury Board to make sure that the business case was appropriate we've already heard that the the numbers justify that Rabi talked about his travels both of my children went to you Vic and I was talking to my older son today and he asked me what I was doing and I said that we're going to announce the University on on Goldstream and Pete he said about time you should have done that 15 years ago so I'm getting it at home I'm getting it at my window I'm getting it from the people here so follow up people I just we heard a lot about how it will lessen the commute for for students wanting to go to University around here 125 million is a big price tag we heard the biggest investment in Langford's history is there more benefits than just reducing that commute for such a hefty price tag well there's hundreds of jobs construction jobs there's the spin-off jobs that will flow from that but at the end of the day it's the investment in our future we we're seeing today we hear it all the time all of the outlets that are covering this announcement will probably at some point either today or tomorrow talk about the skills shortages that are being experienced in hospitality in healthcare in every sector of our economy so we need to aggressively create the spaces to provide the skills for the jobs that we need it's not confined to just British Columbia every province across the country is experiencing skills shortages it's a direct result of simple demographics the gray tsunami that we heard so much about decade ago has arrived and we have more people seeking more services and fewer people to provide those services so we need to make sure that we're maximizing the skills that the workforce has so they can meet the demands of today that's an investment in our future it's not just the capital cost which is significant it's the benefits that will flow from a skilled trained workforce that is living and working in the community that they grew up in and that's worth a ton of money next question please identify yourself and you're out there Hi I'm Zoe Duclo I'm with the Capital Daily I'm curious what the capacity is going to be if you're trying to tackle all of these myriad issues of you know skills shortages and basically every industry what's the capacity that this university will have and are there key curriculum focuses that it will have I think it's 1200 students is I might want to pass that on to someone that has the content to that but it's going to be 1200 students with an ability to expand and the institutions that are represented here today are not going to stop providing services to people from the West Shore at the UBIC campus at the two commosing campuses the Justice Institute will be housed here in Langford which is absolutely fantastic news so many people whether you're if you're a volunteer firefighter in Shirley or Otter Point out on the West Coast Road you had to go to Vancouver to get the in the past before the Victoria office opened you had to go to Vancouver to get the credential upgrades you needed to be a volunteer in our community so having the Justice Institute here is critically important to making sure we're training correction officers and ensuring that paramedics have the skills that they need firefighters and on and on so the benefits will be coming at this site as well as that the institutions in their houses whether it be on into urban Lansdowne or at the end of Mt. Doug follow yeah this one's more for Langford I'm curious if you can elaborate on what the commitment is for green space and the infrastructure so right in the beginning when we were talking with President Steenkamp it was really important to visualize what we were going to put here not just the building this is a big site Langford has purchased six properties as well as added some amenities that we'll be doing with our innovation center and things like that that are going to happen this is a collaborative project so everybody's going to be working together on this Langford's commitment is to make sure this is the best location to get education for the people of the West Shore and from abroad too as well we just want to make sure that we do this right and that we have the commitment from all the partners to make this happen you know Langford's you know a growing community and we have to put into perspective what we're actually growing we're growing people here we're actually growing students we're growing young families we have the youngest demographic in BC so we want to make sure that we have the proper school systems in place and and that feeds a university we've built correct me if I'm wrong five new schools no municipalities had that in in BC five new schools out here because we are growing and the province is taking care of us in the school district to make sure that we have those facilities here with that many schools here and that many kids going to school it makes sense we'll fill this thing with 1,200 people and then some and that's why we have a good program in place for the future this is a first phase there's enough to do four of these type of buildings on the site so you could have up to four or five thousand students here and don't forget Langford has gone higher now we're not going to just see four and six-story buildings here student housing all of the things that a urban campus requires we will be able to do we have our infrastructure sewer the water everything here is ready to go and we can start building tomorrow like there's no slowdown here in Langford you know we need this we want it and we're a you know a firm partner in this and we're going to work with our partners as we have always in the past and that's why you see new schools and you see new facilities out here in Langford is because we work with people and we actually do what we say and we're going to get it done thank you next question please identify yourself in your outlet all right thank you Bailey Moren Goldsroom is that this is probably half for Premier Horgan half for Mayor Young I know with twelve hundred students you mentioned the impacts on traffic is going to be top of mind for a lot of people living nearby I was wondering if you could talk about maybe plans to boost transit if there are any or plans to mitigate traffic in the area that's a very good question and of course this is the Goldstream is the main street of Langford there's more buses coming down Goldstream than any other street in Langford at this time and I suspect that's going to continue BC Transit it's a key part of the plan to put the facility where we have and working with road roads to find the money to purchase this first block was very significant and the board of directors made a a bold decision to spend the money before the Treasury Board had approved the building that's how confident I think the public in this region is about how important this is this is not about partisan politics it's not about Langford Colwood Machoson Highlands it's about how can we in this region as Mitzi said only politicians know where electoral boundaries are people don't if I could have a dollar for every person from Colwood who said they voted for me when I go I've never represented Colwood I'd be rich so people don't know where lines are but they know what they need and they know that the services that their children are depending on so they can compete in a global economy where there is going to be a scarcity of labor now and into the future this is where opportunity will will start for so many people in the region and that's why it's critical that we have it here with respect to the transportation challenges of a growing community I'm confident that Mary Young will get a call or two about that as will I and we'll continue to do our best to expand opportunities Ravi talked about taking the galloping goose taking the car or taking the bus those options are all going to be available but most importantly the foot traffic along here as Lankford's downtown core becomes a walkable community I think will pay dividends as well follow on yeah it's not it's very Premier Horgan not directly to this announcement but I was wondering if you had an update about the condition of the pilot involved in the downed skimmer aircraft forced landing in Cranbrook and if you had any more details about what actually happened to force the landing I do I can I can advise the public that the pilot is safe and well it was part of firefighting opportunity to pick up skim skim water off the lake and there was engine challenges coming down for the skim so a forced landing was required but the pilot is safe and all is well we have had a late fire season in British Columbia but I think everyone who's watching at home understands that we have had five unprecedented years of wildfires so getting a late start this year is good for most importantly for the land but also for those that put their lives on the line each and every summer to go into wildfires to protect communities to protect people to protect of course the the wildlife that is affected as well so I lift my hands to the BC wildfire service and the great work that they do and I'm very very pleased that the pilot is safe and well and will probably be back at work I that's just back if I know the the crew later this afternoon I think we have one more question on site and then we'll go to the phone lines please identify yourself Hi Todd Harmer CTV News Premier I was hoping you would comment on the ailing healthcare system the latest examples being the an elderly island man who definitely needed a prescription filled and also sorry who took out an ad in the newspaper for a doctor to fill that prescription and now a Suke family military family who says they moved from Winnipeg and could easily get access care easily access care for their children there and are now struggling to get any care here well certainly we have significant challenges in our healthcare system coming out of the global pandemic many people delayed a visit to a healthcare center primary care center during the pandemic more and more people are coming out to access services that they they were deferring because of stay-at-home orders and other challenges that's put an extraordinary strain on what is already an extremely strained workforce why we need to create this institution is to create more spaces I was at commotion college last week two weeks ago recently apologize for time blurs for me these days but I was speaking to nurses license practical registered nurse students anxious to get into the workforce and I can tell you with absolute certainty that those that are in the front lines whether they're in acute care or primary care are desperate for those replacements and those new troops to come and relieve the burden but it's not just a BC problem on it's happening across the country you will know that I had the premiers from all across the country here just a few weeks ago and our number one ask of the federal government was if we have a national healthcare program governed by the Canada Health Act we need an equal partner to make sure we have sustainable funding and we don't find ourselves poaching the more prosperous provinces of which British Columbia is one poaching healthcare workers from other jurisdictions who might not be able to pay the premium to have those workers in communities so we need a national plan that's been pretty clear it's not just me it's conservative premiers liberal premiers it's not a question of perspective it's a question of necessity and the examples of having to put out an ad to get a prescription filled other families concerned about being able to access primary care is a real impressing problem and we're doing everything we can to address it but it needs to be across the country not just across the community and as we have families coming from around the country to British Columbia they're not bringing the services with them they're asking for them when they arrive as they should and we need to make sure that we have a national plan to deal with that and that's not yet fully emerged I'm confident the Prime Minister gets it I'm hopeful we'll have some progress before the summer is done Do you have a follow-up? What kind of follow-up do you plan if you don't hear from the the Prime Minister? Maybe I'll take out an ad in the paper I don't know I suspect we're going to do that anyway but I've been pretty candid with the federal government about this as have my colleagues again this isn't a question of partisanship it's not a question of a region it's the whole country you can talk to the the the Premier of Prince Edward Island which is a population less than half of of the capital regional district has the same challenges that we have here Winnipeg is an urban centre but rural Manitoba is having significant challenges recruiting and retaining skilled healthcare workers as well but I want to two parts to this first of all the patients have to be front and centre we understand that we're in negotiations at the highest level with the doctors of BC the Deputy Minister of Health has been engaged almost daily for the past number of weeks I'm advised that the discussions are going well as we find a new formula to meet the changing circumstances that doctors GPs find themselves in we have as I think it was Rabi said or Ann said more people under 15 in in this region than any other part of the country but we also have more doctors over 75 than any other part of the country so we have a significant challenge and we need to start training more people and this didn't happen last year five years ago it's been building for decades and now we have to pay the Piper we have to find a way to make the spaces in post-secondary institutions to train these workers to provide these services we're going to go to the phone lines now Richard Sussman Global News Premier to continue that conversation on healthcare you make a joke about putting an ad in the paper is it acceptable to think that the fact is that there are British Columbians here that feel the only way they can access our system is by taking an ad out in the paper you say this is a Canadian problem you look at the wait times for clinics we are double the national average the longest in the country and now we're hearing from 9-1-1 operators and I know this is larger than just the healthcare system but they're saying you're severely underfunded and can't take enough calls that are needed so on all of those issues can you speak to the specifics that that you are managing with now and is it acceptable that people are thinking these ads out well firstly the data that you referred to is several months old it was one source and I would I'm advised that the source missed out a whole bunch of variables in terms of wait times for accessing post second or accessing primary care services we have been putting in place urgent primary care centers as a stop gap to prevent emergency rooms from being overrun we have to make sure that we have the trained personnel in the urgent primary care centers I think there's two dozen of them now across the country where there were none across the province there were none five years ago so that that relieves pressure but we're hearing again it's not just in British Columbia I saw a news piece this morning before I came to the event today Premier Doug Ford in Ontario is seeing unprecedented numbers of ERs being closed because they don't have sufficient staff to operate this is not a BC problem it's a national problem and it's something that we all have to address together with respect to the ad in the paper the good news is that the family has found the prescription that they require I would suggest that there are a whole bunch of other families that are scrambling to try and find access to primary care using whatever means they have at their disposal friends and family that's usually how these things happen but the challenge is a personnel challenge we don't have enough people and you can't change that in a weekend you need to change that over time Richard do you have a follow-up? Yeah on the I'm not sure if you saw the letter from the union about the 9-1-1 call centres they are worried about being chronically underfunded so I'm hoping to get your comment on that but I also want to ask you about Shane Ramsey the CEO of BC Housing history announcing his retirement but in his statement that he sent out he described a number of problematic situations including in essence unable to do his job because of as he described it an increasingly angry and increasingly volatile small groups of individual stopping projects and he concludes with quote I no longer have confidence I can solve the complex problems facing us at BC Housing do you have confidence that those problems can be solved? Well first I want to thank Shane for over 20 years services to CEO of BC Housing and in the past number of years he has overseen the construction of thousands and thousands of new homes for British Columbians many of them here in the west shore in Souk and in in Lankford and in Caldwood so we're very grateful for Shane's contribution and I do well understand his frustration with vocal minorities who are running a foul of are using I should say municipal meetings to stop developments and that was I think what he was speaking to those are largely municipal challenges and different communities address those in different ways I'm confident that if you had Mary Young have a comment or two on that there's very very rarely is it that that there is a delay at the municipal level in Lankford but there are in other jurisdictions and I'm not quibbling with the rights of citizens to have their say at public hearings that's why we have public hearings but we also have to acknowledge that we have a societal challenge that's going to require us all making sacrifices to meet the challenges going forward Shane's frustration I think is a direct result of some of the bigger projects in the lower mainland that he's been having difficulty with we have to advance complex care housing to deal with mental health and addiction issues in our urban centers but not exclusively in our urban centers it's a problem in every community in British Columbia so the list of things to do is long I'm always hopeful that people of good will and those who want to collaborate for positive outcomes will get to us get us to the place we need to be and today's announcement I think is emblematic of what can happen when people of different perspectives come together with a common purpose and we need to do that in healthcare we need to do that in housing we need to do that with respect to climate change there are no shortage of problems and Connor is our representative here today that we all have put our hope and on his shoulders no pressure but but we are going to have to leave you a better place than we found and that's our obligation and it bits into all of those categories I just mentioned next question is from Rob Shaw check these Hey Premier you mentioned how long it takes for people from the West Shore to get downtown and that frustration leading to one of the reasons for this campus you're I think a couple blocks away from the old E&N line and I can't let you conclude your premiership in the next couple months without asking you if you plan to get that thing running before you go open the checkbook and figure that out or if it's just dead in your mind and it's not going to go anywhere or give us the sort of definitive word on the E&N as you wrap up your premiership bad form Rob bad form I've got I've got a lot of trained people here right now and I don't want to disappoint them but I have been an advocate for better utilization of the E&N corridor since I was first elected I think one of the first meetings that Stu and I had was on how we could get the train up and running again and now 15, 16, 18 years later no progress but there are level crossings that no trains are crossing that municipalities are paying to be maintained by the island corridor foundation I think we have a challenge in that the federal government and I'm not dumping on them they they responded to a call from communities on the island and First Nations on the island to get back that corridor for transportation purposes unfortunately the federal government said here's your corridor and then they left and the provider at the time said I'm no longer obliged to provide training passenger service I'm not going to do that so we've been behind on the E&N question for a decade and a half and I don't have any hope to offer today because the cost of providing a service just from the west shore into Victoria is profound and we're not getting to Victoria we're stopping in a squimalt because the squimalt nation who is cut in half by the train line is thinking that there's better uses for that space than having a train which would stop in a squimalt not in Victoria because when the Johnson Street bridge was replaced the train track didn't come with it so the track has been getting smaller and smaller in terms of its ability to be a commuter service but the corridor is extremely valuable and it is currently in the hands of the Island Corridor Foundation and I know working with the many train advocates that I know are here and also those that want to make sure one of the earlier questions was about how do we manage and enhance transportation options in the west shore that corridor is going to be a key part of that I'm just not confident that the vision that we had 15 years ago is achievable today Rob, do you have a follow-up? Sure, just changing topics could you update us on where the affordability rebates financial assistance for inflation issue is are you still looking at the climate action tax credit do you have any idea when that money might actually flow and whatever form is going to flow to people who are dealing with the inflationary pressures right now? Yeah, thanks for that we have a couple of initiatives you mentioned one of them Minister of Finance is finalizing details on that I suspect that early September will be the time you'll hear more about that I also note that although gas prices are still unacceptably high they are starting to moderate across the country and start to come down we still have supply challenges with partners around the world this is an international commodity is traded and the highest price gets the most product so these are issues that the marketplace manages and of course the consequences fall to people and we're conscious of that that's why we've been focusing on affordability issues since we came to government eliminating tolls on bridges reducing costs for ICBC insurance I think three or four rebates back to policy holders because the corporation is now on sound financial footing because the province is no longer taking money out to put into other services so that money can go back to the people who sent it to ICBC the policy holders we're looking at some hydro initiatives as well we have stabilized ferry rates hopefully the board of BC ferries is working on their human resource shortages these are again challenges in every sector so every question that's been asked of me I could have come back with why we need this facility so I'm glad you brought me back there Rob but the affordability package is coming we have one last question today Keith Baldry go ahead Keith yeah on the shortage of workers question premier is this actually fixable in the short term when we're talking thousands of nurses short across Canada doctors health technicians ferry workers even lifeguards in our closing beaches the numbers are so huge is it something governments can realistically be expected well not in the short term Keith and I think that's thank you for the question because I think the public people that are trying to access services whether it's trying to get on a ferry to get to a community whether it's ordering your coffee at the local coffee shop you're seeing that things are not the way they used to be there's not as many people doing the work there's an increasing number of people looking for the service whatever that service is so what we need to do as a community is that we need to look at our immigration strategies and I've been again very aggressive with the federal government to say I'm the son of an Irish immigrant aside from Elder Dick and Chief Chips and other Indigenous peoples that are here today all of us came from somewhere else that is what Canada is a foundation of Indigenous peoples going back thousands of years and then all of the rest of us who have come from every corner of the globe we need to make sure we reduce as we did costs of English language learning is now free in British Columbia adult basic education is now free in British Columbia so we want to reduce barriers so we can train the people to do the very tasks that you're touching on Keith and the challenge for all of us is there's just not enough of us to do the work that the increasing number of us want to get done whether it's someone to clean your gutters to paint your house to help you do something with your business you can't find people to do the work and that means we need more people immigration has historically been the way we do that we need to make sure we're fine-tuning that working on the refugee side which is a significant number and we know here in in Lankford the Ukrainian community has been welcomed our hearts and our homes are open to Ukrainians as well as Syrians and Afghanis who are already in the refugee stream so we need to also look at the economic refugees though and bringing skilled workers back in and that's a bigger challenge that involves a lot of moving parts yeah to that end asking the federal government to relax restrictions on foreign trained professionals from practicing in Canada we've talked about doctors in the past but also nurses and others who have to go through professional colleges or associations haven't been able to practice their craft in Canada so should pressure be brought to bear to enable those people to begin working well we have been working on the college question the licensing bodies these are bodies that are regulated by the government but not appointed by there the college of physicians and doctors doctors and physicians is a body created by doctors to regulate the profession with rules and guidelines that are put in place by senior governments so these are these are challenges that again not just arrived last week they've been here for a long long time but I'm sure you've heard the story of one of my one of my cabinet ministers daughter became a doctor studying in Ireland came back to British Columbia and her credentials weren't recognized and so she's happily practicing medicine in Saskatchewan right now so that's practical around my own table challenges of a young person who grew up in British Columbia got most of her training here went to finish her her MD in another jurisdiction and then couldn't get that credential recognized here so we've got a ton of work to do there but and it's not just in healthcare it's in engineering it's in sciences a whole bunch of other areas as well that's all the time we have today thank you for joining us thanks everybody