 Thanks, everyone. Good morning. It's John Horgan, joined by Minister Harry Baines, coming to you from the unceded territory of the Coast Salish people. The song he's in the Squimalt First Nations here at the legislative assembly. As you all know, I've been advocating for a national paid sick leave program since the pandemic began at the beginning of last year. I raised the issue with my colleagues at provincial councils. I raised the issue directly with the federal government through the prime minister and the minister of finance. I didn't have a lot of support at the beginning, but I was gratified when the federal government announced that they would bring forward a program to assist workers to make that tough choice between staying home when they're sick or going to the workplace, putting their colleagues and others at risk of contracting COVID-19. Unfortunately, the federal program has been difficult to access for workers. We raised the issue with the federal government and we were hopeful in the last federal budget that they would have corrected that problem and unfortunately they weren't able to do so. As a result, the province is going to step up and fill that gap. No one should have to make that difficult choice between staying home when they're sick or going into work because they have an economic imperative to do so. Today, we're making that choice a little bit easier. Earlier this morning, the minister tabled bill 13 that will support hard-hit businesses and make sure that workers don't have to make that tough choice. And we are going to, as of today, introduce three days of paid sick leave to the end of the calendar year. This will ensure workers will not lose pay. The relationship between the employer and the employee will remain the same. And working through the work-safe administration process will be able to reimburse those businesses as quickly as possible. This is one of the challenges with the federal legislation. There was a gap between the time you took off and your ability to access the program. The federal government allocated $2.6 billion for a national program and have only been able to get $400 million out the door. That doesn't speak to the lack of need for the program. That speaks to the inadequacy of the construction of that program. I will continue to work with the federal government to see what we can do about improving that for the long term. But as long as we have COVID-19 in our country, we want to make sure that workers, businesses, and communities are safe. We are going to be consulting over the next six months with workers, with industry, with Indigenous peoples, and others to develop a long-term program. COVID-19 does not end the fact that we have a gap in our employee-employer relationship that puts people at risk. This is an opportunity to fix a problem that's been in existence for a long, long time. We are excited about doing that in collaboration with all parties. Paid sick leave is good for businesses, it's good for workers, and it's good for communities. And together, it will help us come out of the COVID-19 pandemic stronger than we went in. I'm very excited to have the opportunity to talk to you about this issue today. I'll ask Minister Baines to say a few words before we go to questions and answers. Thank you, Premier. I would also like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the territory of the province of Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations. I would like to add to what Premier Horgan has said about the legislation we introduced today. As provided, some additional detail, and I will provide some additional details about how it will work. There are two parts to this legislation. The first is an immediate measure to support workers and businesses as we continue the battle against this pandemic. The amendment will provide a three days of sick leave related to COVID-19 at full pay. This includes circumstances for any worker who self-isolates when they feel ill, who has been exposed to the virus, stays home to follow public health guidelines, or is awaiting test results. We know that the most important and effective way to prevent transmission of COVID-19 is to stay home and self-isolate. The second part of this legislation is to ensure that workers are safe to stay home and self-isolate. This leave is good for workers, good for businesses, and will help our economy recover faster. At the same time, we know that many businesses are also struggling to survive. That's why the new COVID-19 paid sick leave will include problems reimbursing businesses up to $200 per day per employee. Employers will be required to pay their workers their regular wages and government will reimburse them up to $200 a day per worker. If a worker is sick for longer than three days, this program bridges the gap to the federal Canada recovery sickness benefit that provides up to four weeks of support. This means workers won't lose pay when they feel unwell. Hard-hit businesses will get support they need. And together, we will stop the spread of this virus. Unlike other jurisdictions, BC COVID-19 paid sick leave will remain in place until December 31st of this year. By which time, the pandemic should be behind us, and we will be focusing on economic recovery and rebuilding. WorkSafe BC will administer the employer reimbursement program on behalf of our government, which funds provided by the government. I would like to take the opportunity to thank WorkSafe BC for its quick action in stepping up to administer this program. The pandemic has highlighted how difficult it is for workers, many who are already living paycheck to paycheck. And those difficulties will not disappear when the pandemic ends. The second part of this bill better support workers and healthy and productive workplaces in the long-term beyond the pandemic. For the first time ever in BC, we are creating a permanent province-wide paid sick leave for workers who cannot work due to illness or injury starting January 1st, 2022. This builds on amendments we made in March 2020 to add three days of job-protected leave, sick leave, that will last beyond the pandemic. We will be consulting extensively to develop a permanent model for sick leave that will be fair and reasonable. Businesses know that a healthy workforce is a valuable asset. We will consult with business groups, labor groups and other stakeholders as we develop permanent sick leave model. And we will find the balance that works for everyone that protect and support both employer and workers. This permanent paid sick leave will be in place starting January 1st, 2022. Our Premier John Horgan promised a made in BC paid sick leave program and today we are here delivering on that promise. Thank you. Thanks, Harry. And now, Lindsay, we will entertain your questions. Thank you. As a reminder to everybody on the phone, please press star 1 to enter the queue. You will be limited to one question and one follow-up. First question is from Justin Hunter, Global Mail. Thank you. Premier, I don't know that legislation is typically written out of a week. So I'm wondering to you just when did the legislation start to work? I don't know if every third word there, but I think what you asked was when did we start working on the legislation? And I can say we started working on the legislation last year and we have been looking at how best to deliver a program like this when we saw the short comings of the federal program. And I want to reiterate that the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister now Finance Minister, when we first discussed this, she was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of this because they saw the challenges of a second wave and of course we hadn't contemplated a third wave, but the importance of making sure that workers and businesses were protected. And I firmly maintain that a national program is still in the best interest of workers and businesses. But for now, we needed to bring this forward. We started that work last year and when the federal budget was put in place, we got into action with ledge drafters, finalized the bill, worked with worksafe to administer the program and I want to just reinforce Minister Baines' comments, this is not normally what worksafe does. These are provincial dollars that will be administered by them and we are very grateful that that administration is in place to help us deliver this program. Justine, do you have a follow-up? Thanks and I will try and lean on the permanent model and there will be consultations, but is there a model that you are aware of where the employer isn't responsible for sick pay? I'm just wondering if it's inevitable that they will be in the long-term taking on this additional program? Well, I have to confess, Justine, that over the past four years if I've learned anything, it's that nothing is inevitable and I may well have felt that way in the past, but I would like to know whether they be through umbrella organizations, the chambers of commerce, the BC business council, any number of individual businesses to talk about this because it is in their interest and you've seen that, the Surrey Board of Trade today after seeing the legislation applauded its introduction and spoke about the importance of building on that and we need to do it in a collaborative way and I'm confident that Minister Baines working with industry workers and other companies is going to be able to challenge that I think is best handled at the federal level and I'm going to continue working with the Prime Minister to try and convince him and my colleagues across the country that this is something that we need to do now. The pandemic has shown us the way, let's just do it, protect workers, protect businesses. Next question is from Bender Sudge and CTV. You spoke about how for more than a year you've been thinking about a lot of people who have a lot of essential and lower income earners and many of the people who follow these types of programs say these are the groups that will be helped the most. What do you say to people who say you shouldn't have followed the federal government and that you could have stopped a lot of infections if you introduced this type of program a lot earlier? My hindsight is perfect. But here in the now was collaboration with the federal government to make sure that the federal government in an unprecedented way over the past 15 months, not just with British Columbia but other provinces and the federal government. I wanted to build on that as a renewal of Canada and a renewal of our federation. There was consent from the federal government to proceed with the national program. I had every expectation that it would be successful. Clearly it has not met the test and that's why we're doing the bill today. Follow-up, Bender? I want to ask you about the shooting happening in Vancouver. It was done yesterday that we see this type of cycle every few years. I'm wondering what else can your government do that's not doing now to break that cycle? Or is it something that people just have to get used to given the type of gang activity that we see here? I'm appalled as all British Columbians are with the escalation of gang violence in the lower mainland and across British Columbia and urban centres. I'm confident that Minister Farnworth working with police and other law enforcement across BC will come up with new solutions and new objectives to meet this challenge. I was very, very heartened to hear through the media comments from law enforcement about their responsibility to take a stronger action to curb this violence. I know that the minister, Minister Farnworth, has also reached out to Bill Blair, the federal minister, to talk about national challenges here as well. We need to make sure that we're focused like a laser on addressing the criminality here. We have done our part by bringing in a whole host of programs. You know what they are. Minister Farnworth outlined many of them yesterday. The first order of business, of course, is to stop the flow of people by making sure that we provide other alternatives, safer alternatives for young people, wherever they may live, and that's been our preoccupation to stop the flow of people into the gang lifestyle. But clearly, the brazen nature of the violence we've seen over the past two weeks requires law enforcement intervention and Minister Farnworth is overseeing that. Next question is from Rob Shaw. Check news. If the federal program doesn't cut it, how does it bridge people into the federal program, which doesn't cut it, help them when they're stuck with that federal program after three days, it pays them less than minimum wage and it's a cumbersome burden. I'm just kind of figuring out how that actually kind of works for people. First of all, there are other programs that Minister Bain spoke about that we've already brought in. Presumptive COVID through work safe, for example, if you contract COVID at your work site, it's covered by workers' compensation or by the work safe legislation. This allows, these three days allows you to take the time to get a test and an appropriate period of time to get those results. And then you can make decisions about how you engage with the federal government for the programs that exist there or through work safe for the programs on that site. What we saw as the major challenge with the federal legislation was that we wanted to make sure that workers who were working on low-wage workers were the most vulnerable because they desperately had to go to work because they were living paycheck to paycheck. The federal program interrupted the relationship with the employer and the employee and put the burden on the employee to make application for a benefit that would come some time down the road. And that's the challenge here. We wanted to make sure that it was possible for the employees to access other programs that are in place at the provincial level or at the federal level. Rob, do you have a follow-up? I also need to ask you, Premier, about the overdose deaths of two teens on the island, including a 12-year-old in your riding. The families have talked to us and said that they would like to see your government proceeding with bill 22 on the involuntary treatment. And trying to get a sense from you that you promised this during the election, is that coming back? And if so, when? It is coming back. And I wish that it had passed in the last parliament. I've been pretty clear about that. And these very tragic examples of young people, inconceivable as a parent, to think of a 12-year-old addicted to opioids and losing their life as a result of an overdose. When we could have taken steps to avoid that. If we have access to medical care, we should make sure that we have access to medical care. And I firmly believe that. Minister Malcomson is conducting consultation with those who didn't like the bill in its initial form. And she will be bringing it back as quickly as that consultation can take place. We've heard from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on your legislation. They point out Washington State and Oregon require five employer paid 60s per year, even in normal times. They are saying why can't we do that? Because it's a real happy of Ontario's woefully inadequate program. If your government is only willing to do three days now during the pandemic, is there any reason to believe the permanent program will be any better? First of all, the comparison to Ontario is just not accurate. Their program such as it is will sunset in September. And we will be paying then it's only $500, ours is $600 and it will be $500 under a year. And as the consultation takes place, Minister Baines and others within government will be listening to those within Canada. Certainly I'll take a look at your suggestion at the American legislation and if it's superior and we can gain support across the board, I'd be happy to bring that forward. I'm confident that the three days that we have in the bill will bridge workers to get access to other programs and we will be making amendments through those consultations with the business community, with labour and Indigenous communities as well. Follow-up, Tanya? Yes, further to Zinder's question, just about the timeline of this. Is it not too late, especially coming from a province whose premier has led the charge highlighting this nationally? We're well over a year into the pandemic. You were sounding the alarm about this more than a year ago. How many workers who needed it before now have missed out and how many workers ill from COVID-19 will benefit from this between now and years end? Well, as many as possible. I can't hide my disappointment at the lack of a robust effort by the federal government, but I do not want to be overly critical because they did step up. There was not a lot of support around the table. Sandy Silver, the premier of UConn, said it was difficult to take a 40,000 person program and lay it over a 5 million person province. It was only recently, as you'll know, that Ontario got on board. Manitoba expressed interest and they're bringing forward a program, but it too will sunset in September. I believe that we need to be sure that we're through the pandemic and the end of the calendar year will allow for that and six months to consult with the federal government. I would have preferred a better outcome absolutely, but I'm doing the best with what we've got in the time available. Next question is from Richard Desmond, Global News. We've also heard from the federation of labor on the legislation, Larry Cronk says workers struggling with the COVID-19 illness face greater than three days of lost pay, they face potential economic devastation, ensuring workers don't have to make the decision to stay home. With the fact that it's only three days and people will remain home for an extended period of time, do you think this is actually enough to ensure that people make that decision to stay home rather than go to work with potential symptoms? I do believe it's going to be sufficient to get that test done, to get the result from that test, and then to access the other programs that are available, whether it's the COVID-19 relief, or accessing the federal program that currently exists, or long-term disability through the employment insurance act, which I believe would be the best way to get the results from the federal program is how quickly, how people make that decision. So if someone in this case is feeling symptoms, and their roommate or someone who lives in their house is not showing symptoms, can that person in the house also get support? Or should they be going to work? As we know that based on what we're seeing in closures and Fraser Health, that this is an issue that's happening in those communities, we know there it's a higher likelihood of intergenerational household. So is there support for people in the household, how do you even prove that you're showing symptoms? How is it going to work in terms of preventing that decision from being made to go to work when you feel there may be risk that you can spread the virus to others? So this is a three days of paid leave, sick leave, and that allows workers to make that choice knowing that they're not going to have an interruption in their salary. That was the big challenge with the federal program. First of all, the quantum, the amount was too low. It would cover minimum wage employees only. This will allow for a top up and a bridge for businesses that have higher paid employees, and it will allow for a better result from that test. And then to make choices about what the individual does from that point on, accessing any number of other programs. A hypothetical about who lives where and how is beyond the scope of the legislation. We're hoping that people make the right choices for themselves, their families, and the businesses that they work in. And that's the intent here. And I have to say that on balance, British Colombians have met that challenge over the last couple of years. We've had a number of businesses, sacrifices by workers, sacrifices by governments, but despite that, we've got to this point where we've had, as of this morning, 49% of those eligible for vaccines have taken up a first dose. Over 2.1 million British Colombians. We have a steady stream of vaccines coming into BC. People are registering in record numbers. This is all positive news, but we are not going to have a pivotal time. And I'm confident that leaving it in place and funded by the province to the end of the calendar year will give us the time to have the discussion about how can we refine this. I left it to the federal government to do this work because they said in good faith they would do so. It didn't meet the test of workers, and so we need to pivot and make amendments. And that's what we're doing today. And that's what you represent, and that's what Minister Baines and I are announcing today, and if there are improvements that we can make between now and January 1, we'll absolutely do that. Next question is from Katie DuRosa, Vancouver son. You are continuously saying that the federal program is inadequate, but again, the current program that BC is coming up with only provides for three days, and then people have to go into what you're calling the federal government. So again, why not have a foster period of time to cover people so that they, because again, the federal program they have to apply, and it could be weeks before they get that money, whereas the provincial government would provide the money to employees. And the Yukon, I think, has had to have 10 days, so why again, only three days, which is comparable to the Ontario program, which has been criticized. Well, I don't know what I could say, Katie, to allay your concerns about this. There are a range of programs available that we brought in, and the federal government has brought in to protect people, and when it comes to paid sick leave, it's been inadequate. We believe the three days covered by the province will bridge people to either the CS, the second SERB, or unemployment insurance, or the presumptive COVID regulations that we brought in that will protect workers who contract COVID in their workplace. That then becomes a workers' compensation question, the only province in the country as well. I believe that we're circling as best we can around this challenge, and I'm confident that what we brought forward is certainly superior to the program in Ontario in terms of the quantum of dollars, as well as the fact that we're not only carrying it on three months, four months past the expiry date in January, but we're not going to make it permanent January 1. In addition to that, and I was very grateful for the support of the Yukon when I was making my arguments, but let's be candid, 40,000 people in the Yukon territory does not translate as easily to 5 million people in British Columbia. Follow up, Katie? Yes, on the issue of the release of COVID data, you know, yesterday in question period yourself and minister , we're saying that BC has been releasing as much data as possible, but this week we're getting a commitment to more data that many would argue would not have been released if reporters were not and epidemiologists and medical doctors were asking for this information. Why this delay, 15 months into the pandemic, are we finally getting this more neighbourhood-specific age-based, sex-based data? Dr. Henry and the Centre for Disease Control here in British Columbia collect the data. They make decisions about what to do with the data. I at no time have I given any instruction or direction that they do anything particular with it. I know and I am confident that Dr. Henry and her team use the information to shape policies to protect British Columbians. My role was to back them up and I'll continue to do that. We have a challenge ahead of us, so we're going to continue to do that. We've received a first dose, 49% will be at 50% before you know it, and more vaccine coming. The data issue was in the hands of the BC Centre for Disease Control. At no time did I direct them to do anything other than to utilize that information to protect British Columbians, and we're going to continue doing that. If Dr. Henry and the team are in a position to release more information, that's good. I think it's a well-parked estimate of what the COVID sick leave will cost and what the permanent one. Is there like a nominal figure you're expecting the budget for? Thank you. As you would appreciate, it is very difficult to actually come up with the real numbers. Not knowing how many workers will actually take advantage of this. As we see, our vaccination program is ramping up, and more and more workers are being vaccinated. So I think it probably will have a few workers utilizing it as a result of our vaccination program. But I think at the end of the day, when you look at where are the benefits and the cost, I think the cost of not doing this is much higher than the cost of providing this service. But if the estimates are correct, as I think they should be, 50% of the workers in British Columbia don't have any kind of sick leave provisions in their workplaces. And based on if the 60% of them take it, utilize it between now and December, we're looking at about a little over $300 million. Last day of a follow-up. I was just wondering, the premier estimated the federal program at $2.6 billion, and there's over $400 million take-up. Is that what you're expecting? Can you just outline what you read into that skimpy kind of take-up? Is it still money still going out the doors of the delay, or does that illustrate anything other than the program wasn't properly designed? Well, I'll take a shot at that less and then perhaps ask Kerry, who's been more intimate with this information. But it seems apparent to me and what I heard from workers and from businesses is that the disconnect between the worker and the employer meant that there was a disruption in a flow of monies to workers. And if you're going from paycheck to paycheck, the thought of taking one, two, or three days to determine that you're well enough to continue working, if you're not going to, if you're going to lose those three days of pay while you wait to fill out a form and then have the dollars and then you're going to say, well, you know, it's easier for me to go to work and that's what we want to stop people from doing. That's what we were focused on 15 months ago, that's what we focused on into the fall last year, and that's certainly what we're doing today. Again, would I have preferred a more robust federal program that did work directly with employers and employees so that there was a continuous effort in that regard, and we're going to consult widely to see if we can make it any better going forward. And I know that there's very much interest in the business community to make sure we get this right, as well as within labour groups. And I think the striking that balance is critically important at this time to make sure that there's continuity of pay for workers and that we're not putting a whole bunch more burden on the work before we implement a program that may well have impacts across the board. But do you want to touch the federal piece? Thank you, Premier. I believe it's hard to speculate why there is such a low uptake on the federal program. I could only comment that there are a couple of gaps that existed in that program. And we have identified with our counterparts in federal government. Premier has been very consistently in the finance minister. And I've been talking to my colleagues across Canada and the federal minister of labour. I think the gaps, for example, you must lose at least 50% of work or income in that particular week to qualify. I think that could be one of the reason why many workers do not want to take up on that program. And we are here to fix that gap. And I think the other part is the 500 is less than our minimum wage here in British Columbia. That also is a distant centre for workers to take time off. So many ended up going to work a six-some time. So I think the gaps are the one that need to be fixed. And I think we identified those gaps with the federal government. And they didn't act on it. And now it's up to us to fill those gaps. And the other part that I would say is that we need to fill those gaps to top up on the $500. So I think we had to make the best out of the situation that we're in, filling the gaps that are left by the federal program. We always believe that it's a national emergency. There has to be a national solution. And we work with the federal government. And here we are to do the work that we need to do in order to fill those gaps. And I think we had a lot of questions about the timing of the reimbursement. We've heard about the circuit breaker program where people are waiting a long time to get their money. And wondering how long are companies going to have to wait to be reimbursed here? Because a lot are like their employers living very close to the edge. That's a good question. And that's why WorkSafe has stepped up and we're grateful for that because we've seen employers across British Columbia. Some of the other programs, whether it be the circuit breaker or other initiatives that we brought forward, were brand new programs that didn't have a delivery mechanism. We had to put in place criteria, test all of those criteria against actual results. And we've been improving over the past 15 months in our ability to deliver those programs effectively. And in this instance, we're able to accelerate the ability for us to get those dollars to those employers quickly. But maybe, Harry, you want to add to that? Thank you. Because we are utilizing WorkSafe BC and they have existing programs, the relationship with employers, so it will be much faster than designing our own, as the premier have mentioned. So the WorkSafe BC have assured that they would be able to put this program in a very short period of time. And then the turnaround time would be possible because they already, they will have a system in place where online applications will be made and the WorkSafe BC will be easily transferring those funds to the employers in a timely fashion. Lisa, do you have a follow-up? I'm going to go for a broken ask, a double-barreled follow-up here. With the circuit breaker, 10,000 businesses have applied, only 3,600 since the whole start, like way back in the fall, when there's a sort of small business loan started, only 3,600 have been approved. So I'm just wondering what you think about the pace of that and just a little slide, I don't know if I can talk it in. Is BC looking at following Alberta's footsteps when it comes to AstraZeneca and sort of nixing the use of that vaccine? Well, I'll say that Minister Calon has amended and accelerated the circuit breaker resources. My understanding is that that's moving quite well. Businesses satisfied that they're getting access to these programs. We have another range of programs we'll be announcing later this week or into next week about the tourism sector as we look to almost 50% immunization to this point in time. So I'm confident that those programs have always been tweaked and improved. I want to lean in a little bit here and say that this is uncharted territory and it has been for a year and a half. That doesn't make it easier with each month that goes by. It just reminds us that we haven't done this before. And so when we develop the programs we learn from them each and every day and we improve them as best we can and we'll continue to do that. With respect to AstraZeneca, again, my wife and I were immunized with AstraZeneca. I fully expect to get a second shot when I'm advised that I'm ready to go and I know my spouse feels the same way. Countless numbers of British Columbians have benefited from the AstraZeneca vaccine. I'll have to take a look at the decision made by Alberta at this time. It could be because they have such a supply of Pfizer coming in as we do here in BC. But our view is that those decisions are best made by public health officials and until such time as Dr. Henry, Dr. Ballum and their teams advise us that we'll continue with the vaccines. They're safe, they're effective and we urge British Columbians to take the first vaccine available to them in the interest of not just themselves and their family but their community and the province. Thanks, everybody.