I had the opportunity to tour Ronald McDonald House BC & Yukon and see firsthand what an extraordinary place it is for families going through some of the hardest moments of their lives. No family wants to need Ronald McDonald House. But when they do, there may be nowhere they’d rather be. Families come here from every corner of British Columbia so their children can receive specialized care at BC Children’s Hospital. About one-third of the families they serve come from the Interior. For Okanagan families, Ronald McDonald House can become home for weeks or even months while a child undergoes cancer treatment, surgery or other critical care in Vancouver. But they simply don’t have enough room. Hundreds of families are turned away each year, and Ronald McDonald House is trying to build Willow House, a new 75-suite facility that would roughly double its capacity. The community has stepped up. Donors have stepped up. The federal government has stepped up. The provincial government has not. And there is precedent for doing much more. When the current Ronald McDonald House was built, the B.C. government funded 50% of the cost. Today, Ronald McDonald House is asking the province for less than 40% of the cost of its expansion. This isn’t just a Vancouver charity project. It is part of the infrastructure that allows our provincial pediatric health-care system to work for families from Kelowna, the Okanagan and communities across B.C. When your child is seriously ill, finding somewhere to stay should be the last thing you have to worry about. The province stepped up before. It should step up again and help get Willow House built.

While government executives get $14,000 luxury car allowances, the families of sick children are sleeping in their cars. Ronald McDonald House has raised $45M for an expansion. The community stepped up. The City of Vancouver. The federal government. Even the Yukon. Today I called on the NDP to reverse their cut and fund this project.

NEW - @Dave_Eby says he will direct @BCFerries to ensure next generation of vessels not built in China but built in BC. Addresses a very angry component of organized labour movement that was upset at @bcndp for allowing this to happen, aka the Building Trades. In hopes to get them on board for elxn, clearly.