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EDITORIAL: Watch closely and demand accountability on affordability

Throne speech promised an easier time for all trying to make ends meet
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Premier John Horgan is joined by Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon on the steps of the B.C. legislature Tuesday after the lieutenent governor arrived to deliver the speech from the throne for the BC NDP government. Don Descoteau/Victoria News

Housing and child care. That’s what we heard the BC NDP focus on when they presented their agenda in the speech from the throne at the B.C. legislature.

Cut to affordability, because that’s essentially what the two boil down to.

And while the power of distraction waves bottles of wine and barrels of bitumen in our faces, it remains our job as British Columbians to focus on keeping government’s feet to the fire, when it comes to carrying through on campaign promises.

Vancouver Island residents watched – along with the rest of the province – as a Liberal government left the newly-elected NDP government with challenges aplenty.

The decision surrounding the future of the Site C clean energy project did not go over well and Premier John Horgan would do well to take note of that when declaring that the $10-a-day childcare slogan was just a branding tool. It doesn’t change the fact that funding is needed – badly – for a childcare system bursting at the seams, requiring both infrastructure and staff to meet the needs of growing families in B.C.

A recent report ranked Victoria as the sixth-most expensive city in Canada in which to rent a home. With the number of cranes dotting the skyline, not only downtown, but in outlying communities like Saanich and the ever-growing West Shore, one has to wonder what “affordable” means to those in power who make decisions for those living paycheque to paycheque.

And those same challenges are faced in communities north of the Malahat.

People across this province face tough struggles every day. No longer is it just life in the metropolis that requires a heavy wallet. Though it appears Horgan’s NDP government understands that and is listening, those same people – from Tofino to Trail, from Fort St. John to Fernie – will be watching, to make sure Tuesday’s throne speech wasn’t just lip service.

But it’s also our job to remember nothing worth doing comes easy, for patience is a virtue.