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WEDNESDAY
FEBRUARY 20, 2019 | Volume 32 No. 15
MOURNING BUD FORBES
CRIME FILE UPDATE
WEATHER Flurries High 1 C Low -8 C
The latest after a kidnapping and murder last week
SNOW REPORT Sun Peaks Resort Mid-mountain: 128 cm Alpine: 164 cm Harper Mountain Total snow: 127 cm
30 CENTS AT NEWSSTANDS
The founder of the Out of the Cold shelter has died
NEWS/A10
NEWS/A5
B.C. budget eyes child plan, climate AND STUDENT LOAN INTEREST IS ELIMINATED SEAN BRADY AND JESSICA WALLACE
STAFF REPORTERS
sbrady@kamloopsthisweek.com jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com
The B.C. government maintained its focus on providing programs to help families cope financially in its latest budget on Tuesday, following efforts a year ago to crack down on property speculation in the housing market, bringing in a child-care plan and eliminating health-care premiums. Finance Minister Carole James said her balanced budget offers a helping hand to people with a package of child benefits for families, loan relief for students, assistance increases for the poor, homeowner incentives to fight climate change and a long-term revenue sharing agreement with Indigenous Peoples. B.C. is forecast to have the highest economic growth in Canada in 2019 and 2020 at 2.4 per cent this year and 2.3 per cent next year. It has also had the lowest jobless rate in Canada for the past 17 months, she said. The 2019-20 budget is forecast to post a surplus of $274 million. “People were told by the past government they had to chose between a strong economy or investments in people,’’ James said in her budget speech. “The truth is we can and must have both.’’ She said the minority NDP govern-
SAGEBRUSH DOWN Due to a crack in a roof truss, Sagebrush Theatre has been closed indefinitely, forcing myriad user groups — including Western Canada Theatre and Kamloops Symphony Orchestra — to scramble to find venues for scheduled shows. Here, Western Canada Theatre technical director Brad Leavitt inspects the inside ceiling structure in the theatre, which is attached to South Kamloops secondary. Turn to page A4 for the full story. DAVE EAGLES/KTW
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ment’s budget is “balanced both fiscally and in its approach.’’ Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone called the budget “irresponsible” with its “big taxes, big spending,” and no plan to create the wealth needed to sustain the level of spending the NDP has put forth. He said there were some highlights, but some omissions, too. For Stone, one of the highlights of the budget was that phase two of work at Royal Inland Hospital, which would see renovations done to the hospital’s emergency department, pediatric unit, morgue and post-anesthetic recovery department, was included. SD73 board chair Kathleen Karpuk told KTW she is hopeful that capital funding for projects in the district will come through, but Stone said that view might be optimistic at this point. “Many secondary and elementary schools were mentioned for construction in the province, nothing about Valleyview Secondary expansion — no mention of a new school in Pineview Valley, no mention of an expansion at Westmount elementary,” he said. And although the project that would widen the Trans-Canada Highway from Hoffman’s Bluff through Chase was mentioned in the budget, Stone said it was “very disappointing” to see further delays to the project, now expected to be completed in 2023.
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