Question period went off the rails Monday at the B.C. Legislature, culminating with Premier John Horgan muttering an F-bomb.
Opposition parties spent a large part of Monday’s question period pressing the BC NDP on access to family doctors.
“One million British Columbians are without a family doctor, and that is unacceptable,” said Trevor Halford, BC Liberal MLA in Surrey-White Rock.
In Kelowna, residents deal with the second-longest wait times in Canada to access walk-in clinics, second only to Victoria. Halford noted that in Surrey, there are 13 walk-in clinics that are full for the day by 10 a.m.
“When will this premier step up in this house and give British Columbians the assurance they need that they will be supported by a family doctor?” Halford continued.
Health Minister Adrian Dix had been answering questions prior to Horgan stepping up to respond to Halford. The premier said that Dix is working "24 hours a day" to improve health care in B.C., prompting applause from the NDP side of the aisle.
When the Liberals started heckling, Horgan shouted back that “they don’t want an answer because they are a part of the problem” — which unsurprisingly, prompted more heckling.
“Do you want to hear it man, or do you just want to hear your voice,” Horgan yelled back across the house. “Why don’t you go in the bathroom and talk to yourself in there, because you don’t want to hear answers in this place.”
After more shouting from the Liberal side, Horgan waved them off with a “ah f**k” and sat down.
At that point the speaker called for a 10-minute break.
Horgan tweeted about the exchange afterwards: "If my mom was still around, she'd be on her way to the Legislature with a bar of Irish Spring."
