Black Press legislative columnist Tom Fletcher sat down with Premier John Horgan to talk about his plans for 2018. B次元官网网址 of the interview is below, with a transcript of the premierB次元官网网址檚 comments on the NDP governmentB次元官网网址檚 plans for housing and child care.

TF: You made an aggressive campaign promise about housing. How is that going to look in 2018?

JH: WeB次元官网网址檒l have a comprehensive housing strategy that will involve the whole continuum of housing, not-for-profit, purpose-built rental housing, market housing.

WeB次元官网网址檙e not building the housing. The public has to understand itB次元官网网址檚 not about government building 100,000 homes. ItB次元官网网址檚 about government working with the development community, working with municipalities who regulate land use and implement changes in policy to help build more spaces or more density. We need to work together on this, and if we donB次元官网网址檛, weB次元官网网址檙e going to .

WeB次元官网网址檒l be addressing the demand side as well, addressing the speculation in the marketplace. Monies from elsewhere have come into our housing market and distorted it to the point where people in the community canB次元官网网址檛 afford to live there. We need to address that, and itB次元官网网址檚 not going to be as simple as waving a magic wand or snapping your fingers. ItB次元官网网址檚 going to be a sensitive intervention, but we need to correct the challenge we have where people are vacating the cities rather than making them vibrant.

TF: You have a similarly aggressive plan regarding . Same question, what can we expect in 2018?

JH: WeB次元官网网址檒l have a better program if we have federal participation, but we will have a program regardless. And I think some people have characterized that as, B次元官网网址榳ell if the feds donB次元官网网址檛 show up, there will be no child care plan.B次元官网网址� We need to address this. This was the number two issue when I talked to people in the election campaign. First and foremost in the Lower Mainland it was housing, and across B.C., families canB次元官网网址檛 find someone to care for their kids. And if you canB次元官网网址檛 find someone to care for your kids in an affordable, safe environment, youB次元官网网址檙e going to stay home. That removes talent and innovation from the market and from the economy, and it makes it more difficult for families to get ahead. So I want to deliver on this commitment and IB次元官网网址檓 going to do it with or without the federal government. ItB次元官网网址檚 going to be a key part of our budget in February.

[Finance Minister] Carole James and [Minister of State for Child Care] Katrina Chen are working diligently to make sure weB次元官网网址檝e got the building blocks in place. WeB次元官网网址檝e already added to the number of child care spaces, another 3,500 spaces were announced across the province just a few weeks ago. We have a long distance to go, but itB次元官网网址檚 a program that I believe is [overdue]. We need to deliver child care for our citizens. ThatB次元官网网址檚 what jurisdictions in Scandinavia and other European countries have done as a matter of course.

TF: On the pending marijuana legalization, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth tells us that there are 18 separate provincial laws that have to be changed. Is this going to consume the whole spring session of the legislature, or interfere with things like housing and tax changes?

JH: IB次元官网网址檓 hopeful thatB次元官网网址檚 not the case. Mike is responsible for shepherding through this revolutionary change in our cannabis laws and regulations here in B.C. This is a direction from the federal government, and that leaves us the responsibility of regulating distribution.

Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca