The provincial finance minister announced the 2006 budget on Tuesday.
Powell River - Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons said he is pleased with its focus on children and families.
"I'm glad they were listening to the opposition and putting services back for children and families," Simons said.He is pleased the Sunshine Coast will see more services for children and more resources for social workers. The province will be putting an additional $421 million into children and family support services.
"Today, I'm pleased to take another step forward with a budget designed to improve services for children," said Finance Minister Carole Taylor on Tuesday when announcing the budget.
Simons is disappointed that some other issues were not covered in the budget.
"There was absolutely nothing about housing, especially as it relates to people with mental illness," he said. "Homelessness is a growing issue on the Sunshine Coast because of the cost of shelter."
B.C. Green Party leader Adriane Carr also noted a need for housing funding in the budget.
"With one in five B.C. children living in poverty, the B.C. Liberals should be allocating money for subsidized and affordable non-market housing," Carr said.
Simons would like to see ongoing funding for rural development, instead of the one-time funds in last year's budget. As well, he said, there is a lack of money for a land use plan in the budget. The issue around land use plans will be a continued struggle, he added.
He presented two petitions to the House this week, one from a Powell River group and one from Sunshine Coast youth asking for a moratorium on logging in Mount Elphinstone until a land use plan is in place.
"All the ministers know how much the Sunshine Coast is asking for a land use plan," Simons said.
The provincial budget also includes $400 million to expand skills and training opportunities. However, the funding the province will be putting in to industry training does not make up for the cuts to skills training in 2001, Simons said.
