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Rob Shaw: NDP steps on a landmine with cut to sick kids support

3 1
11.06.2025

What’s the worst possible program a government could cut? One that would cause most people to shake their heads at the mere mention of the idea? One that would burst into flames and burn danger-hot the moment it became public knowledge?

The answer is: Support for kids with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Children who need medical help, with their family around them, in their most difficult moments. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect any right-minded government would protect, no matter how dire things get at the provincial treasury.

And yet. Somehow. Here we are in another head-scratching moment in B.C. politics.

Health Minister Josie Osborne said Monday she’ll restore funding to the BC Family Residence Program, which provides accommodation for moms and dads to take the sickest children in the province for treatment at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.

The move came after massive backlash when Variety BC, which operates the program on behalf of the province, announced it was having to cut in half the number of accommodation days and put in restrictive eligibility caps on families.

“With increasing demand and reduced government funding, we’ve had to make difficult decisions to keep the BC Family Residence Program sustainable and focused on those with the greatest financial need,” Variety CEO Andrea Tang said.

Inexplicably, when the........

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