
BC United faults BC NDP govt. for slow rollout of free air conditioner program
CHILLIWACK — As temperatures skyrocket across the province and leave vulnerable British Columbians at risk, BC United asserts the BC NDP government’s free air conditioner program has been a resounding failure.
The British Columbia government announced in June 2023 that its Crown power utility, BC Hydro, would provide up to 8,000 free air-conditioning units to vulnerable people at a cost of $10 million.
The move followed a deadly heat wave in 2021 that killed more than 600 people.
A death review panel by the BC Coroners Service concluded that most of the 619 people who died in B.C.’s heat dome event in 2021 were low-income and vulnerable people who were 60 years and older.