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The House met at 2:05 p.m.

This being the first day of the second session of the thirty-sixth Legislative Assembly of the province of British Columbia for the dispatch of business, pursuant to a proclamation of the Hon. Garde B. Gardom, Lieutenant-Governor of the province, hon. members took their seats.

Prayers.

His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, having entered the House and being seated upon the throne, was pleased to deliver the following gracious speech.

Hon. G. Gardom (Lieutenant-Governor): Mr. Speaker and hon. members, it is my pleasure to address you on the opening of the second session of the thirty-sixth parliament of British Columbia.

In the time since you last convened, our province has been saddened by the passing of two former members of this assembly. Patricia Jane Jordan, MLA for North Okanagan from 1966 to 1982, made a lasting contribution to the province's tourism industry as a cabinet minister and fiercely defended the interests of B.C. regions. And Allan Leslie Cox, although MLA for Oak Bay only briefly from 1968 to 1969, distinguished himself both in municipal politics and in the legal profession, serving as president of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada.

We've lost others as well who enriched the life of our province, British Columbians such as Bruce Eriksen, a long-time Vancouver civic activist, city councillor and advocate for the poor; Don Lanskail, former mayor of West Vancouver and a leader in B.C.'s forest industry; Dorothy Livesay, whose career of poetry and activism touched countless lives; and, of course, many others. We will long remember these fine British Columbians and their service and devotion to the many facets of B.C. society.

But we also take great joy in the achievements of our province's citizens in the last year. In every field of endeavour -- business, the arts, sports, medicine -- British Columbians have brought honour and credit to our province. Our province's musical heritage has been enriched by the accomplishments of artists like Elektra Women's Choir of Vancouver, which was the sole Canadian representative at the World Symposium on Choral Music in Australia.

We've been inspired by the athletic achievements of Kathleen Heddle, an Olympic rowing champion in both the 1992 and 1996 games. She and her partner Marnie McBean are the two most celebrated and successful female pairs rowers in Canadian history. Her success was recognized recently when she was selected Sport B.C.'s athlete of the year for 1996. We salute as well Steve Nash of Victoria, selected for Canada's national basketball team and last year drafted by the NBA's Phoenix Suns.

Last October our province was pleased to host Their Excellencies the Rt. Hon. Rom�o LeBlanc, Governor General of Canada, and Mrs. Diana Fowler LeBlanc on the first official visit to our province.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Rick Hansen's Man in Motion World Tour, which my government is recognizing by the commitment of resources to brain and spinal injury research, which is funded through the B.C. neurotrauma fund.

In November the people of B.C. will be honoured to host 5,000 representatives of governments and businesses from the economies of the Asia-Pacific. The APEC conference will underline British Columbia's pivotal role as Canada's gateway to the Pacific Rim. Our province also will be honoured this year to host the first World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention to be held outside of Asia. This conference offers Canadian businesses an unparalleled opportunity to showcase their services and their products to more than 1,500 delegates from some 35 countries.

Hon. members, as this province moves toward the new century, British Columbians are looking to you to help deliver policies and programs that meet their needs. My government is committed to build on the strengths that set our province apart: the opportunity to work at decent-paying, family-supporting wages; education to ensure that our children have the skills they need to compete in the global economy; a health care system that ensures that all our citizens -- particularly our seniors and children -- have the care they need when they need it; and a world-class standard of environmental protection.

[2:15]

My government is committed to these priorities in the context of prudent financial management and will be pursuing an agenda that allows each of them to be met. Those commitments are important to my government, because they demonstrate to the people of our province that their government is truly working for them, responding to their priorities and meeting their needs.

To meet the commitment of protecting medicare and education, my government has increased spending in both areas, despite federal cuts. To meet the commitment of giving a break to B.C families, my government reduced income taxes for middle-income earners, provided new support for working families with low and modest incomes, and froze Hydro rates and ICBC car insurance premiums.

In this session, my government intends to work even harder to meet the needs of British Columbians into the next century. The single most important way my government will meet those needs is by ensuring job opportunities for British Columbians throughout our province, so that each of our children will have the chance for a secure, prosperous and rewarding future. British Columbia's record in this area gives us much to be proud of. We have led the country in job creation during the last five years, and my government has worked hard with business and labour to secure new jobs and defend existing ones -- a commitment clearly demonstrated with B.C.'s leadership in the recent restructuring of Canadian Airlines, where our action safeguarded thousands of jobs in a key industry.

But as in all industrialized countries, not everyone is sharing in the benefits of economic growth, and unemployment remains unacceptably high. As proud as we can be of B.C.'s job creation record, my government believes that we can do more. We must do more. My government is determined to do everything in its power to maximize the employment capacity of B.C.'s economy through investments in infrastructure, in people, in resources, in our quality of life and in our environment.

Our growing population places an increasing

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demand on British Columbia's infrastructure, and nowhere is that demand more acute than in the areas of education and health care. The recently completed review of capital spending will allow my government to meet those needs in a way that gives taxpayers the maximum benefit possible for their tax dollars.

The education capital plan announced earlier this month includes almost 100 school construction projects in all parts of B.C. They will be built with innovative cost-saving measures. Similarly, the province will proceed with crucial investments in hospital expansion and health facility improvements. The lessons learned in the capital review will also help ensure we have the economic infrastructure in place -- bridges, transit, roads, water treatment -- to support economic growth well into the twenty-first century and to do so responsibly and efficiently. These investments will create construction jobs and contribute to our long-term economic growth.

My government intends to move aggressively to harness the entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector as we build our province. In just one example of such public-private partnerships, my government will be proceeding with a new highway interchange in Mission in cooperation with the private sector and the municipality. This innovative arrangement will support the development of a major new commercial centre, generating hundreds of new jobs. Similar partnerships hold tremendous promise in projects like the Lions Gate crossing and the new Vancouver convention centre. They are a reality in many of the education construction projects recently announced.

British Columbia has for some time now been pressing the federal government to join us in building for the future. My government hopes to soon begin work with the federal government in a new shared program to that end. There has as well been a new agreement with the federal government to make investments that will strengthen Vancouver's role as Canada's gateway to the Asia-Pacific region.

My government believes we must do more to support a specific aspect of that role by building on the measures my government took to assist in the restructuring of Canadian Airlines, and ensuring that Vancouver is the aviation gateway, for Canadians and Americans alike, to the Pacific trade area. The investments this province is making will encourage B.C. businesses to grow and thrive and improve the quality of life for all who live here.

But there are particular areas of our economy that require urgent attention, and none more so than forestry and fishing. Past mismanagement and global market conditions have combined to pose a serious threat to the economic health of many B.C. resource communities and to the livings of those who make their homes there. My government believes that our forests are one of our greatest public assets and a vital public trust. They must be sustained for future generations in a way that secures an appropriate return in economic activity, exports and jobs for British Columbians.

During the past five years, B.C. has been successful in turning back two significant threats to the viability of our forest sector. First, the softwood lumber agreement with the United States gives our forest industry long-needed protection against countervailing tariffs and other trade actions. And second, my government has implemented the world's leading environmental standards, re-establishing confidence in the sustainability of B.C. forestry. That achievement required the collaboration of British Columbians from one end of this province to the other in negotiating complex and far-reaching land use plans.

We have now completed a thorough review of our forest industry, drafted a comprehensive Forest Practices Code and established Forest Renewal B.C. to ensure that a substantial share of the profits of forest production are invested in our forests and the communities and the workers that rely on them.

In the context of these realities, my government intends to build on this industry's strengths to achieve a significant response in job creation. The province is committed to a framework agreement for a jobs and timber accord. The goal of this agreement is to increase economic return and the number of jobs generated from every tree we harvest, while maintaining our world-class environmental standards. My government is committed to creating 21,000 new jobs in our forest sector by the year 2001.

The jobs and timber accord will also stimulate value-added protection in the forest sector and assist the industry as it weathers cyclical changes in world markets. The accord my government is seeking will achieve these goals through a number of initiatives, including a reduction in bureaucracy and red tape and an increase in the level and types of investment undertaken by Forest Renewal B.C.

My government will also be seeking specific job creation initiatives from forest companies as their contribution to the stabilization and expansion of our forest sector. Access to public timber will require a commitment to sustainable management and to job creation.

My government intends as well to ensure a future for the Pacific salmon, a resource that has nourished countless generations among B.C.'s first nations and coastal communities. Our single most important priority must be the conservation of this resource. Our fisheries not only support coastal communities reliant on commercial fishing but also generate jobs and economic activity in our huge recreational fishery, which is a major element of our tourism industry.

This past year has seen some progress in protecting the salmon. Negotiations with Alaska and the other U.S. states of the Northwest are moving ahead, but they're not moving quickly enough to protect the fish. My government is ready to work with the federal administration or, if necessary, to take direct provincial action to ensure our salmon can return to our rivers and streams. The impact of American interceptions has been aggravated by Ottawa's fleet reduction plan, a plan that has already cost some 2,900 jobs.

British Columbia will continue to be vigorous and forceful in demanding a fair and effective Pacific Salmon Treaty. This is an issue that the federal government must address. We've been pleased that in a Legislature often noted for being charged with partisanship, on this issue all parties have come together to speak with one voice for B.C. B.C. believes that the problems with our fishery would be alleviated were Ottawa prepared to allow the province to take a much more active role in managing the fishery, and such an outcome is in sight. Our province is in negotiations with Ottawa, seeking an agreement that would expand provincial leadership and responsibility in fish conservation and management.

My government is also working hard with communities, industry, independent owner-operators and workers to develop a made-in-B.C. vision for the future of the fishery. And the province intends to form a partnership with these stakeholders for the creation of a new agency, Fisheries Renewal B.C., to invest profits back into the sector, protect jobs and protect the fish. Also, you will soon receive an important piece of legislation designed to conserve our fish stocks by protecting fish habitat. Forestry and fisheries remain keystones of our economic foundation, and we must ensure their fundamental health.

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My government remains committed as well to supporting and expanding other key sectors with a growing potential to provide jobs for British Columbians, one being our abundant supply of hydroelectric power, which is an important competitive advantage for our province. My government will be introducing legislation to use this energy strategically, particularly downstream benefits of the Columbia River Treaty, to create jobs that benefit all British Columbians.

We have a competitive edge as well in tourism, thanks to our stunning natural beauty. My government will introduce legislation to establish long-term funding for a new agency, in partnership with the tourism community, to help plan an even more exciting future for this key sector.

My government also intends to build on the recent successes of our film industry. Last year B.C. outpaced Ontario to become Canada's largest centre for film and television production. Thousands of British Columbians were directly employed in $537 million worth of production. Key to this new success is a new commitment from labour and management to provide increased certainty about labour costs and working conditions. We applaud both sides for this achievement. During the coming months, my government will make further commitments to support this ever-growing industry so that it continues to generate well-paying new jobs for British Columbians.

The construction sector has long been an important part of our economy, but one hampered by red tape and barriers to training, in particular apprenticeships. That will change in this session. My government has achieved a consensus among business, labour, educators and training providers on a new, expanded training and apprenticeship system -- one that will be more responsive to the needs of labour markets and better at meeting the needs of workers. As the cornerstone of this initiative, my government will work with representatives from business, labour and government to expand apprenticeships and training in B.C., ensuring that these new opportunities provide access to all, particularly those entering the workforce for the first time.

The need for employment is perhaps most urgent for B.C.'s youth, who face high levels of unemployment and daunting obstacles on the road to their future. My government will proceed with the work that the Premier began with his Youth Forum last year and continued with a second forum this February. The province will work to secure the opportunities that our youth seek and give them the tools they need to prosper.

[2:30]

We will build on the success of my government's Guarantee for Youth -- a guarantee of work experience, affordable education and access to our colleges and universities -- and by heeding the call of B.C.'s youth for a voice in government.

My government also has initiated programs to generate 12,000 new jobs for youth in the coming year. My government will continue to provide work experience and training opportunities, keep tuition fees frozen at an affordable level and protect access to education. And we will go further, with new partnerships with the private sector.

To ensure British Columbians derive the greatest benefit possible from all of these measures, we must allow the people and communities of B.C. to participate in both their planning and implementation. In the coming year my government will work with stakeholders in British Columbia's regions to develop regional jobs strategies that meet local needs and reflect local priorities. These plans will be developed from the community up, and they will be the blueprint for coordinating our investments and developing new jobs. Work is already underway to commence development of a regional job strategy for northern B.C.

The distribution of work among regions is an important issue, but just as important is the distribution of work among British Columbians. Too many people have heavy work schedules with hours that keep them from their families and friends, and too many others cannot find enough work to pay the bills. My government believes that we must begin a dialogue about these issues, with the goal of securing a shorter work week in British Columbia. My government will challenge our communities and industries to be creative, and we stand ready to work with all parties in this regard to increase employment, close the income gap and strengthen family life throughout our province.

As we pursue economic growth, we must also ensure that we do not compromise the ability of future generations to succeed and prosper. It is not good enough to just leave this land in the condition we found it. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to leave it much better. In recent years we have come to understand that if our environment is to continue to sustain us, then we must conduct our affairs in a way that sustains healthy ecosystems. In the past five years we have seen B.C. take the global lead in wilderness protection, with more than 240 new parks and protected areas. B.C. now has over 8.9 million hectares of protected areas -- 9.4 percent of the province.

In this session my government will continue to work toward the goal of completing the province's network of protected areas, with a specific emphasis on protecting marine ecosystems. And you will soon deal with legislation to protect in law the boundaries of approximately 70 parks. But my government understands that environmental stewardship means much more than protected wilderness areas. To safeguard the health and unique quality of life that we enjoy in B.C., we must also improve the environment where we live and work. For that reason, my government will introduce legislation to ensure that our fish stocks can thrive. This legislation will reflect a simple reality: without clean, free-running salmon rivers, other fisheries conservation measures are meaningless.

The province will also take action to improve waste management and encourage recycling by expanding the deposit-and-refund system for beverage containers. This will not only relieve pressure on B.C. landfills but will also help us conserve resources. It will be another important step toward our goal of appropriate, responsible solid waste management. As well, there will be consultation on new measures to safeguard the quality of the air British Columbians breathe and the water we drink.

We will provide leadership as well to ensure that Canada's governments work together to fight a national shame -- that of child poverty. British Columbians can be proud that our province led the way in creating a child benefit for working parents with low and modest incomes. The family bonus has become the consensus model of choice for provinces as we work together to shape a new national benefit to help poor children. B.C. will continue to lead the effort for such a truly effective national child benefit. Within our own borders, my government will also work to ensure that children receive the support they need. You will soon be asked to consider legislation that will strengthen the province's ability to enforce child support orders.

My government will work as well to combat domestic violence, a terrifying reality for too many British Columbians.

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And where children are at risk, my government is determined to ensure their protection. We've learned crucial lessons at a terrible cost in the aftermath of the tragic death of young Matthew Vaudreuil. Judge Gove's recommendations have been accepted and are being implemented by this government. B.C. now has a new ministry with a new integrated mandate. It was created in half the time recommended and now takes on the daunting task of bringing together B.C.'s many services for children.

We must work to strengthen families in the province. Much of my government's agenda will be geared to that goal in the coming session. The freezes on tuition fees, hydro rates and ICBC car insurance premiums will help all families meet their bills. And like the last budget, the coming budget will lower taxes for the average B.C. family.

B.C. families rely as well on the core services that government provides. That's why my government has made the protection of medicare and education a key priority. Despite continuing deep federal cuts in the coming year, B.C. will increase both its health and education budgets.

My government will soon introduce legislation to underline the province's commitment to medicare by ensuring that British Columbians have access to a doctor's services no matter where they live. By controlling costs, our province has been able to redirect resources to front-line care and services. My government has taken significant action to reduce wait-lists for vital surgery. B.C. has also added tens of thousands of spaces to our public schools.

In the coming session, my government will continue to develop programs to ensure consumers can get the medicine they need, without funding excessive corporate profits. And B.C. will be looking to the new regional health boards to integrate administration and find even more savings to go straight to the front lines.

My government will take on another challenge during the coming session. We will hold tobacco companies accountable for the costs their addictive, dangerous products impose on our health care system.

My government believes that our investments in health and education, along with our infrastructure, our resource base and our environment, will help ensure our economy is able to compete now and in the future, generating opportunities for ourselves and for our children. But it is vital that those opportunities be available to all British Columbians, including those who too often have been left out of the prosperity and promise of our province: B.C.'s aboriginal peoples. Unemployment in first nations communities is unacceptably high.

My government will continue its groundbreaking work in resolving the injustice faced by our province's first nations, aboriginal and M�tis communities and building the government's partnership with them. In the coming session, the province will continue the work of bringing the Nisga'a treaty process to a successful and historic conclusion and bringing negotiations with other bands to the framework agreement stage.

At the national level, my government has taken some very strong stands concerning issues like the Pacific Salmon Treaty. At the same time, the province has worked hard to develop a sound, constructive relationship with the federal government. While Ottawa continues to download costs in health, education and social services to British Columbia, we have had important successes. The most significant, earlier this month, was an agreement to compensate the province for the disproportionate amount of immigrant services we have to pay for, and to begin discussions about the number of people coming to B.C. and entering the welfare rolls.

My government will continue to provide leadership nationally, and B.C. will continue to speak out on the national stage. Whether it's seeking a fair, effective salmon treaty or a far more comprehensive child poverty initiative than the one announced in the recent federal budget, the B.C. government will be forceful, vigorous and, judging by its record, successful at defending B.C.'s interests.

Each of these commitments is meaningful. But it is vital for the health of our economy to meet them in a way that protects the financial well-being of our province. My government has heeded the voices of British Columbians, who have said they want sound financial management balanced with the needs of medicare and education. The Finance minister's budget will show significant progress toward my government's goals. It will continue to reduce overall spending growth through cuts to the size of government, cuts to administration, cuts to overhead, and the elimination of some programs, grants and subsidies. And the budget will deliver on my government's commitment to continue to provide tax relief to B.C. families and small businesses.

With the economy expected to recover this year, British Columbia, unlike other provinces, will continue to protect funding for medicare and education, despite continuing, severe federal cuts. Prudent financial management will help to both foster the climate for job creation and ensure my government is able to meet all of its commitments.

These commitments -- creating jobs, protecting medicare and education, and safeguarding our environment -- are all geared to meeting the needs of British Columbia families as we head into the new century. The people of British Columbia expect and deserve a government that helps them meet those needs. That's the challenge you face as legislators as you enter this session. I wish you well with all your deliberations.

His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor retired from the chamber.

[The Speaker in the chair.]

The Speaker: Hon. members, in order to prevent mistakes I wish to advise that I have obtained a copy of His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor's speech.

Hon. U. Dosanjh presented a message from His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled An Act to Ensure the Supremacy of Parliament.

Hon. U. Dosanjh: The purpose of introducing this bill prior to consideration of the throne speech is to express the established right of parliament, through its elected members, to deliberate independently of the Sovereign. This right was first asserted by the parliament at Westminster in 1603, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

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Bill 1 introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Hon. J. MacPhail: I move, seconded by the member for Vancouver-Little Mountain, that Gretchen Brewin, member for Victoria-Beacon Hill electoral district, be appointed Deputy Speaker for this session of the Legislative Assembly.

[2:45]

Motion approved.

Hon. J. MacPhail: I move, seconded by the member for Vancouver-Little Mountain, that Bill Hartley, member for Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows electoral district, be appointed Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole for this session of the Legislative Assembly.

Motion approved.

Hon. U. Dosanjh: I move that the Votes and Proceedings of this House be printed, being first perused by the Speaker, that he do appoint the printing thereof, and that no person but such as he shall appoint do presume to print the same.

Motion approved.

Hon. G. Clark: I move that the select standing committees of this House for the present session be appointed for the following purposes:

1. Aboriginal Affairs;
2. Justice, Constitutional Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations;
3. Education, Culture and Multiculturalism;
4. Economic Development, Science, Labour, Training and Technology;
5. Environment and Tourism;
6. Finance and Government Services;
7. Health and Social Services;
8. Agriculture and Fisheries;
9. Forests, Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources;
10. Transportation, Municipal Affairs and Housing;
11. Women's Equality;
12. Public Accounts;
13. Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct, Standing Orders and Private Bills;
14. Crown Corporations;

which said committees shall severally be empowered to examine and inquire into all such matters and things as shall be referred to them by this House, and to report from time to time their observations and opinions thereon, with power to send for persons, papers and records; and that a special committee be appointed to prepare and report, with all convenient speed, lists of members to compose the above select standing committees of this House under standing order 68(1), the committee to be composed of Hon. J. MacPhail, convener; Hon. A. Petter; Messrs. Janssen and Conroy; Ms. Gillespie and Ms. Kwan; Messrs. Farrell-Collins, Gingell and Hurd; and Ms. Whittred.

G. Wilson: Speaking to the motion, I note that there is no reference to any committee that would specifically have dealings with tobacco, alcohol and gambling, three issues which are of utmost importance to the people of British Columbia, particularly with two reports having come forward: the Clark report and soon a report with respect to changes in liquor laws. I would therefore ask that the House consider the following amendment: that after the words "following purposes," No. 15 be added as follows: "15. Tobacco, Alcohol and Gambling"; and that standing order 68(1) is hereby amended and shall reflect said committees to have the powers conferred by section 69 of the Constitution Act -- moved by myself and seconded by my colleague the member for Peace River North.

Hon. J. MacPhail: While I appreciate the intent of the remarks of the member for Powell River-Sunshine Coast, his concerns are covered by the appointment of the Standing Committee on Health and Social Services, and it would be most appropriate at the time that matters are referred to the committee that this issue be discussed. Certainly the items listed by the hon. member are within the purview of that standing committee.

Amendment negatived.

Motion approved.

Hon. J. MacPhail moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

The House adjourned at 2:50 p.m.

Copyright © 1997: Queen's Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada