Hansard -- Volume 3, Number 15 -- Thursday, February 28, 2002

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.

Official Report of

DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY



CONTENTS

	Routine Proceedings
		Page

Second Reading of Bills		1367
	Vancouver Island Natural Gas Pipeline Amendment Act, 2002 (Bill 5) Hon. R. Neufeld J. MacPhail

Budget Debate (continued)		1368
	S. Brice Hon. S. Hawkins B. Lekstrom R. Lee B. Kerr

Section 3 of the Vancouver Island Natural Gas Pipeline Act gives the Minister of Energy and Mines authority to enter into certain types of agreements with specified parties in subsections (a) through (e), subject to the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council's approval. Agreements are required with respect to the funding, construction and operation of the pipeline, the granting of service area and any other matter relating to the act.

The only agreement under section 3 of the act is the Vancouver Island natural gas pipeline agreement, created in 1996 as part of the financial restructuring of the pipeline. Westcoast Energy Inc. is a specified party in the agreement and is listed in subsection (d) of the act. Westcoast Energy has offered to sell its shares of Centra Gas British Columbia Inc. to B.C. Gas, giving B.C. Gas control over Centra Gas's Vancouver Island, Sunshine Coast and Whistler assets.

While B.C. Gas Utility would be considered an eligible party under subsection (c), B.C. Gas Inc. is not. It is necessary for the minister to enter into agreement with B.C. Gas Inc., Centra Gas British Columbia and the two former Centra companies — namely, Westcoast Power Holdings Inc. and CGBC Holdings Inc. — to facilitate the transaction between Westcoast Energy and B.C. Gas.

We seek to amend the Vancouver Island Natural Gas Pipeline Act to enable the completion of this transaction between B.C. Gas and Westcoast Energy. This amendment would require B.C. Gas and the two former Centra companies to be added to the list of parties under section 3 of the act.

The addition of subsections (f) through (i) will then allow the minister to enter into agreements with parties to this transaction. The Ministry of Energy and Mines has consulted with the risk management branch, the Ministry of Finance, the British Columbia Utilities Commission, the Oil and Gas Commission, B.C. Gas Inc. and Westcoast Energy. The risk management branch of the Ministry of Finance has approved the transfer of the existing indemnity within the Vancouver Island natural gas pipeline agreement from Westcoast Energy to B.C. Gas.

B.C. Utilities Commission has issued an approval for completion of the transaction. Westcoast Energy has been informed of its requirement to apply to the Oil and Gas Commission for permission to sell its pipeline pursuant to section 32 of the Pipeline Act. The application must occur after the sale has completed.

In summary, an amendment to the Vancouver Island Natural Gas Pipeline Act is needed to enable Westcoast Energy to be replaced with B.C. Gas Inc., with the Vancouver Island natural gas pipeline agreement. A transaction of this nature should be made without unnecessary interference by government. This amendment reduces unnecessary red tape in two ways. First, it allows the minister to enter into agreements under the act without further approval, as is required now. This includes amendments to existing agreements such as the ones required for this transaction to take place.

Second, the proposed amendment to the act will eliminate the need to change legislation should Centra Gas ever be sold again. This amendment will allow private industry to enter into commercial transactions without the need for a further amendment to the act.

Finally, amending the Vancouver Island Natural Gas Pipeline Act carries no additional financial implications for the province, and the Vancouver Island and Sunshine Coast residents will not see a change in service as a result of the amendment. Rates paid by the customer base will continue to be subject to regulation through the B.C. Utilities Commission. Any subsequent changes in rates would require application to be made to the commission, which, under the Utilities Commission Act, has the authority to review application and issue decisions. This is the same as is required today.

I trust this gives you a good overview of the reasons why the Ministry of Energy and Mines seeks to amend the Vancouver Island Natural Gas Pipeline Act.

J. MacPhail: Well, I was deeply moved by that second reading by the Minister of Energy and Mines. It was incredible — the emotion that was expressed about the necessity for this piece of legislation. I am rising today to understand the necessity for this piece of legislation as a stand-alone bill. I thought: "Oh my goodness. This must be a bill of great import, because it's a stand-alone piece of legislation."

In my day, having to be responsible for hundreds of pieces of legislation, we used to try to manage down the stand-alone pieces of legislation in order not to consume an inordinate amount of time in this chamber. It was this kind of legislation that would come forward day after day, and we would say: "Why, minister, are you bringing this forward as a stand-alone piece of

I thought the fact that this government was bringing it forward as a stand-alone would mean that there is something of incredible import, so I was listening closely with a great deal of attention to the minister's detailed analysis of why it was necessary. Then I looked at the legislation, and I saw that the effect of this really had occurred on December 21, 2001. I knew there wasn't an immediate crisis.

I listened closely, and I heard the minister say it's not affecting consumers. It's not going to affect price; it's a business transaction. I thought: well, we really are a government of the day that represents business interests to the extent that we have this very unusual stand-alone piece of legislation.

Then I thought I heard the minister say that it's going to cut red tape and save so much effort, and I thought: my goodness, what red tape, what extra work, has been created by having a stand-alone piece of legislation — the time that is consumed in this House, the amount of printing that took place to do this stand-alone piece of legislation?

Then I looked even more to see; maybe I'm missing something. Then I thought: I know what it is. The government doesn't know what it's doing. That was the conclusion I came to — it doesn't have a clue what it's doing in terms of its legislative agenda — and I thought: oh well, at least that's an answer. That makes sense. It would be following a pattern in this chamber of this government not knowing what it's doing.

We have a piece of legislation here that's a perfect candidate for a very orderly miscellaneous statutes bill, and instead we have a stand-alone. Is it because this government has no plan and doesn't know what its next action might be in this chamber, so it's looking for work? Yes, this bill may purport to cut red tape and streamline regulation, but it is a bill of unbelievable make-work for this chamber.

I certainly hope I'm proven wrong when we get into the committee stage, and my colleague and I will be doing an in-depth analysis of the importance of this piece of legislation clause by clause. Maybe as we do that, this government will come up with a plan of what it actually is doing here and the importance of this chamber.

Hon. R. Neufeld: I don't have a lot to add to what I already said; I think it was fairly straightforward. We probably consume more time with listening to the member opposite rant about something that she's not really sure about…. I would say, Mr. Speaker, that if she went back to the original act in 1996, she would see that they were fairly preferential in who they put into the act, instead of being a little bit more broad.

That's how we will reduce red tape. There will be no need to come back to this House to change legislation to actually have an ordinary financial transaction take place. Talk about a government that wanted to save time. I say that it's a little hard to take.

Bill 5, Vancouver Island Natural Gas Pipeline Amendment Act, 2002, read a second time and referred to a Committee of the Whole House for consideration at the next sitting of the House after today.

S. Brice: Good morning, Mr. Speaker and members. I am delighted to be able to carry on the discussion of the budget that has been tabled in this House. To just recap, I was concluding at the point where I was complimenting the Minister of Finance for bringing in a budget that reaffirms our commitment to education.

The $4.86 billion that is allocated in this budget is a pledge to the children of British Columbia and their families that this government reveres education. Education funding is maintained and is established as a top priority. As a former teacher and school board chair myself, I am supportive of this $4.86 billion that has been allocated to the Ministry of Education.

We must remember, as I pointed out yesterday, that the money is merely the means to the end. These dollars have to be taken in context with all of the other initiatives in the very important area of education, which our government is taking.

We instated education as an essential service — an extremely important piece of legislation. We enshrined class size in legislation, moving it out of a collective agreement and into legislation, elevating its importance. We guaranteed the rights of parents to volunteer their services in their children's school. We've introduced accountability contracts. We've reinvigorated the Select Standing Committee on Education, whose report we eagerly await. We've provided elected school trustees with the administrative tools they'll need to provide effective leadership at the local level.

All of these initiatives, supported by $4.86 billion, will definitely improve the education product. The dollars allocated for education must be examined in the context of all these initiatives. As I said

before, the dollars are merely the means to the end. At the centre of our educational philosophy and our educational policy is the student. All the legislation and all of the tax dollars go to support the student at the very centre.

In these difficult economic times it is a statement of our determination to provide our children with an excellent education — that the budget for education has been protected. Despite this protection, we know that with the inherent cost pressures in the system, there are many challenges facing school boards as they manage the dollars allocated to each district. I know the Minister of Education will be meeting with each school board chair, superintendent and school district secretary-treasurer so that they can map out the best way to deal with these cost pressures.

However, everyone knows the single most influential factor in a child's education is the relationship between the student and the teacher. Teachers are everything to a successful educational system. Debates rage; they rage in the community. They may rage from time to time in this House about optimum class size, grade configurations and curriculum modifications, but we all know the magic happens between the student and the teacher.

In B.C. we are blessed with a dedicated staff with a history of including a rich extracurricular program in their professional services because they, too, hold the student at the very centre of their professional drive. For the sake of all the children, I sincerely hope there will be a resumption of a full educational program, including the rich extracurricular programs, before more opportunities are lost. Each child gets only one time through the system. For all of us committed to those children receiving the fullest educational experience, we need everyone to put the best interest of the students first.

As these youngsters grow to become young adults, their educational needs change, but they're no less important to this government. The budget for the Ministry of Advanced Education is also being protected at $1.9 billion.

In order for colleges and universities to provide quality programs, the Minister of Advanced Education wisely lifted the six-year tuition freeze. To freeze or not to freeze had become a very political issue. In fact, to cut off this revenue source for the colleges and universities for the past six years without replacing those lost dollars with government funding has resulted in a deterioration of program offerings in B.C. post-secondary institutions. Students currently in the system and the students of tomorrow will be the beneficiaries of the sensible decision to support local autonomy and allow local college and university boards to establish realistic tuition fees.

Our second priority: health care. The Ministry of Health Services gets equal billing to Education in this budget. These two priorities, education and health care, are equally important to the citizens and to our government.

The budget of $10.2 billion — that's an increase of 7.3 percent over the previous year. We'll be spending approximately $28 million every day to meet the health needs of our population. That's $28 million a day, every day, to meet the health care needs of our population. Those are huge numbers, and they represent precious services to the child with leukemia, to the worker with the back injury, to the senior with the failing heart.

Because those dollars behind our health care system represent quality of life — and in many instances life itself — we have a solemn obligation to ensure that every possible precious dollar goes directly to patient care. Recent changes in legislation to give the health care authorities the ability to direct every possible resource to patient care have been characterized by some as draconian or anti-union. Nothing could be further from the truth. That was compassionate legislation, arrived at after serious soul-searching. It was in the best interest of the patients that that legislation was passed in this House. It is keeping in mind that child with leukemia, that worker with the back injury or that senior with the failing heart. They are at the centre of our health care system.

That 7.3 percent increase in the health budget has to come from somewhere. The Minister of Finance chose not to fund the additional health costs at the expense of other crucial ministries such as Human Resources and Children and Family Development. Instead he chose to spread the financial obligation over the general population with an increase in the MSP premiums and a 0.5 percent increase in sales tax. No one likes tax increases, and this government is particularly reluctant to increase taxes. However, on balance, we heard British Columbians say: "Please protect our health care system."

In an additional effort to mitigate against the low-income earners who are already stretched to the limit, the Minister of Finance, in implementing these changes, eliminated or decreased the MSP premiums to 230,000 British Columbians at the lowest end of the financial scale.

As we move to make the necessary changes to our health care system, each one of us in this Legislature has a moral obligation to refrain from using extreme language or fear tactics to raise the anxiety of the population. Canadians across the country are all coming to the realization that the system we've known for decades is overdue for some significant changes. We will not all agree on just what those changes should be, but to cling to the old way of doing business will surely result in a collapse of the system. Negative impacts on patients unable to be treated — which we strive to avoid — will be thrust upon us if we fail to have the courage to change.

One of our most serious obligations as community leaders will be to enunciate the issues clearly so that the public we serve will understand the changes which must be made. Only then will we be poised to take advantage of the incredible medical breakthroughs which are just around the corner. Those who choose to

look longingly back at the health care system of 40 years ago fail to grasp the opportunities we all want to be available for our families, our neighbours and our co-workers. It is a lost quality-of-life — even life-and-death — opportunity if we fail to respond.

Over the term of the budget plan presented, the revenue increases and spending reductions over '02-03 will combine to reduce the deficit to zero by '04-05. That is our commitment.

This is a solid budget designed to build a strong and robust economy. For this plan to succeed, it will require the combined effort of all — all who work in and govern these public services. I have every confidence that working together, we will make it happen. Thank you.

Hon. S. Hawkins: Mr. Speaker, it's a pleasure to rise in the House today and support our budget.

Before I do that, if I may, I'd like to say that I hope our Deputy Speaker, my colleague from Kelowna–Lake Country, is doing well. I did have the opportunity to see him last week, and he sends his best to us in the House. If he's watching — if he doesn't have a life — we send our best back to him. I know he's back home recuperating. I want to assure — and I did assure him — our constituents at home that my office is going to work with his to make sure that we meet the needs of all our constituents.

I know a lot of hours and a lot of hard work went into this budget over the past several months. I certainly want to thank all my ministry staff and all the staff in the Finance ministry and the other ministries for their commitment, their hard work, their dedication, and to let them know that we really do appreciate the hours they put into preparing the budget.

I also want to acknowledge the vision and the dedication of the Premier and the Finance minister for making sure that all the members in the House were involved in the preparation of that budget. I think it was one of the most open processes we've ever seen, going through a budget process. Every government member got to look at our service plans, got to scrutinize what we were doing, got to ask tough questions — and they were tough, Mr. Speaker. They were very thoughtful. There was a lot of insightful feedback throughout the process from members from around the province. I think, at the end of the day, we did get a budget that did reflect the needs and priorities of people across the province.

I think we knew, and the public knows, that it won't always be smooth sailing. It won't be smooth sailing to get to where we want to go. I can tell you quite honestly that the choices we had to make have not been easy, but the course we have to chart for our province has always been and will remain very, very clear.

We've been given a mandate for change, a mandate to challenge and to change the status quo. We were given that mandate by the majority of voters across British Columbia. That mandate was to restore sound fiscal management to this province. That mandate was to restore and vitalize the economy, to restore hope and prosperity for people across the province after a decade of decline. Certainly, that mandate was to put patients, students and the most vulnerable first in a system where over ten years they were neglected. I believe the budget does reflect that, and it does do that.

I think British Columbians know that we have a challenge ahead of us. I can tell you that the majority of my constituents understand that. I've heard members rise in the House. You know, there's a huge silent majority out there. They're not so silent when they see me walking through the mall or at the gym or in different parts of our province when I travel. Honestly, they do come up to me and say: "Be tough; stay the course." I tell them that's what we're going to do. We are very clear about where we want to be in three years, and we plan to do exactly what we said we were going to do.

I'm proud to say that this is the first budget to include three-year service plans for ministries and Crown corporations. The service plans are laid out clearly with goals and objectives. There are strategies identified for achieving the overall goals and the specified objectives, and certainly there are performance measures and targets that are clear. They've been put in place to make sure that strategies we employ to reach our goals are actually doing what they're supposed to do, and that's to get us to the positive outcomes that we want to achieve.

I'm proud to say again that all the government members had input into these service plans and that they were carefully prepared and thoughtfully reviewed before they were approved. However, they're not written in stone. They're considered working plans. We will be reviewing them. We'll be updating them annually so every British Columbian can see for themselves the challenges and the circumstances, both financial and social, that we're facing. Those challenges are not small. Our government is determined to work hard to save and renew our public health care system, and that is a priority.

Health isn't just a government program. You've heard that said before. It's about our health. It's about the health of our parents, our children and our grandparents. It's about the health of those we care about the most, and we have to recognize that the costs have more than tripled in this province, with wage pressures on top of this, and we can't hold the line on health care spending. Our commitment was to hold and protect the health care budget at $9.2 billion when we were sworn in. The Minister of Finance added another $300 million last summer, so that was $9.5 billion, and the Minister of Finance in this budget added another $750 million, getting that to $10.2 billion. That's a 7.3 percent increase in the health care budget. I'm hard-pressed to understand how people can say we've cut health care

spending when we've increased it by almost a billion dollars over the past year.

The Minister of Finance had some tough choices to make as well. He had to fund the increases of those who deliver our health care services. Our government, in the budget, included raising tax on a carton of cigarettes, raising the provincial sales tax to 7.5 percent and increasing the MSP premiums by 50 percent. Again, not easy choices to make, but health care is not free. People who think that it's an entitlement — that it should be free, that every service should be funded and that the money comes from somewhere other than their pockets — have to understand that it's taxpayers who pay for those services. We must make sure that we are moving to a system that is better managed and that is focused on patients' needs, not necessarily every want and desire. We are doing that as we move forward in renewing and saving our public health care system.

Our government's vision for public health care for British Columbia is for a health care system that delivers high-quality public health care services that meet all patients' needs where they live and when they need it. In order to realize this vision, we established some goals both for ourselves and for our partners in the health care system. It's important to set goals, because if we don't set those goals, we don't know where we're going to be going. That is something that I think this government has decided is important. We've set goals; we've set targets. We want to measure our performance. We want to make sure that what we're doing is actually going to result in positive outcomes.

Sometimes these goals might seem ambitious, but we plan to work really hard to meet them. I think British Columbians and Canadians as a group know that we need to do things differently. We have to find ways to save and renew our public health care system so that patients, health care providers and the general public can have that confidence in our health care system — that confidence that patients' needs will be met when they need them.

We've set, over the course of the last few months, three major goals for health care in B.C. First, we want to strive for a health care system that offers high-quality, patient-centred care. I emphasize that: patient-centred care. Our commitment was to make sure that we put patients first, so our first goal is for that high-quality, patient-centred care. This means that patients will get the appropriate, effective quality care they need at the right time, in the right setting. It means that the health services are planned and managed, and they're delivered to meet patient needs — not institutional needs, not administrators' needs, not service providers' needs, but we're centred and focused on patients' needs. We've always said that putting patients first is our top priority, and we have been basing and will continue to base all of our work to save and renew public health care in this province around that principle of putting patients first.

Our second goal is to improve the health and wellness of people in this province. I think we all recognize that health and wellness are determined by a number of factors like heredity, early childhood development, education, economic status, environment and employment. As well, I think you have to recognize that it's also determined by personal choices like choosing to exercise, choosing to eat healthy or choosing to smoke. Good behaviours and bad behaviours determine how healthy we are.

I think it's important to make sure that health services are there for British Columbians who need them when they're sick, but we also want to pay attention and focus on ways to support people in staying as healthy as possible. I'm happy to say that we will be working closely with our provincial health officer to find ways to improve the health and wellness of our population.

I think we should remember and we should realize how lucky we are that in British Columbia we enjoy the best health status in Canada. In recognizing that, I know that many British Columbians don't enjoy good health. Our goal, then, is not only to make sure that there are health services when people are sick but also to make sure that all British Columbians have new opportunities to improve their health status as well. I think we all recognize that a healthier population will help our health system survive and our families to thrive and enjoy a better quality of life.

Again, with our provincial health officer's advice and direction, we will be developing a new prevention strategy and health promotion initiative. That's going to be a key part of the Ministry of Health Planning's work over the coming year as we look for ways to improve health and wellness and ultimately ways to reduce the pressures that we know our health system is going to be facing down the road.

Our third goal is to ensure that we have a sustainable, affordable public health care system that will serve patients not only now but also into the future. I think this sustainability — I know that's a watch word, and we're using it a lot — is so critical in health care. We need to focus our efforts on renewing our health care system in a way that we can afford.

Certainly, on Tuesday at the provincial congress, many of us were quite impressed with Dr. David Baxter's presentation. He really underlined that point of sustainability. He did an excellent job of outlining the challenges in the growth of our aging population, and he forced us again to confront that issue of sustainability. We are rising to meet that challenge.

We know that there are tremendous pressures on our publicly funded health care system. Our health care system has been overwhelmed in the past decade or more with new technologies, increasing wages and prescription drug costs and certainly growing public expectations that our publicly funded health care system will meet all needs and all wants. A publicly funded health care system should be there when someone needs it, when a patient needs it. I think we as a government are going to be taking a leadership role in defining the needs of our system and what our system

Our ultimate goal, Mr. Speaker, is to create a planned, efficient, affordable and accountable public health care system in which all partners — government, health care providers and the public — will share responsibility for the use of health care services. I'm happy to say that we are taking action to get us there.

A lot of the pressures we're facing in our system, I believe, are the result of a decade or more of little or no planning. Past governments and past policy-makers ignored the importance of having that sound, strategic long-term plan for health care, and we're certainly seeing the effects of it today.

The system that our government inherited was poorly planned and organized. This certainly has resulted in a fragmented and inflexible system of delivery of services. Patients certainly are feeling the effects. We've got patients on long waiting lists across the province. We've got a critical shortage of key health care providers.

You know, the Ministry of Health Planning was created because our government, our Premier, recognized that good planning is an important part of managing the health care system. We've certainly been busy identifying issues and making plans to address some of the immediate challenges.

I want to say that we've been quite successful in the past few months. We implemented a targeted strategy to get more nurses into our health care system in August. We introduced a total of 177 training spots for RNs, LPNs and resident care aides. We introduced more opportunities for nurse refresher programs for both B.C. nurses and foreign-trained nurses. We gave health providers the tools they needed to do their jobs safely. We freed up $15 million in minor capital for patient bed lifts in areas outside the lower mainland, and for the first time ever the Minister of Advanced Education set up a program of forgivable student loans in return for service in a rural or remote area of our province. That's good news, and it's all been done on top of also giving our nurses the best wage and benefits package in the country.

The good news is that we have been successful in reducing the nurse vacancy rate by 20 percent since last summer. The RNABC, the body that registers nurses, has been very busy taking in applications, so we know our strategy is working.

In December we also completed our first major piece of health planning with the announcement of the restructuring of the health services delivery system. I'm proud to report that we kept our new-era commitment of patient-centred health care by introducing a simpler, more streamlined and more accountable structure for governing and delivering health services to patients across our province. Certainly, by creating six health authorities, we reduce duplication. We're hoping to reduce administration costs. We replaced a patchwork of 52 separate, unequal and uncoordinated local boards, councils and societies.

Frankly, I've been more than impressed with the people put in place to manage the new health authorities. They're working incredibly hard, and I think that in the next three years we're going to see some very good things as they work to manage and deliver quality health care services to the patients within their regions.

There are five new geographical health authorities, and I'll just mention them. They're the northern, the interior, the Vancouver Island, the Vancouver coastal and the Fraser health authorities. Then we have a sixth, the new and innovative provincial health services authority, which has representation from across the province. It's responsible for the coordination and delivery of those highly specialized programs like cancer treatment and transplants for patients across B.C.

You know what? A key part of these health authorities is accountability, and our health authorities know they will be held accountable. They actually look forward to being held accountable for the effectiveness of the health services they are providing. They embrace it, because they want to make sure, like we want to make sure, that every dollar they spend is targeted to patient care and to making sure that the services they are providing are beneficial to patients.

We're working closely with the health authorities to develop accountability frameworks and reasonable outcome measures to make sure we have good health outcomes. In the past we were measuring inputs. We kept dumping money into the system, and we'd measure how many patients were being treated with the money or how many facilities were treated with the money or how much equipment we were buying. You know what? We've done a really poor job in the last 40 years of saying: "Does the money we're putting into health care or into this program actually benefit patients on the other side? Are we actually getting good patient outcomes?"

We're starting to move to that system, and I can tell you that I'm excited. The planning my ministry is doing is complex. It's sophisticated; it's new. But I believe we are going to set a model for the rest of Canada and perhaps the rest of the world, and it's been a long time coming.

I've been given the responsibility of developing a long-term strategic plan to help guide our health care system over the next decade. Well, I can tell you, it's no small task. Within the overall ten-year plan we're already working on a ten-year human resource plan, as well as working on plans for a number of other areas where good planning, I believe, is critical and long overdue.

The Minister of State for Mental Health has taken the lead on planning frameworks for mental health, and the Minister of State for Immediate, Long Term and Home Care has been very busy working with other ministers and bodies to develop strategies to meet the needs of alternate-level-of-care clients. Cer-

tainly, our work in my ministry will be focused on plans for future capital and facility needs, for medical equipment and machinery needs and, of course, something that's been missing again and missing in a coordinated way. We are working on a comprehensive technology plan to help our health professionals use information technology and telemedicine to provide more effective patient care.

I can tell you that the telemedicine projects are very exciting. The Minister of Health Services and I had a chance to see it live in action at Vancouver Hospital on Monday. We connected an emergency physician in Vancouver to a family physician in Cranbrook. There was a mock demonstration: a logging accident, quite a horrible logging accident — chest injury, foot amputee. Just watching, I was a little reluctant at first to embrace it. I thought: how can a doctor sitting in Vancouver over a TV screen help somebody in Cranbrook?

You know what? I was there. My heart was pounding. It was almost like you were right in that room while that physician was carrying out her duties and the nurses were working over the patient. It was quite exciting to see how he could manipulate the camera and get right in there and see if she was in the right position for inserting a chest tube. He could position the camera so that he could check the monitor to get the heart rate or blood pressure — fascinating.

When we talk about our goal of making sure that patients get the care they need when they need it, where they live, I'm getting a sense of hope. I'm getting excited about the possibilities of using telemedicine as a way of doing that.

We know that we are challenged with our recruitment and retention of different health professionals across the province. Technology like this is going to help us keep our physicians in those communities. Certainly, as we're moving forward in trying to get the help to them that they need, specialists in Vancouver, specialists at Children's Hospital, can assist. Those physicians can access that expertise and feel more comfortable in the fact that they are delivering quality care to patients in their areas.

I know that has been a huge concern over the past few years. There's a lot of burnout. There's a lot of physicians and health care professionals in outer areas who feel that perhaps they are not delivering the level of care they would like to. Again, with technology like telemedicine, I think it's very positive. It does give them the sense that they are doing the right thing and that they have the backup from specialists when they need it. We're going to continue to work on those kinds of plans and develop these plans in the months ahead.

As we look for ways to better serve our patient needs, we'll also be looking to improve primary care services for the public. You've probably heard that term a lot too. It just simply means that primary care is the first point of access into the health care system. Patients will often use a doctor's office or a walk-in clinic or an emergency room as the first place that they seek health care. Oftentimes that's a very expensive mode of access. Certainly, an emergency room is probably not the best use of health resources. We want to make sure that we offer a range of choices to patients and to more health professionals.

We are working to encourage health care professionals to work together in a more comprehensive and integrated way so that they can offer better access and better continuity of care for patients. We want to make sure that health care professionals work together in delivering front-line care and that they offer patients better access into the system. The care providers will have the ability to do a better job, hopefully, of managing chronic diseases and helping people stay healthier. We are working to design and implement chronic-disease management strategies to help enhance the health of patients and to reduce the burden on our health care system over the long term.

This morning a group of us had breakfast with the Canadian Diabetes Association. It's very enlightening. They told their stories, and they made us realize that we have to do things smarter. Better management and prevention is the key in diabetes, and we are in the process of developing a diabetic management strategy in this province. We relayed that to them, and we know we have to work with them.

We are working with our partners to make sure we are identifying disease groups and working on strategies so that we can keep people out of the hospital and can prevent them from getting complications, to look after them early on so they don't develop the kinds of complications that require hospitalizations and high-cost procedures.

I want to let partners like the Canadian Diabetes Association know that we did hear them, and we know we have to do things smarter. Again, I have to remember that we've only been here nine months. I have to keep reminding myself that we are doing long-term planning, and I want to reassure associations and partners like the Canadian Diabetes Association that we do hear them and are working on the advice they are giving us.

Again, the system is not going to change overnight. It has been a decade or more in getting us here, where we are today. I have to keep reminding myself again that I'm working on a ten-year plan. It's going to take at least five to ten years to get us out of some of the mess that has been created over the last ten to 20.

All of the hard work around planning is being done to help us get to a better-planned, well-managed health care system for our patients in British Columbia. Again, we are doing that to meet patients' needs, to move toward a system that is more accountable for the results. Better patient outcomes is what we are targeting, and a system that's sustainable, so we can have our health care needs met but also so patients in the future will get their health care needs met.

When I hear all this doom and gloom out there, I have to keep reminding myself and my constituents — if they don't remind me first — that we did a lot of good things. We've only been around for nine months. There is a ton of good things we do. We keep getting

On our first day in office we introduced a dramatic personal income tax cut that returned $1.5 billion back to the economy this year, back to people's pockets, back to their communities. They got to spend it where they wanted to. They put the money back into things they thought were important rather than the government getting it and spending it on who knows what. We did that. That was one of the first things we did.

We've restored education as a essential service, and we've preserved the right of parents to volunteer in their children's schools. We increased the number of student spaces for nurses and residential care aides, as I mentioned, by 1,400 over three years. That is amazing.

We repealed fixed-wage legislation that added a huge cost to public construction projects. We increased disability-related income tax credits, including credits for in-home care of relatives, credits for disabled dependents and for mental and physical impairment. In the future these credits will be indexed for inflation. We have supported community service volunteers by protecting community health facilities from government seizure without compensation. Government can't expropriate those facilities anymore.

We protected workers' rights to negotiate contracts by outlawing sectoral bargaining. That was welcomed.

The Premier appointed the Premier's Council on Technology, and we are working to make B.C. a top-ten technology centre by 2006. The council has been working hard. They've been travelling. I know they've been in my community, and that is very encouraging.

We increased funding for monitoring and protection of drinking water, and this year the Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection is investing $3 million in that. There is a lot of good news. I'm proud of all the work and all the things we've accomplished over the last nine months.

Mr. Speaker, I know there will be challenges. There will be more tough decisions to face, but we're going to get through them. We're committed to turning this province around. We know the public understands that a strong economy will allow us to provide the health and education and social services that we all value. With the patience, understanding and support of our citizens — and I certainly am appreciative of the support I get from my constituents at home — I know this beautiful province will bounce back, and we will be number one once again in Canada.

Thanks to the course set by this budget, there is a light at the end of the tunnel — that tunnel we've been in for the last decade. Mr. Speaker, I completely support this budget. Thank you for the opportunity to respond.

B. Lekstrom: It's certainly a privilege to be here this morning to respond to our budget as presented on February 19 by the hon. Minister of Finance, Hon. Gary Collins.

It's interesting when we're first elected as MLAs, whether we're here for the first time or here for our third time — maybe more in many cases, if you go back for some — to take on a budget and to look at it for the first time. I'm going to speak from my experience.

This year we're dealing with a $25.6 billion budget. That's a lot of money — incomprehensible for most people, I believe, when you look at those numbers, what that money does and what we have to do to provide the services for the people of British Columbia.

Overwhelmingly, when you get into office and take this position, you do it because you believe you can make a difference. I believe each and every member in this House ran for the same reason: to make British Columbia a better place.

First and foremost, we have to be accountable to the people that elect us. We have to respond to the needs of our province, and we have to do it, first and foremost, in a financially responsible manner. Having looked at the budgets for the last number of years in my previous life as mayor of Dawson Creek and having studied provincial politics for some time, I thought I had a grasp on it and understood. It was quite an eye-opener, when I was brought into this House, to look at those numbers and see how those financial situations that we face are put forward. It's overwhelming in many cases, but it's encouraging, and I can tell you in all honesty that it's enjoyable. If this is a job and a profession you choose, you do it because you enjoy the job and you want to make a difference.

I did a little studying after looking at our budgets in the $20 billion and $25 billion range, and I wondered what it would be like to look back 30 years and look at a budget from 1972. So I did that, and that again was a huge eye-opener.

In 1972 the total provincial budget in our province was $1.474 billion. That delivered all the services in British Columbia in 1972. That's a far cry from the $25 billion that we face today. Being around in 1972, I can tell you that with our quality of life and growing up as a boy, we enjoyed many good services then. We've enhanced as a province. To look at those numbers, and reflect them and do a comparison, it's very difficult to comprehend that those numbers could have grown by that much.

When we look down at our debt servicing and what takes place, it should be a huge concern not just to the members of this House but to each and every British Columbian — man, woman and child. It's our job, as elected officials, to get that debt under control so the future of our children is not in jeopardy and we can focus the delivery of services and the funds raised from our taxpayers on services that are deserved by British Columbians.

This year our taxpayer-supported debt is going to reach $31.6 billion. That's a huge amount of money — $31.6 billion. Not all debt is bad, and I want to be very clear on that. We have to borrow money to build roads,

schools and hospitals. That's debt that is incurred, and we can build an asset out of it. That is not bad debt; it's comparable to the debt most of us incur in purchasing our homes and our vehicles. We incur that debt, knowing what our financial situation is. We know we can be responsible and make our payments back, and at the end we have an asset that we've built.

The problem we ran into over the last number of years — roughly eight of the last ten years — is that the debt we've incurred, or a good portion of it, has been money we've spent operating government with no return as an asset. You cannot continually borrow money to run the day-to-day operations of government. You cannot borrow money to run the day-to-day operations of a small business or a home. At one point you'd have to face the reality of what's going on, before the banker comes and knocks on your door and tells you that he's not going to give you any more money. When you reach that point…. I can tell you that the challenges we face today will seem very small if, as a province, we ever get to where we've overextended our ability to pay back that debt.

The total this year, out of our consolidated revenue fund, to pay back the debt we owe — the taxpayer-supported debt — is reaching close to $1 billion. That's $1 billion that doesn't go to providing services for the people of British Columbia — looking after the children, our education, our health care. That's money that's going to the banker to pay for, as I outlined earlier, what I consider to be debt that can be both good and bad.

The good debt, when you're building an asset, is something we all enjoy, because that asset is something we've got at the end of the day. Look at the millions upon millions, billions upon billions, of dollars that we've incurred in the day-to-day operation of our province over the last decade. It's unacceptable.

I've never pointed the finger at anyone, and I don't cast blame on anybody. We live in a democratic society. Each of us casts our ballot, and at the end of the day we end up with the government of the choice of the people of British Columbia. I think it's time we all stood up and took responsibility for the position we're in — not the last government, not the government before that, not this government, but each and every British Columbian. The reality is that we've lived beyond our means in British Columbia for a long time. We've all taken the services that were put forward. We've all enjoyed those services, but the reality is that today we can't afford to deliver those services anymore.

When you look at health care — something that is certainly first and foremost on everybody's mind in today's environment — and the amount of money…. In a $25.5 billion budget, we spent $10.2 billion this year on health care. That's $10.2 billion. In comparison I go back to a 1972 budget — again, numbers I've drawn out from the library here in the Legislative Assembly. We spent $260 million in 1972 on the provision of health care — a huge difference. I know times change, and I know we're not in 1972, but we have to look at it in context. Our technology is advancing. We're living longer. Certainly, our medical profession is much more advanced today — all factors of it: diagnostic and imaging and right down. To see that rise to $10.2 billion….

Money doesn't solve every problem. We can throw money at a problem and keep injecting more and more money, whether it be into health care or anything else in our budget. If we don't have a solid foundation and a solid plan on how we're going to deliver that health care, then, as I indicated earlier, all the money in the world is not going to help.

I'm proud to be part of a government that's putting in the long-range health planning, as the previous speaker spoke about. I think that's long overdue. Whether you're running a small business, whether you're running your home or whether you're running a government that has a budget of over $25 billion, you'd darn well better be looking at some long-range planning in every aspect of the provisions and the services you provide. That's long overdue.

Look at health care again, at $10.2 billion. Since we took office less than a year ago, that's an increase of over $1 billion. For the people out there talking about how we've been cutting health care, I want to stand here and I want them to understand that when they say that, it's just not factual. A lot of people who don't have the opportunity, possibly, to pick up a budget and look at it believe some of the stuff that's being said out there. I can tell you that the numbers in the budgets will show you how much we've increased health care — a billion dollars-plus within a year — so that we can provide the services British Columbians need.

Those are the facts, and far too often we seem to dwell on issues that aren't factual. We seem to stir people's emotions, which is very easy to do with health care. I want to be very clear that for any person who says we have cut funding to health care, they're wrong. They're dead wrong.

The 1996-97 budget for health care was $7 billion. Here we are, a few short years later, with an increase of over $3 billion to one service-delivery function that we operate in government. Something isn't working. We are going to work to make sure we correct the situation in health care. We as government can't do it . I've said in this House before that we need the help not only of the people in this Legislature that represent the people; we need the help of all British Columbians. One of the most important factors is that we need the help of our health professionals that work in the field, that know their jobs and do them very proudly day in and day out. They have an understanding of what's going on, and there have been some tough decisions made with the provision of health care. Those decisions had to be made. It's a very difficult situation, and I go back to the issue of deficit financing. How long can you continue to spend more money than you make? We're very for-

I want to move on to education, something that I think all of us hold very near and dear to our hearts. Again, for many people, I think there's some misinformation out there. There's a lot of concern, but change brings concern from people. That's all right; that's not a bad thing. What we do have to understand is what we're doing with our education. We had to change the delivery. Government had to work with our people in the education system and with the people of British Columbia. We have to come up with a method that is sustainable. That's what it's all about.

To spend more money year after year after year and not be able to look at a future that can show how we're going to pay off that debt, at a future that's showing that our service provision is getting better, is unacceptable. That's why I ran for the position of Member of the Legislative Assembly, and that's why I stand before you here today to talk about my ideas and what I see as a future for British Columbia. I'm one member of a team of 77 elected government MLAs, as well as our two members of the opposition. Each and every one of us brings our ideas to this House, and we're going to do our best to make sure British Columbia becomes a better place for those ideas.

This year, 2002-03, our budget for K-to-12 education is $4.86 billion. It's the second-largest expenditure we have within our budget after health care. It shows again our commitment to both health care and education when we look at the money we're spending and the money we've secured for this.

Many people wish we could put more money into education. I don't believe there's anybody in this room that wouldn't wish the same. But I go back to the reality of the financial position we're in, in British Columbia, and what the government faces today. The time to inject huge amounts of additional revenue is not today, unfortunately — as much as we would like to.

The 1992-93 budget for K-to-12 education was $3.58 billion. Today, ten years later, we've seen an increase of over a billion dollars in education. That's a lot of money. I can reflect back on the total budget: $25.556 billion. To put that into context, that amount of money would make virtually every person in Peace River South — the people I represent — a millionaire if you divvied it up. That is just hard to comprehend, when we look at those kind of numbers.

The growth in our expenditures truly isn't sustainable. When we look at health care, as I've spoken on, education and our entire budget, what's been taking place over the last number of years…. As much as many people feel that they've enjoyed the services and so on, I think most people realized at the last election that as good a ride as it's been for many in some sectors, but as tough as it's been in others, it's time for a change. That's why we see a new government here in Victoria, Mr. Speaker. We see a new government here because the people of British Columbia realized that change was needed. If we were going to sustain what we have, try and grow in the future and provide enhanced services for the people of British Columbia, we were going to have to make some dramatic changes.

When I look at our budget, when I stand here and speak to our budget — a budget I support, with everything in there — there are some very tough decisions. I'm very proud to have been part of the development of our budget. Having studied some history, I find it quite amazing that previous budgets for the government of British Columbia were established mainly by the Finance minister and members of cabinet in some instances. When the Minister of Finance had completed all of his work, he brought that budget in. Many of the cabinet ministers and other private members of the day found out at that time what was included in that budget, what their budgets were going to be for the year coming up. Many ministers found out that day.

For me, that's hard to comprehend. We elect a government, and we elect a wide range of people that bring a wide range of experience to this House. I'm proud to be part of a government. I'm proud of our Premier and his commitment to instituting government caucus committees that had input on a number of different ministries, on their budgets and on their service plans.

It says a lot about trying to change the way we govern when our Premier, our cabinet, has been more than open to each and every member of our caucus. It says a lot that when we go to find out about different issues, there's never been one moment that I haven't had access to a minister's office, to our Premier's office, to ask questions or to find out about some different issues we're working on.

Although we've been here nine months, I won't stand here, Mr. Speaker, and tell you I understand 100 percent of everything that goes on, on every page of that budget document. I spent a number of years in municipal politics, and I can tell you that your first year is a learning year — so is the second, so is the third, and so on. The day that any of us quit learning is the day that we should re-evaluate the position we hold here in this House, because there's not one day and not one minute of any day that you can't learn something new about how we govern in British Columbia and what we can do to make things better.

I also had the privilege of chairing the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, which toured this province. It gave me a whole new insight into what British Columbians are facing right across our province today. We went out, under a prebudget consultation tour, and we spoke with British Columbians — hundreds upon hundreds of them. People who were unavailable to attend our meetings wrote in with their submissions, all of which were given equal consideration.

We heard both ends of the spectrum — many people saying: "Don't change a thing. We liked what took place for the last ten years." We also heard some people at the other end of the spectrum, saying: "You're not going far enough. Go further. Go faster." But overwhelmingly, we heard a large number of British Co-

lumbians talk to our committee and say: "We realize the situation we're in, in British Columbia, and we realize that some tough decisions are going to have to be made. But when you make these decisions, please, look after the most vulnerable in our society." That's what our committee put forward, that's what our report reflected, and I believe that's what the hon. Minister of Finance took into consideration.

As many people may not think that we have tried to maintain and look after the most vulnerable, I can tell you that we have. There are some tough decisions that have been made, some challenging issues we've had to face, but there's one reality very clear to me. If we don't make the changes that we're making today, we may be in a position where we can't deliver any services — in particular, to the most vulnerable people in this province — and that's a scary thought.

I have two wonderful children that I'm raising along with my wife. I can tell you that growing up in British Columbia — and I've been here all my life — I had a great, great childhood. I've had a great life. I've had opportunities for work. And I want to make sure that not just my children but all children across this province and all British Columbians have the opportunity to go out, find work and make enough money to raise their family or to follow their dream.

The minute you give up on a dream, I can tell you, your life has to be re-evaluated. You have to believe in what you're doing. Each and every day — as tough as this job is — I wake up, I'm very happy to be alive. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that I'm happy to come and hold this job. For any British Columbian — whether you're an MLA, a person working at a gas station or a lineman — if you wake up and you're not happy with what you're doing, I encourage you to re-evaluate what you're doing with your life.

It's very precious — what we have not just in British Columbia but our country. We live in the greatest country in the world, and we have the greatest province in that country, bar none. We struggled through some tough times, but we're going to get through those tough times with the clear and new direction that we've set for this province. Will that be without challenge? No, it won't. Will it be without pain? No, it won't. I stand before each and every British Columbian here today, and I tell you that we're all going to have to take some pain together.

There is no way we're going to make our province a better place and have a brighter future if we don't make some tough decisions now. If we take some short-term pain in order to get our financial house back in order, our future is going to be bright.

The other side of that is if we're not prepared as British Columbians, regardless of our political beliefs, to make the tough decisions now, we do not have a bright future in British Columbia. We have a future that's going to be marred with more debt. It's worrisome, but what isn't worrisome is the fact that we have a government here today that's going to make those tough decisions, and I'm proud to be part of that.

Our transportation is something I want to touch on. In the budget this year we have $734 million designated to our Transportation ministry. I've had many discussions with the Minister of Transportation, the Hon. Judith Reid, over the last number of months about the issue of highways and the state of the infrastructure particularly in the northeast part of this province, in Peace River South, the constituency I represent.

Knowing very well that we all have to tighten our belts and live within our means, we do have to have a realization that sometimes we have to spend money in order to generate revenue. I want to commend the Minister of Transportation for having that recognition of what's needed in the northeast of this province as well as other rural areas. She's made a commitment to inject $10 million a year over the next three years into rural, remote and northern roads in our province. Those are the roads that help our resource sector generate the revenue and utilize the services they need so that they can contribute to the economic well-being of our province.

We've seen a situation in the northeast of our province where our roads have deteriorated to a state where we have companies that don't want to come and do business in our province. The wear and tear it puts on their machinery and equipment, the trucks travelling these roads, outweighs the benefit for them. We've worked hard with industry in the north. We've worked hard with government, and I'm very proud of our Minister of Transportation, who has been up to our region and looked at the challenges we face.

It's encouraging. I know many people think it's not enough money to do what we have to do on the roads. I can tell you that this money won't do everything that's needed, but I can tell you it's a very positive step and a recognition that money has to be invested in rural and remote areas of our province so that the resources that we extract on behalf of each and every British Columbian can be extracted and produced and that revenue generated, which helps drive our economy and drive the services we deliver.

The budget that we have before us is a tough budget. It's not one that people are jumping up and down about in the streets. I think most British Columbians realize, though, that it's a realistic budget and, most of all, it's an honest budget. It's a budget that shows we have to run a $4.4 billion deficit this year, something that I never dreamt I would ever be standing here saying and be a part of a government that would have to do that, but after looking at the books and looking at the situation we're in, I can tell you it has to be done. The highlight of it is that by 2004-05, our commitment to the people of British Columbia, each and every British Columbian, is that we will have a balanced budget brought forward in this Legislature, and on that day I'm going to be even prouder than I am today. Even though the decisions will be tough, and we will all have faced many challenges, we will have made the right decisions.

It's difficult to make decisions that take things away, and that's what we're doing in this budget in

many cases. We have to look at what we've delivered on one hand, look at the revenue on the other, and bring a balanced approach to that and see what we can and can't continue to do. We've had to make some difficult choices. We've had to change some programs, streamline others, even eliminate some. Those are not decisions that we come into this House after being elected and say that's the first thing we want to do. The first thing we want to do is gain an understanding of how government works, what our financial picture is and then make responsible, fact-based decisions. That's what we're doing.

I don't want to leave anybody with the impression that you're going to see a government go four years making the significant changes that we have to make without making a mistake, Mr. Speaker. I've watched for my entire life, and far too often, whether it's at any level of government, I've watched what I believed were mistakes being made. Rather than having the ability to stand up and admit that mistake and say the direction that was taken was wrong, I've watched people time and time again try to justify those mistakes. There's no honour in trying to justify a mistake. There's all kinds of honour in admitting a mistake and moving on to a better method. If we can do that, and I know we can with our Premier and our cabinet….

I think realistically most British Columbians expect, with the changes that are going to be needed in this province, that we can't do them all without having to step back and rethink one or two. We've seen our Premier already reconsider one, and I think that was the right move.

As we move on through these difficult times — and they are difficult times — we're going to do our best. We're going to be open, we're going to be accountable, and we're going to work on behalf of British Columbians.

We put forward a platform during the last election that laid out what we're going to do. For those of us who understood that and read it and the many, many British Columbians who believed in that document, they cast their ballots accordingly. For those that felt otherwise, they cast their votes in other directions. That's okay; that's the democratic society we live in. But now we do have a government that laid out a very clear vision for the province of British Columbia, and we're following through on that vision. No one in history has put out what I believe is a more comprehensive document to lay out a vision and a plan in order to go into government and say: "Here's what we're going to do."

Many people that are in opposition to us in many cases are saying: "You didn't say exactly what you're going to do." It would be virtually impossible to lay out every aspect of every issue that we were going to deal with. What you deal with is a New Era document that lays out in broad context all of the commitments that we will make, the direction we will go, and we will do that to the best of our ability once we are in government. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that many things change, whether it be our financial picture when we get in and find out certain issues and so on. But we will fix those. I've always been an optimistic person, and I remain optimistic today.

I want to talk a bit about opposition and what we're seeing from people out there. Opposition isn't a bad thing when the people are speaking in opposition to the budget out there on the streets or in our constituency offices. There are a number of those people. What concerns me more than anything is that a good many people in opposition aren't speaking on factually based information. That has to change.

It was one of the commitments I took on when I ran for mayor of Dawson Creek. I say many years ago now; it makes me sound old. It wasn't that many years ago. I can tell you that one of the biggest issues facing our city wasn't the economics; it was attitude. The attitude of some people…. Instead of focusing on the positives, they would focus on the negatives. They would dwell on those. I can tell you that we can take one of the greatest-run services that we deliver, and if you want to focus on one of the small negatives in there, we can turn the whole service into something negative. A negative attitude breeds negative results. A positive attitude breeds positive results.

I think it's time that when we look at politics in British Columbia…. When we elect a government, opposition is fine, but let's try and work with the government of the day, which was elected democratically, to make British Columbia a better place instead of staying at odds for four consecutive years and having no ability to move ahead to enhance the life of all British Columbians. I don't see that as good government. I don't see that as good government whether it's municipal, provincial, regional or federal.

I think what we have to do is maybe change our mind-set in how we think about our governments. That doesn't mean that everybody has to agree with everything we do in government, but I can tell you — and I've always said this — that rather than complain about a problem, bring a solution with that problem, and I'm more than willing to look at it. To complain is the easiest thing in the world. To put solutions forward at the same time is a little more difficult.

I would encourage each and every British Columbian to take the time to look at our new budget, as tough as it is, and try to understand it. If they have questions, contact their MLA or contact any member and ask the questions they need answers to. I think most British Columbians will understand that the decisions that have been made in this House by our government are the right decisions.

I want to talk just a bit in closing about the issue of respect and what takes place…. This goes back a long time. As a boy growing up and listening to people talk about politicians, they've always seemed…. We don't talk about any other sector of society that way. It's always amazed me. The people that run for office do it, as I indicated earlier, because they believe they have the ability to make a difference — to make a difference

for the better. That's why each and every one of us in this House ran, whether you're in government or a member of the opposition. I truly believe that.

I'm not going put everybody in the same bracket here, but there's a lot of British Columbians who seem to think that when they elect an MLA, they can then just take that person out and treat him without respect. I don't have the time of day for people like that. I do have all kinds of time for people who want to come and speak to me about issues, whether they agree or disagree. I certainly have all kinds of time to sit down, discuss the facts, discuss the issues, and at the end of the day, whether we agree or disagree, I'll respect the person's views. I encourage people…. You know, many of them are sending e-mails, and I love to respond to the e-mails that I get.

B. Lekstrom: I can see my time is up, Mr. Speaker. I'm sure I could go on for some time, but I want to leave on one note, and that's one of optimism. Although the challenges we face are difficult, we live in the greatest province in this country and the greatest country in the world. We are going to turn it around. The budget before us is a good document, and I can tell you I'm committed 100 percent to balancing our budget by 2004-05. That will be a proud day for all British Columbians.

R. Lee: I'm pleased to rise today to respond to the budget. I would like to thank the Minister of Finance for the hard work and the difficult decisions he had to make to prepare for the first full budget of this government.

This is the first time that I've had the opportunity to participate in the process of preparing the budget, and I believe the process adopted by this government is probably the most democratic one in the history of this province. Seventy-seven out of 79 MLAs, as members of the government caucus committees, had the opportunity to take close examinations of the options available to the various ministries when they were presented with the service plans for the next three years. The decisions on the service plans, under a set of constraints, actually determined the scope and the blueprint of the budget. This is a transparent and democratic process, although many tough decisions have to be made along the way by the members of the caucus, who represent 97 percent of the population.

We all know that the challenges and constraints faced by British Columbia, our province, are tremendous. Over the last decade the provincial debt has doubled to $35 billion at the same time as the province has slid to last in Canada in terms of private investment and economic growth. Over the last decade our real per-capita GDP only grew by 5 percent, while the adjusted expenditures have grown by over 25 percent. I looked up the budget of 1992, which was $18 billion. The budget for 2002, this year, is $25.6 billion, plus $2.7 billion for capital expenditure. This is clearly not sustainable.

On the other hand, Alberta's economy has grown much faster that our province's — in fact, five times faster than ours — and Ontario's grew by 19 percent over the same period.

Sometimes it is difficult to make comparisons, and sometimes we don't want to, but if we want to continue to pay our nurses, doctors, teachers and public servants among the best in Canada, we must make major structural changes to revitalize our economy so that the government can have the revenue to pay for these services.

Over the last decade our taxpayers have not done well. Working British Columbians were hurt by a slowdown of the provincial economy. Average annual take-home pay actually shrank by $1,100 while the average take-home pay in Alberta and Ontario increased. We must make changes to increase the disposable income of all British Columbians.

I'm delighted to see that the budget delivers on the commitments to build a better future for this province by taking steps to restore sound fiscal management, revitalize the economy and put patients and students first. The three-year service plan for ministries and Crown corporations included in the budget provides detailed information about the changes ahead, and these plans will be reviewed and updated annually.

I'm pleased to see flexibility built into the implementation of the plan to take into account changing economic and financial circumstances. This ever-changing world is full of surprises. Before the events of September 11 last year, who would have predicted that economies all over the world would take a hit in the last quarter of 2001? We didn't know that.

The impact of some of the changes contained in the budget may not be entirely transparent at this moment, and there may be some unforeseen hidden costs in the elimination of certain programs. I'm sure the review process will indicate the cost-effectiveness of the implementation of programs, and appropriate actions will be taken to make changes to the service plan if necessary.

I am pleased to see that the government has taken action to protect the most vulnerable in our society and to keep some of the most cost-effective programs. The Ministry of Children and Family Development has committed to spending more money than ever to help prepare children to learn, and there will be over $11 million in new funding over last year's budget for early childhood development.

I'm particularly pleased to learn that the ministry for early childhood development has taken action to establish a legacy fund, in cooperation with the Vancouver Foundation, to fund programs related to early childhood development. Other school-based service funds will be reviewed to ensure that the services help the most vulnerable in our society, including our children.

The commitment of the Ministry of Children and Family Development to protect funding for community schools and hot-lunch programs is commendable. We have also waived the PST on purchases made with funds raised by school PACs, the parent advisory councils.

I've been involved with the parent advisory councils in elementary and secondary schools and the district parent advisory councils in Burnaby for many years. I am always impressed by the care and energy shown by the parents to help their children succeed. The funds raised by the parents can now be used to buy more materials for the learners and to support more extracurricular activities.

Health care and the changes in MSP. The premiums for over 230,000 low-income British Columbians will be reduced or eliminated. Many seniors who have previously not qualified for assistance will be able to get the benefit now.

Funding for women's shelters and transition houses is protected in this budget. Women's groups have expressed concerns to me about the possibilities of losing funding for these programs. I'm happy that these supports are still in place.

Funding for monitoring and protection of drinking water will be increased, in fact, by an additional $1.5 million. The Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection has taken measures to ensure that the provincial health officers, who play a critical role in the testing of drinking water, will have the obligation to report these results publicly. I'm relieved that the events in Walkerton will be prevented from occurring in British Columbia.

We have maintained the seniors bus pass, so our seniors can travel freely in their communities. Again, the Premier and the Minister of Human Resources were quick to realize that the elimination of this program would have major impacts on seniors.

The B.C. sales tax credit for low-income British Columbians is increased to $75 from $50 — a 50 percent increase. This will help to mitigate the impact of raising the PST from 7 percent to 7.5 percent. One has to spend $5,000 annually in provincially taxable goods to incur an extra $25 in PST.

We have increased disability-related income tax credits, including credits for in-home care of relatives, for disabled dependents and for mental or physical impairment. I'm sure the advocates of the disabled will welcome this initiative to help the mentally and physically disabled.

We have provided additional PST exemptions for qualifying farmers. Agricultural products are essential to the betterment of our health. I'm not in the agricultural business, but my grandfather was a farmer for many years. He emigrated from China to Victoria in 1913. In those days immigrants from China had to pay a head tax of $500. I was told that $500 could buy two building lots in Vancouver at that time. Despite the high cost, many people still came to this land of beauty and opportunity, because it is the best in the world. Today, despite the challenges facing this province, it's still the best in the world to live in. Better still, qualified farmers have additional PST exemptions.

This government has also fulfilled the promise that people earning less than $60,000 will pay the lowest income tax in this country. Low- and middle-income British Columbians deserve to pay less tax after so many years of being burdened with heavy taxes. I believe that these measures are fair and will help the most vulnerable in our society. They will help the B.C. economy as well.

To revitalize the economy of this province, we must recognize the important role of small business. In Budget 2002 the income tax threshold is increased by 50 percent from $200,000 to $300,000. The PST exemption is expanded on machinery and equipment to include repair parts as well.

These changes, together with the announcement last July that the corporate income tax was being cut from 16.5 percent to 13.5 percent, plus the capital tax on financial institutions being eliminated completely on September 1 and the taxes on jet fuel and bunker fuel being reduced, will definitely help to attract more investment and create more private sector jobs in this province.

In my constituency of Burnaby North there are many small businesses in the area of Brentwood Mall and along Hastings Street, and many are coming up in Still Creek and the Lougheed area. These small businesses include retail, specialty stores, professional services, restaurants and high-tech companies. The rise of the income tax threshold in the new budget will definitely help the businesses in Burnaby to expand and increase employment.

Finally, I would like to comment on health care spending, which is $10.4 billion, in fact, or 41 percent of the total provincial budget in the coming year. The wage settlements of nurses, doctors, paramedics and other health care workers have added $769 million, which is new expenditure for this budget. These pressures are going to be balanced by increases of MSP premiums, sales tax and tobacco tax.

Not many people will like fee and tax increases, but these increases are necessary to allow the Minister of Finance to balance out the financial fallout of the arbitrated settlements, which occurred just days before budget day. Hopefully, the 0.5 percent increase in sales tax will be eliminated as soon as possible, as promised by the minister.

In health care spending, an increase of $1.1 billion over the 2001 budget now consumes the combined revenue of all personal income taxes in B.C., including MSP premiums, total federal transfer payments, tobacco taxes and the latest increase in sales tax. All those are included. It's just enough to pay for our health budget. Clearly, the system must run more efficiently to reduce costs.

I'm glad to see that a new structure for health care authorities is implemented to provide greater efficiency. Since fewer decision-makers are in charge of the

system now, it will be very important that the decisions made should put patients first and make efficiency the top priority in the system.

In education, I support the establishment of the $45 million leading-edge endowment fund, which in partnership with the private sector will create 20 permanent research chairs at the universities. These chairs will help to attract the faculty that this province needs to compete in the knowledge-based industry.

The government also reconfirms its intention to double the number of graduates in computer science, electrical engineering and computer engineering. I believe these commitments will put British Columbia on solid ground for the development of a vibrant high-tech industry.

The Premier's Technology Council is commanded to take up the task of closing the digital divide in this province. Today the Select Standing Committee on Education, of which I'm a member, will table a report on the future of learners which envisages the renewal of education in this province. If the recommendations are adopted, this will help create a seamless education system that will serve the interest of learners in this province from all walks of life.

I would like to bring conclusion to my comments about this budget. Although this budget contains a $4.5 billion deficit, I believe it is the best this government can do in order to protect health care and education. Based on this budget, the government can start its three-year plan to rebuild the economy for a better future for this province and to bring hope and prosperity to all British Columbians.

B. Kerr: It is my pleasure to rise today and speak in favour of the budget. Before I do that, I should say that this is my third address to the House. I'm going to try to push the envelope a bit and follow the lead of my more experienced colleagues and, indeed, my colleague from Peace River South and see if I can speak without a pre-written speech. I beg your indulgence if I make a few mistakes along the way.

We are on a journey to better governance, hope and opportunity. This budget was a waypoint along the way. I'd like to go back to the beginning of the journey for me. That goes back to the year 2000. At that time, I was like a lot of citizens. I was disgruntled; I was unhappy. I recognized that things just weren't right, but I wasn't doing anything about it. What happened was that my little grandkids were born, and I looked to the future. I said: "We've got these kids." I looked out 20 years and said: "What kind of a legacy are we going to be giving these children? What kind of hope? What kind of opportunity are we going to be giving them 20 years down the road when they enter the workforce?"

I realized it wasn't very pleasant, and the future was bleak. I decided that I would get involved, and I threw my hat into the ring and ran for the nomination of our party. I then did some research and found out that my fears were actually well-founded. We were last in GDP growth. We were last in private sector investment. We had debt that was spiralling out of control. We had the highest social cost and one of the worst economies. In fact, our economy had gone from first to worst over the past five years before I got involved. It was not a pretty picture at all.

In my nomination address I brought all these points up. When I was bringing out numbers — because I'm an accountant; I like to speak numbers — I don't know whether it was resonating with the people. I said we went from first to worst, and I told a story. I said: "You know, in Newfoundland they're making B.C. jokes." Then people caught on, I think, and I got the nomination.

Then when the writ was dropped, I went out and knocked on doors during the campaign. I knocked on doors from the Glenora area — the wine country of my riding — down through the Malahat into Langford and all the way up into the rugged west coast of Port Renfrew. I decided I was going to show discipline, and I'd go out every day for 2½ hours and knock on doors. I knocked on hundreds of doors. I talked to the people, and there were two things that came out absolutely loud and clear. One of them was to fix the economy; the other was people's concerns about health care.

That became our election platform. I determined what role I had to play in the new government, because I was sure at that time we'd be elected just from talking to all the people. I was sure there were three things we had to do. We had to revitalize the economy. We had to restore sound fiscal management, and we had to put patients first. We had to put students first. I put those as my goals, and I'm glad to see the government's goals and my goals coincided. We're both working in lockstep to achieve those objectives.

May 16 is history. We got elected by one of the largest majorities in the history of British Columbia. We had a major task ahead of us. We had a tremendous amount of work to do, so we started taking steps to move the journey forward towards a brighter future. First, we appointed a fiscal panel review board, because we had to know where we were. We appointed a group of people to tell us where — if we didn't do anything, if we kept the status quo — that would take us.

They reviewed the books. They reviewed the financial statements. They did their projections, and they said: "If you don't do anything, we're going to be running a $3.8 billion deficit." They told us that deficit would be structural. That has meaning. What that means is: the deficit will be there regardless of cyclical fluctuations in the economy. In other words, our spending was exceeding our income by $3.8 billion a year. Clearly, that's not sustainable. The debt would just continue to rise and continue to rise and continue to rise. We had to do something.

The other thing we did was appoint a progress board, because on this journey we had to follow our progress. We had to become accountable. The progress board was put in place to set up measures to make us accountable, to set up what we could do along the way and measure our performance.

We set up legislative committees, which are Committees of the Whole House; all parties are involved in the legislative committees. They're standing committees: the Standing Committee on Finance, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, the Standing Committee on Crown Corporations, and the Standing Committees on Education and on Health. Moreover, we set up what are called caucus committees, and I believe this was a first in British Columbia. These were committees made up of the caucus, and they were on the economy, on health care, on community safety and on government operations. The reason we did that was so the members could have input into the forming of the plans of the budgets on this journey towards better government.

Finally, we set up a task force called the core review and deregulation task force. That is a most important task force. That is a task force that is going to look at all ministries, Crown corporations, commissions and agencies to see whether they are following the core values of government. It will look at them and say: "Is there a compelling public purpose for this entity? If there is a compelling public purpose, can we afford it? If we can afford it, is the government the best vehicle to deliver the service?" We set this up, and we began working on that, looking at all the things. These are the things we did to start the progress on this lengthy journey.

In addition, in July we started to take some steps to revitalize the economy, because clearly that was the most important thing we had to do. We had to instil some hope. We had to instil some promise, and we had to live up to the commitments we made during the election. We had a 90-day promise, a 90-day commitment, that we said we would do, and we had to live up to that commitment. We started forming the basis to do that.

We reduced taxes. On the first day, in the first House sitting, we reduced taxes. We made the people below $60,000 pay the lowest personal provincial taxes in Canada. We gave tax breaks across the board of 25 percent. We've had some criticism for doing that, but I can tell you, I met with the doctors the other night — the doctors in our area. They are extremely concerned about retention. They want to keep young people in practice. They want to keep young doctors working in British Columbia, because the age of doctors is getting higher and higher. They're reaching retirement age.

Reducing taxes for the high-income doctors was a major step in attracting and retaining young doctors in our province, and it is absolutely vitally important to keep doctors here if we want to maintain health care.

We also reduced the corporation capital tax. Here was a situation where we were saying: "We are the lowest province in private sector investment. We want you people to come and invest in our province, but if you do come and invest, we're going to tax you, regardless of what the profit of your company is. We're going to tax you for the privilege of investing in British Columbia." So we set a course to reduce what is called the corporation capital tax, and that was very well received by corporations. We also met the 90-day commitment. The 90-day commitment was important because we had to show that we could walk the talk, and we did, Mr. Speaker.

All those things, in total, helped boost the economy, helped vitalize business wanting to come in here, helped people wanting to invest in the province, and I believe that worked. In fact, I'm convinced that it worked, because I have a survey that was done here that I'd like to take some time to read. This was a survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid. It is called the CA business outlook, where Ipsos-Reid, an independent polling firm, interviewed 450 of the province's senior chartered accountants and asked them about their thoughts on the B.C. economy.

As you may know, I'm a chartered accountant. I have pride in my profession. I take the views of my peers very seriously. CAs are leading business advisers and executives, and they're well positioned to understand what's happening in the B.C. economy.

The Ipsos-Reid poll found that CAs are very optimistic about the economic prospects. Almost two-thirds of those polled — and remember that these are the senior CAs — said they expect B.C.'s economy to improve in 2002. More importantly, 91 percent — that's nine out of ten — expect B.C.'s economy to be robust within five years. It's a very encouraging result to know that nine out of ten are that optimistic about our province's future.

It also asked CAs how they thought B.C.'s economy would be doing in five years compared to the rest of Canada. The survey found that 60 percent of CAs expect B.C.'s economy to be outperforming the rest of Canada within five years. You see, Mr. Speaker, chartered accountants not only expect the B.C. economy to be improving dramatically over the coming years; they also expect us to be a leader in the economy.

CAs also translate economic growth to job creation. They were asked if their business would expand or contract in the next five years. Again, I have to stress that these are the senior people; 74 percent of CAs who worked for companies as CEOs and CFOs said they would expand, while only 6 percent said their company would probably contract. Of those who worked for CA firms, 66 percent expect their clients' businesses to expand, compared to only 3 percent who anticipate a downsizing.

What about the CAs' views on the economic agenda? I'm pleased to say that CAs in B.C. give a high rating to the provincial government for creating a positive business environment. The CAs say that the economy has gone through some rough times. The survey suggests that the B.C. government's plans for economic growth has been well received. I expect that that relates to the clients also.

So the business leaders in British Columbia…. Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker. It is a strong private sector economy that is going to develop the economic benefits for our social programs. That's why we have to look to business to create investment. That's what we're

What are they saying about the government's individual policies? Ninety-seven percent, 97 out of 100 of them, say they view the personal income tax cuts as positive, followed closely by business tax cuts at 96 percent. Eighty percent said that controlling public sector spending was good for the economy, and two-thirds said that cutting business subsidies was also good for B.C.

Of course, there are challenges that the province is facing. That comes through in the results of the CA business outlook. Over 90 percent of B.C. chartered accountants consider the U.S. trade policy as a major challenge facing British Columbia. Interestingly, after U.S. trade policy and the global economy, the surveyresults indicate that the next biggest challenge facing business today is the ability to attract and retain high-quality employees.

Mr. Speaker, I've just had a note put in front of me. Looking at the time, it's now noon. I move adjournment of the debate.