Hansard -- Tuesday, February 18, 2003 p.m. -- Vol. 11, No. 8 (HTML)



CONTENTS

	Routine Proceedings
		Page

Introductions by Members		4861

Statements (Standing Order 25B)		4861
	Ranching industry J. Wilson Guide-Scout Week H. Bloy Olympic Games referendum B. Bennett

Oral Questions		4862
	Sale and lease-back of government buildings J. Kwan Hon. S. Santori Ambulance payment for transfer of long-term care patient J. MacPhail Hon. K. Whittred Long-term care facility wait-list policy G. Trumper Hon. K. Whittred Development of offshore oil and gas industry B. Belsey Hon. R. Neufeld High school graduation rate D. Chutter Hon. C. Clark

Budget Debate		4865
	Hon. G. Collins J. MacPhail

Introduction and First Reading of Bills		4874
	Small Business Venture Capital Amendment Act, 2003 (Bill 3) Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2003 (Bill 6) Income Tax Amendment Act, 2003 (Bill 7) Hon. G. Collins

Tabling Documents		4874
	Government's strategic plan and service plans Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project Ltd., service plan statement

J. Les: In the House today, both in the galleries and on the floor of the House, we have numerous guests. Today, as you know, is the day that the Finance minister delivers his budget, and many people are here in anticipation of that event.

We welcome all of our guests here today, and I would like to ask members of this House to make everyone very welcome.

J. Wilson: It's an honour for me to rise today and acknowledge one of the oldest industries in this province: ranching. For well over 100 years early pioneer ranchers worked the land, and they were responsible for bringing this province to where it is today. They were a hardy breed of people that homesteaded the land. They developed their own trails and wagon roads to act as lifelines to the communities which sprang up in their presence. These roads became a means to bringing in supplies and to have access to markets. Today many of our modern highways follow these pioneer trails.

Not all of these pioneers are gone. My father-in-law is one of the surviving ones. In the spring of 1955 he saddled up his horse, rode out of Anahim Lake, across the Itcha Mountains, across the Blackwater River and the Euchiniko River. He put on 1,200 miles that summer in three months, and he found his little piece of heaven at Pelican Lake, built his cabin and developed a successful ranch, all the while raising a family of four. Generation after generation live on the same land. They have become good stewards of the land because it is their lifeblood, and they treat it with respect.

Ranching plays an important role in the economy of British Columbia. Even more important is the role it plays in stabilizing many of our rural communities, providing jobs year after year. Ranching has been on a steady growth curve since the beginning, and it can continue to grow. All we have to do is allow people the opportunity to expand the industry, at the same time giving young ranchers a chance to build a future. There's a huge potential left for expansion in this province. If you were to ask a rancher for a wish list, it would be short and go something like this: "Give me the freedom to do the job I love, so that I may support my family. In return, I will help to feed the nation."

H. Bloy: It gives me great honour to rise today in the House and announce Guide-Scout Week in Canada. This is a time of celebration for Scouts Canada and Girl Guides of Canada, a time when both organizations come together in the spirit of friendship to honour their heritage. I proudly wear my scouting uniform today in the House, as I did last year, since I've been an active member in scouting as a youth, as a parent and as an adult. This is also an opportunity for the public to recognize the limitless potential of Canadian youth and the work that scouting and guiding does to help build a better world for our nation's future leaders.

Scouting and guides instil values of leadership, honour and teamwork through the many exciting outdoor programs that it provides for over 120,000 youth nationwide. I have taken so much from what I have learned in Scouts. I have been able to apply these traits to my daily life in my community and to recognize the value of leadership. I will be attending many events that will be recognizing Guide-Scout Week. I would like to bring special attention to the many Lord Baden-Powell dinners and celebrations that will take place. Lord Baden-Powell and Lady Baden-Powell were the founding members of scouting and guiding. I ask the members of this House to join with me in wishing both Scouts Canada and Girl Guides of Canada continued success as they move forward in the new century.

B. Bennett: Vancouver votes on Saturday: should British Columbia host the Olympic Games in 2010? In going to the polls on Saturday, we from the heartlands of this province ask the citizens of Vancouver: please work with us on the opportunities an Olympic Games can bring to our communities.

In the Kootenays we want those two billion people tuning into the opening of the Vancouver Olympic Games in 2010 to hear all about the six world-class ski resorts in the Kootenays. Recently the town of Fernie hosted a World Cup freestyle skiing event, and you should have seen the excitement of the kids and the adults in downtown Fernie on opening night as dozens of proud, young international athletes, each with their national flag, paraded for an assembled crowd of almost 1,000 enthusiastic, small-town British Columbians.

Now in Fernie we have the freestyle skiing infrastructure that we'll need for pre-Olympics training. Will the German or the Swiss hockey teams choose to do their pre-Olympic training in Vancouver with all its distractions and costs, or with some work by us, will they choose to stay in Cranbrook and train in the Cranbrook Rec Plex? Will downhill ski teams from small nations want to compete for space at Whistler-Blackcomb a year prior to the games, or will they opt for the hospitality and the snow of Rossland, Sun Peaks, Whitewater, Panorama and Kicking Horse? We in the heartlands of British Columbia want a shot at these opportunities. The B.C. Chamber of Commerce and the B.C. economic development society are work-

ing right now on trade and investment strategy around the 2010 games. We already know that small businesses from rural B.C. cashed in on the opportunities around the Salt Lake City games. The games are an investment in the future of British Columbia. It is not a choice of health care or the Olympics. We know, like other host jurisdictions, that the people of this great province will generate new tax revenues to put into health care from these Olympic opportunities.

To our friends in the city of Vancouver: please get out and vote on Saturday. Vote yes to the Vancouver 2010 games, say yes to the 250,000 visitors, say yes to the two new tax revenues for public services, say yes to thousands of new jobs across this province, say yes to the youth of this province, and vote yes to the future of British Columbia.

J. Kwan: Is it the new policy of the government to sell its buildings and then lease them back at a profit to the new owners? The question is to the minister of BCBC.

Hon. S. Santori: Could you please ask the question one more time? I'm sorry. I didn't hear your question.

J. Kwan: The question is: is it the new policy of the government to sell its buildings and lease them back at a profit to the new owners?

Hon. S. Santori: It's our commitment and it is our policy to do what's in the best interests of the people of British Columbia, and we will do where we will get maximum return for the investment that we put out in the communities.

Mr. Speaker: The member for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant has a supplementary question.

Let me give a more specific example to the minister. The government recently sold the Fernie courthouse to the city of Fernie. Everyone is happy, particularly in Fernie. The government washes its hands of a surplus building, and the city got a good deal. But it turns out the government still needs the building and is leasing it back from the new owner. The mayor says the city's making a profit from the lease.

Can the minister tell us if the scheme to sell buildings and to lease them back at a profit to the new owners was approved by the auditor general?

Hon. S. Santori: We understand the importance of heritage buildings in our communities. We understand the importance of having access to justice in our communities. Together with the Attorney General, we work in partnership with the communities, in partnership with BCBC, to ensure that those communities get the services they need, and they will maintain those heritage buildings like the one we have in Fernie.

J. MacPhail: Let's look at another good business practice on behalf of the citizens of British Columbia. I have here…

Mr. Speaker: Order, please, hon. members. Order, please, hon. members. Let us hear the question.

J. MacPhail: …a bill from a collection agency. I'm bringing up this question for the third time in six months at the request of a senior from Shuswap. When does the Minister of Long Term Care intend to keep the member for Shuswap's promise and pay Edward Laitenen's ambulance bill for a trip that the interior health authority sent him on from Shuswap Lake General Hospital to Queen Victoria Hospital in Revelstoke?

J. MacPhail: That question was taken on notice six months ago and three months ago. Let me ask a new question of the minister, then. Let me just ask a new question. Even though her portfolio shrinks every day with the government committing less and less to residential long-term care, she still doesn't know what's going on.

J. MacPhail: The member for Shuswap said that no matter what, Mr. Laitenen's ambulance bill would be paid. It would be taken care of.

Let me ask a new question of the minister of residential and long-term care. Does she have any ability to talk to the member for Shuswap about what his commitment was, or was he misleading Mr. Laitenen?

Hon. K. Whittred: This government made a commitment to the seniors of this province that we would provide them with the care that they need when they need it. For that reason we have committed to adding 5,000 beds for intermediate and long-term care patients…

Hon. K. Whittred: …which includes independent living, assisted living as well as complex care beds.

G. Trumper: My question is to the Minister of State for Intermediate, Long Term and Home Care. I have heard from concerned seniors in my riding that they have been removed from the waiting lists for entrance to residential care facilities. They have been told that their names have been removed due to changes made by the government. Can the Minister of State for Intermediate, Long Term and Home Care explain why the policy regarding wait-lists has changed?

Hon. K. Whittred: This government made a commitment that we were going to provide health care to patients when they need it, and that promise also applies to those needing long-term care. Almost a year ago we did change our access policy, and we changed that policy so that people who had the highest care needs would have the first choice of the bed. The old policy was one that was based on chronology. What frequently happened was that people who had been on a list for a long time would get the bed when one became available. We have gone ahead to give the right bed to the right patient at the right time.

G. Trumper: …will now prevent them from choosing the facility where they want to receive care. Can the Minister of State for Intermediate, Long Term and Home Care tell us what is being done to allow our seniors to choose the facility they wish to be placed in?

Hon. K. Whittred: One of the very positive outcomes of this change of policy has been that people who really need care get a bed almost immediately. However, it's not always possible to meet their first choice, although health authorities certainly make every effort to do so.

Hon. K. Whittred: Once a patient is in a bed receiving care, they can request a move, if they wish, to a bed they would prefer. This is part of our commitment to add 5,000 beds to the system. We are adding these beds so that people can get the appropriate care when they need it.

B. Belsey: My question is to the Minister of Energy and Mines. Last week, in the Premier's address to British Columbians, he reaffirmed the government's commitment to the development of a viable offshore oil and gas industry within the next ten years. My constituents are extremely interested in the development of this industry. Not only will this provide hundreds of well-paying jobs, but it will also contribute millions of dollars in revenue — money that can be used to fund education and health care. Can the Minister of Energy and Mines tell us how he plans to take advantage of this valuable resource and open up oil and gas reserves for development?

Hon. R. Neufeld: It's some more good news in British Columbia. We'll hear a little bit more later on, but this is a great event for the province.

Under the able leadership of our Premier, we are moving forward to work in a scientific and environmentally friendly way to open up offshore oil and gas in British Columbia. We appointed a scientific panel to go out and review what had to be done, and they came back with 15 recommendations. An MLAs' panel came back with a number of recommendations. We've given $2 million to the University of Northern British Columbia to start that work.

We have a division within my ministry now that deals with offshore oil and gas, and we'll deal with aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities in the heartlands of British Columbia so that they can enjoy the wealth that could be generated, the good jobs that can be generated and the money that will come to the province to pay for health care and education. It's second to none.

B. Belsey: My supplementary question is again to the Minister of Energy and Mines.

Following the Premier's address, the federal Minister of Environment stated that over $120 million would have to be spent on environmental assessments before Ottawa would consider lifting the drilling ban. If his cost projections are accurate, the development of our offshore oil resources could be delayed and the costs prohibitive. Can the Minister of Energy and Mines tell us if these cost projections are accurate, and what we plan to do in order to raise this kind of money?

Hon. R. Neufeld: …only a few negative people in British Columbia that don't want to see any development in the province. They're David Anderson and the two members that sit in opposition. I can't tell you whether the $120 million is real, because I don't think Mr. Anderson knows whether it's real. He continues to throw roadblocks in front of British Columbia on any kind of development we want to move forward with.

Mr. Dhaliwal, on the other hand, has been working with us very well in trying to expedite this in an economic and scientifically satisfactory way. We will continue to work with the federal government as hard as we can, even though it is difficult to work with three negative Nellies in British Columbia.

D. Chutter: My question is to the Minister of Education. In the Nicola-Similkameen school district, 66 percent of students completed high school last year, which is 10 percent lower than the provincial average. Although this number is slightly better than last year, one-third of the students in the Nicola-Similkameen and a quarter of the students provincially are falling through the cracks. What is the Minister of Education doing to increase graduation rates among our high school students?

Hon. C. Clark: Graduation rates and the success of students across B.C. are issues, big issues, that our government is facing, and those are bigger issues in rural communities. There's no question about it. Rural communities in British Columbia have been seeing a decline in their school population for many years. Part of that is demographics. Part of that is the fact that young people just aren't having as many children as they used to. But part of it is that we spent a decade with a government that thought nothing better than to beat up on the heartlands of British Columbia — than to shut down mining, than to shut down forestry and make sure….

Hon. C. Clark: So all these years it's just been a shotgun approach. Her government sat here on this side of the House and fired away and just happened to kill all the jobs in the heartland. Well, that's pretty good predicting.

She knows where the heartland is. She knows what her government did to the heartlands of British Columbia.

Hon. C. Clark: I stand here today to tell you this. Our government and our Premier are committed to making sure we reinvigorate the heartlands, that we reignite hope and we give hope again to every British Columbian, no matter where they live.

D. Chutter: The Ministry of Education has proposed that high school students directing their studies use career pathways. Can the minister tell us how these career pathways help B.C. students to complete high school?

Hon. C. Clark: Now we know what the problem was for a decade. The Leader of the Opposition stands up and says: "Where are the heartlands? I don't know where they are." Well, now we know why we have had such a problem in British Columbia for all these years.

So when the member for Yale-Lillooet gets up and asks a question, for the first time in a decade there are members of this government that are prepared to listen. For the first time in a decade there are members…

Hon. C. Clark: …on the government side of the House that know where the heartlands are.

Very briefly, the proposal for pathways is about making sure that school is relevant for every child. Rather than just saying there are two pathways — one is academic and one is non-academic — we need to say there are other pathways that are valuable.

Personally, I know it's important to be a doctor, I know it's important to be a lawyer, but it's also important to be a sculptor or a carpenter or a painter or a cook. All of those are valuable professions, and we need to make sure that our school system equally values all of those skills.

Hon. G. Collins: I move that this House at its next sitting resolve itself for this session into a committee to consider the supply to be granted to Her Majesty.

Hon. G. Collins presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: Estimates of Sums Required for the Service of the Province for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2004, and a supplement to the estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2004, recommending the same to the Legislative Assembly.

Hon. G. Collins moved that the said message and the estimates accompanying the same be referred to Committee of Supply.

Hon. G. Collins: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the hon. Premier of British Columbia, that the Speaker do now leave the chair for the House to go into Committee of Supply.

Hon. G. Collins: Mr. Speaker, almost two years ago our government laid out a plan to usher in a new era of hope and prosperity for British Columbia. We said we would cut taxes to put more money back into British Columbians' pockets and stimulate job creation. We said that we would make the necessary changes to restore confidence in our economy and unleash the power of private enterprise. We said that we would focus British Columbia's hard-earned tax dollars where they were needed most: on patients, on students and on people in need.

We said that we would control government spending and get our fiscal house in order. We said that the budget would be balanced in our third full budget year and that it would be done in an open and accountable way. Indeed, we set that in law and established when exactly the budget would be tabled each and every year for all the world to see.

Here we are once again, Mr. Speaker — the third Tuesday in February, budget day in British Columbia. I'm pleased to report that not only is our plan on track, but we're ahead of schedule, and we're well on our way to a new era of hope and prosperity.

British Columbians now pay the lowest income tax rate in Canada on their first $60,000 of income. We now have a competitive business environment and competitive business taxes. Consumer and business confidence is building, and new investment is beginning to flow into our province. Last year alone almost 78,000 new jobs were created for the citizens of British Columbia. Our economy grew at three times the rate that many private sector economists predicted.

We not only maintained but increased the health care budget by over $1.1 billion. We protected education funding and increased per-student funding by $127. In 2002-03, for the first time in a very long time — if not ever — every single ministry in government will finish the year on or under budget.

We're leading the nation by introducing the most open, transparent accounting system of any government in Canada by making it the law in British Columbia to keep our books by generally accepted accounting principles. We're leading the way with three-year rolling service plans that detail what we aim to do and how we plan to get there. We've eliminated 233 agencies, boards and commissions; over 1,000 unnecessary fees and licences; and almost 38,000 needless regulations.

I'm happy to report that the often difficult decisions and tough choices that are reflected in those plans and actions are beginning to pay off. The deficit for 2002-03 will be at least $600 million lower than originally expected. If there are no further unexpected events between now and March 31, the deficit could be almost $1 billion less than forecast a year ago.

We're on track not only to balance the budget but to deliver surpluses in 2004 and 2005 and every year thereafter, and we'll do that while injecting substantial additional funding over the next few years in education, health care, early childhood development, child care, job training and a range of community services. We'll get out of the red ink and into the black by growing our economy and opening up every region of the province to our new opportunities. For those who aren't aware, that's the heartlands.

The budget I'm introducing today will spur investment in job creation in high-growth sectors with additional targeted tax reductions. It will open up our transportation corridors and infrastructure and leverage new opportunities for strategic investment under the Canada-B.C. partnership and through public-private partnerships.

This budget will provide new support for revitalizing our vital forest industry and to help support a new era of reconciliation and revenue-sharing with the first nations of British Columbia. It will open up the world to British Columbia through our financial commitment to the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre and a successful 2010 Olympic bid for the province of British Columbia.

It will open up unlimited potential for job creation throughout B.C. in energy, mining, technology and small businesses. This year's budget builds upon the strategy for positive change and structural reform, which lies at the core of the new era that we were elected to deliver for British Columbia. It builds upon the heartlands economic strategy that the Premier outlined in his state-of-the-province address. It's a budget designed to open up British Columbia to new opportunities, new investment and new ways of improving service delivery. It's a budget for British Columbians to build upon. It's a blueprint to live within our means and lead our province forward with confidence and resolve towards a brighter future.

We've come a long way in a very short time, and it certainly hasn't all been easy, nor has it all been painless. The road ahead, as well, is not necessarily paved with gold. There are hills yet to climb and bends yet to navigate and bumps that must be endured before we reach the final destination. But there is renewed energy in our effort. Our economy is on the rebound; our fiscal situation is rapidly improving. We have a road map to prosperity and a budget that's going to get us there.

We're nearing the end of the first year of the government's original three-year plan. In terms of fiscal management, it's been a challenging but a very successful year. Smart decisions and smart choices in 2002-03 have resulted in a lower-than-planned deficit, lower capital spending and lower-than-forecast debt. Because of this, we were able to immediately redirect $112 million to students, to children in need and to patients.

We've also freed up $275 million, which we can redirect to help the transition to a revitalized and sustainable and ever more competitive forest sector. We're doing all of this within the fiscal plan for this year: a forecasted deficit of $3.8 billion — $600 million lower than planned. For the benefit of current and future generations, the year-end debt — the total debt at the end of the year — will be $3.5 billion lower than forecast a year ago.

These are encouraging results, but good financial management is about more than just numbers. It's about having choices and the flexibility to deliver quality services to British Columbians without irresponsibly mortgaging our children's futures. The government's good fiscal management over the past year has built a stronger, more sustainable foundation from which we'll continue moving forward with this plan. Looking ahead, we expect the Canadian economy to grow by slightly more than 3 percent per year through 2003 and 2004. According to the OECD, Canada and the U.S. will continue to lead economic growth in the G-7. B.C. will be well positioned to take advantage of this growth, thanks to the government's work to open up the province and make us ever more competitive. Tax reduction, deregulation, sector-specific growth strategies and new infrastructure will continue to improve the investment climate, and we expect B.C.'s economy to grow by 2.4 percent in 2003, increasing to 3 percent in 2004 and beyond.

In 2003-04, the second full year of the original three-year fiscal plan, I am forecasting a deficit of $2.3 billion, which incorporates a $500 million forecast allowance. Revenues will rise by over $1 billion; spending will decline by $675 million. Provided there are no unexpected circumstances requiring a draw on the forecast allowance, the year-end deficit will be $1.8 billion, just as planned one year ago.

In 2004-05, spending will fall by a further $565 million. Revenues are expected to rise by almost $1.3 billion, resulting in a year-end surplus of $50 million. In the final year of the three-year service plan — that's 2005-06 — we expect a surplus of $375 million over and above the funding lifts for education, advanced education, social services, child protection and further initiatives to grow our economy. The taxpayer-supported debt-to-GDP ratio will peak in 2003-04 at 23 percent, two full percentage points below the original plan stated last year. The ratio is forecast to improve to 21.1 percent by 2005-06.

As the numbers show, the plan is working. We're moving forward. In fact, we're doing better than planned. We're on our way to realizing our vision for British Columbia, a prosperous and just province whose citizens have every opportunity to achieve their full potential, and who are excited and confident about their future. That's what we're working for, and we're getting there by focusing on our three central goals: restoring sound fiscal management; putting patients, students and people in need at the top of the agenda; and revitalizing our economy. I want to address all three of those issues today, starting with the benefits the province is beginning to see from our work to restore sound fiscal management.

When this government took office 21 months ago, the province was in serious fiscal and economic trouble. An independent fiscal review panel confirmed it. Government spending had increased year over year through most of the 1990s, far outpacing revenue growth and creating a massive structural deficit. This unaffordable, unsustainable path posed a huge risk to the future of British Columbia. Our province used to be an economic powerhouse, but in 1999 we became a have-not province. It drastically reduced our ability to provide the kinds of services people want and need,

This government knew, and we were very clear about, the critical need to restore good fiscal management and set government programs on a sound, sustainable footing that would survive in the years ahead. That's why, a year ago, we began the difficult task of getting government's fiscal house in order, and we are getting that job done. As I mentioned earlier, the year just ending will see every ministry operating on or under budget for the first time in a very long time.

Tens of millions of dollars freed up by that sound fiscal management are being redirected into high-priority programs and initiatives. That's exciting news, and that's just what we've been able to do in our first year. Think of what we can do and how far this province can go as the benefits of good fiscal management compound year after year and go further and further.

I think many British Columbians would be surprised to learn that the third-largest ministry in government in terms of growth spending isn't a real ministry at all. It's what we call the ministry of public debt. Interest costs eat up more of our tax dollars every year than any other ministry outside health care and education. We need to balance the budget so that we can start paying down the provincial debt, and then we'll see the benefits of reverse compound interest. The lower our debt, the less interest we pay and the more choices we have about how we use people's hard-earned tax dollars.

If we stay the course, the choices will be ours to make here in British Columbia, and we'll be able to look back and say that it started here with our first full year of sound fiscal management.

I'd like to take a moment, if I may, just to thank all of the people in the public sector who worked so hard over the last two years to help us put this together. I especially want to thank my deputy minister and the people in the Ministry of Finance who work long hours, long weekends sometimes, tirelessly putting their effort behind this plan to make it work. The people of British Columbia should be extremely proud of the people they have working for them in the province.

I also want to take a moment to acknowledge the contributions of my colleagues, who put not only their reputations but also part of their paycheques on the line every year. Once again, all members of cabinet, including the Premier, will start the new fiscal year with a 20 percent holdback on their ministerial salaries.

Ministers will be able to earn back half of that amount by meeting their ministry spending targets. The other 10 percent will be paid back to them if, and only if, we meet our bottom-line target as a government. We did it in 2002-03, and we're just as determined to meet our targets in 2003-04.

Last year the members of the government caucus took a 5 percent pay cut in an effort to put their shoulder to the wheel to a certain extent as well. Unfortunately, that's going to continue for another couple of years, but I do appreciate their effort as well. I know that they are just as dedicated personally, as well as professionally, to carrying out our plans and being fully accountable to the people of the province of British Columbia for the decisions we make.

The numbers show our plan is working. Spending is under control, and as the economy strengthens, we'll be investing more, as planned and promised, in the high-quality services British Columbians count upon.

Health care is, of course, our most essential public service. It also represents the greatest service challenge for this government and every other government in the world. It's also the single largest draw on our provincial revenues. We've all heard and seen, either firsthand or in the media, the challenges that exist in the health care system. They're not new. They've been there for years. So what should we do about them?

Well, we have a choice to make. We can continue to do what previous governments did — add more money but don't change anything — but don't be surprised if we get just the same unacceptable results but pay more to get them. Or we can choose a different path, a path that is far more difficult, a path that requires courage, determination and hard work — courage to make big structural changes to a system that needs a massive overhaul if it is to survive; determination to stay the course, remain focused on patients and not be threatened by those who think the system is there to serve them first and patients second; and hard work to actually get the job done, to go into work every single day, day after day, and make at least one thing better.

Well, we've made the choice, and we reject the path of inaction. We choose the path of courage, determination and hard work, and we are going to get this job done.

We're making those changes in health care, improving the system and curing its ills, and even though it takes time to turn the system around, we are already beginning to see significant progress. The number of health authorities has been reduced from 52 to six to improve efficiency and accountability. At the same time, total funding to health authorities has risen by about 7 percent. Administrative costs within the Health ministry are being reduced by approximately 45 percent, freeing up every one of those dollars for front-line service delivery.

Provincewide standards for patient care are now in place to ensure that health dollars are being spent effectively, and all health authorities are preparing three-year service plans and performance reports focusing on health care improvements. More doctors and more nurses are working in the province today and receiving some of the best wages and benefits anywhere in Canada.

We're training more professionals, as well, with over 1,400 new college and university spaces for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and care aides over three years. By 2005 we will also fully fund 224 new first-year medical school spaces to nearly double

the number of doctors graduating every year in British Columbia by 2009. That means better care and shorter wait-lists in the emergency rooms for surgery and for treatment by specialists.

As these and other improvements to the system come on stream, they're beginning to make a real difference for patients in every part of the province. Let me cite a few examples, because you don't get to see them in the newspapers, and you're very unlikely to see them on television.

Home support clients on Vancouver Island received thousands of hours of additional service in 2002. People in the Okanagan no longer have to go to Vancouver for an MRI scan, because they have their own MRI machine right there in Kelowna. The new autism program at B.C.'s Children's Hospital reduces the wait for evaluation by almost a full year, which can make a world of difference in a child's life. At B.C.'s Women's Hospital, we now have the country's first-ever consolidated program for new mothers and their babies struggling with addiction. On top of delivering better health care and a brighter future for hundreds of families, this new program, because it brings resources together, will actually reduce the costs of this service by $350,000 a year and give better service.

Speaking of saving money while improving care and treatment, we're also seeing great results from new approaches such as telemedicine, using technology rather than travel to bring patients and doctors together. It saves time, it saves money, and most importantly, it gets better results for patients, as was the case recently in Williams Lake.

A child suffered a fracture and went to the local emergency room. The attending doctor took an X-ray and transmitted the image to specialists in Kamloops electronically instead of by mail or by courier. The child was flown to Kamloops, had orthopedic surgery and was back home in Williams Lake within two days. That's a huge improvement over how things used to be in rural British Columbia.

As you can see, Mr. Speaker, the benefits of change are adding up, and these are just a few examples of how the system is improving, thanks to good planning and innovative thinking. We'll be making more improvements in the years ahead. With the $1.1 billion increase we made last year, B.C.'s $10.4 billion health care budget provides amongst the highest per-capita health care spending in the entire country.

I'm also announcing today an increase in the tobacco tax. Effective midnight tonight the tax on a carton of cigarettes will increase by $2 to match the tax rates in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We hope this move will encourage more people to quit smoking, thereby reducing some of the pressure on our health care system.

We're also moving ahead with several new initiatives funded with savings that resulted from prudent management in the fiscal year just ending. The Michael Smith Foundation will receive an $8 million grant to conduct research to improve the effectiveness of the health care reforms we're undertaking. Health authorities will also receive $15 million in grants to support the development of electronic health record systems that promise to improve the quality and the continuity for patients right across the province. There will be additional health care announcements in the weeks ahead.

Finally, as a result of the first ministers accord on health care — the work of the Premiers, our Premier and the Prime Minister — we expect to receive approximately $1.3 billion in new federal funding over the next three fiscal years. The figures aren't quite final yet, but our current expectation is that health spending will increase by approximately $325 million in '03-04, $390 million in '04-05 and $585 million in '05-06.

In the coming weeks we'll introduce a final service plan for the ministries of Health to reflect that additional funding. At the same time, we'll introduce a supplementary estimate for health spending in 2003-04 and set targets for the ministers that reflect those new funding levels. This will ensure that every single cent of the new federal health funding goes to health care. It will be used to sustain our plan to build a better health care system; to continue reforms in primary care, home care and catastrophic drug coverage; and to ensure appropriate levels of diagnostic and medical equipment, training and services. These improvements will build on the significant progress that has already been made towards our vision of a quality health care system that meets patients' needs and always puts patients first.

In education, we'll continue, as well, to put students at the top of the agenda. Today I am pleased to confirm a series of new investments in both the K-to-12 and the advanced education systems. The budget for the Ministry of Education will be $4.8 billion for the coming year. Because of declining enrolment, that translates into an extra $51 for every single student in our schools. That's in addition to the one-time funding of $50 million that was allocated to school boards just last week.

This one-time funding is a direct result of good fiscal management and lower-than-anticipated debt-servicing costs. As a result of that, it's the children of the province who will benefit as tens of millions of dollars that would have gone to bankers in New York, London, Toronto, etc., instead go into the classrooms of British Columbia.

In 2004-05 the Ministry of Education's budget will increase by more than $80 million with a further lift of $60 million in 2005-06, boosting per-pupil funding by another $192 a year. Not counting the one-time funding, the annual budget for the Ministry of Education in 2005-06, the third year of our plan, will be over $140 million higher than it is today with a total lift of $243 per pupil.

I can also confirm today that the Ministry of Children and Family Development will continue to offer school-based programs such as school meals and inner-city school funding aimed at helping children in need succeed in the classrooms of the province. Over the

coming months the ministry will work diligently with parents and school districts to improve those services and get better value for every dollar that we invest in them.

More funding is on the way to higher education as well. The Ministry of Advanced Education will target $23 million in one-time funding this year to enhance research in our universities and our college system. This is another year-end dividend from good, prudent fiscal management. Also, $80 million will be targeted to the Leading Edge Endowment Fund, a partnership with the private sector. This fulfils, two years ahead of schedule, our $45 million commitment to fund 20 B.C. leadership chairs across the province in medical, social, environmental and technological research.

We're going further, funding an additional six regional innovation chairs in the college sector. The balance of the one-time funding will support the advancement of the provincewide BCcampus on-line learning model and accelerate the medical school expansion program underway at UBC, UNBC and the University of Victoria.

These initiatives help to make higher education more accessible to students across the province and to ensure that British Columbia has enough of the highly skilled professionals that we need to build a stronger economy and a better way of life for everyone. In addition, the Ministry of Advanced Education will receive an annual budget lift of $30 million starting in 2005-06.

As we move forward with our plans for the province, revitalizing the economy, balancing the budget and delivering sound fiscal management, we'll be investing more in other services as well. Before the end of 2002-03, the Ministry of Children and Family Development will invest $10 million in an early childhood partnership fund with the United Way and Credit Union Central of British Columbia. That $10 million is yet another enhancement that has been made possible through good fiscal management.

Starting April 1, the ministry will also invest up to $11 million a year in additional funding for intervention for school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder, and the ministry's budget will increase by $23 million in 2005-06.

The Ministry of Human Resources budget will also rise in 2005-06 by $45 million, and the ministry is enhancing some of its programs in the years ahead. It's investing $110 million in employment programs for people in need. It will also increase the earnings exemption for people with disabilities who receive income assistance. Starting this spring, they'll be able to earn up to $400 a month on top of the assistance from the province.

The Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services is increasing by 50 percent the number of child care spaces eligible for subsidy assistance in the coming year.

The Solicitor General's ministry will continue to assist community organizations by maintaining charity top-up grants, as well, over the next three years. In addition, we'll delay by one year the move to have the province's rural areas and communities with populations under 5,000 begin to pay a share of their policing costs. This will allow the Solicitor General to work with the local governments to develop a broader policing strategy for the entire province. These improvements and services to people in communities are possible for two reasons: (1) because we're getting our fiscal house in order, and (2) because we've started to revitalize the economy and overcome the challenges that mounted over the 1990s.

B.C. entered the new millennium saddled with some serious problems. High taxes, red tape and overregulation contributed to an extremely hostile business climate. Investors were fleeing the province, businesses were closing, and young people were leaving, building their futures elsewhere. Our standard of living declined, and British Columbia, so long an economic powerhouse, had slid from its traditional role as a leader in this country to become Canada's newest have-not province. The people of this province knew…

Hon. G. Collins: …that there was something wrong. They felt it in their bones, and they saw it in their pocket books. At election time they had a choice, and they rejected the status quo. Instead of four more years of economic decline, they chose to begin the hard work of rebuilding this province and making British Columbia once again a place where our future is brighter than our past. They chose that path by an overwhelming majority. They trusted the government to lead them on this path, and today I say to British Columbians: we will not let you down. We will stay the course. We'll be true to the task you gave us. We will get this job done.

Clearly, it will take time to undo the damage that our economy suffered in the 1990s. But it's equally clear that the economy is improving. In 2002-03 it grew by nearly 2 percent, almost three times the rate projected by the Economic Forecast Council a year ago, and that growth made a real difference for British Columbians — for individuals, for families, for communities and for businesses.

Perhaps most significantly, thousands more people are working today compared to a year ago. The province created almost 78,000 new jobs during 2002, outpacing job growth in most of the rest of the country and providing a wealth of new opportunities for the people of British Columbia. This past summer, for the first time ever in the history of British Columbia, more than two million British Columbians were at work in this province.

In 2002 housing starts were up by over 25 percent, the strongest annual growth in a decade, and housing sales are booming. Consumer confidence remains strong, and thousands of British Columbians are now

moving successfully from income assistance to employment. Small business owners surveyed recently overwhelmingly said they will increase or at least maintain full-time employment levels in 2003.

The province's move to attract investment and jobs to British Columbia continues to pay dividends. Let me mention just a few, because you probably won't see them on television or read about them in the newspaper. New call centres have opened in Prince George, Chilliwack and Central Saanich, creating over 3,200 new private sector jobs for the citizens of British Columbia. HMY Airlines recently started a charter business out of Vancouver airport, creating up to 300 new jobs for British Columbians, and we're seeing a steady stream of expansions and improvements to ski resorts and other tourist operations in the heartland communities like Golden and Invermere.

In Greenwood, Gold City Industries is working to open a new mine that could create up to 100,000 new jobs in that heartland community of British Columbia. In Vernon, Tekmar is expanding its heating system business, creating 65 jobs in the Okanagan. Duke Energy Gas Transmission is putting over $60 million into its new Grizzly pipeline extension, creating more than 400 construction jobs and boosting the economies of a number of northern communities. In the Fraser Valley, Rogers Foods recently announced the single largest industrial development in Chilliwack's history, pumping $20 million into a new flour mill, and that's just a start.

In Surrey, RMH Teleservices is building a new multilingual customer service centre, creating over a thousand jobs. Over the last 18 months the company has also added 600 jobs in Nanaimo. In Port Alberni, two first nations have teamed up with Polaris Minerals to open a quarry, creating 230 jobs, and mining giant Noranda has returned to the province for the first time since the 1990s, because, to quote a top Noranda official, "B.C.'s new government is making positive changes to make it worthwhile to invest in British Columbia again."

Almost 78,000 new jobs in B.C. in 2002 alone. That's the kind of positive change that's happening right here in British Columbia, and we expect it to gain momentum in the years ahead.

We do expect it to gain momentum in the years ahead. To help ensure that that happens, we're taking further action now to build a vibrant economy right across this province. That means, first of all, opening up British Columbia with a multi-year plan to meet the province's transportation needs and bring new growth and new opportunity to the people in every part of the province.

The transportation plan was announced by the Premier and the Minister of Transportation last week, and today I can confirm that the province is dedicating $650 million to its implementation in the next three fiscal years. The largest share, $225 million, will go to northern and heartland roads, which account for over 70 percent of our highway inventory. This investment will further support our resource industries, as well as improving the quality of life for people in northern and heartland communities from one end of the province to the other.

We'll invest $30 million in ports and airports, including work to expand the Cranbrook Airport and open up the Kootenays to further economic growth. We'll be working with the community of Prince Rupert to open up their port, their valuable port, to container capacity, diversifying its operations and helping to generate new investment and job-growth creation all along the province's northwest corridor.

We'll be investing $93 million in border crossing infrastructure and $132 million in major highway corridors. We'll invest $170 million in other improvements, including highway rehabilitation. We'll keep the inland ferry system toll-free, and we'll make these investments without increasing public debt.

Now the bad news. Instead, we will be dedicating funding from a variety of sources. Some will come from federal contributions, which is only fair, considering that British Columbians send about $750 million a year to Ottawa in the form of fuel taxes. Where appropriate, some of the money will come from tolls, and another portion of revenues will come from the private sector as we move forward and explore opportunities for innovative approaches such as public-private partnerships. Over the next three years we will use our $650 million contribution to leverage more than $1.7 billion in additional investments to help fund additional projects such as the rapid transit project between Vancouver, Richmond and the airport, and a long overdue upgrade to the Trans-Canada Highway through the Kicking Horse Canyon between Golden and the Alberta border.

Other important projects include a new bridge across Okanagan Lake in Kelowna and upgrading the Sea to Sky Highway. The provincial contribution will come from revenues from the fuel tax increase announced last week. Every single dollar from the tax increase will be dedicated to this transportation plan and used to continue to open up British Columbia.

Let me just remind the House that when we invest in transportation, we're also investing in job creation and long-term economic growth. If we want tourism and forestry and mining and the energy sector and all our other vital industries to thrive, we must have a transportation system that we can count on to keep our goods and our services and our people moving. Better transportation networks also help the environment. For example, expanding rapid transit will take thousands of cars off lower mainland roads and reduce the time that vehicles are gridlocked — idling, burning fuel and pumping emissions into the air that we breathe.

Then there are the benefits that can't be quantified, like the value of knowing an ambulance can reach you when you need it and knowing that your children can travel safely to school on the bus. These new transportation projects will benefit all regions and all communities, and they'll be the driving force that opens up our province to a brighter future.

Mr. Speaker, bold action is required to build a transportation infrastructure, and it's absolutely essential if we want to continue to build that bright future. So is action to strengthen and modernize our number one industry: forestry. It's no secret that many forest communities are facing hardships and uncertainty. The softwood lumber dispute is probably the single biggest damper on the British Columbia economy, and people across this province are living with the fallout from the changes and challenges the industry has grappled with over the past decade. Even before the latest softwood dispute, misguided policies were hurting this industry, making it less competitive and discouraging reinvestment. Every single person in British Columbia was affected.

Annual stumpage revenues. Revenues that support needed services like health care and education fell by a third, from $1.8 billion in 1997 to $1.2 billion in 2002. During those five years almost 13,000 people who worked in the forest sector lost their jobs. While whole communities felt the blows as mills closed, businesses closed and forest companies struggled with the issues like rising debt and falling profits, nothing was done.

In spite of those changes, in spite of those challenges, forestry still remains British Columbia's number one industry, but it won't be for long if we don't act to reverse the slide of the last ten years. We're working with the federal and U.S. governments, the B.C. industry and workers to resolve the softwood lumber dispute. That work will continue, but we can't put the industry and the lives and the futures of thousands of British Columbians on hold in the meantime. We're determined to help build a leading-edge forest industry, one that offers certainty and stability for the families and the communities that depend upon it.

We've already taken important steps in that direction. We have a new Forest and Range Practices Act — a streamlined, results-based replacement for the old, bureaucratic, burdensome and ineffectual Forest Practices Code. We're working with the industry to restore our historic competitiveness through market reforms, and we're asking for public input on a proposal to designate 48 percent of the province's land base as a working forest. These are all important moves, but we have to do a lot more. Starting today we're setting aside $275 million in 2002-03 — money that's there from savings this year — to assist in the transition to a revitalized and sustainable forest sector for the years ahead. This is a one-time restructuring cost over and above the operating targets covered by the Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act. This restructuring cost can be accommodated within our fiscal plan, once again thanks to the added flexibility generated by strong fiscal management.

We're also committed to increasing the participation of first nations in the forest economy. Funding is earmarked in this budget for revenue-sharing arrangements with first nations that want to help us revitalize the forest industry in their traditional territories. Revenue distribution will be negotiated with first nations in exchange for legal certainty that allows all regions and all British Columbians to prosper from our resource industries. Specific allocations are $15 million in 2003-04, $30 million in 2004-05 and $50 million in 2005-06. All of these reforms will move us closer to our vision of a leading-edge industry that is globally recognized for its productivity and its environmental stewardship. The Minister of Forests will announce further action to achieve this vision in the weeks ahead.

Along with our attempt and our efforts and our work to renew our number one industry and open up the province to growth and investment, we have other things we need to do. A third key priority is our ongoing commitment to maintain a competitive tax environment to ensure that this is a province where businesses and families can grow and prosper and build successful futures. The tax cuts we implemented during the last year and a half have already bolstered consumer and business confidence across the province. Overall we have implemented 27 measures, reducing the net annual tax burden for companies by more than $350 million and the annual burden for individual British Columbians by over $900 million each year.

We're also seeing good results from sector-specific changes such as those we introduced in the energy and mining sector. B.C. is fast becoming the province of choice for natural gas exploration, thanks in part to our forward-looking energy plan. Mineral exploration investment has increased by 25 percent since the spring of 2001. Companies like Noranda are working here again, and Redfern Resources is set to open a new mine, creating over 800 direct and spinoff jobs in the north by 2006.

With these results in mind, today I'm announcing another series of sector-specific, targeted tax changes, each designed to foster the growth and diversification that B.C. needs for a strong economy and a healthy economy. The first four changes I'm announcing will encourage further success of our arts and culture sectors. Along with supporting economic growth, they'll build on the province's growing reputation not just as Hollywood North but as a place of unique artistic inspiration and vision.

First, we're providing $5 million in new venture capital tax credits for new media companies, one of the fastest-growing of our high-tech industries. The new credits under the small business venture capital program will attract as much as $17 million a year in new investment to the province. We're putting another $5 million a year into a new 15 percent tax credit for productions using digital animation and visual effects as well. The credit will be on top of the existing film tax credits and will pave the way for employment growth in this emerging sector. We're also expanding regional tax credits for television and film projects outside greater Vancouver to encourage more productions like the Disney movie that's being shot in Prince George this spring.

The final change in the cultural sector will strengthen the publishing industry. We're introducing a tax credit for book publishers worth $2.5 million a

year. We're also responding to the need for more venture capital, money for new and emerging businesses that large financial institutions may not choose or be able to support. We're revamping the small business venture capital program, making it easier for companies to access the funds they need for future growth and future expansion. We're also expanding the labour-sponsored venture capital program, increasing the budget for credits from $12 million to $16 million a year. This will allow the government to authorize a third fund to operate in the province. Over time that new tax credit is expected to generate up to $27 million in new investments in B.C.

A further change will benefit B.C.'s small trust companies and credit unions. We're raising the threshold for corporate capital tax from $5 million to $10 million, saving these institutions a total of approximately $2 million a year.

We also expect good results from our final three tax changes, building on initiatives that were introduced earlier. The B.C. mineral exploration tax credit is extended for another three years to 2006. The province will also match any extension to the federal mining flow-through share tax credit, which Ottawa is currently reviewing, and I understand the federal government confirmed some hours ago that they will go ahead with that plan in the future.

Finally, to make B.C. a more attractive port of call for cruise ships, we're expanding the tax exemption on bunker fuel to include the marine gas oil used in ships with gas-turbine engines. These targeted tax changes invest a total of $29 million annually by 2004-05, and they will support further economic growth all across British Columbia.

In a similar vein, the government is moving ahead today with potentially one of the most significant economic development initiatives in the province's history: the bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. This budget includes $103 million of our $600 million commitment to the games, which could add more than $4 billion to our gross domestic product by 2020. This budget also includes, over the next three years, $199 million of our $230 million commitment to the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre, which will add as much as $5 billion to our gross domestic product over time. The convention centre will create as many as 6,000 person-years of employment in the construction phase, and thousands of jobs in related sectors once the centre is up and running. It's also a major investment in tourism, and that's why the industry itself has agreed to contribute $90 million to the project, and the federal government is matching the provincial commitment of $230 million.

The budget I'm tabling today is a plan for prosperity that is prudent, responsible and focused very clearly on our future. The people of British Columbia gave our government a clear mandate to create a new era of hope and prosperity, and this plan continues to deliver on that mandate. It will help revitalize our economy, restore sound fiscal management and put patients, students and people in need at the top of the agenda. It will open up the heartlands of British Columbia to new growth and opportunity through strategic investment in transportation, tourism, forestry and the new economy.

This budget, as with all budgets, ultimately comes down to choices that must be made in spending British Columbians' hard-earned tax dollars. There is no end of desirable social goals that could all benefit from extra funding. There are no simple ways to balance competing interests that are all valid and hungry for public resources. We do our best to make the most of the scarce resources that are available. We plan and budget to spend those dollars where they'll do the most good — to help people and to pave the way for economic growth that pays for everything else that government delivers.

There's room for debate and disagreement on the choices made. That's democracy. We learn as we go, and we adjust ourselves accordingly. Yet we remain ever focused on our mission and very sure of our destiny. But let there be no doubt; your government's course is clear. With this budget, once again, we choose the difficult path of progress and reject the failed approaches and policies of the past decade. We choose to contain the growth of government and expand the economic growth that will sustain our social safety net for future generations. We choose to act now to balance the budget and build for tomorrow.

We have made progress. We are on track. We're ahead of schedule. But we've only just begun. There is yet more work to do. Let's get back to work and get this job done.

J. MacPhail: Mr. Speaker, today's budget, the second full budget of this government's term, marks an important milestone in the evolution of the Liberals' economic and fiscal plan for British Columbia. With the tax and fee increases it contains ? school tax hikes, rural property tax hikes for the heartland, gas tax hikes for the heartland, tobacco taxes, tolls ? and the increases in last year's budget, the elimination of the small tax cut given to low- and middle-income earners is now complete. It's gone. It's gone completely.

Hard-working British Columbians who struggle every day to balance work, home and family, who struggle to find a little left over in every paycheque to save for school and retirement, now must struggle a little harder, thanks to this government. Since the moment the Liberals took office, these same British Columbians have been told over and over again that the price of long-term prosperity was short-term restraint. The Liberals argued that British Columbians should accept program cuts to health, education, the environment, infrastructure and seniors programs, knowing that once the miracle of trickle-down economics worked its magic everything would improve. The government was on a mission. It would not be deterred. The payoff would one day come; a new era would dawn. But over time it's become clear that the prom-

Here are the facts of what is happening in British Columbia. Unemployment is much higher than it was just two years ago; disposable income is down; private sector investment is down; thousands of forest workers are out of work; education and health care are in decline.

J. MacPhail: Despite the fact that the Minister of Finance didn't reveal this figure, the deficit is still at an all-time high of $3.8 billion. In fact, the total provincial, across-Canada deficit number is equal to the deficit that this minister just didn't announce in his budget.

There are new program cuts; yes, there are new program cuts. I know the minister likes to talk about '05-06, but here's what he announced today: a cut of $90 million this year to Pharmacare, a cut of $15 million in public education, a cut of $56 million to the Forests budget, a cut of a quarter of a billion dollars to the Human Resources ministry, a cut of $136 million to the Ministry of Children and Family Development ? and still a deficit this year just past of $3.8 billion.

Where was spending increased? Was it in the office of the Premier? Yes ? $7 million dollars of new money to the Premier. What for? The public affairs bureau. Seven million new dollars taken away from children, taken away from families, taken away from the poor so that there can be more spin doctors working on the Premier's situation. Did caucus know that ? that the budget for the Premier's spin doctors went up $7 million? That's the good news in this budget.

The right-wing supply-side experiment is failing. With this budget, in his own way, the Premier has acknowledged that. A new plan has emerged — not just a new plan for spin doctors…. Well, actually, it is a new plan from spin doctors. We're supposed to feel great; we're supposed to feel wonderful because this government has renamed the interior "the heartland." They've still raised taxes. Only this government could say they're doing something for the heartland and raise rural property taxes. Only this government could say they're doing something for the heartland and raise gasoline taxes.

Mr. Speaker: Order, please, hon. members. The Leader of the Opposition has the floor.

J. MacPhail: They say planning for the long-awaited infrastructure has been moved up, as long as you pay more for taxes and the federal government comes through. They're hoping for the return to the glory days of Social Credit blacktop politics. A few dollars have even been found for education, though not nearly enough to replace the cuts that this government made in its first two budgets. But because none of the promised prosperity has resulted from the reckless tax cuts, the Premier has only one way to pay for this redemption strategy. He can't reverse the high-income tax giveaways. That defeat would be too great to bear. It would be a humiliation that the Liberals just won't endure.

The Premier is left with one option: tax the middle class; tax low-income earners. Make those British Columbians who have suffered the most as a result of the new-era experiment pay the cost of the Premier's new-found faith in big state enterprise. With this budget, this Premier has done something novel in history. He has combined voodoo economics with blacktop politics — first time ever. Congratulations to the Premier.

It's a potent and costly mix for the vast majority of British Columbians who must now shoulder the burden of increased sales taxes, increased MSP premiums, increased gas taxes, increased tuition fees, increased child care costs and increased rural property taxes — all of that to support the Premier's new-found redemption strategy. That's only to name a few of the big fee increases — all to pay for one big mistake that the government made on its very first day: a reckless high-income tax giveaway that the province could not afford and that has not produced the new era that was promised.

No matter what the Minister of Finance doesn't tell you — and a lot in his budget was what he didn't tell you — revenues are not on the increase in this province. They are on the decline. That's what this good-news budget is about. Taxes are up. Spending is up only in the Premier's office, and revenues are down across the province. These new taxes and fees come directly out of the economy. They come directly out of family savings. They come directly out of the pockets of British Columbians who live paycheque to paycheque. They will exacerbate the inequalities and divisions in B.C. that the Liberals have done so much to widen.

I will have much more to say on this budget tomorrow, but let me conclude by saying this.

J. MacPhail: Let me conclude with this. A decade ago the federal government walked away from health care. It walked away from education. It walked away from social housing a decade ago, and it walked away from a fairer and more just society. Over that time the province in the 1990s filled the vacuum left as a result of federal neglect, much to the dismay and opposition of this now government. Today Ottawa, for the first time, is beginning to reverse that trend. As a result, this Premier and this government will receive $1.5 billion more this year from the federal government to invest in communities, to invest in health, to invest in knowledge and to invest in children.

With all of this new assistance, this new assistance in over a decade from the federal government, I hope the province takes this opportunity to walk away from its extreme agenda, to seize the moment and walk away from health care privatization, from cuts to the poor and vulnerable, from cuts to seniors and children, from cuts to education and from cuts to the environment, because every British Columbian has a stake in the civic, political and economic life of our province. Every British Columbian deserves the same opportunity to make the most of themselves. What this provincial government has done with this budget is say that sharing in the benefits of citizenship will cost a lot more for some than others. In doing so, this budget, like the one that preceded it, is making B.C. a meaner, a less cohesive, a less fair and ultimately a less prosperous society.

Hon. G. Collins presented a message from His Honour the Administrator, a bill intituled Small Business Venture Capital Amendment Act, 2003; and a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, bills intituled Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2003, and Income Tax Amendment Act, 2003.

Hon. G. Collins: I move first reading of Bills 3, 6 and 7. These bills will provide legislative authority for many of the initiatives that will bring to life the budget themes of opening up and revitalizing British Columbia's economy and restoring sound fiscal management to the province.

Bill 3, the Small Business Venture Capital Amendment Act, 2003, will open up access to seed capital for small businesses in British Columbia. The amendments are the result of an extensive consultation process and will revamp the small business venture capital program to streamline and expand access.

Bill 6, the Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2003, amends three non-tax statutes and a variety of taxation statutes. The bill includes a transitional provision that will provide a mechanism for incorporating information about new federal funding for health care into the accountability framework of the Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act. In addition, the Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act is amended to clarify when ministers of state must make public the actual results received in their regulation to their targets. If the targets are achieved, the ministers become entitled to their salary holdback amount. The Financial Administration Act is amended to allow payments from the consolidated revenue fund for fees, commissions or expenses relating to public-private partnerships projects. The bill also repeals the working capital account referred to in the Purchasing Commission Act effective March 31, 2003.

The major tax-related amendments include improving the provincial sales tax exemption for production, machinery and equipment under the Social Service Tax Act, increasing the exemption threshold for small financial institutions to $10 million from $5 million under the Corporation Capital Tax Act, amending the Insurance Premium Tax Act to raise the rate on property insurance to help offset the costs of fire suppression services operated by the B.C. Forest Service, increasing the tobacco tax rate by $2 per carton under the Tobacco Tax Act, amending the Property Transfer Tax Act to improve the fairness and administration of the first-time homebuyers exemption, amending these and other taxation statutes to improve fairness and administration and to confirm longstanding policy.

The Motor Fuel Tax Act is also amended to provide authority to exempt a class of fuel by regulation, raise the motor fuel tax rates on clear diesel and gasoline by 3.5 cents per litre, confirm the historical tax rates levied under the BCTFA regulations and redirect to the consolidated revenue fund the 1.25 cents per litre in clear fuel tax currently collected on behalf of B.C. Ferries.

As part of the government's ongoing efforts to restore competitiveness and revitalize the economy, Bill 7, the Income Tax Amendment Act, 2003, includes amendments to extend the film and television tax credits commonly called Film Incentive B.C. and the production services tax credit for five years to 2008, enhance the existing regional tax credits available under Film Incentive B.C. and introduce a new 6 percent regional tax credit as a part of the production services tax credit program, introduce a new 15 percent digital animation and visual effects tax credit for productions eligible for the Film Incentive B.C. and production services tax credit, and introduce a new refundable tax credit for book publishing companies.

Bills 3, 6 and 7 introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Hon. G. Collins: I table, on behalf of the ministers responsible, the government's 2003-04 to 2005-06 overall strategic plan and service plans required under the Budget Transparency and Accountability Act.

I have two packages which I gave to the Clerk. The first package contains service plans for the office of the Premier, 20 ministries and four related organizations. The second package contains service plans for 27 Crown corporations and other government organizations. The second package also includes a list of organizations which have been exempt from section 13,

"Service Plans," of the BTAA and for which service plans are not being filed. These organizations have been exempt primarily because they are inactive, will be wound up, their functions are being transferred to another organization or ministry, or their services will be delivered outside the government reporting entity.

Hon. R. Thorpe: I rise to table a statement as required by section 17 of the Budget Transparency and Accountability Act. This statement sets out that a company named Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project Ltd. was formed on February 13, 2003, and that they do not yet have a detailed service plan for the upcoming year. Our announcement yesterday on the purchase of the land for the new convention centre in Vancouver was good news for all regions of British Columbia. The statement confirms that the board of directors will develop and release a service plan to the public no later than May 31, 2003.

In addition to providing transcripts on the Internet, Hansard Services publishes transcripts in print and broadcasts Chamber debates on television.

Official Report of

DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY