Hansard -- Monday, May 26, 2003 a.m. -- Vol. 16, No. 1 (HTML)

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

Private Members' Statements		6873
	Auxiliary policing A. Hamilton Hon. R. Coleman B.C. parliamentary innovations B. Lekstrom Hon. G. Collins Surrey growth B. Locke Hon. K. Falcon Public safety and crime P. Wong D. MacKay

Motions on Notice		6882
	Role of high-technology sector in B.C. economy (Motion 65) (continued) J. Bray R. Lee P. Sahota K. Johnston K. Manhas J. Nuraney Value-added forest sector (Motion 14) P. Bell K. Krueger J. Wilson W. Cobb

A. Hamilton: Today I'd like to share with the House some information about a group of dedicated individuals who play a pivotal role in ensuring the safety and well-being of communities across British Columbia. I take pleasure in doing so, because unfortunately they don't get an awful lot of attention or recognition for the good work they do. The group of whom I speak are the people who serve in the auxiliary and reserve police constable programs in our province.

Speaking from personal experience, I can assure you that without the reserve officers and their dedication and commitment to the task of law enforcement in British Columbia, it would be immeasurably far more difficult. On March 1 of this year I had the opportunity to attend the graduation ceremony of 30 auxiliary and reserve constables. These individuals completed training for the West Shore, Sooke and city RCMP auxiliary constable programs and for the Victoria police reserve constable program.

Those grads joined another 30 who completed the Saanich and Central Saanich reserve constable programs in February. In both of these cases, those men and women had completed more than 100 hours of in-depth training developed by the Justice Institute of British Columbia, training that was completed in evening sessions and a full-day session every weekend over a four-month period.

Nobody breezes through this program. The training material is detailed and focused, covering topics such as legal studies, police responsibilities, professionalism and ethics, self-defence, community policing and traffic studies. In addition, graduates write two examinations administered by the Justice Institute, and they also take practical testing in self-defence.

As graduates, these people will each provide between ten and 50 hours a month to the community in the delivery of crime prevention programs, assisting with community events and completing patrol ride-alongs with regular police officers. They will help deliver crime prevention programs involving traffic safety, auto crime, home and business security audits, safety presentations and fingerprint clinics for children. When there is a major community event such as a parade, a fair or sporting event, the auxiliary and reserve officers are front and centre on traffic and crowd control duties.

The history of our auxiliary and reserve program dates back to the early sixties, when they were started as part of the Civil Defence Act. At that time the primary purpose was to provide additional resources for police to draw on in times of disasters like fires, floods and earthquakes. Over the years the focus has gradually changed, with increased emphasis on crime prevention.

Just a few years ago a major review of the program was completed by representatives of the policing community working with the Ministry of Attorney General, which was at that time responsible for policing programs. That review produced a provincewide policy that clearly outlined the purpose, mandate, restrictions and standards for the auxiliary and reserve constable program. The review set the bar high, but all auxiliary and reserve constables embrace the policy and the high standards that have been set.

I found it very interesting, in speaking to various program coordinators, to learn not only that it is the program an incredible success in our communities but that it also serves as a very valuable recruitment tool, in that many of these volunteers are eventually hired to be regular police officers. That said, not all the auxiliary and reserve constables join the program with the aim of becoming full-time law enforcement officers.

The men and women in the program represent virtually every profession in the communities they serve. Some are college and university students who work in a variety of part-time jobs while completing their education. Others come from business and real estate or from our municipal, provincial or federal governments. Some are clerks and others accountants, while yet others are skilled tradespersons. They represent just about every area of our economy.

While they have a rich variety of job skills and backgrounds, they share one common characteristic, and that is the desire to serve in a meaningful and purposeful way. They recognize the importance of effective policing and are committed to the concept of preserving and protecting public safety and security in communities across our province.

I was once a member of the auxiliary-reserve constable program. It was a great experience — so great, in fact, that it led me and a number of my fellow reservists to full-time careers as police officers. The measure of just how seriously our reserve law enforcement officers take their roles is the fact that they're all volunteers. What's more, they serve without pay or any other kind of reward. In my book, you can't buy that kind of commitment. It's voluntary — the best kind there is.

I've taken great pains to praise the program and the people who serve it. The contribution they make is one that too often passes unnoticed, but I would be remiss if I failed to also pass along my congratulations to the regular officers, the men and women who serve as mentors and guides to the members of the reserve and auxiliary program. It's one thing to sit in a classroom and crack the books, learning the theory and the rules and regulations. While the training, the lectures and exams are essential, the fact remains that the best way to learn what real policing is about is on a ride-along on the street.

Any officer who has passed through the reserve program will tell you nothing helps reserve officers

shape up faster and better than a spell on the beat, either on foot or as a ride-along with an officer who is experienced and who knows the ropes.

It's a good system. The regular officer helps to develop a core group of highly motivated and highly trained reserve officers who, by sharing the policing load, make the jobs of the regular officers that much easier. Having been through the program, having witnessed firsthand just how well it works and the satisfaction it provides, I would not hesitate to recommend to all young people that they give serious consideration to the reserve and auxiliary programs. It's a fine way to make a contribution that really counts and to learn a set of skills that simply can't be found anywhere else.

Today, thanks to this program and the dedicated people who have chosen to serve, the thin blue line is a little thicker and a whole lot stronger. That, in my opinion, is the best testimony of the real value and worth of our auxiliary and reserve constable program here in British Columbia. I believe we must do everything we can to strengthen it, and I look forward to the Solicitor General's response on this matter.

Hon. R. Coleman: I agree that the auxiliaries play a pivotal role in the whole ensuring of safety and well-being of communities. I'm pleased to say that the government continues to support this program, which is actually becoming a very vibrant program across the province, with an expectation that the volunteers who will enter the auxiliary program will increase by another 30 percent over the coming year.

The recruitment since 1999 has exceeded our expectations. Currently, there are 650 active auxiliary and reserve constables volunteering in this province. As I said, we expect that to go up. They have a great community impact. Voluntary auxiliary and reserve constables have a significant impact on any community they touch and which they serve in.

This program, with the training the member describes, comes out of the issue with regard to arming auxiliaries years ago, which led to actually trying to build an infrastructure of training for auxiliaries to take them to each level so they could do different levels of policing.

In Chilliwack, for example, with the program they have today, the auxiliaries regularly provide foot patrol programs for the downtown business area, and they also deliver a counterfeit recognition seminar to educate local businesses in the community.

In Kamloops auxiliaries have organized a home security program, providing public safety information support to homeowners in the community. In Kelowna auxiliaries are particularly active in the schools, delivering programs like Stranger Danger to preschool and kindergarten children.

Auxiliaries in Nanaimo have a community bike patrol program. They provide Halloween safety tips for school kids and have developed a special hug-a-tree presentation for elementary school children. At the Cloverdale Rodeo just last weekend every law enforcement officer on the site was with an auxiliary, so there were two patrolling the grounds — both in uniforms. It was clear which was the auxiliary's and which was the police's, but it had a great impact on the security and management of that particular event.

In the near future the RCMP in British Columbia will be implementing a new armed reserve program as allowed under the RCMP Act. This program will be piloted this summer in communities around the province as we build the next tier of volunteerism and involvement in our programs with regard to policing. The candidates for that program will be retired police officers, former police officers, former military police officers and others who have the skills and experience of regular members and who can be qualified up to the level to do that job.

The program is an effective and efficient way to assist detachments with high demand for seasonal policing requirements. The communities of British Columbia will benefit from having fully trained, highly experienced reserve officers and fully trained and experienced auxiliaries working alongside regular members with no added strain to existing volunteer support budgets.

These programs will dramatically enhance community policing and partnerships and strengthen public safety within British Columbia communities. The RCMP initiatives build on the success of the auxiliary and reserve program and reflect the government's commitment to public safety and to the auxiliary and reserve police program.

The commitment of our municipal forces to the program has a long history, as the member outlined, where members today in those departments often started out in reserve programs. They continued to be a stepping stone so that people know this is a career they want to step into.

These initiatives build on the success of the auxiliary and reserve programs that we already have in the province and reflect our commitment to public safety and to the auxiliary and reserve police programs. Our message is clear: we support the hundreds of dedicated volunteers who give their time so willingly to ensure the safety of our citizens in communities across the province and will continue to do so well into the future. We will build a proper program at each level as we build into the future so that the auxiliary and reserve program will be strong for many generations to come to support our policing in British Columbia and support communities and public safety in our communities.

A. Hamilton: I thank the Solicitor General for his comments. As a retired police officer, I am aware of how perilously thin the thin blue line really can sometimes be or seem. I'm extremely impressed with the dedication and commitment of the auxiliary and reserve constables in this province. As mentioned, these individuals are volunteers who provide their services to the community without compensation or remuneration. Services provided benefit the community not only

through crime prevention issues, as I've mentioned previously, but also through acting as an effective liaison between the police and the community at large.

There were times in my career, frankly, and probably in those of every other serving law enforcement officer, when the pressure seemed almost too great, when it seemed there weren't enough hours or bodies to get the job done. As mentioned previously, today, thanks to this program and the dedicated people who have chosen to serve in it, the thin blue line is a little thicker and a whole lot stronger.

B. Lekstrom: It's certainly my privilege today to rise in this House to speak on the issue of parliamentary innovation. I think this issue is something that all British Columbians deal with and think about in their day-to-day lives. When we look at how government operates, we often wonder. You grow up in a province or in a country, and you look at your government, and you're not sure how things are dealt with, how the decisions are made, how the cabinet operates, how government choices and decisions come about when it deals with some very significant issues that are facing all of us as British Columbians.

Today I want to speak on what our government has done on the issue of parliamentary innovation and some very, very progressive steps that our government in British Columbia has taken and that I think are being watched not just across our country but around our world.

To begin, I want to speak on the issue of government caucus committees. I think most people in British Columbia, when they look at governments, feel that all decisions are made by cabinet and that those decisions are then filtered down to their caucus colleagues. In fact, that's not the truth. In our government here today our Premier has initiated government caucus committees that will deal with all issues of our government and the issues we deal with. All aspects of what each cabinet minister has to deal with and go through are then filtered down through what we call a government caucus committee.

These government caucus committees are made up of members of our government, and through that process they get to evaluate the decisions and choices and ideas that the cabinet and each minister come up with. They go through that and add to it what they've got for experience, and their ideas. Through that process we come away with an idea of what we have to do to head in a direction and develop the legislation that's best needed for British Columbians.

I couldn't imagine being part of a government that didn't operate that way. Being part of a government that left all decisions strictly up to the members of cabinet while all of the other private members had no say in it doesn't make any sense. We elect 79 MLAs to this Legislature. Each one of those MLAs brings with them constructive ideas on how to improve things, and holding a situation or having a government that doesn't have the ability to step in and grab that kind of innovation from each member of this Legislative Assembly doesn't make a lot of sense.

When you look back at the history of how governments have operated, we've come a long way, and we should all be very proud — not just the members of this Legislature but all British Columbians — because of the innovative way in which we're progressing as a government.

B. Lekstrom: Very, very innovative. We are the tops in Canada without doubt.

As well, we have reinstituted our select standing committees of the Legislature. I've had the privilege to sit on a number of those committees. I had the honour to chair the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services for two years. We travelled the province. We listened to British Columbians. We didn't take a message out. We went out and said to British Columbians: "We want to hear from you."

The Minister of Finance puts out a prebudget consultation paper. Then we go out, and we listen to what people have to say about that. Do they agree with the direction? Do they not agree? Do they have better ideas, something we may not have thought about? In the two years that I had the privilege of chairing that committee, I can tell you it was an honour to go out and listen to British Columbians and listen to their ideas.

I want to thank the Minister of Finance, I want to thank the cabinet, and I want to thank my colleagues, because both of those reports were taken and used as a tool in the development of our budget. I can tell you that those ideas were listened to. When you look at how they're reflected in the budget, I think British Columbians should be very proud of their input through that process.

B. Lekstrom: We had a lot of people show up, which is the whole point of being in government — to go out and listen to the people that you represent.

So, select standing committees of the Legislature — we have a number. Aboriginal Affairs; Crown Corporations; Education; Finance and Government Services; Health; Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct, Standing Orders and Private Bills; Public Accounts; and Legislative Initiatives. We have a Special Committee on the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform and a Special Committee on Selection. We have the Legislative Assembly Management Committee as well as a Committee of Supply. This is a list of the legislative committees that we operate under. These are all-party committees. These are committees of the Legislature. They aren't just government committees, as many people would think.

So, again, a very innovative idea. Not that it's a new concept; but I think we should all be very proud that

we've re-initiated these select standing committees and are going out to listen to British Columbians.

B. Lekstrom: Very busy. Very busy committees. I want to thank my colleague for the help.

We've gone to open cabinet meetings, and I think the Premier should be commended for his insight and ability to try and gain British Columbians' interest in government, because I think for far too long we've let that interest go. When we go to a coffee shop and hear something there, we take it verbatim. Far too often that's the case. Most people that come into my office, when I discuss the issue with them, are pleasantly surprised — when you put the piece of legislation in front of them or the discussion paper that we're working on — that that isn't exactly how they heard it in the coffee shop that morning. Once they've got all the facts, it doesn't mean they agree with you, but they certainly have a better understanding and can take that issue and understand it much better.

Open cabinet meetings, I think, are a first. I think we should be very proud of our government, proud of our Premier and proud of our cabinet members who actually participate in that. This isn't a show put on for the people of British Columbia. This is the work of cabinet. This is what they do in their day-to-day lives, and I can tell you it's a very busy schedule that they have.

We've gone to fixed election dates so that the games can't be played as you get two and three years into your term. We are going to the polls on May 17, 2005, and we'll have fixed election dates from that day forward. Again, something very innovative, and we should all be very proud of it. We set dates for legislative sittings so MLAs know when they have to be in Victoria and when they can be back in their constituency doing the work for the people that elected them, first and foremost in each of their ridings.

We have fixed dates for the throne speech as well as our budget speech, something that British Columbians can look at and know when our throne speech is coming down and when the budget is going to be presented so that it doesn't run two and three and four months behind.

Another very important factor that we've done in our government is that we have put in three-year rolling service plans so that each ministry is developed with the help of all MLAs in here and caucus members. These programs are going to be modified each year. As we roll through the first year, we then have two years left; we roll in a third year. We have three-year rolling plans.

There's so much that I could talk about in parliamentary innovation and so little time to do it, but I am going to await the response from the minister, and then I will conclude with my statements.

Hon. G. Collins: It's just a good indication of how well everyone works together in this government with all the support the member had in his opening comments today, in his statement.

It is something I know he's proud of. I know other members of the House are proud of the magnitude of changes and the types of changes that have happened in an effort to open up this Legislature and to open up government, to make it more transparent, make it more accountable, and make sure that those members that are elected representatives of their constituents actually have the opportunity to raise those issues that are important to their constituents in a way that has a real impact on government policy and the changes the government brings forward.

This morning is a good indication of that, which I don't believe was one of the ones that the member touched on. Private members' day and the way we do it here in Victoria on Monday mornings is something that in the ten years I was here in opposition from 1991 until 2001 never really happened. There was always a provision for private members' days, but they were always overtaken by government business. There was never an opportunity for members to bring their statements to the House, to bring their issues to the House — matters of debate, matters of concern. We now have an opportunity to debate legislation and motions. Private members' statements are part of that.

We also have private members' statements right before question period, which is an opportunity that many members have to bring issues that are of critical importance to their constituents or recognition of their constituents to the floor of the House. Those are innovations that members who had not been here prior to the last election perhaps are not aware of, and they may not be aware of the value those have to them in doing their jobs in representing their constituents.

Certainly, the member raised a whole series of changes that have happened in the last two years to the way this House and the government operate. The government caucus committees are probably one of the most valuable changes that have happened. They involve each and every member of the Legislature on the government side in policy development, in budget developments, in legislative developments and in changes to ministries in a way that doesn't really happen just about anywhere else. It certainly didn't happen here previously. That ensures that government does have its ear to the ground and listens very carefully to the issues raised by constituents and the concerns raised by the people who elect their members and send them here to Victoria.

The other area of innovation that the member talked about was the standing committees and the greater use of the standing committees. The one in particular that I know he played a role on was chairing the Finance committee, which does the prebudget consul-

tations. That's something I want to thank him for and all the work he did. It is an onerous task. There are a lot of long hours involved in that phase and a lot of very intensive consultation that goes on in many communities across the province each year.

As Minister of Finance, I know that work is invaluable in getting a good sense of what the public's priorities are, staying in touch with those public priorities and making sure, to the extent that it's possible, that those priorities and those recommendations are implemented and, in turn, inside the budget process and the budget itself. I always look forward to reading those reports. Having sat on that committee, as well, when I was in opposition, I know the value of it. I know that people never hesitate to come and tell you their ideas and suggestions. That's valuable also.

The member talked about fixed dates. That has not just provided some certainty for the public by having a fixed election date where the government can't play games with the election day. Also, the throne speech and the budget days being fixed not only provides some certainty for the public, they also provide some certainty for government as a whole. It allows government to have a much more disciplined focus to the annual budget cycle, to the annual legislative cycle in an effort to make sure there are time lines set, people get their work done on time and it does create a fair bit of discipline around the way that government works. I've been pleased with that improvement as well.

The one innovation which has probably served the public and your constituents the best is really the fixed legislative calendar. I remember when I was in opposition, we would start sitting sometime in March — never knew until a couple days before when it was actually going to happen. We went non-stop until July or August in some years without an opportunity to get back into our constituencies.

The change that we've put in place with the fixed calendar allows for a fall sitting as well. There are six weeks in the fall where we can meet and deal with pressing issues. Also, on about a three-week rotation, we're able to take a week out of the Legislature, get back to our constituencies and meet with our constituents to hear what they have to say, to be able to provide information to them and be accountable to them but also to take the information they provided to us and come back to Victoria. I know members always come back after that week in the constituencies refreshed, refocused and ready to do the people's business.

There are a series of changes that have been made. We're always looking for new innovations. Certainly, if others have other ideas, we'd be more than glad to look at them to see how we can make this House and this government more accountable.

B. Lekstrom: I would like to thank the minister for his response to the topic I've chosen to speak on today.

There are so many things that we could talk about. As I indicated earlier, the time frames are somewhat tight. We've also opened a provincial congress where each year the Premier pulls together MLAs, MPs, members of first nations and community organizations to come together and talk on the different issues of that congress as to what we can do to improve the quality of life in British Columbia. I think that's very innovative as well.

We've initiated the Citizens' Assembly, which is going to go out and talk to British Columbians to find out if the way we elect our MLAs today is the way we should continue to do it and whether there's a better way to look at it. I think, again, it's a very, very leading organization, and our government is certainly something we should all be very proud of with that innovation.

Free votes are something that is very important to myself and, I believe, to all British Columbians. Free votes are a reason that I think many British Columbians looked at our government and said: "Look. There is a government that is there for the people of British Columbia. They're there so that their MLAs, if they are elected, can listen to their constituents, can take their voice and be heard in the Legislative Assembly and cast their vote on what they think is in the best interest of British Columbians."

B. Lekstrom: Well, and some people have exercised that. I must point out that in exercising that — having exercised that myself — I can tell you that there's never been a situation where people have approached me to say: "You shouldn't be doing that. You should be thinking the other way." They said: "Look. If that's your belief, if you think that's in the best interest, cast your vote." I think a lot has to be said about a government that will treat its members that way.

Trying to run a government in any province in this country is difficult. I can tell you that in the work that we do, the free vote is very important. In closing, I wanted to talk about when you do exercise your issue of a free vote and you come in and cast your vote in this House — whichever way you voted — when you leave this room, you support the majority's wishes. That's how it works. I have a background on municipal council, and it follows through to today in the ….

But you speak your piece, you cast your vote the way you believe you should cast that vote, and at the end of the day, however the majority votes on that issue, you do your best to go out into this province and make that work. That's how I operate.

Again, I want to thank all the Members of the Legislative Assembly. I want to thank the cabinet — the ministers who I think do a tremendous amount of work on behalf of all British Columbians, who keep us certainly in the loop on every issue that's being dealt with.

I encourage British Columbians to take an interest in their government through this new, open and inno-

vative way that we're delivering government in British Columbia. Take the time to get a copy of the budget if you want to speak on finances. Get a copy of the legislation that you may have issues or concerns with or just questions, because it makes it far more effective as an individual British Columbian, if you want to speak to your MLA or any member of this government, when you know what you're speaking about and you have the factual information.

With that, I will close by just saying government is about tough choices. It's about tough choices whether you're in good economic times or bad economic times. Not every choice that a government has to make is one that you feel great about inside. But when you're looking at the big picture and trying to get to a balanced-budget situation so we can deliver to the people of British Columbia…

B. Locke: As Surrey nears its 125th anniversary of incorporation and celebrates our tenth anniversary as a city, it is my pleasure to rise in the House and report the amazing progress this city has achieved.

When H. J. Brewer named Surrey after his native county in England, I don't think he could have foreseen the meteoric growth of his home's namesake. Today Surrey stands as a testament to the ambition and drive of its residents who each add their own individual strengths and bind the community stronger.

Still, Surrey has been the target of some negative media, especially of late. Like any city of over 370,000 people with a growth rate of over 12,000 people every year, we do have our pressure points, but remember that 370,000 people choose to call Surrey their home. I proudly have called Surrey my home for over 22 years, and I've chosen to raise my children in this young, active, family-oriented community.

We hear about the crime rates in Surrey, but the facts just don't support the accusations. The facts are clear. Compared to 72 other B.C. municipalities with populations over 5,000, Surrey has an average crime rate with an overall ranking of twenty-seventh, one of the lowest of any of the major cities in B.C.

We have worked to reduce our auto crime problem significantly. While overall auto crime rates in B.C. are increasing, Surrey's attention to the problem has curbed the rising trend in our community by more than 50 percent compared to last year.

Much of the kudos must go to our RCMP, Surrey Crime Prevention Society, and Surrey citizens and businesses who all care about our community. The Solicitor General's new PRIME legislation and integration plan will have an even more positive impact on the safety of our community.

People throughout Canada and the world are recognizing British Columbia as a place to move to once again. For the first time in many years, people have the confidence to pursue a new life in this province, and Surrey is no exception. In fact, it is one of the fastest-growing areas in B.C. and has been for many years, ranking the eleventh-largest city in the nation. By 2010 it is predicted that Surrey's population will exceed Vancouver's, and it will be the largest city in British Columbia.

This government's policies have spurred the construction industry in Surrey to levels never seen before. Cutting red tape, empowering local governments and providing incentives to move to this province are working extremely well in Surrey. We can see the evidence. The value of building permits in B.C. increased by 49 percent, outstripping all provinces in Canada. Surrey alone accounted for 36 percent of all the GVRD housing starts while only accounting for 18 percent of the population. That meant an increase of more than $50 million in permits in Surrey. People want to build a new home in Surrey. They want their children to go to our top-quality schools and enjoy the best health care anywhere.

What would a city be without a vibrant business community, an attribute that Surrey most definitely has? Since this government has come to power, businesses throughout the province have been reinvigorated by the changes in government policy. In the first four months of this year job creation in B.C. grew by over 25,000, and many of those jobs were facilitated by the small business growth in Surrey and the exponential growth of our construction industry. In 2002 alone there were 1,614 businesses incorporated in Surrey.

We were elected based on our promise to return British Columbia to the splendour and prosperity that it enjoyed before the 1990s. Some of the decisions that we have agreed upon as a caucus and government have not been easy, but two years into our mandate I am seeing the changes already come to fruition.

The new SFU campus in Surrey will contribute to the fastest-growing technology industry in Canada — an industry that this government has committed to foster and encourage. Kwantlen University College is planning expansions for greater student access to trades training and a significant increase in the number of nursing student spaces.

We have also invested in our new subsidized housing in Surrey for low-income seniors that want to maintain their independence. This government's commitment to health care and education is evident in Surrey. In fact, just last week the Minister of State for Mental Health opened a newly renovated floor for mental health patients at Surrey Memorial Hospital, and not long ago we opened a new state-of-the-art operating room at SMH.

We have added four new schools in Surrey and have committed to nine new capital projects over the next three years, honouring our commitment to improve education and access where it is needed. Our kids have among the highest per-pupil funding in Canada, which will pay dividends in the future.

To accent the commitment of our municipal government, the provincial government has committed additional resources to the Surrey Public Library to ensure that our local libraries remain an effective community resource.

Finally, for the first time in a long time we have a government that is able to balance its priorities without digging deep into the pockets of British Columbians and mortgaging our children's future.

This government is addressing issues of great importance to Surrey, the lower mainland and the heartlands. We occupy an advantageous and demanding position in B.C. because we straddle the border of the United States. Trade is important to Surrey, and we have many companies that specialize in cross-border trucking. I was very pleased when the Minister of Transportation and the federal government committed over $30 million to fund transportation initiatives at our border crossings.

But that's not all. This government, in partnership with the federal government, will commit almost $200 million to transportation upgrades in Surrey alone.

I'm excited for the future for Surrey and for the rest of our province. Our policies and foresight are beginning to take shape. The people that call Surrey home and are planning to call Surrey home will be experiencing positive change for as long as this government works to reinvigorate this province.

Hon. K. Falcon: I am privileged today to respond to the member's statement on Surrey and the celebration of Surrey's tenth year as a city, and its many years as one of the fastest-growing jurisdictions in our province.

The member correctly pointed out a whole laundry list of achievements that we've seen in Surrey. How proud I am as the MLA from Cloverdale to be part of the fastest-growing city and to serve alongside the member from Green Timbers, along with the other members from Surrey who are working together with local government and the federal government to ensure that Surrey realizes the great potential that it has.

Hon. K. Falcon: Seven, actually — seven members from Surrey. That's really something else, isn't it?

The exciting thing that the member from Green Timbers mentioned was something that I think shocks a lot of people. That is that by the year 2010, Surrey will in fact be larger than Vancouver. That is an incredible thing when you think about it. The growth in population and the desire of folks to move into this great community are such that we are projecting to be larger than the city of Vancouver.

I think the point that she raised about small business growth is also very exciting. We've seen over 1,600 businesses incorporated last year alone, and we're continuing to see that growth in small business this year in Surrey. That is driven by good government. That is driven by a change that people have seen take place in British Columbia over the last two years with a government that recognized that British Columbia needs to be on a competitive playing field so that we can once again lead this country instead of follow it.

Twenty seven different tax relief measures have been very, very critical in ensuring that British Columbia is going to lead again. The changes that the Minister of Labour made to the Labour Code were hugely important to take the shackles off of business and ensure that they've got the opportunity to compete with all the best right across the country and around the world.

The changes we're making in terms of trying to deal with the growth of red tape that we've had in British Columbia over the last decade…. We now are halfway to our target of reducing unnecessary red tape and regulation by one-third within our first three years. We're halfway there, and we're going to hit that target while still protecting the important values that we hold dear, which are public health, safety and the environment.

All of this is being done, and it's not without critics. There are those that have said to us: "You can't do this. We have to go back to the way we were doing things before." We have to remind those folks that if we kept doing things the same way we did them in the past, we would get the same result. Let's be clear about that result. That result was that British Columbia, for the first time in the great history of this province, became a have-not province. That's unacceptable. We are going to lead this country again, and the member from Green Timbers has correctly pointed out some of the exciting things that are happening in the community of Surrey. We are blessed by the fact that we have population growth. We are blessed by the fact that with that growth come some exciting things like the new schools that the Minister of Education just announced last week, like some new health facilities that the Minister of State for Mental Health was just announcing last week and like the growth in the hospital services that are being provided. All of that is being done because we have a government that is focused on making sure that we deliver the best possible services in the most efficient way possible.

I am pleased to respond to the member from Green Timbers' statement, and I look forward to hearing her further response.

V. Anderson: We have today in the House a group of bright young people in grade 5 from Vancouver College, most of whom were up at 4 o'clock this morning to come over and see this exciting event here in the Legislature. We want to welcome them, and we hope

they have a good time. We welcome them in the sunshine they have today. It was great to get out and meet with them.

I had one request in asking the House to make them welcome. Their request is that we would make sure that the member from Mount Pleasant knew they were here, because she would like to bring them greetings as well. Please let us welcome these groups, along with the member from Mount Pleasant.

J. Kwan: Visiting in the gallery today, as the member for Vancouver-Langara mentioned, are students from Vancouver College. Within that group there is one special student who is close to our family, and that is my nephew Brendan Lau. My nephew is in our community….

J. Kwan: Yes, he does go to a private school. And his father, I know, is also in the House accompanying them. We come from different political spectrums within the family. How about that?

Having said that, Mr. Speaker, this bright young person, Brendan, is indeed my nephew. He is very enthusiastic about his tour and potentially about politics as well. He was the vice-president of his class earlier this term, and perhaps one day he will take a seat somewhere in this House. Who knows?

Hon. K. Falcon: I couldn't pass this opportunity without also welcoming the students from Vancouver College. Some of the members may know that that was my former high school. I had the pleasure of attending….

Hon. K. Falcon: Yes, I went to school. I went to school, and I want to say that I'm pleased to hear the member opposite's nephew is also at Vancouver College. I'm sure he will one day join us over on this side of the House as part of government too. We welcome all of them.

B. Locke: I want to thank the Minister of State for Deregulation for his passion for our town and for our city, and thank him for being a tremendous Surrey supporter along with the member for Surrey-Tynehead.

Surrey's attributes go even further. All work and no play would not fit with our active city motto. Leisure activities are all within our city limits. Surrey is the home of three fabulous theatres as well as our own arts centre. Throughout the city you will see signs of our past — our heritage farmhouse and schools — and we are home to the second-largest museum archive in the province.

Because of our youthful population and attitude, sports are an important aspect of life in Surrey. Surrey is the home of great ice arenas, swimming pools, athletic parks and tracks, and some of the finest golf courses anywhere. Surrey is the city of parks, and we are proud to have a 900-acre urban forest right in the heart of the city and beaches within our boundaries.

But you know, with all of the great growth and our tremendous assets, the greatest asset of our city is our citizens. We are so privileged to live in a city of great cultural diversity and mostly just great folks. We have held many successful provincial and even international events in our city, and the volunteers, the Surrey supporters, are always there to pitch in.

So you see, Mr. Speaker, what makes Surrey great is all of the above. It's all part of the Surrey spirit.

P. Wong: I am delighted to have this opportunity to rise in the House today to speak about crime and safety. These are areas of major concern to the residents in my riding, including seniors and students and indeed many British Columbians.

Whether it's property crime, violent crime or organized crime, the negative effects impact everyone. For property crime, home and vehicle owners have to pay higher insurance premiums and suffer much inconvenience. For violent crime, the victims are often left physically harmed and in every case emotionally scarred. Organized crime may be a bit further removed from the lives of most citizens, but we see its effect in the open drug markets on the Vancouver downtown east side and the number of marijuana grow operations that have sprung up all over the city and the province and other related activities such as prostitution as well.

In my riding, residents express their concerns about crime and safety nearly every day. I have recently held a meeting with apartment residents of 868 Kingsway and Vancouver police Const. Jeremy Johnston to discuss crime prevention measures for the residents, some of whom have had their mailboxes and cars broken into several times over the period of a few weeks, right at their doorsteps.

In the riding of Vancouver-Kensington, drug trafficking and prostitution are visible and of grave concern to residents as are purse snatchings in the daytime, notably in the Victoria and 41st area. As I have mentioned in this House on previous occasions, several

concerned citizens groups that patrol the streets in our community have sent a message to the drug dealers and the promoters of prostitution that they do not welcome those activities in the community. The Mountain View and Dickens groups conduct their own foot patrols to keep our neighbourhoods safe. Volunteers in both South Vancouver Community Policing Centre and Little Mountain–Riley Park Safer Communities Society have done their best to protect our residents from crime and violence.

Seniors in my riding and throughout the lower mainland have great concerns about crime. Recent media reports have published grim details about home invasions and daring daylight purse snatchings, leaving some victims seriously wounded or even seriously harmed. It used to be that our homes were paragons of safety and peace. Now they can be like prisons, keeping us isolated from the outside world.

The government has taken a number of steps to reduce the incidence of crime in British Columbia and to provide law enforcement personnel with the tools and resources they need to catch criminals and organized crime leaders. B.C. is the first province in Canada to connect all municipal police departments and RCMP through a computer network to facilitate a sharing of information. PRIME, or police records information management environment, will allow for faster sharing of information about crime and criminals. Patterns of crime will be more easily detected, leading to more arrests and improving the safety of our neighbourhoods, streets and schools. PRIME will be up and running and will be an important tool for law enforcement.

In Vancouver-Kensington, the South Vancouver Community Policing Centre is an integral part of our community and provides residents with a greater sense of security. The Vancouver police have done an amazing job of community outreach through meetings with concerned residents to provide information and crime prevention, protecting people and property — truly becoming a part of the community. Several years ago people tended to view the police with a certain amount of skepticism. There was not much interaction between the police and the general public. That has changed with the promotion of community policing centres. The police are viewed much more nowadays as friends and allies in our communities.

I would like to talk about community partnership. The Better Community Partnership Opportunity Network, BCPON — a pilot project in my riding that brings together organizations with more resources to support those with greater need — is supporting the South Vancouver Community Policing Centre. The Oakridge Lions Club was the first sponsor organization to join BCPON and held a fundraising dinner that raised $5,000 for the centre. Several high-profile police and justice personnel attended the event, including Hon. Justice Wally Oppal, Chief Const. James Graham of the Vancouver police and police complaint commissioner Dirk Ryneveld.

Crime and safety are of great concern to the residents of Vancouver-Kensington and, indeed, all British Columbians. We must continue to work together to find innovative ways of protecting our children and families, our homes and property, while living in a fair, equitable and just society. I believe we can overcome the criminal elements of our society. In a free society it's up to the community to rise above the criminals and work together for a better community.

As I have outlined, the PRIME system that our government is bringing in across the province is a most effective communication tool that will ensure much faster movement of information for all our police forces.

I also believe that the community policing offices are a sound way for the community and the forces to work together. These offices work together for the betterment of us all. They involve volunteers and youth in a positive, community-building manner.

A few weeks ago the Vancouver Sun published a number of articles about the Whalley area. One innovative way the RCMP in Surrey address the crime issue in their community is through neighbourhood foot patrols. I think this is the way in which my community, as well as many other urban communities, could decrease the level of crime in the neighbourhood.

Finally, I would like to encourage the government to continue developing its process of education and interaction with the immigrant communities and show especially the Asian and South Asian communities the benefits of reporting crimes to the police.

D. MacKay: Good morning. I am pleased to respond to this morning's comments from the member for Vancouver-Kensington dealing with crime and safety. Crime and safety are issues that affect everybody in this province and in this country. Associated with crime and safety is a cost to society.

One of the questions I have to ask myself is that when we see the costs of society written on a paper…. I wonder just how accurate those costs are, because crime covers a range of items, such as property loss through crime. We have vandalism, where property is damaged; we also have thefts, where property is actually stolen from people. In most cases — and I know in a lot of cases — so much of that which is a small dollar loss goes unreported to police, so the accurate actual cost to society in dollars and cents is probably never really known.

There's also another thing that is difficult to measure, and that is: how does one measure the cost to victims of violent crime? We certainly don't do it in dollars and cents. Rather, we have to look at the long-lasting psychological effects on those who were unfortunate to have been the victims of personal physical violence. There is a cost associated with that. There's a health care cost associated with those who have been physically harmed through crime.

On the extreme end we also have those who were unfortunate enough to have been killed by those perpetrators out there preying on young children and preying on other people in our society. Those souls no

longer have to face the consequence of being a victim of crime, but in their place they leave grieving families and friends to try to make sense of crime of this nature.

As a society, people look to government to protect them and punish offenders through legislation. Governments create and pass legislation to protect citizens. Then we as government call on police forces across this country to enforce the applicable legislation. The police are charged with the responsibility to investigate crimes and recommend prosecution to Crown lawyers, who then look at evidence to determine if there is a possibility of conviction. If there is, and on approval to proceed to prosecution, the next step is to deal with the courts through a trial. It's then that we ask the courts, if there is a conviction registered, to impose penalties on those who prey on society to deter repetitive crimes of this nature and to protect all of us in this province and in this country.

Crime is a concern for all of us. To make our system of justice work for all of us, we have to work together. The member for Vancouver-Kensington referred to the Police Records Information Management Environment in his comments. This is a wonderful addition to help our police forces as they meet the challenges in their attempts to protect our public.

One more tool is called AMBER alert. We are working with police forces across this province and other federal agencies to provide another tool for our police forces to protect young children from those who prey on them. We hope to have that up and running by this fall. We in government and those charged with the responsibility of protecting children look forward to the implementation of the AMBER alert program to protect our young children.

We need to be vigilant, and we need to work with one another to protect one another. The police can't do it alone; the courts can't do it alone. We, society, must work hand in hand with our police forces, support our police when the need is there and our court services when penalties are imposed to deter others from committing crimes against society.

I would like to thank the member for Vancouver-Kensington for his comments on crime and safety, and I look forward to his response.

P. Wong: I would like to thank my hon. colleague the member for Bulkley Valley–Stikine for his enlightening comments and remarks about crime and safety. I know he is a former RCMP and has lots of experience in the police force. He is committed to improving safety and reducing crime, for which all British Columbians are grateful.

While we laud the government's accomplishments in improving safety and reducing crime, more can be done to ensure the confidence of British Columbians in the justice and law-enforcement systems. Hard-working citizens that support themselves and their families should not be penalized because of someone else's criminal activities, yet this is what's happening through high insurance premiums for homes and automobiles. People are spending thousands of dollars a year on improved security measures for their homes.

We need to find a way to work more closely with British Columbians to improve safety and reduce crime. Active citizens in my riding have formed their own Neighbourhood Watch groups. This has proven to be effective in deterring visible crime, such as drug trafficking and prostitution, in certain areas of the riding, yet we must be careful that citizens do not become vigilantes and operate outside the formal justice and legal systems. That is why the government needs to promote, encourage and fund the community policing centres and their related programs around the lower mainland, to work with the municipalities with their own policing forces and to encourage greater community involvement. In that way, residents with concerns about crime have somewhere to go for advice and help — experts who are open, approachable and knowledgable.

Greater integration of information about crime needs to be shared with all those in law enforcement so everyone has access to the tools and resources they need to do the job effectively and to serve and protect British Columbians. The PRIME program will fill some of those gaps, but additional programs that encourage the community presence need to be established urgently.

In conclusion, I would like to say that we have a lot to be proud of. We have taken steps to improve public safety and to reduce crime. We are a leader in the country in terms of integrating and sharing police data and crime information through PRIME, and we will continue to make improvements to better the lives of British Columbians. Yet the government cannot go it alone. Citizens need to become involved and take ownership of their communities to protect each other, watch one another's backs and rebuild community spirit and involvement. Vancouver-Kensington residents take great pride in their neighbourhoods and have sent a very clear and loud message to criminals that they will keep our schools, streets and neighbourhoods safe and enjoyable for all.

Hon. C. Clark: Hon. Speaker, I call private member's Motion 65 on the order paper.

Mr. Speaker: Hon. members, unanimous consent is required to proceed to Motion 65 without disturbing order of the items on the order paper. Shall leave be granted?

J. Bray: I'm delighted to rise in support of this motion. I congratulate my colleague from Saanich South for raising what really is an issue that, I think, some-

times goes below the radar screen. That is the importance of the high-tech sector to British Columbia's economy, to our ability to attract the kind of investment that is sustainable, that is leading-edge and that will create the kind of opportunities for our youth in this province to excel, to stay here, to raise their families and to provide the kind of economic base we need in this province for supporting our social programs, our health care and our education.

There are a few points that I'd like to raise in particular, coming here from the South Island where we have a very strong and vibrant high-tech sector that is really growing in leaps and bounds. There are a couple of points I'd just like to raise about why I feel it is so important that we support the high-tech sector and recognize in British Columbia the benefits of the high-tech sector.

One of the things we talk about in British Columbia is the need to diversify our economy, to not always be so reliant on our wealth of natural resources. That's certainly something I agree with very strongly. The high-tech sector provides an opportunity for the development of a green industry, an industry that looks to brain power and our intelligence as a way of creating opportunity and advancing human interest in science and technology in a way that actually is very environmentally friendly. The whole issue around intellectual property is really something that lends itself to a green industry. I think that as British Columbians learn the value of technology, get educated in technology and move forward in the technology sector, what you'll find, of course, is that we have a strong economy but that we diversify that economy. We have income streams for families that come from places other than just mining and forestry — in fact, from the high-tech sector, from manufacturing, software development and education.

You also find opportunities for people who are getting educated in many of our fine post-secondary institutions to have a place to stay. They're not having to go to Ottawa. They're not having to go to San Jose, California, or to Washington State. They can actually stay here, take the knowledge they've got here and create the kind of opportunities for themselves and their families that really will build strength in our communities and strength in the province.

The other important factor with the emerging high-tech sector, and the whole idea of the kind of people that are employed there, is the salaries that they make. It's a very high-paying, family-sustaining industry. There are great salaries that are paid. Companies are competing fiercely for these individuals and, therefore, providing the kind of opportunities that I think our young people look for, which is a balance between work and family, a balance between work and community.

Certainly, in British Columbia we provide a great climate for those highly paid, highly educated individuals to come here and have that balance. We've got such a great place here in Victoria and also in Burnaby and in Kelowna — a great place for people to raise families, to earn these high salaries, to reinvest in their community, to be involved in their community and to enjoy the recreational opportunities that are here. We are well suited in the world for attracting the kind of people that the high-tech sector employs.

Another important aspect is, of course, the investment that the high-tech sector, biotechnology, fuel cells — all of these issues — attract to the province. It's important to note that in investor intent, British Columbia is now the top. That's important because it means people are looking at British Columbia to actually make the kind of investments that allow for long-term, sustained growth in our economy, and one of the areas they're looking at is high technology. We are leading in some areas in the world now, especially in life sciences and fuel cell development. We are a world leader, and people are now looking to invest, and when they invest, they create jobs. When they create jobs, our own citizens can come back to this province, raise their families and build their communities.

Another important statistic, which sometimes people don't realize — why high technology is so important, the high-tech sector is so important — is that generally speaking for every high-tech job created, it requires two support jobs somewhere else in the economy to provide for it, whether that's suppliers for the hardware, whether that's technicians that are used to work on the instruments and things that are used in development of software and hardware, whether it's people who are supplying the offices with coffee and linen. Whatever it is, one high-tech job creates two support jobs somewhere else in the economy. In fact, when you have high-tech jobs coming into your community, you're actually creating threefold employment. That is significant in ensuring the economy is strong in your community and that those intelligent, highly paid, highly skilled individuals who come to your community bring other employment opportunities.

That is why I am so pleased that the member for Saanich South has brought this motion forward, because it gives us a chance to really celebrate our successes in British Columbia and to really celebrate the opportunities that are here for our young people, and also the opportunities that are here for the world as they start to look to invest and to move forward in biotechnology, fuel cell technology, life sciences, animation and other high-tech areas. They're now looking at British Columbia. They're excited about British Columbia.

Along with our wonderful natural resources, the people in this province are really creating the opportunities. The world is looking, and the world is paying attention. I am pleased to support this motion, and I thank you very much for the time.

R. Lee: It's my great honour to speak in favour of the motion moved by the member for Saanich South on the importance of high-tech.

Coming from a community with a vibrant and growing high-tech sector in Burnaby, I know the posi-

tive impact the high-tech industry has on the growing and robust economy. I've mentioned before in this House that in Burnaby we have known for a long time that our community was the ideal destination for high technology, with companies like Ballard Power, PMC-Sierra Ltd., Creo Products and Electronic Arts Canada. They are all leaders in their fields.

Our economy's potential for high-tech innovation is obvious. B.C. is open for business, we are sure, and because of that so is Burnaby. This government's commitment to building a strong economy, a growing high-tech sector and a northern Silicon Valley is sending a clear message of encouragement to the international high-tech community.

No one can deny the importance of B.C.'s traditional resource-based industries. We all know the importance of timber, tourism and mining to our economy. But at the same time that we recognize the need for strong resource-based industries, we must acknowledge the tremendous economic potential and results our high-tech sector has been proving over and over again.

Globalization and a changing global economy are demanding changes and adaptation in order to satisfy new markets and developments, and we are seeing the incredible ability of B.C.'s economies to adapt to new challenges and new market conditions. They understand better than anyone that to survive in this new economy, industries have to be able to provide service or a product that's competitive on a global scale. They must be innovative, and there must be innovation.

I'm proud to say that B.C.'s industries are here. B.C.'s high-tech sector is succeeding because the world knows that a high level of quality is ingrained in the values of these companies. B.C. is well suited to become Canada's leader of research and development, and Burnaby's ready to lead the charge. Burnaby and British Columbia have an exceptional climate for innovation and dedication that will undoubtedly continue to encourage the type of high-tech investment in B.C. that has benefited Burnaby and the entire province.

I thank the member for Saanich South for spreading the word that the high-tech sector is continuing to grow as an essential part in the success of B.C.'s economy.

P. Sahota: I, too, rise to support the motion put forward by my colleague from Saanich South on the importance of the high-tech industry.

In community after community in every part of this province, people see technology and the technology industries as being a critical part of our future, and high-tech is a way to the future. High-technology employment in British Columbia grew 5.2 percent in 2001, more than double the national rate of 2.3 percent. There were over 5,400 high-tech establishments in 2001. The high-technology sector contributed $3.3 billion, or approximately 3 percent of B.C.'s real GDP in 2001. Total revenue from the high-tech sector reached $6 billion in 2001, and revenues attributable to high-tech services expanded to just under $4 billion.

My community, as my colleague from Burnaby North talked about, is right at the centre of B.C.'s successful high-tech sector. It boasts one of the most vibrant high-tech economies in Canada. The member for Saanich South talked about clustering, and without a doubt this continues to take place in the high-tech capital, Burnaby. Nine of B.C.'s top 100 public companies and four of the top 20 are in Burnaby. In terms of high-tech, Burnaby is home to 21 of B.C.'s top 100 high-tech companies, including ten of the 25 largest high-tech companies: Telus, Creo, IBM, Ballard, Electronic Arts, PMC-Sierra, Creation Technologies, Glentel, Alcatel and Rogers. There are many notable up-and-coming companies like Xantrex, Chromos Molecular and Extreme CCTV that should not be overlooked and are contributing to B.C.'s technology industry.

It's also important to note that we continue to support and encourage this very vital industry, so I'm happy to note that this government and the Premier understand this. That's why he appointed the Premier's Technology Council, which is co-chaired by Paul Lee of Burnaby-based Electronic Arts. In total the council has three Burnaby members, which I believe is a testament to the importance of Burnaby's high-tech industry to the province and as a whole.

It is also crucial to support the development of a knowledge-based communications infrastructure in British Columbia. I know this government is making an investment in British Columbia's knowledge-based economy. There's a commitment from the Minister of Advanced Education to double the number of graduates over the next five years, and we have already announced that we will be creating 825 new spaces in computer technology, electrical engineering and computer science. The government is creating opportunities for young people, and in turn, we're making sure that companies have access to the skilled workers.

Of course, it is important to make sure that as we recognize the importance of the high-tech sector, we also continue to make sure that we never become so reliant on one industry — a single market — that we feel beholden to it, as is happening in the forest industry. We must diversify our economy, our markets. I know the Minister of Competition, Science and Enterprise was in the Indian subcontinent last year, showing that we are committed to finding partnerships around the globe. Promoting partnerships between British Columbia's high-tech firms and companies on the Indian subcontinent is crucial because it offers us many opportunities. We know that the industry in India is looking for opportunities to invest in Canada and British Columbia, and we want to capitalize on that.

In closing, our high-tech sector is important to the economic well-being of this province, and I know we're doing everything we can to let the world know that we want to continue to be a technology-destination capital.

K. Johnston: It's a great pleasure for me to rise in this House and speak to the motion of the member for

Saanich South, a motion that celebrates the high-tech industry in British Columbia. Generally when people think about British Columbia's industries, they think of timber, tourism and mining. That is good, because those industries will prosper and grow tremendously in the future.

I'm also happy to say that more and more people are associating British Columbia with high-tech and high-tech industry development. They are thinking of information technology, fuel cells, new media and especially biotechnology, where we've seen great advances in this region in the last months. They are thinking about the high-paying jobs for our young people; 77 percent of British Columbia high-tech employees have post-secondary education.

It's a tremendous environment for young folks to work in. Just look, as an example, at Electronic Arts in Burnaby. Many of my colleagues from Burnaby have spoken on the number of clusters in Burnaby. This is a facility with a very dynamic, young workforce that has an environment so different than what we were used to as we grew up in business. They've got sports fields, they've got entertainment centres, and they've got programs for their welfare and health — all to spark that creativity in young folks.

With the ever-increasing globalization and emphasis on the market economy, people need to know that British Columbia is open on the high-tech side. They need to know that if they bring their company to British Columbia, there will be an environment that will foster development and innovation. They need to know that if they are to expand here, there is an educated workforce ready and willing to help them. They need to know that their company can grow in this environment.

Many companies such as Electronic Arts, Ballard, Creo, Inex, QLT, Sierra, Westport and MDA already know these facts and know the government is working hard to ensure that many more companies are becoming aware of the initiatives we have taken to attract and retain them. I'd just like to note some of those initiatives. The Premier's Technology Council has the goal of making B.C. a world-class tech centre. On the economic side, we have cut personal income taxes in an effort to attract and keep the best and brightest young people in this province. We have created more seats in universities and technology schools to increase the number of high-tech grads. Very importantly, we have expanded the venture capital program — absolutely critical to the expansion of high-tech and biotechnology businesses. We have adjusted the Employment Standards Act so that we recognize the working conditions in this very unique industry. These are the desires of the employees as well, so that maybe they work longer hours and shorter weeks.

Because of these initiatives, we have seen an influx of high-tech companies that have chosen B.C. over other provinces. B.C.'s high-tech sector is growing at an annual rate of over 7 percent. The member for Saanich South talked about clusters of developments, and there are many in Burnaby. I am hopeful that the area I represent — there is a development going on called Fraser Lands, which kind of abuts and adjoins South Burnaby where there are a lot of high-tech companies — will attract a few of those high-tech customers.

I am confident that we're only at the beginning of tremendous growth in the high-tech sector, and I would like to thank the member for Saanich South for her efforts to spread the news that British Columbia is open for business, especially in high-tech.

K. Manhas: I'm pleased to stand and speak in favour of this motion because the success of the technology industry in B.C. means the success of ingenuity in B.C. and the success of B.C. innovations. This could be one of the most significant issues we face in the province over the coming years. We have been at a crossroads for some time, and we must decide if we are going to be a province that makes do or a place that makes dreams. We must also decide if we are a province that relies on its natural resources or a province that uses its natural abundance as a competitive advantage to leverage new ideas, greater knowledge, world-renowned expertise and cutting-edge technologies. Fostering a climate of innovations and ingenuity is our key to developing that edge, that competitive advantage in the world market to develop a thriving technology centre.

Our investment in our human capital — the education, training and development of our people — will build a foundation we need to ensure the future success of our province. You know, we often talk about the value-added when we refer to the processing of our raw resources in B.C., but before we are truly able to add value to our products, we must ensure we've added value to our people. Our people and our made-in-B.C. innovations will determine our province's future standpoint and stature in global markets.

The reality is that success attracts further success. It's no longer okay to be good at what we do in the world. To be successful, we must be the best in the world; we must be the best at what we do to succeed in the world market today. Innovative successes in B.C. technology are being hailed around the world, and they are prompting more research and development, attracting more business to B.C. and generating spinoffs and spinoff ventures.

We are or can be leaders in many fields, in health and life sciences, in genomics, in biotechnology, in bioinformatics, in new media, in fuel cell technologies, in mining technologies and forestry technologies agriculture, in wine and agrifood, in submarine technology, in software and hardware technologies, in communications technologies, in optical and wireless technologies, in aerospace and satellite technologies and in countless other areas.

Many of those leaders for several technology industries are located in my riding of Port Coquitlam–Burke Mountain. The Tri-Cities have everything to gain by further pursuing a vibrant technology cluster in the area, and the Tri-Cities are well situated to do just that.

The Tri-Cities can become a major cluster for good, clean, knowledge-based industries.

The ideas in British Columbia that are leading to technology innovations have generated new knowledge. The knowledge amassed in B.C. will pave the way for new ventures, create more jobs and build B.C. as a world-class place to invest. At the end of the day, that creates more opportunities for people in B.C. and for people in the Tri-Cities and builds B.C. and B.C. communities as premier centres leading — not following — the future direction of the world.

We have the human resources potential; first-class post-secondary institutions; intellectual capital; reliable, cheap energy; a market advantage in cost of business; health and education benefits; and outstanding quality of life that leads Vancouver to be consistently rated as being one of the best places in the world to live. That's why major international companies — major international technology companies like PeopleSoft — have moved to B.C. to join the countless other companies that are already located here. Major global companies like TCS have started looking at spending their research dollars here in British Columbia.

We may not believe in a magic oracle that gives us all the answers, but the growth of the high-tech sector in B.C. may lead this province to be the world's oracle for what to expect in the future. B.C. in the future may stand for biotechnology cluster; we may become a chip coast. We will develop an innovations ethos, and we will lead the world. This will take a coordinated plan, but our potential is unlimited and, as yet, unimaginable. I can't wait to go forward into our future.

J. Nuraney: I, too, rise to support this motion. You have heard the passionate speeches from several members about the high-tech industry in British Columbia. I have the great honour, with my colleagues, to be elected in an area in British Columbia that is very much the nucleus of high-tech industry, and that is Burnaby.

I've had the pleasure in the last week of accompanying Hon. Stephen Owen in making an announcement in Burnaby to launch a new initiative by both governments. It will be the Canadian bioinformatics resource industry service. This is once again a unique service that is being offered to the biotech industry so that they can bring their initial research and initial attempts at finding new things into this resource centre, which will then house the skilled people who can promote and enhance that research for those industries. It is a very unique centre that has been launched, and it is right at BCIT. BCIT is also known for its various other high-tech programs and for providing the human resources to industries that are now located in Burnaby and across British Columbia.

It's also interesting to note that a major part of these new companies that are being formed here is the result of research that is done in the high-tech post-secondary programs. These students, who call themselves researchers and high-tech technicians, have found things that they need to promote and bring forward to the world. British Columbia today has become a huge attraction, attracting not only people out of our own institutions but also people from across the world.

It was also interesting…. Last week our Premier spoke at the board of trade luncheon in Burnaby. One of the guests present there was a person who was working in the high-tech industry in California. When the Premier went to California to promote British Columbia and the facilities and the incentives that the province offers, this person resigned from a very high-placed position to come to work in British Columbia. This was great news, and the company that he works with, which is Telus, also is located in Burnaby. They have very high praise for the initiatives that this government has taken in terms of tax reductions, in terms of initiatives and the incentives the government has offered to attract this new investment.

As you know, high-tech and technology have become the new buzzwords of the world today and of the global community. We are now connected, as we know, through the Internet and matters of very high technology that bring the global communities much closer together. There are great strides made in this field, and I may add that British Columbia is marching step by step with those very important initiatives in making sure that we do not fall behind in these matters.

You may also be interested to know that in the biotech industry we are a leader in the world, only after San Francisco and Boston. We British Columbians are today the third most-recognized leader in this industry. This is all due to the initiatives that this government has taken in the last two years since we have assumed office.

I am greatly thrilled with this motion. I am sure there are much better and newer things that are going to be happening in British Columbia. We can very proudly call ourselves the high-tech province of Canada.

Deputy Speaker: Members, unanimous consent is required to proceed to Motion 14 without disturbing the order of the items on the order paper. Shall leave be granted?

I can tell you that this topic is very near and dear to my heart and also to the hearts and the pocketbooks and the wallets of many of my constituents. I can tell you that for years government after government after government has paid lip service to the notion of establishing a value-added sector in British Columbia, and yet we have continued, through those same years, to spit out numerous 2-by-4s, 2-by-6s and 2-by-8s. This is the first government that has actually made the type of commitment that is necessary in order to move forward on a value-added sector.

I think it's important for people to understand that value-added in the province is going to look dynamically different than the value-added sector in many other jurisdictions. That's because of the unique qualities of the trees that we grow here in B.C. — that being primarily a softwood industry. When you are developing value-added strategies around softwood, you're not thinking typically of the products of flooring and cabinetry and that type of thing which perhaps other jurisdictions produce. As opposed to seeing the cabinets manufactured in British Columbia, you're going to see new and unique products.

The products that I expect to see, if we're going to look into the crystal ball in the years moving forward, are new types of engineered wood products, new types of structures — prefabricated structures, knock-down structures. They are items that are still focused in terms of the construction industry, but they're going to be focused on new components of the construction industry. They're going to be focused on larger structures and buildings that tie quite nicely into the 2010 Olympic bid.

I'd like to focus on that, if I can, just for a few moments. The notion of this particular motion, Motion 14, is that we're going to develop marketing opportunities as well as the value-added industry. I want to look back on the Lillehammer games and the Winter Olympics that took place in Norway not more than ten or 11 years ago now. Norway did not have much of a value-added sector at that point in time, but they took the Olympic Games and utilized them as a significant marketing opportunity and an opportunity to develop a value-added sector. Their value-added sector now is not dissimilar to where I think ours will look perhaps ten years from now.

They are also heavily involved in the softwood industry. They do not have the same volumes of hardwoods that some of the other jurisdictions like Quebec and those throughout the United States have. So they focused on delivering large buildings and new sorts of glue-lam beam structures and engineered-wood structures that we have not seen. I think one of the most unique structures that was built is one that we will all remember, which was fondly called the Viking ship. I know we have a member here who would remember the Vikings, perhaps both from his heritage and his age — although I'm not certain about the heritage component; the age part I'm probably certain about. However, the Viking ship was the arena that was built for the Lillehammer games and looked somewhat like an upside-down ship. That structure held about 12,000 to 14,000 spectators, and the glue-lam beams were built by a company called Moelven for that particular structure.

The interesting thing about Moelven is that it was a relatively small company prior to the Lillehammer games, and through the marketing and product development that resulted from the Lillehammer games, they actually have turned into a very successful company now. They have approximately 3,500 employees producing a variety of value-added manufacturing products but really focused on glue-lam beams.

I want you to picture something here, Mr. Speaker, because I think this is very relevant and very important. This particular manufacturer is currently building these glue-lam beams, and you can now house, under one single free-span roof, three soccer fields and over 2,000 spectators. I want you to imagine the size of that structure and how that can be built out of wood products and actually shipped. They've developed strategies around how to break down these glue-lam beams, how to ship them in pieces so that they can fit on trucks. They are really cutting-edge technologies.

So you add the high-technology motion that we spoke of here just a few minutes ago to the wood products opportunities that we have available to us, and I really see huge opportunities moving forward. There are particularly exciting opportunities around a community like Mackenzie, which is located in my riding. In fact, quite frequently I refer to my riding as Mackenzie south as opposed to Prince George North, because Mackenzie is such an integral part of the riding. Certainly, I see opportunities around this sort of value-added products, engineered-wood products, glue-lam beams and so on.

You know, I toured this past week, when we were in our constituency week, a value-added manufacturing plant in Fort St. James. It was kind of interesting. It was the T'loh plant, and they manufacture a variety of products but principally finger-jointed studs. As I toured the building, the one thing I noticed as I walked through the building, which was built in about 1995, was the fact that it was built out of steel and concrete. So we have a value-added wood manufacturing plant that was built out of steel and concrete. To me, that just doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't we want to build that building out of wood products? You know what it is? We've just been lazy. We've just been lazy in British Columbia, we've just been lazy in Canada, and we've just been lazy in North America. We haven't looked to develop the technology that Moelven has in Norway and that they have been able to export certainly throughout the European communities. You see many beautiful buildings constructed out of wood in Norway and throughout the European communities.

Our future for a plant like the T'loh manufacturing plant would be to give them the flexibility to choose wood as their building material of choice instead of forcing them into steel and concrete. I want you to think about this for a few minutes. The housing market

in North America is growing at a pace of about 1 to 2 percent per year — closer to 1 percent for the wood products industry. But commercial and institutional construction and value-added construction continues to grow at a pace of about 8 to 10 percent. Yet wood only has a relatively small slice of the commercial and institutional market, and that is our opportunity to grow the wood products industry.

We, as everyone will know, are currently in a dispute with the Americans over softwood lumber. I often think to myself: if we could just put that aside and actually come together, instead of fighting with each other, and agree to start marketing our products and developing our product lines so that we can expand into the commercial and institutional marketplace.

The opportunities there are significant. I will not subject the members to the mathematics going along with this particular equation, but I can tell them that the opportunity to grow the wood products industry is in the order of 20 percent just in North America alone if we were to focus on commercial, institutional and value-added industries. Yet we've been struggling along to maintain a 1 percent growth rate at best.

We really need to put aside our differences with the Americans, if we can, and focus on the positives, focus on growing our industry collectively. I think it goes back to the old story that if you fight amongst yourselves, pretty soon you've worn yourself down so much that your competitor comes in and takes over your business. I think we need to try and sit down with the Americans, put our differences aside and allow this thing to grow.

One other area I would like to focus on is the new Dream Home China project. This is a tremendous initiative announced by the Premier and the Minister of Forests a few weeks ago. Clearly, the opportunities in the Chinese marketplace are huge, but there's also a really significant opportunity here for us to grow our value-added industry into China. You cannot afford to ship a lot of waste throughout the world. It just simply is not economical, when you're shipping our wood products that far, to ship products that are not precisely cut to the dimension and the shape required for the end building you're going to put them into.

There are new technologies available — and this goes back to the motion the member from Saanich brought forward a few minutes ago, which we voted on here — to actually use a computer-assisted drafting system to precisely cut every single piece of lumber that goes into a house or an apartment or a larger commercial or institutional building and to load them on the truck in the order that they need to go on, or on the ship or the cargo container. Then when they're actually offloaded out of that cargo container in China, they simply go together like Lego.

It's an amazing system developed in Europe, but we're starting to use it extensively. It makes a tremendous amount of sense, and then you're not shipping waste any longer. Now, that's value-added, and that's really the key point I want to make here today. That's the type of value-added industry we're talking about, one that still focuses on softwood, still focuses on commercial, institutional and residential construction, but uses technology to maximize the value that's being put into that particular unit.

Those are what I see as our opportunities. I certainly see it as commercial, institutional construction, and I also see it as minimizing waste and creating opportunities to ship abroad. Most certainly, the Dream Home China project is one that is very worthy of support. You know, Bill 29 that we are debating in the House and Bill 45 are key components of developing a value-added industry. I'm very excited that this Minister of Forests has actually made what I view as a gutsy decision to move forward and revitalize this industry, and I applaud him for that.

I think it's extremely important that we move forward on this. I'm proud to be part of a government that is putting aside the rhetoric and the talk for the notion that we need to develop a value-added industry. We're moving forward on it, and I think that's absolutely critical. I'm proud to be part of that.

K. Krueger: I, too, am very pleased to support this motion. In my area of Kamloops and the Thompson Valley, we have a value-added industry in the forest sector that is either the leading value-added region for the province or a close second. It's a tremendously strong and vital industry. It makes the very best possible use of our very valuable wood fibre here in British Columbia, and it's something I want our government to encourage and promote in every way we possibly can.

I agree with the remarks of the member for Prince George North. As you know, Mr. Speaker, some months ago we experienced the devastation of a mill closure in the North Thompson Valley, with 184 of the best paycheques in the valley disappearing on a few months' notice. That's like more than 100,000 of the best paycheques in the Fraser Valley disappearing.

It's devastating for the local economy and very, very hard on people's investments in their real estate. They count on their homes as a pension fund of sorts for when they downsize as they get older, and those homes lose value unless we can replace those jobs.

To the credit of the licensee who closed the mill, Weyerhaeuser, they've been tremendously proactive in working with value-added proponents. There is a major proponent that will operate off the former Weyerhaeuser site. There has been tremendous cooperation between Weyerhaeuser and the various people who have proposed operations, and I want to commend Weyerhaeuser for that.

I think it's a lesson to all of us in British Columbia that it's perhaps way past time we stop trying to compete for this very basic level of primary wood manufacturing, pumping out what the industry calls spaghetti wood — 2-by-4s, 2-by-6s — and wherever possible move on into this much more lucrative and labour-intensive area of value-added. So I'm really pleased, as I say, to support the motion.

I think of a couple of the value-added manufacturers in my constituency. Paul Creek Slicing literally slices logs down. They bring them in, in big cants squared off. They have a giant knife that peels off slices, 32 slices to the inch. They get this beautiful white pine veneer. They lay it out and splice it together. Trucks go down to the west coast every week with that veneer on them. It's used on the front of particleboard furniture throughout the United States and also in eastern Canada. By the time Paul Creek Slicing is done with 1,000 board feet, it's worth $2,000 to the gross domestic product of British Columbia, where 1,000 board feet of 2-by-4s is worth somewhere around $200 and fluctuates. It's ten times the GDP and about 200 jobs in that one little mill alone.

Many of those jobs are held by single moms. It's light work. They enjoy it. It's a nice, clean work environment. Some of them were on welfare in the past, and they love working there. Once again, I think it's obviously the way to go if we can promote value-added in every way possible.

I've been told that nobody outbids log home builders for the logs that they want; they'll bid more than anybody else for that fibre. We've got a newer manufacturer in my constituency, Neville log home builders. They're shipping log homes out at a tremendous rate and are, again, a great employer and a fairly recent development in our constituency.

I used to hear that value-added industry wanted to get the fibre for free. It just isn't true, and I hope nobody is saying that anymore, because they will bid top dollar for the fibre they need. Paul Creek Slicing, for example, only needs white pine. That's what they use, and they haven't found anything else that works as well for them, but they have a tough time getting it.

I'm tremendously proud of the Forests minister and his policy changes that were introduced this session, the legislation for which we'll be completing this week as the member for Prince George North mentioned. It's important to British Columbians that we get the best value, the maximum dollar, out of every log that we produce in British Columbia, and that includes providing employment in this very progressive way.

We have the best-educated workforce of the countries competing for this business. We have the best fibre in the world, we have some of the best technology, and it is long since past that our industry took it to the next level. We don't have to compete with Third World countries to produce 2-by-4s; we still compete very well in that area. But with any fibre that is better used for this higher utilization of intensive labour, job-generating opportunities, I think we should certainly be encouraging it.

I know we have a couple of other colleagues who really want to speak to this motion, and having spoken very fast, I'll yield the floor.

J. Wilson: As my colleagues have stated, value-added is important. I cannot overemphasize the importance it has to the people in the Cariboo and in my riding — Williams Lake, Quesnel and some of the smaller communities out there. Recently we had a value-added wood show held. It was the first one, and it was held in Quesnel. I attended it. When I walked through there and looked at some of the ideas people were developing for building the value-added industry, there were all kinds of creations there. I was impressed.

The other thing that struck me was the encouragement this program put together for students. We had a competition between the high schools in the woodworking classes, and what those young people can do is amazing. They were given a two-hour time frame to come up with a project and build it from start to finish, and then they were judged on that. This was the first year it was held, and I'm sure we're going to see it again and again because it was such a huge success.

Value-added in the Cariboo and in many other communities is going to be key to maintaining the employment and social network that we need there. We have done a lot as government to promote that, and we are going to do a lot more.

Removing timber-processing restrictions is important to value-added. It gives them more access to the fibre. There's also an increase in the amount of fibre that comes up for auction. Many times in the past we've heard the value-added sector come forward and say: "We do not have access to the fibre we need to develop our businesses." We recognize that, and the steps that we've taken this spring, and that will continue, will develop this industry. The potential here is huge. We can hardly envision how far we could carry this, because as people become more ingenious and creative, they grow the industry.

The markets outside of this country will buy our products. If we produce what they want, they will buy it. Dimensional lumber does have a place. It has a huge place in this industry, but looking at the circumstances we're faced with in northern and interior British Columbia with the pine beetle, value-added is going to come to the forefront here and help us get through this crisis that we're seeing today.

With that, I will yield the floor to the member for Cariboo South, who would like to say a few words on this.

W. Cobb: I am pleased to be able to rise today to speak in favour of Motion 14. Over the years that I've been involved in politics, one of the many concerns that's been brought to me is access mainly to the fibre, not only for value-added but for the value-added industry.

I guess what we're trying to do as a government right now — and I applaud the Forests minister for his efforts in that with Bills 27, 28 and 29 — is to revitalize the forest industry. The member for Prince George North mentioned that the value-added industry would look different in the next decade from what it looked like in the past. Well, the whole forest industry, I think, will look different in the next decade than it has in the last 30 to 50 years.

We all know that what was happening was not working. It was not working for the benefit of either

the value-added or the majors, and I think that what the minister is doing with the different bills that will more than likely be passed this week in the House will help move this sector along as well.

What we need to make sure of is that there is in fact fibre available to the industry to access. As far as the value-added sector goes, in the world market anyway, it's considered to be in its infancy. We have a long way to go. We have some great opportunity here. I think with this initiative, we will be heading in the right direction.

There are two or three different companies that I would like to mention in my riding. Two of the value-added mills are in my colleague from Cariboo North's riding, but they are part of the Cariboo. I think they are crucial to the job market in B.C., in particular the 100 Mile area, which is known as the log home capital of British Columbia and possibly even Canada. It is one of the largest home-building communities in B.C.

The member for Prince George North mentioned the games, the Olympics. That industry in 100 Mile provided some of the facilities and the buildings for the Salt Lake City games just a couple of years ago. They also have worked out an apprenticeship program with the University College of the Cariboo to train some of the young men or individuals who are willing to enter into this very fast-growing log home industry.

One of the other companies that employs around 40 people in my riding is Pal Lumber. They're a small operation, as the scope goes. They have two small planers. They provide furniture stock, whether it be for beds or furniture, for California. I think that's one of the areas that we could probably elaborate on. Yes, we have the wood, we have the fibre, but we don't do the actual manufacturing. We do provide the stock for building the furniture, so there's no reason why we couldn't continue, develop that a little bit further and actually produce that furniture — well, in Williams Lake or in the Cariboo in particular. It should be in British Columbia, anyway.

They do the fruit boxes. I don't know whether they provide any for the grapes in the Okanagan, but they certainly provide the material for the fruit boxes in California. As well, it's one of the only industries in British Columbia that I'm aware of that actually goes to the extent of using the shavings and the fibre left over — the residual that would normally go as waste wood. They use it for bedding stock for some of the horses. We've got the racetracks in the lower mainland. Well, Williams Lake actually provides the bedding stock for those high-bred horses to bed down in at night. I think it's very important that we continue with this.

One of the other companies that I have in my riding — its headquarters is in Williams Lake — is Jackpine Forest Products. Jackpine Forest Products is made up of three different companies. It's Engineered Wood Products and Redwood Value as well as Jackpine Forest Products. It's the largest independent lumber remanufacturer and value-added wood products manufacturer in western Canada. They now employ about 225 people.

Some of the products they provide are precision end-trim studs, finger-jointed. They use the small pieces of wood and finger-joint them together. Rather than waste it, it's now used for studs. The machine stress-rated I-joist flanges for trusses. If you look at all the new trusses for floor joists and what not, they're not just 2-by-10s or 2-by-12s anymore. They're all manufactured or remanufactured, and this company actually produces a big amount of those for western Canada.

They do doors and windows. They have laminated stock. I don't know whether anyone has seen…. They actually had a display on. They produce what they call EZSPAN. It's the large finger-jointed, tension-tested beams, and they're up to 60 feet long. You get them lifted up on a forklift, and they've got such a span on them that if you lay them on their side, they will almost form a half circle. This is some innovative stuff. When you go to your building supply, if you're redoing your closets or whatever, the finger-joint furniture grade or shelving grade — this stuff — is actually manufactured in Williams Lake in this plant. As well, when you get down to the end waste material, they build the pallet stuff the grocery stores ship all their groceries in — and all that kind of stuff.

Many of the companies in the area are large enough to support their own marketing division, but many of these small operators aren't. I think with what we're doing, with what the minister has done in sending a contingent to China to redevelop or rebuild or look for investment and opportunities for the forest industry, we could add on to that. I think we should consider adding on to that a component, which is the value-added work. I fully support this motion.

Deputy Speaker: Members, seeing no other speakers, the question is on Motion 14.

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