2003 Legislative Session: 4th Session, 37th Parliament
HANSARD
The following electronic version is for informational purposes
only.
The printed version remains the official version.
(Hansard)
MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2003
Morning Sitting
Volume 16, Number 8
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CONTENTS |
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Routine Proceedings |
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| Page | ||
| Tributes | 7135 | |
| Nicole Rolko | ||
| Hon. G. Hogg | ||
| Private Members' Statements | 7135 | |
| Trial by fire | ||
| K. Krueger | ||
| P. Wong | ||
| Forest fires — i.e., Chilcotin | ||
| W. Cobb | ||
| B. Locke | ||
| Communities' response to forest fires | ||
| T. Christensen | ||
| Hon. S. Hawkins | ||
| Reducing fuel loads in low elevation forests | ||
| B. Bennett | ||
| Hon. G. Bruce | ||
| Motions on Notice | 7144 | |
| Alternative energy sources and development of renewable energy technology (Motion 57) | ||
| B. Belsey | ||
| B. Penner | ||
| D. Jarvis | ||
| R. Visser | ||
| B. Bennett | ||
| P. Bell | ||
| J. Bray | ||
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[ Page 7135 ]
MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2003
The House met at 10:04 a.m.
Prayers.
Tributes
NICOLE ROLKO
Hon. G. Hogg: Yesterday I had the honour of attending the celebration of life for a wonderful young British Columbian, a young woman who had a profound impact on everyone she met; a young woman whose hug and smile and attitude each set the standard; a young woman who changed her parents, her friends, her school; a young woman whose life had a profound influence on the community living movement in British Columbia; a woman whose motto was: "It's all in your attitude, baby." I ask this House, indeed this province, to join in recognizing the wonderful life of Nicole Rolko, a woman who made a difference. We can each learn a great deal from the example she set.
Private Members' Statements
TRIAL BY FIRE
K. Krueger: I rise today to speak about a topic that has impacted pretty much every one of my constituents in the North Thompson Valley: the 2003 fire season. As you well know, it's been a very tough couple of months for the people in the North and South Thompson valleys and for many fire victims throughout British Columbia. We've seen Mother Nature at her absolute worst — vicious, dangerous and unforgiving.
I'll never forget the helpless feeling I had on August 1 when we first began hearing that the wildfires were rapidly approaching the communities of Barriere and Louis Creek. The firefighters were throwing everything they had at the fires, but the blaze was just too wildly powerful to control. The sheer size and heat of the fires at times made them too dangerous to fight. For a while we thought we might lose the entire community of Barriere. Close to 4,000 people were evacuated in the valley, and all we could do was pray.
From McLure to Barriere's town limits a handful of volunteer firefighters led by fire chief Al Kirkwood, some forestry personnel and some RCMP stood their ground for as long as they could to save the homes of their friends and families. They fought with everything they had that night, saving homes and businesses before being completely surrounded by flames. Eventually, in an act of desperation, they drove through a wall of flames and left the town to its fate. As one resident said in a local newspaper later: "They are the heroes of this town. This was what you call a hell fire. They stood their ground, and they saved this town."
I wish I could stand here today and say the same thing about Louis Creek. The community was destroyed that night, including its major employer: the local Tolko sawmill. We have since learned that Tolko will not be rebuilding its plant in the North Thompson Valley, making the 2003 fire season even more devastating.
The Premier acted very swiftly to declare a state of emergency, and he and I toured the area in the days after the blaze was turned away. It was miraculous the way that blaze did turn away from Barriere. The local regional district director, Bill Kershaw, referred to it as like the parting of the Red Sea. That's the way the fire looked on the infrared photographs the next morning when we saw how it had gone around the town. It had to jump the North Thompson River twice to go around Barriere the way it did, and 800 homes were saved as a result of an answer to prayer and the hard efforts of those firefighters.
It is difficult to describe or even understand the random destruction in the fire's wake, however. Some houses were little more than dust, yet next to them stood houses almost unscathed. As the lost community smouldered, we were grateful that the Canadian military rushed to the rescue of the valley. It was comforting knowing that help was on the way from our soldiers, but I couldn't help thinking how much our valley did resemble a war zone. We know our valley has changed forever.
However, despite the feeling of helplessness we had against the fires, the people of the North Thompson Valley quickly learned that they were not alone. Donations and acts of kindness began pouring in from all over the province. This is what I want to focus my comments on now, because the people of the North Thompson Valley have been truly blessed with the support they have received from British Columbians and others from outside the province, and I know victims of the Okanagan Mountain fire have also received some incredible support from the kindness of others. Shortly after the blaze, George Evans and Derek Johnson, businessmen from Kamloops, went down to the bank and launched the North Thompson Relief Fund. Their initial goal was to raise $200,000. I don't think any of us imagined how quickly that goal would be shattered. Indeed, many people thought it was reaching too high. Then they set another goal — a million dollars — and it wasn't long before that goal was reached. Today the North Thompson Relief Fund has raised more than $2.5 million, and I know they are not done yet.
It's impossible for me to name all of the groups and all of the individuals who have given so much to help fire victims in British Columbia. I want to thank each and every one of them, whether they could afford to give a dollar or $10 or $1,000. Many gave that and a whole lot more. Every penny is going to people who really need it.
However, I want to tell you about some of the stories I have heard and read about over the last few months to put in perspective the cross-section of those who have donated whatever they could. I'll never forget reading about a four-year-old Kamloops boy who went door to door collecting donations in his neighbourhood. He raised $14.58 and donated it to the
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relief fund. Two little girls aged four and six raised $12.59 by selling lemonade and then emptied their piggy banks to donate a total of $62. Those young children exemplify the generosity and kindness that so many British Columbians have shown. There are a number of other unique and innovative donations that have been made, which I'll touch on a little later.
There is one group that I want to recognize now, because their donation was particularly touching. My colleague the member for Vancouver-Kensington called me a while back and asked how he could help and how Chinese people in the lower mainland could help. I told him the needs of people in the North Thompson, and he didn't hesitate. Together with philanthropist Johnny Fong, he pooled support from the Vancouver Chinese community and made the largest single donation thus far to the North Thompson relief fund: $250,000.
But they did more than just give money. The Vancouver Chinese community has embraced the people of the North Thompson Valley. A delegation of 30 Chinese community members came to the North Thompson Valley to see the fire devastation firsthand. They met firefighters. They came to a public meeting I was holding and met victims and other residents, who stood and gave them a series of standing ovations. The gratitude is very genuine, and the love that people feel — victims of this fire, including all those who are economic victims of the fire — is very real. The Vancouver Chinese community did more than give money, and I believe this is fair to say about everyone who has donated to fire victims around the province. They have given their friendship, their love and their tangible support. I thank the member for Vancouver-Kensington, who will expand on the generous spirit of his community.
P. Wong: Through you, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his remarks. All of us in this House know what a difficult summer it has been in B.C.'s heartlands and especially in Louis Creek and Barriere, witnessing one of the worst forest fires in our memory. I travelled to Kamloops recently, touring the destruction site and lending support to our hon. colleague from Kamloops–North Thompson. Despite the recent tragedy, people in the area greeted us warmly. But even with the forest fires, I am constantly amazed at the resolve of people to make the most of a difficult situation — to contribute time, food, equipment, money and other necessities and to assist those in need.
I had the honour of working with a number of concerned citizens from the lower mainland to raise funds for the fire victims. In August representatives from the Chinese community in Vancouver formed the We Love B.C. Campaign to raise funds. Mr. Johnny Fong, noted businessman and philanthropist, and I co-chaired the committee. A fundraising dinner and other events raised over a quarter of a million dollars.
On September 20 we travelled to Kamloops and Barriere to present the cheque and meet many families affected by the fires. Please let me thank the Canada China Business Association, the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver, the Chinese Cultural Centre, the Chinese Federation of Commerce, the Richmond Asia Pacific Business Association, SUCCESS and the Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association. Our generous donors include Allied Holdings Ltd., Vancouver Film and Television Artists Society, Tzu Chi Foundation of Canada and International Sources Ltd. and CCF Community Care Foundation. However, the names are too numerous to list them all here. Without their support we would not have been able to raise these funds. However, our work will continue.
Last week Commander Al Guatoco from the McLure fire department travelled to Richmond and Vancouver selling T-shirts. The proceeds are going to the fire relief fund.
In my speech in Kamloops and McLure, I talked about rebuilding a community, which is not an easy task. The residents will need determination and will need to rely on each other and all British Columbians. I urge my hon. colleagues to continue to support the relief efforts.
If there is a silver lining in this tragedy, it is that people do care what happens in other communities, neighbourhoods and homes around the province. They will do whatever they can to help. The tragedy has brought different regions of our province closer together. The Chinese community and all of us will cooperate in rebuilding the vibrant communities of B.C.'s heartlands.
K. Krueger: I thank the member for Vancouver-Kensington for his comments and for his kindness and generosity of spirit, and I thank all the Chinese people who have exhibited the same in this crisis and in their response to it.
As I said earlier, the donations have come in a variety of forms from a variety of locations. A convoy from the community of 100 Mile House came to the North Thompson last month bringing clothes, household necessities and a cheque for $34,000. Farmers from near St. Paul, Alberta, recently brought eight cows and a steer to the North Thompson. Most of the evacuees lost all their frozen meat after the valley lost power due to the fires, so this beef is tremendously appreciated. We all know how British Columbians like to support the Canadian beef industry.
Right now we are also working with Alberta farmers who have set aside 400 tonnes of hay and are delivering it themselves to help ranchers in our area. Then there are the celebrities who have reached out to fire victims. Donations have come from the likes of Kamloops-born NHLers Mark Recchi and Murray Baron. Music stars such as Cher have made donations and donated their talents to raise money through charity concerts.
Recently in Kamloops more than 20,000 people came out and donated to see performers such as Matthew Good and Chantal Kreviazuk. We learned last week that B.C.'s own Bryan Adams will be touring the
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province holding charity concerts for fire victims. Early last month RCMP officers arrived at the Kamloops Salvation Army with two five-ton trucks loaded with food, pet food, bedding, clothing, children's books and toys. I know the Salvation Army in both Kamloops and Kelowna has been overwhelmed with donations from across the country.
From the corporate community, which has donated millions of dollars in supplies and cash, to quilters from as far away from Nova Scotia, who last weekend handed out 250 quilts to Barriere residents, I really can't say enough about the generosity of Canadians. Those quilters were determined to provide a quilt for every bed that had been lost.
The people of the North Thompson are a strong and determined bunch. I think all the fire victims and evacuees throughout the province have shown tremendous courage, strength and fortitude. To all those who have donated to British Columbia's fire victims, I say thank you on behalf of the constituents of Kamloops–North Thompson. You've given us strength; you've given us courage. Most of all, you have given us hope and friendship. One day we will return the favour, if a favour is needed. Thank you very much.
FOREST FIRES — i.e., CHILCOTIN
W. Cobb: Welcome back, everyone. I hope you all had a good summer.
I, too, wish to speak about the fires. This summer will probably go down in history as one of the hottest ever. In many of our ridings it was hotter than most of us would have liked. In the throne speech the Premier indicated this was the year of the forest, and I can assure you that he did not mean it would be the year we would burn it up.
Summer infernos have broken records on all fronts. At the Cariboo Fire Centre we had 13 interface fires, 310 fires under one hectare, 43 fires between one and five hectares, 25 fires from five to 100 hectares and six fires over 100 hectares. The Tatla Lake fire was 1,867 hectares. The Mount Wotzke fire was 180 hectares, and the Bonaparte Lake fire was 1,500 hectares. As well, there were two fires in parks between 150 and 180 hectares where no action was taken because they were in parks. The Chilko fire was 29,202 hectares. This was the largest fire in the province. It did not get as much media coverage as others because we were fortunate that residents were only on evacuation alert, and some people relocated for respiratory problems only.
The list I gave does not include the Venables fire in the Cache Creek–Ashcroft–Hat Creek area. I had the opportunity to fly over this fire, thanks to Morley Anderson from Ashcroft. We saw the fire in action as it moved towards some of the homes in the valley. The fire was spitting sparks and embers over the town of Ashcroft and was successful in jumping the Thompson River at the Basque Ranch and threatening farmers on the other side. The Rhodes and the deRosiers, a couple of farmers, were out with their garden hoses until the bombers came.
The fires cost almost 16,000 person-days and 6,400 air-hours between helicopters and air tankers. Provincewide there were approximately 12,758 persons, including local, out-of-province and military personnel, fighting the fires this year. And 2,500 fires burned 250,237 hectares, 334 homes and ten businesses. What we will never be able to calculate is the human suffering and anxiety for those individuals who either lost their homes, were evacuated, were threatened or had to leave their homes and belongings.
As I said, the Cariboo-Chilcotin fires were some of the largest in the province, consuming very profitable timber and rangeland, throwing many out of their homes and behaving with very dangerous dynamics for the firefighters involved. I was told that one firefighter was busy working away when something caught the corner of his eye. He looked around, and there was a small tornado-like ball, about four feet high, that was starting a fire wherever it happened to touch down. Some said this was not a fire; it was a monster out of one of Steven Spielberg's movies.
The damage these fires have caused to the forest…. The rangeland that the ranchers and wildlife depend on for feed is gone and will take time to renew. I am happy we are taking steps to work on reseeding programs that can begin immediately so that we can return some of this land back to normal before the fireweed and knapweed take over or the spring thaw washes the topsoil away.
The hot weather has also created a drought situation in parts of my riding. I am also pleased the Premier has taken action to assist in cushioning the blow by relaxing some guidelines for rain permits while the miles and miles of burned fences can be repaired in order to keep the cattle within their designated areas.
We may not be out of the woods yet, so to speak, with record-high temperatures and no moisture so far this fall. We are going into winter with the same drought or moisture levels that were recorded in the middle of the summer. That spells a worse fire season for next year, if we don't soon get some of that much-needed moisture either through rain or a very, very heavy snowfall this winter.
Now, I know fires are a natural occurrence and will continue with or without human assistance in starting them, but half the fires in B.C. have been caused by humans. This is not a very good record, and unless we want another year like this one, people must respect campfire and open-burning bans, and take care when they are outdoors. Those individuals in cars and trucks I follow down Highway 97 every week as I go home, travelling back and forth, throwing their cigarettes out the window must stop. Campers and bush party participants must make sure their campfires are out when they leave.
There are numbers of steps we can take to protect our homes and property, and I know with the efforts that are being made through the B.C. Fire Commission,
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we will learn what those steps are to ensure that we do not have a repeat of the 2003 fires.
B. Locke: I would like to offer my appreciation to the member for Cariboo South for sharing the perspective of the Cariboo-Chilcotin after this extreme and demanding fire season. Much has been said about the heroic efforts to fight the devastating fires in the Okanagan, the North Thompson and the Kootenays. We now have insight into how powerful the damage was to yet another region of our province. In fact, the largest of all B.C. fires was in the Cariboo-Chilcotin, and were it not for the expert fire suppression action in northern B.C., there could have been grave consequences in that region as well.
The fires in the Cariboo had a personality unlike the fires in other parts of the province. There were vast tracts of timber and grasslands with virtually no road access, yet those fires were bearing down on towns, first nations reserves, cattle ranches and rural homes. Structures were lost, but thanks to a war-like attack on the flames, none of them were houses. This is a credit to the Cariboo Fire Centre's resources and the integrated firefighting force that they brought in to combat these remote and enormous blazes.
Even fires far from an urban setting have their effect on the whole province. We have lost valuable timber. We have lost grazing lands. We have lost livestock. Ecosystems have been altered, and tourism has been affected. In a province that in many ways lives off the land, we have less to sustain us.
I can speak for all heartlands residents when I say well done and thank you to the brave men and women who stood in the way of these fires. Many were brought in from other provinces. Many were called to action through the military. Many just dropped what they were doing and joined in where they could. All British Columbians were behind your efforts.
Coming from Surrey, I can't imagine what it must have been like to have your home in that kind of danger, seeing and feeling the flames coming down the mountain into a neighbourhood. We live in a part of the world blessed by forests all around us, even in urban areas like Surrey. That makes it essential to have a provincial emergency preparedness program, the envy of any in the world. This summer we proved that.
It can happen again. We face drought conditions in many parts of the province. The mountain pine beetle has wiped out swaths of forests bigger than some countries and left the trees kindling-dry. Our government recognizes these dangers. Our vigilance cannot waver, or massive fires like the Chilko Lake, Venables, Lamb Creek and McLure can occur again. If this drastic fire activity ever does occur again, we have a new collection of data, a new set of skills, many new relationships that came together as a result of this tragic summer.
We also have a new resolve, as the member for Cariboo South discussed. It is the spirit of volunteerism and self-sacrifice that shone through. In every instance, whether the fire was heading for a tiny homestead or an urban street, the result was tremendous. That is the way God made British Columbia. That is the way that will carry us through in times of need.
I have seen the pictures from around the province. I have seen the footage on television. I have been on the phone with my own friends and loved ones who were in the midst of this natural disaster. Just last Thursday I spent some time with the Forest Service personnel and toured on foot the Strawberry Hill fire and saw by air the devastation at Barriere. It was my privilege to talk to people affected by the fire and people who rallied around their community in support of their neighbours.
In my own community of Surrey we got involved not only by sending money and donations. Surrey fire chief Len Garis was immediately out of the gate to offer Surrey's support on August 4. We became committed to helping B.C.'s fire-ravaged interior. Between August 4 and September 3, Surrey sent three assistant chiefs and 144 firefighters who rotated on their days off. We also sent four pumper trucks and our emergency mobile command centre. There isn't a person in the province left unmoved by the flames. The most difficult part to accept is the number of fires caused by human negligence. As a government, it is our responsibility to absorb all there is to learn from this fiery summer of 2003.
W. Cobb: Thank you to the member for Surrey–Green Timbers for responding to my comments and sharing in the concerns in our losses. As she mentioned, there were a number of volunteers, and that's what I'd like to focus in on now: the many, many people who took part in the fires. First to the front-line heroes who, through diligence and hard work, were able to protect many, many homes but, more importantly, were able to ensure that there was no loss of human life because of the fires. My thoughts go out to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in that helicopter accident.
I am very proud of the people of B.C. but, in particular, the people in my riding: 100 Mile, Ashcroft and Cache Creek. We had many people come forward during these trying times to help with their neighbours and their communities. First, thanks to the evacuation volunteers from Ashcroft–Cache Creek who spent countless hours and registered 23 evacuees from the Barriere-McLure fire and 83 from the Venables–lower Hat Creek fire, and made them all feel at home and comfortable. This group was also on red alert for the Lytton fire, but thankfully, evacuation was not necessary in that area. Thank you, Barb Shaw and Tanya Wong and your team, for a job well done.
Also a big thank-you to the people of 100 Mile who organized and manned the evacuation centre for the majority of the Barriere-McLure-Bonaparte fires. These volunteers worked around the clock and found accommodation and food for everyone. It was August 1 when Mayor Donna Barnett received a call from Bob
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Kelly, the PEP coordinator, stating an evacuation centre needed to be opened. The centre was opened for two weeks with 1,388 evacuees, over 2,000 active volunteers and a list of others that were on call. The 100 Mile Ranch donated their facility for the animals. The businesses that the community assisted and the evacuees stayed in hotels, motels and many, many private homes. People in 100 Mile House and area opened their homes, their hearts and their pocketbooks. Not one person or animal went without.
Tourists stopped at the centre, one buying clothes for evacuees' children — there were five in that family. As mentioned on September 17, the mayor and citizens travelled to Barriere with 20 trucks and trailers of toys, furniture, food, clothing, bikes, washers, dryers and $35,000 in cash donated by the people of the district of 100 Mile and the surrounding area. I know the families and recipients were overwhelmed by this great support, and I am so proud of the people in my riding for pulling together at a time of need and helping their neighbours. Thank you, everyone. We are all proud of you and appreciate your caring.
COMMUNITIES' RESPONSE
TO FOREST FIRES
T. Christensen: It's indeed a pleasure to be back in the House and to see some familiar faces again after what I think all of us can agree was quite a remarkable summer. Although it had its highlights, it was one that, on many fronts, we probably don't want to repeat. Most British Columbians are going to remember the summer of 2003 for a very, very long time. It's the kind of summer that we'll tell our children and grandchildren about in years to come. Certainly for sunseekers and beach-goers, it couldn't have been much better. The sunshine still continues, certainly in the Okanagan.
In the Okanagan, as summer approaches, we always hope for lots of sunshine and look forward to spending some time at one of the many beautiful lakes throughout our region. We were pretty much having the perfect summer through July. The tourists were flocking to our area, as they often do, to enjoy the Okanagan sunshine, the golf courses, the wineries, the water sports and of course the hospitality. I want to emphasize that all of those things continue to be there, they're available today, and they'll certainly be available next summer too.
As the summer progressed, many British Columbians read and listened to reports of the increasing fire hazard in our forested areas, but none of us anticipated what was to come in August. The potential for forest fires is almost always present through most of the interior of the province, so we do learn to be careful and watch out. Fortunately, most of us are very rarely impacted by the hundreds of fires that occur throughout the province each summer.
In the Okanagan-Shuswap corridor, we've experienced the awesome power of fire and its threat to our homes and families twice before in the last decade — first in Penticton and then in 1998 in the Salmon Arm area. Yet I think we were all surprised and shocked by the fury of the fires that impacted so many communities and so many people around the southern interior part of our province this summer.
It started, certainly most markedly, with the Louis Creek and McLure fires. I remember hearing about those fires on the Friday and finding it hard to believe a fire could spread so quickly and cause such disruption almost immediately. The next morning I woke up to news that a fire had started overnight between Falkland and Armstrong — the Cedar Hill fire — and it became much closer to home.
While most British Columbians will remember the images of towering flames and charred landscapes that confronted us on television and in newspapers throughout August, the people most directly impacted by this summer's fires — the people who were evacuated from their homes — will remember the incredible response of their communities and, in many cases, neighbouring communities that seemed to mobilize instantly to provide refuge and support. In my own constituency we were fortunate to not be evacuated, but Vernon was home to an evacuation centre for most of the month of August.
What impressed me most about this last summer was the spirit and resilience of the people who had to leave the comfort of their homes — often with very little notice, not knowing what was going to happen next and not knowing where they were going next. It's pretty much impossible to imagine the emotions that a person must experience in those circumstances — not knowing what is going to happen to everything they've spent their life building. We tend to take for granted that when we leave the driveway in the morning, we're going to come back to our home at the end of the day.
A forest fire is unlike any other natural disaster because it becomes an ever-present threat. It's not like an earthquake, a tornado, a hurricane or even a structural fire that happens quickly and then leaves its victims to deal with the aftermath. Instead, a forest fire threatens our communities from the edge of town. While our firefighting resources worked heroically and often with great success to keep the fire away from our communities, the threat remains on the doorstep, ever present, with the fire taunting the people whose homes are so threatened.
This was certainly the case in Kelowna, the Thompson Valley, Chase, Cranbrook and in the rural area between Falkland and Armstrong just north of my own constituency. Fires started in too many cases because of human carelessness and spread unbelievably quickly due to the extremely dry conditions we had throughout the southern interior this summer.
In each case, some people were quickly evacuated from their homes and others placed on evacuation alert — a state of constant stress where your thoughts must be consumed by: what should I take if I'm told to evacuate?
The largest evacuation took place as a result of the Okanagan Mountain fire, south of Kelowna. At one point — and this is hard to believe — over 30,000 peo-
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ple were evacuated from their homes. In many cases people who were evacuated in the first couple of days were staying with friends or family who were then also evacuated. It must have felt like this terrible wildfire was chasing them from one refuge to another.
Considering the potential for chaos in those circumstances, the evacuations in each of the communities affected around the province went incredibly smoothly. The response of our communities was quite remarkable, particularly when one considers the many organizations that come together to play a part in the provincial emergency program.
People coming to the Vernon emergency centre were greeted by volunteers from the Salvation Army. They were then assisted in registering by volunteers with the Canadian Red Cross. Ministry of Human Resources employees, assisted by volunteers, were there to provide financial assistance. St. John Ambulance personnel were there to provide care and support.
The RCMP's victim assistance volunteers were there to provide counselling. The SPCA was there to find places for pets that couldn't stay with their owners and to help find space for displaced horses and livestock in some cases. There were food services to keep everybody going, and of course, there were volunteers coordinating the great number of citizens who came forward to offer goods and services to assist the people who had been evacuated.
I've been told of people who took their vacation time at their employment so they could be available to volunteer to help those who had been evacuated from their homes. Out closer to the fire, the Vernon search and rescue crews helped secure the areas that had been evacuated to ensure that homes under threat from fire didn't also face the threat of looting. Thankfully, with the Cedar Hill fire at least, there were very few reports of anybody trying to take advantage of the fact that homes were empty.
Back at the reception centre, the ham radio operators assisted in keeping communications on track and providing information. In speaking with one of the reception centre managers, she told me the training provided through the emergency social services was incredibly valuable in ensuring that, facing the summer's wildfires, the emergency response was very well coordinated.
Of course, the foundation of the provincial emergency program is the individual professionals and volunteers that come together to offer support to victims of any disaster. The Vernon emergency centre was quickly set up when the Cedar Hill fire broke out early in the morning on August 2. People who were evacuated from the area between Falkland and Armstrong arrived at the Vernon recreation centre and were greeted with compassion, support and understanding. That Vernon centre had pretty much just been shut down after the threat of the Cedar Hill fire when the Okanagan Mountain fire started and the massive evacuation of Kelowna was underway, and the Vernon centre was set up again. The individual stories of how a particular volunteer connected with a particular evacuee and was able to say just the right thing or provide just what that evacuee needed in such a stressful time are many.
I'll turn over the floor to my colleague the Minister of Health Planning who, I hope, will expand on the situation from her constituency.
Hon. S. Hawkins: I want to thank the member for his comments. The Premier declared a state of emergency on August 1, and I knew that was serious. We certainly prayed for all the communities that were going through battling the fires in their communities. But you know, at that time there wasn't even an inkling in my mind that two weeks later we'd be facing the same kind of emergency in Kelowna. In the last couple of months I think I've learned more fire terminology than I ever cared to know — terms like "interface fires" and "aggressive fire behaviour" and "fire behaviour specialists." These were terms I'd never had in my vocabulary before.
I do want to talk just for a minute about my community's experience with the Okanagan Mountain fire. It's really hard to put into words how we lived in Kelowna for over a month through probably one of the worst natural disasters the Okanagan has ever seen. As my colleague said, the summer of 2003 is probably one we'll never forget — not only because of the horrific and terrifying firestorm that ravaged our neighbourhoods, but also because our community was tested in one of the most trying and difficult circumstances I think we'll ever have to face. I believe our citizens came out of it stronger, and our community is probably an even better place to live. I've heard that in other communities that have been ravaged by the fire.
There are so many examples of courage and strength and working together. I really do want to thank all of the firefighters from around the province who came to help us. There were 61, 62 or 63 communities that sent firefighters, trucks and equipment. To all my colleagues in this chamber, I want to say thank you for all of your communities and your citizens. You have to be proud of all of them, because they all stepped up to the plate when we had our time of need.
I am especially proud of our B.C. Forest Service and forest protection branch for all of their efforts around the province and in the Okanagan. The fire is still burning. There are still hot spots, and there are 140 firefighters from the B.C. Forest Service that are still working behind my house and up in the hills to put that out. I understand they're going to be there until winter comes.
All of the emergency personnel, the ambulance and the police were top-notch during our crisis. Our mayor and our city officials were there for us and showed incredible support and strength. I have to say how incredibly proud I am of the courage and leadership of our Kelowna fire department under Chief Gerry Zimmerman and everyone involved in our emergency operating centre. Certainly, the management and organization and support provided by the Solicitor General
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and the provincial emergency program has to be acknowledged — and all of the people involved in fighting the Kelowna firestorm and managing the fire and all of the volunteers.
My colleague mentioned people from around the province. I met people from Burnaby that were holidaying in the Okanagan on the first day of the fire. On the second day the evacuation centre was set up, and they were in there on their holidays volunteering at the evacuation centre. There were people from the Kootenays, there were people from Prince George, and there were people from the Island who were volunteering in there. It was incredible.
My colleague also mentioned some of the non-profit agencies that stepped forward, like the Salvation Army, St. John Ambulance and Red Cross. Again, services provided by them were very much appreciated. Our emergency social services under the Ministry of Human Resources, again, were top-notch. We were all cared for.
I have to say our Premier certainly showed his leadership and his caring and his support by coming to the Okanagan and Kelowna twice during the firestorm. We knew we had the support of everyone in the province when he visited the evacuation centres and consoled people and supported us and assured the community that the province was there for us and would help us get through our nightmare. The Premier came again with the Prime Minister, and I have to say we really did feel that all Canadians were thinking about us. We had calls from across Canada during that time.
I have to mention our local media. They went above and beyond the call of duty during this crisis. At the risk of leaving some out, I have to say that CKOV radio, Shaw TV, Silk radio, Castanet, Sun FM and CHBC TV were out there giving our citizens timely and often life-saving information. They did that on a 24-hour, around-the-clock basis when it was needed. I thought the coverage was incredibly good, very responsible, and the public was especially grateful. The media also started a yellow ribbon campaign for fire relief. That's a good thing. They do do good things. Our auxiliary firefighters are selling Okanagan Mountain T-shirts for this fund, as well, for $15. Anyone who wants to support that can certainly contact me.
You know, I used to think that our neighbours lived across the street or beside me. I've learned, after going through the largest evacuation probably in the history of this country…. There were 30,000 of us one night that had to leave our homes. I found out that our neighbours are in Vernon, they're in Merritt, they're in Salmon Arm, and they're in Kamloops, where they were fighting their own fire. They took us in. That was especially comforting. I was evacuated twice, and I think we just prayed for rain. It happened both times. I have to say how proud I am of the families that lost their homes. There are 238 of them who are now rebuilding their homes and their lives.
If I could just give a short little example of courage. At one of the evacuation centres there was a teenager in a family who was asked by another woman whose family also lost a home…. Her kids were angry. She said: "Aren't you angry?" The teenager says: "No, I'm not." She said: "Oh, come on. Aren't you angry? You lost all your stuff. Don't you wish you had it all back?" This is a 15-year-old girl. She said: "Do you know what I wish for? I wish we were the only family that lost our home so no one else would have to suffer." I'm sure her parents are proud of her.
That's the kind of courage we're seeing in our community. We are rebuilding. We've got a wine festival going on. We're selling out, and I just want to say thank you to everyone for supporting us through this very difficult time.
T. Christensen: It's indeed difficult, given the time limits imposed on us in the House, to adequately reflect what we've gone through in certain parts of the province through the summer. I suspect many of us could stand here perhaps ad nauseam and recall and recount to you the many examples of really incredible citizenship that we saw from our neighbours throughout the province right through August and continuing as we speak.
Certainly, what impresses me most when I look back over the last number of weeks is the composure of the people who had been told to leave their homes or who, in many cases, ended up losing their homes. I was thinking in terms of my own experience of a story in Vernon, when the Cedar Hill fire had broken out at the beginning of August. On August 2, I was at a barbecue in downtown Vernon in support of the beef industry. We had people coming down there who had spent the day moving their stuff out of their house and certainly their livestock away from farms and, of course, spending a good part of the day moving their neighbours' horses and livestock because of the fire. Their attitude that evening seemed to be, well, they'd done everything they could do. It was now up to Mother Nature as to what was going to happen, and they should come downtown to support the beef industry for the evening. These would have been some of the same people that three weeks later were taking their horse trailers down to Kelowna to lend a hand in helping folks ensure that their animals were evacuated from the fire threat there.
This sense of community is reflective of what we saw throughout the province this summer in response to the wildfires. As well, certainly I think if the response to these fires by citizens and communities right around the province is a measure of our province or is a measure of our communities, we have a great deal to be proud of. Really, it's a reminder of what an incredible province we're all fortunate to live in, and it's incredible due to the generosity and spirit of our neighbours throughout our community.
The member for Kelowna-Mission mentioned a number of the things that are going on in that riding. You can't get a sense, unless you actually go to Kelowna and drive through. She mentioned the yellow
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ribbon campaign and how that had started, and you see nary a vehicle without a yellow ribbon tied to it in Kelowna. The one that stands out in my mind is passing a city of Kelowna truck where they had taken one of those big styrofoam noodles that you have in the pool with your kids, and they had tied it around the antenna so it sort of stood out. You could see it from about a mile away.
But if you go anywhere in Kelowna, there are yellow ribbons on every street corner, almost, on every telephone pole. There are great signs — particularly beside schools, because that's where the kids are — thanking all of the folks who have done so much to help the community get through these fires. That will be the legacy of these fires in years to come.
REDUCING FUEL LOADS IN
LOW ELEVATION FORESTS
B. Bennett: My remarks today are focused on preventing catastrophic forest fires and specifically on the challenge of reducing the huge accumulation of fuels in our dry forests. When the European settlers first came to B.C., the dry forests and grasslands here burned every five to 25 years. For thousands of years, regular fires in the East Kootenay region maintained open grasslands and open forests at low elevations.
Very large, old ponderosa pine and western larch survived the periodic fires because the fires lacked the opportunity to get up into the crowns of the trees on the plentiful ladder fuels that exist today in our forests. It's these very hot crown-burning forest fires that we saw this summer, the ones that can move up to 300 metres in a minute. In the Rocky Mountain Trench from the Montana-Idaho border north to Golden, forest fires have been fought for the past 90 years. Society expects these fires to be fought immediately and to be extinguished as quickly as possible.
However, as we have extinguished the natural forest fires, the former open forests and grasslands have deteriorated into thick stands of dead or dying trees leaning against one another. Many have fallen to the ground, forming a mat of brittle, dry grass, bone-dry wood and needles — just about the way I would construct my little campfire. There isn't enough water or nutrients or sunlight to go around, so these trees remain stunted. This thick maze of mostly skinny trees has limited commercial value and has very limited purpose as an ecosystem.
For the past two years our government has been working with ranchers, environmentalists, hunters and forest licensees to restore grasslands, and we appreciate the support we have received from the Minister of Forests and from the Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection on ecosystem restoration. We are making some progress on restoring the natural grasslands habitat and reducing fuel loads, but progress has been too slow.
In my region we lose 3,500 hectares of open grasslands to forest encroachment each year. Contrast the loss of 3,500 hectares of grasslands each year with what we are able to restore by thinning and burning. Our spring window for burning in the East Kootenay is one to three days for the whole spring season because of all the rules around burning: how, where, when and by whom it can be done. The local Ministry of Forests staff and the volunteers had over 3,000 hectares prepared for burning this past spring and were permitted to burn only 300 hectares. Despite the best efforts, what we are currently doing is just not enough. My first suggestion is that government must work harder with local people to create innovative ways to reduce the fuel load through the restoration of fire-maintained ecosystems. The regulation and management of Crown forests in B.C. is based primarily on a model that encourages the growth, the harvesting and the processing of trees. As necessary as this rule regime is to a properly functioning forest industry, these rules are not designed for getting rid of trees. Quite the opposite.
Second, more money is needed especially for ecosystem restoration, which has the benefit of not only reducing dangerous forest fire fuels but benefiting the many endangered species of flora and fauna that prosper in our dwindling natural grasslands. I see tens of millions of international dollars being spent in B.C. by environmental organizations. Surely, grasslands ecosystem restoration is important to the environmental community, and surely some of the millions of dollars in U.S. and European foundation money that flows into B.C. can be directed to ecosystem restoration and, coincidentally, remove huge amounts of dangerous fuels from the forest floor.
There are also some creative ways that the trees themselves can be used to pay the costs of restoration, if government can change its rules and permit ranchers and NGOs to use the logs to pay for the work.
Here are some specific suggestions around legislation, regulation and policy that, if adopted, will reduce the fuel loads in our forest, and I want to thank Bob Gray from Chilliwack for most of these ideas:
(1) Step up enforcement of the fuel hazard management guidelines that are already existent in the Forest and Range Practices Act.
(2) Characterize forest fire fuels close to communities as a legal nuisance.
(3) Stop forcing licensees to plant so many trees in areas that are at a high risk of forest fire and are close to communities. It makes no sense to stock a site into a future hazard.
(4) Borrow the Knutson-Vandenberg Act idea from the U.S. and retain a portion of stumpage in the districts to fund long-term fuels and silviculture management.
(5) Encourage the development of new markets and technologies for small-diameter trees.
(6) Acknowledge that much poor-quality wood cannot be sold in B.C. It is a fire hazard. It's going to waste. Allow it to be exported on the condition that the profits are reinvested in ecosystem restoration in the region where the logs came from.
(7) Use a portion of stumpage revenues to reduce the fuels in tree plantations. This will mean removing
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planted trees, and it's probably going to mean that we'll even take some plantations back to zero. It will also require relaxation of other significant landscape management constraints such as mule deer winter range, cutblock size, parks and protected areas.
(8) In areas of high fuel hazard, particularly urban–wild land interface areas, relax smoke guidelines to allow managers to meet the intent of the Forest and Range Practices Act. I ask quite sincerely: what is better — five or six days of smoke during prescribed burns or the 40 days of thick smoke and the huge terrifying fires of August 2003?
(9) This is an important one. Quickly complete a system for assessing the qualifications of persons using prescribed fire and for certifying them and look to the U.S. for a proven system. They already have a system that works well.
(10) Continue carefully managing the risk of prescribed burning, but balance that risk with the risk of catastrophic forest fires.
Those are just a few suggestions that I hope will be helpful in taking us in a new direction.
Hon. G. Bruce: Well, it's interesting, as I've heard all four speeches this morning, what an incredible summer it's been for all of us — and it's a testament to the people of British Columbia in how they've risen to the challenge and responded to adversity. You know, it wasn't only forest fires. While we had the situation occurring in both Kamloops and Kelowna in the larger context of forest fires, in the northern Peace area we had floods, and then right behind the floods and the forest fires, at the same time — as was mentioned earlier — we had the whole beef sector being challenged — the challenge there for our beef farmers to be able to respond to that. The people of British Columbia responding together as one…. In fact, several of my community fire departments were up in Kelowna during the real firestorm that was taking place.
It's also good, though, in that it has focused us in a very important way, in respect to the forest fire issues, on the importance of our forests here in British Columbia. There's certainly the safety side of all of this — of the interface with our communities. Then we start understanding the depth and the width, if you like, of the pine beetle and the devastation it's causing to our forest throughout British Columbia. Of course, all of this, the impact that our forest industry has on our economy and the importance of making sure that we have a healthy forest, both from the standpoint of fire protection but also from the standpoint of jobs — as was just mentioned here earlier, the sad news the other day of the one industry that's not going to rebuild in that particular community….
It's important that we first of all appreciate and understand the manner in which British Columbians can rise to adversity and come together as one right across this province for a variety of issues. It's also important now to focus on what it is we can do in another form, in an instance of making sure that our forests are here and healthy for the future and certainly the aspect of forest floor cover and the issue of that in itself being a huge fuel aspect that can increase the size of forest fires if not properly managed.
The points brought by the member here today are good points. Again, it's individual citizens of British Columbia that are coming forward with ideas and suggestions of how best government and all those together can go about making changes and improving our safety issue, if you like, and the health of our forests.
The other thing to not lose sight of — although we talked about the floods, we talked about the beef sector, and we talked about these forest fires in these two major areas — is that we had forest fires, hundreds of them, throughout the province of British Columbia. I think it's important to recognize the many, many women and men who on a regular basis, year in and year out, go about trying to protect the residents and look after the forests of British Columbia when we get into that forest fire season. There was a very substantive and large job undertaken by the forest fire fighters throughout British Columbia.
The point to this particular issue that the member, of course, would be keen to know is that the Premier — through his leadership in both rallying the people of the province and then making sure that there's a full and unfettered review of what took place — has just appointed Gary Filmon, the former Premier of Manitoba, to undertake this independent and comprehensive review. Pointedly, a full range of issues that will be relevant to the prevention, planning and response, including such prevention strategies used for reducing the risk of interface fires, will be an important aspect of what his work will be in coming back to government by February 15 as to steps that we can undertake to make sure that we mitigate the dangers of forest fires to the people and to our communities in British Columbia.
B. Bennett: I asked the member for Cowichan-Ladysmith to respond to my statement today not only because he's a great, great speaker and not only because I really do want him to know he does have some friends. I asked him because he has a number of mills in his riding, and forestry is obviously extremely important to him.
I did want to just finish by sticking to my theme, which is the reduction of forest fire fuels in the forest. I think that has to be the lesson that we learn from this, so let me just summarize. We need to recognize that prescribed burning reduces fuel loads and reduces the loss of life and property. We also need to recognize that some natural ecosystems in this province require periodic fire for maintenance of their ecological integrity — not commonly known in B.C., I think.
We have the opportunity here in B.C. to do some innovative things with NGOs and the ranchers and the forest industry. Restoring grasslands and open forest ecosystems has the benefit of not only reducing these dangerous fuel loads but restoring natural habitat for many of B.C.'s endangered species and for growing
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more grass on the range to feed more cattle and more wildlife — which, of course, is another benefit.
Every challenge presents an opportunity. Our opportunity in B.C. after this very challenging summer is to use this experience to create the actions necessary to protect our communities and to improve the management of our dry forests, in recognition of the reality that fire is natural and will always be part of our life here in British Columbia.
Orders of the Day
Motions on Notice
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES
AND DEVELOPMENT OF
RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY
Hon. C. Clark: I call Motion 57.
[Be it resolved that this government actively supports alternative energy sources and that the provincial and federal government work towards developing renewable energy technology.]
Mr. Speaker: Hon. members, pursuant to standing orders, unanimous consent is required to proceed to Motion 57 without disturbing the order of the items on the order paper. Shall leave be granted?
Leave granted.
B. Belsey: It's my honour to rise in the House today and speak to Motion 57 and support what this government has done in moving towards renewable energy technology.
People of British Columbia are well aware of the strong environmental lobby that exists in our province. This lobby has spared no effort in raising awareness to both individuals and government alike about the perils of global warming. Indeed, their voices have been heard around the world. This environmental lobby has fought relentlessly to advance the global understanding of one of the most serious causes of global warming: greenhouse gases. They have clearly stated their concerns, and now all levels of government and industry have come together to address these concerns.
[H. Long in the chair.]
One of the main culprits in the many greenhouse gases identified to date is carbon dioxide, or its abbreviated name, CO2. There are other greenhouse gases that have been identified, such as water vapour. However, carbon dioxide is the major concern. CO2 has been identified as the primary contributor to global warming and is estimated to represent approximately 60 percent of all the greenhouse gases out there. Scientists have identified many sources of CO2. The air we exhale contains significant amounts of CO2. The wood we burn in our fireplaces is a significant source of CO2. Cars, trucks, planes, trains and boats all produce CO2. Although world levels of CO2 production are on the decline, we must all continue to be conscientious about controlling these greenhouse gases and the gas emissions.
I would like to address what my government is doing to ensure that alternate forms of energy are being developed. B.C. Hydro, the British Columbia Crown corporation, has a group tasked by its board to study wind energy, thermal, solar, fuel energy cells, tidal energy — all these generating methods that will help this province reduce greenhouse gases. They have been looking at a number of greenhouse energy projects on Vancouver Island, the North Coast and indeed around this province. The results are that wind, thermal, micro-hydro and ocean wave energy look very promising in the short term. Wind energy is a clean, renewable source of electric power-generating and is one of the world's fastest-growing energy sources.
B.C. Hydro has a current test site identified and will install wind-generating equipment in the near future to gather specific location data. The demonstration projects will be made up of approximately ten megawatts of wind energy, six to eight megawatts of micro-hydro energy and three to four megawatts of ocean wave energy.
B.C. Hydro's current policy is to promote clean, renewable, alternate energy sources like wind energy. However, it's not only Crown corporations that are developing wind energy. There was a recent announcement involving a B.C. firm, Uniterre, which has partnered up with a European firm to build a wind farm just off the north end of Graham Island. Graham Island is off the North Island in the two islands that form the Queen Charlotte Islands–Haida Gwaii. This $1 billion project will see approximately 350 wind-generating units producing, at capacity, approximately 700 megawatts of power. This power may one day help to light this building. This wind energy project offers significant benefits to the Pacific Northwest. It is a project in keeping with the environmental movement, a clean energy project.
Not only do these projects provide clean energy, but they also provide jobs and opportunities. Wind energy was the alternative energy that was often suggested by those who live on the Queen Charlotte Islands–Haida Gwaii as a viable alternative to gas and oil. To this end, the federal and provincial governments have listened to the concerns of the environmental movement. Government and industry are getting together to look at alternate forms of energy. This government will continue to work towards a development of energy technologies throughout British Columbia, including the Hecate Strait.
Since I placed this motion on the order paper earlier this year, great progress has been made in the promotion of green energy, and I am confident that there will be even more coming in the near future. At the recent Union of B.C. Municipalities conference, Premier Campbell announced a record purchase of green energy by B.C. Hydro: $800 million will be purchased in private sector
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— investment in 16 separate green power projects throughout British Columbia, netting an additional 1,800 gigawatt-hours of power per year to meet the energy needs of British Columbians. Not only does this investment mean 800 to 1,000 construction jobs, it establishes B.C. as the continental leader of green energy.
One of the 16 projects will happen just north of Stewart, B.C. The Coast Mountain Hydro Corp….
Hon. G. Bruce: Where is Stewart, again?
B. Belsey: Stewart is the top end of my riding, one of the beautiful little communities that at one time led in mining. But now we're moving into something bigger and better.
Hon. G. Bruce: It's a great spot.
B. Belsey: It's a wonderful spot.
The Coast Mountain Hydro Corp. is developing the Forest Kerr run-of-river hydroelectric project, but the excitement in green energy goes far beyond these 16 projects announced by Hydro. Earlier this year my colleague from North Island welcomed the investment of Green Island, a company that purchased and will transform the former Gold River pulp mill site into a major clean, green energy producer on energy-starved Vancouver Island.
Energy is a large part of our future in British Columbia, and green energy is even a very important part of our future. It is this government's commitment to green energy that led the Vancouver Sun to call B.C. the Saudi Arabia of green energy. Well, if this label applies, I will be working hard to make the North Coast the mecca of green energy.
The government has made great progress. Let's keep this momentum going. The North Coast wants to contribute to our province's success in this very important field.
B. Penner: It's a pleasure to participate in this debate on Motion 57. First I'd like to acknowledge the foresight of the member for North Coast for putting this motion on the order paper and giving us an opportunity to speak to one of the real bright spots in B.C.'s economy. It's because of this government's new energy plan that we are hearing so much about green energy these days in British Columbia. Just to recap, the B.C. government's new energy plan calls for a voluntary target of 50 percent clean energy in terms of meeting our incremental demand for electricity in the province, and we're looking to the private sector for some innovative ideas. We all know, I think, from past experience that government doesn't have the answer to everything, and when you allow the private sector to use its creativity and its imagination, you never know what potential may be out there. We are now finding out because of this government's new energy plan.
The member for North Coast and I, in fact, just over a year ago had a chance to visit an operating wind farm in Oregon while attending the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region 2002 annual summit near Portland, Oregon. We went out on a fact-finding trip to see the Klondike wind farm, which had recently become operational. That's a 24-megawatt facility currently providing electricity into the Pacific Northwest grid. It's indicative of what's been happening in many states south of the border. Washington State, Oregon, California and Texas are all building substantial projects to harness the energy from the wind.
I'm very pleased, as the member indicated, that we are now in British Columbia looking forward to the first wind power project this province will see. It's been a point of personal embarrassment for me that British Columbia has been one of the few provinces in Canada that, to date, does not generate a single kilowatt of electricity from wind energy. Already, of course, Alberta does, Saskatchewan does, Ontario does, and Quebec does.
That is going to change because of this government's new energy plan. As announced by the Premier just two weeks ago, one of the 16 projects that's going forward under B.C. Hydro's call for new energy sources is the Holberg wind power project on the north end of Vancouver Island. This $90 million investment will bring wind power — about 59 megawatts of capacity, I think — to Vancouver Island, where, as most of us know, new electricity sources are badly needed.
Again, I hasten to point out that, under the previous government, the closest the NDP…. Well, the NDP never did develop any wind projects. They talked about it but never did it. In fact, the closest the NDP has ever come to developing wind power is their current leadership debate. They've talked about it, but we're doing it. That's the difference.
I remember, back in the early 1980s as a high school student, one day for some reason I was checking my parents' mail, making sure they were keeping up on their payments, and I opened up a B.C. Hydro statement. Inside that B.C. Hydro statement was a little flyer talking about the research that was being done by B.C. Hydro in the early 1980s into the potential for wind energy. Here we are 20 years later, and British Columbia still, as of today, is not generating any electricity from wind. But we are about to, if this project in Holberg comes on line as is now anticipated.
What is making this possible? Well, after decades of research, wind energy costs have come down, it's estimated, by about 80 percent over what the costs were just in the 1980s. So new technology and new investment around the world have meant that economies of scale have been reached. Whereas maybe just four or five years ago a large-size wind turbine was 660 kilowatts — that was considered big — today it's common to see 1.5-megawatt wind turbines. General Electric and others are currently producing wind turbines that can generate three megawatts, or enough for 3,000 homes, from a single wind turbine. That's a huge leap in the technology, in the economies of scale and in the efficiency of these projects, and that's what's driving down the unit cost of the electricity from wind energy.
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I know there continue to be skeptics in what I call the status quo corners of the electricity industry, who doubt whether wind energy is viable, but you just have to look around the world to see what is happening. In Denmark, for example, more than 20 percent of their total electricity consumption is already coming from wind, and there are more projects planned.
In the United Kingdom they are installed to capacities at around 600 megawatts and growing quickly. I believe they say they're on line to develop between 6 and 8 percent of their total electricity needs by 2008 from wind energy. Some of those wind farms are being located offshore in the U.K. They're big-dollar investments, and they're happening because the cost of developing wind power is now competitive with coal and natural gas, and it's already much cheaper than nuclear.
I point out, just for a moment, that when we're talking about those costs on a competitive basis, the costs associated with wind energy, of course, are exclusive of the benefits in terms of non-emissions. So if you were to factor in the external costs of other projects, wind energy becomes even more competitive.
Of course, there remains the challenge of how you firm up that wind resource. In British Columbia we're ideally suited to take advantage of an intermittent source of electricity like wind because of our large hydroelectric reservoirs that continue to be owned by the publicly owned B.C. Hydro.
By allowing B.C. Hydro to store more water behind their dams while it's windy, we can take advantage of that wind energy. Then on those days when it's not as windy, we can draw down that reservoir capacity and generate the electricity we need through our reservoirs. So B.C. is ideally suited — more so than many other states or provinces — to take advantage of wind, and that's why I think the time is coming when it will really catch on here.
The other thing making this all possible under our energy plan is the fact that B.C. Hydro remains publicly owned. It's allowing the private sector to finance projects that they can't finance in many other jurisdictions, and that's because of uncertainties in the energy markets elsewhere — not in British Columbia.
In British Columbia we continue to have a government-owned, but regulated, monopoly in terms of the provision of electricity to retail users, especially at the residential level. That monopoly position gives B.C. Hydro a lot of stability, a lot of security, in knowing that they'll be able to recoup the costs of any purchase agreements they enter into. In turn, they're able to sign 20-year contracts with individual investors looking to develop these green projects. Once those individual investors get that 20-year contract from B.C. Hydro, that's treated almost as good as cash at the bank, and they can go and get financing.
Without that security, without that stability, it's doubtful very many of these projects would actually be going ahead. As evidence, I point south of the border, where many projects that have already been permitted — and these aren't just green projects; these are other natural gas or other fossil fuel projects — have been suspended, mothballed or put on hold because of uncertainty in their market and the inability to finance new electricity projects that are merchant power plants.
That's a big change from just five years ago when merchant power plants and IPPs south of the border were very desirable investments. Then Enron came along, and today if you want to borrow money to finance a merchant power plant, Wall Street is probably going to have you paying 20 to 25 percent interest on that risky endeavour.
Contrast that with British Columbia, where under our energy plan B.C. Hydro remains publicly owned. They're entering into these 20-year contracts, allowing individual entrepreneurs who have perfected designs around green energy to go and secure financing so we can actually take advantage of that technology and bring that electricity on line.
To paraphrase Tony Blair in England, I describe this as the third way. It's a mixed system where we have both public ownership and entrepreneurial spirit involved in British Columbia in helping meet our growing electricity needs.
It's tempting to again point out to British Columbians — and I don't mean to dwell on it, but it is a matter of record — that the only new power plant built by B.C. Hydro under the NDP's reign of terror in this province was in Pakistan. That cost British Columbian ratepayers millions and millions of dollars. There was no return on that investment for British Columbians, and of course not a single kilowatt of any electricity from a power plant in Pakistan is helping us meet our growing energy needs here in British Columbia.
It's partly for that reason that today and in this year, B.C. Hydro is expecting to have to import up to 10 percent of its electricity needs from outside of British Columbia in order to meet our domestic load. That's not a situation I think most British Columbians would be very proud about, and that's why our energy plan does call for the aggressive development of new energy sources.
Simply put, I think it's a very risky strategy to remain largely dependent on imported power. I would like British Columbia to become as self-sufficient as possible in a cost-effective way. That's why I'm so pleased to see that just two weeks ago there was this announcement that 16 new projects are going ahead, including, I might add, in the electoral district which I have the pleasure to represent — Chilliwack-Kent.
The Pearce Creek hydroelectric project will be the first small run-of-the-river project in my community, and although small in scale, it means any environmental impacts are also very small. I look forward to my constituents having a chance to get to know what small hydro projects look like by having this project literally in our back yard.
I know there will be some other members wanting to speak, but I'll just quickly touch on something that may not be obvious to some people. A number of these small hydro projects, which are considered green en-
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ergy projects, are already under construction. What the Premier announced two weeks ago was just the latest round, but there was a previous round.
Following the 2001 election and the B.C. Liberal Party taking office in this province, there was a call for green energy put out in the fall of 2001, and directly as a result of that policy direction and that action, there are currently British Columbians working in a number of small communities and earning a decent income.
This summer I had a chance to visit the Furry Creek small hydro project just south of Squamish, and I was pleasantly surprised to meet a number of Chilliwack residents working on the construction of that small hydro project. That's just one example of how there's this ripple effect taking place with small hydro projects being under construction currently — in Squamish, in Pemberton and on Vancouver Island near Gold River, for example. These are good projects, bringing good paycheques into communities and contributing to the local tax base, and none of this would be happening except for the energy plan of this government.
So we're bringing local jobs, local taxes, into communities and, by the way, adding to our supply of electricity, which as I indicated is starting to run a bit short for meeting our domestic needs. We need to get on and do more, and I'm pleased to stand in support of this motion put forward by the member for North Coast, and look forward to hearing what other members have to say on this motion. Thank you for the opportunity.
D. Jarvis: I rise to make a few brief comments about Motion 57. Without trying to be the devil's advocate, I would like to say that right now all we're hearing is wind power, wind power, wind power. We must remember that wind power is interruptible power, and what industry in this province needs is uninterruptible power. But there's no question that the search for alternative power sources are not only advantageous to, say, the northern communities in British Columbia that need support, but it's a necessary quest for the whole of this province to search for alternative sources of power.
I bring it back to the economics, not being an economist, but my own economics are that the living standards across Canada have soared these past ten years, with the aspect of standard of living. The standard of living is based on the…. The easiest way to measure it is on the gross domestic product. Now, the gross domestic product per capita is the normal measurement, as I said, and Canada-wide it's somewhere…. In the last decade it has increased by about 25 percent or about 2½ percent per year.
B.C. has been the lowest province of all the ten provinces in increasing their standard of living, where we have had an average of 1.25 percent per year over the last ten years. But the most significant increase has been that of Newfoundland, and Newfoundland now averages a 5.3 percent increase of their standard of living. That has ostensibly come down to the fact that their drilling of offshore oil and gas has brought in unbelievable amounts of revenue.
So oil and gas — we have plenty of that in B.C. that we think we have offshore and needs to be looked at, and drilled and brought into the field for power sources. As the evidence shows clearly, the strong growth in Newfoundland in their standard of living and their gross domestic product has been offshore development. So we are now sitting here out in British Columbia, in last place, struggling, trying to get a little higher up on the totem pole. We have all the potential to do so, but we have been holding back.
Wind power to me is something going back to ten or 12 years ago. I can remember Bob Williams, one of the architects of the modern NDP party, saying that we don't need resources in British Columbia; we can import them. And that's how it started. Consequently, most of our resource communities started going down. So I'm all in favour of this motion that we should have alternative power sources, but I also think we should all basically not forget about the values that we have in our land and under our waters in the way of oil and gas and minerals. We should not forget about them.
R. Visser: I'd like to rise and speak in favour of Motion 57 presented to the House by my colleague from the North Coast.
You know, when we were elected to government, energy and meeting the needs of British Columbians from an energy perspective was one of the key principles we wanted to bring forth and a piece of the private sector economy we wanted to be able to unleash. In some respects, unleashing that potential has taken some time. The private sector has needed time to make its plans, to look at the landscape, to be assured by the government that it means business, to build a comfortable relationship with the new regulator, the B.C. Utilities Commission, and B.C. Hydro. But they waited for an energy plan most of all. They waited for this government, the minister and the Premier to unleash the potential of British Columbia with an energy plan. We did that, and now we're starting to see the results come forward.
From my perspective and the people in my riding's perspective — the North Island — it's very important, and it secures parts of their future that they never had and, in some cases, they're not sure they ever knew they had. It's a surprise to some and an opportunity to others, which has given their communities a new lease on life.
One of the key components of this energy plan — and B.C. Hydro has already been able to make a commitment to have its new energy be from green sources — is that in the future they want the new energy they purchase in the marketplace from the private sector to be green — 50 percent of that between 2002 and 2012 from green sources. That's wood waste, energy conversion, wind, micro-hydro, hydro — all of those things. For a whole host of reasons the North Island — and the coast, in fact — has much of that potential. That's why that commitment on this government's behalf, on Hy-
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dro's behalf, is very important to the private sector and very important to those communities out there that I represent.
I want to start with one little project that makes the news once in a while but not always. That's the Green Island Energy project in Gold River. It's a company that came along with some investors from the United States, private sector folks and others, to purchase the assets — they have purchased the assets — of the closed-down Gold River pulp mill. The company who closed the mill had the foresight to leave what they call the energy island intact, the ability to generate small amounts of electricity in steam. Those assets were purchased by these folks, and they've put together a plan. What they want to do is help meet British Columbia's and Vancouver Island's looming energy shortage, issues that are on Vancouver Island currently today and that we have to start planning for now. They want to meet that, and they want to come to Hydro in the next call to convert wood waste in Gold River into energy — into 100 megawatts, 50 megawatts — in scalable increments.
You know, this energy plan, this company, this purchase and their future have given a new foundation to a community like Gold River. Their pulp mill closed down in the mid-1990s, and they have met every challenge ever since then. They've struggled; they fought back; they've looked for diversification. They have focused on that site down there, and now, after this long wait and this energy plan, they have a future.
You know, the foundation for these communities is important. Not only is it going to be helpful that they have a new tax base, that they have a producer of income and jobs and economy down there, but they also have somebody that owns this place, who's interested in diversification on that site, taking what we call a brownfield site and turning it back into a productive economic generator.
There are lots of things that can happen there. There can be dryland sorts built because it's on the water. They can have fish processing facilities for the increasing aquaculture industry in the area. They can have shellfish processing facilities because of the increased aquaculture in that area — finfish and shellfish. They can sell the steam to aquaculture proponents and other people — whether they're new and interesting species like tilapia that are already produced in British Columbia or to smolt production for the finfish aquaculture industry.
They can have small value-added sawmills there, shake and shingle mills. Other folks in that area who have ideas now have a place to go, a place to work and a place to do business. All of these things come from this energy plan. We have said to British Columbia and to investors here that if you are willing to risk your capital in this province, we'll enter into long-term contracts with you, and we will be a stable energy environment. We want you here, and we want you to build on those successes.
I think communities like Gold River are well served by this energy plan, but that's just one part of it. They've still got some contractual obligations. They still have to meet the next call for tender. They still have to produce electricity at the lowest cost for British Columbians, for Vancouver Island people, and they have to compete against other suppliers. I wish them luck, and I think they'll do well. It is a competitive world, and that's the public interest that the B.C. Utilities Commission and the Crown have to protect.
There are other things going on in Gold River. There's the McKelvie Creek project. That's in Tahsis, just down the road. There's the Meares Creek project that's already underway. It's a small run-of-the-river, and it's being installed now.
The other part that's fascinating about this is that of the 16 new projects that moved from stage 1 to stage 2 in the B.C. Hydro call for green energy across British Columbia, four of them were on northern Vancouver Island. One of the biggest of those four was in Gold River: the Ucona power project. These people want to tunnel through a mountain up to a lake and out of that tunnel run an eight-inch-diameter pipe through a turbine and generate 25 megawatts of power. You know, those are jobs. Those are hard-rock mining jobs in building the tunnel. Those are development jobs and construction jobs in building the powerhouse and installing the turbines and connecting to the grid and all of those things. It's just another little piece of hope and opportunity for a community like Gold River — just one more piece of that puzzle that's going to give them a new lease on life, put new tenants back in the mall, put new people into those houses and apartments there, and add to the robustness of that economy that suffered so much during the 1990s.
I also want to talk about a few other communities — ones that we don't talk about much in the broader public. Tahsis has a small run-of-the-river project that's on the list of those to go ahead from the last call. It's not a big thing, but it's part of their economy, too, in the future — a few jobs here, a few jobs there, and they all add up. I know the mayor and council in Tahsis are interested in having that project pursued. But what about Zeballos? They don't talk much about Zeballos. It's at the end of a long gravel road on the west coast. They, too, have a run-of-the-river project in Zeballos Lake that is one of the four that just made this last shortlist of 16.
There's some work to do there to make sure it works, but they're job generators, they're economy generators, and they're tax-base generators for those local communities. I think those folks in Zeballos — as they work through the environmental issues, as they work through the future of this project and as they realize the benefits of it — are going to be well served.
Maybe the one that's attracting some of the most attention — certainly, here today in the House and certainly in the news — is in a little community called Holberg. I visit Holberg every once in a while. I always have done ever since I was a kid. I'm very fond of that place. They're a logging town. They used to be military. A Canadian Forces station was there, CFS Holberg.
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That closed down decades ago, and now they're a logging town with Western Forest Products in the heart of TFL 6.
Out of the blue for most of them, I think, comes this project where they want to build 30 to 35 wind towers to generate 50 megawatts of electricity for Vancouver Island. Holberg is known for its wind. All of us that live on Vancouver Island, especially northern Vancouver Island, know that part of the world is windy. Day in, day out, something is blowing there. I think everybody has always had in the back of their mind that there was some potential there and that if we could just make the numbers work, we would realize an opportunity on our land base. I think now's the time.
I think the energy plan and the fact that over the last decade, the cost of generating those kilowatts with wind power has dropped by as much as 80 percent in some reports, and the cost of installation and maintenance, all of that, has come down, and the price that places are willing to pay, plus the wind energy credits from the federal government…. Those have now made it viable. They have now made companies like Stothert in their joint venture able to access this call, able to move this issue forward and able to provide good, renewable energy for Vancouver Island and jobs and taxes and economy for communities like Holberg.
It's about diversification. It's about being part of a government that can look at everything. Everything is on the table. We can talk about wind and do something about it. We're not just going to talk about wood waste; we're going to do something about it. We're not going to talk about run-of-the-river or micro-hydro and other things. We're going to let something happen there. These are important things. They're all small, but they're important.
Thirty-five wind towers, two…. What are they? From the base to the tip of the blade, standing upright, they're 200-or-so metres. It's a big deal in a town like Holberg. It's a really big deal. You know, I visited a school there last spring, and then they came down to visit me. In fact, this is an interesting note. I haven't seen the numbers yet, but last time they talked to me a while back, they were experiencing the largest enrolment growth in British Columbia in a small school. They had six new kindergarten kids coming in. They had only nine in the whole class in all grades up to grade 8, so that's a pretty significant enrolment increase for Holberg.
These things are important. You know, we have to talk about shellfish aquaculture. We have to talk about finfish aquaculture. We have to talk about renewing the forest industry. We have to talk about new mining opportunities, new ventures. I think the energy sector is one that we ignored for years. It's a place we didn't pay attention to. It's investment that we let sit on the sidelines. It's investment dollars that passed British Columbia by and went to places like Alberta, went to Washington State, went to California, went to a whole bunch of other jurisdictions and never came here because for years we never trusted the private sector.
For years we never believed in the power of the investment dollar, and for years we thought the government could do it all. All we realized is that, frankly, government does it badly — all that it does — some days. So let's enjoy this small renaissance in investment in the energy industry. Let's let these communities enjoy some of their successes. Let's let them generate those jobs and those taxes in their future. Let them build those foundations upon which other things flow. Let them have these sites that can create other opportunities for investment, whether it's in log-sorting, value-added forestry, mining opportunities or other things. Let them have those successes. That's what this government strategy is all about. That's what the energy plan is about, that's where those jobs are, and that's where the future is.
I'd like to thank the member for North Coast for bringing this timely motion forward. I'm excited about the future on northern Vancouver Island. I'm excited about its place in the energy plan and our ability to deliver megawatts to Vancouver Island for the future of its industry and its residents. I think those small communities are pretty darn excited about what's about to take place in their towns.
B. Bennett: I just have a few brief comments to make in support of the motion. Wind, tidal and solar sources of electricity are all good and they're all important, but I wanted to follow up and support the member for North Vancouver–Seymour and his comments. I should mention that one of the first IPPs, independent power projects, in the province was actually in the Grasmere area of the East Kootenay. I've spoken of that in this House. It was a run-of-the-creek project by the McDonald family that was put in about 50 or 60 years ago.
These sources of electricity are important, but I think it's important to mention that they're only one component of our provincial energy policy. Our economy in B.C. requires uninterrupted power sources, and I would be amiss as the member accountable to the people of the East Kootenay if I didn't stand up and mention that we have abundant sources of coal in this province that we can be using to create that uninterrupted power source.
Very quickly, Alberta generates about 80 percent of its electricity with coal. The United States of America generates roughly 60 percent of all of its electricity with coal. The great province of British Columbia, to this point, doesn't generate one kilowatt of electricity with coal. So I stand up here to remind the House of that fact and to mention that there is still tremendous potential for us on the other side of the provincial energy plan from the kinds of energy that are being touted here this morning — and again, I support the motion.
We have so much coal in this province. If you look at all the oil and gas and coal and all the other hydrocarbons we have, well over 90 percent of the total hydrocarbons available to us here in this province consist of coal. I also want to mention that the coal industry is moving to a much cleaner emissions technology. A coalition of coal companies that the B.C. coal compa-
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nies belong to is moving to zero-emissions technology. They are also working on gasification of coal, which is a very exciting technology. But in reality, it takes a lot of money to develop those kinds of technologies, for the research and development that's necessary, and they need to be successful, of course, as corporations in order to reinvest that money. One of the ways they can do that is by establishing some coal-fired power plants in this province, which I hope they get the opportunity to do eventually.
Not to put a damper on the discussion in any way, but I just simply say that if the province is going to move forward with the development of a stronger economy, which we all want — and I think we're seeing some signs that we're doing that — we are going to have to think about having reliable, uninterrupted sources of electricity for our economy to depend on. By all means, I totally support the development of wind power and tidal and solar, and so forth, and would love to have those kinds of developments in my riding, but I also look forward very much to the first coal-fired power plant that we'll have in this province, hopefully, in the next couple of years.
P. Bell: I am very, very pleased to stand in support of Motion 57. The entire notion around independent power projects, especially as they relate to renewable energy sources, is something I feel very strongly we need to continue to capitalize on in B.C. For years and years and years we allowed this incredible resource just to literally go over the waterfall and disappear into the ocean. It just seems like such a waste, when the world is an energy consumer and when our next-door neighbour, the United States, is certainly demanding that resource, for us to allow that to go untapped for, really, a senseless fear. Is it necessary for government, I would ask, to be the developer of these facilities, or should you unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector and allow them to move forward? It just makes so much sense to combine the two — to maintain the integrity of B.C. Hydro, which is exactly what the Minister of Energy and Mines has done, but to allow the entrepreneurial sector, the private sector, to come on board with their own initiatives, their own strategies, and develop these valuable resources that we have available.
One of the ones I was able to go and visit two years ago is located in the Minister of Advanced Education's riding near McBride. It's the Ptarmigan Creek facility. It is a tremendous facility. It takes a small creek and channels about 80 percent of the water into a pipe, brings it down about a 300-foot drop and runs it through some generating facilities. As a result, it's able to generate about four megawatts of power. The interesting thing about that power is that it creates a sufficient amount of electricity to actually light up all of McBride and Valemount combined. So it was quite a unique feature to have, given the circumstances that we have had recently. They needed to have some reliability involved in the power, so they had diesel generators. During the fires we encountered this summer that disrupted the electrical power to both McBride and Valemount, this particular power facility was quite useful in allowing them to continue with their lives.
The thing that really impresses me about these 16 new projects that the Premier recently announced is the fact that they are all in the heartlands. They are all directly contributing to the economy, to the jobs and to the development of the heartlands — $800 million in investment. I would ask: is it appropriate for government to take 800 million of the taxpayers' hard-earned dollars and invest them in these projects? Or does it make sense to bring the private sector into this to allow them to develop these projects and to gain the benefit of the taxation that results from this, the jobs that result from this and the overall access to power that will come as a result of these incremental power facilities? To blend the private sector and the public sector and to move forward with independent power projects is just, I believe, a wonderful thing.
Sixteen new projects all in the heartlands; the $800 million in investment; certainly thousands of jobs, as I understand it, during the actual construction of these projects, and between 800 and 1,000 long-term jobs that will be sustainable…. These are all very, very positive things, and it's all about developing these alternate energy sources.
I visited Prince Rupert earlier this year, and one of the things that struck me about the people in Prince Rupert was their enthusiasm for various energy sources. I think, particularly, one of the things that I find quite interesting is in the Hecate Strait. In an area that is thought to contain large volumes of oil and gas, there is also an area that is absolutely ideally situated for a large wind farm. It's a relatively shallow area. It is, I gather, constantly windy — and certainly the day we were in that particular part of the strait, it was in fact very windy — and apparently would provide a long-term sustainable source of energy for the folks in Prince Rupert. So it's a very exciting initiative. Here you have an example where you have a non-renewable resource in the oil and gas, but then the wind energy, standing side by side, equally benefiting all the folks in the community — some very exciting initiatives in that area.
But it extends far beyond that. In my riding as an example, I have five pulp mills, about six sawmills, two chemical plants and an oil refinery, and all of those various factories and manufacturing facilities consume a tremendous amount of electrical energy. As one of 79 MLAs in this House, I would guess that my riding probably consumes 5 or 10 percent of the total electrical energy because of the focus on industry in my particular part of the world.
We need electrical energy. We need a stable, inexpensive supply of electrical energy in order to have these industries and to grow as a province and to grow our economy. It's all part of the big picture. You need all of these various sources of electrical energy to create the wealth that we have as a province. Certainly, I
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think the previous Premier, W.A.C. Bennett, shared the same vision as our current Premier does.
I am confident in supporting this motion that we will move forward as a province to continue to develop our electrical energy sources and see our industries expand.
J. Bray: I'm indeed pleased to stand and rise in support of the motion from the member for North Coast. Coming from an urban riding and in fact coming from right here in Victoria, the issue of green energy development really is a critical factor among my constituents.
We do not have large power generation plants outside of our windows. We don't have large windmills. In fact, we have no generation in Victoria, and yet Victoria is the largest urban consumer of energy on Vancouver Island. We certainly have large consumers with respect to industry, but in terms of urban areas, Victoria is where our high-tech sector is. It's where government resides, it's where our business sector is, and they utilize energy through their lights, through their laptop computers and through all the…
Interjection.
J. Bray: …cappuccino machines, as my colleague from Prince George notes. We are a large energy consumer, and we don't produce.
At the same time, we have a great sensitivity in this community with respect to the environment. We have a great sensitivity with respect to how we envision industry and the generation of power. We have this sort of double-edged sword in Victoria with respect to being a large consumer but always having a concern over the environment.
This motion speaks to both. It speaks to the need to increase generation, to increase the capacity of our grid to supply our ever-growing needs, but it also recognizes that there is a multitude of ways that this province has — blessed with all the resources it has — to generate that power.
Green power is something that my community strongly endorses. There are a number of reasons why it's a good idea. The first, as I mentioned, is that we have growing domestic needs, so we need to increase capacity. We need to increase generation. We can't get around that. We cannot get around the fact that a little laptop computer or a computer we have on our desk at home uses more electricity than a big refrigerator. And we all have computers; sometimes we have two or three.
We can't get out of the fact that we are increasing development here in the urban area. It requires street lights, traffic lights and more heating for our homes. Our demand is increasing. This motion speaks to how we address some of that increased demand.
The other thing that's important — and some of the other members have alluded to the fact — is that growing our energy sector, whether it's through green methods or other, helps our economy, especially in areas that have been hit by other downturns in the natural resources sector. Green energy poses a new opportunity for small communities, but not just within their own communities with respect to the development of that project, whether it be run by the river, wind, tidal or some other.
The fact is that the world will be looking for alternative energy sources. By supporting the development of green energy here locally in British Columbia, on Vancouver Island we in fact can create an entirely new export industry with respect to technology. We can become the world leaders in efficient and effective alternative energy sources. That doesn't just mean an economic boost during the construction and maintenance of a particular project; it can create an entirely new industry in which British Columbia can be the world leader.
Emerging countries like India and China are going to have huge exponential growth in their energy demands and will be looking for all sorts of ways to meet that demand. British Columbia can be the world leader. We can export that technology. We can export that production capability if we actually get out in front of the energy curve and start to develop these.
Naturally, new technology supports our university grads who are graduating with science and engineering degrees, who are looking for opportunities. Let's create an industry right here that satiates that desire for employment and allows those grads to use the brand-new education they have to stay here and raise their families.
Finally, there's no question that green energy meets the demand, increases the economy and provides opportunity for young people and new industry. It means that we meet and exceed our environmental goals that this government has for this province, so that have we an environment for our generation, for our children and for our grandchildren. We're ahead of the curve on the way we're approaching energy not just for this province but for the world.
Noting the time, I move adjournment of debate.
J. Bray moved adjournment of debate.
Motion approved.
Hon. C. Clark moved adjournment of the House.
Motion approved.
Deputy Speaker: The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. today.
The House adjourned at 12:01 p.m.
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