Hansard -- Tuesday, February 17, 2004 a.m. -- Vol. 20, No. 7 (HTML)

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

Official Report of

DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY


CONTENTS

	Routine Proceedings
		Page

Throne Speech Debate (continued)		8587
	B. Suffredine
	G. Trumper
	Hon. R. Thorpe
	Hon. J. Murray
	V. Roddick
	Hon. R. Harris
	R. Visser

Hon. M. de Jong: Mr. Speaker, I call continued debate on the response to the throne speech.

B. Suffredine: When I left off last night, I was speaking about the 25,000 new university spaces proposed and the Carole James alternative solution to borrow against the future to create those spaces. Like so many socialist ideas, borrowing money so people can have what they want today always sounds good until you analyze the consequences to see what it really means.

My son is at the university stage. It's a bit like telling him I'm going to buy him a new car as a graduation gift. He can have it when he graduates, but until then, I'm going to drive it, and I'm going to do nothing but pay the interest on it. So he goes through his university program, and he graduates in a number of years. What he gets is a depreciated car on graduation with a mortgage on it and a number of miles, and he has to then pay it all off.

Now, borrowing to fund his university is a bit like that. He gets to start his first job with the potential, say, of student loans that he borrowed to pay tuition, but also with the hidden debt that must be paid to retire the $10,000 a year that the government has to pay to fund his studies. That's simply not the way we want to see our young people start after they get their education.

The next item in the throne speech is the travel assistance program for health care. Now, shortly after we were elected, I heard from some of my constituents who interpreted travel assistance as being something that…. They would just get to claim their mileage every time they went to the doctor. But it's not that, and it's great to see this commitment fulfilled. For people who live in remote areas and have to travel out of the area for specialized care — not care they can normally get in their own area — they'll now get assistance with their travel costs, treating them equally with people in major centres who for years have had the convenience of access to that kind of care within their communities.

The next thing in the throne speech that I want to comment on is the Olympic LegaciesNow funding of $30 million. It's one-time funding to encourage new initiatives in sport, music, arts and culture. It'll be getting a close look from my friends in Nelson who have a museum and art gallery project, and in Creston most likely from the aquatic centre society. Candidly, it couldn't be more helpful or come at a more welcome time.

Now, something happened last week. When the throne speech was on, I had the pleasure of a work experience student named Alex Besinque, who is a grade 12 student from New Denver, accompanying me around the Legislature. He was doing his work experience week, and to some degree we were able to make that an interesting week. As part of the exercise, I asked him to read the throne speech and give me his comments.

In conclusion, I'd like to read part of what he wrote — just a few of them. He said:

It's always interesting to hear another perspective, and it's particularly interesting for me to hear the views of youth. Thanks to Alex for his thoughtful comments.

The Speech from the Throne is, after all, a time when we look forward to the future. It's all about a plan that everyone in every community looks to for hope — that the years to come will be better than the years past; for confidence that we, our parents and children will have happy, healthy lives to enjoy new opportunities. This Speech from the Throne gives us all of that. Thank you for the opportunity to respond.

G. Trumper: It's a pleasure this morning to rise to speak to the throne speech, which last week set out the agenda for the future for this province.

I noted in the throne speech the reference to children and education. One of the greatest gifts that we can give our children is a good education, and I want to talk specifically about our aboriginal children. Particularly in my riding, we have a large population of first nations. Many of these children live in isolated areas up the coast which are only accessible by boat or air. Many of these children are unable to access many of the educational tools that we have in the towns and cities. The effort to bring high-speed Internet access to every community in British Columbia will help to enhance their educational skills.

Literacy is a great problem throughout British Columbia not only with children but with adults. I do applaud the efforts to improve literacy in our schools,

both aboriginal and non-aboriginal. Children need books. They need people to read to them. I know that many of us, as we brought up our children, have read to them from a very early age. I know personally, from experience…. It's often been commented that in my own family — I have two sons and two daughters — there are always books in the house. They are always reading, and they have given that gift, as well, to their children.

We are going to ensure that students have the textbooks that they need to bring out their best. Too often we see young children in front of the television, young children playing the media games. They're spending hours in front of the screens, and they're losing that gift of reading. It is something we need to encourage.

Also, I just want to comment on a particular program that is being looked at in Bamfield. Bamfield is a small community on the west coast that has a large aboriginal population. They have one school there. They are, unfortunately, losing students, and it's becoming a much smaller school. Consequently, they are looking at ways to maintain the education in that particular school for the aboriginal and non-aboriginal children. Bamfield is also blessed with the Bamfield Marine Station, which is supported by four universities. Recently I took the then Minister of Education to Bamfield, where we had a tour of facilities at Bamfield Marine Station and the school, where they had their own TV program, News for the Week, which the minister participated in.

They are looking at innovative ways of using the people and the programs that they have in the Bamfield marine institute to enhance the programs in the school system. As you can imagine, there are all sorts of rocks, probably, along the way to be able to put a program like that in place. It is an opportunity to be able to use the skills of the scientists, the marine biologists who are at the Bamfield Marine Station, with the young people in the school in Bamfield. We are working on trying to be innovative in bringing an educational program to an outlying area in the province which maybe could be used as an example in other areas of the province that have some skills that can be used in the community, to enable some of those schools to stay open and not have those young children having to travel long distances.

Bamfield, for those of you who haven't been there…. You either spend a considerable length of time on a 60-mile logging road, which is normally not in great shape, or you go by boat. There are children who live around the area of Bamfield where there is no road access. They live in the small community of Kildonan, for instance, which is mainly float houses. There is also the Uchucklesaht band living there. They go by boat to school.

Also with our first nations, we have managed to open new opportunities for our first nations. I'm really pleased that the Maa-Nulth, which is five bands under the Nuu-chah-nulth tribal council, signed an AIP last year as they move towards treaty. It's encouraging. They are very forward-looking five bands.

Robert Dennis is the elected chief of the Huu-ay-aht band. I can remember him saying to me one day: "Well, you know, we want to look forward. We don't want to keep looking back at what has taken place in the past. We want to move forward. We want education, and we want employment for our people." Under our new forestry revitalization plan they have been able to obtain some timber.

The Hupacasath have signed an agreement with Eagle Rock, which is a company that will be exporting aggregate from a site in the Alberni Canal to the U.S. That aggregate will be used for roads.

Things are moving forward. The aboriginal people are having health centres put in on their particular band sites. The Ahousaht band has a health site up there. Still, if they have emergency health care, they often have an hour-and-a-half ride by boat before they get to Tofino. There are many areas out there on the west coast that have these distances they have to travel before they get further education or before they can get further health services.

I want to talk about our health care system, and there are many challenges in our health care system. In fact, all of Canada is facing the challenge. As we continue to pour more money into health care and continue to increase the number of surgeries that take place, we still face huge demands on the system as our population ages.

How we deliver health care is essential. The status quo is not sustainable, but it has been difficult bringing change to provide sustainable health care. There is a shortage of physicians, but we have increased the number of student placements in universities, and we have increased the number of nursing student places. We also have put in a program for forgiveness of loans if they decide after they have graduated to move to some of the rural areas.

The health system needs changes, and everybody needs to work together. Physicians need to change the way they practise and how they work with other groups. In many parts of Canada we have nurse practitioners who are able to do some of the work that physicians are able to do. In fact, in many of the outlying areas in northern Canada they are the health service in those areas. The system does need changes, but they all need to work together, and they need to be able to build on the strengths of each other.

I am a nurse by background. It has changed so much in the way that nurses have their qualifications today. In fact, my daughter is just taking the last course so that she gets her degree. If you do not have a degree in nursing today, you are not going to get advancement. You are not going to be able to deal with many of the new technologies that take place in health care. It has changed so much, and we need to make sure that those people who have those qualifications are using those qualifications to the best of their ability. It will take time, but I do believe that we are on the right road to slowly changing the health care system, so that in 2010 or 2020 we can look back and say that we did be-

gin to address the big issues of making sure that our health care is sustainable.

I would be remiss, though, if I did not mention that within the health system, with our professionals and our non-professionals, we do have employees who have stepped up to the plate and have helped us. They are helping us to live within our means so that with the dollars we have — which do not grow on trees — we make sure that the finances we do have in place go where they're needed, which is to the patients. All those dollars must go to making sure that we are treating the patients for the care they need.

I want to just talk a little bit about my riding, which is an interesting riding. It seems to have three separate communities. Qualicum, on the east side of the Island, has the highest percentage of people over 75 for communities in Canada. Obviously, as we get older — and we don't get younger — that is going to rise. That is a huge challenge for health services there. We are working to try and put in place a primary care facility. There was an opportunity last year. As we know, there is a lack of physicians and professional staff, so it's difficult to put it in place, but we are continuing to work with it.

The west side of my constituency has many health challenges as well. For instance, the rate of obesity is higher than in other parts of Vancouver Island, and the economies of some of the communities are poor. Many of the citizens, as I have said before, have a boat ride to Tofino for health care, which can take up to an hour and a half. Then, if necessary, they have another one and a half hours to Port Alberni to the hospital, and that depends on the weather conditions. Quite often on the west coast you cannot fly because of fog, so it does make travelling difficult. We need to make sure, which is what we're striving to do, we are able to attract the brightest of people to these hospitals in the rural areas so that we can have the health services we need.

Many of the people who live in some of the rural parts of my riding…. I mean, it is difficult. Because of their economics and their lifestyle, it is difficult for them to travel. It is difficult for them to even visualize having to go to a big centre for their health care. Consequently, it is home to them when they come from Tofino, Ucluelet, Ahousat, Hesquiat. When they come to Port Alberni, there is family there, and they value that, and they do feel they are being looked after in an environment they are familiar with.

I want to talk a little bit about preventative health care. As we talk about health care and where we're going in it, one of the issues we do have to deal with is preventative health care, particularly amongst our young children. So much emphasis is based on hospitals, and we need to do far more for preventative health care. Our children are overweight. Our diets are not always the healthiest. We need to encourage fitness and exercise for everyone. April 4 is Fitness Day. I certainly hope to see many people, young and old, out running and walking. Particularly in this House, I hope that we will see our MLAs also participating.

Type 2 diabetes is now showing up in children as young as eight and nine years old. It is preventable, and to that end the Kiwanis cycling tour will consist of ten to 12 cyclists cycling from Victoria to Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville and Qualicum, Courtney, Comox, Powell River and Campbell River, ending in Port Alberni. This will take place from May 30 to June 4. The money that's going to be raised will go towards research and sending children to the diabetic camp. Re/Max Mid-Island Realty and the Alberni Valley Bulldogs have joined the project as partners.

As an example, at the end of the month we have the B.C. Winter Games, bringing young athletes together — a great example to their generation. I do want to take this moment to thank the Winter Games board, led by Dewayne Parfitt, for all the work they have done over the last two years. This has all been volunteer work, and some of these athletes we will see representing Canada in 2010.

Also, we learned there will now be legacies for new initiatives to bring out the best in music, arts, culture, literacy and volunteerism. Over $30 million in one-time funding would be invested to support these initiatives. This will support our young musicians and artists so that they, as well as young athletes, can reach their potential.

As we move forward into the next year, we have set the path for a balanced budget. I listen with dismay when I hear the alternate budget proposed — no balanced budget until 2010. There's a book out today talking about middle-class bankruptcy, and it is frightening to read, because we live on credit. So many of us in the middle class buy on credit. We continue. We all have Visas.

That book lays out very clearly that if we don't change the way we live in North America, so many people will be bankrupt in a few years. That is frightening, and you know governments tend to do that. That is why we are changing it, and we have put balanced budgets in legislation. It is so easy to buy on credit and let future generations pay — my children, yours and mine, my grandchildren and your grandchildren — and we are not going to do that. We pay $2 billion in interest a year on our debt. If we put $2 billion into health care or education, think what we could do with those dollars.

One of the promises that we made when we came into office was balancing the budget and doing so using the accounting principles widely accepted in major corporations. Well, we are seeing the results of that. Over the past two years B.C. has led the nation in job creation — 8.1 percent versus the national average of 5.6 percent. Real estate sales last year totalled $24 billion, up 22.6 percent from 2002.

B.C. has moved from the second-highest tax jurisdiction to one of the most competitive in Canada. We are seeing investment come back to the province. We

are seeing the mining industry come back to the province. Where I live, within a 40-mile radius, I am told there are huge opportunities for mining exploration. We look forward to seeing some of those people arriving in my region to be able to revisit some of the work that was done in the eighties. In fact, I had young men staying in my house during the eighties who were doing surveying for many of the mining companies, and then in the nineties, of course, they left and went elsewhere.

We are on the road to recovery. We are on the road to once again being number one in Canada. It is encouraging to see the changes that are beginning to take place and to see the confidence that is coming back into this province. I know that we are on the road to recovery. I know that we have managed to steer the ship into the right direction, which is not easy. It has not been easy over the last couple of years, but I know that with the leadership and the government we have, we can look forward to the future for a time of prosperity for British Columbia.

Hon. R. Thorpe: It's certainly a pleasure to rise in the House today and speak in favour of the throne speech. I'm very honoured to be speaking on behalf of the constituents of Okanagan-Westside, a riding which I am pleased to represent.

You know, we have laid the foundation for the future of British Columbia, and now is the time for us all in British Columbia to look forward to a bright and prosperous future — one that offers hope to British Columbians, to all communities of British Columbians.

We are, as the previous speaker said, now headed in the right direction in British Columbia. We are bringing out the best in our economy. You know, there really is a simple scoreboard for results. It's not one that we publish; it's one that comes from StatsCan. It really takes us to the root of what is important for individuals, and that is job creation. British Columbia is leading and has led Canada in job creation for the past two years. In fact, 154,000 new jobs have been created, over 40 percent of all the jobs created in Canada. That is good news for British Columbia. That's good news for Canada. More importantly, it's very good news for those who are now working and have the opportunity to provide for their families.

Our government will continue in this throne speech to aggressively pursue the reduction of red tape, something that British Columbians had been strangled with under the previous administration and one where our government is making progress — 80,000 regulations cut so far, but still some more to go. We will keep focused on that.

We will also make sure that our regulations that are in place are put in and modernized so that our industries such as agriculture can continue to have a chance to compete and survive and win in this globally competitive marketplace. We'll also continue to support our ranchers, who have seen extreme difficulty in the past years.

We are also working very hard, as we build British Columbia for the future and as we look to the future, for our first nations. British Columbians have told us that we need to address this issue, that we need to create certainty. Our government has made significant progress. In fact, it includes three agreements-in-principle, 124 economic measures and over 150 treaty-related measures. Some of those pertain to resource management agreements, which again provide opportunities for our first nations throughout all of British Columbia so that they, too, can prosper and look after their families.

There will be new opportunities for revenue-sharing in the area of energy. This is important for our energy sector, it is important for our communities, and again, it is important for first nations communities and individuals.

We look to the north of our province, an area of British Columbia that offers unbelievable future opportunities. Our government, under the hard work of my colleague the member for Nanaimo-Parksville, was able to conclude a partnership arrangement with B.C. Rail — a B.C. Rail investment partnership — which is going to see significant economic opportunities for the northern part of our great province. CN will contribute $15 million to help open the port of Prince Rupert. In my previous role as the Minister of Competition, Science and Enterprise, it was an area of British Columbia in which I was pleased to work with the members from the area, to offer opportunity to the folks of Prince Rupert and, in fact, corridor 16 and the entire northwest part of the province. In addition, this new partnership offers new, enhanced opportunities for the great city of Prince George, one that both members from Prince George have worked very, very hard on to give future opportunities, future job creation, future growth for Prince George and the north.

We're going to continue to work on developing the northern part of British Columbia. In fact, we are also now going to bring out and continue to work to bring out the very best in British Columbia's forest economy. We have introduced a market-based timber pricing system for the coast. That is going to help us be much more competitive. We are also looking at 20 percent of the annual allowable cut, which will be reallocated to small operators, local communities, first nations and others.

This is looking to the future. This is about creating a vision and an opportunity for the future. Of course, in that area we are led by our Premier, who has a great vision of hope and prosperity for British Columbia.

We will also introduce in the coming months new, aggressive measures to combat the mountain pine beetle.

The government is looking forward to not only reviewing but implementing the Filmon fire review recommendations so that the fires that happened in the Thompson region of British Columbia, happened in the Okanagan, happened in my back yard…. We can learn from those experiences so that British Columbia families do not have to face the challenges that we did this past year.

Of course, bringing out the future in British Columbia, the energy sector offers us great opportunities as we look forward. British Columbia has had a vision about offshore oil development. British Columbia has been pursuing that. We have been saying to the federal government that we must move forward. We must move forward based on scientifically and environmentally sound programs that can make us develop and harvest the wealth off the shores of British Columbia, similar to what they've done in eastern Canada. Just think.

I never have quite understood why the members over there from the opposition have been against the people and the folks of the northwest part of British Columbia. I do not understand why they do not want them to have the same opportunities that other British Columbians have, to have good-paying jobs.

I am encouraged now that the federal government…. The Royal Society of Canada has come out with its report, as it was asked to do by the Department of Natural Resources Canada, and their study now says that the federal government has concluded that there are no scientific barriers for preventing oil and gas exploration off British Columbia's north coast near the Queen Charlotte Islands. This is good news. It's about building the future of British Columbia and bringing out the best in British Columbia.

Now what we need the federal government to do is to act — act on behalf of all Canadians, act on behalf of British Columbians and act on behalf of those in the northwest portion of British Columbia. We will continue in our pursuit of our energy development here in British Columbia to make sure that all new power produced for B.C. Hydro will be generated…. Fifty percent will be generated from clean alternative energy sources. That is about building to the future, looking to the future and bringing out the best in British Columbia.

When I talk about the future of British Columbia and bringing out the best of British Columbians, there is no better place to start than with our students. In the coming days, details will be released that indicate we will be adding in excess of $313 million to education over the next three years. We will be putting in place new graduating requirements starting in September to raise our standards and provide more flexibility and choice for our students.

We will launch, under the leadership of our Premier, a new initiative to address literacy beginning with the creation of the Premier's advisory panel on literacy. This will provide new funding, new opportunities because it is important as we build to the future of British Columbia that we strive to bring the best out in British Columbians — that we not only have literacy under control, but we beat it to the ground. We wrestle it to the ground so that we have the best, most educated, most literate society in the world here in British Columbia.

Bringing out the best in our students means that we have to bring out the best in higher education. I am so pleased that our government has committed further resources to higher education. We will be increasing the budget by over $100 million — over $100 million — in the year 2006-07 and providing 25,000 new spaces in British Columbia for our students by 2010. Whether that be in our universities, colleges or technical schools — our institutes — it's important we provide all our students with their post-secondary opportunities because we know that as we look to the future, to bring out the best in British Columbians, 70 percent of our students are going to need some form of post-secondary education. Our government under the leadership of the Premier will be there to provide that.

Another area about bringing out the best in British Columbia is closing the digital divide. To me, closing the digital divide is about bringing all parts of British Columbia together, about levelling the playing field so that folks in all regions of the province — students, small business, parents, seniors, everyone — have the same access to the world that people who live in major urban communities do. Our government is committed and will aggressively pursue closing that digital divide.

When we look to health care — no greater responsibility for a government in Canada than to provide patients' care where they need it, when they need it — as we all know, the health care system of the past, the health care system that we were left by the previous government, was simply unsustainable and put the patients at risk. Yes, we've had to make changes. We've made those changes all the while by being focused not on the special interests but on the interests of one group, that being the patients. That will continue to be the focus of our government as we move forward with bringing out the best in our health care.

As we look to diversifying and bringing out the best in all British Columbians, we can't help but look to 2010. I'll talk about that a little later — the Spirit of 2010. The flame has been lit. The flame was lit on July 2 of last year, and it's growing. Now what we do as we move towards 2010…. We must start to celebrate sport and music and our culture. Our government is committed to a $30 million one-time fund to support new initiatives to bring out the best in sport in British Columbia, to bring out the best in music in British Columbia, to bring out the best in culture in British Columbia, to bring out the best in literacy in British Columbia and to bring out the best in volunteers.

I live in a community, a region, of British Columbia that is renowned for its volunteers. In fact, every year we host the Canada Iron Man, where we get out and we have 2,000 participants. We have over 5,000 volunteers for that event. That happens in community after community throughout British Columbia, and it's something we should be celebrating.

The other thing — as we move forward and lead in Canada in that we're bringing out the best in the spirit of British Columbia — is our commitment, under the leadership of our Premier, to our Citizens' Assembly. It's 161 British Columbians deliberating on how would

be the best way to elect members to their Legislative Assembly — not our Legislative Assembly, their Legislative Assembly. It is a groundbreaking initiative that has not taken place anywhere else in the Commonwealth in its history. It's being done here, and we are bringing out the best in the spirit of British Columbia so that we have the opportunity for British Columbians to say how they want to be governed, how they think they should be governed, how they think they should have people elected. What more could we ask for in British Columbia than to have that unprecedented opportunity? That comes out of the fact that our Premier had a vision. Our Premier made a commitment. Now we're living with that commitment, and we are going to see that through.

As we look forward to bringing out the best in British Columbia, there are some members — two of them that sit right over there, one for Vancouver-Hastings and the other for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant — and their leader, who for some reason chooses not to want to be in this House, that want to take our province backwards. British Columbians are telling me that they want to move forward. They do not want to move backwards as those members over there want this province to move backwards.

Gone are the days of tax of Glen Clark, but Carole James wants to bring that back. I say no to that. I say no to excessive taxation. I say no to their alternative budget — which they have released, which they have funded — that says that at a minimum, taxes are going to go up 27 percent; that they're going to tax nurses an additional 50 to 60 percent; teachers, 40 to 50 to 60 percent; and doctors, 90 percent increases in taxation. That's about going backwards. Our government and our vision are about going forward. I want to go forward, and British Columbia wants to go forward.

What do they want to do to small business? After we've cut red tape by one-third, after we have put in one of the lowest tax rates for small business, as we have one of the highest thresholds before taxation starts in all of Canada for small business, what do those members over there want to do now? They want to go back, and they want to strangle small business with red tape. They want to put their taxes up 71 percent. That's not a vision of going forward. That's a vision of going backwards, and that is unacceptable.

They also now want to introduce subsidies back into business. Again, government in its infinite wisdom, as those two members over there have said many times…. They think government should pick winners and losers. It's not acceptable. We waste taxpayers' money. We should be creating an environment in which investors can come, invest their money, risk their capital and be successful — not risk taxpayers' money and have it go down the drain. That's not what taxpayers want.

The other thing they're now professing they want to do in their alternative budget is introduce what I call the super-sized Four Corners bank. They now want to start a public bank in British Columbia that is financed by pension funds. They want to take royalties away from the gas and oil industry, they want to take royalties away from the forest industry, and they want to put them into an NDP-run bank. We've had one experience with an NDP bank. We do not need another NDP bank in the province as we're going to move forward.

Let me just say I'm excited about the future of British Columbia. I'm excited as I look forward to the future of British Columbia. I'm excited, as we look forward, to bring out the very best in British Columbia and a new Spirit of 2010. My colleague the Minister of Small Business and Economic Development will be bringing forward an exciting new tourism strategy that will be introduced later this year so that all regions of the province can share in the excitement of the future of British Columbia. Government will host a 2010 business summit, bringing together businesses and investors and community leaders from around the province as we all look to the future to build a great future in British Columbia. We will also be showcasing through Picture B.C. an initiative to showcase British Columbia images and words and artworks to the world.

You know, there is so much we have to be thankful for in British Columbia. There is so much, when we all work together, that we can be. It's a time for all British Columbians to commit to the future of our province. The foundation has been laid through very hard work by people throughout this House, throughout our professional public service. We have laid the foundation to move forward with a bold new agenda as we try very hard to reach the number one position in all of Canada.

There are some that will say we'll never achieve that, but you know, Mr. Speaker, there were those who said we would never win the 2010 Olympic bid. I was there at GM Place on July 2 with my three-month-old grandson, and when my daughter said, "Dad, why does your grandson have to be there with you?" I said: "Risha, this is about the future. This is about looking to our future. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." When the word "Vancouver" rolled out of the mouth of the president of the IOC, British Columbia celebrated.

British Columbia looked to the future and said that we now have an opportunity to look to the future, to bring out the best, no matter what part of British Columbia we're from — whether it is the Peace, the northwest, the Okanagan, the Kootenays, the lower mainland or the Island. No matter where, we have an opportunity to build a great future in British Columbia. This throne speech provides the vision, lays out the road map on how, when we all work together in British Columbia, we will have a great future — one that not only will we prosper from but that our children and, in some of our cases, our grandchildren will have the opportunities to prosper from.

I'm very, very pleased, when the vote comes, to stand proudly and to vote in favour of this throne speech, which is all about building the future of the province and bringing out the best in British Columbia.

Hon. J. Murray: Today I have the privilege of speaking in response to the Speech from the Throne of February 10, 2004. Our government was elected to transform this province to be the absolute best it can be, to excel in every field of endeavour, and the throne speech describes that transformation. It draws a road map of the mileposts on government's journey to bring out the best in British Columbia, and we're making great progress. The throne speech initiatives for the coming years will bring even greater achievements.

Now British Columbians can be excited about our future again. It was hard to be excited about the future as a have-not province. We became so lame that we qualified for handouts from Alberta and Ontario. It was hard to be excited about the future as the province's white elephants consumed our scarce provincial dollars for no lasting benefit. A series of costly bailouts and failures, like the ICBC building at Surrey centre, wrote off hundreds of millions of your tax dollars before we were elected. Everyone in my riding of New Westminster can picture this white elephant across the river in Surrey.

It was hard to be excited about the future after years of net out-migration from British Columbia — your children, your sisters and brothers, your doctors and nurses leaving British Columbia to live and raise their families in other provinces where opportunities were brighter. But we now can be excited about our future again.

As a mother of three children, opportunities for children to succeed are a top priority for me. I remember the first day taking my child to school with his small hand in mine as we climbed the school stairs. I think I was more nervous than he was about letting him go.

We as a government said we would protect education funding. We have done that. In fact, we have increased it substantially each year we've governed. In the coming year we will put $85 million more into the education budget despite a decline of over 6,000 students in British Columbia. For New Westminster this increase is on top of our school board's 7.5 percent budget increase for the current school year. In addition, our government is putting capital dollars into New Westminster to build another middle school and to build a brand-new high school.

The throne speech confirms that over the next three years our government is putting an additional $313 million into the provincial education budget because we want to bring out the best in our young students. After graduation our young people need access to training and further education. Our government is expanding Douglas College and the Justice Institute for New Westminster, and this is just a part of the 6,000 extra spaces that we added to post-secondary institutions in the past two years.

The throne speech outlines Premier Campbell's commitment to an extraordinary goal. That's adding 25,000 new spaces by 2010. That will help further education and training be much more accessible. It will bring out the best in our young people so they can succeed in their lives.

Families need sports, and we said we would support sports. We are. Like many Royal City parents, I spend hours and hours on the side of a muddy soccer and rugby field following my son and daughter's numbered jerseys dart around the field — the clusters of moms and dads stamping our feet to stay warm, cheering the team's goals, groaning when they missed. Our government committed to doubling the physical fitness and amateur sport fund from $22 million to $44 million because we know how important sport is to children's confidence and their development. A new LegaciesNow fund of $30 million will bring further opportunities for our young athletes.

Remember the moment at GM Place when we learned B.C. won the bid for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games? We won. We built confidence in ourselves and in B.C. That's the excitement we will see growing over the next six years. In New Westminster we created one of the first 2010 committees. Our giant gold medal inspired other municipalities, and I want to thank the members of New Westminster's Spirit of 2010 committee, now chaired by Mr. Jack McGee of the Justice Institute. Committee members are working very closely with city hall to generate many new opportunities for New Westminster from the 2010 games.

Strong families need strong women. In New Westminster I have a special focus on the concerns of women and the challenges families face. Last spring a dozen women leaders joined me for lunch to discuss issues that they're concerned about and opportunities for women in our community. They observed that New Westminster women face a higher rate of family violence than women in any other part of the province. I'm proud that during this time of fiscal constraint our government fully protected the annual budgets for programs for women and children who have experienced or witnessed abuse, including programs for transition houses, safe homes and counselling.

New Westminster is also home to many needy families. This year we dedicated the largest budget in B.C.'s history — over $153 million — to subsidized housing for those in financial need. In New Westminster the Cliff block on 6th Street opened a few months ago. This is housing that gives a healthy alternative to people who might otherwise be homeless. The Lookout Society's leaders deserve our appreciation for their hard work on that project.

Families and children can grow strong in a clean and healthy environment. Our government is committed to environmental stewardship. We have made motor oil suppliers completely responsible for recycling used oil filters and containers. We are working with electronics manufacturers so they recycle or reuse electronic waste like TVs and computers as part of their product stewardship. Our government introduced the protection of critical wildlife habitat into the new forest practices regulations. We're making progress on our commitment to protect Burns Bog and other marine

ecosystems, and we're expanding our parks system by converting protected areas to parks.

Our government will also be doing its share to clean up the Fraser River in New Westminster. Thanks to over $3 million in grant money to upgrade the sewer storage facilities on the riverbank down by the quay, we are committed to a clean and healthy environment for our children.

Under Premier Campbell's leadership, our dedication to a sustainable environment has also paid dividends for the economy. Since the last election, our province has experienced a longer period of peace among industry, government and environmental groups than this province has seen in many, many years.

Our families also need a strong and successful community. Under our Premier's leadership, our government recognizes the importance of good transportation to B.C. communities. Partnering with Canada, the province is investing $58 million to upgrade the Queensborough Bridge area and relieve traffic bottlenecks in New Westminster. Cyclists and pedestrians have not been safe crossing that bridge. I worked with the community and the minister and made sure those concerns will be addressed in the project design.

Communities need volunteers. This year's second annual New Westminster Festival of Volunteers attracted even more people than last year. It led to scores of new, active volunteers for many Royal City groups. I do want to acknowledge all of the volunteer organizers who worked with me to create this very special event.

Under our government, no communities will be left out of today's information age. Premier Campbell committed that by the end of 2006, all British Columbia communities and schools will have broadband high-speed Internet access. That means that 173 rural and first nation communities will have the same ability to access Internet-based information, education, telehealth and business opportunities as New Westminster.

Our Premier has a vision of bringing out the best in all government support systems, services and public servants through innovation, information technology and leadership. We're doing that.

Our management services and the B.C. Public Service Agency are the government's nervous system. They enable effective response by ministry staff and public sector organizations to each other and to our public. Excellence in performance and services throughout government and the public sector will help us meet our goal of excellence in government. It will help bring out the very best in British Columbia.

Communities and families need to honour their heroes. My dad was a World War II veteran. Canadian veterans, men and women alike, put their lives on the line so we can live in the number one city and the greatest province in the world. To celebrate these veterans, I'm working with a group of New Westminster residents to organize a D-Day Juno Beach sixtieth anniversary event on June 6 this year. In honouring our veterans, we also educate our young people about Canada's role in World War II.

Families must honour their elders. My mom is about to retire at age 74. She's a youthful and independent 74 about to go on a trip around the world, but in the future she may need a responsive health care system.

Sustaining a high level of health care is one of every government's biggest challenges. The elderly are the fastest-growing part of our population. As the percentage of elderly people grows, the demands for health services increase.

In the past two and a half years our government has increased health care spending by $2 billion a year, or 23 percent. Some people talk about health care cuts; the reality is that major health care spending increases. Health care costs cannot continue to grow three times as fast as provincial revenues. We cannot allow the entire provincial budget to be used for health care. Improving health services and responsiveness while keeping costs under control is indeed a very difficult challenge.

We can only control costs by recognizing how our needs are changing. Because of improved drugs and specialized equipment, fewer acute care hospital beds are needed. That reality led to a decision that was very difficult and very disappointing for people in New Westminster. In November last year government announced the decision to transfer all services out of St. Mary's Hospital. I tried to find a different solution because St. Mary's was a top-quality faith-based hospital and a very important institution in our community.

Over the long term, by consolidating patient services to fewer facilities, the Fraser health authority will save money, and these dollars can then be used to serve the growing demands for patient care in our region. Most of St. Mary's professional caregivers will be rehired, where they can continue to provide their high quality of service in other facilities in our region. Many of the services and procedures formerly at St. Mary's…. In fact, half of the services will continue to be provided in New Westminster at our Royal Columbian Hospital, Queens Park Centre and other facilities. These services will continue to be convenient for our residents, which I know is something that many are concerned about.

My focus over the past few months has been to ensure that all of St. Mary's Hospital patients and clients continue to receive the care they need and that this very difficult transition is as compassionate and seamless as possible. My focus now will be to work with the Fraser health authority and the Sisters of Providence to recreate a future for St. Mary's that meets demands in the health care system.

We've shown that we can improve health care. By reorganizing health delivery, we reduced health care system administrative costs by 7 percent. We also got better results; 38,000 more surgical procedures were completed in 2003 than in 2002. We can and we are

improving health care by redirecting dollars to respond to changing patient needs as well as by the increases that the health care budget has seen.

Families also need sustainable income. As the wife and former business partner of an entrepreneur, I know firsthand the challenges that small business people face every day, and I know how hard business owners work. Years ago my husband and I ran the family business from our home. That way I could care for small children and fit in meetings or work around their needs.

It is the committed entrepreneurs of small businesses who create fully 50 percent of the private sector jobs in British Columbia. Well over a third of these B.C. small business owners and operators are women, the highest percentage in Canada. Now, after three years of decline, in 2002 the number of B.C. small businesses has grown by over 3 percent. We're turning things around in this economy.

I am working for small business. In 2003 there was a plan to move New Westminster's land titles office to the interior, a move that would have cost small and large businesses alike. So with a small group of concerned people, I made sure the office will stay in our community and will stay open.

Our families need a thriving economy. We have good news in New Westminster. It is only February, and already in 2004 New Westminster is looking forward to more than $600 million in new private sector investment for a variety of new developments that will create jobs and grace our previously empty lots. Investors are confident in British Columbia once again. Now we can be excited again. B.C. is Canada's leading job creator. We created 77,000 new jobs in 2003. Our job gain was the strongest of all of the provinces. We've gone from last to first. Now others are excited about us. For the first time in six years more people are moving into B.C. from other provinces than are leaving B.C.

Now our first citizens can be excited again. Governments in the past failed first nations. Our government is making changes that will bring out the best in opportunities for first nations, and 2003 — last year — marked a turning point. We ratified three agreements-in-principle with first nations. We signed over 50 resource development agreements, and we're sharing over $95 million in timber revenues with first nations people. We supported first nations language, youth leadership, highway upgrades, and provided $44 million in extra education funding each year. These are just some of this government's initiatives to enable first nations to become a more integral part of our strengthening economy.

Strong communities require a strong economy across all of British Columbia. Our government is revitalizing forestry. We are rebuilding the north through our billion-dollar B.C. Rail investment partnership. We are accessing our large new oil and gas deposits, and after almost three years of difficult decisions and careful planning, we will have a balanced budget for the coming years and on into the future. We have turned the page. We have put deficit spending behind us. No more piling up debt that our children will have to pay back. No more rising interest costs eating into other spending priorities. In the future we will look back on the '04-05 budget with pride. This is the watershed year where we have turned things around, and it's the year we begin accelerating towards further achievement and further success.

In 2003 British Columbians showed how tough and how resourceful we are. We rose to the challenge of floods, drought, BSE, SARS, pine bark beetle and wildfires. Imagine a firestorm roaring toward you so fast that you hurl yourself into a lake to escape the inferno engulfing your family, property and home. That's what some British Columbians faced. We rose to all of these challenges with compassion for each other. It has made us stronger. It has made us proud to be British Columbians — deeply proud.

Firefighters from New Westminster, instead of enjoying well-deserved days off with family, spent time helping fight the fires in Kelowna. Congratulations and thank you to all who pitched in with each of our challenges.

In New Westminster we're proud of our city and we're proud of our neighbours. I have the honour of representing New Westminster and serving British Columbians across this province. I will continue to work hard for my constituents in New Westminster. I will continue to bring my experience as a mother, daughter, entrepreneur and community member to achieve the objectives you elected us to realize so that we can bring out the best in each of us — the best in New Westminster and the best in British Columbia.

Hon. C. Hansen: It gives me great pleasure to welcome a group of grade 11 students from Little Flower Academy in my riding. I think about half of them are in the gallery today, but there is a total of about 45 altogether that are here. They're joined by several of their teachers. I'm pleased to welcome Mr. Matt Coady back again. He has been here on several occasions before. Also joining them are Ms. Karen Corness, Sister Francesca, Ms. Julie Mills, Ms. Irene Small and also a longtime personal friend of mine, Ms. Maureen Lyons. Will the House please make them all very welcome.

V. Roddick: It is a great honour for me to rise today in response to the throne speech as the MLA for the constituency of Delta South. Being an elected representative is an enormous responsibility, a responsibility none of us take lightly. Everyone knows Delta South.

It's the place everyone goes through to get somewhere else, as a result of it being crisscrossed, expropriated and having offshore development time and time again with very little input that was actually listened to. Delta South will be facing every one of these issues yet again over the next three to five years.

As we are a government committed to communities, our biggest challenge is how to cocoon in a global world. We can only obtain and maintain the services we so desire and deserve by building an economy that can support them. However, we simply must listen to our communities. They are our pulse.

Delta South has a rich and varied history. Tsawwassen first nations lived and fished throughout all the sloughs and marshlands that make up what is now referred to as Delta South. Farmers arrived from all across Canada and Europe. They diked the area and created this number one agricultural area in the 1800s.

These wonderfully viable fields are still producing delicious, top-quality, safe food for our people today. It is the biggest single economic generator in the constituency. Agriculture is our province's major natural resource, because we still have to eat to live. Our government, to help British Columbia farmers cope with the mad cow disease, has committed an additional $16.8 million to try and see them through this crisis.

As agriculture progressed, so did our fishing community. Our Ladner commercial fishing harbour is the second largest in Canada after Steveston wharf. Local fisherman Edgar Birch said this is due solely to the stubbornness of Delta's residents. That stubbornness has never abated. We dig our heels in and will not take no for an answer.

Like our pioneers, it is our mission to continue opening up British Columbia. We need to look no further than Delta South for such opportunity. Our ferry terminal is the first to be looked at along the lines of Vancouver airport redevelopment. This is an opportunity for Delta to have input and investment and to work with the province to make sure we as a community benefit overall.

The Vancouver Port Corporation is looking at more than doubling its Roberts Bank facilities. This can only be done in conjunction with hard work and cooperation by all parties — Canada, the province and our municipality. With proper management, growth and expansion can be achieved without negatively impacting our rural-urban community. It will enable controlled growth along with desperately needed transportation improvements.

With this growth and economic opportunities come many challenges, not the least of which is air quality. Our government is working on an air quality control planning board. The developmental impact on Delta South's air quality is an excellent example of the saying "Prevention is worth an ounce of cure." We need a local monitoring station now, not after the fact.

The federal and provincial governments, along with the Vancouver Port Authority and the GVRD, must make this a priority. It is an intriguing urban-rural challenge that can and must be met successfully head on.

To provide jobs and investment, we are looking towards having our Delta industries look at Delta not just as a place to work but as a complete community. Why, this year alone four Delta industries were nominated for 2003 export awards: Apex-Micro Electronics Manufacturing; FPI Fireplace Products International Ltd.; ASCO Aerospace Canada Ltd.; SEI Industries Ltd., SEI designs — the latter being the producer of the famous Bambi Bucket which contributed so enormously to fighting the wildfires last summer.

SEI Industries won the 2003 export award in the category of manufactured products, and FPI Fireplace Products International won the top award in the consumer products category and exporter of the year. Also, featured in the news twice this year and being chosen by NASA as their energy bar of choice is our own Delta's Perfect Ten. We need and appreciate their participation.

A dialogue on crime is to be held later this year in pursuit of better ways to prevent and combat crime in our schools and on our streets. In November of 2003 the Solicitor General gave an impassioned speech on the enormous impact of organized crime in our province at the Delta Chamber of Commerce. This past year our own Delta police put together a chilling presentation on drugs, alcohol and speed, which I attended along with 500 parents and teens, at South Delta Secondary.

To open up the future, we must have confidence to challenge the status quo and build upon the values of British Columbians. In fact, a women's forum is being held in Delta South to identify issues of importance that impact women of Delta. This forum and a women's caucus meeting in the heartlands will be the forerunners of a new forum, similar to the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, to focus on B.C. families. These will be randomly chosen British Columbians, and they will be asked to share their views on family life and their hopes for the future.

Your government is prepared to look outside the box, to look well into the future — not just hiccup from one election to another with no regard for the people of our province. We have established the Citizens' Assembly to look at the electoral reform system in British Columbia. This is a fascinating opportunity to make history. Delta's representatives on this committee are Marijke Merrick and Jakob Skovgaard, both of Ladner. I applaud them for taking on this responsibility.

Education is a major key to success. New steps will be taken to encourage student involvement in education planning in the schools. The Premier's advisory panel on literacy has been created in an effort to improve literacy rates. Two grants have already been delivered to Delta. Innovation and creativity are necessities in an era of declining enrolment. Our Delta school board is to be congratulated for its ability to balance its budget and still deliver services year after year.

We in Delta can reach out and encourage families to move to our area, a wonderful place to live, work

and be educated. Our schools are number one. The Delta school district held a day-long workshop in September '03 to discuss a vision for the district's future and the challenges and changes facing students and educators.

It's interesting. The young student that sat next to me was in grade 10, and her comments were: "I need school 365 days a year so I can fit in my choices and flexibility to be able to have a job, to be able to do the extracurricular activities that I want." I really admire the fact that these people are having their input. Interaction between advanced education and our high schools, such as takes place between Delta high schools and Kwantlen College, is imperative.

We also honoured Lauren Inrig, who was a Premier's excellence award winner for academic achievement and volunteerism. She has gone on to university.

The discussions in our community around the possibility of student nurse training or practicum work in mental health and aboriginal health show what commitment our educators and our government are prepared to undertake. South Delta Secondary or Ladner High has a pregnant and parenting teens program to help students remain in school and continue to get an education.

Post-secondary education is not just attending a university — in fact, far from it. We are fast approaching a significant shortage of skilled people in our workforce. A new Private Career Training Institutions Act and a new model for industry training in the trades and technical sector have been implemented. By 2010, 25,000 new spaces in B.C. colleges, universities and institutions will be in place with an additional $105 million committed by 2006-07.

No area of government is in more dire need of reform than health care. We must find new ways of controlling rising health costs while also increasing access to service, drugs, technology and highly skilled health professionals. We already pay more per capita than any other country in the OECD, but our technical, human resource and equipment inventory is amongst the lowest per capita. We must work on this issue in conjunction with communities.

Delta South is an excellent example of how a community can pull together and work positively to create ideas and solutions to save our beloved Delta Hospital. It is coming together slowly but surely, and there are still initiatives being worked on at every level in the community. An example was a meeting with the ER docs in the Fraser health authority the week before last. They put forward a solution to the Fraser health authority on how to keep patients moving through the emergency room into the required beds. This solution was accepted in its entirety at the open board meeting of the Fraser health authority.

A second example is the establishment of a citizens' liaison committee to work between the community and the Fraser health authority. We truly do know where our heart is in Delta South. We are a community that will be pleased to hear that our government has improved choice and access to child care services and has introduced legislation to open up a new provincial authority called community living B.C. to oversee the design and delivery of services to people with developmental disabilities.

Our own Doug Woolard is front and centre in this initiative. We have an agreement-in-principle with the Tsawwassen first nation. There is no mileage in the status quo. The place to meet is at the negotiating table, not in court or on the opposite sides of new barriers to understanding. All levels of government, all citizens, including Delta, must work together to break new ground and lead by example.

As our government acts to create a new generation of understanding and collaboration, we are striving to create a new Canada–British Columbia partnership. We want to work together, not in isolation or opposition. We have just signed a memorandum of understanding between the federal and provincial governments, the GVRD and the municipality of Delta concerning the preservation of Burns Bog. We are just that much closer to achieving yet another major new-era commitment.

Our provincial park system is to be expanded by converting protected areas to parks. The government will reinstate funding for forest recreational roads and campsites. As well, our government is working to harmonize environmental assessment policies, streamside protection, and with the Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations is negotiating with Ottawa to improve provincial influence not only over the management of our wild fish stocks but for fair, equitable and sustainable fisheries for all British Columbians.

A new multi-year national agricultural policy to improve food safety, quality and environmental sustainability has been established. We are also hoping to negotiate to have western agricultural representation on the international trade and tariff board. All of this must keep in mind our most precious natural resource — farmers and ranchers and the food they produce.

On the topic of our marvellous province and its Super, Natural food, what better way to invite the world to visit our province than by hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2010? Delta South is awash with eager young athletes in baseball, lacrosse, gymnastics, skating and a major junior hockey team, the Giants, who attend high school in Delta South. In fact, Delta South has organized an Olympic committee which hosted an Olympicfest on February 12, six years to the opening day. We will be celebrating every February 12 from now till 2010 and beyond. It was hugely successful. The Olympics are about much more than tourism and sport. They are about reaching for the best in all of us — individuals, communities, British Columbians and Canadians.

A new $30 million fund called LegaciesNow has been established to support sports, music, arts, culture, literacy and volunteerism. This exposure will help us open up our provincial lands and resources to wealth creation to gain and maintain the basic services we so desire. Goods must flow freely around the world if our

economy is to prosper, and our transportation infrastructure needs to be recognized for what it is — critical to social and economic infrastructure.

We in Delta South know only too well what this means. We are living and breathing a failing — no, failed — transportation system every single day. Our Delta Chamber of Commerce with input from the LBA and TBA is working on a transportation task force, as is the engineering department of the Delta municipality working on plans for the south perimeter road.

A full-scale provincial transportation plan is being designed to not only open up our heartlands and contribute to the revitalization of our forest and mining industries but also to work with everyone concerned to mitigate the trauma of change on people's lives in our heartland communities and Vancouver Island and the lower mainland. To delay further opening up of our province to its own inhabitants will invite devastating consequences and unthinkable permanent job losses.

Much of last session's legislation affected Delta South — for instance, the modernization of the Waste Management Act. Improved contaminated sites regulation — this is a huge issue along River Road and in Burns Bog. Finally now, even the federal government has recognized the economic drain of brownfields sites. We have streamlined and strengthened the Pesticide Control Act as well as enhanced planning for agriculture and the right to farm.

The future we want for our families, communities, province and country will not materialize by clinging to the status quo. However, we need to balance positive change with everyone's desire for certainty, stability and manageable reform. We need to listen, learn and act accordingly. Delta South has certainly been front and centre in this respect. We as a province have listened, we are learning, and we are endeavouring to act accordingly.

It is imperative to modernize and improve crucial public services by putting the interests of patients, students and people in need first. This is exactly what the Select Standing Committee on Health, of which I am Chair, heard loudly and clearly from all the people all around this province and incorporated into Patients First: Renewal and Reform of British Columbia's Health Care System and Patients First 2002: The Path to Reform.

I mentioned earlier that agriculture was our major natural resource, because it supplies food to our people, but really it's the people — all people — who will make this province number one again. Together we can and we will. As the Premier said in his address to the province last February, when we do things as a province working together in the spirit of generosity and kindness, there is nothing we can't accomplish.

Hon. R. Harris: I want to start out by welcoming all the members back to the House. It's nice to see all those smiling faces across from me.

I also would like to take this opportunity to thank the people of Skeena again for allowing me the honour of representing them. It's a job I don't take lightly, and I certainly appreciate this opportunity they've given me. I also want to thank the many people that come up to me every day in Skeena and ask how I'm doing and how my family's doing. It's actually their encouragement and support that allow me to sort of recharge my battery and find the energy I need to continue to do this job. I really appreciate that. It's a really important part of allowing us to do the work we do down here that at the end of the day is going to make life a little bit better for everybody in our riding.

Over the last couple of days it's been interesting to listen to a lot of the members talk about the theme of this throne speech, which I am very pleased to stand here and speak in support of. That's "Bringing out the best." It is a theme that resonates well within this building, but I also think it resonates well outside of the building. Yet when you think about bringing out the best, it is about bringing out the best in ourselves, in our families and in our communities.

Each of us has people in our communities who do that and demonstrate that every day. I was listening to the member for Vancouver-Burrard talking about people in his community. It really resonates how the little individual things that everybody does within a community make such a big difference.

I was thinking, actually, when some of the other members were talking, of my neighbour Bill McRae. He just turned 80. I think it was last weekend that they had his party. He's got more energy than people half his age, I'd say, and maybe even people a third his age — more than me, I think. He's an icon in the forest industry in our community. He's an icon in the hospital. He's an icon in working for that town in everything. Everything you go to, every event you go to, Bill McRae will be there in one form or another, because he understands and appreciates the contribution that we each make as individuals to improve the lives of everyone within our community and that we all have a part to play.

I know last week the city of Terrace gave out their Order of Terrace awards. Actually, it was a couple of weeks ago now, I guess. It was something they brought in with their seventy-fifth anniversary. People like Ida Mohler, Jim Stanton and Gordon McConnell were recipients. These are all really visible faces in our community.

In Kitimat, Myles and Audrey Bode come to mind. I go to the swearing-in ceremony for new Canadians, or I try to get there every year, and for the Canada Day celebrations. Wherever I go, there is Audrey's face as she's setting things up and getting things together — again, just tremendous activists within their community.

Last year we lost a friend of mine named Guy Morgan who, even though he was ill, ran for the position of chief councillor of the Kitwanga band. He did that because, even though he wasn't feeling well, he knew he had a role to play in improving the lives of people in

that community. In Haisla they had the same situation this year where Lee Williams, their administrator, lost her life in an automobile accident last year. That's another individual with whom I really enjoyed the discussions I had. She was forceful, and she was direct, but she never lost focus. By bringing out the best in herself and the best in other people, at the end of the day, that worked for their community.

I want to talk about one other group of people that I think did a great job in bringing out the best. That was a group of people that put in literally thousands and thousands of hours of volunteer work over the last year to bring the Northern B.C. Winter Games to Kitimat last year. The Northern B.C. Winter Games really hold a special place in the heart of northern communities. These games this year were made even more special, I think, by the appearance of people like Nancy Greene and Steve Podborski.

Our Premier came up to open the Northern B.C. Winter Games. That's only the second Premier in the history of this province to be at the Northern B.C. Winter Games to open them. That's pretty special. What's even more special, I'm led to understand, is that's the first time in the history of this province that we've had a Premier who's now gone to open up all the games. He has done that in less than three years. That's the kind of commitment he has — to the province, to children, to youth, to athletics, to competition — to things that bring out the best in people.

I do want to take the time to thank Colleen Nyce and her board along with the thousands of volunteers who welcomed over 2,500 athletes, coaches, officials, family and fans into the community of Kitimat. They did a great job. They put on a show that will be hard to top. They made a difference, and they brought out the best in that community. For that, I say thank you.

I want to talk a bit more about the throne speech, because the throne speech is as much a road map for the future as it is a picture of the past, a past that's worth reminding ourselves about. Over the last two and a half years — well, almost three years now — there has been much said in this House, I know, in a lot of speeches around the decade of decline, as it has been coined. Living most of my life in the north, I think we felt it more than most. The member for Bulkley Valley–Stikine talked about mining the other day and how we have gone from 30 active mines to 12 mines. I guess if you live in the lower mainland or in Victoria and read that, it sounds like a negative, and it is, but it really doesn't mean a whole lot.

But if you live in the town that lost the mine, that's your job. That's the arena, the school, the soccer field where you went to watch your kids. That's conceivably gone too. It's not just losing your job. It could be your whole town that's gone. It is a real personal thing. It's not a statistic to people who live in those communities. It is about life. It's real life, and that's what it actually means to go from 30 mines to 12. Those communities are as important to the people who live in them as they are to someone who lives in Saanich or Point Grey, to be rather candid.

We heard in this chamber over the last couple of years how forestry in B.C. went from being the lowest-cost fibre producer in 1990 to becoming the highest-cost fibre producer in the world on the coast by 1999. Again, I think for folks that live in large urban areas that really don't recognize they are also a forest-dependent community, this sounds bad. It sounds like it's something that doesn't work very well. Well, that's an understatement. But if you live in a forest-dependent community, if you live there, it means that the mill in your town can no longer compete. You have lost that global competitiveness.

Does it mean it closes down permanently? Usually, it doesn't. It means that it's up and it's down. It's working irregularly. You have no life that's predictable. It means harvest contractors and loggers work one month and have one month off. It's the kind of thing that turns an occupation that used to be seasonal into part-time. It's the kind of thing that you just sit there and it is a slow but constant deterioration of your community. People start to migrate out of it, looking for stability in their lives. As we know now, most of those folks moved to Alberta, and in most of those communities it was those under 35 — the valuable people that we need in our community to build a future, the young families.

When you start talking about land use planning, that's actually an important function. It is important that this province has 12 percent of its land committed to parks. It's something I support, but it is important to understand what that means.

In the riding I represent, the Kallum, we now have 22 percent of our land that's put into protected areas or parks. You know, it is a noble gesture, but at the end, what does it mean to people that live there? It means that the place you work today may not be there for you to work tomorrow. It is a new role. That's why things like the working forest land act became so important. The working forest — because we need some security that our jobs are going to be there tomorrow.

The 1996-2000 census, as we've heard about so often, only confirmed what communities already knew. The hope was that the government of the day would wake up to the devastation that was being wrought in those communities, that they would understand the impact of some of their initiatives — things like the Forest Practices Code and what it did to the forest industry and what it was doing to those communities. We needed to know that they recognized the importance of those industries not only in generating revenues for government for things like health care and education and social services that we seem to talk about down here so often, but they also need…. If we're going to have a strong province, we need a strong, healthy, vibrant rural economy. The rural-urban split became real because governments through the nineties did not understand, or were unwilling to understand, the critical role that the resource industries and rural communities play in this province.

It is little wonder that B.C. became a have-not province in Confederation by 1999. That's a full two years before the election. While every region in North America saw their economies grow, B.C. saw their economy shrink. We stood alone in B.C. in a statistic that is something we can't be very proud of.

So why is this throne speech so important? As the Prince George Citizen stated, northern B.C. natural resource industries and first nations figured prominently in the provincial government's throne speech. I think it's a lot more than that, but I'll tell you I'm pretty happy to hear that, because for me that works.

Right after the election, the Premier of this province put together a northern caucus, and he asked me to chair that. He felt that it was really important that if we are going to have good policy decisions in this province, we need to have strong regional representation — voices that reflected the values and the priorities of every region of the province. That is important. As a caucus, our first act was to get together with the other groups in the north — groups like the Northwest Corridor Development Corp.; Northwest Tribal Treaty Nations; the NCMA, North Central Municipalities Association — and start to bring some synergy and strategic planning to what we were trying to achieve as northerners.

We looked at numerous studies and reports that governments and organizations had done over the years, which ended up on somebody's shelf in somebody's office. We knew we still have, and we know we still have, tremendous untapped wealth in resources and people and ideas and energy. What we needed was a commitment and a will to start to put those resources to work for us. Our government and this Premier have given this province that commitment. That's important.

Last year our government announced a heartlands strategy. That's a cross-ministry, cross-government strategy to develop economic plans for infrastructure, human capital and marketing. It squarely focused on the resource sector. This year's throne speech continues to put flesh on the bones and articulates a vision for northern communities across Highway 16 corridor as well as points north.

In mining, the changes we have made over the last two years in regard to the regulatory framework and permitting process are starting to get results. As the member for Bulkley Valley–Stikine also talked about when he was talking about mining in his community, there has been a significant increase off Highway 37. Two years ago we had roughly around 2,500 claims staked. Last year that jumped to over 10,500. That's a pretty impressive growth. Are we close to anywhere we need to be? Absolutely not. But you know, what we're doing here is reversing the trend — a trend that saw mining exploration go from over $200 million a year in 1990 to now just over $7 million in the northwest by 1999. It's going to take us a little bit of time to get back up to those numbers, but the trend is there. That's important, because that's what you have to start to do as you start to rebuild the economies and communities.

With a Minister of State for Mining being established by the Premier and the mining task force now about to develop a mining plan, the Premier has put additional resources and attention to seeing this industry grow. The trend now is the right one. I know I'm not going to be satisfied until this province is the number one mining jurisdiction in the world, and I don't think anyone else in this House thinks any different.

In gas and oil the ministry continues to build on the successes it has had in the Peace to bring those same successes to other regions, like the Bowser and Nechako. The new royalty regime that we've put in place for exploration and undeveloped basins is exactly the right strategy to bring in that investment, to direct it to where it needs to be and to expand that opportunity across the whole province. Combine that with the offshore oil and gas we're talking about on the coast, and this industry has the potential to be an economic driver for this province for years to come.

There is a whole new industry that has developed in the north, and that's the IPP — independent power producers. That is another great opportunity for northern communities. We have already seen 17 green hydro projects announced by B.C. Hydro, 15 of them in rural communities, bringing over $800 million of investment into this province. The Irrican co-gen plant is one; the run-of-the-river Iskut project is another great project. That's kind of an interesting one, because it actually moves power generation further north. It has the potential to do for the far north, the Dease-Iskut area, in many ways the same things that Nechako and Alcan did for the northwest, by bringing power to a region that didn't have it before.

Two of the key components for any new mine are transportation and power. Having available lower-cost power will actually make the economics viable for a number of new mining opportunities. As we continue to improve the transportation grids around the north, we will start to put all the components together that will allow that industry to flourish.

I want to move on here. In forestry the Premier has established a new position, Minister of State for Forestry Operations, and I'm very pleased that he has asked me to take on that role. The forest industry is one that is especially close to my heart and a key part of the economic fabric of the communities I represent. With this new ministry to support the minister, I'm going to be ensuring that the objectives of the package of forestry reforms we brought in will actually start to be felt around the whole province, so people in every individual community can start to see the benefits.

The commitment we've made in the throne speech to quadruple the amount of wood available to small-scale salvage continues to support our commitment to smaller, community-based tenure holders. By supporting and building on first nations participation, community forest licences, the B.C. timber sales program and woodlots, this is going to create the fibre supply that will attract the new investment, create the new

We are already starting to see new investment in the forest industry in this province. I happened to be able to attend the opening of the largest sawmill in the world in Houston, but we're seeing investments from Slocan, from Dunkley, from Brink. There are investments right across this province in forestry. In fact, already we're seeing investments that are about 50 percent higher than what we saw a year ago. That's a sign that they are starting to work, but are they anywhere near where we need them to be yet? No. We need to completely bring the new policies in place, so people in every community can start to benefit from the new opportunities that are going to come out of this.

In every community across the heartlands we've heard of the need to diversify our economies. Governments and politicians have spoken about that concept for years. Our Premier and this government are the first to look at the obstacles to diversification and to start to put in place the tools for each and every community across the north to redefine themselves, to reach their full potential based on the unique qualities that each one possesses.

The benefits of the new CN–BCR partnership are going to change the dynamics of rural communities forever, taking them in directions they never dreamed before. With a commitment from CN of $15 million and an additional $17 million from the province, a container port on the northwest coast of Canada will become a reality. A new gateway to the fastest-growing economies in the world in Asia as well as daily service and a new gateway to the continental U.S. are going to give northern communities a competitive advantage over communities and ports on the west coast. That's pretty significant. The expansion of the runway in Prince George and the opportunity for international flights directly into the region, the new cruise ship dock and new passenger rail service that we're going to see across Highway 16 out of Prince Rupert — these are just some of the transportation infrastructure changes we're seeing in the north that are going to change the dynamics, but they don't just stop there.

We've seen the road system…. I was over at the member for Peace River South…. I was up there last fall. I can tell you that when you drive from Terrace to Peace River South, you can't go for 20 minutes without hitting new pavement, a new bridge or a straightened corner. The highway system in the north is getting better every year. You can't drive up Highway 37 without being impressed by the changes there.

Further to that, we now have a rail operator, in CN, that has the capacity to expand. There have already been meetings in Alaska talking to folks up there about extending the rail line into Alaska. Imagine a rail line either coming out of Fort Nelson or coming up the Dease Lake extension — what that's going to do to open up a region of this province that's completely underserviced today from a transportation perspective. The opportunities around tourism and around mining and forestry…. Those communities can start to look at themselves entirely differently. That's what we've done. That's what this Premier has done.

The $135 million northern development initiative fund finally takes us away from those short-term funding models we've always seen for northern incentives. It puts in place a permanent fund that's going to be there, a fund that's going to be run by northerners — managed by us, spent on the priorities we believe need to be spent on. That's what we've always asked for. This Premier has done that. He has led the charge. He's encouraging communities to become more than they have been in the past.

I want to spend a moment on something I believe is one of the most significant achievements of our government. In Skeena four out of the five first nations in my riding have now signed forestry revenue-sharing agreements. These agreements provide for revenue-sharing as well as access to fibre, so these communities can finally have an opportunity to have a strong economic base.

It takes strong leadership to be able to sit down and come to an agreement. Steve Wilson of the Haisla has often told me that it's a lot easier to fight than it is to find solutions, and I couldn't agree more. It takes even stronger leadership to have the courage to take that first step which these community leaders have done to help improve their communities, to bring out the best. I want to acknowledge the strong leadership of Steve Wilson of the Haisla, Glen Bennett of the Kitselas, Steve Roberts and before him Diane Collins at Kitsumkalum, Glen Williams of the Gitanyow and, as I mentioned, Guy Morgan from Kitwanga.

First nations communities today are major contributors to every economy in a community across the north. Their people shop locally. Their councils purchase and contract out work locally. They are tremendous supporters of rural economies and rural growth. As we work with these communities to help them improve the economic climate within their bands, every community will feel the benefit.

The theme of this throne speech is "Bringing out the best." I could go on about the improvements in post-secondary education that we've seen across the north. We have the LPN program in Terrace. We now have a new two-year pilot program around culinary arts in Terrace. That's a first in B.C. We have a new private power engineering program in a school in Kitimat, a first in British Columbia. We've got the new aircraft maintenance and engineering program in the northeast. We've got new facilities in the Cariboo and in Prince Rupert. We've got the UNBC medical program, something that's going to touch every little town in the north.

Post-secondary education in our college system is a jewel of economic growth across the entire north. It's something that we can build on and can tap into the new industries to start to get the college system and the communities to complement themselves in terms of what they want to become and where they want to go.

We are bringing out the best. Are we even close to being satisfied? I know I'm not, and I don't think any-

one else in this building is either. Are there challenges ahead and tough decisions to allow this province to move out of a have-not status? Yes, there are.

Last year I ended my response to the throne speech with a phrase that I believe is even more relevant today: "…as we move to create a legacy for our children as great as the one we inherited, this throne speech provides the means and the vision. I am pleased to be part of a government that has its eye firmly placed on the next generation, not the next election."

R. Visser: I, too, have the opportunity to get up and spend a couple of minutes — literally a couple of minutes — talking about the throne speech this morning. I have a long list of things to say.

When you're elected, you go out there, you're young, you're new, you're idealistic, and you want to seize the world and make it different. I think that in this throne speech and in the last three years of being here, we've been given that opportunity to succeed in that way. We've been given the opportunity to shape the future of this province, shape the future of this government and, really, shape the day-to-day operations of how government relates with the broader public. Throne speeches bring us back to touch on that every year.

The theme of this year's throne speech is "Bringing out the best in B.C." I think that is exactly what we have to do now and for the next ten years. We have to take a long-term vision to this province. It's a long-term vision of reconstruction, of building future growth, future opportunities — something that gives that opportunity to our kids, so that they can stay here, work here and raise their families here. It's what my family had when they came to this Island in 1863. We've had six generations — and my daughter is seven generations — of looking forward, of seizing this province and of seizing those opportunities.

Mr. Speaker, noting the hour, I wish to adjourn debate and pick up where I started next time.

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