2004 Legislative Session: 5th Session, 37th Parliament
HANSARD
The following electronic version is for informational purposes
only.
The printed version remains the official version.
(Hansard)
MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2004
Morning Sitting
Volume 22, Number 3
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CONTENTS |
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Routine Proceedings |
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| Page | ||
| Private Members' Statements | 9465 | |
| Surrey solutions | ||
| B. Locke | ||
| Hon. S. Brice | ||
| Seniors services and housing needs | ||
| W. Cobb | ||
| Hon. I. Chong | ||
| Family recognition and support | ||
| V. Anderson | ||
| Hon. C. Clark | ||
| Public safety and crime | ||
| R. Lee | ||
| Hon. R. Coleman | ||
| Motions on Notice | 9473 | |
| Support for volunteers (Motion 68) (continued) | ||
| J. Bray | ||
| D. Hayer | ||
| B. Suffredine | ||
| P. Wong | ||
| B. Locke | ||
| V. Roddick | ||
| K. Stewart | ||
| Expansion of oil and gas industry (Motion 1) | ||
| B. Belsey | ||
| W. Cobb | ||
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[ Page 9465 ]
MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2004
The House met at 10:05 a.m.
Prayers.
Private Members' Statements
SURREY SOLUTIONS
B. Locke: Surrey is a rapidly growing city of over 390,000 people, and with that big city comes big-city problems. While we all know that Surrey must keep up with its physical infrastructure, like roads, Surrey must also keep up with its social infrastructure, which is without question a critical component for healthy societies that work and for creating caring and livable communities.
Through the nineties the city of Surrey grew by over 100,000 people, and while the city itself aspired to keep up with the physical infrastructure, the social infrastructure itself was very weak. I might add that this was neglected completely by the previous provincial government.
I rise in this House today to point to a problem that is the scourge of our society not only in Surrey but in every single community in British Columbia and is the number one cause of crime, family breakdown, abuse and poverty. The problem of drugs and addiction impacts children, parents, families, seniors, schools and workplaces. Drugs continue to infect our society to a level where every single person has been affected in some way by what I would describe as no better than a hideous plague. The drug problem in our communities is extraordinarily complex. It intertwines with mental health problems, and certainly there is no easy or right answer. Worst of all there is no fix, and the problem continues to grow, destroying lives and families and victimizing innocent people.
In the U.S. the problem was so extreme that they declared a war on drugs, and that didn't work. Government has declared zero tolerance, and that hasn't worked either. We have talked about three pillars and four-pillar approaches, which to common folks appears nothing more than jargon and rhetoric, further confusing and frustrating the public who want to see results.
In Surrey one of the ways we are dealing with this massive community health problem is simply to admit it — to acknowledge that it impacts everyone in our community, no matter what their socioeconomic background, no matter what their culture or their demographic. Addictions affect everyone in some capacity, and we need to first admit there is a problem. I praise the city of Surrey that has the courage to keep the light shining on this issue, an issue that really wants to be kept hidden and out of sight — like the fungus that it truly is.
There have been a number of different initiatives employed to try to get results. Many partners have chosen to address this issue in a holistic way. I want to extend specific thanks to one person in our community for her consistent attention and commitment to resolving the drug issue. Loretta Solomon is responsible for the South Fraser health region and has worked tirelessly to ensure that drug issues are on Surrey's agenda and stay high on the Fraser health authority's agenda too. To that end, we are finally seeing the introduction of a new detox facility in Surrey, and just last week we opened a hepatitis clinic to add to the services provided by Surrey Memorial Hospital.
Many new commitments introduced by the health authorities reflect our government's commitment to investing in drug initiatives that work. We also have many exceptional service providers in Surrey who are creative, responsible and accountable in the way they are working to assist addiction and mental health problems on our streets and in our homes.
Options is an organization that has done much work in this regard. They should be applauded for their accomplishment of opening a state-of-the-art affordable housing project called Hyland House to assist people in getting back on their feet.
In addition, I would also like to acknowledge Surrey Community Services Society, which works with people suffering from mental health challenges and assists them in their everyday lives. As well, the society operates a crisis line for people who are in desperate need or simply lonely.
South Fraser Community Services Society deals with some of the most difficult clientele — those who we see on the streets, who are addicted to high-risk drugs, are emotionally troubled or suffer from mental illness. These, too, are people within our community — our neighbours, someone's son or daughter. The work that Linda Syssoloff and Annette Welsh are currently doing with these struggling individuals is encouraging. It's courageous, and it takes a lot of patience and dedication to our community as a whole.
I am pleased that just last month our government announced a $1.2 million housing project for the Phoenix Society to assist them in a major project — a multi-purpose drug and alcohol recovery centre. Notably, Mike Wilson has been running a bona fide recovery house for many years. This new project will give him the added support he needs to give people the assistance they require so that, in the future, they can be positive influences for our city.
Another organization, Atira, has developed an ambitious project to assist at-risk mothers through their pregnancy and afterwards with their babies' development. Janice Abbott has done a remarkable job of keeping women in need at the top of her priority list, and I would like to recognize her for her public service.
I am especially proud to tell you of the many projects our school board is initiating in Surrey. The Surrey school district is a leader in so many ways; drug and alcohol education and awareness is no exception. Information starting in grade schools for children as young as eight years old is part of our strategy. The project itself is undertaken by the Surrey Safe Schools manager Theresa Campbell. As well, I have been working with Patricia Landsley, the president of our district
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parent advisory committee, and Shaun Wilson, the chair of our school board, on providing education seminars to parents so that they are educated in identifying and dealing with drugs and addiction issues and can communicate with their children.
Add to all that great work the work of our own Surrey RCMP, who are constantly dealing with drugs and addiction problems on our streets every day. In particular, I am pleased with the work of Car 67, a specialized unit that is specifically manned to address mental health problems. This is an example of good policy, and I congratulate the RCMP and our government. It is important that we provide the RCMP not only with the enforcement tools to deal with the problem but also with the social safety net to assist both victims and addicts.
The Solicitor General has done a great deal of work with properly addressing the enforcement end of the massive grow-op and drug house problem that pollutes the health of our communities. Certainly, the new PRIME program will also be useful to the police in identifying, tracking and charging these criminals. Thank you, minister, for your foresight and your commitment in funding a solution.
In Surrey even our media has taken an active role in keeping the light shining on the addiction issues and helping to provide helpful education to our community. Not always do politicians credit the media, but in Surrey they are truly part of the solution on this issue. Reporters like Kevin Diakiw have taken special interest in making sure the general public in Surrey understands the significance of the problem. Ted Colley, certainly, has identified the issues surrounding homelessness and the vicious cycle that mental health, drugs and poverty present to our communities.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I will leave it to the minister.
Hon. S. Brice: I am pleased to rise to respond to my colleague's comments about mental health and addiction services in Surrey, and I would take this opportunity to commend that member for consistently raising these important community issues in this House. She has accurately outlined the far-reaching impact of mental illness and addictions on British Columbians and their families. Of course, our hope for education, prevention, early intervention and treatment is that fewer people will experience addiction and more people can return to a state of health where they can live fully and enjoy complete lives.
Health authorities are working closely with the municipalities, such as Surrey, to ensure that prevention and treatment services are available in the community. This cooperation is vital. Addiction services are more effective when they are planned in partnership with the people who are affected by the addictions, their families, health care professionals, community agencies and municipalities.
You've heard me say before that 70 percent of the people who enter community addiction services have also used community mental health services. Given that reality, it only makes sense to bring together the management of mental health and addiction services. Health authorities are working to ensure that no one falls through the cracks who needs treatment for both a mental illness and an addiction. This has been the case far too often in the past.
Together, professionals and community leaders have been transforming a disjointed system into one that is recovery-oriented, evidence-based and meets the needs of British Columbians. We know that the mayor of Surrey and the council have significant concerns about the high rate of drug use in that community — as in many communities in this province, I dare say.
I cannot emphasize enough that addiction is an illness and a health issue. We need to meet injection drug users where they are in their illness or their recovery. We need to be ready to provide them with the services they require to change and succeed at managing their own addiction and, where possible, to abstain from drug use.
We know some people will continue to use drugs, even though they understand the harm they are causing to themselves and to their families. Our harm reduction approach ensures that treatment and rehabilitation are available at whatever point the person is at in their efforts to find help, regardless of whether or not they're ready to stop using addictive substances.
This raises the issue of methadone treatment, which is an effective and evidence-based treatment for heroin addiction. Over 8,000 British Columbians are receiving methadone. This means that almost half of the estimated injection drug–using population is currently enrolled in the methadone program. Methadone is a treatment that allows a person to go on with their life — to go to school, to work and to have normal family relations.
In Surrey the College of Pharmacists has been working with pharmacists to provide them with more information and education on the methadone maintenance program. I can report that in 2003 the college was able to increase the number of Surrey pharmacies providing methadone in an effort to spread the service and not make it focused in any particular area.
The government is making and building a mental health and addictions system that is sensitive to the needs of individuals, families and communities. I appreciate the concerns Surrey is encountering as its population grows, and I respect the sincere efforts of the member for Surrey–Green Timbers to address addiction and mental illness, which are complex health issues. When people experiencing addictions or mental illness seek help, we need to make sure that every door they knock on is the right door.
B. Locke: I want to thank the minister very much for her comments and for her dedication to this problem.
Substance abuse is devastating our society not only for the addicted but also for their friends, their families
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and, too often, the victims of criminal activity. We want the lives of all our citizens to be positive, healthy ones — a vision I know the minister wants for her community and for every community in our province.
As I said before, there is no one answer or silver bullet, but working together, we will continue to seek out new and innovative solutions and best practices to help those we can and to reduce the crime and economic impact on our neighbourhoods.
SENIORS SERVICES AND HOUSING NEEDS
W. Cobb: I rise today to talk about seniors care and seniors housing in B.C. but more specifically in Cariboo South. Although we've seen some bumps along the road and a lot of fear tactics used to scare seniors, we have come a long way and are in a better position than we were when we took office. Williams Lake has some specific issues, which I will deal with later. We have increased the beds in the Cache Creek and Ashcroft areas, as well as in 100 Mile House with yet more capacity. We are changing the way the care that seniors need is being provided.
First of all, there are those who wish to stay in their homes or with their family. I know I don't particularly want to be institutionalized in a care facility until it's absolutely necessary.
D. Jarvis: Soon.
W. Cobb: No smart comments from my colleagues.
Most seniors, I am sure, would enjoy staying at home as long as they can, and we are addressing that requirement wherever possible. Much of my riding does not have public transportation, and this can be a problem for those not able to drive anymore. In the largest of my communities the local Safeway store subsidizes food delivery for seniors at a minimal fee. This is a great help to them. There is also Meals on Wheels, which provides hot meals for those wishing to participate, and I would like to thank those many, many volunteers who deliver those meals on a daily basis.
Home Adaptations for Seniors Independence can also help through a $3,500 forgivable loan to people for home improvements that allow the individual to live at home longer. Homeowners and landlords may qualify for assistance as long as the occupant of the dwelling where the adaptation is made meets the following: the applicant is 65 years of age or older and has difficulty with daily living activities, brought on by aging; total household income is at or below a specified level — and that is different from area to area; and dwelling unit is a permanent residence. Some of the adaptations could be handrails, easy-reach work areas, lever handles on doors, walk-in showers and bars, and bathtub grab bars and seats. These adaptations, of course, should be permanent.
We are also moving to what are called multi-stage care facilities. These facilities with multilevels of care are in most cases preferable. For example, if both family members are in an assisted-living apartment and one becomes ill or requires constant or a higher level of care, the spouse is still close by in the same facility, and the family can stay together. Also, friendships that are developed in a multi-stage facility are less likely to be broken up. This benefits the residents, and they don't feel abandoned or isolated with their friends and family still close by.
Just as a personal aside, on an issue when my mother-in-law was in a care facility, as her friends became frail and disabled, they would often be moved to another facility, and it was on the other side of town. This was traumatic not only for the one being moved but for the ones left behind. The ones left behind knew that in many cases they would not see their friends again, and quite often the ones being moved felt that they were being sent away to die. That is not acceptable.
In my hometown we will soon boast two new facilities. They are under construction now and opening this summer. One is an assisted-living unit, and one is a new private home, which will be a multilevel facility. I look forward to the opening and feel confident the residents will enjoy their new homes. The new private facility will provide services as minimal as an apartment and as high as an extended care.
With all this, we have a situation I have been working on since the decision was made that the existing home or site would not accommodate the larger or more multilevel home and is scheduled to be closed down. The previous government, as stated by my community and by the society that built the facility…. They say the previous government stole the building from them. I have been working with the ministers to have that stolen community building returned to the rightful owners. The dilemma, of course, as everything else the NDP did, is that the building now has a $1.8 million debt that goes along with it.
As I said, I am working with the minister as well as interior health to see if there are ways to accomplish this return. I know, throughout the province, this is not the only facility that was taken away or stolen, so this may take a little bit of time.
We have a very active group in my community that is willing to take the facility back, rejuvenate it and keep it operational. Actually, they are the same group that is building the new assisted-living project, so they have the expertise to do it. These two new facilities will do much to improve the care of seniors in my riding. We have come a long way, but as the population ages, we will need to do more.
Hon. I. Chong: I would also like to commend the member for Cariboo South for raising the issue of seniors care and seniors housing in British Columbia. I know he is a very strong advocate and representative for his constituency — one that is more directly affected by the resource sector than other areas and other ridings. I know, too, that his constituents want to see a robust and diverse economy so that jobs are created by
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the private sector for the next generation, and also so that the necessary resources will be available to provide for a sustainable public health care system.
There is no question that our public health care system needs reforming, not just here in British Columbia but indeed all across our nation. Every province, every territory is challenged by the demands that an aging population has on health care, housing and financial security.
I want to speak for a short while on the latter — on seniors housing. British Columbia has one of the most rapidly aging populations in Canada. As of 2002, there were 551,800 British Columbians aged 65 and over. That was representing 13.3 percent of the total B.C. population. By 2031, in just 27 years, when children who are now toddlers become adults, they will see that the estimated seniors will make up 24 percent of the B.C. population. So, it is absolutely vital that governments recognize the needs and the opportunities that an aging population presents.
It is vital that government focuses its planning on our aging population. As the Minister of State for Seniors' Services, I will indeed be reaching out to our senior population and asking them for their input on just how we will be able to meet those needs.
I've said before, Mr. Speaker — and I know everyone in this chamber acknowledges — that seniors are more active now than ever before. Now they want more options around aging in place. As the member for Cariboo South has already acknowledged, some seniors are saying that they want to continue living in their homes. Yet, they want to know that health supports such as access to home care and palliative care are in place.
Many seniors also want to see supports in place that allow them to remain independent. There can be a variety of living arrangements that a government can facilitate. We're lucky in this province to have a Premier who had the vision to act on how to facilitate that.
About one and a half years ago our government introduced Independent Living B.C., a housing-for-health program for seniors and people with disabilities with low to modest incomes. This program — ILBC, as it is sometimes referred to — will create 3,500 independent-living units with support services through B.C. Housing in partnership with regional health authorities, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and the private and non-profit sectors.
Through the Independent Living B.C. program, B.C. Housing's investment is by way of providing rent supplements for seniors with low and moderate incomes. The respective health authorities then provide funding for personal care services offered to these tenants. Rent supplements help people with the cost of renting in these private assisted-living developments in their communities. Health authorities can now plan, as well, for the needs of those seniors.
Through the Independent Living B.C. program, 1,000 of the 3,500 units will be provided through rent supplements in private assisted-living developments. The remaining 2,500 units will be developed with non-profit societies through the construction of new developments or the conversion of existing health facilities. Lower-income seniors are able to rent the units for 70 percent of their aftertax income. That way they can cover their accommodation, their meals and hospitality services, such as housekeeping, laundry, recreational opportunities and a 24-hour response system.
Our government established Independent Living B.C., the program, to meet the needs of today's seniors who, as I say, are living longer, healthier lives. They want this variety of housing and care options that give them this greater independence, this greater choice and this better quality of life. Until recently most seniors had only two options when they could no longer live without support: home care or residential care. Independent Living provides a middle option for people who need some care but who don't want or need to be in a 24-hour care facility. It therefore offers a more tailored approach in addressing individuals' housing and personal care needs.
Studies are now showing that independent living improves seniors' health, can delay or prevent placement in a residential care facility and can reduce hospitalization. So I'm very grateful for having the opportunity to respond to the member for Cariboo South. I know he will continue to work diligently to see that his seniors and his community are well taken care of.
W. Cobb: Thank you to the Minister of State for Women's and Seniors' Services for responding and providing more information on what we have available for seniors. I'm encouraged that we intend to push forward on the commitment for new care facilities, and I look forward to working with the ministers on those projects and to that end.
Seniors are a vital part of my riding, as they likely are in most areas, and they are very active. I'm pleased to work with them to improve their conditions wherever and whenever possible. My mom, of course, is at the age where she will soon be needing a higher level of care, so it will continue to be near and dear to my heart.
I once again thank the Minister of State for Women's and Seniors' Services for her commitment and also thank the community for pulling together to protect and regain something that was wrongfully taken from them a few years ago. I'm right there with you.
This group has continued to persevere and carry on even under the conditions when the facility was taken away from them, and there is a great opportunity for synergies with this new facility if they can get the other facility back. It is an opportunity for us to right the injustice done by the previous government, and I will continue to pursue the return of Cariboo Lodge to the people and the fundraisers who worked so hard to build it and operate it in my community.
FAMILY RECOGNITION AND SUPPORT
V. Anderson: Today I would like to comment on the most important institution in our community —
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namely, the family. The family is the most important institution in society for the well-being of children and adults. This is where we are born, nourished, loved, educated and able to have a full life as a participant in our society.
As a United Church minister, I have had the privilege of consulting with many couples who are in the process of marriage or in the process of becoming a family. Many of these couples not only consult with a minister — re what family is about— but also voluntarily join in marriage preparation or families preparation courses. If all families would do this, our families would probably be richer for it.
One former Premier of the province recommended that the pre-marriage program should be a condition of receiving a marriage licence. The comment then was: "If you need a driving course in order to drive a car, would it not be more important for you to have a pre-marriage course for becoming a family and raising children?"
Recognition of the importance of family is extremely significant for our society. Primarily, we think of family responsibility as that of raising children. Yet traditionally, little support is given directly to families for this purpose. For instance, the prevention of illness and the development of healthy lifestyles is a major family function. The education of children and the ongoing learning of parents is a family function. Participation in recreation is a family function. The well-being of workers in a family is also a family function, and yet we support the families best in an indirect way.
Unfortunately, the interest and concern for recognizing and supporting families comes to the fore only when problems arise. Most of the time we fail to recognize the importance of family in health planning and education, in work and community development.
One of the realities in our individual-oriented society is that we tend to focus on the responsibilities and rights of individuals and therefore overlook the collective influence and power of the family. Again in my profession as a minister, most of my involvement in visitation was with families, where it was absolutely clear that family influence on individuals was a fundamental concern for all family members.
In our business-oriented society there has been a recognition that the government has an important place in providing an environment for businesses. Much more so, I believe, the government has responsibility for providing the environment for families to be able to fulfil their creative and necessary role in society. In my experience, government planning might either help or hinder families in discovering and expressing themselves.
There is a current concern about unnecessary government policies and regulations that affect businesses and non-profit community groups. What about the many regulations in all aspects of government that have a negative or positive effect on families? Every ministry in government is involved, but who is responsible for determining the cumulative effect on the families which might help or hinder family life?
Of course, we are all aware that there are many differences between families and that each family is unique. However, there are some special circumstances which may need to be taken into account in supporting families in their activities. There are families without children, families where one or both parents are working outside the home, single-parent families, blended families, multicultural families, young families, senior families and multilingual families. Each has their own different economic base, and so there are many more.
An act of any government that may be supportive of one family may be hurtful to another family, so we should be sensitive to these implications. Thus, the opportunity or challenge for government is to make itself more aware and more sensitive to how it respects families, the basic institution by which we live in our society. Awareness of the opportunity or challenge is the beginning stage. Then comes the response, which needs to be consistent throughout government functions.
This is an age of partnership. No partnership can be more rewarding and necessary than our partnership with families, yet it is probably the least understood and least developed. My wish is that as a government, we should be more proactive in our family concerns and relationships in our communities.
One of the realities that affect one member of a family can have repercussions for all members of the family. Generally speaking, many problems which an individual may have cannot be solved or corrected without the help of the family. Breakdowns in family life may have lifelong consequences for all members of the family and also for the extended family. Likewise, a positive influence in one member becomes a positive influence for all members and may cause life-changing directions.
By overlooking the significance of the family in our society, we miss out on the many contributions families make not only to themselves but to the surrounding community. It is important that as a government, we maintain a comprehensive overview of changes taking place within our families prompted by government action. Are our families doing better or worse each year? What changes can be made to recognize the importance of families today? Let us remember that every action has an impact on the family — the basic supportive institution of our society.
Hon. C. Clark: It's a pleasure to respond to the very thoughtful comments from the member for Vancouver-Langara today. He is absolutely correct in saying that families are the fundamental, most important building block of our communities and our society. Families, I think, are facing — like all of us — an accelerating world of change and in many respects much more difficult challenges today than they ever have before.
We have a challenge in government to make sure we meet those new obstacles that families face and to
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try and make sure that families are functioning as well as they can, inasmuch as government has a role in doing that. In my ministry we are adopting best practices for child protection and family development that have been demonstrated to be the best around the world.
We are aiming at keeping children safe by building on the strength of families and communities as much as we can, instead of taking children out of their families as a first resort. That includes — as I think the member pointed out quite accurately — responding to families before they're in trouble, before they reach a crisis. It means building supports around a family while we still can, before a child needs to be removed from the home. We need to recognize that in most cases a family is always the best place for a child to be. If we can try and make those families that are having difficulty be functional and safe places for their children, that's where those kids should be.
We have been able to reduce the number of children in care in British Columbia by 15 percent over three years. That means 15 percent fewer kids are coming to government for government to be their parent and are able to stay in their families. It means that for that 15 percent of children, we have been able to find ways to support those families through intensive parenting programs — those kinds of supports — so that those kids can stay at home.
We've doubled the rate at which children have found their ways into loving, permanent adoptive homes. I should salute the 350 B.C. families who have come forward to say they are ready, willing and able to adopt special needs children and bring to them the full benefits of a certain, stable, predictable family life.
We all know that families in our province's first nations face some of the greatest challenges of any group in our society. We know how much the failed policies of the last century have contributed to family breakdown in some communities. We need to change that. We've defined a common goal with aboriginal communities to make sure that children are safe and that as much as possible they're safe within their own family and in their own community. We've invested tens of millions of dollars in early childhood development, and over the next three years there will be 38 projects in aboriginal communities that will benefit from annual funding of $8 million for early aboriginal childhood development. Those early years for children are so critically important. If we can make sure that those years are as rich as possible, those children will have the best possible start in life.
We've worked to increase the supply of safe, affordable housing for families. We've worked to increase the number of child care spaces in the province that are eligible for provincial funding.
We're assisting families with that most demanding of tasks — making sure there is more money available on their paycheque at the end of the month to pay their mortgage and to put food on the table for their family — by lowering taxes. Jobs and income are the most important family supports that our government can provide. If we can make sure we have a thriving economy in British Columbia — one where jobs are increasing and the number of opportunities available for families is always on the rise — we'll make sure that we're contributing to more healthy, stable, predictable families, and that means better outcomes for more kids.
I'd like to thank the member for Vancouver-Langara for raising some of the very important issues on the agenda facing families in British Columbia. We promised families in British Columbia that they would be high on our government's agenda, and we're keeping that promise.
V. Anderson: I thank the minister for her comments and positive attitude about family both in her personal and government life and in her community. One of the realities the minister has highlighted is that there are many groups within the community, non-profit community organizations, that are working on behalf of the family. One of the opportunities we have in government is to provide an environment or a support for the kind of work they do.
Last Saturday I was at a dedication ceremony for a new project of the ministry, only in this particular case it was a family help line for families that are divorcing and for children, where they can go on the Net to the website at www.familieschange.ca. They can find two sets of information — one is for young people between eight and 12, and another is for teenagers — to help them cope with the disruption within their family.
It seems interesting to me that we realize the recognition of helping families when they break down, but we have not yet put the same kind of overall emphasis in helping families so they may not break down and have divorce in the first place. B.C. Council for Families, a number of years ago, prepared a marriage preparation course which has been ongoing in different guises over that period of time. It stresses the opportunities that we need to give to young men and young women — older men and older women, for that matter — as they come together in new relationships. These relationships are key not only to themselves individually but to the community in which they live.
I am encouraged by the directions of the government in many ways. Whether it is in mental health as we were discussing earlier, whether it is overcoming drug addictions or whether it is dealing with family breakups or families growing together, we support families in our community, recognizing that every ministry of government has an effect upon families. As the minister indicated, if they're looking for jobs, it has an effect. If they're trying to build a house, it has an effect. If they become a senior, it has an effect on where they are to live.
One thing about seniors which I think is very important…. I have many seniors who complain that the younger members of their families are trying to direct their lives. One of the realities I point out to them is that when their children were teenagers, their children complained that their parents were trying to direct their lives. It is simply a reversal. So family life is an
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ongoing activity for all of us, and I commend our emphasis upon this.
PUBLIC SAFETY AND CRIME
R. Lee: I rise today to speak on a matter of crime and public safety. This is an ongoing concern to my constituents in Burnaby and to British Columbians overall. The incidences of grow ops, car thefts, burglaries and speeding are constantly endangering the safety and livelihood of people in B.C. In a recent survey Surrey was rated the worst city for car thefts of all the English-speaking cities in the world. The drug crime arrest rate in Surrey has more than doubled, as well, from 247 incidents per 100,000 people in 1998 to 531 in 2002, according to a recently released survey of police arrest reports by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, a division of Statistics Canada.
We have seen an escalating number of shootings, all the while the police have seen a significant increase in the number of guns found in the streets. Grow ops are an ever-present reality. It has been mentioned before that grow ops cost this province around $50 million annually in stolen energy and power alone. Drug trafficking, especially the smuggling of B.C. marijuana to our neighbours south of the border, results in harder drugs like cocaine coming back to B.C.
Let's look at my riding in the city of Burnaby. According to preliminary statistics, homicide, murder, sexual and non-sexual assaults and other violent crimes are down. This is obviously a positive trend that is a result of preventative actions, and I hope the trend will continue in the future.
However, what's alarming is the significant jump in burglary. Preliminary statistics from the Burnaby police services indicate that in 2003, business break-ins are up 32 percent, residential break-ins are up 24 percent and motor vehicle thefts are up by 8 percent.
Aside from hurting victims financially and emotionally, burglary is now resulting in businesses being unable to get insurance due to repetitive break-ins, forcing business owners to erect gates, guards and other self-insurance methods. This is an ever-present reality that hurts the positive perspective of public safety.
I am pleased to see that this government has recognized the problem of crime and public safety. Not only did this government recognize the problem, but we have also started taking measures to solve it. We are committed to enhancing safety on roads and streets across British Columbia through the effective use of enforcement, education and engineering.
The creation of the integrated organized crime unit is a great step towards combatting organized crime and the drug trade in British Columbia. By creating this innovative agency, we have streamlined the number of processes, reducing overlap, eliminating duplication and freeing up to $4 million in additional funds.
I am also looking forward to hearing more about improving safety on such issues as impaired driving, speeding, SkyTrain and other traffic safety. In 2002 over 450 people were killed on B.C. roads, with more than 80,000 injured. With that in mind, street racing is an ever-growing trend that often results in tragic results. Unfortunately, street racers not only endanger their lives, but often they endanger the lives of innocent bystanders as well. The financial costs for vehicle-related accidents are estimated at $2 billion annually, not to mention the pain and suffering of the victims.
Impaired drivers cause about 28 percent of vehicle-related deaths. The city of Burnaby has seen a 6 percent increase in recorded impaired-driving incidents just over the last year. It is important to re-evaluate our impaired driving penalties, finding more effective ways of prevention and penalization. This is especially important amongst our teens. In 2001 close to one-quarter of our province's alcohol-related collisions that resulted in death or injury were committed by persons between 16 and 21 years of age.
SkyTrain safety has been a rising issue in my community as well. It is often perceived to be dangerous to travel on it during certain times. I have organized a public forum in my constituency to discuss the issue of public safety on the SkyTrains and around the stations.
The TransLink security force working in the SkyTrain area is concerned that it is not equipped well enough to suppress criminal activities in order to protect the public. I understand that we don't need another fully independent, equipped police force to patrol the public transportation facilities. However, better coordination between security forces can certainly help reduce crime and increase public safety.
It is important for the B.C. government to address the various issues of public safety. These issues bring a lot of emotional, physical and financial strain on individuals, organizations and the government. We must consult with the stakeholders to create new, innovative and relevant solutions to get rid of crime and increase the safety on our roads, in our homes and in our workforce.
There are a lot of questions that require answers, and I know this government is working very hard to reduce crime and increase public safety.
Hon. R. Coleman: Thank you to the member for bringing this again to the attention of the Legislature with regard to the issues they're facing in his community in all aspects of crime and pressures with regard to some of those things. I'm going to address a few of them in the limited time I have.
I would first like to start out, though, by saying that we have a tendency, when we deal with crime stats, to pick out a community and say it is the crime capital of something or the crime capital of something else. The Vancouver Board of Trade called Vancouver, a while back, the property crime capital of Canada, second only to Miami in North America. Somebody else recently, as the member noted, called Surrey the worst for car thefts in all the English-speaking cities of the world.
I'm loath to enter into either one of those discussions in singling out a community when we have a
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region. We have the region of the lower mainland of British Columbia, in which Surrey is one of the cities and Vancouver is another one of the cities. People have to understand that crime moves across those borders, back and forth, depending on how your enforcement is working in one jurisdiction versus the other.
For example, on auto theft we have a bait car program we put into place in Vancouver with a huge advertising impetus along with the bait car program in cooperation with police and ICBC. We saw auto theft go down by 7 percent in that jurisdiction. At the same time we saw an increase in auto theft in other jurisdictions, because as you push down one bubble, oftentimes it pops up somewhere else.
Rather than sit back and say that this community is worse than that community, we took the initiative two weeks ago basically with the members from the lower mainland, particularly the members from Surrey. They said: "You know, we'd like to see the bait car program expanded to the entire lower mainland." We've expanded it now to 16 communities across the lower mainland so we can deal with this issue globally.
What happens oftentimes is that people get parochial about their communities and think that crime in their community is okay. They think their stats are lower and therefore it's somebody else's problem. It isn't; it is an integrated relationship. A criminal doesn't know any borders with regard to where they're going to do their crime. If we were only to concentrate on Surrey, push down on auto crime singularly in Surrey and leave no other community with the bait car program, chances are their auto theft would go up and Surrey's would go down. Somebody would say: "Why aren't you doing something in this community now?"
I think we have to be prepared, as we look at crime, to look at it in a global way, to create the integration and the innovation and data management so we can actually deal with crime globally and not work on singular communities as we try and do that. It's important for us to do that because as the member says, there are issues within his community, and those same issues transcend to others, whether it be street racing or issues with regard to impaired driving or traffic safety. Rather than take an approach where we have said we will just send some money to individual police departments, what we've done is take the money from ICBC that would normally be spent on those programs, and we're creating an integrated traffic unit in the lower mainland and putting additional police officers on the street to help those communities to address the issues.
The member also brought up the issue of SkyTrain policing and security. I will tell the member today that we are very close to actually finding a long-term solution to that. We will be announcing it when it is appropriate, once all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed, as we move forward to address the concerns that TransLink and law enforcement have with regard to how it can be integrated into a relationship. We think we have those solutions, and we think very shortly we will be in a position to deal with that across the communities in the lower mainland so we can deal with that sort of thing.
I think the member is right about integration and amalgamation, and I'm glad he mentioned the Organized Crime Agency, the new organized crime unit that's going to allow us to have $4 million more to put into organized crime. Our integrated homicide unit is now one of the most successful in the western world with regard to its solve rates, and it proves that integration on that aspect works.
The message goes back from this member to his community and to his local government that this is a good thing. As we move on now, we want to move on to an integrated sex offender team. We want to move on with issues in and around Internet luring of young children. All of these things are integrated relationships that have to take place, and people have to take down the borders between communities in order for us to accomplish that across an entire region or across an entire province.
We're gifted in this province by the fact that the leadership of policing actually sees these long-term solutions and are prepared to work with them. The key for us as people in public life, both ourselves and people in local government and at the federal government, frankly, is to understand that we need to give the seamless integration of policing across regions so we can fight the serious aspects of crime together. It is absolutely critical that we do that without saying we're different, without saying we won't participate, because the future of policing is actually in a cooperative relationship across jurisdictions, across borders by all participants.
R. Lee: I would like to thank the Solicitor General, the minister responsible for public safety, for his thoughtful responses to the points I raised. We live in the beautiful province of British Columbia, the most liveable region in the world. If we want to preserve its good reputation, we must protect the public so that we all live in a safe environment as well.
Part of the increases in drug-related crimes, I believe, is the result of stepped-up enforcement, the deployment of more police forces to enforce the laws. This could be a positive development. I agree with the Solicitor General that the government has taken many steps to address the problem of grow ops, car thefts, burglary and speeding, but still more could be done.
I would like to comment on the efforts of the father of Jimmy Ng, who was killed by a speeding vehicle. Mr. Ng has taken up the challenge to educate young people on driving safety and to advocate for healthier penalties for traffic violations. I also notice that parents are also taking initiatives across Canada to fight back. The I Promise program encourages young drivers to sign an agreement to drive safely. The newly emerging Tell their Mom program asks the public to report impaired drivers whose parents would have their vehicles registered in the database. I believe when drivers, parents, schools, the public and the government work to-
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gether, we can help reduce accidents and save many lives.
I appreciate the opportunity to raise these questions and issues so close to our hearts. I hope that our legislative and judiciary systems are constantly improved to combat crimes and to protect the public, so that we can all live happily in a safe environment.
Mr. Speaker: Hon. members, pursuant to standing orders, unanimous consent of the House is required to proceed with Motion 68 without disturbing the priorities of motions preceding it on the order paper.
Leave granted.
Motions on Notice
SUPPORT FOR VOLUNTEERS
(continued)
J. Bray: I am very pleased to rise and speak in favour of Motion 68 brought forward by our colleague from Vancouver-Langara: "Be it resolved that this House recognizes that support for volunteers encourages both individual and collective responsibility in our society."
I think what the member raises with this motion is really a very critical part of the fabric of our society. I'm going to refer to a term that we often use in conversations that I'm not sure we really understand the meaning of. It is the term "the social contract." Certainly, I use it quite frequently, and I think it bears witness that this resolution really talks to that social contract.
[H. Long in the chair.]
My view, certainly, is that the social contract is an agreement between society and individuals. It is a two-way agreement as to how in fact our society should operate, how our communities should function. We reflect that in a number of different ways. As individuals, we can volunteer our time at our child's school, with Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, with hockey, working at the hospice — any number of ways. Also, as members of service clubs like Rotarians and Kiwanis and others, collectively in groups, we can focus on volunteering our efforts towards helping others in our community and building that collective responsibility.
Certainly, government has a role to play, as the motion speaks, in encouraging and supporting volunteerism. It is the last few words in the member's motion that I think really are important and why, as individuals, as groups and as governments, we should focus on this area of volunteerism. That's where it says: "…encourages both individual and collective responsibility in our society."
One of the issues with the social contract is that if it's an agreement between two groups and those groups change all the time, it is imperative that as people volunteer their time to help others to go out and to deal with issues, the people being assisted also realize there is a responsibility there as well. I'm going to use a Victoria example to illustrate this, if I may. We do have an issue in downtown Victoria of homelessness, and we are dealing as a community with some of the solutions to that. I think most people in our society feel we must do everything we can to ensure that nobody lives on the street. In fact, I think we basically say homelessness is not an option. I certainly agree with that. But as groups and individuals volunteer their time and agencies…. As government looks to fund non-profit organizations to provide services, that's part of our collective responsibility. That's the collective that the member's motion speaks to.
We're going forward with our time and with our energy to try and solve the issue of homelessness. But there is also the individual responsibility that the member's motion speaks to — that is, in fact, what's the social contract responsibility for the individual who is currently homeless? My belief is that we must provide services to individuals, but those individuals have to access those services. If we feel as a collective that homelessness is not all right, then we must also believe that the individuals cannot simply choose not to access the services the collective is providing simply because they don't want it this week, or they don't like the colours of the walls, or they don't like the location of the service. Then, in fact, you have the social contract breaking down.
Now, the traditional debates are always that governments and groups and society are not holding up their end of the collective. But what we're seeing in Victoria is a really concerted effort between social service agency groups, the municipal city council, the Victoria city police, the Vancouver Island health authority and the provincial government all coming together to manage their collective responsibility to create the environment for individuals to go out and volunteer their time to help those most needy. But we must also ensure that the individual responsibility of those who need the service is also recognized, or the social contract doesn't work.
As volunteers go out and work in the community to help people they don't know in situations they didn't create and even for solutions which they're not going to be connected to, they are managing and building on our collective responsibility. But Motion 68 also talks about individual responsibility, and the people that are receiving the service have a responsibility. As a society, it is not unreasonable for us to expect individuals to hold up their end of the social contract.
In Victoria, as we build these services — from the Sobering and Assessment Centre to subsidized housing for those at risk of being homeless because of mental health and addictions issues, to the expanded detox centre, to possibly a safe injection site and other services, to the needle exchange and all these services that the collective is providing for and that people are volunteering to support in the collective — the individuals to whom the services are directed must also enact their individual responsibility to the social contract, access
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those services and certainly make comment on how to improve them and provide feedback as consumers, as the users of those services, on how to make them more effective. But individuals must access those services, or the social contract breaks down.
There is only so much government can do. There is only so much the police can do, only so much doctors can do; city hall, only so much; individual volunteers, only so much. The way to maximize the improvements in our community, to maximize the benefits of volunteerism, is to ensure that the social contract works both ways.
I commend the member for Vancouver-Langara for bringing this important motion forward, because in fact, I do think we need to talk about the social contract in more forceful terms. We need to recognize that it is a two-way agreement and that it only works and only maximizes the benefits when individuals participate and the collective participates.
D. Hayer: I welcome the opportunity to speak in favour of Motion 68, which recognizes the importance of volunteers in our society. When people volunteer, they contribute a value to society that cannot be measured in dollars, and yet they do it without thoughts of being paid, without thoughts of profit or gain. People donate huge amounts of time and often large sums of money to help others, to improve lives and to assist those who sometimes find it difficult to help themselves.
I know from personal experience just how much an individual and society gain from helping others. As a longtime volunteer in my community, I found a deep sense of fulfilment in assisting others. In trying to assist the business community, I was a volunteer director and president of the Surrey Chamber of Commerce as well as the Vancouver Board of Trade small business council and the B.C. Chamber of Commerce. I and my fellow chamber directors and other volunteers did what we could to improve the business and economic climate not only in our community but also in the province as a whole.
Throughout my many years of service — as a member, director and president of the Rotary Club of Surrey; with the Surrey Community Crime Prevention Society; as a chair with the South Fraser child development centre's annual Christmas function for special needs children, which we have been holding for over 20 years; as director with the Surrey and White Rock Home Support Association; and as a member of the board of governors of Kwantlen University College and many other organizations — I found a personal sense of achievement and satisfaction in knowing that I was able to play a part in helping our community be a better place to live, work, play and do business in.
We also see thousands of volunteers throughout our province who selflessly give their time, expertise and experience to help young people — whether it be in sports coaching, fundraising, mentoring or other ways. We often talk of these activities helping society. Well, I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that the actions of these generous people, who give so willingly of their time and experience…. They do contribute an invaluable service to society. They become role models for youth and other individuals, and their actions encourage our young kids to pick up the torch when they're older. They encourage today's young people to, later in life, become coaches, mentors and role models themselves and help in many other ways in society.
In fact, our community and our society are so involved in volunteering that statistics show that nine out of every ten persons in British Columbia can be listed as a volunteer in one form or another. That is a remarkable statistic and one that each and every one of us should be very proud of.
Volunteering creates a living legacy from which virtually everyone in this province benefits. Therefore, I consider it an honour to support this motion presented by my colleague from Vancouver-Langara. I want to congratulate all the volunteers who help our diverse society, and special thanks to those volunteers' families, who allow them to take time away from their family to help others.
B. Suffredine: It's a pleasure to rise and speak in recognition of the value of volunteers. I spent last week, of course, back home in the Kootenays. As I travelled around, I couldn't help noticing everywhere how volunteers impact on the various communities in my riding. I had the pleasure of being invited to drop the puck at the 2010 Atom hockey tournament in Nelson.
Interjection.
B. Suffredine: I practised, yeah. It took several times before I could figure out how the puck would drop, of course.
I saw 68 young, aspiring, potential Olympic athletes all excited about playing. They were pretty good. They were more impressive than I've ever been on skates. I saw the work of dozens of parents to put that tournament together. That's an event that simply wouldn't happen without volunteers.
On Monday, I was in Creston, and I got to announce an infrastructure grant for a library in Creston. That represented literally decades of work by volunteers from the Creston library board, where it's all volunteers, and they've been looking for a home for their library for years and years. That was achieved in part because of the cooperation of another group of volunteers. In Creston they wanted an aquatic centre. They knew they were competing with each other. They got together and agreed that the library would take first priority, but there were literally hundreds of people through the community for those two organizations.
I belong to the Rotary Club in Nelson, as many in this House do. There are Rotary Clubs throughout the riding, in Nelson, Creston, Nakusp and all over. They provide all kinds of services for seniors, for education, for travel around the world, for children to learn.
I attended a Kiwanis Club meeting on Wednesday night, and they're looking at building a new what we
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call Kiwanis villa in Nelson. They've built three of them so far, and they're looking at a fourth one. One of the best options for seniors in my community is to get into a Kiwanis villa. They're high-quality projects that give seniors a real option at independent living. There's, of course, the Canadian Cancer Society throughout every community, and they're promoting breast cancer awareness this month. I've been trying to see what I can do to raise the profile of that.
Of course, there are lots of other sports clubs. We all think first of the sports clubs, the soccer and baseball, and the parent advisory committees in schools. Friends of mine in Nelson are active in the Boy Scouts. I think back to the days when I was in the Boy Scouts and our pack leader, Mr. Rice, would come down and seemed to enjoy that. I could never quite figure out why, but he was a guy who really enjoyed spending time with the kids. There are air cadets and sea cadets, Girl Guides, swim clubs, track clubs, ski clubs, mountaineering clubs and scuba diving clubs.
In many communities in the rural area, there are also people that serve as volunteer firefighters. Many communities depend entirely on unpaid people to protect their lives from fire. Last summer, of course, we got a taste of how valuable those organizations can be to us. I coincidentally dropped in to see a group that was related to that a little later in the week.
There is hospice, of course. A good friend of mine from Creston, Leila Irvine, recently told me of sitting up all night as a hospice volunteer with someone who was dying and just staying with them and comforting them for the day, knowing that they need company in the time when they're seriously ill. The candy stripers, often young girls, volunteer in hospitals. Meals on Wheels are delivered by all kinds of organizations from the Legion to Rotary — you name it.
On Saturday, I dropped in…. It was a coincidence that somebody invited me to go and see a group called Emergency Social Services. There were a bunch of volunteers that were donating their time to go over emergency preparedness in our community. Of course, it was in large part driven by last summer's fires and the kinds of things that happened during that time. They wanted to make sure that if an event like last summer ever comes again, they're more ready than they were last summer. They did a great job last summer, but they want to actually be ready.
They were sitting down and actually planning out what to do in the event of any emergency that might come. They had a number of scenarios, and they spent the whole day talking about what they would do in this event or that event or how they would organize. One of the scenarios was: what happens if you have a power failure in the community in the middle of winter? Do we react quickly enough? Do we actually wait three or four or five hours before we decide: "Oh, this might be serious; people could freeze"? Or do we set the wheels in motion really early? How do we do that so that if the power comes back on, we haven't spent a lot of money, but if the power doesn't come back on within a reasonable time, they know how to deal with it? They could deal with events like fires or earthquakes or any other sort of disaster relief.
In the course of it I have found out, of course, that our own government puts out emergency supplies checklists by the provincial emergency program and little brochures on what to do and where to go when disaster strikes. It was an honour to be invited, actually, to go and see what those volunteers did for the day and how they were willing to give up a good deal of their own personal time for the benefit of us all. They all seemed like those quiet neighbours — you know, just the neighbour down the street who you say hi to and you never think about what they do on a daily basis. They don't usually get up and tell you that they're doing that.
That's actually what volunteers are all about. They're often very quiet people who pick an interest of theirs, and they spend their time at it. It's their efforts that make communities all throughout my riding — and, I think, all throughout the province — the great places to live that they are.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that's the strength of volunteers. I salute them all, and I thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
P. Wong: I'm pleased to be able to speak in the House today about a subject very important to society: volunteerism. Volunteers form the backbone of our neighbourhoods, organizations and society at large. I have had the privilege of working with volunteers for many years.
Last summer after the devastating forest fires, volunteers worked hard to provide relief for the fire victims. Whether it was to raise funds for recovery efforts or to ensure that families had food and clothing while being temporarily dislocated, volunteers helped so many get through that difficult time.
I have talked about the Better Community Partnership Outreach Network — in short, the BCPON — on several occasions in this House, but it is timely for me to mention it again in the context of this debate. The BCPON is run by volunteers for volunteers as a network to facilitate partnerships between donors and organizations in need. The BCPON is a solid working model of how people can and do work together for the common good.
In my riding alone volunteers have made huge improvements in our neighbourhoods. Volunteers patrol the streets at night to keep our children safe. They pick up trash and keep the area clean. Both the Mountain View and the Dickens groups are great examples in my riding, serving as dedicated volunteers in the Fraser Street and Kingsway neighbourhood. Volunteers with the Multicultural Helping House Society ensure that new immigrants to B.C. and Vancouver have a smooth transition to the Canadian way of life.
All this is striking to me as now, more than ever, people are extremely busy. Many families have both parents working outside of the home, yet they still make time to volunteer their expertise in organizations
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that truly could not survive without them. Parents volunteer in organizations geared to their kids as soccer coaches, drivers, referees and more.
Without these volunteers, society would not be able to function as it does. In a country of slightly more than 30 million, it is estimated that we have 6.5 million volunteers. That is 22 percent of our population. Canada has a global reputation for being a friendly, helpful nation, and I believe that the numbers regarding volunteers speak for themselves.
I believe the government has a great responsibility to recognize the importance of volunteers and concur with my hon. colleague from Vancouver-Langara that volunteerism does encourage individual and collective responsibility within society.
The week of April 18 to 24 is National Volunteer Week. It is a time to celebrate the importance of volunteers in society and to recognize their efforts in building and maintaining communities. I urge all of my hon. colleagues to get involved in this celebration in their own ridings and to honour and recognize those that give so much.
B. Locke: I rise in support of the motion by my colleague from Vancouver-Langara. The motion reads: "Be it resolved that this House recognizes that support for volunteers encourages both individual and collective responsibility in our society."
Volunteers in my community and I'm sure every other community in this province give generously of their time, be it through groups like Lions, Rotary and legions, sports and arts groups and the many social service agencies that we have. There are also lots of public safety and health groups or just ordinary individuals giving their time. Add to all of that great work the work that churches, gurdwaras and temples do, and it is clear that volunteers make the difference. They make a city a community, and they create the spirit of that community.
I also want to acknowledge the great work of young volunteers. Students in local high schools, church groups and other youth groups, like Scouts, Guides and cadets, also make significant contributions to their city. In Surrey there is a little preschool called Little Munchkins, and those little children also contribute to our city.
Just last year the member for Surrey–Panorama Ridge and I attended a volunteer appreciation evening at Surrey Community Services Society, and we were presented with an oversized cheque for over $300,000. The cheque wasn't a cashable one, and it wasn't for either one of us. What it did was represent what the volunteers in that little organization had given in that past year. That is a significant amount of dollars that would have never, ever been able to be replaced. The value that community volunteers have in a community can't be understated, but I know that every volunteer would tell you that they get much more than they give.
With that, I would like to thank all the seniors that volunteer, especially in our community, and all the parents that volunteer with their children in their sports teams and on the ball diamonds, in the ice arenas and at the arts centre. They create a healthy community for all of us to live in.
V. Roddick: I rise today in support of Motion 68. As always, my colleague from Vancouver-Langara has used key thought-provoking words in support of and crafting this motion: support, volunteers, encourage, individual, collective, responsibility and society.
When we formed government in 2001, all seven of those words had been negatively impacted by social engineering. We, first and foremost, are individuals. Our personalities — or souls, if you wish — are what single us out. In most instances, however, we enjoy belonging. In other words, we're societal. We live, work and play usually in groups. We support our families, our colleagues and our neighbours. As we grow, we are encouraged to reach out and give of ourselves. It may — depending on age, time or money — be comparatively small in the grand scheme of things, but collectively we are committing and contributing hugely to the common good. In other words, we are accepting responsibility not only for our own well-being but for the well-being of the rest of our fellow men.
Volunteers are an integral part of our social fabric. They are the mainstay of our communities. We support them enthusiastically, completely. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts.
K. Stewart: It's my privilege to rise in support of Motion 68 put forward by the member for Vancouver-Langara on the topic of volunteers.
When I talk of volunteers and look around at what volunteers really mean and at the diversity of volunteers in my community, I just have to look at the organizations where volunteers are involved and at the diversity within that. I think of one of the groups of volunteers I was involved with at one time. It was the Fields for Kids. This was a group of people that came together for the sole purpose of volunteering their time, effort and fundraising activities towards a very specific project of getting funds together to build a playing field complex, which included baseball, football, soccer and other events people do on fields out there which seem to be very varied these days.
Not only was there a group of volunteers that put together the funding and helped to organize through various community agencies for some of the work, but it also provided the opportunity for these sports to take place, which again necessitates a number of different volunteers — coaches, of course. Even with soccer I remember the orange moms — and now there are quite often orange dads — who bring the little oranges for the kids or volunteers. Also, there are the referees. Although I think in a lot of the organizations as they move up, they get a bit of a stipend, really they're volunteers. Even in that one organization the multitude of volunteers necessary for those activities is very large.
Then another completely different group. You take something like Ducks Unlimited. Their goal as a group
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of volunteers, again, is raising money and having activities and events to enhance the conservation of wetlands. That's their purpose: to ensure that there's proper habitat for various species of waterfowl and other animals that use those areas — totally different than a group like the Fields for Kids but, again, volunteers. They do a number of things. They raise money. They provide programs. They show interest in going out and participating in activities both to enhance the areas they help save and to provide programs to the activities which are going on in those areas.
We can take another group in my community, the youth justice advocacy group. Now, there's another group of volunteers that does something totally different from the first two. What they do is work with youth on a volunteer basis and mentor youth that have come in contact with the law.
The difference between a volunteer in this organization as compared to some of the paid staff and personnel provided in the instance of juvenile crime is that a lot of times the volunteer will be able to mentor a youth, and the youth has a different view of that volunteer specifically because they are not being paid. It's not their job. They realize the commitment of those volunteers to work with them and try to help them see another way. That really does enhance that program, which wouldn't happen if the youth viewed it as another paid intervener in their life. This is someone that has really gone out and shown they care by volunteering.
The Christmas Hamper Society — the name says it pretty clearly. It's a society that goes out and puts together Christmas hampers for families in need — those that aren't as fortunate as others. Again, that's another diverse group. Then, of course, we have the Big Brothers and Big Sisters — one-on-one mentoring with youth that unfortunately only have one parent. It helps fill that gap between the missing parent in their home. It's a great organization — again, all volunteer.
It was mentioned earlier that we have our police and fire volunteers, the public safety group. In that, of course, you have to include St. John Ambulance, another volunteer group. You see them out at all the events and activities in the community with their white and black uniforms and with the knowledge that they are there with some first-aid training that can assist you if you happen to come into some type of difficulty. Whether it's a heart attack, choking or just a bruise or a cut, they're there to assist.
Again, volunteer organizations do so much in our community. Meals on Wheels was highlighted earlier. In any community, wherever you have an area of interest and there are activities taking place, there are volunteers. I just wanted to highlight a few of the diverse groups active in my community and say thank you to them all and how much we appreciate your efforts and how much you contribute to our communities, making them a better place.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I would move to adjourn Motion 68.
K. Stewart moved adjournment of debate.
Motion approved.
Hon. G. Bruce: I call private member's Motion 1.
Deputy Speaker: Hon. members, pursuant to standing orders, unanimous consent of the House is required to proceed with Motion 1 without disturbing the priorities of motions preceding it on the order paper.
Leave granted.
EXPANSION OF OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
B. Belsey: It is indeed a pleasure today to rise in the House to speak to Motion 1, which reads:
[Be it resolved that this House recognizes the tremendous potential of the oil and natural gas sector in British Columbia and supports exploring all opportunities to expand this sector.]
The oil and gas sector throughout British Columbia contributes in many different ways to the economic strengths of this great province. It is imperative that this be recognized and expanded as quickly as possible and as efficiently as possible. We only have to look at the northeast corner of the province to understand just how important the oil and gas industry really is. This portion of our province has led almost every other part of British Columbia in job creation, in growth and in economic development for about as long as I can remember.
I once considered moving into that corner of the province. That was over 15 years ago, and then it was because of the record growth that that portion of this province has been sustained through the development of oil and gas. Why? It's because of the strong and vital demand for oil and natural gas not only by British Columbians but by our neighbours to the east and our neighbours to the south and, of course, offshore demand.
To encourage greater exploration of deeper reserves, our government has put in place deep royalty incentives that will encourage the development and exploration of some of the challenging types of plays we are now seeing in the northeast. We all have heard and are familiar with what is known as the Ladyfern deep well. This is a fine example of how a province has worked with industry to develop these deep wells through incentives.
In addition, there are the marginal royalties which will spur development in the shallower gas zones that have not provided the royalties in the past. The development of these zones helps to fill in and to extend the more mature gas plays in that general area of our province.
The increased drilling in this area, along with the increased drilling activity in other regions of British Columbia, will result in increased production which will offset the declining production we have experi-
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enced in the past in British Columbia. In 1999 the Canadian Energy Research Institute indicated that the upstream oil and gas activity resulted in approximately 4,000 direct jobs and about 8,000 indirect jobs in British Columbia.
This corner of our province has been extremely important to the development of oil and gas resource industry. However, there are other parts of this province on the centre of the radar screen. They are in the fields of coalbed methane and, of course, the potential for offshore exploration and development of oil and gas reserves. Significant to these industries is the high potential for the development of coalbed methane. From the East Kootenays in the southeast of our province to the Klappan-Tuya River coalfields in the northwest portion of our province, potential for coalbed methane has been identified. In addition, the coalbeds are present in Vancouver Island and in the Queen Charlotte Islands, Haida Gwaii.
There are estimates in excess of 90 trillion cubic feet of coalbed methane gas that lies underground around this province. It's important to note these are estimates. There's an estimate of one trillion cubic feet on Vancouver Island alone. It is important to note not all this gas is recoverable, but if we could only recover about 20 percent of the gas on Vancouver Island, that would be enough gas for every consumer currently consuming gas on Vancouver Island for the next 25 years.
There are economies of scale when we consider the development of coalbed methane reserves. The development of coalbed methane and the transmission of these gases to market would certainly bring efficiencies and possibly lower gas transmission costs that may, in the end, result in lower development costs of this relatively new resource in the province.
The average annual salary of the U.S. coalbed methane industry is approximately $40,000 per year, or about $60,000 (Canadian). Coalbed methane development in Wyoming's Powder River basin, one of the largest in North America, will generate an estimated 7,000 new jobs for the local economy. In addition, more than $1.4 billion (U.S.) has been invested in the industry infrastructure and drilling over the last five years.
Another area under consideration for oil and gas development in this province is our offshore potential off the west coast of British Columbia. Exploration and development of oil and gas — if it is decided it can be developed safely, using some of the best science and technology available today — has a tremendous potential to benefit British Columbia.
There have been over nine billion barrels of oil and approximately 25 trillion cubic feet of gas estimated in reserve off our coasts under our waters. Again, there is no clear knowledge or understanding of the percentage of recoverable oil and gas; nor does anybody have a clear understanding or knowledge of the quality of this oil and gas. But nevertheless, the potential is there, and it is something the province is considering.
There has been much said about offshore oil and gas development in British Columbia, and, of course, there will be much more in the future. Many are opinions — some well founded, some speculation and some based on little, if any, facts. But these opinions are very important to the province. They must all be heard, and they must all be addressed.
The oil and gas industry has been carrying this province in the past few years. Revenues generated virtually covered the costs incurred for firefighting for the fires that ravaged this province last summer. There was approximately half a billion dollars spent in firefighting and approximately half a billion dollars generated in oil and gas revenues in this province. This is an important fact. I would just like to explain how important it really is.
I travelled part of my riding last week, listened to people and read the local newspapers. I have heard and read many times that there will be no benefits to small communities if oil and gas is developed. You know, Mr. Speaker, this fact may be true certainly in its initial stages — and certainly in the initial stages of any offshore oil and gas and even the development of coalbed methane — because the province of British Columbia has not developed either of these industries, and we do not have a reasonable segment of the British Columbian population that is trained and experienced in these industries.
I think it is very important that as we move forward with the development of these industries, we have to have in place rules and regulations that pertain to those that will work in these jobs and pertain to the qualification and, more importantly, the experience they have in developing these industries. That, of course, precludes some of the smaller communities and some of the larger communities in British Columbia. However, in time, jobs will be created. Opportunities will be there.
As I listen and talk to these people, and as I read the papers, I also see that demand for a greater improvement to our health care system. I also see the demand and the desire to have more money put into education. I see the concerns with the rising costs in tuition and the number of people who want that subsidized. I know they want roads improved. They want ferry service improved. Well, the development of other forms of energy — coalbed methane, offshore oil and gas development — will put revenues into British Columbia. Maybe not jobs upfront, maybe not jobs right away, but it will put revenue there, and that revenue will help. It will help this province to fund the health care system that we all want. It will help the province fund the education system that we're all looking for, and it will help this province fund the social services that we all want to see.
So there are short-term and there are long-term benefits to oil and gas development. The short term may not be jobs right away. The short term will be revenue generated and the assistance of programs we all want to see expanded and funded in greater proportions.
We have to give consideration to the development of other sources of oil and gas, because it is well identified
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— it is common knowledge — that the known reserves of oil and gas around the world are on the decline. If they have not peaked yet, they soon will. Yet the vast majority of British Columbians continue their dependency. I'm sure many this morning got up and depended on gas-fired hot water heaters, gas-fired stoves and heating units in houses. Cars, planes, boats, buses — they are all dependent on the reserves of oil and gas we develop today.
Plastics. Look around you. We're surrounded with plastic, the basis of which is generated in the oil and gas industry. Oil and gas products are everywhere. Oils help this world move smoothly and quietly. We cannot avoid oil and gas in our world. We cannot avoid our day-to-day existence and its dependency on these two products, these two resources, so this industry will continue to grow, and it will continue to contribute to our day-to-day lives.
In return, I offer this motion: "…that this House recognizes the tremendous potential of the oil and natural gas sector in British Columbia and supports exploring all opportunities to expand this sector."
W. Cobb: I thank the member for North Coast for bringing this motion forward.
One of the areas that needs more exploration, of course, is the Nechako basin. It extends into the northern portions of my riding down as far as 100 Mile. Although it may not be as extensive as it is in the northeast, it's pretty important for our area. There has been limited exploration to date in the Nechako basin, but the indications are that a large amount of gas and oil resources may occur relatively close to existing facilities in the market.
The Nechako basin that we're talking about covers approximately 69,000 square kilometres, underlying heavily forested regions of rolling and mountainous topography. Most of the area is very lightly settled, with many small towns along the major rivers. Major settlements include Smithers in the northwest, Prince George in the northeast and Williams Lake, of course, in the southeast. The major gas sales pipeline from northern British Columbia to the lower mainland and the U.S. markets runs along the eastern flank of this basin.
The Nechako basin studies that are on the websites have indicated that we have more than 9.5 trillion cubic metres of natural gas — quite a bit. The Nechako basin has oil potential of about 5.1 billion barrels. That is money for our workers to earn, oil for us to use and gas to heat our homes, so let's continue to encourage this exploration.
The member for North Coast also indicated the huge impact that the industry has on the economy and our ability to pay for some of the social programs we all support. So often we forget what industry does and how it does actually provide for those social programs, and we must protect them by allowing the industry to expand. It can only expand through exploration.
Noting the time, I move adjournment of debate.
W. Cobb moved adjournment of debate.
Motion approved.
Hon. G. Bruce moved adjournment of the House.
Motion approved.
Deputy Speaker: The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. today.
The House adjourned at 11:54 a.m.
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