Hansard -- Thursday, February 10, 2005 a.m. -- Vol. 27, No. 3 (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

Petitions		11769
	W. Cobb
	V. Roddick

Throne Speech Debate (continued)		11769
	Hon. P. Bell
	B. Belsey
	V. Anderson
	W. Cobb

W. Cobb: On behalf of my constituents of Cariboo South, I present a petition regarding road safety and maintenance.

V. Roddick: I'm presenting a petition delivered to me by my constituents concerning the routing of truck traffic through Delta, which reads: "We, the undersigned residents of Delta, ask that the government of British Columbia adopt the designated Hoover-Naas trucking route, the plan being the least costly as well as the least environmentally disturbing of any of the other plans proposed."

Hon. P. Bell: This is a real honour to be able to deliver my reply to the Speech from the Throne. In fact, this is my fourth opportunity to do such. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that it has been an incredibly fast almost four years since we were elected — slightly less than four years ago now. I think it's worthwhile to take a look at what has occurred over that period of time, because truly, it has been a period of historic change.

I have to admit I found it a little tough listening to the member for Vancouver-Hastings yesterday as she rattled on about things that she called broken promises. When I open up the New Era document and actually look at what was accomplished during that four-year period of time, clearly, we are record-breaking and historic in the accomplishments of this particular government and the fulfilling of our mandate. Ninety-seven percent of the commitments made in the New Era document have been either completed or engaged in — and truly historic ones.

We're talking about initiatives that have revolutionized our election processes — fixed election dates. I had the opportunity to listen to our Premier last night on a local television program. He noted, with the individual who was interviewing him, that had this been under the normal processes, they wouldn't have even been talking about the election that was coming up on May 17, 2005. What they would be talking about is: is there going to be an election this year, or is it going to be next year? What will the election date be? In fact, the columnist who was doing the interview was somewhat concerned, because the columnist said: "You know, you've ruined my ability to editorialize. I could get half a dozen good columns about projecting what the election date might be." It was truly revolutionary to establish that fixed election date.

Executing on the commitment to have a referendum on the direction that the provincial government should take in terms of establishing treaties in British Columbia — everyone said we wouldn't do that. Well, in fact, we accomplished that. We did it.

We said that we would have the lowest tax rate for the bottom two levels of personal income tax in all of Canada. We've done that. We executed on it. We've delivered it. We've maintained it. In fact, we did it the first day that we were in office.

We said that we would protect education funding, that we would protect funding for health care. We did exactly that. Now that the economy is starting to improve, we're starting to see significant opportunities around funding for health care, around funding for education. Certainly we've delivered on that.

In terms of delivering on the citizens' assembly, all of the pundits said that we would never follow through and execute on that. I recall seeing letters to the editor in the Prince George Citizen, people saying that we would never fulfil that commitment and that it was far too great a commitment for any government to make. Yet I'm proud to be able to say that on May 17, 2005, every British Columbian is going to go to the polls with the opportunity to decide the future model for electing MLAs in the province. It was the right thing to do, and we delivered on it.

You know, the progress that we have made, specifically in Prince George and collectively around the province over the last coming up to four years, has been nothing short of spectacular. Really, for me it's about creating economic opportunities for the constituents of Prince George North and the constituents all the way around the province. We made some very specific commitments in terms of revitalizing the economy. I think it's kind of worth looking back at what has actually occurred, because it's easy to forget.

I was sitting down this morning, in fact, thinking about my speech today and trying to decide what I would focus on. I went back to something that I have done pretty consistently since I was elected, and that's something I call: "Ten things you didn't read in the newspaper this week." I've produced something in the order of 135 different editions of that. I went over just the last year's worth, for 2004, and I pulled out some key bullets talking about the economy, talking about the growth in education and in health care, and talking about some of the things that we've delivered in trans-

You look at the shifts and the changes and what's occurred in Prince George. In 1998 Prince George had an unemployment rate of 16.6 percent. We were almost 13 percent through all of the 1990s — just under 13 percent. Today the unemployment rate in Prince George is just 6½ percent.

You know, we're around to the point that it's interesting, when you open up the newspaper…. I recall back in the late 1990s, looking at the career section in the Prince George Citizen. There were many times when they didn't even bother putting a career section in, because there weren't any jobs. If there was one full page of careers in the Prince George Citizen on a Saturday, that was an exceptional week. Oftentimes those jobs were being advertised from other jurisdictions — people looking to draw people out of the community and into other communities.

Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that last weekend there were four pages of career ads in the Prince George Citizen. There is a list of requirements in the day-to-day want ads for jobs looking for people — not people looking for jobs, but jobs looking for people — that extends several columns, many days — wide varieties of opportunities. Certainly the change in the unemployment, the change in the employment prospect is significant.

Even last month there was a little bit of a bump in the unemployment in Prince George. It went from 5.9 percent to 6.3 percent, or something like that. You're a bit concerned, but it's interesting. When you actually delve into the statistics and read a little bit closer, we actually created 200 additional jobs in Prince George. But you know what, Mr. Speaker? There were 500 people who moved back to Prince George looking for work just last month, because there are jobs there to be had. People are coming back. They're getting employed. They're starting to earn reasonable incomes again, and Prince George is back on a roll.

I want to look at what some of these opportunities are and what's actually occurred over just the past year in Prince George, but certainly you can go back further than that if you want. One of the things we have done as a government that I'm very, very proud of is engaged and established a new small-scale salvage program for forestry. This is something that's certainly a passion of mine. I was involved in small-scale salvage logging for a number of years, and it always struck me that there were huge opportunities in our forests. There was volume being left in our forests not being utilized, simply because there were higher grades of logs that could be achieved — tremendous waste being left in our forests through the 1990s and, I suppose, prior to that.

One of the commitments I made personally coming into government was that I wanted to see that corrected. I wanted to see an improved situation around small-scale salvage. Along with many of my colleagues in the House, we established a committee under the auspices of the Minister of Forests. He allowed us to go out. We held a series of community consultations around the province. We put together a report. We brought the report to the minister about a year and a half ago. He accepted it and has implemented the recommendations of the report. I'll tell you, Mr. Speaker, I am so excited about what's occurring in the Prince George area around small-scale salvage. It is nothing short of spectacular.

Historically, in the Prince George region we would harvest about 50,000 cubic metres of small-scale salvage in a year. Based on the work I did as someone who was involved in small-scale salvage, you would think it was in the order of three jobs for every 10,000 cubic metres of salvage that you were producing in a year. There might have been 15 jobs in small-scale salvage, and 50,000 cubic metres was a typical average.

This year in the Prince George region alone we will be doing almost 800,000 cubic metres of small-scale salvage. That's 16 times the volume that was produced just a year or two ago and literally hundreds of new jobs, extracting value for something that was previously left behind in our forests. That volume's actually moving into different value-added manufacturing plants, and much of this is not going directly to the major sawmills. Some of it is, but much of it is going to new uses for that fibre. It's incredibly exciting. It's a huge opportunity, I believe, for British Columbia.

As we move forward through the mountain pine beetle catastrophe we're facing currently, I think small-scale salvage is one of the things that will level the gap and make sure we have the fibre supply that is necessary ten to 15 years out, when we would have seen a bit of a drop-off. I don't think that will happen. I think, in fact, that we will see things continue to grow.

Small-scale salvage is something I'm very proud of. I think it was a significant initiative, and certainly, I'm pleased to see it grow from that 50,000-cubic-metre-a-year volume to 800,000 cubic metres per year, with all those additional employees.

Another interesting initiative or economic opportunity has been created in Prince George. Husky Energy has an oil refinery in my riding of Prince George North that employs a couple of hundred people. They had a decision to make a couple of years ago. They were either going to close the refinery down and eliminate that couple of hundred jobs — very high paying, good, union sector–wage jobs in my riding, or they were going to spend $75 million and upgrade the refinery and give it a long-term, sustainable future.

Let me tell you that this government went to bat for Husky Energy. We worked with the federal government. We made sure that we made our feelings known to the federal government. They took a hard look at it. They agreed to work with Husky Energy.

The bottom line is that Husky Energy originally announced that they were going to be spending $73 million. That's actually up to $90 million in my riding of Prince George North. There are jobs in the process right now in terms of those new modifications and renovations to the plant. We are going to have a state-

of-the-art oil refinery in Prince George by this time next year that will be producing low-sulphur fuels that will help clean our airsheds and that will provide the resources necessary for a growing economy in northern British Columbia. It's a significant initiative, with $90 million being invested directly in my riding as a result of that.

Slightly out of my riding is Vanderhoof's Premium Pellet business. Here's an interesting industry, an industry that takes waste material, sawdust, a product that we used to just burn in beehive burners a number of years ago. They compress this product and they ship it, largely overseas to European markets, as a fuel for stoves. It's a very clean-burning fuel. It's creating significant value.

They have expanded their plant in Vanderhoof — an $8.6 million expansion. It has created 40 new jobs out of a waste material. That's northern entrepreneurialism at its finest. When you see companies that are able to take a waste product — something that was previously being burnt — create value with it and create 40 new great, high-paying jobs in the region, that is northern entrepreneurialism at its finest. With what's occurring in the pine beetle devastation around the province, certainly we are able to continue to maximize that value going forward.

Moving on to another major economic initiative that's currently occurring in my riding, Placer Dome, a B.C.–based mining company that did not operate in the province through the 1990s as a result of an unfriendly regime from the previous government to the mining industry, is back looking at a major mine project in northern British Columbia just north of Mackenzie called Mount Milligan. This project could easily be $500 million to $700 million in investment. It could easily be 2,000 new jobs during the construction process for two years and then, long term, a sustainable 400 jobs in the region.

This would bring incredible economic diversity to my riding. They spent $3 million or $4 million on the project last year. They're continuing to spend money this year on the project.

We're hoping for a positive decision from Placer Dome come June. They seem to be waiting. I'm noticing this, and I'm not sure exactly why it is. For some reason, Placer Dome has decided to wait until June. I'm not sure if there's something occurring in May that is causing mining companies to think about when they want to make their announcements with regards to…. I'm not sure if they're waiting on something. I'm not sure if they think that something might occur sometime in May. It's interesting to me, Mr. Speaker, that Placer Dome is making their economic decision on 400 new jobs for the communities of Mackenzie and Fort St. James — huge economic benefits to Prince George, to all the northern ridings, to communities like Prince Rupert, where they would be able to ship their ore out from….

There is tremendous potential here, and for some reason they're waiting until June. I'm not sure why that is.

Hon. P. Bell: I think they're looking for good government. I'm pretty sure that's what it is, but I can't be positive.

Looking at some of the other things that are occurring in my riding, in the regional district of Fraser–Fort George the permits last year have seen a significant increase in terms of construction. This is the rural part of rural B.C., when you're getting out into the regional district, yet they saw, certainly for a number of months last year, a 35 percent increase in building permits. Pretty significant things are taking place there.

Staying focused on economic development opportunities in northern British Columbia and what's going on there right now, I spoke earlier about the types of investments that are occurring. An interesting investment for me, in light of the fact that during the 1990s, 27 sawmills closed in British Columbia — literally thousands and thousands of forestry workers and mill workers put out of work…. If you look around the Prince George region and you see what's going on there right now, in fact, sawmills are reopening. The old Canfor Netherlands Overseas sawmill that was closed under the previous government has now reopened under new owners under the consortium of the Prince George Sort Yard and Dollar Saver Lumber. They're reinvesting heavily in that milling operation. They have over 200 new employees. They're growing. They're expanding their mill.

There are significant things happening over there, and it's creating new jobs. In fact, they were just certified by the…. I always have trouble with calling woodworkers the United Steelworkers, but I guess they're the United Steelworkers now, the old IWA. They now have more members in the north. I understand that there is something in the neighbourhood of 700 more unionized IWA jobs in the north under this government than under the previous government.

Interestingly, you're seeing the investment in plants like the old Netherlands Overseas Mill. You just drive down the road a little bit further, and you look at Dunkley Lumber and what's going on down there. They've just invested $60 million in a whole new line, doubled the size of their plant, added 50 new employees, created a whole bunch of new logging jobs, created opportunities for logs to flow back and forth.

The Minister of Forests and our Premier were down at the grand opening this fall of that mill, of that new component of the mill. Carrier Lumber is investing heavily. They've had the new Cheslatta Forest Products mill open up a couple of years ago out on Ootsa Lake, making high-value products out of beetle-infested timber. The Pas Lumber has added a third shift. They've added almost 100 new employees over the last couple of years — high-value, high-paying jobs, family-supporting jobs. That's what's occurring in my riding of Prince George North.

There's more good news on the horizon, because you know what? We put out expressions of interest last

spring, and now we've advertised for a series of licences in the Prince George region. We think we're going to get some pretty significant investments. There have been two licences that have been advertised, 700,000 cubic metres each for 15 years. These licences are focused on people coming in and investing in new oriented strand board plants. You're going to see potentially a half-billion dollars of investment in the Quesnel–Prince George–Vanderhoof region as a result of that and a huge number of jobs created. It could easily be 600 direct jobs between those two operations plus all the logging jobs that go along with it.

Huge investment opportunity is there, but we're not happy with focusing simply on the resource sector or simply focusing on mining and forestry. We're also interested in expanding our opportunities in tourism. I'm very happy to be able to tell you that the Great Canadian Railtour Co. was selected as the successful proponent to operate a tourism train that will go from Vancouver to Prince George to Jasper, with an overnight stop in Prince George. This is a significant opportunity. This company has a tremendous history of being able to draw tourism opportunities to our regions. I know my colleague from Kamloops–North Thompson, who I think will be speaking a little later on, has had tremendous experiences with the Great Canadian Railtour and what that was able to bring to his community of Kamloops.

You know, housing starts in Prince George had trailed off to virtually nothing at the end of the 1990s. I think we were down to 25 or 30 housing starts. Last year Prince George led all of British Columbia for increase in housing starts — a 71.6 percent increase in housing starts over 2003. Clearly, people are moving back to the community. Clearly, people know there's an opportunity to invest in their future. Clearly, people know that Prince George is in a boom cycle and that there are huge opportunities for people in that community.

It's a very, very exciting time. You look at unemployment rates — as I said, historic lows down underneath 6½ percent. You see people building new homes, people starting to invest. Last year home prices in Prince George increased by 17 percent. After seeing continuous declines through the 1990s, people are moving back to Prince George, and they're investing in a significant way.

Hon. P. Bell: You know, we absolutely missed the boom cycle in the 1990s. The government is more than just about building a strong economy, but that's the foundation on which everything rests. If you don't have a strong economy, you can't provide the health services, the education services, the social services, the policing services, the transportation infrastructure that is so important to maintain your economy. Certainly, we saw that all disappear through the 1990s.

My good friend and colleague the now Minister of Finance, previously Minister of Health, often likes to point out that the previous government had no employees focused on planning in the Ministry of Health — at the time, a $10 billion budget and continuing to increase, now over $11 billion into $12 billion. They had no one focused on planning. They did not have a vision for the future. They were simply trying to survive day to day. They weren't thinking out what they needed to do in order to correct health care for the long term.

Initially, when we first came into office, we had a minister focused on health care planning. Through the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Advanced Education and the Ministry of Health Planning there have been some tremendous initiatives put in place specifically in the Prince George area. I'm proud of our record in health in Prince George. We have a tremendous health authority. They have done a phenomenal job through the leadership of the previous chair, Harry Gairns, and the leadership of Malcolm Maxwell, the CEO for the northern health authority.

Really, it's been built on a foundation of education. I feel very fortunate to have my colleague the Minister of Advanced Education, member for Prince George–Mount Robson, as my running mate and my partner. She has built a tremendous legacy of educational opportunities in advanced education around the training of physicians, of nurses, of LPNs, of practical nurses — all the different components of the education system — and it is paying huge benefits. There is no question about it.

When you look at Prince George as a regional hospital, we used to have to transfer 17 percent of our patients out of Prince George into the lower mainland for services that we were unable to provide because we didn't have the physicians to do that. Working with the Minister of Health and with the Minister of Advanced Education, we've worked hard to try and reduce that number. We've been able to take it from 17 percent to 14 percent, and we think that with some other key initiatives we are looking at establishing in the Prince George region, we can reduce it even below that. We've made significant headway. Clearly, when you remove 3 percent of the people that used to have to travel out of that baseline of 17 percent, I think that's significant.

Really, the northern medical program is what it's all about in terms of building improved health care in the north. When you look at folks like Bert Kelly and Bill Simpson, two of the physicians that drove the northern medical program and really saw it as a key initiative; when you look at individuals like the president of UNBC, Chuck Jago; like the mayor of Prince George, Colin Kinsley; like other individuals that were directly involved in that process, the transformation that's taken place in our region is incredibly exciting.

Just five years ago there were 7,000 people in the multiplex in Prince George literally ready to march all the way to Victoria and tell the previous government that health care was unacceptable. There were indi-

viduals who could not get family physicians anymore in Prince George. Family physicians simply were not accepting patients anymore. I'll tell you, Mr. Speaker, it's been an incredible transformation since we started engaging in the northern medical program and moving that particular initiative forward.

Twenty-four students started this fall, but the significance of the northern medical program goes far beyond that. Over the last number of years we've been able to add over 30 incremental physicians to the Prince George; that's over and above the physicians that left Prince George. There has been a significant change. There are now family physicians that are accepting patients again. There is no one in Prince George that can't get a family doctor right now.

We've significantly improved the number of patients that we're able to offer services to in the Prince George area, as I said before. The number of surgical procedures is up significantly. The number of nurses we're training is up significantly. We now have a full orthopedic surgery staff. We now have all the anaesthetists we need in Prince George to operate, and in fact, we're short only one or two specialists. It's a significant difference.

But it goes beyond Prince George, because you have to look at other regions. Mackenzie is also part of my riding, and I'm incredibly proud of what's been accomplished in the Mackenzie Hospital. Here we have a community of 5,000 people, a heavily industrialized community. The potential to have industrial accidents is significant in the area, and we need to have a health care facility that responds to them.

We looked at the existing health care facility and, through the leadership of the Minister of Health, we were able to establish a new model that was brought forward to us by the people of Mackenzie. They said: "What you're doing right now doesn't make any sense. We have physicians that come and go all the time. It's hard to maintain physicians in the community. The turnover rate is very, very high. We think if you'd move the physicians into the hospital, create some offices in the hospital" — because we had extra rooms that were not being utilized — "that that would make a tremendous amount of sense. It would be easier for us to recruit physicians."

Through a $300,000 one-time grant in Mackenzie through the Health ministry we were able to renovate the Mackenzie Hospital, to create physician offices directly in the hospital, but we were also able to bring other therapy into the hospital as well. Now we have a hospital in Mackenzie where if an emergency comes in, there are one, two, three or perhaps four physicians in the hospital at any point in time that can come over and provide services for that patient.

It has been incredibly successful. I am very, very proud of the outcome of that, but it goes far beyond that. It goes, as I said earlier, to all the different training programs that we've implemented in the area, and it has been significant.

Education is a key building component, something that we need to focus on and is certainly a passion of mine. I think it is absolutely critical that we build that as a key cornerstone of our platform going forward. When I look around our area and at what we've been able to accomplish in education, I am proud of our record.

You know, we had a small school called Shady Valley that was on the chopping block about two years ago. The school board was thinking of closing it. They had some issues about the funding formula, and it was all to do with road miles versus miles as the crow flies. The funding formula called for funding to rural and remote schools only under the model where it was miles as the crow flies, yet the distance to drive these kids was much, much farther.

This little community got behind the program, and I did what I could to work with the Minister of Education. We were able to find a one-time grant to keep the school open for an additional year, and the Minister of Education has now found a new way to fund small community rural schools that has given little schools like Shady Valley a long-term, sustainable future. I'll tell you: the people that live out in that community are pleased to have their school available and open to them on a long-term basis. I think it has been a tremendous initiative.

Moving on to advanced education, I think that when you look at what occurred in the Prince George region over the last number of years, it's been literally phenomenal as well. The College of New Caledonia received a funding grant for $6.46 million to purchase a building on Central Street in Prince George and create a new trades training facility. We oftentimes hear about the importance of having trades training in the regions. This is a tremendous initiative. A gentleman by the name of John Brink, a good friend of mine, has contributed huge money to the college over the years, and the building has been named after him.

New apprentices will be starting in northern B.C. rather than having to travel to BCIT to get their education, their trades training. It will be a tremendous initiative.

I had mentioned earlier the opportunities around physician training in the north. That's been fabulous. We now have an aboriginal environmental chair at UNBC. That is a very, very positive thing. We have high-speed Internet that's even been added to communities like Bear Lake, just a small community in my riding. It's been fabulous.

Transportation initiatives: you build a strong economy; you can reinvest. I'm proud to be able to tell you that we're rebuilding the road into Mackenzie this year, Highway 37, which has been neglected for a long, long time. It will be widened. It will be much safer for people to use that highway. It will make a tremendous difference for those people. Through the leadership of the Minister of Transportation we have been able to provide more services at rest stops throughout my riding. We've been able to ensure a long-term future for Bijou Falls. In our region alone there will be $48 million spent in terms of upgrading and rehabilitation work of many of the things that go on there.

I can go on and on and on. Really, Prince George generally, Prince George North specifically and Mackenzie have been a tremendous success story in terms of the economic turnaround in British Columbia.

It is a very exciting time to be in the north. I think we are on the front end of a golden decade. We are certainly at a period of time where we have nothing but positive news in the future. I am proud to be the member for Prince George North, and I'll tell you: I'm looking forward to May 17.

B. Belsey: Good morning. I'd like to start with telling British Columbians just some of the things that have been happening in the riding that I represent. In the southern reaches of my riding — in the area of Bella Coola, Shearwater, Bella Bella, Hagensborg — they have seen a commitment to secure ferry services. Under the NDP these people were told that their ferry service was coming to an end. This had a huge impact on the people's lives, on businesses, on services. The community was devastated. Our government has guaranteed the service. Not only have we guaranteed the service to this part of my riding, but we have plans to build a brand-new ferry to service the Central Coast communities.

In Ocean Falls we've worked with the community to deal with the environmental cleanup left over from one of British Columbia's first pulp mills. We have worked to maintain those roads. We have worked for a fish hatchery. All of these things have created jobs and opportunities in the community of Ocean Falls.

In the first nations community of Bella Bella we have signed agreements for park management. We continue the ferry service there.

We have forest revenue-sharing. The other day I was standing in a lineup in Prince Rupert, waiting to check in at the airport, and ran into one of the fellows from Bella Bella that I had met years previous. He turned to me and said: "You know, we never believed as a first nations community that we could work with the B.C. Liberals." Now they can't believe how successful we've been in working together. They're pleased with the commitment that this government has made to work with first nations and first nations communities.

We've provided broadband service in partnerships with others to rural communities. The Central Coast is getting connected. They will have connection to the larger centres, to greater resources for education, for health care — a positive move by our government, and a commitment and a promise we've kept.

In the Queen Charlotte Islands, Haida Gwaii, we're carrying out road maintenance. We've worked with the land use management planning. We have water treatment programs. We have sewer projects. We have an offer on the table for a community forest licence. This community knows that they can work with this government.

In Prince Rupert we have a cruise ship dock that brought in over 65,000 people who visited Prince Rupert last year from the cruise ships. This year we have an estimated 52 stops. It will bring in over a quarter of a million people who will visit Prince Rupert this cruise ship season. We have the new Uplands project that's going to develop all around where the cruise ships come in so that taxis and buses can go down there, can load those passengers and can move them out to some of the other attractions in the general region.

We have a commitment for a container port that will see Prince Rupert become the gateway to the Asian markets. We have a brand-new college. This is the difference between an NDP promise and a B.C. Liberal delivery.

In Stewart we have worked with Stewart Bulk Terminals to work through the permitting process so that they can do an expansion. We've supported the gravel extraction project that the community wants to get involved with to raise the revenue they need for the projects they want.

We have approved new road improvement projects that will see pullouts put into their road system, better roads so that they can attract the tourism they want into their communities. We've brought back the mining industry that's so critical to these smaller rural communities, especially in northern British Columbia.

People across my riding feel the momentum building. They know how they were ignored by the previous government, and they know that this government is willing to work with them, willing to listen to them. Communities across my riding know that this government keeps its word.

I'd like to go back to some of the comments that I made on the 2002, '03 and '04 throne speeches. These excerpts highlight the pattern of promises made and promises kept.

In 2002, I stood in this House and said that without a strong economy there is no money to pay for health care, for education, for social programs. In fact, without a strong economy many services in the north would suffer. I went on to say that for too long British Columbia was mired in a policy that seemed to be designed to drag British Columbians down. Our province was once a leader in economic growth, but in the last decade we saw this province move from first to worst. We were last in the country in job creation, last in investment, last in economic growth.

In 2003, I stood and said that our government is the first government ever to recognize the heartlands of British Columbia in its vision to open up every region and every community to new horizons. That was a vision: to open up every sector of our economy to new opportunities wherever they exist — that was part of our vision — and to open up the free flow of people, goods and services between our province and our trading partners. Again, that was our vision.

In 2004 during the throne speech debate I stood in the House and said that the people of British Columbia have had an opportunity to listen to this government in three throne speeches. It was a speech that once again confirms our unwavering commitment to effect posi-

tive change for all British Columbians, positive change that is designed to bring out the best.

I'm truly proud to stand here today to say that this government, under Premier Campbell, has accomplished everything it has promised British Columbians in all its previous throne speeches. We have done in three and a half years what the previous government was unable to accomplish in the ten years they were in power. The previous government was consumed with fast ferries, with changing Premiers and ministers, with poorly planned rapid transit projects.

Believe it or not, they were even busy setting up fish farms. Now, we take a hit on a constant basis. I hear it all the time. Our government is forcing fish farms down on people. Well, I'll tell you something. Here's an interesting fact: during the ten years that the NDP were in power, they set up 34 fish farms. Since we've been in, we have set up zero fish farms. That's something that people have to understand.

They gathered around the 6 o'clock news to know where to throw the health care dollars. They sat back in rooms charting a course for a province with the likes of Ken Georgetti and other senior labour executives. They proudly tell us how they built new schools. Every 19 days they built a school in British Columbia. This is at a time when enrolment was on the decline. Now that's planning.

All this had to change, and this has changed. British Columbia is truly heading into a golden decade — a golden decade, in contrast to a decade of despair.

I'd like to share with you some of the comments that these members opposite have said during the rebuttal to previous throne speeches. The member for Vancouver-Hastings in 2002 stood in this House and in her response to the throne speech she said: "I must say that British Columbians have already learned that the Premier is a stubborn, inflexible leader who will not change his course. He will not adjust to changing circumstances, even in the face of a broad chorus of advice that urges him to do just that." She went on to read a letter from 40 professional economists. They were 40 professional economists from British Columbia, she told us, and when she went through the list of names, it was interesting that they were from as far away as Lethbridge, Alberta. Of course, all of them predicted doom and gloom if the Premier didn't change his vision of what British Columbia's potential really was. Thank God he ignored her and her 40 comrades.

The member for Vancouver-Hastings in 2004 again stood in this House and said: "As we approach the third anniversary of the Premier's election win, the foolishness of his plan is evident. Big tax giveaways have not paid for themselves. They have not spurred economic growth. They have not resulted in more resources for health care and education. They have not led to better, more accountable government, and they most certainly have not ushered in a new era of hope and prosperity.” She was wrong again.

The member for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant stood in this House in 2001 and said, "There was nothing in the throne speech. My constituents ask me, and they worry about some of the advances that we have made and whether or not the clock will turn back." She goes on to say, "You know what? All I can say to them is that I fear that it will. I fear that the clock will turn back."

Since 2001 all British Columbians have been hoping and praying that we do not turn the clock back. That member and her constituents can rest easy. We have no plans to turn the clock back. We can't go back. We can't go back to a party that led us into the decade of decline. This year's throne speech provides a clear road map to prosperity, a vision of what British Columbians can look forward to, a vision that includes not only British Columbia, not only other Canadians, but countries and markets around the world.

Enough of the doom and gloom of the NDP and the members opposite; I want to move to why British Columbians across my riding are stopping me and talking to me about the future and the vision that we have and that they have for British Columbia. This government's commitment to education, to health care, to social systems, to the environment and to job creation is unprecedented.

In education we're funding programs and lifestyles. In health care we're funding research and worker training. In social services we're targeting funding for women, for the homeless, for seniors and for people with disabilities. In the environment it's sustainable ecological reserves and compliance and enforcement. That's where we're heading. In job creation it's training, it's industrial partnerships, and it's world marketing. These are the primary goals of this government, a government that is determined to make British Columbia the best place on Earth to live, to work, to play, to invest and to raise a family.

There are specific commitments in the throne speech that bode well for my riding — our commitment to make B.C. the best-educated, most literate jurisdiction on the continent. In education and in the area of K-to-12 we see the following: school districts in B.C. will share in an increase in block funding totalling $150 million in the coming year. This is at a time when student enrolment has declined by 29,000 over the last four years. This will increase per-student funding by a record $863 since we were elected.

The difference between what we're doing and what the NDP did is that we're putting money into students. We're not building schools at the rate of 19 a day so that they sit empty in places like Terrace.

Three critical programs designed to help students in my riding — some of the most challenged in the province, as identified by Dr. Clyde Hertzman — are Roots of Empathy; Success by 6; and Ready, Set, Learn. These are all great programs, and we have these programs in our riding because of the commitment from the Minister of State for Early Childhood Development. She has been to my riding. She has seen the people, the students and the teachers, and I certainly appreciate that.

The Premier has taken aim at literacy with the establishment of an advisory panel on literacy and also the $12 million boost to fund that program. In the area of advanced education, we have created 250 new seats in Northwest Community College. Hopefully, many of those brand-new seats will end up in the brand-new college that proudly stands in the heart of Prince Rupert and is becoming the heart of Prince Rupert.

When I visit the college, and I often do, I am constantly reminded by the students of the high cost of tuition. I can't wait to get back to that student body and explain to them how we've found this happy medium between the unintentional consequences of a lengthy tuition freeze and responsible increases in tuition. By pegging tuition increases to the cost of living, students and their families can better manage the cost of going to post-secondary institutions.

My constituents are excited about our commitment to lead the way in North America in healthy living and physical fitness. People in my riding are thrilled with our commitment to reopen training facilities for nurses that were closed by the previous government. We've reopened these training facilities. You know, in the last graduating class out of northern British Columbia, every single one of them was offered a job in northern British Columbia.

The previous member spoke about UNBC's new medical centre and how important that is to northern British Columbia. A new medical centre is attracting student doctors from across the north. They want to live, learn, train and practise in northern British Columbia.

Something else, about Fair Pharmacare: 82 percent of all the citizens pay the same as or less than they did in 2001 for Pharmacare.

The real commitment to a healthier B.C. is the Premier's Act Now initiative, a fascinating commitment. The commitment is to set goals that will see the portion of British Columbians who are physically active increase by 20 percent and a goal of reducing by 20 percent the portion of British Columbians who are obese and overweight. We will set a goal to reduce by 10 percent the portion of British Columbians with a predilection for tobacco, and we will increase by 20 percent the portion of British Columbians who eat the recommended daily levels of fruits and vegetables. To my kids: relax. I'll be out there making sure parsnips aren't on that list.

We're excited about Premier Campbell's commitment to build the best support system in Canada for persons with disabilities, special needs, children and women at risk, and seniors. Only through sound fiscal management, budget surpluses and a vision has this government been able to make such a bold statement of support for those most vulnerable in our society.

We have given the single largest rate increase in the history of persons with disabilities on income assistance. We have almost tripled the combined funding for autism and early childhood development since 2001. We will be increasing funding to combat violence against women by over $35 million over the next three years. This is great news for those in my community that work to protect women in violent relationships. The transition house and the people that work there are certainly dedicated, and I'm glad that we can help.

The Premier's Task Force on Homelessness will continue to develop new strategies to deal with addiction, mental illness and homelessness. This is welcome news across my riding.

I work with seniors across my riding on a regular basis. They regularly offer me opinions on virtually every topic, including health care and seniors services. The Premier's commitment to a new council on aging and seniors is an issue that will be welcomed by all those I meet on a regular basis.

We are excited about the opportunities to lead the world in sustainable environmental management. We have established 37 new class A parks and one ecological reserve. We have increased the habitat conservation trust fund by $6.5 million. We have invested $9 million over three years to establish B.C.'s conservation corps. This is added to the $7.5 million already committed. The new Pacific Salmon Forum will provide an independent voice to help us safeguard our precious wild salmon stocks and improve our aquaculture industry.

Across the riding we want to see more jobs per capita than anywhere else in Canada — the fifth commitment by our government. We know how education, post-secondary education and trades training are so closely tied to job opportunities. We know that this government is committed to building those. However, this only scratches the surface when it comes to job creation.

The commitment to open up the port of Prince Rupert as the Pacific gateway to Asia-Pacific trade has been raised throughout the international community — a concerted effort by the Premier to make sure that all of Canada will benefit from a new port in Prince Rupert. We even had the Prime Minister of Canada talking about the port of Prince Rupert on his latest trip to Asia.

The commitment to first nations in the forms of economic, cultural and social agreements and partnerships will open up a gateway to growth in communities across my riding. About 51 percent of my riding is first nations. I have a number of first nations communities, and they are eager to work with the province. They're satisfied with the initiatives we've made so far, and they're excited about those that we're working on and trying to complete: the land use management process, the forestry resource revenue returns to these communities, the ferry service we provide to the communities in partnerships.

But one of the real hidden jewels — the diamond in the rough, so to speak — in this speech is my government's commitment to British Columbians not just for today, not just for tomorrow, but for ten and 20 years out — a commitment to the initiative for a comprehensive review of B.C.'s competitiveness in every sector and in every region. Think about that. We're not talk-

ing about tomorrow; we're not talking about the next day. We're looking ten and 20 years out, and we're going to understand British Columbia's competitiveness. It's not just going to be in one area; it's not just going to be one industry. It's going to be across the board.

If the previous government had concerned itself with how industries and regions fared competitively in the international market, we would not have seen companies like Finning Tractor pack up and leave this province. We may not have seen a closure of a pulp mill in Prince Rupert and a closure of two other pulp mills on Vancouver Island. Just think if we'd had a government that sat down and said: "Well, now. Let's look at how we can compete in an international market. Let's work in that direction." Instead, the previous government…. You threw money at it.

Look what we've done in the way of mining. There was a mass exodus of mining. The industry left this province because of the inability of the previous government to have any kind of a vision as to where we were going.

The comprehensive review of how we do business in B.C. is truly a vision for the future — a vision that accepts the fact that a rising Canadian dollar, trade barriers and world markets are just a few of the external forces that impact jobs in British Columbia.

We are committed to study these issues on both a sectoral and a regional basis to identify our competitive needs, our opportunities in a golden decade ahead. We're following our plan and building on the work of the past four years. From day one, we said that once the fiscal house was in order, we could then begin to finance the programs that people wanted to see. This is what happens when you build a strong economy first and then look at where you can spend the money.

Unlike the NDP, we waited until we had a firm financial footing before laying down an ambitious plan. It is a bold new vision unlike the tired old ideas of Carole James and the NDP. We have spent the time to put a plan in place. We're proud of that plan, and that plan is working. We're going to head into the golden decade.

V. Anderson: Hon. Speaker, it is a privilege to stand up and respond to the Speech from the Throne, particularly when I reflect that after 13 years, this will be the last time I will have the opportunity to do this. Since I will not be running again, I want to say thank you — when I have the opportunity — to the people of my constituency and to the people of British Columbia for the privilege of being here during what I have called interesting times.

I can remember back prior to…. Well, first of all, in 1986, I ran in Vancouver East in a two-seat riding. We thought we were lucky that time to get 12 percent in the vote. I ran again in 1991, and 17 of us, to the surprise of all of British Columbia, including ourselves, were elected to be the opposition — not just members, but to be the official opposition — in the government of British Columbia, a privilege that I will remember for as long as I can remember anything else.

It has been interesting times, and there has been untold change in every direction within the province in which we live and untold change here within the Legislature itself. What a change it was to come into the seat in government in the last election and to sit in the Legislature on the government side and discover that all but two of the members on the opposition side were government members. It was just a total transition in thinking and in life.

As people are aware, one of the reasons I got into the political process in the first place was because as I worked in the east side of Vancouver in my church congregation, I came very much in touch with the people whose lives were difficult for a whole variety of reasons beyond their control. We tried to get the voice of government in those days, and from our understanding, government was not listening.

One of the events that we tried, which proved to be interesting in itself, was to have a meeting on poverty. We invited to that meeting all those who had been elected by the community of Vancouver to represent us on the municipal scene, on the provincial scene and on the federal scene. We had discovered that all of these three people — MP, MLA and councillor — were our elected representatives. But we had also discovered that they seldom ever talked to each other, and they often seemed to be operating on three conflicting agendas on our behalf. They came, the councillors and the MPs, but the particular MLAs at that time were a little reluctant until the media got on their tail and said: "Why aren't you there in this combined discussion?" And they came.

It was an intriguing discussion. Our present Premier came as a councillor from the city of Vancouver to be part of that discussion, to try and integrate and bring together all of the government forces to support and work with the people of the community in their ongoing needs. They were very aware, the people of the community, that we needed an economic agenda. They were very aware that we needed an environmental agenda. They were very aware that we needed a social agenda. But they were not sure that any level of government was working on the social agenda.

In those days it appeared to us that each level of government was saying it belonged to the other level of government than their own. The people who had great individual needs, great family needs — because of sickness, because of economic poverty, because of circumstances, accidents and health beyond their control — felt that they were being passed by, and they were being promised something sometime in the future. As they saw others doing well, they were even more conscious of the difficulties among themselves. Particularly, they were concerned for the opportunities of their

In my 13 years here I have been a little one-sided, I think, in my comments, because in each throne speech I have looked at not only the economic and environmental concerns, but I have also looked at the social planning which has become part, I hope, of that process. I must say that over the years until the present time, I felt that the social planning did not have its balanced part of that agenda, that it did not have its opportunity to enable the people who had these needs to come forward and speak and be heard and be responded to.

Today I'm pleased to go through the throne speech and quote from it to show that in this particular throne speech, this government has of necessity had an economic and environmental agenda that was needed and had to be undertaken in order to get our house in order so that we could do the programs we need. They have now also put forth a very strong social agenda.

I have mentioned before my own personal experience in the thirties, when my father had to look after the family agenda. He was a barber in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Those were not good times for barbers in Saskatoon. So he moved to Nipawin in northern Saskatchewan, to the north that we're hearing a great deal about here in this particular time, because he had to take a place where he could get the economy of our family in place in order to meet the social necessities.

After he had been there for a few months, when school came out — I was in grade 1 at the time — my mother and my sister and I went in the moving truck to move all of our possessions to this new location. My sister and I rode in the back of the truck. That was legal in those days. It would not be legal today.

When we arrived in Nipawin, Dad met us, and we went around to this place where we were to live. We pulled up in front of this little…. It looked like a one-room house to us, coming from the city. We had left the house in the city for taxes, as happened to many people in those days. Mother looked at Dad. I remember her saying: "I'm not going to live there." Dad said: "It's going to be awful cold on the street."

So of course we lived there until things improved. We were able to develop, and gradually we came forward so that in their latter years, they were able to build a new house of their own. That, to me, is an analogy of what we've had to go through here. We had to relocate many of the activities of government. We had to reorganize the environmental and economic situation so that there was the bank account, because we knew then and we know now that money does not grow on trees. Even though we've got lots of trees in British Columbia, just because the trees are there doesn't mean there is money in the bank.

Over the last years we've had the privilege and the opportunity to improve the bank account, to be able to say to the members of our communities that there are now funds to do the programs which we've all had in mind but couldn't do initially.

I wanted to go through this budget and show that this particular throne speech has set as a priority — one of the priorities, if not the main priority — what we do with our new-found opportunities. It reiterates again and again that besides jobs for families and investment for families, better services for families and people in need are a major undertaking — better services for families and people in need.

Incidentally, I grew up under T.C. Douglas, and he stressed that you needed to live within your budget, whether corporately or individually. I want to quote: "Government is again living within its means with balanced budgets and, including the forecast allowance, a record surplus. Our stronger economy is generating new revenues for sustainable improvements to social services." We are now working on sustainable — not run-of-the-mill, flash overnight, but sustainable — social services as well as paying down our debt.

That, from my time in the Depression, I also learned was a very important lesson. I quote again: "There is new wealth to sustain expanded services for those most vulnerable in our society. There are new means to pursue people's goals." A recent indication of that was the increase in the disability pension. It was long overdue and was the beginning of a new direction.

Also, there are the promises for better support services for women, children, seniors and people in need; more opportunities and jobs for first nations, families and small businesses; and higher take-home pay and a better standard of living.

One of the realities, though, as we put forth this new plan is a new approach. From the very beginning, our Premier has said to leaders in business, to people in small business, to those who work in the non-profit sector: "What is your plan? What would you like to see? How can we work together in partnership to develop new programs and new opportunities?"

I don't remember my father ever saying: "Here is the chequebook. Take it and use it whenever you want." I do remember my mother coming home when I was 12 years of age — and I've thanked her ever since for the opportunities she gave me — and saying: "The local grocery store has an opening for a young lad that would like to help out on Saturdays." I began at 25 cents a day helping out on Saturdays, unpacking the eggs from the farmers — at least the ones that hadn't got smashed in the oats, where they were packed — cleaning out the fruit bins of the mouldy and rotten fruit and sweeping the floors. But it was my privilege from 12 years of age right through high school to be able to work on Saturdays and weekends in that same grocery store.

I'm very much in favour of saying to people that there is opportunity and need for young people to be able to have the opportunity to work while they're going to school. Now that we have no paper-boys or paper-girls, or when we used to have to pay four hours…. We said to young people: "You're not worthy to work. You're not qualified to work." So many of our young

people have grown up never having a job and learning to work with other people to be part of a team and to be independent on their own. I may be prejudiced from my own personal experience, but I would like to say that what we say to people is: "When we work together, when we plan together and when we use our priorities, we get results."

One of the very early lessons I learned in Vancouver was working with the Federated Anti-Poverty Groups and a program called PLURA — which was Presbyterian, Lutheran, United, Roman Catholic and Anglican — which had come together to work with low-income groups in communities right across the province in self-help groups.

We would offer them counsel or consultation, but we would offer them grants of money for projects that they had underway. They would come with a plan to spend $500. We were very unanimous in sharing $500 with them. What impressed me was that when they turned back the report of their project, they turned back a budget. That budget said, "We have spent $473.25," and with that report came the change. They accounted for every penny. Many groups that I had worked with would have rounded it out and said: "Well, that's almost $500. We'll just call it $500 and pad the rest of it." But no, not the poverty groups of British Columbia. They knew the value of a penny, and they earned every penny they got. They were giving their own time, they were volunteering their time, and what little bit we could do, they appreciated and honoured it.

I say this because what we have said in here…. We have given ourselves the opportunity to pursue people's goals. That's the key factor. We have not given ourselves the opportunity to pursue government's goals, but we have given ourselves the opportunity to work with people to be partners in their goals.

One of the things in a recent discussion that I had with the Premier was our partnership with the volunteer non-profit sector of our community. Governments in the past have not been good partners with the non-profit or volunteer sectors. They have tended to dictate to them. They have tended to set out a pattern and say: "If you can fit this pattern, we will help you, but if you can't fit our pattern, we won't help you." We've lost our flexibility.

Our partners within the community have been delighted at the new contract process that our government has undertaken — not counting on input but output — which has happened as we work together on a project. However well-meaning it has been, though, it has been flawed in that it is a business model that has been applied to a non-profit circumstance. As we move now to adjust that and improve it, the non-profits are delighted to work with us as they pursue their goals in the community.

As we move on in the promises that are here for us to look at, the throne speech indicates that we have made reform and investments within the province to make British Columbia the true Canadian leader in economic, environmental and social developments. One of the realities here is that it has put a new vision on what we do, a vision that asks in the forest industry, in the mining industry, in the health industry, in the educational industry: what environmental effect does this program have? What economic effect does this program have, and what social impact does this program have?

An illustration a few years ago. When I was first running in '91, part of my campaign was to have rapid transit into Vancouver from Richmond. I said the rapid transit should go underground all the way. Fortunately, it is going to 63rd Avenue. We've got another ten blocks that it's not going to make, but maybe that's not a bad compromise.

When we met with planners in our community groups at that particular time, they came and told us the economic issues that were involved. Sometimes they would discuss the environmental issues, but never did they discuss the social issues. When we would ask them in the community meetings what the social impact of this rapid transit is, they would look us blankly in the face and say: "Are you kidding?" It was not on their agenda.

What we're saying in this throne speech is that the social impact is on the agenda for every aspect of government. I have been impressed, in this particular government, with the strong movement there has been for interministry integration and cross-ministry consultation. We now have a number of committees of deputy ministers of a variety of ministries, who meet together regularly to ask and share with each other the impact of their variety of programs — the impact of health and education, of social programs in Children and Family Development, the impact they have on child care.

One of the results of that meeting was to bring child care all into one ministry, where it had been divided up into a number of ministries before. That awareness of social impact was fundamentally important in the vision they're now placing before government and the demand we're placing on ourselves as government to integrate that new kind of process of thinking. It goes on to say that we're going to talk about global interaction, as the member for North Coast has commented, but it also focuses on looking to the new frontiers of cultural understanding we have within our province, within our country and around the world.

The vision is not just looking at ourselves; the vision is looking at ourselves in relationship with others. It's looking at ourselves in the relationship with the provinces across Canada.

I was impressed that within the first month or so of our Premier being elected as a member, he was involved in leading the Canadian provinces as they came together to discuss the provincial understanding in relationship to the federal government. He was a prime leader in that new direction of uniting Canada so that each province had a say and that, collectively, they had a say together in the Canadian system.

That's probably one of the most significant things that has happened in our Confederation for genera-

tions. There've been a lot of referendums over interaction within Canada, and what has happened? Not a legal requirement but a political opportunity that our Premier had been highly involved in.

It goes on to say that it's time we tell the world about what we have achieved and what we are going to achieve — economically, culturally, environmentally and socially. These are all the realities of Canada that enable business and families to move here. People are moving back to B.C., not just because it is economically feasible but because it is socially relevant to their families and their lives.

How many families from around the world have moved to Canada and British Columbia because of the educational, social and cultural opportunities for their children? The social, cultural and educational opportunities are so important to them that they live in two countries. The working member of that country commutes from this country to that country, whatever it may be, because of educational, health and social opportunities, not just economic. In fact, many of those immigrants who moved here for those reasons, plus the economic ones — and this was true of Taiwanese and Chinese communities — discovered that it was difficult for them to meet the economic needs, and so they went home. But they left their families here, because economically, they could not make it. Hopefully, they will be able to make it in the future.

The great goals for a golden decade were put forward in the throne speech. In order to help British Columbia to reach its full potential in all aspects of our integrated life — social, environmental and economical…. There were five goals there, and I want to highlight these. I appreciated the member for North Coast highlighting the social as well. The media, in picking up on the throne speech, have said practically nothing about the social goals, except tongue-in-cheek, which did acknowledge them but didn't give them their importance or significance. I'm afraid the media weren't reading too closely.

The first of the goals that has been highlighted is to make B.C. the best educated and most literate jurisdiction on the continent. Literacy is one of the most significant goals we can achieve, and this our Premier has pushed forward. He has pushed it forward from the moment we are born to the opportunity until the moment we die — and I'm perfectly glad of that at my age. What we've tried to say is that children must have the opportunity from the very beginning, within their families, to have a future for themselves.

Part of the future that will be implemented in this time — it has already been begun, but it will be extended — is what the Minister of Children and Family Development and the deputy minister of children and family development, as I want to call her, have done in enabling early childhood development to take a priority in British Columbia, as it does nowhere else in Canada.

Early childhood development is taken as a priority and has been a priority of this government ever since we came into government, and I want to commend our Premier and our government for that. Young people will have the opportunity for medical examinations, hearing examinations and eye examinations, and that will be available to everyone prior to the time they go into the educational system.

That is so extremely important, because it's my understanding that probably 80 percent of those people who are in correctional institutions have hearing difficulties, eyesight difficulties, mental health difficulties — difficulties that began when they were children and were never corrected throughout their lives. These persons who have been neglected as children have become the criminals of later years, a good many of them. This is of fundamental importance to give children their opportunity.

As was already mentioned by the member for North Coast and others, to give healthy living for the opportunity we have in our life; to build the support system with persons with disabilities, special needs, children at risk and seniors; to say that the whole spectrum of society is in our focus…. It is a spectrum we need to have and to respond to.

I'm encouraged and thrilled by the opportunity, and I look forward to criticizing when I do and supporting when I do, not from the back bench but from the front bench of the community.

S. Orr: In the words of the hon. member that were so eloquent, he talked about the golden age. I'm thrilled to introduce what I think the golden age is all about, and that is children. I have today in the chambers a wonderful group of students all up here, just the most dynamic little group you have ever come across.

They are from St. Andrew's Elementary School. They have just been through the buildings and have asked us the most interesting questions. They all know they are our future leaders. They're here with their teachers, and would the House please make them all very welcome.

W. Cobb: I would like to thank the member for Vancouver-Langara for his contribution to this House. His wisdom, his history and his elegance have always intrigued me, and he will be greatly missed.

The throne speech of the sixth session of the thirty-seventh parliament is a vision into the future, the kind of future that we in this province have looked forward to for a long, long time. That is one of the reasons why I entered politics.

The mismanagement of the previous government is finally slipping away, and a new golden era is growing

in this province. In past addresses I have made in this House in response to the throne speech, I commented on beginning the process of economic renewal. I have talked about the need for transportation infrastructure works. I have spoken about forest policy that makes sense and a regulatory system that will encourage the rebirth of the mining industry.

Also, I have raised the issue of land use, natural resources and the environment. These issues are important to British Columbians, and they are important to the people of Cariboo South who depend on the land base for their livelihood.

These are exciting times for British Columbia. We actually have a balanced budget with a surplus, and I am sure we will hear more about that in the days to come. The hard work this government and the people of British Columbia have done over the last three years is now paying off, and this year's throne speech is an illustration of the golden opportunities our communities and citizens will have in the next decade with this government.

Just what are those opportunities we look forward to? We heard many of them in the throne speech. The best-educated, most literate jurisdiction in the continent…. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that this is not a new vision for this government. We have been working hard toward this goal since 2001 when we were elected, and we have continually increased the per-student funding year after year since we took over government.

We have been investing in education and advanced education. A great example of this is the $12 million investment by the provincial government to replace the Cariboo South post-secondary campus. It has also been upgraded to special-purpose university status, bringing even more educational opportunities to the north.

A big part of the education commitment is to bring high-speed Internet to the communities and schools — schools like Dog Creek Elementary School and Lac la Hache Elementary School in school district 27, Cariboo-Chilcotin. Let's not forget the smaller schools, the one-room schools like Big Bar Elementary, or a little bigger school in Clinton, David Stoddart Elementary School, in school district 74.

We have invested nearly $311 million in 45 school projects in 27 school districts across B.C. as part of the 2003-06 capital funding program. As the throne speech has already indicated, block grants to school boards will increase by $150 million in the coming years, a total increase in school operating funds of $305 million since 2000-01. This equals an increase of $863 in per-student funding, and that goes a long way to supporting some of my rural schools.

This government also believes that every child deserves adequate school-based library services and textbooks. In September 2004, school district 27 received $109,751 for new textbook funding, and school district 74, Gold Trail, received $32,672. That's a very small school district. This government will require that every school in B.C. meet appropriate standards for learning resources. This includes library services for its students.

In order to be the best educated, we have to address all students, and that includes the education for students with special needs. The throne speech mentioned the increase in funding, estimated at $28 million, to improve education for those students, and we are working with school boards to ensure that a comprehensive arts and music curriculum is available and delivered.

These are just some of the initiatives indicated in the throne speech, and I'm sure you'll hear more on a regional basis from some of my other colleagues around the province.

At this time, I would like to talk about seniors and how the stronger economy is helping to achieve the goals we all share for our families and for seniors in the province. There will be a new Premier's council on aging and seniors issues with representatives from seniors organizations from across the province. They will be looking at issues like mandatory retirement, to see if changes need to be made to seniors' independence and quality of living. Independent living for seniors has been something this government has been active in since I came to the Legislature in 2001.

A couple of examples from my riding are the Glen Arbor housing project for seniors that opened in Williams Lake, where the province provided the land with $370,000 interim construction financing and an annual operating subsidy of $4.8 million over 35 years; and the Williams Lake Seniors Village of 101 units — this is a private development opened to provide seniors with better access to housing and care facilities — or the 35 units being constructed this year. These are very important initiatives, as British Columbians have the highest life expectancy in Canada.

How do we obtain such a high life expectancy here in B.C.? It must have something to do with the lifestyle for those of us who live in the best place on earth. I would like to say that we are truly leading the way in healthy living, but is that all it is? Or does our health care system play a role as well, not just by putting more money into the system but also by ensuring that we change the system as the needs of our province and our residents change? This was not easy. It was necessary, however, to ensure that the system will continue to work.

I recently talked to one of our local doctors, and he indicated that yes, the changes were difficult to adjust to with their already-heavy workload but that the changes we made were working. He and his colleagues did not want to go back to the system they had before. We needed those changes, and they're looking forward to continuing with them.

The most important step is ensuring that more of every health dollar goes to improved patient care. That's a lot of dollars, when we stop to consider that health care spending has increased by $2.4 billion since 2000 and is likely to increase another $1.5 billion in the next three years. Are we directing that money correctly? I believe we are heading in the right direction.

We attracted more doctors from other parts of Canada in 2003, and we've attracted more than any other province. We have almost doubled the number of doctors we're training in this province. British Columbia has 600 more nurses and has increased the number of nurses being trained in B.C. by 50 percent. Amazingly, this is 25 times greater than the nurse-training spaces added throughout the entire nineties, as indicated in the throne speech.

How else do we direct health care dollars? This government has increased the number of MRI machines by 75 percent and increased access to renal dialysis by 40 percent, with renovations in progress to accommodate another unit in Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake, and an additional seven new CT scanners. One of those units will also be placed in the Cariboo Memorial Hospital.

We also have new cardiac defibrillators in every ambulance in B.C. As a rural riding, this is crucial for us. Our ambulances need the equipment to make sure that when there's an injury or a patient, they have the facilities to get them to health care.

I was also proud to hear in the throne speech that the Fair Pharmacare system is the envy of Canada and a model that other provinces aspire to emulate. We have reduced costs for over a quarter of a million British Columbia seniors and for families on low incomes. This government is going to continue working for the establishment of a national pharmacare strategy. That's a crucial aspect, as the member for Vancouver-Langara also indicated.

Not only are we as a population becoming healthier, but this government is committed to leading the world in sustainable environmental management, creating a healthy environment to complement our healthy lifestyle. This province has such a diversity of species, wildlife and ecosystems that depend on clean air and water — including our people.

In the village of Clinton, we have provided over $166,000 in provincial funding for improvements to construction to do water disinfection systems, to provide a safer water system to that community and sustain its economy. We saw the Walhachin community water system upgraded in the Thompson-Nicola regional district. The provincial contribution was $47,000. Also, the province has contributed $247,436 in 100 Mile House for the expansion of the Blackstock area sewer system to protect the water quality in the creek nearby, and over $1 million for the Westside storm sewer in Williams Lake.

Our environmental management is going to lead the world in air and water quality. These are goals we campaigned on and have already met. As has been indicated already, we have already met over 90 percent of our commitments in the New Era document. We have established 37 new class A parks. Also, we have expanded 34 existing parks plus four ecological reserves. We are modernizing environmental protection legislation and have acted to clean up our contaminated sites.

We will create new employment opportunities for B.C.'s students and graduates in our parks and wilderness. It is our commitment to bring in an initiative worth $7.5 million to add up to 50 new conservation officers and park rangers. We have a drinking water action plan that will cost $16 million to implement and will complement B.C.'s community water improvement program, valued at $120 million. This will strengthen the 184 water-quality monitoring units currently located in British Columbia.

Clean energy is also a focus for this government. We will be investing in wind, tidal, solar and run-of-the-river power projects. To ensure that these are implemented correctly, we will be establishing an alternative energy and power task force to report directly to the executive council.

Super, Natural British Columbia has never meant so much as it does today. Ecotourism, marine tourism and agritourism are contributing factors in our thriving economy, using nature as a driving force. Tourism is taking advantage of Super, Natural British Columbia with $4 billion worth of projects now either underway or being planned. As our gateway to Asia-Pacific opens up creating new jobs, tourism will be the focus that drives that expansion.

China is calling for immediate development, as Canada has been recognized as the approved destination location. Our tourism industry in cooperation with the government of B.C. will be ready to welcome our visitors, and we in the Cariboo have vast beauty to show them. This gateway will be pushed open with millions of visitors during the 2010 Olympics. All these initiatives have been made possible through a strong economy.

Higher commodity prices, low interest rates, buyer confidence, competitiveness and reduced regulations have built the confidence that has allowed businesses to create and expand employment in British Columbia. Our province is leading the nation in job creation — 200,000 new jobs — and 97 percent are full-time jobs created in sectors like forestry, energy, mining and technology. This is also good news for Cariboo South. Bringing small business back in my riding is something that I will continue to work toward, having operated a small business myself.

If I now look at forestry, knowing that this government will take action on the mountain pine beetle infestation is also good news for my community. We are going to plan and cope better with the long-term implications of the pine beetle problem. An innovative community group that brought us the Cariboo-Chilcotin land use plan has presented the Premier and the Minister of State for Forestry Operations with a discussion paper on how we in the Cariboo can deal with and mitigate the impacts of this national disaster. The plan is transferable to other areas, if they wish to use it.

In addition to that, our higher Canadian dollar is challenging many of our core industries — core industries that are located in my riding, like mining and forestry. With greater productivity, more competitiveness

and by reaching out to new customers, our workers and employers will find new ways of adapting to the growing reality of the higher Canadian dollar and will respond accordingly. We need new investment, and we need partnerships with workers. We will lead in that action.

The B.C. competition council will be formed to steer the initiative and provide advice. The council will be made up of representatives of organized labour, employers, academics and regional representatives, together with this government. We will promote British Columbia's industries to the world and lead the Asia Pacific into the gateway of tomorrow.

This is a central part of the B.C. government's economic strategy for the future. We are going to build on the successful trips we have made to India, Japan, China and other emerging markets. Working with Canada and the network of B.C. trade and cultural centres will be the key to expanding into international markets.

Mr. Speaker, it has given me great pleasure to rise in this House today and respond to the throne speech

in the sixth session of the thirty-seventh parliament of British Columbia. I know that as British Columbia moves into the future, providing more services, greater education and a more modern, functional health care system, the people of British Columbia will continue to support the initiatives of this government. I look forward to rising in this House again and again to address other throne speeches as the member for Cariboo South.

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