Hansard -- Thursday, September 22, 2005 a.m. -- Vol. 1, No. 13 (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


Point of Privilege		253
	A. Dix

Committee of the Whole House		253
	Supply Act (No. 2), 2005 (Bill 5)

Report and Third Reading of Bills		253
	Supply Act (No. 2), 2005 (Bill 5)

Budget Debate (continued)		253
	D. Thorne
	I. Black
	R. Chouhan
	Hon. M. Coell

A. Dix: I wish to give notice of my intention to raise a question of privilege with respect to comments made by the Minister of Children and Family Development and the Attorney General in question period on Tuesday and Wednesday. This is my first opportunity to give notice, and I wish to do that now.

The House in Committee of the Whole (Section B) on Bill 5; S. Hawkins in the chair.

Hon. C. Taylor: I move the committee rise and report the bill complete without amendment.

Bill 5, Supply Act (No. 2), 2005, reported complete without amendment, read a third time and passed.

D. Thorne: First, I want to congratulate you, Sindi Hawkins, and Sue Hammell on your election to this respected chair.

Mr. Speaker: Member, I must remind you that you can't use personal names. You can use their constituencies.

I also want to congratulate the other 75 MLAs sitting on both sides of this House. I am humbled to represent the people of Coquitlam-Maillardville, and I thank them for their trust in me.

I must also thank my husband Neil Edmondson and our sons Jay and Lee Edmondson for putting up with me throughout my political endeavours. And special thanks to my large extended family. My brother John Thorne is actually up there today with his wife and friend. I also thank my friend Sue Stretch — from my original home in Newfoundland to Vancouver Island. And thanks to my campaign workers, of course.

All of these people have supported me in one way or another during elections in the past 15 years, and I certainly appreciate every one of them. Thanks also to the staff and councillors of the city of Coquitlam, with whom I spent nine years as a councillor. I miss them every day. I would particularly like to acknowledge Linda Asgeirsson, my new constituency assistant. Linda previously ran the Coquitlam-Maillardville office from 1986 to 2001 with efficiency, compassion and tenacity. She has returned, and her experience is my peace of mind. Also, I respectfully note the hard work of my predecessor, Richard Stewart, who served our community during the last legislative term.

Lastly, but with the highest regard, I reserve special appreciation for my mentor John Cashore, who served my constituency with integrity for 15 years as an MLA and cabinet minister and who retired at the end of the 36th legislative session. I would not be here without his friendship and encouragement. His legacy of honesty and ethical service is legendary, not only in Coquitlam-Maillardville but in communities throughout this province. I can only dream about filling his very large footsteps.

During his time in office, Mr. Cashore's contributions were most impressive. Transportation improvements during the Cashore years are numerous: the West Coast Express, the Barnett Highway widening, the Johnson–Mariner Way and Broadway connectors in Coquitlam and the high-occupancy vehicle lanes on the Trans-Canada Highway. Mr. Cashore was also the Environment Minister who gave us the Pinecone Burke Provincial Park and the Colony Farm Regional Park.

Mr. Cashore made British Columbia the first jurisdiction in North America to reach the United Nations goal of 12 percent land protection with a record 345 protected areas and parks that were created during the NDP decade. Mr. Cashore oversaw the Nisga'a treaty, a historic breakthrough in British Columbia and Canada's relationship with our first nations

peoples. And if that weren't enough, he was also instrumental in bringing the new David Lam Campus of Douglas College to Coquitlam.

I would like to tell this assembly a bit about myself and my constituency. I have lived in the Coquitlam area for 34 years. Neil and I raised our sons there, where they graduated from district 43's fine public school system, attending both the Montessori and the French immersion programs, and later Douglas College.

Coquitlam-Maillardville is located in the northeast sector of the Greater Vancouver regional district, approximately 15 miles east of Vancouver. Our neighbours are Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and New Westminster. Coquitlam was founded in 1891 at Fraser Mills on the Fraser River in Maillardville, once a thriving French Canadian community. Sadly, Fraser Mills has now closed, but Maillardville's francophone community continues to honour its history and culture with the annual Festival du Bois, which is acclaimed throughout British Columbia and western Canada.

Coquitlam-Maillardville is now a riding of approximately 50,000 people, who, according to the last census in 2001, speak an astounding 52 different languages, with almost 37 percent able to speak one of the Chinese dialects. In fact, our Asian population has doubled during the last ten years, bringing to our community a rich culture of celebration, food, music, art and, of course, many new businesses.

What many people may not realize about the Tri-Cities is that it is the fourth most popular destination in British Columbia for government-sponsored refugees. Since the last census, we've experienced considerable growth in both the Afghan and Iranian refugee populations. According to a recent article in the Coquitlam Now, between January '03 and February '05 the federal government brought some 7,500 refugees to Canada as permanent residents. Of those, 950 came to British Columbia, and 12 percent of those all came to the Tri-Cities.

Therefore, I find it fitting to acknowledge the fine work of SUCCESS, an organization which you are all familiar with. Despite the untimely death of its executive director Lillian To earlier this year, SUCCESS continues to provide a wide range of services for new immigrants and English-as-a-second-language clients living in the Tri-Cities and Maple Ridge. From its location in Coquitlam, SUCCESS offers resettlement, language training, family and youth services, group and community services, volunteer development, employment and business development assistance.

I have a particular fondness myself for SUCCESS. When they opened their first office many years ago in Coquitlam, I was a family-life educator, and at that time I initiated the area's first multicultural parenting course with SUCCESS. While this influx of refugees and immigrants enriches our lives in Coquitlam, it also adds a strain to an already struggling school district and to social services structures as the demand grows for English-as-a-second-language classes and for other social services necessary to help students and their families to adjust and learn.

My community is rich with volunteers of all ages and abilities. The last time I counted, we had close to 140 different groups of volunteers in the areas of arts, religion, environment, community services and sport. My invitations to attend events hosted by these dedicated groups are numerous, and unfortunately, I cannot get to every one. However, I would like to recognize a few that I have had the recent pleasure of attending.

On Sunday, September 11, I walked in the first annual Tri-City Parkinson's Walk For Life with my friend, long-time community policing volunteer Tony Cornfort. Tony continues to coordinate the Parkinson's support group in Coquitlam along with his wife Doreen, and they put together this inspiring event in spite of this debilitating disease.

Another valuable group in Coquitlam is Branch 263 of the Royal Canadian Legion and the ladies' auxiliary, whose members raise thousands of dollars every year for local charities. They assist in local emergencies, provide low-cost housing and hold events such as the annual Remembrance Day ceremony. This past Saturday, I had the honour of attending their first candlelight tribute honouring veterans at Coquitlam's Robinson Memorial Park cemetery.

Sunday morning I and thousands of others participated in the 25th anniversary of the hometown run for Terry Fox in Port Coquitlam. This was my personal 23rd walk in Port Coquitlam. I've only missed two years. What more can I say about our local hero, Terry Fox, than has already been said? He has touched the heart of every one of us.

Environmental protection is extremely important to my constituents. Several respected organizations were involved on Sunday doing the annual Treefest at the Riverview Hospital grounds. There I talked with many hard-working volunteers of the Burke Mountain Naturalists, the Riverview Horticultural Society and ArtsConnect, who sponsored this event with the city of Coquitlam. Tours of the Riverview trees are held regularly throughout the year, thanks to these volunteers who provide the public and politicians with a wealth of knowledge about this valuable site.

Riverview was established in 1904 to house mentally ill people. Originally named Essondale, it once covered more than 1,000 acres of forest and floodplain. British Columbia's first provincial botanist, John Davidson, started a nursery, botanical garden and arboretum there, planting more than 600 native species from around the province. In 1916 Mr. Davidson moved to the new University of British Columbia, and he took with him the botanical garden plants, but he left the nursery and arboretum, of course.

Patients worked in the nursery, which flourished and provided trees for public institutions throughout the province, including these very legislative buildings. Riverview now has close to 2,000 mature trees. Some could grow another 100 years or more, giving these lands a presence that could only be imagined by John Davidson.

Since the 1950s Riverview has gone from a hospital that provided care and housing for thousands of patients and employment for hundreds of others…. Cur-

rently many hospital buildings are empty, and plans are to close the hospital within a few years, leaving a few patients living in the relatively new Connolly Lodge and two residences yet to be built.

I remind you, Madam Speaker, that many patients released from Riverview in the past have added to the growing number of people with mental illness living in Coquitlam ravines, in abandoned buildings and in Vancouver's downtown east side streets. Whatever is decided for the future of Riverview's 244 remaining acres — from the 1,000 — I ask on behalf of my constituents that patients will be taken care of with proper housing and medical care at Riverview and that the historic buildings, gardens and our famous arboretum will remain in public hands.

In fact, on Sunday I spoke with a patient advocate who lives at Riverview. This advocate is a strong proponent of providing housing for people with mental illnesses in existing buildings on the Riverview lands. This request also has the backing of all of Coquitlam city council, which has recently produced a community task force report calling for the full public protection of the Riverview lands and buildings. This report was forwarded to the Liberal government earlier this year.

Pinecone Lake Provincial Park, a magnificent park, has been available in my region to lower mainland families for ten years. Unfortunately, there are still no washroom facilities in the park, and directional signs are needed to guide potential visitors to the main trail entrance. Also, two years ago a culvert washed out, destroying the opportunity for any family to access the park's easiest hikes. Constituents who have been phoning my office have the understanding that the provincial parks department has no plans to replace this culvert over Pritchard Creek. I wonder why this government would want to prevent people in the lower mainland from having full access to this wonderful park on their doorstep.

Families in Coquitlam-Maillardville are also involved in a wide variety of sports, from teams of enthusiastic young children to more competitive adult professionals. I'd just like to mention a few recent victories. For the second year in a row the standout Coquitlam-Moody Reds peewee baseball team laid claim to the Canadian national peewee championship in P.E.I.

Also, Coquitlam car racer Sean McIntosh won back-to-back victories on the 2005 Formula Renault U.K. Championship circuit. He is 20 years old, and he has recorded his second-place showing in preparation for the next stage — an astounding feat. Coquitlam and the northeast sector are well known for the car racers that they have produced. As well, Coquitlam soccer player Andrew Corazza put his name in the record books by tying SFU's all-time points lead in his last four years of playing.

Coquitlam has experienced unprecedented growth in the last few years. As a city councillor, I worked hard to make the best decisions possible for the health and safety of my community. My constituency is in a suburb, and people who live there most often commute elsewhere to earn their living. Traffic congestion is unrelenting, and the bus service is inadequate. For 20 years my predecessors have spoken in this chamber about Coquitlam's traffic problems and the lack of rapid transit. Yes, I know that for ten of these years my party was in power. These are obviously not easy problems to solve.

Rapid transit continues to be a dream for my constituents. According to the last census, a disappointing 80 percent of them drove their own vehicles to work, while just a small percentage was able to walk or to take public transit. This is unacceptable at a time when we are concerned about the effect that air quality is having on our health and on the environment — never mind the escalating price of gas.

Residents of the Greater Vancouver regional district continue to rate traffic congestion as their number-one issue in terms of quality of life, air quality and the impact on the economy. The budget was disappointingly silent on the methods the government plans to use to speed up the movement of goods to and from our ports — a crucial, crucial issue. As well, we need more HOV lanes, and we need more public transit from Vancouver to Chilliwack along the Trans-Canada Highway.

According to the most recent census, the labour force in Coquitlam-Maillardville is changing. Once mainly working class, it is now ranging from workers in a strong retail trade to a high number of professionals in education and health care. During my election campaign, education, health care and crime were among the top concerns in my community. Although the crime rate in Coquitlam is generally low, an unusually high percentage of offences are drug-related, and a large number of resources are being diverted to this area. This raises public concern about lack of timely police response to other calls such as traffic accidents and property crime. This is creating anxiety about a perceived increase in crime in Coquitlam. I'm sure members on both sides of this House are willing to start working harder towards solutions to this ongoing drug-related problem that we share in all of our cities.

Regarding health care, I will quote my predecessor, former Liberal MLA Richard Stewart. In his maiden legislative speech on July 31, 2001, Mr. Stewart said: "Our health care system is in crisis. British Columbians have lost faith in health care, and health care workers have been beat up for a decade and are looking for solutions for the long term."

Since then the situation has worsened. Many health care workers have lost their jobs to privatization while others have taken painful pay cuts. Regional health boards are investigating complaints about dirty hospitals, rising infection rates and inedible food being served to patients. Seniors still occupy acute care beds while waiting for long-term care beds that are unavailable, putting an extra strain on our emergency wards and the health care system in general.

Surgery wait-lists remain unacceptable. For example, Dr. Kevin Parkinson, an ophthalmologist who lives and practises in my riding, now has to operate at Ridge

Meadows Hospital because of the closure of St. Mary's in New Westminster. He tells me that he has the longest surgery wait-list in this province. This is unacceptable. Dr. Parkinson is very angry that Vancouver patients wait only a few weeks for cataract surgery, while last week he operated on a patient he booked more than a year ago, in March 2004. This is public information available on the government's own surgical waiting list website and is totally unacceptable in 2005.

Speaking of education, our school district 43 is the third-largest in British Columbia, and I must point out that it's one of the lowest-funded per student in the province. It is also one of the largest employers in the school district. The possibility of labour unrest continues to cause stress to teachers, student and parents. On behalf of my constituents, I implore this government to negotiate a fair settlement with our teachers. It will be difficult for this government to reach its great goal of education, a great goal we all share, if there is no satisfactory resolution to the current impasse between teachers and their employers.

I support the government in its desire to promote literacy in our schools, but we need proper resources in order to achieve this. I remember that when my children were young, we had librarians and art specialists in elementary schools, the number of special education teachers was growing rather than diminishing, and we had smaller classes.

My constituents are also concerned about rising post-secondary tuition fees and the lack of space in popular programs at Douglas College, such as the university transfer. This government has promised to increase post-secondary seats, and Coquitlam taxpayers are watching to see that happen.

I am concerned that the updated budget included no new funds or initiatives to support apprenticeships or trades training. We know there is a severe shortage of trades coming. Even now, it's difficult to find skilled workers. Government assistance for training would go a long way to helping undereducated and impoverished young people work towards financial independence.

I do want to tell you about a new program in school district 43 of which we are all very proud. It's a one-year pilot program for first nations children at Vanier Elementary School. It's an afternoon kindergarten where first nations children will have their own teacher, cultural support worker and speech language pathologist. It will serve 15 students who will go to their regular morning kindergartens in their neighbourhood schools and then be taken to Vanier.

District 43 has been developing this program for a while and is to be congratulated for its vision to foster early literacy skills and pride in the heritage of these children. It is an example of what can be accomplished when all our systems are working properly.

As a city councillor, I worked with members of the Kwayhquitlum first nation, a small band that makes its home on the Coquitlam River. I hope, in my new role as their provincial representative, I can build on this relationship.

I look forward to my role as the critic for child care and early learning development. It's a job close to my heart. As Coquitlam city council's representative on the Ministry of Children and Family Development's community consultative committee, founder and director of the PoCoMo Youth Services Society and a longtime member of the Tri-Cities Women's Resource Society, I have a long history of commitment to affordable, accessible and quality child care. I believe there is a strong connection between quality child care and youth at risk.

My professional life served only to strengthen my resolve to care for the province's children. Since 1972, when I became the director of continuing education for school district 11 in Trail, I have been working to support families, and that includes reliable child care for parents who must work to pay the bills. I've worked for several community social service agencies during the last 20 years and know that the need for affordable, enriching and safe care for children is growing.

Earlier this summer I watched with anxiety as the government began making funding announcements in the areas of early childhood development and child care. These dollars, though welcome, don't come close to filling the gap that has been left by four years of cuts from the Liberal government. I am concerned that this government has no accountability mechanism in place for child care spending. It is a government that has a history of funnelling child care dollars into other provincial programs. Accountability measures must be put in place to ensure that every penny allotted to child care is spent on child care.

While many B.C. parents are no doubt pleased the government has announced that child care subsidies will rise again — back to the old levels — and that qualifying income thresholds have been lowered, what they're really looking for is a long-term plan for child care that makes child care available and affordable in all communities. We badly need this investment in child care. During the election campaign the NDP put forward a comprehensive vision for child care centred on the principles of quality, universality, accessibility, early childhood development and accountability. Now that the government's own child and youth officer is making exactly the same recommendations, it is even more essential that a comprehensive plan be put forward.

Let me refer to a copy I received of a letter from one of my constituents. A grandmother of three preschoolers, Joyce Gudaitis is concerned about school dropouts, many of whom are now parents dealing with a host of problems, not the least of which is poverty and addiction. Many children of these young parents need specialized care and a learning centre such as the Step Together Learning Centre in Coquitlam, an excellent facility that offers preschool with staff trained to identify and work with children with special needs.

Raising children is a challenge for all of us, even the most privileged, but parents surviving on salaries close to minimum wage — even while eligible for maximum subsidies — often cannot afford specialized learning

centres. Perhaps it is the subsidy system itself that is at the heart of this problem. In my opinion, if we want stability in the child care system, we need to consider ongoing operational funding for child care centres so that they can plan ahead, attract high-quality staff and keep fees for parents affordable.

Madam Speaker, as I read over the words that my friend, the retired Coquitlam-Maillardville MLA John Cashore, so passionately spoke in this chamber in 1987 — yes, almost 20 years ago — I am deeply saddened by how little has changed on so many levels. It is unacceptable that we still have thousands of youth out of work who are also unable to afford post-secondary education. Many of them have not even finished high school, and as we know, a disproportionately high percentage is first nations youth with these serious ongoing problems.

Mr. Cashore spoke of a housing crisis for low-income people and asked the government to address poverty and to address the economic and social consequences of deinstitutionalization of people with mental illness from hospitals. He asked that decision-makers act with a strong social conscience. Yet almost 20 years later the gap between wealthy and poor continues to grow, as does the number of food banks. Let us remember that food banks were supposed to provide temporary help in hard times and are now fixtures throughout our province.

All that New Democrats have ever asked for is fairness and justice in the distribution of wealth. I wonder why this task is so difficult.

I am heartened that the province is doing so well economically. My husband and I have owned and operated several small businesses during the past 35 years, and I've learned much from taking part in the city of Coquitlam and GVRD budget processes. The economy is doing well, but people throughout the province are still struggling to make ends meet. Seniors are still waiting for long-term care beds. Too many parents are still paying high school fees in the public school system. Too many people still can't afford post-secondary education, because the combination of tuition and high living costs is too high for the minimum-wage jobs they are able to get.

The government still isn't dealing adequately with pine beetles. There are still not enough conservation officers or government scientists to do the job of protecting our environment. Transportation gridlock is still, sadly, a nightmare for many British Columbians.

In closing, Madam Speaker, I believe it is time to move forward in this province by bringing all parties to the table and working out equitable solutions that benefit all British Columbians. As a former city councillor, I know very well that it's impossible to make everyone happy all of the time, and some group or somebody will always be disappointed with decisions. But let's let that disappointment be based on consultation and open discussion.

I am proud to be a part of this assembly, and I thank you very much for the opportunity to speak on behalf of Coquitlam-Maillardville constituents.

I. Black: Madam Speaker, let me begin by echoing my congratulations to you and our Speaker and the other deputy.

It is with reverence and humility that I rise today in this House to make my inaugural address in the form of a response to our government's budget update. But it is also with confidence and great pride that I do so as the representative of the remarkable communities of Anmore, Belcarra, Coquitlam and Port Moody — and, dare I say, the best part of Coquitlam, with all due respect to the members for Coquitlam-Maillardville and Burquitlam. These comprise the riding of Port Moody–Westwood.

I am astonished at the level of support I felt from constituents over the past several months and humbled by the efforts increasingly expended on my behalf by people who were complete strangers not too long ago. To these constituents I offer my sincere thanks for their faith in me and the B.C. Liberals to continue managing the affairs of this great province. I would be remiss, too, if I didn't recognize the efforts of the Port Moody–Westwood riding association both past and present, my campaign executive team and the literally hundreds of volunteers and supporters whose collective contributions delivered a convincing result on May 17.

Most importantly, I am profoundly grateful for the support and encouragement of my family and friends in Port Moody–Westwood, across this great country and indeed from across two oceans. I am specifically mindful of the extraordinary commitment that lies ahead for my wife Chris, whose belief in the passion for the importance of this place and the work done within it manifests itself in her shouldering the enormous task of continuing to raise our three young kids without my regular day-to-day presence for weeks at a time and in the process conceding further investment or advancement opportunities in the career she so loves. While the greatest cause of any angst I will feel for being among you is the fact that I am not with them, at the same time, they remain my greatest inspiration and an ongoing reminder to tackle the workload that lies ahead of us all with focus, tenacity and honour.

In my address today I'd like to share with you a description of our community and then give you a sense of its people, followed by some specific comments on our budget update. I'll then share with you some insights and observations with respect to the road that has brought me here. Over 61,000 people comprise the riding of Port Moody–Westwood. We are distinctly culturally diverse with vibrant and very active ethnic communities of Chinese, Korean, south Asian, west Asian, Filipino and Persian backgrounds, making up almost 40 percent of our population. I was delighted to work with so many of these communities and their leaders in my election bid. Indeed, I can now claim to have brought greetings to my constituents in several languages, including my first attempts — and, I dare say, not good ones — at Farsi.

Our riding is both a tale of two cities and a tale of two villages. My riding includes the village of Anmore, a great example of how a small community can maintain a real interaction with the environment. This community embraces their role in helping the higher-density areas maintain an association to Belcarra Regional Park, Indian Arm Park and Buntzen Lake, and they remain enthusiastic about helping the lower mainland gain access to them.

My riding also includes the village of Belcarra. Epitomizing the relaxed west coast lifestyle, Belcarra is surrounded by mountains, forest and a majestic deepwater fjord. Most of Belcarra Regional Park lies within the village of Belcarra itself and is a major attraction for residents and visitors alike, offering a rare combination of accessible and attractive public beaches, picnic areas, campgrounds and waterfront parks. I might add that they also throw one heck of a fall barbecue, which I attended a couple of weeks ago.

With a population of 25,000, the city of Port Moody lives up to its reputation as the City of the Arts, hosting among other events the annual Golden Spike Days, the Port Moody film festival, a multitude of galleries, Artists in the Park, the wearable art competition and, of course, its renowned annual Festival of the Arts.

Port Moody now maintains both an industrial occupation base, many of them enjoying a much-needed rebound during the past four years, as well as an explosion of suburban residences. Its first early moment of fame actually came back in 1879. It was then that it was officially named as the western terminus for the Canadian Pacific Railway, the transcontinental line that was promised in 1871 by Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald to entice British Columbia into Confederation. It appears that even back then, political promises took nine years to deliver.

The first passenger train from Montreal arrived in Port Moody at noon on July 4, 1886, with about 150 people after a 139-hour trip — which, by my math, is about the same amount of time it currently takes to get from Chilliwack to the Vancouver Airport, which is why we have to twin the Port Mann Bridge. But I'll come back to that later.

Coquitlam is a wonderful modern city of over 115,000. It is leading in many ways in sustainable development with the town centre, which is in my riding, being a focal point for civic, cultural and educational services. In my riding and within a single area of only a few blocks, Coquitlam has soccer fields, baseball diamonds — home to the Coquitlam-Moody Reds that we've heard so much about — artificial turf, an aquatic centre, a large outdoor stadium and park, a cultural centre, the public safety building, Coquitlam city hall, Pinetree Secondary School, the Pinetree Community Centre and the David Lam campus of Douglas College, which is soon to be greatly expanded thanks in no small part to the $32 million investment of this government.

I could spend quite some time outlining how these four very distinct communities in my riding have directly benefited from the efforts of this government and its remarkable performance managing our provincial affairs in the past four years, such as our key financing and facilitating role in enabling rapid transit to finally come to our community. I use the word "finally" because many of you may not know, and those of you who do should be reminded, that the NDP promised to expand SkyTrain to the Tri-Cities. Then they went $600 million over budget in their attempt to do so without ever putting an inch of track beyond the city of Burnaby. The NDP managed the Ministry of Transportation at that time in such a fashion that people in our riding paid, on average, about $2,700 per family for a rapid transit system that didn't come anywhere near us. At long last, this will be rectified in the coming years.

It has also seen material improvements to our own Eagle Ridge Hospital as part of the record spending that this government has allocated to health care, including new operating rooms, new programs and a new CT scanner — which, I might add, on its own reduced by over 50 percent the waiting time for people requiring access to that technology.

The 100-percent return of the traffic fines went directly to our additional law enforcement in very tangible and measurable ways. Of course, anyone living in the Heritage Mountain part of my riding knows about the brand-new $27 million high school that we built and the millions of dollars in capital grants to other schools, including providing high-speed Internet access throughout.

This list goes on and on and, frankly, in the provincial context, has already been extensively and eloquently covered by my colleagues and new friends in this chamber. You see, our constituents know this, which is a key reason they chose to put me here. Let me instead focus on the people who make up the best region in this province in which to raise a family and why I'm so very proud to represent them.

We're a community that includes Matthew Folz, a recent graduate from Port Moody Secondary who was one of 13 B.C. students to be honoured with the Premier's Excellence Award. Matthew has won a scholarship from Simon Fraser University as well as a Canada Millennium Excellence Award and the Phoenix Award as top all-around grad. He was also the winner in the junior division of the Leonardo da Vinci exam in mathematics and physics and was a provincial medallist for the Canadian open mathematics competition, and he qualified for the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad. I dare say that our Minister of Finance may wish to see his face in her office soon.

We are a community that also includes the Mountain View housing co-op, with whom I celebrated the burning of their mortgage recently. As one of the first co-ops in British Columbia to pay off their mortgage, they are proof that cooperative housing works to the betterment of families and communities and for the dignity and pride of the co-op's members, most of them seniors and families. I was honoured that they invited me to share in the thrill of this remarkable achieve-

ment, and I hope they invite me back again soon, because they put on a wonderful outdoor party.

We're also a community that includes the SHARE Family and Community Services Society, a non-profit, independent, community-based agency providing leadership and programs in response to the social needs of the residents of the Tri-Cities and adjacent communities. Their funding comes from a variety of sources, including this government.

I love the way that Joanne Granek, the executive director, describes the philosophy around this great organization. She says: "Everyone has some responsibilities for the quality of life within our communities — businesses, private citizens, government — but we are always much stronger when we all hold hands together." I, for one, have always believed in this philosophy, and I know I am not alone in this House in doing so.

Finally, we're a community that includes Ivett Gonda, a Port Moody athlete who competes in tae kwan do. I met her last weekend at the Canadian Olympic Committee event. She is Canada's national champion, the Pan American Games gold medallist and an Olympian — she placed fifth in Athens — whose remarkable achievements to date are eclipsed only by the fact that she's 19 years old and her best years and achievements are still ahead of her.

For these reasons and many more, I'm so proud of my community and so proud to represent Port Moody–Westwood in this House. But our community also faces issues and concerns, like all communities. While the past and present are the source of my pride in my community, it is the future of my community and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead that serve as my reasons for being in this very hall.

First and foremost for us is the issue of growth. We have grown and plan to continue, to the tune of about 60 percent to 62 percent over a ten-year period. It will touch almost every provincial ministry as we navigate the tricky issues of hospitals, schools, roads, recreational facilities, etc., to accommodate that growth.

Clearly in the minds of my constituents is the issue of transportation. We are feeling the impact of the infrastructure deficit inherited by this government four years ago and the legacy of lack of investment into the infrastructure of the 1990s government. Projects like the Port Mann Bridge twinning, the Pitt River Bridge, the rapid transit and the gateway project cannot happen quickly enough for the citizens of my riding.

Also very close to top of mind is the issue of public safety in my community. Grow ops have certainly been in the news a lot, and they are a very prevalent and very large problem in our area, followed on an increasing basis by the issue of crystal meth, which has been discussed many times in this House by members on both sides. I can assure you that the communities are aware of it. As recently as last night I attended a full house at the Coquitlam city hall for a forum on this very topic. It was remarkably and refreshingly non-partisan. I believe that when we work together as communities, we will find answers to this horrible thing.

We also have the trend that many other ridings have, which is with respect to the population of the elderly and its growing representation within our communities, which of course brings issues of subsidized housing and health care along with it. This budget update, then, is great for my riding. It represents the next part of a balanced and comprehensive plan that further expands, due to our ability to do so, our crucial social safety net and ongoing pursuit of social justice.

In particular — and again, the broader points have already been extensively covered by my colleagues — I was most impressed with the additional $242 million over three years to improve the lives of senior citizens. The renewing of the seniors supplement to provide a monthly benefit for approximately 40,000 low-income seniors, the doubling of the annual funding of the Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters — the SAFER program — and the expansion of its coverage will immediately help approximately 12,000 seniors who are already receiving SAFER benefits, and will open the program to an additional 7,200.

Our challenge is not simple, and it requires a responsible and credible strategy. This plan and the budget update it includes represent that strategy and the best chance that the needs of Port Moody–Westwood can be addressed in a fiscally sound and, equally as important, sustainable manner.

It's important to remember that the last four years entailed the performing of repair work on a near-bankrupt province at a time when so many of our social services needed funding or a complete reinvention to ensure their sustainability. If we ran our households in the way that the NDP government of the 1990s ran this province, we and our families wouldn't qualify for a bank loan for a bicycle. This should not have been the case, Madam Speaker.

In the 1990s, under the NDP, we experienced as a global community the greatest economic expansion in human history, and we were left out in the cold. We sank to last place in Canada, with all of the resources and the magnificent talents of our people, and became the laughingstock of our country as economies worldwide were booming.

I know of what I speak. As the president and CEO of technology companies during that time, I know what it's like to watch the exodus of talented staff and to become grossly handicapped as people and financial resources went elsewhere — anywhere but here. Under the B.C. Liberals, however, and against a slowing global economy and a long list of global and natural disasters, we achieved the long journey back from last to first.

British Columbia now has, according to the paper just the other day, the lowest per-capita net debt of all regions of Canada that still carry debt burdens. It's now down to just above $5,000 per citizen, with a national average of over $8,300 per citizen.

Ours is a province, a community, of remarkable opportunity. We're a people of tremendous capability and character. We have so much of which to be proud. We have come so far in only four years, yet much work

remains ahead to continue the desperately needed transformation of our province from one that stalled during a decade of NDP rule to the national leader that we are today by virtually every national economic indicator.

The people of this province recognized this fact, and thus, here we are with a strong majority, relishing in a historical re-election to continue on this intelligent, balanced and prosperous path that our province's citizens have clearly indicated that they want followed.

You know, in my brief tenure here I feel compelled to share that I'm also a little disturbed by some of what I've witnessed during the election and what I continue to see repeated by members of the opposition in this House. To be clear, though, I'm not speaking of the different views. I certainly don't begrudge the opposition their ideological convictions. Indeed, in this hall we celebrate this divide every day, irrespective of how draconian, contradictory, impractical or lacking in basic economic theory their views may be. I'm even wearing my NDP tie today, I should point out.

However, there are a few things we must point out. I've noticed in a disturbing fashion the glee and the sanctimony apparent in the attitudes — and the spring in the step in the hallways — of the opposition. I've never seen a group of people more excited about having lost an election.

On May 17, B.C. was given a choice: they could go forward, or they could go backward. They could go back to the decade where ferries didn't work and our people didn't really, either. They could go back to a decade where students were seduced by the NDP promises of frozen tuition but then betrayed by their subsequent gutting of the funding to their colleges and universities. Ultimately, our citizens decided whether to go forward into a new golden decade or to go back to the bronze age of the NDP.

Now, speaking of the golden decade and our other plans and strategies for improving B.C., I'm noting the very derisive way that the names of our various plans and strategies are being mocked within this House. Debate our plan — please, debate our plan — but let's at least acknowledge that there's a plan there to be debated.

The NDP platform — and I do use that term very loosely — that they tossed around during the election and since the election is a mishmash of concepts that's incomplete, inaccurate, misleading and, frankly, intellectually dishonest. It's a cross somewhere between The Da Vinci Code and a black-and-white Snoopy cartoon, except for the fact that it lacks the substance of the former and the creativity and imagination of the latter. Secondly, I do struggle with the notion that this is some sort of a massive moral victory, a comeback, or — even more far-fetched — a reinvention of the opposition.

The composition of this House may not have reflected it, but they never really were gone, so let's not overstate this. This is not like the Conservative Party federally in 1993, which lost its leader, its funding and everything that went with it. The funding, the infrastructure and certainly the control of the unions never disappeared. Standing back and looking at the roster of the NDP candidates, many of whom now sit among us, you had ten former Glen Clark MLAs, six former Glen Clark cabinet ministers, six big union executives and up to 25 declaring close ties to unions. There is no such thing as the new NDP.

Thirdly, it concerns me that the composition of our House, particularly the opposition, arrived here based in no small part on incomplete and misleading information. I heard a lot of very superficial and hollow sound bites during the election but, again, no plan of their own. I heard lots of criticism for very small elements and very specific items of this province's performance over the last four years that were attacked, but never once did I hear an alternative that was comprehensive from A to Z — not once.

I think one of the things that concerned me most was the various debate that has been mentioned once or twice here pertaining to numbers, specifically the words "cutback" and "cuts." This government is the only elected jurisdiction in Canada, and to my knowledge in North America, that conforms to an international accounting standard called GAAP — generally accepted accounting principles. Now, this is pretty boring accounting stuff; I'll acknowledge that. But I can tell you, as the former president and CEO of a publicly traded company, we by law must follow GAAP. I understand intimately what that means. It means there's no room for being creative with the math. A dollar is a dollar. You can't turn a deficit into a surplus, as has been known to happen in British Columbia. It takes away the wiggle room. It takes away the debate for the numbers.

When I heard discussion of cuts to education, it concerned me because following GAAP, it was impossible for us to claim that. When I heard about cuts to health care, it concerned me because according to GAAP it would be impossible for us to declare an increased expenditure — record expenditures in that area — if it were not factually true.

I think what concerns me the most in that whole issue is that we have got business-experienced people in the opposition — presidents of companies, no less — who knew better, and they sat idly by as these sound bites and groundless attacks…. They were blessed, then printed, then propagated knowing that, because of this adherence to this standard, we as the B.C. Liberals would be — as we have indeed since been — vindicated completely by the Auditor General as to the allegations made by the NDP.

Now, when they weren't messing with the numbers, the opposition were assigning blame for this false data where it didn't belong. My favourite example of that simply is the school boards. This government delegated the responsibility of deciding how local communities should spend their school dollars down to the school board level, including allocation of resources and how money was to be spent, and yet the provincial government, a level removed from those decisions, was the convenient punching bag and pinata through the election.

Because I have touched on the issue of education, I want to share with you one story that happened to me during the election that probably illustrates this better than any other. It was after an all-candidates meeting at the Westwood Plateau Community Association when I was surrounded by a group of very agitated representatives from the teachers union who were quite agitated about the strength with which I was supporting this government and what it's done with education.

In the process I said: "You know, it concerns me that representatives of the union, of the group of individuals who are supposed to be teaching our children critical thinking, are not completing a sentence." They looked at me and said: "What do you mean?" I said: "You're putting out signs that talk about X number of schools closed, but you're not completing the sentence saying 'X number of schools opened.' You're putting out numbers saying '1,500 fewer teachers,' but you're not putting out the second half of that sentence that completed it by saying 'Yes, but we have 30,000 fewer students.'" We went on like this. One of these individuals got particularly agitated because at the time I was well versed in the data and could handle the conversation comfortably, which got them quite agitated. One of them actually resorted to a physical incident and shoved one of my campaign workers. That is not the point of this story.

The point of this story is what happened the next day. The next day that same supporter of mine — one of the key folks on my campaign team, actually — by coincidence bumped into the same individual at Simon Fraser University, and the individual walked up to my campaign chairman and said, "I wanted to apologize for my behaviour," which was appropriate, because I can assure you that no teacher would have accepted that behaviour from a student. But the second part of what she said was what was most interesting. She said: "I also want you to know that I looked into what Mr. Black was saying, and it was true."

There was an article in the paper yesterday that spoke about how an issue with our teachers going on strike won't hurt students. This is an issue I know very, very well. I proudly come from many, many generations of school teachers. They are within my own family, including my brother. Both of my parents are very proud school teachers. The issue and the notion that a long strike wouldn't hurt students…. The comment was lame, it was ignorant, and it was irresponsible. It was made by somebody who has obviously spent more time in the union hall than in the classroom, where the teachers are truly making a difference.

I would suggest that there should be outrage at the notion that someone would minimize the efforts that the teachers are making — whether they're teaching band, coaching or engaged in other extracurricular activities — and minimize how they impact the lives of our youth. Teachers should be outraged over this dismissive characterization of their efforts and their profession. I can assure you that as a private citizen, I was.

More than any other question put to me in the past year, I have been asked: "Why are you doing this?" There are many cheeky answers you can give to that, Madam Speaker. I can assure you that I've probably given most of them, for the life of a politician is not easy, and it's certainly not something you do for a relaxed, family-oriented lifestyle or for personal financial gain.

Explaining what got me motivated to become more involved in our political system can be best summed up by quoting excerpts from a letter that was submitted to the Vancouver Sun in March of 1999. Commenting on the NDP government of then Premier Glen Clark, it says:

As you can see, I owe our former Premier a debt of gratitude for a rather profound career change. Perhaps it's fitting — in fact, maybe even poetic — that I point out to you, Madam Speaker, that I am currently occupying his old chair and his old desk. With my sights now clearly on the political horizon, I nevertheless do not discount my accumulated business career, the successes within it, the challenges and the many lessons learned. I am very proud of them.

As mentioned earlier, like many in our riding, I have a young family. Let me explain to you once again how they also represent my greatest motivation for pursuing what I believe, despite the rhetoric and the noise, to still be a noble profession. The decisions of government are not often felt for years, and then they continue to be felt for many more. The decisions that this government will make in the next four years will directly impact the lives of my children five, ten and 15 years from now. The decisions facing this government in the next four years will acutely define us as a province and as a people for all the world to see when they arrive on our doorstep in 2010.

We will stick to our plan. We will continue to lead our nation in financial growth and regulatory and legislative reform, and we will continue to protect and

expand our social safety net, confident in the knowledge that British Columbia has been delivered from a place of frustration and embarrassment to the pride of this great nation.

R. Chouhan: It's indeed an honour and privilege to stand in this beautiful House and make my maiden speech. You know, I've been involved in politics on the outside since 1975. I came here many times, looked at this House and thought: when would I be sitting in this House? My dream has come true now.

First of all, Madam Speaker, congratulations. It's indeed a proud moment for all of us to have a woman sitting in that seat, a woman of colour and a woman from the South Asian community. Congratulations.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people of Burnaby-Edmonds who helped in a tremendous way to get me elected. In my election almost 11,000 people voted for me. Hundreds of volunteers came out and worked day in and day out. I want to thank them and want to assure them that the work they did in my election…. I'll do my utmost to work on their behalf to make sure that they are truly represented in this House.

I would like to thank my family — my wife Inder, my two daughters Anu and Amrita, and my son-in-law Jamie Sanford — for their trust, support and understanding in helping me before and during the election.

My election team was led by Carolyn Chalifoux, who spent so much time to make sure that we had our message of hope taken to every household in Burnaby-Edmonds. I would also like to thank my association executive and president Paul McDonell, the man who has worked so hard to get me elected.

In Burnaby I'm very privileged to have a team of people. As an MLA, when we all go to our particular communities, we work for people. When you have the city of Burnaby — the Burnaby city council, Mayor Derek Corrigan…. They're all friends. We work hard. We work together as a team to make sure the people of Burnaby are represented in a true manner, as they are supposed to be. Indeed, it becomes a very privileged moment for me when I have that kind of support from city hall.

I would also like to extend my congratulations to my dear friend Peter Julian, our MP for Burnaby–New Westminster. All of us work as a team to make sure our issues are taken care of.

I would also like to thank my constituency assistant Sam Schechter who, when I'm not there, works so hard representing people, keeping the office open, outreaching to people and taking care that all the cases are taken care of. Our office is now open at 7879 Edmonds Street, ready to serve all citizens of Burnaby-Edmonds.

The member immediately before me talked at great length about consulting working people. Members from the other side have been talking about the Liberal agenda in the last four years, but before I talk about and answer some of their issues — the allegations that they have levied against us — let me talk about my journey in Canada, about my story about working people and their struggles.

I came to Canada in 1973. I had different dreams and aspirations as a young boy, but that was a time in the '70s when I found out that people who are working on the farms in the lower mainland, in the Fraser Valley…. There were many people from the South Asian community, elderly and women and children…. That was the time when those people were working without any health and safety regulations. There was no coverage in the Employment Standards Act. I became curious to find out. Coming from a farming family background myself, I wanted to know what conditions were there.

At that time, when I was planning to go to school, I found an ad in the paper asking people to go to the Fraser Valley to work with a labour contractor. Just out of curiosity, I called one of the labour contractors. I went into his van. They'd go to people's houses early in the morning to pick people up, and they'd carry those people in Econoline vans. Those Econoline vans are equipped to carry only about 13 people, but they removed the seats from those vans. They were carrying 30 to 35 people in those vans — totally unsafe. People who were taken to work, as I mentioned earlier, were elderly South Asian men and women and, during the summertime, lots of young women and children as well.

These were the people who were exposed to the use of pesticides and herbicides — no safety regulations. That was not only affecting the farmworkers. It was equally affecting the farmers, because they themselves didn't know the harmful effects of those pesticides. There was no running water, no toilets. Yet the workers were so afraid to talk about their working conditions.

Sexual abuse was another major problem, but because of social stigma, people were not willing to talk about it. I remember many stories when, during the summertime, young women who were taken to work by the labour contractors were sexually abused. I know some stories where women were forced to abort their children because they were unmarried when they went through that exploitation.

When I found out more about it, I became more curious. I wanted to know more about the farmworkers and their conditions. I asked some of those people the obvious question: why was there no union of farmworkers? Nobody wanted to talk about it. They were so afraid. You know, you mentioned the union, and people simply walked away from you. That was the kind of intimidation they were going through.

With the help of people like Harry Bains, Harinder Mahil, Prof. Hari Sharma, Prof. Chin Banerjee, Sarwan Boal, Charanpal Gill, we went around. We started talking to people, asking people: "Why can't you join a union? What was happening?" We went to Sikh temples; we went to people's houses. Still, people were not talking. It took us six years before we were able to get

some people together in a meeting. That was September 1978. When people came, there were 27 people in that meeting. They were so afraid to talk. They were constantly looking over their shoulder to see if anybody was listening.

That was the beginning of a great movement that we started. After that, we went from town to town. We met with people; we talked to people. It took us one more year to organize these meetings and take our information to people's houses.

Then the historic moment came on April 6, 1980, when the Canadian Farmworkers Union was formed for the first time in the history of Canada. I had the honour to be the founding president of that union.

That was the time I also came to know a great man in history, Cesar Chavez, president of the United Farm Workers of America. I read about him, their struggles, what they were doing. Then I contacted him. Finally, after a few months and a couple of years, Cesar Chavez and I became very good, close friends. He came to Canada many times. He would stay in my house. He is the one who actually taught me how to organize. Such a wonderful man.

On this whole struggle of farmworkers, it became such a broad movement. It wasn't a trade union in the true sense like you would traditionally see, but it was more a social movement. We had set up support committees all over Canada. At all universities students were coming out and helping us, supporting us.

The National Film Board of Canada made a documentary on the plight of farmworkers. That film is called A Time to Rise, a 38-minute documentary. That documentary won the best film award in Germany and also won the best film award in the U.K. Now it's available for everybody to see, and it's used as a very educational tool by many people when they talk about farmworkers.

When you went to the fields in the summertime, you would see many children working there with their parents because parents couldn't afford to have child care. When we were working under the Canadian Farmworkers Union, we were very successful in getting some changes to the Employment Standards Act, the Workers Compensation Act and basic protection for workers. Now we are back to square one.

In 2001, when this government got elected, the changes that took us so many years to make…. They changed those laws back. Now, under the Employment Standards Act, the protection farmworkers enjoyed is no longer there. Children are still working in the field with those pesticides and herbicides, and it's so harmful to their health. We have documented incidents where people were killed. Three children drowned in the field in the Fraser Valley. Rather than learning lessons from those stories, the government only looked at what is convenient to help their friends.

When we're talking about children in agriculture…. Let me quote a paragraph from a study that was done. It says: "Children in agriculture can work. In addition, Canadians should be concerned about the impact of recent changes to the Employment Standards Act which allow children to work at a younger age in an industry such as farming. These changes, coupled with the need to increase the number of farmworkers, may encourage an increasing number of Canadian children to seek employment in this industry."

The B.C. Fruit Growers Association supported changes to employment standards for youth in the hopes that it would streamline paperwork for hiring children. By doing that, they have put children at great risk. That should not be allowed.

I worked with the Canadian Farmworkers Union until 1986. Then in 1986 I left and joined the Hospital Employees Union. I'm very proud to be part of a union which represents professional health care workers.

We heard this morning that the members on the other side do not respect the working people. I'm a proud trade unionist. All my adult life I have been part of the trade union movement, the movement which stands for people, women's rights, workers' rights, children's rights — everybody's rights.

Being the director of the Hospital Employees Union, I had the privilege to serve 46,000 members of the union, the majority of whom are women. Members of the Hospital Employees Union take great pride in what they are doing in the health care industry. They work day in and day out, taking care of the patients and the elderly. But by what we have seen, this government has shown total disrespect for that.

Now, people have been asking me…. Many times they ask why I didn't join politics before. I have been asked to join, provincially and federally, many times. I kept saying no; that's not my thing to do. But then came the defining moment. That was Bill 29. Bill 29 was brought in by the Liberal government in January 2002. This new law eliminated key contract provisions, like protection against contracting-out, seniority rights and labour adjustment programs. It devastated thousands of families — thousands of families.

The people who were working there were women, many of them single mothers. I know many instances where people were forced to sell their houses. They could not send their children to universities, because they could not afford to. They lost their jobs.

You know, I understand why the Liberal government brought in Bill 29. They just wanted to punish the Hospital Employees Union, because the Hospital Employees Union was standing against the Liberal policies. They did that. But they forgot that by doing that, they also have now punished the patients, the elderly — people who were getting the experienced, skilled help from these workers. It's no longer available.

Prior to 2001 the Leader of the Opposition and the current Premier met with the Hospital Employees Union, and he promised that he would not touch the collective agreement of the HEU. But I think that promise was made to be broken, like many other promises.

Bill 29 shattered a legally negotiated agreement in health care and resulted in thousands upon thousands of skilled, experienced health care workers in every

region of the province losing their jobs and being unable to help those in need.

The majority of these workers that I mentioned earlier were women, and they were from the lower mainland. Most of these women were women of colour, and they had been working in the health care industry for about 15 years or more. They were taxpayers, like anybody else. They helped the local economy and helped raise their families. Over the past four years British Columbians have seen just how devastating this legislation has been for workers, patients, residents, families and communities. It's a piece of legislation that never should have seen the light of day.

During the first four years of the Liberal government, we saw nothing but confrontation — confrontation with workers, seniors, teachers and students. They spared no one. One would have hoped that by losing 30 seats, they would have learned their lesson. Unfortunately, in the tone, the talk that we are hearing in this House, it seems like they're still on the same journey. In the budget they just reinforced that the Liberal government cares only about big business and their rich friends. There was no money to deal with surgery wait-lists. No new provincial money to help communities that were ravaged by the mountain pine beetle — only the federal dollars. No new money to protect children at risk. No help for students facing skyrocketing tuition fees. No new money to deal with skill shortages. No increase to the industrial training budget. No new provincial money for child care. That's all federal dollars.

There's no new money to help communities deal with homelessness, which has doubled in four years under the Liberal government. The government is desperate to put their own spin on this whole budget — that it's senior-friendly. Is it really? Let's talk about it. Let me give an example of what this government has really done. It punished B.C.'s most vulnerable by cutting home care and the home support services that helped people live independently and out of hospitals. It broke its promise to seniors to open 5,000 new long-term care beds. It wasted millions on thinly disguised partisan health care advertising.

Despite promising not to, the government was at the same time closing hospitals and making people wait longer for surgery. It privatized health care services, creating dirty hospitals and poor-quality food. The government's record over the past four years shows how out of touch this government is with the rest of British Columbia on health care. This government's record has become one of dirty, crowded hospitals and increasing wait-lists.

Now we see some help for seniors, but it is not even close to what the government has taken away from them. Where is the money to reduce the long wait-lists? Where is the money to reduce homelessness? More and more women are forced to seek help from women's shelters, and to make it more difficult, the government eliminated funding to the women's shelters and centres that were the key services relied upon by hundreds of thousands of women. It has punished the poor and made it harder for people on welfare to re-enter the workforce. It has cut legal aid, hurting those most in need of access to justice.

The government wants us to talk about the booming economy, and it wants to ignore the reality. Where is the money to curb crime? Now, on why young people commit crime…. Who are these young people? These young people are victims of societal problems caused by the B.C. Liberals. A child does not suddenly give up his or her childhood innocence for a knife. There is a lot more to it. When a working parent loses his or her job, apart from the personal trauma and frustration, the people who suffer the most are children.

To continue to provide a roof and provide food for the family, these parents end up working two minimum-wage jobs. The end result is that the parents are spending more time away from their children, and the children are left without any parental supervision. The Liberal government has made it easy for children under the age of 15 to work.

The Liberal government has made it easy for children under the age of 15 to work. When a family is going through financial hardship, we have seen young children end up working to supplement the family income. On Monday, September 12, this House debated the motion that I moved on human rights and the re-establishment of the Human Rights Commission. To defend the government's dismal record on human rights, these members accused the NDP of going backward.

Let me tell you who is going backward. By passing the law on child labour, the B.C. Liberal government has pushed this province into the dark ages of the 19th century. These children are exposed to many dangerous situations. Studies have shown that children as young as 12 are allowed to work. The government members are eager to tell how concerned they are about the well-being of the children, but the reality is totally different.

Let me tell you what the reality is. In a recent study done by the CCPA, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives…. They have done a survey, and this is what they have found out: more than one in five students who currently work reported injuring themselves on the job. That's the reality. And 70.3 percent of working students of the ages 12 to 14 reported that they work without any supervision — no supervision there.

What was happening prior to this new law is that a student of age 15, if they wanted to work, would require a letter from their parent, from the principal of the school and from the director of the employment standards branch. Now what we are seeing is that the letter from the principal or from the school is totally annulled, is not required. Many students who were surveyed have told the people conducting the study that 60 percent of the children who are working there did not have any letter from their parents. The employer did not even ask for that basic thing. No inspector has gone to those workplaces where children were working to inspect if the working conditions were safe. That's the reality.

Even Alberta has better child employment standards. When the students are working, that means they are not studying. If they are not studying, they are losing out on the basic fundamental thing that any child needs to grow and have a bright future.

On Monday, when we were talking about and debating the motion on the Human Rights Commission, we were talking about the functions of the Human Rights Commission and how independent it was. In the turn to defend the government's position on that, we heard that the tribunal-only process we have now is working better, that it's more efficient. Under the Human Rights Commission model, it took nine months to dispose of a complaint. Under the tribunal-only process we have now, it takes 16 months. And that was done without any consultation with the public.

What happened was that when Bill 53 was introduced, and subsequently Bill 64, it was asked on the government website if somebody wants to make a submission. There were 11 submissions made. Out of 11 submissions, eight very strongly recommended that the previous system should stay in place. Only three supported the government position. And they call it public consultation. What a shame.

Let me just briefly talk about my community, Burnaby-Edmonds. Burnaby-Edmonds is the poorest part of Burnaby. All I want to say is that those people need help in Burnaby-Edmonds. This budget has done nothing to protect those people in Burnaby-Edmonds. I hope the government will learn the lesson from what it has done in the past four years and stand up for people who are poor, for women and for working people.

Hon. M. Coell: It's a pleasure to rise in the House today to respond to our September budget update.

I'd like to begin by thanking all those people who have worked so tirelessly on this budget and every budget that we've had since 2001. Your efforts have really helped to get British Columbia's financial house in order. Thank you again for the hard work, the dedication and the confidence in our future of those people who have worked on these budgets.

Together we have achieved a lot in four years, and I am optimistic that even greater things can happen as we move forward. When our government took office four years ago, we had a lot of obstacles that were created during the '90s. Government spending had outpaced our revenues. B.C. was at the back of the pack in economic growth. Our communities and our families were struggling. Worst of all, young people were leaving this province by the thousands.

We knew that taking office required determined leadership. We acted immediately, under the Premier's leadership. In the first 90 days of our new-era commitments we created enough momentum to alter the direction and to chart a new course of action during our first term. It allowed us to get our physical house in order. We protected health care and education spending. It stimulated our economy, and we got our province moving in a positive direction.

Turn the page four short years, and we see a very, very different province. We have tabled two consecutive balanced budgets, with a law in place to make sure that it stays balanced. We've also left the decade of decline behind. B.C.'s economy is not only growing; it's diversifying and strengthening across a broad range of sectors. Today British Columbia is a leader in job creation in Canada.

Our fiscal prudence, in my opinion, is one of the reasons our economy is performing so well today. You say: “Why?” Because when government demonstrates leadership by balancing the books, we gain the confidence of the private sector. Good fiscal management translates into good investment and job creation for our citizens. As a result, people are returning to British Columbia, which is very good news for families and communities throughout this province.

As you can see, we have achieved a lot in four years, and we have a plan in place to reach greater heights in the next four. Our September budget update reflects that plan. It's about the future, and the promise which lies ahead. It's about our strength, our determination, our faith and our way of life. It's about what is possible and what we need to achieve our shared goals, not just as government but as a province, a country and a society.

We have the people. We have the vision. We have the plan to achieve our five great goals for the golden decade: to make B.C. the best-educated and most literate jurisdiction on the continent; to lead the way in North America for healthy living and physical fitness; to build the best system of support in Canada for persons with disabilities, those with special needs, children at risk and seniors; to lead the world in sustainable environmental management with the best air and water quality, the best fisheries management, bar none; and to create more jobs per capita than anywhere else in Canada. Budget 2005 provides an important resource to fund our plan, a plan that will lead to a decade of possibilities, prosperity and limitless potential.

Budget 2005 reflects our priorities, particularly as it relates to health and education. In this area funding was not only protected but enhanced — not just this year but for the next three consecutive years — by more than $1.8 billion. We all understand the importance of investment in education to our future, to our economy, to our health and to building strong communities. That is why the total education spending — including K-to-12, advanced education, and skills training — continues to increase year after year.

As Minister of Advanced Education, I'd like to spend a few minutes commenting on our number-one goal: making British Columbia the best-educated, most literate jurisdiction on the continent. It is important to understand that we are growing the public post-secondary system to prepare students to take their places in the province's knowledge-based economy.

Today we have more students and more spaces. Approximately 300,000 students, including part- and full-time students, are enrolled in public post-secondary education institutions in B.C. That's the highest number in the history of British Columbia.

To fund system expansion we have allocated $800 million in capital funding over the next three years. I've had the opportunity to go throughout British Columbia looking at our campuses, and I can tell you that there are more construction cranes on B.C. campuses than there are in downtown Vancouver. We're also investing more in post-secondary education by increasing the ministry's base budget of $1.83 billion. Over the next three years this increase adds up to more than $195 million.

Our strategic plan will ensure the province has the ability to meet the social and economic needs of British Columbians, a province with an expanded post-secondary system and a highly skilled workforce. We recognize that our students need high-quality, accessible post-secondary education in order to succeed. As well, we need a system that is accountable, and that's why we have put into place a rigorous accountability framework that identifies the key performance measures of our post-secondary system. We are working hard to protect our investment in post-secondary education on behalf of the taxpayers.

To compete, British Columbia's post-secondary system must ensure students are provided with a world-class education. As well, we must be cost-competitive to ensure that our students have the same ability as other Canadians to enjoy access to high-quality post-secondary education. Today in British Columbia tuition fees are close to the national average. To be more precise, B.C. has the fifth-lowest tuition in Canada. Our tuition is lower than Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. British Columbia's tuition fees are now comparable with other provinces.

To protect our students, we have acted to limit future tuition increases to the rate of inflation, effective September 2005. We will also increase funding to the post-secondary system by more than $62 million this year. We will increase operating transfers to institutions by a minimum of $120 million in 2005-2006 and 2007-2008.

Even with tuition increases limited to the rate of inflation, we recognize that money can be a barrier to higher learning. Education is an investment. That being said, today 57 percent of college students and 50 percent of university students graduate with no debt. Other students borrow to fund their education. We are offering comprehensive, flexible student assistance programs to relieve financial pressure for students in need. As well, taxpayers do a great deal to help out with the costs associated with post-secondary education. The reality is that tuition covers less than one-third of the costs for students.

Recognizing that many students need assistance, we will provide $450 million in funding over three years for comprehensive student financial assistance. Our system includes loan reductions for students most in need, grants for students with disabilities, debt relief programs and loan forgiveness programs. More than $300 million is available annually for B.C. student loans.

In addition, the B.C. student loan reduction program was introduced last year in partnership with the Canadian Millennium Fellowship Foundation. This new program will forgive a portion of the provincial debt each year for eligible students who successfully complete their studies. Additional enhancements will be introduced soon.

The province is also reducing the parental contributions to the B.C. loan limits. This change will make it easier for students from middle-income families to go to college and to university. As well, we have allocated students to claim up to $300 a year for computer-related expenses, giving students better technology access.

Where it makes sense, we will help students overcome debt by creating opportunities to work in underserved communities. This includes loan forgiveness programs for nurses, physicians, pharmacists, midwives, speech therapists and other professionals who deliver publicly funded, core services in underserved communities.

Our budget is also about creating access for more students. In 2004-2005 Advanced Education put in place a six-year strategic investment plan to create 25,000 new seats in our post-secondary institutions by 2010. In the first two years we have added 7,417 full-time-student-equivalent spaces to B.C.'s post-secondary system — 4,200 in 2005-2006 alone. Our commitment is to ensure that students with a "B" average or higher have an opportunity to pursue a university or college education.

In addition to seat growth in post-secondary education, we have created a web-based gateway called BCcampus. BCcampus enables students to take courses anywhere in the province to complement what they are learning at their home institution. More than 10,000 students enrolled in BCcampus on line in 2004-2005 — four times the 2,500 students that were enrolled in 2002.

Greater access means greater options for young people to pursue their chosen education. We are leveraging our investment in post-secondary education to ensure that future generations benefit from an excellent education system in British Columbia. As well, we are expanding to improve post-secondary education. Our budget recognizes that greater expansion of the post-secondary system is needed to meet our society's needs. By 2007-2008 the provincial government will have allocated a total of nearly $6 billion to the Ministry of Advanced Education. As you can see, in a few short years we have made significant, meaningful, positive progress on behalf of students across British Columbia.

In Surrey and the Fraser Valley we are in the process of adding 8,000 new spaces to Simon Fraser University, Douglas College, Kwantlen University College and the University College of the Fraser Valley. This growth includes the creation of an SFU campus and a new trades and technical campus for Kwantlen University College in Cloverdale, currently in design.

In the southern interior, post-secondary enhancements abound. UBC Okanagan has created access to a major research university quickly and cost-effectively for Okanagan students. To help fill the shortage, the new Okanagan College will provide expanded post-secondary training opportunities to meet the needs of that region as well. Two great new facilities.

Progress is ongoing, and it is aggressive. This spring we passed legislation to create the Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. I notice both members from Kamloops are here this afternoon. The Thompson Rivers University has a mandate to provide on-line learning opportunities for students through distance education and flexible degree-completion options. We are also facilitating the creation of the new World Trade University at Chilliwack in this legislative session.

As well, we've adopted a multiministry approach to overcome shortfalls, particularly when it comes to health care and professionals and trades. Advanced Education is helping the Ministry of Health to develop a ten-year plan to train, recruit and retain more health professionals in British Columbia.

The capital investment of $134 million and additional operating funds have already enabled the University of British Columbia and Universities of Victoria and Northern British Columbia to almost double the number of annual first-year medical student spaces to 224 from 128 in 2003. This represents a great increase for doctors in the province in the future. We have also added more than 2,500 new nursing spaces since 2001 — a 62-percent increase.

Our budget is about creating research opportunities in B.C. We recognize that innovation is essential, challenging jurisdictions everywhere to carve out a piece of the knowledge-based economy. We believe that research holds the keys to our future: an innovation-based economy, a better health care system and an environmentally sustainable future for generations. The B.C. knowledge development fund, the leading-edge endowment fund and the B.C. leadership chairs and regional innovation chairs are important initiatives we started as well.

Our investment is supporting important research in a variety of areas, and our reputation for excellence in life sciences has reached around the world, especially since the Genome Sciences Centre unravelled the genetic code of the SARS virus in just one week. By contrast, it took three years to do the same for HIV.

Over the next five years, hundreds of millions of additional dollars will be invested towards research and innovation in British Columbia. Our investment in research and innovation will help to enhance the quality of life, strengthen our society, strengthen our economy and create a better environment here in British Columbia. Today top researchers and students are choosing B.C. because they know it is the best place to pursue their goals.

To be truly successful as a province, we must enlist the support of all of our people, including engaging more aboriginal students in the post-secondary education system. All of our institutions use some of their annual operating grants to deliver aboriginal programs. On top of that, the ministry's aboriginal special projects fund will provide $1.8 million this year to support programs around the province that help aboriginal learners start and finish post-secondary education. Since 2001 the provincial government has provided over $7.8 million to the aboriginal special projects funding for over 150 projects. Over 3,000 aboriginal learners have benefited from this funding. The primary purpose of the program is to increase participation, success and retention rates of aboriginal learners in British Columbia.

Strong public and post-secondary institutions require us to meet demands. Because all private institutions operate at no cost to government, they allow us to maintain funding levels for post-secondary education. We expect private institutions to offer quality comparable to their public counterparts. In November 2003 we put in place the Degree Authorization Act to extend degree-granting privileges to private and out-of-province public institutions. Alberta and Ontario both have similar legislation. The act was designed to help protect the rights of our students and the quality of B.C. degrees.

International education contributes significantly to the quality of our students' education. It enables our graduates to learn about other cultures and to develop the skills needed to work in other countries, including our trading partners. Our institutions are involved through activities such as student and faculty exchanges and recruitment of international students. As well, my ministry will be developing a scholarship program to enable B.C. students to study abroad.

Closely related to quality assurance is transferability. In that regard, B.C. is fortunate. Our transfer system is recognized as one of the most comprehensive and effective in North America. Today in British Columbia we enjoy what is possibly the most extensive and sophisticated credit accumulation and transfer arrangement anywhere in the country. We have five brand-new campuses built and under construction. We have three new buildings completed at universities to house medical programs. Over the last three academic years more than 46,000 degrees, diplomas and certificates have been awarded to B.C.'s public post-secondary institutions. This represents a 10.9 percent increase over the three academic years ending 2002.

Our students are finding work. Almost 95 percent of university graduates with bachelor's degrees are employed within two years of graduation. This is less than half the unemployment rate for British Columbians in the same range with high-school diplomas or less. Add to that the fact that more than 90 percent of college, university-college and institute graduates have jobs between nine and 24 months after graduation. As our students graduate, they will be able to pursue a wider range of opportunities, as this province delivers the largest expansion in post-secondary education in 40 years.

B.C. is a leader in post-secondary education, nationally and internationally. We know that improving on the leadership position will define our continued success as a province and will continue to allow British Columbians to define their futures and pursue their dreams.

Our update budget 2005 confirms the commitments and moves us closer to the five great goals that we have set for ourselves. It provides for a better education, enhances the lives of senior citizens, takes important steps to build relationships with first nations and reduces the tax burden for lower- and moderate-income earners. As well, it helps our communities become stronger and more secure, protects us and enhances our economy and environment, and encourages people to lead healthier and more active lives. It provides a better future for all of us through sound financial management.

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