Hansard — Tuesday, February 19, 2008 p.m.

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


Statements (Standing Order 25B)		9789
	Paul Attalla
	B. Bennett
	Victoria Chinatown care centre
	R. Fleming
	B.C. agriculture plan
	V. Roddick
	2008 North American Indigenous Games in Cowichan
	D. Routley
	Benefits of exercise
	D. MacKay
	Trade and commerce heritage sites
	N. Macdonald

Oral Questions		9791
	Education funding and closing of B.C. schools
	C. James
	Hon. S. Bond
	Koksilah Elementary School closing
	J. Horgan
	Hon. S. Bond
	D. Routley
	Safety of 15-seat vans
	D. Cubberley
	Hon. S. Bond
	Paramedic services in Invermere
	N. Macdonald
	Hon. G. Abbott
	Ambulance services in rural B.C.
	K. Conroy
	Hon. G. Abbott
	Disclosure of documents in B.C. Rail court case
	L. Krog
	Hon. W. Oppal
	Fallowing of salmon farms in Broughton Archipelago
	R. Austin
	Hon. P. Bell

Motions without Notice		9796
	Appointment of Special Committee to Review the Personal Information Protection Act
	Hon. M. de Jong

Budget Debate		9796
	Hon. C. Taylor
	B. Ralston

Introduction and First Reading of Bills		9803
	Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2008 (Bill 2)
	Hon. C. Taylor

Tabling Documents		9804
	Budget and Fiscal Plan 2008/09-2010/11
	Government's service plans and strategic plan
	Hon. C. Taylor

Mr. Speaker: Hon. Members, I note that a lot of you, if not all of you, have invited guests. On behalf of all the hon. Members, I would like to welcome you all here to the Legislative Assembly today. I'm sure you're here to listen to the budget speech.

B. Bennett: I'm sure that everyone in the House has heard that little rhyme, "Row, row, row your boat." I have to wonder if Mr. Paul Attalla of Fernie sang that little ditty as he rowed his boat across the Atlantic Ocean in what's known as the Atlantic Rowing Race. Mr. Attalla is the first Canadian to ever conquer what many people say is the world's toughest endurance test. It's the Iditarod on steroids — 5,500 kilometres, 76 days all by himself in his boat, the Spirit of Fernie.

Although race organizers initially looked down their noses at this underfunded but determined Canuck, he finished only 15 miles behind the winner, who was from Australia. Paul's crossing was the third fastest in the history of this solo race.

Paul and his wife Nicole have two daughters — three-year-old Joy and 1½-year-old Amy. Paul said that while he was rowing through 35-foot swells in the Atlantic Ocean, he decided that it was more important to get home to his family than to finish the race. But finish he did. He lost all of his food to a leak in his boat that almost sank his boat. He missed Christmas with his family, and he said that he experienced all manner of moods while he was out there.

In the last 12 days of the race, as he tried to win the race, he slept only 12 hours. One particularly friendly seabird visited him twice every day, and he was visited by whales, sharks, dolphins, all of which were only curious about this mountain man from Fernie, B.C., who was rowing across their ocean. Talk about "act now."

What a great inspiration Paul will be to all of us in the East Kootenay. Paul is a champion athlete who has competed and done well in the 24 Hour World Solo Mountain Biking Championship; the trans-Rockies mountain bike race; and the longest kayak race in the world, which is on the Yukon River. Paul is an active volunteer in Fernie who makes his living as a chiropractor. In his spare time he is a personal training consultant to the B.C. women's ski team.

To Paul Attalla and to his family — who, no doubt, are very happy to have him home — congratulations. You are a fine role model, and you've brought honour to our little corner of the world.

R. Fleming: Today I'd like to pay tribute to an incredible, very unique seniors care facility in my constituency of Victoria-Hillside. I'm referring to the Victoria Chinatown care centre. Last month I was privileged to attend the 25th anniversary celebration of the opening of the Victoria Chinatown care centre. On this site there's actually over a century of medical care for the Chinese Canadian community.

Initially, the Victoria Chinese community came together to open a Chinese hospital called Tai Ping Fong. Then in 1982, under the leadership of Dr. David Lai, they established the Victoria Chinatown Care Society. Since the opening in 1982 as a traditional seniors care facility, the role of the centre has changed considerably. They've adapted, and they've grown with the challenge of caring for seniors with understanding and compassion.

Victoria Chinatown Care Centre Society is currently home to 31 residents. It operates an adult day program, and not surprisingly, they have a 100 percent occupancy rate and a long wait-list. They are unique in this region in offering multicultural, language-sensitive services in Greater Victoria.

Earlier this month my colleagues the members for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant and Saanich South joined me to visit with residents and staff and wish them a prosperous and happy Chinese new year and again to commemorate their 25th anniversary. I'd like to thank the centre for their kind and warm reception that day.

The care facility hopes that 2008 will not only commemorate 25 years of great service and care but will also be the year that they finally get preliminary approval for their long-awaited expansion from the health authority to begin the planning and zoning necessary so that they can better respond to the needs of our aging society.

I invite all members of this House to join with me in thanking the Victoria Chinatown Care Society board, Chairman Kevin Sing, Executive Director May Sauder and her staff and volunteers, who do so much for residents and their families in my community at the care centre, and in recognizing this extraordinary anniversary.

Two years ago this month at the largest agriculture exhibition in the province, the Pacific Agriculture Show in Abbotsford, the Agricultural Planning Committee was announced to develop a plan to set the direction of the agriculture industry in British Columbia. With a terrific team of MLAs, we hit the ground running.

As of last Friday we delivered a plan that will expand and grow along with our spectacular province. Thanks to the Premier of British Columbia and the Minister of Agriculture for providing the vision and leadership which enabled us to lay the foundation for growing a healthy future for B.C. families.

The plan has five key themes, 23 strategies, 69 action items, all for sustaining our agriculture industry with agencies responsible and implementation time lines — producing local food; meeting environmental and climate challenges; building innovative and profitable family farm businesses; building first nations capacity; and last but not least, bridging the urban-agricultural divide.

B.C.'s agriculture producers are passionate about ensuring that industry remains sustainable and competitive for generations to come. This plan will re-establish the essential link between agriculture and society as a whole through strategies such as food miles, Eat B.C., Ag in the Classroom, Spuds in Tubs, school fruits and veggies program — to name just a few.

D. Routley: I'm pleased to share with my colleagues in this House more news regarding the 2008 North American Indigenous Games.

We live in a world of words and promises. We live in a world where people say more than they do. The North American Indigenous Games are different. The North American Indigenous Games are reconciliation in action. They are the reality and materialization of words like partnership and unity — very noble words, not often lived up to.

The Cowichan Valley is ready to embrace those notions and welcome the world. We are partners in the games with the local school district, local governments and the whole community pitching in as volunteers. That volunteer list is growing, along with the anticipation of this great sporting and cultural event.

So many of our modern sports are connected and have a deep historical root in those aboriginal games. What I have learned is that they also represent the social, spiritual and environmental curriculum of a culture. The principles of honesty, courage and respect are taught, as well as the gratitude for one's elders and for nature. Lessons that take children to adulthood are taught in aboriginal communities through these games.

It's been noted that there will be a $30 million local economic impact from the North American Indigenous Games. There will be 5,000 junior and 1,000 senior athletes taking part in 16 sports. There will be thousands of volunteers congregating. But more important than any of those numbers are the strides we will take together towards the realization of goals caught up in the lofty words of reconciliation.

The North American Indigenous Games will do more than talk. They will walk us in unity, in reality, to a better partnership forged on the best our communities can offer to one another. This August 1 to 10, I invite all members of this House and all British Columbians to the Cowichan Valley, the warm land, to take part with us in the Cowichan North American Indigenous Games.

D. MacKay: February is Heart Month. Every month is or should be an ActNow month. I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about the personal benefits of exercise.

In the early 1970s, I lost an uncle to a heart condition at the early age of 56, and that scared me. I was concerned enough that I went to see my family doctor. Sure enough, I had high blood pressure, which was not all that unusual, given the fact that my mother and father both had high blood pressure. I was put on pills to reduce my high blood pressure. I was in my early 30s at the time. Thank goodness I had quit smoking a couple of years previously. I was smoking two packs of Buckingham cigarettes a day.

I made a commitment to myself to do something about my high blood pressure. I started running. I ran so much that my RCMP uniform kept going to the tailor to be taken in. The back pockets of the uniform pants finally joined. It meant I was losing weight, and this was great.

I'm sure many of you have seen the movie Forrest Gump. I'm not suggesting for a moment that I have run as far as he did, but I'm still running some 30 years later. The benefits have been remarkable. I no longer take pills for high blood pressure. My weight has been constant over the years.

I believe that stopping smoking, eating healthily and exercising can and will benefit all of us. So my message to everybody is: get active and look after yourself.

N. Macdonald: This week is Heritage Week in British Columbia, and the 2008 theme is the celebration of trade and commerce. In rural British Columbia our communities take much of their character from the industries that were their economic mainstays and often still are.

In my part of British Columbia we have some exceptional heritage sites related to trade and commerce. For example, British Columbia has benefited enormously from a publicly owned hydro power–generating system. B.C. Hydro has had a huge impact on communities such as Revelstoke, which has a superb museum at Revelstoke dam explaining and celebrating the production of power that provides electricity for two million homes in British Columbia each day.

In Kimberley there is a new Sullivan mine museum, with a railway line through a tunnel created to showcase hard-rock mining, such as went on for almost a century in Kimberley and which produced $20 billion worth of wealth to this province. In Golden the 1904 CPR train station sits at the Golden and District Museum and celebrates the community's rich history as a railway community, a heritage shared with many communities in the Kootenays. Cranbrook and

Revelstoke museums have unique and wonderful railway collections housed in some truly exceptional buildings.

Revelstoke also has a museum to showcase forestry, which is and will continue to be a major part of the British Columbia economy. From Sparwood to Fernie to Invermere to Golden, I've visited small community museums that showcase the economic history of our communities. In fact, in rural areas we very often depend on small community museums to hold artifacts, remember stories, catalogue pictures and index data. Yet with almost no support for ongoing operations, we need to recognize that all of that history is at risk.

On this budget day, in Heritage Week, it would be a wonderful thing if there was an announcement of stable, consistent funding for ongoing operating costs for small rural museums. I'll certainly be looking forward to that. If we value our collective past, we need to put resources towards its preservation.

C. James: Spring is in the air. Sadly, around British Columbia that means another round of school closures. Since 2001 the B.C. Liberals have closed more than 134 schools, many of them in single-school communities. Then last fall the Minister of Education pulled the rug out from underneath school districts, changed the funding formula and cut their budgets once again.

C. James: As a result, we have 27 more schools on the brink of closure, including Queen Elizabeth Elementary in the Premier's own riding.

My question is to the Minister of Education. How many schools have to close before the B.C. Liberals wake up and start listening to parents and students?

Hon. S. Bond: What's most disappointing about that question from the Leader of the Opposition is, in fact, that she sat as a school trustee and would fully understand that when you lose 50,000 children in British Columbia, the best place to put resources is in classrooms, not half-empty buildings.

Just to clarify the record, let's make it perfectly clear. We made a commitment to send a record $4.345 billion to the education sector, and that's precisely what we did.

C. James: Perhaps if the minister stopped talking and started listening, she'd recognize that students and parents are having difficulties in this province.

I'd actually like to quote from a school trustee, the chair of the Kamloops-Thompson school district, Ken Christian. He wrote to the minister on January 23, 2008. He said: "These shifting sands of funding destabilize our system and create needless uncertainty."

So again, to the Minister of Education: why are young people in communities across this province suffering because of this government's mismanagement of education funding?

Hon. S. Bond: It's amazing to me that the Leader of the Opposition would actually characterize record-level funding in public education as mismanagement.

Hon. S. Bond: We're proud on this side of the House to have the record of having the highest budget in public education ever in the history of British Columbia — in fact, this year alone an increase of $116 million — and the members on the opposite side of the House voted against it.

C. James: The public knows. The minister can't fool the public. The public knows the downloaded costs that this government has put on school boards.

I'd like the minister to actually tell the students and parents at Fleetwood Elementary who are losing their neighbourhood school in Surrey that it isn't this government's problem. I'd like the minister to tell the people of Hedley, who just lost their only school, that it isn't her problem.

The minister's spin doesn't educate one child in British Columbia. The chair of the Central Okanagan school board, Moyra Baxter, told the minister last month that formula changes and her downloading of costs are at the root of these closures. She said: "The net result in this province is reduced services for students."

Again, to the Minister of Education: when is she going to start listening to the elected officials who run our education system and actually admit that her decisions are forcing districts to take away supports for students?

Hon. S. Bond: Well, it's pretty amazing to me that the Leader of the Opposition can stand in this House as

In fact, let's just look at a quote from the Leader of the Opposition, March 5, 2007. Yeah, we'll enjoy this one. "There are two reasons for schools closing. One, certainly, is dropping enrolment, and that's no question. When you see fewer children coming, you have to look at a cost-effective approach. You have to look at your schools, and you have to balance that out" — oh, and listen for it — "and some school closures may be required because of dropping enrolment." That's the opinion of the Leader of the Opposition.

J. Horgan: I'm pleased to see the venom level is high today on the other side of the House. I know our guests will be pleased by that.

J. Horgan: The Premier made a promise and a commitment to first nations learners across B.C. in 2006. He made it again in 2007, and he made it again just last week — that he would attempt to close the gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal learners in British Columbia.

So my question is a simple one. It's to the Premier: how can you keep that commitment to first nations students in British Columbia by closing Koksilah Elementary School in the Cowichan Valley — 98 percent aboriginal students? Ninety-eight percent of those students are learning culture and language every day in the Hul'qumi'num tradition. How do you meet your objectives by closing that school?

Hon. S. Bond: Certainly on this side of the House we recognize that one of the most important things we can do for aboriginal people in this province is to actually look at jurisdiction in this province.

I am proud to say that, working with the federal government, with aboriginal leaders and with this government, we brought to conclusion a tripartite agreement that had been years and years in the making. The other side of the House wasn't actually able to make that happen. We did, and we're going to continue to provide for aboriginal students in this province in an unprecedented way.

J. Horgan: It's a shame that rhetoric doesn't pay the rent, because that minister is expert at it.

My question was to the Premier. My question was to the leader of the executive council, the individual who has said to first nations people across this land that he will stand up for them. Reconciliation and accommodation — those are the buzzwords. That's the rhetoric.

In the Cowichan Valley 98 percent of the students at Koksilah Elementary School are learning aboriginal language and culture for the first time. For the first time in generations the people in the Cowichan Valley, the first nations there, have some faith and comfort that the school system is working for them. So how do you square the circle when you close the school where they're getting comfort, where they're getting culture and where they're getting language? How does that meet your promises?

Hon. S. Bond: Let's be clear. Maybe the member opposite should have a discussion with the Leader of the Opposition, who was a school trustee, because in fact, decisions that are made at the local level are made by locally elected school boards.

Let's be clear. On this side of the House we actually believe that locally elected trustees look at the circumstances in their districts and make those choices. The member opposite knows well that that is in front of the school district at the moment, that it is a decision that we will make.

But I simply want to point out that for the first time in British Columbia, we are seeing aboriginal completion rates rise in this province. We're going to continue….

Hon. S. Bond: I can assure you that we have a goal on this side of the House, and I can assure you of this. We will close the gap for aboriginal people in this province. We're going to work hard to do it. I'll tell you, it would be much more helpful if, occasionally, the members of the opposite side of the House would vote in favour of something that indicates they would support that.

D. Routley: "We are committed to opening up new dialogue, new understanding and new access to resources to close the gaps in health, education, housing, economic opportunity." Those were the words of the Premier in May 2006.

Well, the rhetoric of reconciliation rings hollow in the Cowichan Valley. With billions in surplus, this Premier endorses a plan to close a school that is well known — in fact, famous — for its first nations programs, and he's promised to consult. Is the Premier saying that aboriginal leaders wanted the school closed?

Hon. S. Bond: We've said clearly that closing a school for a school district is never, ever an easy decision. It's very difficult. But I can tell you this. As we've said clearly, education funding in British Columbia is at the highest level it has ever been at in this province.

Hon. S. Bond: In fact, if we look at the Cowichan Valley, the member might want to do his homework, because the enrolment in that particular school district has declined by 15 percent. Let's look at per-pupil funding. The per-pupil funding in that school district is $1,588 higher than it was in 2000-2001.

D. Cubberley: A month since the tragic crash of a 15-seat van in New Brunswick killed seven high school basketball players, and still no action by the Minister of Education to get kids out of these vans.

Fifteen-seat vans are crash-prone when loaded and three times more likely than other vehicles to roll over in an emergency. Many U.S. states and one Canadian province prohibit their use by schools entirely. Why is this minister ducking her responsibility for the safe transport of kids at school?

Hon. S. Bond: Obviously, it was an absolute, incredible tragedy that no one in this House feels anything but incredible sorrow. But I can assure you of this: to suggest that there's been no action is absolutely irresponsible by the member opposite.

We have had intense discussion with school districts across this province who in fact, under the School Act, have the responsibility and authority to design and implement transportation policy. There have been clear directions sent out by the risk management branch, which clearly lay out concerns and considerations. We are in discussion with school trustees. In this province, for the member opposite's information, there are already a significant number of school districts who do not use 15-passenger vans.

The discussion with school trustees continues. In fact, the president of the School Trustees Association said clearly that the position we had taken was reasonable and thoughtful.

D. Cubberley: Well, that was passing the buck. The Canada Safety Council is calling for them to be banned at all schools across the country. Provincial jurisdiction is what prevails for these crash-prone vans. It's what allows their use at schools. Will it take a made-in-B.C. tragedy before this minister will bring in a made-in-B.C. policy to ban the use of these vans by school-age kids?

Hon. S. Bond: Well, first of all, to the member opposite, that is a shameful statement to make in this House. To suggest that one member on one side of the House has any less concern than the other members is absolutely irresponsible.

Hon. S. Bond: Maybe the theme today is inconsistency of positions, starting with the Leader of the Opposition. Let's be clear. On one hand, the members opposite argue for the autonomy of locally elected school boards, and the next minute they're suggesting government should just intervene and take responsibility. We trust locally elected school boards….

Hon. S. Bond: Well, perhaps the member opposite would like to share that view with trustees across the province.

As I said in my previous answer, in fact, boards across this province are responsible for creating transportation policy. In fact, the risk management branch has identified for school boards a number of areas where we must ensure the safe use of these vehicles. A list has been in place, and that work is being done in partnership with school trustees across British Columbia.

N. Macdonald: The Columbia Valley needs improvements to paramedic services, but instead, Invermere Mayor Mark Shmigelsky tells me services are being reduced. Instead of a properly paid full-time paramedic position, this government will reduce wages to foxtrot status, which is $10 per hour. The ministry will not retain paramedics in Invermere at that pay level. It will not happen. The Tim Hortons pays more than that in Invermere, and they cannot get staff.

The question is for the Minister of Health. What possible reason does the Minister of Health have for creating this instability in the paramedic service in Invermere?

Hon. G. Abbott: To begin, it's part of a collective agreement negotiated between the paramedics union and the B.C. Ambulance Service. That was an agreement signed by the paramedics union and endorsed by the paramedics union, and we're not going to breach it.

I guess I'm getting some advice from the other side of the floor that we should breach a collective agreement. I'm puzzled by that suggestion.

Hon. G. Abbott: The fact of the matter is that through that agreement, we now have 24-7 coverage in

communities where that was not possible before. It has resulted in great improvements in ambulance service. Response times are down. It's provided for more young paramedics to get into the profession, and I think it's opened up some exciting opportunities for paramedics in this province.

I think that the other side should remember…. I've heard them belabour this point about the $10-an-hour standby wage in some and $2-an-hour standby wage in others. It compares, in either case, favourably to the zero-dollars-and-zero-cents-per-hour wage that was paid to standby paramedics in the past in British Columbia under the NDP.

N. Macdonald: What the minister knows or ought to know is that he has changed the situation in Invermere completely. He has moved from a full-time position and reduced it to foxtrot status. That is a decision that management has made, that he has made. This has nothing to do with the collective agreement. It is a management decision that will reduce services in Invermere. The mayor knows it; the community knows it.

It is irresponsible to make that decision. The minister has made it. The minister can do the right thing and reinstate a full-time position in Invermere. He should do it. Will he stand now and do the proper thing?

Hon. G. Abbott: I appreciate the member providing this opportunity to talk about the remarkable improvements that we have seen in ambulance service in this province, and not only across British Columbia. If we want to talk about Invermere specifically, between 2003-2004 and a couple of years later, 2005-2006, Invermere had a 34 percent improvement in response time in relation to B.C. Ambulance Service calls.

Hon. G. Abbott: That 34 percent improvement in Invermere was possible because of 24-7 coverage for the first time ever in Invermere or across British Columbia as it is today. I know one of the members says: "Well, I see cuts here."

Well, this is quite remarkable. We haven't seen cuts in the Ambulance Service since the late 1990s, actually, when this government was in power. What we have seen in British Columbia are 10 percent increases.

Hon. G. Abbott: Back in the day, $176 million. Today it's $283 million for the Ambulance Service in British Columbia.

K. Conroy: Well, the mayor of Castlegar doesn't agree with the minister either. Castlegar's volume is up 130 percent, and what are they getting? Reduced services.

The full-time unit chief position, which we are told is a brand-new position, isn't a brand-new position in Castlegar. That was the mayor's job before he retired. That position hasn't been filled.

In addition, the full-time paramedic position is being cut. That position is also going to $10 an hour. We can't retain paramedics in rural B.C. for $10 an hour. We need more staffing, not less.

Will the minister commit today to stand up and tell us that ambulance services in this province are going to be retained and not be cut?

Hon. G. Abbott: Obviously, the members across the way must be feeling that things are pretty rough, because there has been a 21 percent improvement in ambulance call-out time in Castlegar. That 21 percent improvement is a consequence of having 24-7 coverage in Castlegar, as in so many communities across the province of British Columbia.

Now, I know it is the habit of this opposition — it was particularly the case when they were in government — that they would want to advocate on behalf of public sector unions inside the House here and certainly to advocate for them in negotiations outside the House as well.

The fact of the matter, in terms of paramedics wanting to work, is that when we took office, about 2,400 part-time and full-time paramedics were in this province. Today there are 3,300 paramedics in this province.

K. Conroy: There might be an increase, because this minister and this government closed the Castlegar hospital. They no longer have 24-7 emergency. We need ambulances to drive them to other hospitals so that people in Castlegar can actually get care after eight o'clock at night.

Invermere, Chemainus, Merritt, Castlegar, Chase, Oliver and Fernie — all rural communities, all having paramedic services cut. We're standing up for those communities — those communities who are speaking out and are frustrated about the cuts to paramedic services in this province.

This government has closed hospitals. It has downsized hospitals so people need ambulances more than ever. Again, will the minister stand up, stand up for rural B.C., stand up for these communities and reinstate the funding so we can have adequate ambulance services in this province?

Hon. G. Abbott: It's always good to hear from the bastion of 19th-century socialist thought across the floor. Only among the group across the floor could these be cuts — only among the group across the floor. A $176 million budget becomes a $283 million budget in the present year.

Here's another cut that I really like. There were 463 ambulances; now there are 503 ambulances. There were 2,400 paramedics in the province under them; today there are 3,300 paramedics across the province.

And they're improvements. This is most important of all. This is the cut I love the most. We have cut the response time for people needing emergency services in this province by 20 percent to 40 percent right across the interior and north of British Columbia.

L. Krog: Early on in the B.C. Rail corruption investigation, a protocol was established to review all material evidence for cabinet, client and parliamentary privilege. The 2004 protocol said Justice Dohm would review documents for material relevance. Mr. Copley would review any relevant material for privilege and then refer what he thought possibly privileged to the cabinet secretary.

The same protocol said that the cabinet secretary could consult executive council about these materials. I'll repeat that last part. The cabinet secretary could consult with executive council, the Premier and ministers, before declaring privilege on documents that might be seen as evidence in the B.C. Rail corruption trial.

To the Premier — a simple yes or no: is that his understanding of the process?

Hon. W. Oppal: The member who asked the question is a lawyer, a member of the bar. I would have thought that he would know better than to ask that question. The matter is before the courts.

Hon. W. Oppal: Madam Justice Bennett has conduct of the trial in the Supreme Court. It is totally inappropriate for any member of this assembly to comment upon anything that's before the Supreme Court. That member knows better.

L. Krog: I wasn't aware that the Premier's understanding was before the courts.

Last week the Attorney General asserted that the process was an independent assessment of the evidence. He claimed that neither he nor anyone in cabinet had any involvement. But a 2004 Vancouver Sun article clearly laid out the process that I have described, a process the government then confirmed.

Since then the government has denied any involvement by cabinet, but now we know that cabinet could have a say in what documents would be kept secret. Maybe the Premier can answer this question. Can he tell this House how many documents the cabinet secretary consulted the Premier and cabinet on? How many documents vetted by the Premier and cabinet will now be denied as evidence in the B.C. Rail corruption trial?

Hon. W. Oppal: The issue regarding the admissibility of documents and those documents that are clothed with privilege is a matter that will be decided by the Supreme Court.

R. Austin: My question is for the Minister of Agriculture. With the latest scientific paper from Dalhousie University, which states clearly that survival of wild salmon crashed by 50 percent or more where farms were established, and given the minister's supposed commitment to protect wild stocks, will the minister take immediate action to fallow specific farms that are on migratory routes in the Broughton — notably the Glacier Falls, Humphrey Rock and Sargeaunt Pass farms that are owned by Marine Harvest?

Hon. P. Bell: I'm glad the member actually took the time to ask a question on aquaculture. It's been eerily silent on that side of the floor.

This government believes that the answer to the aquaculture issue is a collaborative plan working with first nations, working with industry, consulting with the environmental community and making sure that we have a plan that respects wild salmon.

We're actively engaged with the first nations right now. We're also consulting with the environmental community. We're looking to develop that collaborative plan, and when we do, it will speak well for all coastal communities.

Hon. M. de Jong: I, by leave, move that the Special Committee to Review the Personal Information Protection Act be appointed.

APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE
TO REVIEW THE PERSONAL INFORMATION
PROTECTION ACT

Hon. M. de Jong: I provided my friend the Opposition House Leader with a copy of the motion. It provides for the committee to have the usual powers. It also provides that they would report to the House as soon as possible but not later than April 19, 2008. I so move:

Hon. C. Taylor: Mr. Speaker, I move that this House at its next sitting resolve itself for this session into a committee to consider the supply to be granted to Her Majesty.

Hon. C. Taylor presented a message from His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: Estimates of Sums Required for the Service of the Province for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009, and a supplement to the estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009, recommending the same to the Legislative Assembly.

Hon. C. Taylor moved that the said message and the estimates accompanying the same be referred to the Committee of Supply.

Hon. C. Taylor: I move, seconded by the hon. Premier of British Columbia, that the Speaker do now leave the chair for the House to go into Committee of Supply.

Hon. C. Taylor: Hon. Speaker, I'm pleased to introduce Balanced Budget 2008. This budget asks the question: what kind of legacy do we really want to leave for future generations? This year, from the Kootenays to the Queen Charlotte Islands, from the Peace River region to the southwest coast, our people and communities are coming together to celebrate 150 years of growth and progress and, even more important, to plan the way forward, to build on our achievements and create a new legacy that future generations can look to with pride.

So much has changed since 1858. We've grown from a series of frontier outposts to one of the most livable, attractive places anywhere with some of the richest cultural diversity. What hasn't changed is the sense of opportunity in British Columbia. The same excitement, the same spirit of boundless possibility that drew people here in the 1800s is today alive and well and continues to draw people here from all over the world.

But today our province has reached a turning point. How will history remember us? How will our choices stand the test of time? And what are the best steps we can take today to build the kind of future we envision for our children and our grandchildren? Those are the questions that are at the heart of this budget.

It is a budget that confronts and completely overturns the outdated notion that you have to choose either a healthy environment or a strong economy. That's simply not the case. That either-or thinking belongs to the past.

How many times have we heard people talk about the importance of the environment, only to change their tune as soon as the economy faced challenges? Our children, our young people, are asking better of us. They're asking us to face directly the challenges of the future — not when it's convenient, but right now. Today we are rising to meet those challenges.

This budget supports and adds new momentum to the government's plan to reduce B.C.'s greenhouse gas emissions. It also includes a series of initiatives to keep our economy strong and growing, and it makes new investments in key public priorities such as health care and education.

We will always work to sustain public services and to keep our economy strong. But make no mistake. We are beginning to write a new chapter in British Columbia's history.

With this budget, we are introducing a major shift in the way we levy taxes. Effective July 1, we intend to put a price on carbon-emitting fuels in British Columbia. This carbon tax will be entirely revenue-neutral, meaning every dollar raised will be returned to the people of B.C. in the form of lower taxes.

Furthermore, that commitment will be enshrined in law, and we will provide additional support for lower-income British Columbians. The carbon tax will start at a relatively low rate to give us all, businesses and individuals, time to adjust. As it rises, it will underline the fact that there is indeed a cost attached to generating greenhouse gases.

Leading economists and scientists all agree. Seeing that cost, making it real, will give us new incentives to change the habits that created global warming in the first place. Higher costs for high carbon choices will make cleaner options more attractive to customers, businesses and industries alike. They will also make cleaner choices more commercially viable, helping to stimulate new innovations.

The carbon tax will apply to a wide range of fossil fuels — including gasoline, diesel, coal, propane, natural gas and home heating fuel — making it among the broadest and most comprehensive taxes of its kind in the world. It will start at a rate of $10 per tonne of associated carbon or carbon-equivalent emissions. That works out to 2.4 cents a litre at the gas pump and 2.8 cents a litre for diesel and home heating fuel.

These initial rates are relatively low, and that is by design. It will give customers, consumers, business, industry and the economy time to adapt to this new landscape. The rate per tonne will rise by $5 a year for the next four years, reaching $30 a tonne by 2012.

I want to repeat: this tax will be 100 percent revenue-neutral. We expect it to raise approximately $1.8 billion over three years. So we are committing now to reduce taxes by that amount.

First, by 2009 every taxpayer in this province will see their personal B.C. income tax rates reduced by 5 percent on the first $70,000 in earnings. Further reductions will come as the revenue from carbon tax increases.

Added to our government's previous tax cuts, this is nothing short of remarkable. It means a family of four with both parents working, earning a combined $70,000, will now save $2,000 a year compared to 2001. A young person working part-time, earning $20,000 a year, will see a 75 percent reduction compared to 2001. And, of course, an additional quarter of a million British Columbians now pay no provincial income tax. By 2009 British Columbians will pay the lowest personal income tax in all of Canada for individuals earning up to $111,000.

It is not only individuals and families who will benefit. So will B.C.'s businesses. Today we are announcing further reductions in both our corporate and small business income tax rates. Effective July 1, 2008, the general corporate income tax rate will be reduced from 12 percent to 11 percent. Over the next three years, we expect it to fall to 10 percent.

This will be on par with the lowest corporate tax rates anywhere in the country and a long, long way from the 16.5 percent rate seen through most of the '90s. That puts B.C. on track by 2012 for a total combined corporate tax rate, which means the federal rate plus the B.C. rate, of 25 percent. That will be the lowest among the world's major industrialized economies and ten points lower than the United States federal government.

It meets a challenge that was set for us by the federal government. We're happy to rise to that challenge because we agree that competitive taxes are crucial to a strong and diverse economy.

To that end, we are also reducing taxes for small businesses. They are the cornerstone of B.C.'s economy and one of the many areas that benefits greatly from the ingenuity of women. Women own and operate more than a third of our small businesses. They help to raise our small business growth rate to three times the national average. Small businesses now provide more than one million jobs in B.C., and they contribute more than a quarter of our gross domestic product.

To help support continued growth, effective July 1 we are reducing the small business tax rate to 3.5 percent from 4.5 percent. Over this three-year fiscal plan, we expect it will fall to 2.5 percent by 2011. I say "we expect" because, as part of our commitment, we will review personal and business tax rates every year and provide a plan for keeping the carbon tax revenue-neutral.

So while we are introducing legislation this year to support specific rate reductions for 2008 and 2009, future rate cuts will be confirmed as we update the revenue-neutral plan through the annual budget process. One thing is certain: it will be in legislation. Every dollar raised by the carbon tax will be returned to British Columbians in the form of tax reductions.

The final piece of our revenue-neutral package is support for lower-income earners. Whenever we introduce a new program or policy, we're sensitive to the impact on people who are vulnerable. So just as in earlier budgets when we introduced supports for seniors, for children, for those in need, with this budget we are introducing a new income-tested climate action credit. It will provide an annual payment of $100 per adult, $30 per child, paid quarterly along with the federal goods and services tax credit.

Over the three-year term of our plan we have budgeted at least $395 million for this new credit. So $395 million plus the $1.45 billion for personal and business tax cuts adds up to just over $1.8 billion — the same amount of revenue we expect to raise through the carbon tax.

That is part 1, an entirely revenue-neutral carbon tax that serves to make cleaner choices more attractive and, ultimately, more commercially viable. It will be phased in slowly, but still, this is a big change in policy.

As with any new initiative, it's always easier to adjust if we see benefits first. So rather than ask the people of B.C. to wait until they file their 2008 tax form before they see the benefits of tax reductions, today we are announcing an upfront payment of $100 to every woman, man and child in British Columbia. This one-time climate action dividend will be going out in June. A total benefit of $440 million, funded from the surplus for the year just ended.

In other words, this is a dividend from the strong economy we've all worked so hard to build. The timing is important too, because it means a family of four will receive $400 upfront in June before the new carbon tax takes effect July 1. Of course, there will be no strings attached, but we are hoping people will use these dollars in ways that reduce our carbon footprint.

Our goal is this: tax carbon-emitting fuels to discourage their use, give the money back to the people, back to businesses so they have control. They have the power to make their own choices about how the tax affects them.

For example, let's consider the impact on a family of four with one parent working, earning $60,000 a year. They heat their home with natural gas. The family car is a minivan. They will pay about $45 in carbon tax in 2008. That is less than the price of one tank of gasoline in the whole year. That will rise to about $113 in 2009, but that is only if they choose not to change any habits.

If they reduce their driving by just ten kilometres a week, they will save enough in fuel costs alone to completely offset the impact of the carbon tax in 2008. If they tune-up their car, keep their tires inflated to the proper levels, their additional fuel cost savings could make up for most of their carbon tax in 2009 as well.

But what about the senior couple? An income of $30,000, heating their home with oil, driving occasionally. They would pay about $38 in carbon tax this year, rising to $95 next. But just like the family of four, they would have a range of options for reducing the impact on their household budget. If they choose to weatherstrip their doors and windows, they could save enough on their home heating costs to offset the carbon tax completely in the first year. If they turned their thermostat down 5 degrees at bedtime, they would save enough to offset the cost of carbon tax in 2009.

The point is: it is their choice. They can decide how much the tax affects them. But it is worth noting that in both these cases the income tax reductions announced in this budget would more than make up for the costs of the carbon tax. So both families would come out ahead, with money in their pockets. If they make cleaner choices, they would see a larger net benefit.

Let's not forget: along with the income tax cuts and the climate action dividend, everyone will have more money right away, potentially injecting $440 million into our economy.

That brings us to part 3. In addition to shifting taxes away from income towards carbon and providing a one-time payment to every person in B.C., we are investing more than $1 billion over four years in a series of programs and tax incentives to help make greener choices easier, more accessible, more affordable.

On the transportation side, we are providing a sales tax reduction for all vehicles that qualify for Transport Canada's ecoAuto rebate program. That program offers rebates of up to $2,000. With this new PST reduction, drivers making greener choices could see additional savings, for a total of up to $4,000.

To help get some older vehicles off the road, we are expanding around the province our Scrap-It program, which offers cash and other incentives for making cleaner choices.

PST relief will be introduced for electric bicycles, scooters and electric motorcycles. Relief will be provided for short-term passenger vehicle rentals. This one addresses the co-op car rental issue that has been brought forward this past fall.

With this budget, we're also providing $30 million for the B.C. green ports initiative, which will reduce emissions from commercial truck and ship traffic. Another $3 million will help reduce emissions from trucks by using technology to assess their compliance with regulations while they're moving, instead of making every vehicle stop for inspection, and by providing plug-ins at key truck stops so that big rigs don't have to idle their engines. We will also provide a PST exemption for aerodynamic devices that make commercial trucks more fuel efficient.

As well, with this budget we're funding the initial phase of the $14 billion transit plan announced last month, a plan designed to double transit ridership by 2020. These are all very important changes considering that transportation is the leading contributor to B.C.'s greenhouse gas emissions.

On the home energy side, $60 million has been budgeted for energy audits and conservation retrofit incentives for homeowners. This money will help individuals and families assess where they can best invest to bring down their own home energy costs.

If you do decide to renovate your home, a tax exemption will be provided on insulation for hot water tanks, pipes and duct work. Energy Star–rated fridges, freezers and washing machines will also be exempt from PST, completing and complementing the rebate programs offered by utilities and, in some cases, by local and regional governments.

To support the province's goal of achieving energy self-sufficiency, this budget sets aside $20 million for remote communities that now depend on diesel generators to switch to cleaner, renewable power sources, and this will be of benefit for many of our first nations communities.

This budget provides a PST exemption on production machinery and equipment used by local governments for power production and cogeneration, and we're investing $5 million to expand solar power initiatives. These investments complement our 2007 B.C. energy plan — the cleanest, the greenest of its kind in North America.

We are also investing $3 million for our energy-efficient building strategy in keeping with the goal of

meeting more of our new energy needs through conservation. Each of these initiatives brings us one step closer to the future that we envision for our province. It's a future where we leverage our action on climate change in ways that support our quality of life and our economy with new innovations, new ideas and new technologies.

British Columbia is ready to lead in this fight against climate change, and the steps I've outlined will put us out ahead of almost every other jurisdiction on this continent. But we are not content to lead in just one area. We must develop the policies and support initiatives that will draw the talent and investment we need to become an internationally recognized economic powerhouse.

As Finance Minister, I visit eastern Canada and the United States talking about British Columbia — just as our former Finance Ministers, one beside me and one behind me, have done — our economic record, our policies and the opportunities for growth. On my initial visits, much of the effort had to be spent differentiating British Columbia from Canada as a whole in terms of what our economic environment was doing.

However, last year, our story had become so well known to the international finance community, most of my time was spent discussing specific investment opportunities. Now, that is an enormous advance in terms of our record and our reputation internationally, and this is the moment that must be seized today and for our future.

Over the past year British Columbia has withstood the pressures of a record-high Canadian dollar, a deteriorating U.S. housing market and financial turmoil in that country, which has led to growing concern and tightening credit all over the world.

Despite these challenges, we estimate our economy grew by 3 percent in 2007. We had the lowest unemployment rate in over 30 years. Our construction sector was booming. Retail did very well, and B.C. continued to draw people here to live and work at a rate of more than 40,000 net new residents every year since 2005.

However, we are not completely insulated from the world around us. We do expect B.C.'s economic growth to slow somewhat this year. For 2008 we are forecasting growth of 2.4 percent. That is somewhat less than in recent years, but it is still at a rate that continues to exceed the growth predicted for Canada and the growth predicted for the United States.

Given the current international uncertainty, however, and its potential impact on revenues, it is more important than ever before that we maintain our practice of cautious budget forecasting. So we will start again with prudent economic assumptions. We build in a forecast allowance for this coming year of $750 million. We have a 1 percent spending contingency. We plan for a surplus, and we set aside an additional 5 percent capital contingency. That's more than $1 billion of prudence built into the budget to act as shock absorbers should the situation in the United States deteriorate further.

This is the approach we used to balance the budget in the first place. It's how we achieved a triple-A credit rating and, at the same time, allowed us to make significant investments in programs and services for British Columbians since 2005 — the first nations new relationship trust of $100 million, a housing endowment fund of $250 million and more than $400 million in additional supports for our children. This approach will continue to allow us to deliver on people's priorities and, even with uncertainly on the world stage, continue to deliver balanced budgets.

We are also taking care to manage B.C.'s debt. Over the next three years it will continue to decline in relation to the size of our economy. But prudent assumptions and careful management are only part of the equation. At a time of heightened concern and challenges, it is important to make both broad and targeted investments to support further growth, innovation and diversification of our economy.

The income tax cuts made possible by the new carbon tax will save individuals and businesses more than $1.8 billion over three years. The climate action dividend will put another $440 million into people's pockets. Both measures support growth in our overall economy.

Today we are also announcing a series of targeted investments, starting with tax relief to help our pulp mills, sawmills, ports and mines stay competitive. Over the next two years we will reduce the provincial school tax rate on major industrial properties to the same rate paid by commercial businesses, saving B.C. industries $24 million a year by 2009.

We are also supporting the development of new ideas and directions for our resource industries so that they can diversify and better support our people and communities. This includes $10 million to support innovation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the pulp and paper industry; $12 million to further develop geoscience data to support resource exploration in pine beetle–infested areas; $19 million to enhance the carbon storage potential of our forests, including planting more trees; $25 million for our new bioenergy network, which will create new opportunities in forestry and agriculture, encourage new innovation and expand the range of cleaner energy options available to British Columbians.

With this budget, we're also providing $10 million over three years to support the production of biodiesel here in British Columbia, matching incentives offered elsewhere. This new production incentive will complement existing consumer incentives that already encourage the use of cleaner, renewable fuels.

Tax relief for industry and investments in new innovations are good steps forward for our province and for our future. However, unfortunately, too many British Columbians know firsthand the effects of low lumber prices and low volume on businesses, on families. That is why so many of today's initiatives will help our forest industry adapt and adjust. That is why the Premier and the Forest Minister have announced a working round table on forestry. That is why we're pleased the federal government has offered support in the years ahead for those most affected by this difficult situation.

We will work together. We will find solutions. At the same time, though, these pressures on our export and manufacturing industries demonstrate exactly why we as a province must not take our strong economy for granted and why we must seek ways to diversify, to pull in the best talent and businesses the world has to offer.

Thanks to our policies of tax reduction and deregulations, we have one of the most competitive business environments in Canada, but we must do more. In two years' time, when we host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the eyes of the world will be upon us. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase and build on our strengths as a province.

Our leadership in climate action is a strength. We are building on this, providing $95 million to establish the new Pacific institute for climate solutions. This institute, based at the University of Victoria, will bring together leading scientists from UBC, SFU and UNBC, along with experts from around the world to meet one of the great challenges facing our generation.

With this budget, we're also providing $50 million to Genome B.C. for research focused on the challenges of a changing world, including those issues related to climate change.

A new Pacific carbon trust is also funded in this budget as part of our commitment to a carbon-neutral public sector. The government will deposit $25 for each tonne of travel-related carbon emissions that cannot be avoided in the public sector immediately. By 2010 we will deposit $25 for every tonne of carbon emissions generated by the public sector — period. These dollars will fund carbon-offset projects here in British Columbia, supporting the growth of our low-carbon economy.

Medical research is another major strength we have in British Columbia. We recently announced an endowment of $30 million to the Terry Fox research centre to ensure that it will be headquartered in British Columbia — Terry's home. This centre will fund translational research to help in the fight against cancer, taking the findings from basic science through the necessary steps so that the new protocols, the new medicines can be delivered more quickly to patients.

Every year, scientists from around the world will gather in Vancouver to discuss leading-edge discoveries. They will come here because we are now the headquarters for this institute.

Building on our growing reputation as a centre of excellence in medical research, we are also providing grants of $25 million to the Brain Research Centre at UBC, which works to advance our knowledge of the brain and explore new treatments for illnesses and injuries affecting the brain; $15 million to the Li Ka Shing Foundation for cancer research and care; $10 million to advance musculoskeletal research in areas such as hip health and osteoporosis; $2 million to expand research on preventing and treating childhood cancers.

These investments not only offer new hope for many of our citizens, but they will further strengthen our knowledge-based economy — a sector that holds increasing promise as we move to our low-carbon future.

Beyond climate action and medical research, British Columbia is also a leader in film and new media, and that's another strength that we can build on. We used to draw the movie business to our province because the Canadian dollar made us inexpensive. Now we draw productions from all over the world because we're good. Our people can compete with the best in the world. Our infrastructure is state of the art, and our post-secondary education in this field is exceptional.

This budget increases both the foreign and domestic production tax credit rates to match recent changes in other provinces and maintain the competitive environment that has helped build film and television into a billion-dollar business for our province. The industry is committed to establishing British Columbia as a world leader in environmentally responsible film, television and digital media production.

This government wants to ensure that the benefits extend right across the province. So today we're announcing another improvement introducing a higher regional tax credit for productions made outside the lower mainland and south Vancouver Island. This significantly larger tax credit will help make all of British Columbia a world-class destination for TV and film production.

Climate action, medical research, film and television are all areas where British Columbia currently excels. But if we're truly to diversify and strengthen our economy, to draw investments to B.C. from around the world, then we must also cultivate growth in areas where we have untapped potential.

Financial services is one. This sector provides highly skilled, well-paying jobs with minimal impact on the environment. However, some obstacles are holding us back from becoming a more important centre for international finance. The first indisputable issue is the tax we levy on the capital assets of financial institutions operating in B.C.

This tax does not exist in other countries. Our major competitors — Alberta and Ontario — have either eliminated the tax or are phasing it out. The federal government has now offered a financial incentive to provinces that will remove the tax before 2011. It is our intention to phase out the capital tax on financial institutions by 2010.

At the same time, government will introduce a new minimum tax on financial institutions with capital over $1 billion, to ensure that they pay a minimum level of tax in this province whatever their profit or loss situation. This will ensure that everyone pays their fair share, while at the same time creating new opportunities for growth in B.C.'s banking, trust and credit union sectors.

The government is also strengthening support for our International Financial Centre, whose mandate is to help draw international business to B.C. We will update our International Financial Activity Act to expand the types of patents eligible for preferential tax treatment to include power generation from sources

such as wind, solar and tidal. This is yet another incentive as we move forward.

A number of other changes will be introduced to this act to broaden and clarify the ways international businesses can benefit by investing in this province. This will assist in our efforts to attract international head office functions to our province.

With this budget, we're also building on another area with great potential, our status as the gateway to Asia-Pacific. We are investing $40 million to strengthen our links with Asian countries. We will do this through the expansion of targeted trade, investment and cultural programs.

In total, this budget provides $407 million in tax reductions and $428 million in new investments targeted to stimulating economic growth, and it does provide another billion dollars for climate action initiatives. That, of course, is on top of the $670 million worth of business taxes made possible by the carbon tax.

Why do we as a government continue to focus our attention on the health of the economy? It is because it is fundamental to everything we want to do. It is fundamental to the well-being of our citizens. A strong economy means jobs for our kids and money in our pockets to look after our families. Over 400,000 new jobs have been created in this province since December 2001. That is 400,000 more people who can pay the rent or the mortgage, look after their kids and look after their families because they get a regular paycheque.

A strong economy also means revenues to government so that we can concentrate on the shared priorities of British Columbians, like health care. Few issues touch us — any of us — more closely than our health. The Conversation on Health brought to the fore British Columbians' concerns and ideas for sustaining and strengthening our health care system. Last week's throne speech was another step forward, setting out a new direction for B.C., one full of energy and hope for the future.

A new $300 million transformation fund will be part of our funding for health care. Budget 2008 will support the new direction expressed in the throne speech with a major new commitment to funding. It is the decision of this government to devote two-thirds of all new spending over the next three years to health care. That is nearly three billion additional dollars that will be put into health budgets. That is on top of the more than $2 billion worth of increases that are coming, which we've announced in previous budgets, for a total of $5 billion in new health funding that we'll see in the system in the next three years. That doesn't count $2.7 billion in capital spending on health care as well.

This new $300 million transformation fund, which will be part of that, will be set up in the Health Ministry to help drive change in our technology, procurement, information and service delivery systems. As well, a new innovation and integration fund of $75 million over two years will be available to introduce patient-focused funding models. It is time we put patients at the front of our funding instead of at the end of the line as simply a cost item.

Budget 2008 also continues our commitment to put students first when it comes to education funding. As government, we value our education system, and we're proud of our education system. Once again, with this budget we will continue to increase the absolute dollars going into K-to-12, and that is despite the fact that the number of students is declining. So the number of dollars available per student will increase yet again in each of the next three years to the highest ever in British Columbia.

We all know — every one of us knows — that those children who start school ready to learn do the best. So we're increasing our investment in StrongStart early learning centres. These centres reach out across economic and social boundaries to offer preschoolers the chance to reach their potential. This excellent program is currently offered through 84 elementary schools. An additional 116 centres will be funded in the coming year and another 200 centres in the next year, for a total of 400 StrongStart centres in communities all over B.C.

With this budget we're also building on our earlier commitments to housing. Effective midnight tonight we are making further improvements to the first-time-homebuyer's program, raising the threshold from $375,000 to $425,000, and we are eliminating the previous financing rules and regulations. Our successful rental assistance program, which helps so many low-income earners meet their housing costs, will be expanded to allow applications from eligible families earning up to $35,000 a year.

Another $104 million will support our strategies to break the cycle of homelessness. Our aggressive initiative to buy and upgrade apartments to meet social housing needs will be supported with another $23 million.

So many of the commitments in this budget — to climate change, the economy, health care, education, housing — reflect the comments heard during budget consultations. But another area also received broad interest and support, and that was culture and the arts. This is another strength that we can build on in British Columbia.

As we prepare for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, as we build our new relationship with first nations, as we celebrate 150 years of history, a cultural revival is taking place in every region of this province. This budget provides $105 million for arts and culture projects, including $9 million to restore and revitalize the Vancouver East Cultural Centre — this will establish an endowment to assist with the centre's ongoing operating costs as well — and $3 million to support a new aboriginal art gallery and a world women's history museum.

This is in addition to the projects that were mentioned in the throne speech, including funding for the planning of a new national maritime centre for the Pacific and the Arctic to be located in North Vancouver.

With this budget, as well, to honour our 150th birthday as a province, we are creating a new $150 million BC150 cultural fund. As an endowment for the future, it will generate every year approximately $8

million. The B.C. Arts Council, in its official role, will advise government on how this money can best be used to support initiatives in every community around our province.

We have always said that we can't do everything we want to all at once, and we can't move forward at all without the tremendous dedication and effort that we see day in and day out from the talented women and men across B.C.'s public service. I want to take a moment to recognize those I work so closely with. Under the leadership of Deputy Minister Chris Trumpy, the people of British Columbia are served with honour and with integrity. I do thank them.

Thanks in large part to their contribution, we are able to move forward step by step, focusing our energies and building on our progress year after year. The first budget in the current mandate enhanced support to our seniors. The next one invested in new and expanded services for children, including those with disabilities and special needs. The third budget took steps to tackle the housing challenges that come with a growing economy.

With this budget we start a whole new chapter in our history with groundbreaking action on climate change; hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of tax cuts for businesses and individuals made possible by the new carbon tax; new investments to strengthen and diversify our economy; and new funding for vital public priorities, including health care and education.

It is perhaps an understatement to say that we've come a long way since our founding in 1858, but B.C. has often been at the forefront of change, introducing new ideas from fuel cell technology to the 100-mile diet that had people worldwide rethinking how they live.

Now B.C. is pioneering once again. With this budget, we have set in motion the beginnings of a new way to think about our choices, to consider all of their costs and their consequences. We are not waiting for others to lead.

We are moving forward, consistent with the best advice of the most respected scientists and many of the world's leading economic experts. But let us not forget that just as we look back today on the legacies of people like James Douglas, hundreds of years from now, historians will look back at this part of the province's life. We as a people have a choice about how they will remember us.

We can be the generation that had it all and let it slip away, or we can seize this opportunity which is before us to be the generation of British Columbians who made the right decisions, who chose to take action and, by doing so, showed their respect for the earth, for the atmosphere, for those who came before us and for those who will follow in the decades to come.

So let us rise to the occasion. Let us work together to shape the next proud chapter in the history of British Columbia.

B. Ralston: Mr. Speaker, this is the Finance Minister's final budget. It has similarities to the first three budgets she introduced. Like the throne speech, it's big on promises, but it fails to deliver.

B. Ralston: It fails to provide relief from the affordability crunch facing families today, and it fails to address critical issues facing our province. The Finance Minister calls this a green budget, but for every step this government claims to take on climate change, we take two steps backwards.

Big polluters get a pass on climate change. The oil and gas industry gets a bigger subsidy than ever before. Meanwhile consumers are paying higher transit fares. There's a new gas tax without viable alternatives to get people out of their cars, and the government continues to keep British Columbians in the dark about how we are going to reach our emission reduction targets.

Mr. Speaker, 13 months ago the Premier said climate change was his most important priority. After a year of speculation, a year of discussion behind closed doors, the government has delivered a gas tax. There's no question that everyone must do their part to fight climate change, but the Premier's answer is to make average people do the heavy lifting, hitting them directly in the pocketbook.

This plan is not neutral. It hits ordinary citizens but not the big polluters. Big industry — those who produce oil, gas, aluminum and other commodities — will not be subject to this new tax. The Finance Minister was able to figure out how to make working people pay, but for the big polluters, they need more time. That's not fair, and that's not neutral.

Consumers will be hit hard by this new gas tax — families who pay for home heating oil for their homes, families who are forced to drive to and from work because of this government's failure to invest in transit, families who are struggling to make ends meet. The minister's new carbon dividend won't help much either. For those families who actually qualify, the entire amount will be eaten up almost single-handedly by the minister's new gas tax.

The so-called solutions that offset the gas tax require big spending, replacing inefficient vehicles, weatherizing windows and doors, replacing a gas furnace. All of these things cost money, and families who can't afford those changes will continue to be penalized, and they will fall further and further behind. Working families were looking to the government for relief. Instead, they got a budget that asks them to spend money they don't have to fight climate change.

With this budget the Finance Minister shows that her government continues to have the wrong priorities, with massive subsidies to the oil and gas sector and a $220 million capital tax cut for the banks while the priorities of British Columbians continue to be ignored.

For the fourth year in a row, B.C. has the worst child poverty record in the country. While other provinces such as Newfoundland and Quebec have long-term poverty reduction strategies, B.C. refuses to invest.

This budget fails to address the crisis in public safety facing our province. It does nothing to address the crisis in our forest industry. There have been 16 announced mill closures in the last four months with communities like Kamloops, Mackenzie, Fort Nelson, Campbell River and New Westminster all left reeling by these closures. Under this government they're on their own.

This government does nothing to address the crisis in our health care system. B.C. has fallen from second to seventh in per-capita spending on health care, and with this budget that number will continue to drop. There's nothing in this budget to make advanced education more affordable, to help parents find a child care space, to help families struggling to keep a roof over their heads.

In economics they say that every decision has an opportunity cost. For every path taken, there is a path not taken. When we choose one option, we forgo another. The Finance Minister's choices in this budget also represent opportunity costs. There's the cost her government has off-loaded onto ordinary people in the form of increased fees and taxes. There's also a cost that our entire province will bear for the choices her government has made, for the path not taken by the Premier and this government — the decision not to invest in ordinary people, the decision not to invest in making life more affordable for low- and middle-income families.

While this Finance Minister will soon leave the political stage, we will all bear the costs of her choices in the years to come.

I will have more to say about the budget. In the meantime, I move adjournment of the debate.

Hon. C. Taylor presented a message from His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2008.

Hon. C. Taylor: Bill 2, Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2008, implements most of the measures announced in Budget 2008 to help us meet our goal of reducing emissions by 33 percent below 2007 levels by 2020, while building on our economic strengths.

Changes to the Income Tax Act include the provision of an ongoing climate action tax credit for those with low incomes, cuts to personal and corporate income tax rates. These changes will return to taxpayers all of the revenue we will receive from the new carbon tax that was announced in the budget speech and that we will be asking this House to endorse later on in this session.

Bill 2 also authorizes a one-time, upfront climate action dividend of $100 that will be paid to each British Columbian who is resident in the province on December 31, 2007, to help them reduce their fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. Most British Columbians will receive their dividend payment in June.

In addition to the tax cuts associated with the revenue-neutral carbon tax, changes to the Small Business Venture Capital Act, International Financial Activity Act, Social Service Tax Act and Motor Fuel Tax Act provide further tax incentives to help British Columbians adapt to a low-carbon lifestyle.

To ensure the economy and tax system remain strong and competitive, the provincial film tax credits are enhanced; the corporation capital tax on financial institutions is phased out over three years, replaced with a financial institution minimum tax; enhancements are made to the International Financial Activity Act to increase British Columbia's attractiveness as an international financial centre; the ports competitiveness initiative is extended for ten years; the provincial school property tax rate for large industrial properties is reduced over two years to the business-class rate.

In addition, amendments to the Property Transfer Tax Act improve access to the first-time-homebuyer's exemption program through an increase in the eligible-house-price threshold and the elimination of the financing requirement.

Bill 2 also includes measures resulting from the second phase of the provincial sales tax review undertaken by the Ministry of Small Business and Revenue. In addition to these tax measures, Bill 2 amends the Special Accounts Appropriation Act to create two new special accounts, the B.C. arts and culture endowment special account, and the park enhancement fund special account.

Bill 2 amends the Arts Council Act to provide the authority for the B.C. Arts Council to make recommendations to fund projects that support arts and culture in British Columbia from interest earned on the new sub-account. The BC150 cultural fund within the B.C. arts and culture endowment will be within the endowment special account. The Park Act is also amended to grant the minister new flexibility in setting fees and expands existing merchandising authorities.

Finally, Bill 2 amends the Financial Administration Act to allow for the consistent application of per-diem payments to MLAs, expands the regulatory power in the Transportation Act to provide support for matching revenues with the associated road maintenance costs, removes the B.C. Hydro debt cap and repeals the South Moresby Implementation Account Act.

Mr. Speaker, I move first reading of Bill 2, Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2008.

Hon. C. Taylor: I move that the said bill be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Bill 2, Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2008, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Hon. C. Taylor: I have the pleasure to rise to table the Budget and Fiscal Plan 2008/09-2010/11, which fulfils the requirements of section 7 of the Budget Transparency and Accountability Act. I table, on behalf of the ministers responsible, the government's overall strategic plan and service plans required under the Budget Transparency and Accountability Act.

These two packages. The first one contains the service plans for the Office of the Premier, 19 ministries and one related organization.

The second package contains service plans for 31 Crown agencies. The second package also includes a list of organizations that have been exempted from section 13 service plans of the Budget Transparency and Accountability Act and for which service plans are not being filed.

Two government organizations have been added to the exemption list for this budget. The leading-edge endowment fund is exempted from section 13 of the Budget Transparency and Accountability Act, as it has fulfilled the majority of its mandate and will be reported in the Ministry of Advanced Education's service plan until it is wound up.

In addition, one Crown agency is exempted from section 13, as it has just been created and will not meet the materiality threshold this fiscal year.

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