2011 Legislative Session: Third Session, 39th Parliament
HANSARD

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

official report of

Debates of the Legislative Assembly

(hansard)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 20, Number 7

[ Page 6373 ]

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2011

The House met at 1:33 p.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

Hon. M. Polak: Today I had the pleasure of having lunch with representatives from the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Victoria, and they have joined us here in the House today. I'd like to welcome to the House Kris Charmley, Mike Sidhu, Bob Moysey, Todd Walsh, Cheryl d'Estrubé and Patti Sullivan. Would the House please make them welcome.

D. Black: It gives me a great deal of pleasure today to introduce a young woman that I've known for a long time. Her name is Raj Sihota. She went to university with my son David. When she was at university, her political heart was actually on the other side. My son talked to her and invited her to an NDP meeting and Youth Parliament, and what do you know, Mr. Speaker? She became a lifelong New Democrat. It's been 20 years, so I think her heart is definitely with us now.

It's hard to quantify Raj's enormous contribution to our party, so I won't try, except to say that we all owe her a great debt of gratitude.

[1335]

To our party and to our movement she's been a stalwart for New Democrats through thick and thin. She's worked in various leaders' offices, and she is now taking a sojourn to do some other work and some other interests in her life. She is a great friend, a great colleague, and we will all miss her. I'd ask you all to give your attention to Raj.

G. Abbott: I have a couple of introductions to do today. The first is to introduce a gentleman in the gallery today, Mr. Ed Mayne from Parksville. Ed has had a distinguished career in business in both British Columbia and Ontario. He was until recently the great mayor for the community of Parksville, and even more recently than that, at least until this morning, he has been a B.C. Liberal candidate for the leadership of the B.C. Liberal Party. I'd ask the House to please make him welcome.

Also in the gallery today are ten remarkably talented and very well-educated young people who have come to participate in the annual event that we call the B.C. legislative internship program. These are ten distinguished young scholars who have at post-graduation applied for and now have been accepted to the internship program.

I'll introduce them. They are Katie Comley, Matthew Dell, Heather Doi, Christine Fritze, Caroline Lee, Geordon Omand, Elise Palmer, Annabel Rixen, Gordon Robinson and Graeme Scott.

I know that if the Attorney General and Minister of Aboriginal Relations were with us…. And I know I shouldn't note his absence, but I believe he's having a baby, if that's possible. [Laughter.]

The minister, like I, was a member of the legislative internship program in an earlier era. I am proud to say that I am a charter member of the legislative internship club from 1976, which many of you will remember was the year that Thomas Edison invented the typewriter. That's the year that I was a charter member of the internship program. And I want to….

Interjections.

G. Abbott: Mr. Speaker, if we could have some order in the House for just a moment.

I did want to warn the interns that the internship program could for them, like me, be like the Hotel California, where you can check out, but you can never leave.

D. Thorne: I too would like to welcome one of the new interns in the legislative internment…. [Laughter.] Referring to the last speaker, the internment program.

Ms. Katie Comley is a constituent of mine in Coquitlam-Maillardville, and she has been selected to participate in this prestigious program. I wanted to welcome her on behalf of all of the people who live in Coquitlam-Maillardville and wish her all the best, along with the other interns.

Hon. M. MacDiarmid: We are joined today in the gallery by Madam Pike's grade 5 class from L'Ecole Keating in the Saanich school district. I had the opportunity to meet with these students. They're from grade 5. I had a brief meeting with them earlier, and they're looking forward.

They know a little bit about the House, and I've told them that we are all, of course, on our very best behaviour this afternoon. They've spent some time visiting the museum to learn more about our province's history. Now they're here to see how the Legislature operates. Would the House please join me in making them warmly welcome.

C. James: I have two guests I'd like to introduce in the Legislature. The first is a member of my extended family. Her brother Norman came to us through the foster care system and lived with us for more than 20 years. Although he's not here, he will be here with us forever.

[1340]

Would the House please welcome Bobbi Mitchell, who is here with us today, and a member, a colleague of
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all of ours in the Legislature, the former MLA for New Westminster. Would the House please welcome Chuck Puchmayr, my close friend.

L. Reid: I am pleased to welcome to the chamber today Don and Jennifer Phillips. Those of you who were elected in the '90s will recall that Don Phillips was the legislative comptroller. He had a distinguished career with us and has gone on to have many lovely adventures with his wife as they travel the globe. I'd ask the House to please make them welcome.

D. Routley: I would like the House to help me welcome Tyler George. Tyler is a councillor from the Halalt Nation. He's joining us today. He's come to discuss water issues that face the Halalt Nation.

Tyler is a young person who pursued a corporate career in the United States and found himself back in our constituency in his home in Halalt and found himself willing to serve the people there. He coordinates their health program. He's an active councillor and a dedicated member of our community. I appreciate his service, as do all the band members of Halalt Nation. Please help me thank Tyler.

D. Hayer: I have one very special guest here today: my wife, Isabelle Martinez Hayer. She is my partner, and she is the one who helps me wherever we need it, one of the best volunteers — my wife for almost 30 years. She's here on a special day because today is the day our best Premier in British Columbia is going to be here in the House for the last day as Premier. She wanted to be here to make sure she gives her thanks. When I got involved in politics in '99, the first thing we went to do was go see Premier Campbell to get his permission to see if we could get involved — actually, our Premier of the province of British Columbia.

Would the House please make her very welcome and thank our Premier and the Leader of the Opposition, who is also retiring as leader this term, which is a historical event today.

R. Fleming: With us today in the House are students from the great school Reynolds Secondary in my constituency…

Interjection.

R. Fleming: …with former alumni in the House, as one has already indicated.

Twenty-three students and their teacher Mr. Scott Campbell, grade 11 students from social studies, are currently in the midst of a politics and government unit. I had the pleasure of visiting their class last week and enduring a form of question period in that class. They are here to watch MLAs in debate today, and I would ask the House to make all of these students and their teacher Mr. Campbell welcome here today.

Introduction and
First Reading of Bills

Bill M202 — LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
(PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF MLA
EXPENSES AND accountability)
amendment act, 2011

M. de Jong presented a bill intituled Legislative Assembly Management Committee (Public Disclosure of MLA Expenses and Accountability) Amendment Act, 2011.

M. de Jong: I move that a bill intituled Legislative Assembly Management Committee (Public Disclosure of MLA Expenses and Accountability) Amendment Act be introduced and read a first time now.

Motion approved.

M. de Jong: The bill, for members' information, addresses an issue that the House has been struggling with. I believe as a matter of principle that taxpayers should know how their money is being spent, and I believe that's equally true of the money we receive as MLAs to offset our expenses and to operate our offices. What's more, I believe that the vast majority of MLAs actually agree with that proposition, and yet for some reason, it hasn't happened. I am happily told that some progress was made as recently as yesterday, and I'm pleased about it.

This bill would require annual disclosure on a public website of all the funds that we receive as MLAs pursuant to Vote 1, including expense reimbursement and the operation of our constituency offices. I believe that the best way to ensure that this Legislature is never subjected to the spectacle we see unfolding in Nova Scotia is to provide timely disclosure of how MLAs spend the money that taxpayers provide to us. This bill would provide for that disclosure and enhanced accountability.

Accordingly, I move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting after today.

Bill M202, Legislative Assembly Management Committee (Public Disclosure of MLA Expenses and Accountability) Amendment Act, 2011, 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.

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Statements
(Standing Order 25B)

WATERSHEDS AND
GROUNDWATER PROTECTION

D. Routley: I rise today to speak about local watersheds, but watersheds in general. Watersheds are the spring points of life and renewal. In Canada we possess 7 percent of the world's total renewable freshwater supply. In B.C. groundwater provides 23 percent of our population with their drinking water. Groundwater provides 9 percent of the total water consumption in our province, and B.C. groundwater consumption accounts for 25 percent of the total groundwater use in Canada.

Fresh water is our most vital public resource. It is an essential element to life. It is, in fact, a human right. In my constituency, the Cowichan River Valley, which has achieved heritage river status; the Chemainus River, which the Halalt people have such a dire interest in preserving and protecting; the Chemainus community, also dependent on the Chemainus River; Holland Creek; Chase River, with its industrialized delta….

The pressures are many: residential development, resource extraction, the unregulated and sometimes poor practices carried out in our forests, and climate change. The solutions are inclusive community-based management. Our First Nations need to be partners in the management of our freshwater resources, and we need political leadership that will act to protect this vital public resource and never allow the private control or trade of this precious element. Water, drinking water, should never be simply a commodity.

CHARITABLE FUNDRAISING
BY BURNABY FIREFIGHTERS

H. Bloy: I rise in the House to speak of one of the best volunteer groups in Burnaby. It's no exaggeration to say that the Burnaby Fire Fighters Charitable Society are pillars of our community. They do so much; it's difficult to know where to start. The firefighters are active and incredibly effective fund raisers, recently giving a combined total of $70,000 to two hospitals that serve Burnaby.

For over ten years they have volunteered as preventative CPR instructors for grade 10 students in Burnaby. Since 2005 the Burnaby Fire Fighters Society has run a nutritional snack program, starting with two Burnaby elementary schools and a community centre. Today they deliver healthy snacks to nine centres, and that's soon to be ten. They are supported partially by one sponsor, PriceSmart Foods.

The teachers and coordinators are unanimous in their gratitude. The kids enjoy a healthy snack in the morning and have improved grades and overall behaviour. In short, it helps them become better students.

Yesterday I was privileged to host a fundraising breakfast with Scotiabank for the Burnaby Fire Fighters Society. I was proud to present the firefighters Rob Lamoureux, Miles Ritchie, Jeff Clark and Randy Delmonico with a cheque for $3,000 from the proceeds.

But we were not alone. Scotiabank, represented by Senior Vice-President David Poole and Vice-President Barbara Ruff, presented the firefighters with an additional $5,000 to go to the burn fund. I hope that my fellow members would join me in recognizing and thanking Burnaby Fire Fighters Charitable Society for the contributions they made to Burnaby and all of British Columbia.

CAMPBELL RIVER FOOD BANK

C. Trevena: I rise here today to tell members about the Campbell River Food Bank. Every day volunteers work filling boxes for families and bags for individuals. Every day hungry people come in for a free can of soup and some bread, and every week food is distributed to those who cannot afford to feed themselves or their families.

More than a thousand people a month are served by this food bank, by its volunteers and by its donors. People shouldn't have to go hungry. In Campbell River kids can get a hot breakfast at school. Some churches also supply breakfast. There's lunch at the Salvation Army, and in the evening that can of soup can be heated up.

One dad brought his teenaged sons when he registered for help so they would see both the indignity of his having to ask for free food to feed the family and so that the sons would see the unjudgmental generosity of the volunteers at the food bank.

[1350]

Many of those who come are regulars, once a month, and if they're desperate and that monthly donation doesn't help, some churches in town provide a subsequent basket. Many of those who use the food bank are the working poor. As one volunteer told me when I visited: "You can't feed a family on part-time Wal-Mart wages." There is a large display donation cheque from that store in the food bank office.

Local companies and individuals come together to make the food bank work. Tradesmen are constructing an awning so people don't have to wait in the rain for the doors to open. "Got to give people dignity," said one food bank worker. Others are working to rebuild the inside of the warehouse so that the operation is smoother. Individuals rise to the challenge, filling a commercial trailer full of food for the food bank, filling bags distributed with newspapers for the food bank, dropping off goods and cheques to the food bank.

I think any one of us in this House could stand up and praise the work of the food bank in their community, and maybe we should all reflect on that. Food banks should not be the norm in our cities.
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TRUCKING INDUSTRY
SAFETY PROGRAMS

D. Horne: This past February 2, I had the opportunity, together with the Minister of Labour, to speak at an event in Coquitlam for the Trucking Safety Council of British Columbia. The event was held to honour Clark Freightways, who was presented with a certificate of recognition, or COR. This was the first of these certificates given in the trucking industry for their dedication at maintaining the highest standard of safety.

The COR program is a partnership between the Trucking Safety Council and WorkSafe B.C. and recognizes companies that develop and implement sustainable health and safety systems that exceed industry requirements. In order to achieve its strategic safety objectives, Clark Freightways developed one of the most comprehensive occupational health and safety programs in the industry and provides every employee with exhaustive safety orientation and training programs.

Their certificate of recognition was presented to two very deserving gentlemen: Marcus Clark, the president and owner, and Greg Rogge, of Clark Freightways. The pride in their business was very evident as they gave the group a tour of their operation, which has been in business since 1957.

I thanked them for their tireless efforts in implementing the highest standard of safety for their workplace. This is the type of leadership that continually raises the standard for improving trucking safety in our province. As almost everything we use in our daily lives is delivered by trucks, it is extremely important to all of us.

KERSLEY MUSICAL THEATRE

B. Simpson: Take the stories of five lively orphans, two quick-witted redheads, an angelic boy who dared to ask for more, a young girl who found that somewhere over the rainbow wasn't anything like home and a flying imp who refused to grow up. Add to these youthful adventures the compelling stories of a beast who wins the heart of a beauty and of a father who can't resist the winds of change or the sound of a good fiddle.

Just for the pure fun of it, throw in the hilarious tale of a hapless wagon master and a goofy yarn about a hillbilly who saves his town from the A-bomb. Top all of this off with the tale of a travelling salesman who convinces entire towns that their children can learn to play music using only the think system.

When you roll all of this together, what do you get? You get a decade of creative success, personal and family development, community building, over 100 sold-out shows and over 30,000 people who were enthralled and professionally entertained by literally hundreds of their family members, neighbours and friends. You get Kersley Musical Theatre, or what we call KMT.

With the brilliant directorship of Janice Butler, the energetic production of Cathy Heinzleman and the musical talent of Bev Pontius, along with a whole lot of help from people behind the curtain, behind sewing machines, behind the lights, KMT is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year with the classic Music Man.

Unfortunately, Music Man will be KMT's swan song. Kersley Musical Theatre will no longer be producing plays. Yet when the curtain finally drops on KMT, the legacy of this production company will be enjoyed for decades to come, as the songs and memories will linger on in the hearts and minds of all those who participated and saw the shows.

I ask the members of this House to join me in congratulating Janice and Cathy and the whole KMT gang for their decade of success and community building.

UNITED NATIONS AND
MODEL UNITED NATIONS PROGRAM

R. Lee: Ever since its establishment in 1945 the United Nations has been an important international organization for maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, freedom and human rights.

[1355]

We are proud of the key role that Canada played in drafting the UN charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today Canada has seven diplomatic missions accredited to the UN, including offices in New York and Geneva.

With the advent of telecommunication and air transportation, the spiritual and physical distance between people is diminishing. Future generations will face many challenges and controversies. It's vitally important that young British Columbians have a better understanding of global affairs and have the wisdom and skills to provide possible solutions.

Mr. Speaker, where can our young people get the training? Model United Nations simulations are opportunities for our young people to experience the role of a diplomat. Every year 200,000 students around the world conduct research and investigate international issues. Through debate and negotiation, the students develop their own solutions to the challenges before them. Many of the universities and colleges in British Columbia have made the model United Nations simulations available. I am pleased to see that more and more high school students are participating as well.

This Saturday the British Columbia Model United Nations Association will host its B.C. Model UN conference at the University of British Columbia. Would the House please join me in congratulating our youth leaders and wishing them a stimulating and successful conference.
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Oral Questions

COMMUNICATION BY HEALTH AUTHORITY
ON MEDICAL SCAN ISSUES

D. Black: Last week a man from Powell River opened his mail and found two letters from the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority — both letters dated February 8, both signed by the same physicians. Both letters said his CT scan was read by an unqualified radiologist. Both letters assured him they had taken every measure to follow up and properly read his scan.

One letter read: "There is no discrepancy between the two reports; no follow-up needed on your part." The second letter said: "There is a discrepancy between the two reports which may potentially be significant. Please contact your doctor."

Will the Minister of Health please first apologize to this patient and then explain to him what on earth is going on?

Hon. C. Hansen: I am not aware of the letters. I'm not aware of the details around the case that the member has raised, but obviously in the way that she has presented, this gentleman deserves an apology not just from me, but I think from the health authority and from the physicians involved.

This is clearly a situation that is not acceptable to anyone. It's not acceptable to me. The whole incidence around…. It's not just this one gentleman, who obviously must be very distressed by this, but it's all of the patients who I think have been put under stress because of the misdiagnosis and misinterpretation of the scans as have occurred.

Given the circumstances, as the member has described it, I do give him my full apology. We will certainly be following up to make sure that all patients that have been involved in this get access to the medical care that they need and they deserve.

Mr. Speaker: Leader of the Opposition has a supplemental.

D. Black: Well, Mr. Speaker, such incompetence, such terrible incompetence. It's the government that's at fault. Can you imagine for a minute what this patient actually is going through? How is he supposed to have any confidence in his care when he gets two letters on the same day, one telling him there is a problem, the other saying everything is fine?

To the Minister of Health again: was he aware of this problem, and does he know, can he tell us how many other patients got two letters with conflicting and different stories?

[1400]

Hon. C. Hansen: I was not aware of this case, and I'm not aware of any others, but clearly it's not acceptable.

I think that the health authority and the officials connected to the hospital in Powell River are doing everything they can to try to deal with the situation. We, first of all, want to make sure, as a first priority, that these patients are getting access to the care that they need. We're working with their family doctors. We're working with them and their families. But we want to make sure that that's dealt with first of all, and then as a second part of this, we want to make sure how the sequence of events happened the way they did and how we can make sure it doesn't happen again.

Again, I will certainly extend my apologies to this particular gentleman.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has a further supplemental.

INVESTIGATION OF
MEDICAL SCAN INTERPRETATIONS

D. Black: While I appreciate that the minister will apologize to the patient, I want to remind the minister that the letters — both letters — are dated February 8. Both letters were received the same day. That's only a few days ago.

The letter says, "The radiologist who read your scan was not authorized to do so," that he "had not completed additional education required to be reviewing CT scans."

Can the Minister of Health tell this House how many others are practising across B.C. without the right authority?

Hon. C. Hansen: That is exactly the context of Dr. Cochrane's review. In appointing Dr. Cochrane to look into this matter, I made it very clear on the very first day that his very first priority had to be to make sure that there weren't other radiologists in British Columbia who were practising without the proper training, experience and credentialing. So Dr. Cochrane will be undertaking that.

But I can tell you that all of the cases that have come to our attention have been made public, and if there are any other cases that come to our attention, we will certainly be making sure that that information is public.

Dr. Cochrane's investigation is two phases. The first phase is this review of existing radiologists and their credentials. He will be providing that report within 30 days of the time that I asked him to undertake that, and we will be making his report public that he provides. We will also be making his more fulsome report public when he completes the broader look at the circumstances that led up to this, to ensure that we can make sure it never happens again.
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COMMUNICATION BY HEALTH AUTHORITY
ON MEDICAL SCAN ISSUES

N. Simons: My constituent had his scan in August. The health authority knew about the problem and stopped this doctor from practising that particular aspect of his profession in October. It wasn't until last week that my constituent was even sent a letter — or two letters, in this case.

How can the minister explain that delay, which seems like gross neglect?

Hon. C. Hansen: I'm not going to make apology…. I'm not going to in any way condone this, because clearly it's not acceptable. It's not acceptable to me. It's not acceptable to the medical community, and they want to make sure that these issues are addressed expeditiously.

I can tell the member that as soon as I became aware of the circumstance in Powell River, I acted. I made sure that we put in place the terms of reference for a thorough review, to make sure that we could once again get to a point where we can give British Columbians the confidence that they can depend on the interpretation and the diagnosis that is being undertaken by health professionals in British Columbia.

We want to get there as quickly as we can, and we are working on that as fast as we possibly can to ensure that British Columbians can have that confidence.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

INVESTIGATION OF
MEDICAL SCAN INTERPRETATIONS

N. Simons: I'm sure my constituent appreciates the offer of apology. What I think is concerning to the people of the province is: what systemic problem can create this kind of situation where an identified problem back as far as 2008 isn't addressed until October but the public is kept in the dark until February? That seems to me the problem and the concern that people in my constituency are concerned about.

[1405]

How can the minister assure the people of this province that similar problems are not occurring throughout the province?

Hon. C. Hansen: First of all, if either the Leader of the Opposition or the member was able to provide me with the copies of those letters, I will ensure that they are followed up on very quickly. I think the member's point that he makes is exactly the terms of reference and is exactly why we've appointed Dr. Cochrane to do that review. If there are systemic problems, then we want to make sure that they're identified and they're fixed, and that's exactly what Dr. Cochrane is undertaking.

S. Hammell: I think we can all agree that this situation is very serious. Today the minister said that the situation is unacceptable. On Tuesday the minister said the government wants to act to ensure that radiologists have "the appropriate credentialing." But they failed to act, even though for over a year the British Columbia Radiological Society has been asking them to implement tougher standards for their profession.

To the Minister of Health: B.C. patients really have had enough, so will he act on toughening those standards today?

Hon. C. Hansen: The Ministry of Health Services officials meet on a regular basis with representatives of the B.C. Medical Association and with representatives of the various organizations that represent the specialists within the medical community. There have been meetings with radiologists. They have not been on a subject that would be directly relevant to this particular issue.

But we want to work with that organization, work with the BCMA and, as I've said earlier, work with the college to make sure that the credentialing that is done, that the evaluation of competency is one that has rigour and one that British Columbians can depend on. Again, that is work we are doing expeditiously to make sure that British Columbians can have confidence in this system.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

S. Hammell: So we'll wait. While B.C. Liberals just sit and watch, Alberta is one of the provinces to bring in better standards. While B.C. only requires radiologists to fill in an on-line survey of their credentials, Alberta requires a full review, including feedback from colleagues, patients and other health professionals.

Again to the minister: why don't B.C. patients deserve at least the same standards as those found in Alberta?

Hon. C. Hansen: As I have said, I fully expect that there will be changes that will come as a result of the review that Dr. Cochrane is doing. But we want to make sure that we get the best expert advice, and we want to make sure that there is a system put in place that British Columbians can have confidence in and that makes sure that anyone that is practising medicine in British Columbia has the full training, experience and credentialing to do so.

J. Kwan: I just want to understand something from this Minister of Health — interim Minister of Health. The health authority, which this government appointed, knew about this since October, yet the minister him-
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self only just found out. I'd like the minister to explain to this House and to British Columbians how it is that this time lag is allowed. What is he going to do to seek those answers from the health authorities themselves in not bringing the issue to the minister's attention immediately?

Hon. C. Hansen: As soon as it was brought to my attention, I can assure the House I took action. We made sure that it was addressed expeditiously and on a priority basis by everybody concerned.

[1410]

As I've said in the House previously and as I've said publicly, the issue around why it took so long for the ministry to be notified by the health authority is explicitly in the terms of reference that have been given to Dr. Cochrane. It is Dr. Cochrane that I am looking to, to find those answers.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

J. Kwan: The health authority is chosen by this government. They put these health authorities together. It's been since October that the health authorities knew about the problems, yet the minister is asleep at the switch. He knows nothing about it. Maybe the former Minister of Health knows nothing about it, who is now wanting the Premier's seat. I don't know who doesn't know, but the fact is, it's the patients who are not getting the information that they deserve and the health care that they deserve.

Surely the Minister of Health has got to say that this is not acceptable, that he wants these answers from the health authorities and that he demands to know immediately, the minute the health authority finds out about this incompetence.

Hon. C. Hansen: Again, that is exactly what Dr. Cochrane will be looking at.

I can assure the member that when the most recent case came to light, the health authority was notified immediately. We were notified immediately, and we took action immediately.

ST. PAUL'S HOSPITAL
INFRASTRUCTURE CONDITIONS

S. Chandra Herbert: Today we learned this government received an independent report back in 2004 that stated that five out of six buildings at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver were at extreme or very high risk of failure. We also know that Providence Health Care provided a report to this government this year that states: "Should a major disaster, electrical or other infrastructure failure take St. Paul's out of service, core health services in Vancouver would be in chaos, as there is no surge capacity in other facilities."

To the Health Minister: why has this government kept 100,000 Vancouverites in the downtown core and hundreds of thousands of other British Columbians that rely on St. Paul's Hospital at risk?

Hon. C. Hansen: The report the member refers to that came to the health authority and the ministry this year was actually a draft version of a report that came to the ministry on February 2. What the ministry is looking at…. It's exactly the kind of advice that the province needs, that the health authority needs, in order to determine what needs to be done to make sure that our health facilities are adequate and appropriate for the care they are expected to deliver.

The ministry and the health authority are evaluating the findings in this draft report. We'll be working with the health authority to determine what action needs to be taken and when it needs to be done.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

S. Chandra Herbert: This government's Ministry of Health, back in 2004, commissioned an independent report that stated that the hospital's infrastructure was deplorable. Electrical feeds are so old that they can't even be tested for fear of failure. Two emergency generators are past their life expectancy, with one that recently failed. The plumbing fails frequently, forcing the shutdown of whole departments. The elevators fail, sometimes trapping patients and doctors, and they fail, on average, 40 times a month.

When will this government stop passing the buck, take action and renew St. Paul's Hospital?

Hon. C. Hansen: Part of the legacy of this government has been that we have put more money into health care facilities in British Columbia than any other government. That includes investments that have gone into St. Paul's Hospital, the most recent of which was a $14.7 million investment in the emergency ward at St. Paul's Hospital to improve and modernize it.

[1415]

I'm proud of the fact that we have put these investments in around the province. We will look at this technical report, as we do all of the information that comes forward, to determine exactly what needs to be done to make sure that St. Paul's continues to provide the excellent health care that it has to British Columbians for the last hundred years.

FUNDING FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

L. Krog: When asked yesterday about drug-trafficking and drunk-driving cases being dropped due to inadequate court resources, the Minister of Finance gave a completely inadequate answer. Now a man accused of
[ Page 6380 ]
killing a puppy belonging to Max Rose, a then-12-year-old cancer survivor, is getting off scot-free. The presiding judge says that the court delay was caused by a shortage of judges in Campbell River.

My question, again, is to the Minister of Finance, and he's got a second chance today to give us an answer. How can this government justify a $700,000 cut to the judiciary budget from last year's spending, $6 million from prosecution services and $8 million from court services while alleged criminals are getting off because of lengthy court delays blamed on this government's inadequate funding?

Hon. C. Hansen: As I indicated yesterday, there is a process underway looking at the judicial system in British Columbia and how we can ensure that taxpayers get the best value for dollar and make sure that the court system can work as efficiently as possible. But as I indicated yesterday, the ministry continues to deploy our existing prosecutors. The ten new prosecutors hired in 2009 continue, and they will be there to protect the public from gang violence.

The budget that is in place for this coming fiscal year that was reflected in this budget is a continuation of the fiscal plan that we had tabled, actually, 12 months ago.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

L. Krog: I want to remind this minister that he's been in office for ten years. This government has had ten years, and now they're engaging in a process to deal with the crisis in the justice system. That doesn't cut it for the opposition.

Max's father said yesterday: "I don't know what you're supposed to tell your children — that, oh yeah, a guy can shoot your puppy in the head, can get away with it, and he just has to wait long enough, and then it all goes away."

The fact is that there are not enough judges. Court resources in B.C. are strapped. They are being underfunded, and cases are being dropped. This is not acceptable to the people of British Columbia.

Again to the minister: when will this minister declare that B.C. is not a safe haven for violent criminals, provide the judges and sheriffs and court support necessary and ensure that no more trials are dropped?

Hon. C. Hansen: As I indicated, the budget for the Ministry of Attorney General, as set out in the fiscal plan 12 months ago, continues. The ministry can count on stable funding, and the ministry is working with the judiciary and the judicial system to find ways to ensure that it runs as efficiently as possible for the people of British Columbia.

S. Simpson: To continue with the failed process as this minister has, to allow these prosecution and court services to continue to erode, for us to not have adequate services to be able to process the cases that are in front of us is just the continuation of that failure. It's not acceptable.

[1420]

It appears the Finance Minister isn't prepared to deal with these issues. My question would be to the Premier. Will the Premier, in his final few days here, direct the Finance Minister, direct the Attorney General to in fact rethink these resources, apply the resources, get the judges into those courts, get the prosecution services in and deal with these cases?

Hon. C. Hansen: I will reiterate that the fiscal plan that was set out last year and the budget for the Ministry of Attorney General is the same today as it was then, so there is stability in terms of their plan and their budget. But let's actually look at what's happening in terms of crime in British Columbia.

We see that for the fifth year in a row overall crime in British Columbia is down. We know that property crimes in British Columbia are now at their lowest levels that we've seen in 30 years in this province. We also know that violent crimes have hit a 20-year low in this province.

I know that the Attorney General is working with the judiciary, looking at new ways that the judicial system can function so that the interests of British Columbia are met, so that the judicial system can work and we can continue to see a drop in those crime rates in British Columbia in the years to come.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

S. Simpson: Maybe the minister would like to know that continuing a fiscal plan that allows criminals, whether they be drug dealers or people who shoot a kid's dog, to walk away and never appear in court is a failed fiscal plan, and it's time to change it.

The minister can read from his notes all he wants. The reality is that British Columbians want our courts to work. They want criminals to be dealt with. They don't want them walking free, and they don't want them getting their $6 million bills paid either, but that's another matter.

Will this government finally do something right? You can do it now. Put the money in place to be able to deal with the criminals who are walking out of these courts, never appearing in these courts, because you failed to fund the system.

Hon. C. Hansen: Actually, the masters of failed fiscal plans are the NDP. You know, actually, that's a government….

Interjections.
[ Page 6381 ]

Mr. Speaker: Continue, Minister.

Hon. C. Hansen: The bottom line is that the Ministry of Attorney General has a significantly higher budget today than it did ten years ago. We have more prosecutors in British Columbia, we have more police in British Columbia, and we have more convictions in British Columbia. Crime is down in British Columbia, and we continue to continue to drive that progress.

MINING INDUSTRY AND NATURAL RESOURCE
OPERATIONS MINISTRY FUNDING

D. Donaldson: Well, let us talk about the bottom line. The Mining Association of B.C. recently said that the province is not well positioned to take advantage of record-high copper prices. We've lost out on potentially millions in revenues. The Mining Association president, Pierre Gratton, told this government a year ago that they were at risk of cutting off their nose to spite their face "by making these kinds of cuts to the very ministries that are there to help the economy grow." He said: "Frankly, the cuts have gone too far."

With the new budget we see millions of dollars' worth of cuts to the new Ministry of Natural Resource Operations. To the minister: please explain how these cuts will support responsible mining and generate government revenues.

[1425]

Hon. R. Hawes: I'm sure the member is aware of the number of new mines that are now approved and ready to go in this province.

I would invite the member to call the mayor of Princeton and ask him what's happening in Princeton with the revival of that community, which had suffered so badly with the pine beetle epidemic, but now Copper Mountain is opening and providing huge employment, big benefits. That town is completely rebuilding because of mining, as will a number of areas in that member's riding as Red Chris and other mines in your area, Member, begin to open.

As you know, we are in a renaissance in mining, and we are seeing unprecedented growth in mining in British Columbia today.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

D. Donaldson: Well, it's typical of this minister and this government. It's all about what might happen in the future. The people in this province want to know what's happening in the here and now — the here and now, hon. Speaker. I can tell you what's happening in the here and now is that this government is making cuts to ministries that are going to affect our revenue-generating potential in this province.

It's not just the mining sector that's pointing out the failed strategies of this government when it comes to generating revenues.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

D. Donaldson: The former Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources said: "The fundamental problem facing the natural resource ministries is they are underfunded. We work the heck out of the employees, we don't have enough funds within the ministries to get permits out the door, to develop the policy, to deal with the stakeholders, to do the work that actually leads to the majority of the revenue that comes in to government."

So a straightforward question to the Minister of Natural Resource Operations. Does the Minister of Natural Resource Operations agree with his former cabinet colleague?

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. G. Campbell: It's really good to hear that the opposition are suddenly concerned about the mining industry. I should tell the member opposite that it's often good to talk to the mining industry about the environment that's been created for them before he starts asking questions.

Let me tell the member opposite this, hon. Speaker. Since 2001 mining exploration in British Columbia is up over a thousand percent. There are over two dozen mines in process.

I can tell the hon. member opposite, who evidently now cares about mining, that all he has to do is listen carefully. We need to streamline our regulatory processes. We need to make sure we move forward. We need to ensure we encourage investment. It will create thousands of jobs in British Columbia. That's what this side of the House will do, and we hope he'll join us.

[1430]

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.

[End of question period.]

S. Chandra Herbert: I rise to present a petition.

Mr. Speaker: Proceed.
[ Page 6382 ]

Petitions

S. Chandra Herbert: Hon. Speaker, I bring a petition from constituents of Vancouver–West End to call for a renewal of St. Paul's Hospital. Some 311 residents are adding their names to the over 10,000 names already submitted by the Save St. Paul's Coalition.

Tabling Documents

Hon. S. Cadieux: I have the honour to present the annual report of the Property Assessment Appeal Board for 2010.

Hon. I. Black: I have the honour to present the annual report of the Labour Relations Board of British Columbia.

Orders of the Day

Hon. R. Coleman: By agreement with the opposition, I ask for leave now to move into a session where we will spend some time to say some remarks and tributes to our two parting leaders.

Leave granted.

Tributes to the
Hon. Gordon Campbell, Premier, and
Carole James, MLA, Victoria–Beacon Hill

D. Black: Well, it's with very mixed emotions that I stand to pay tribute to my friend Carole James, a remarkable woman and a remarkable British Columbian.

Mr. Speaker: Just to remind members, you don't use the names.

D. Black: Sorry. I haven't done that before. The member for Victoria–Beacon Hill.

I also want to offer congratulations to the Premier, who has a very remarkable record in British Columbia, being one of the longest-serving Premiers in B.C.'s history. He's someone who has worked hard for the people of British Columbia, and he'll leave his mark on the province for decades to come. To Nancy and to your whole family, Mr. Premier, I want to say thank you, because it's those who are nearest and dearest to us who often give up a lot and deserve so much of the credit.

The member for Victoria–Beacon Hill was the reason that I left Ottawa to become involved in provincial politics. It was a difficult decision for me, but I, like many others, was extremely impressed by her. I wanted to work with her as the Leader of the Opposition and, I hoped, as the first elected woman Premier of British Columbia. For me and for so many others, that was a very exciting prospect.

I knew the member before I made the leap, but I knew her mostly by reputation. In fact, when she ran to be the leader of the New Democratic Party, I supported someone else — so, in fact, did many of the people that she brought in to work with her on her team here in the Legislature.

It's a measure of her generosity and her inclusive approach to politics that petty political calculations didn't really figure into her thinking. She wanted everyone on her team, and I could tell that she would bring enormous integrity and a new perspective to leading our province.

Over the last year and a half or almost two years now that I've been working in the Legislature, I got to know her much better and to know much better the extraordinary woman that she is. I've had the opportunity to work with many politicians and many leaders in my time in the New Democratic Party both federally and provincially, and the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill was and is unique.

She is probably the most centred and calm politician that I've ever met, and that inner calm has served her well in the ups and downs of political life. She was a rock when we needed her to be. She became leader at a very difficult time for us. We were down in the polls, down to two seats in the Legislature, so it wasn't an easy choice for her to make. It certainly was not a glamorous job.

[1435]

Some called her a caretaker. Well, they clearly had not taken the measure of the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill. She was the steady hand we needed, working relentlessly, often in obscurity, to bring the New Democratic Party back to life. She did more than that. She brought the party to the brink of forming government.

In opposition she quickly found her voice as a powerful advocate for a fairer and more compassionate province. She didn't fit the mould of the caricature that is sometimes painted of B.C. politicians. She is certainly not the most controversial character to grace these halls. She doesn't exploit divisions. She doesn't shout or yell. She doesn't appeal to fear. It's just not her style.

She has a basic common sense that made a lot of traditional political theatre seem rather beside the point to her. Perhaps that's because she was raised by a very strong woman who just didn't have time for such things. She certainly inherited her stiff upper lip in the face of adversity — no whining, no complaining; just get on with it.

The week she was diagnosed with cancer, she barely said a word. She went camping for a week, and she came back. She did radiation, and she went straight back to work.

Some saw Carole's commonsense personality as a weakness, but I believe that it was one of her greatest
[ Page 6383 ]
strengths. It gave her a capacity to reach beyond traditional political divides and to find common ground. Under her leadership the NDP became a more open and welcoming party to new ideas and to new people. That will be one of her lasting accomplishments.

But her common sense and reasonableness should never be mistaken for a lack of passion for the job or for the purpose of politics. Her quiet determination can be quite fierce. When she zeroes in on an issue, she is relentless, driven by a passion for people and a profound sense of right and wrong.

That sense of right and wrong propelled her into public life. It gave her the courage to do things she thought were beyond her, from organizing her first protest as a child to demand that girls be allowed to wear pants in school, to putting her name forward as a school trustee, to turning her life upside down to run to become leader of the New Democratic Party.

She doesn't know this, but we share a political story. I, too, began my political activism as a teenager organizing the girls in my school, Point Grey School in Vancouver, to wear pants at school as well. So girls can now wear pants. We women politicians wear our pantsuits wherever and whenever we please.

If there's one value that grounds her approach to politics, it is her innate belief that every person has value, that every person has a contribution to make to the common good, no matter what their circumstance in life. That value is in her DNA, instilled by her loving, if rather chaotic, upbringing in a home that was teeming with life — grandparents, parents, children and foster children. It's been her touchstone in the ups and downs of political life. It has kept her grounded. Mr. Speaker, it has kept us grounded.

Whenever she returned from a trip or a tour, she always had a story to tell, and it was always about someone who had touched her with their story of perseverance.

[1440]

She was always attuned to the shy person at the back of the room, more comfortable meeting with people who were struggling in life than she was in a room with the most powerful. Some saw that as a weakness too, but again, I believe it was one of her greatest strengths.

For her, the purpose of politics is to give people the tools they need to make the most of their lives, to treat everyone with the dignity that is inherent within them. That more than anything defined her leadership of our party and her contribution to public life.

She could be tough. She is tough. In fact, I've learned she's as tough as nails, but the fundamental respect she showed to everyone gave her the capacity to reach beyond herself, to expand the vision for our party and to imagine a new way that politics could work.

Yes, there were disappointments. There are always disappointments in politics. It is a tough and unforgiving business, but so much was achieved. British Columbians from all walks of life, from every part of the province, benefited from her strong and principled voice. And through her voice, the NDP again found its voice, a voice as a servant to the people.

Carole, it's impossible to find words to match the thanks that we owe you for what you've done for all of us and for British Columbians. You've been an inspiration to me and to so many others who have hope for a better, more humane province, a better and more humane world.

Your warmth, your generosity, your basic goodness reflected well on all of us. British Columbia is a better province because of you, and to you and to Al and to your wonderful family who gave you up to us for seven years, I will simply say thank you. Thank you from all of us. [Applause.]

Hon. R. Coleman: Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving us the time this afternoon to say a few words about folks that mean a lot to us.

Carole, I'd like, on behalf of the government side, to congratulate you on your commitment to the province and your public service.

My entry into politics started in 1986 when I ran for council, and I lost. I made myself a commitment in 1986 that I would never run for public office again.

Interjections.

Hon. R. Coleman: Sometimes things just don't work out the same as you think they will.

Ten years later I went to a speech by the then Leader of the Opposition — actually, about nine years later, the Premier of the province — at the chamber of commerce in Langley. Afterward I went to a reception and had an opportunity to meet and talk to him. It was at that time I actually joined the B.C. Liberal Party because I thought I had just met the person that could lead us back to a coalition of people on the free enterprise side, to lead us to government in the future.

Now, I only joined the party to be a volunteer because I had run campaigns for years, but I still had no intention of entering politics — until about six months later. I was standing in a food lineup for a fundraiser for the then MLA Lynn Stephens at the Twin Rinks in Langley, and the Premier happened to be standing beside me in the lineup. He said: "I think you should consider running for us." He gave me a very short explanation as to why, and I bought it.

[1445]

From there became a journey that I cannot describe to anyone in any way. I entered politics as part of his team in 1996. I served as his caucus chair and his Whip for the next five years. We went through some tough times in opposition, some very interesting times and, as we refer to the 1997 session, the session from hell, where we as an opposition did not look like we could
[ Page 6384 ]
possibly be a government in waiting or that we could possibly be a group of people that could coalesce to get the job done.

But coalesce we did, because the Premier put us together in a room, and we worked it through. We decided that we were going to handle ourselves differently, make a commitment to each other. As we did that over the next four years, I believe that was the foundation that got us to government in 2001.

You know, there are stories that go: "If you spend some time with somebody for 15 years…." And I'm not going to get into the government agenda, because you've heard me speak in this House and laud how great we are many, many times, so you all know that we are. [Laughter.] However, there are times that you remember when you sort of reflect on a relationship. I reflect on two stories I want to tell you.

I reflect on sitting in a room with a group of supporters in 1997, a year and a half after the campaign of '96, who were basically saying: "Well, you guys should move on to a different leader. You should do things differently." My comment to this group of people was: "Then either step up to the plate, believe in this guy…. And if you got him to the chair, you'd have one of the greatest Premiers in history."

I believed that then, and I believe that now. But as you go through that and you build something together…. Something else happened for me. I also got a friend for life, and I'll speak about that more in a couple of minutes.

I'll never forget the night on December 10 many, many years ago when I lost my mother-in-law. The first person through my door was the Premier. He made sure my wife was okay, and he actually stepped up and helped us through that period of time.

I watched him as his compassion for Fred Gingell as he suffered through cancer was there, with the Premier checking in on Fred, giving him the support and being there for him during the time that he suffered prior to passing away.

I know he was there for Stan Hagen's family. And I know that over the many years of the suffering of Sindi Hawkins, one of the constants was the Premier's visits and calls and concern for Sindi. You can't measure that any other way.

We came into government in 2001, and you know, it was kind of cool. You sit there in opposition. And those of you on my side of the House that haven't been in opposition, I've got to tell you that the worst day in government is still better than the best day in opposition if you're government.

The vision, our 90-day agenda, our tax cuts, the constant striving for excellence, for the betterment of B.C. that our Premier led us through was something to behold, something that you could get up every single morning and be excited about, something you could walk into every single cabinet meeting and think: "Boy, we're really trying to change the future of British Columbia here. I'm emboldened, I'm excited, and I think it's important."

We've had a week where we actually talked about the 2010 Olympics, but there's one pretty minor story around that, which people don't know. People will remember the referendum in Vancouver and the work we did with the Premier's leadership to get the referendum done in Vancouver so we could actually host the Olympics. But what you don't know, many of you, is that when the team was over in Europe for the bid, they all had about three-minute pieces that they had to give as part of their bid.

[1450]

As Wayne Gretzky, I believe, said it — it was either Wayne Gretzky or John Furlong — there was one guy who spoke for a living as a politician, who practised and practised and practised to get his piece absolutely perfect. The rest of the team that were there on the bid said that when the captain of the team is prepared to work that hard and practise that hard, we have to raise our game too. He led us to the Olympic bid, and we should never, ever forget that.

Now, my friend has one very irritating trait.

Interjections.

Hon. G. Campbell: Just one, Harry. Just one.

Hon. R. Coleman: One.

He happens to be one of these guys that's a natural athlete. What he does is he'll sit and not golf for nine or ten months out of the year and pick up a set of sticks and beat me every single time. Well, not every single time.

For the members opposite, every year the Speaker, myself, the former member for Okanagan-Penticton and the Premier have a little two-day golf tournament. We play a thing called "high-low." High means there are 36 points to get. You get one point for the high and one point for the low score, matching up between the two teams, and you calculate this.

So once we won. Every other time we've been beaten. But not just beaten, beaten badly. When they triple your number….

Mr. Speaker: Just a reminder: who's partners?

Hon. R. Coleman: Oh yeah. The Speaker and the Premier happen to be partners in this little event. You can imagine, since the member for Okanagan-Penticton is not even here to defend me…. Mind you, he never would. He blames me every time we lose anyway.

I've got to tell you a little story because I'm never going to live this down, so I might as well tell everybody. We were playing last year at Redwoods Golf Course
[ Page 6385 ]
in Langley. If you've ever played golf with me…. I can hit a pretty long golf ball. I just have no foggiest idea where that ball might be going. So I lose a lot of golf balls — right?

When you're frustrated like me when you golf, you take the next ball out of your bag, and you put it on the tee, and you don't care what it is. Well, I made a little mistake. I'm embarrassed about it, but they'll never let me live it down. We were playing on one hole, which is a dogleg to the right, par 5 on the back nine of Redwoods. I teed off, and frankly, I duck-hooked it into about six feet of grass.

My partner pulled up. He says: "Isn't this your golf ball? This is where it went in." I said: "Must be." So I hit it. Shortly thereafter the Premier said, "I think you were playing this type of ball," so I had hit the wrong ball. It was a Titleist 2. They'll never let me forget it. Every time they want to get to me, they just say, "Titleist 2," and they won't let me live it down.

I do think, though, that when you've had the opportunity like I have — the gift that I've been given as an MLA to serve in this Legislature, but the gift to serve with someone like the Premier — you get certain benefits in life. You get to look back and say, "Why didn't I think of that?" when he comes up with the next long-term thinking for the future of British Columbia. It was never short-term politics with my leader. It's always been long-term thinking.

Whether it was the Asia-Pacific…. He told us back in about 2002 that it would take us about ten years to penetrate the market in China if we get focused on it and we stay with it. Today China is our second-largest lumber exporting partner in British Columbia. As we go into the next softwood lumber negotiation, I suspect that we'll be in such a strong position because we had the vision in 2002. Successive ministers have built on that vision, but the vision came from the Premier.

Our ports, our infrastructure, our clean energy, the new doctors and nurses being trained in British Columbia that are serving us, the public, were all long-term thinking things that came from the leadership of the Premier, including new universities and things like that.

When I was thinking about what I'd say today, I didn't want to get into the government stuff so much as the personal side. So I thought to myself: "What will I tell my children and my grandchildren about this term of office, about the Premier of the province of British Columbia?" I like to read books. I've read a lot of books about a lot of great people. You sit there and think: "I wonder what it would have been like to be part of history, to be serving with someone that great."

[1455]

I get to tell my grandchildren: "I don't need to read about it anymore; I saw it every single day." I saw greatness, I saw commitment, and I saw love for my province.

No matter what you think, when people put their public service in front of this country and in this province, we should be so eternally grateful to them. But when they take it to the next step and they actually change the direction and the history of a province, we should admire them.

I got to serve with greatness. My boss, my friend, my Premier, Gord — those will all be the things I will always call him from here on forward.

You know, a man once said that the rent you pay for the space you occupy on the face of this earth is service to your fellow men. Premier, you have paid your rent in spades, and I am proud to have served with you for the last 15 years. [Applause.]

B. Ralston: It's my opportunity to pay tribute to the former Leader of the Official Opposition, the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill, and to say a few words about the outgoing Premier.

When the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill took over as our leader, the leader of our party, on November 23, 2003, we were still very close to our…. I think it would be fair to call it a major setback in 2001, coming back with two seats, Joy MacPhail and the member for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant, 21.56 percent of the popular vote, a historic low in the modern era.

But we came roaring back. In 2005, under her leadership, we elected 33 MLAs, and our percentage of the popular vote was 41.52 percent. That's the official tally, and that's almost exactly double what we had in the 2001 election. And of course, we came very close — certainly we on this side regret it; perhaps not so much on that side — in 2009 when we elected 35 MLAs and had 42.15 percent of the popular vote. Close, but in this world not quite close enough.

But I don't really want to talk about the official record. I do want to talk about the person that I know and recognize her accomplishments in politics here in British Columbia. She attempted in the often strident and polarized political culture of British Columbia to bring about a different and more constructive tone. Her goal was to bring about a new style of politics in British Columbia, and history will judge the success of that, although in my view she was successful.

Some of her more recent political leadership led us to what we've called in our party "Our province, our future," where she reached out to those considered non-traditional audiences by some in our party and some more generally in British Columbia.

She exhibited a tremendous capacity for the kind of hard work and travel that go with the office of Leader of the Official Opposition. She told me that her husband, Al Gerow, complained that one month she was home only six nights of that 30-day period. Of course, all of that travel was within British Columbia. I think that's important to add for our friends in the press gallery this afternoon.
[ Page 6386 ]

She takes a justifiable pride in her leadership in the parliamentary struggle to bring about the creation of the new independent officer, the child and youth advocate. That's a particular pride given her long personal history of fostering children in her own home over many years.

But perhaps most strikingly for me, the quality that I associate with Carole is the strikingly warm and emotional response that she receives from the British Columbians that she meets wherever she goes throughout the province. People in British Columbia like her, and they continue to like her. Her warm and optimistic personality has touched countless British Columbians throughout the province.

[1500]

She will pour her energy into new projects and new ideas for her constituents and for British Columbians. She served us very well as leader of our party and as Leader of the Opposition.

Now I want to say a few comments about the Premier. The Premier, as the Government House Leader has noted, has always had a strong competitive streak, stretching right back, I remember, to his days as a track star at the University Hill Secondary School. That competitive streak probably served him well in politics. As I recall, he beat us…. Was it more than once?

He brought to the job a work ethic that tired those around him and a strong will, sometimes perhaps to his detriment. He exhibited a continuing curiosity about public policy, reflected in his wide and regular reading and his commitment to literacy as an important social goal.

I want to join with all members and all British Columbians in recognizing the service of my leader, the Leader of the Official Opposition, the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill, and the outgoing Premier. [Applause.]

Hon. C. Hansen: I'd like to start by paying tribute to the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill for all of the years that she's served as the Leader of the Opposition. She did a great service to the province in terms of her approach to public life, and I think that she is an example for anyone who's thinking about going into politics. Sometimes it's tough. It's not easy, but everybody has a contribution to make, and I think that the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill made a huge contribution.

I also want to be careful not to put this in past tense, because I think that in the case of both of the individuals we're celebrating today, they still have great contributions to make to British Columbia in the years to come. But for anybody that watches the proceedings in this House, they perhaps see sometimes the tension between the opposition and government, and I think it probably comes as a surprise to many people when they realize that outside of this chamber there is a great deal of respect among the legislators.

I had many opportunities to talk privately with the former Leader of the Opposition, and I can tell you unequivocally that from my own personal experience she is someone that feels passionately about her constituents. Obviously, she had huge responsibilities as Leader of the Opposition but never was too busy to champion the cause of an individual constituent and bring it forward to us in government.

It was always a pleasure to try to work with the member to find solutions to the problems of real people because I saw the commitment and the passion that she had for individuals that she was there to serve.

The Premier is someone that I first got to know when he was a member of the Vancouver city council. At the time I was the chair of the board of trustees of the Vancouver Museum, which is actually still today the largest municipal museum in all of Canada. I'm sure he doesn't remember those meetings, but he was certainly one who was very supportive of what we were trying to accomplish at the time.

Now, there was a day that he decided that he was no longer going to be the city councillor. He was actually going to run for the NPA nomination to become the mayor of Vancouver. I'm sure that he probably didn't realize that he wasn't quite the household name that he probably thought he was at that time. I've never shared this story with him.

The day after the NPA nominated him to be their mayoralty candidate, I was at a function at the museum, and a very prominent CEO of one of our largest forest companies headquartered in Vancouver came up to me. He patted me on the shoulders, and he said: "Congratulations on your nomination. I hope the campaign goes well."

Now, I know he had much less white hair at the time. In fact, he had brown hair, and I had brown hair at the time, but I think that was probably the only thing that we had in common in terms of our appearance.

[1505]

Needless to say, he served with distinction as mayor of Vancouver, and I think there is a whole list of accomplishments that could fill up this entire afternoon in terms of what he was able to accomplish as mayor.

In 1993 there was a leadership convention, the last time there was a leadership campaign for the B.C. Liberal Party. I had been a member of the party for many years, and I got a phone call from someone who I had worked with for three years in this Legislature. That was Gordon Gibson. He told me he was going to run for the leadership and would I support him. I said yes.

Like the member for New Westminster, who did not support the people we are celebrating at the time of the leadership, I too was supporting somebody else at that time. I can tell you that during that campaign I saw the leadership skills that this individual was able to bring to public life and to the B.C. Liberal Party.
[ Page 6387 ]

I'm sure if any one of us had been asked at that time in 1993…. Certainly, if I was asked, "Do you belong to any organized political party?" I would have said: "No. I'm a B.C. Liberal." There was an incredible amount of work that had to be done to the party in order to build it to an organization that was actually ready to launch a full-scale election campaign in British Columbia and, more importantly, be in a position to govern the province.

So when he phoned me up one day, after I hadn't worked for him on the leadership campaign, I was the president of the Vancouver-Quilchena Riding Association at the time. I congratulated him on his win, and he said: "Would you be willing to be the campaign manager in a by-election campaign in Vancouver-Quilchena?" I told him that I'd be honoured.

That by-election, incidentally, was exactly 17 years ago today. That was when he first became a member of this chamber, and I think my colleague the House Leader has talked about some of the challenges in that first period of time after I was elected in 1996. Those first five years in opposition were challenging, and I totally concur with my colleague's description that the worst day in government is still better than the best day in opposition.

There are some quotes that I know that our Premier likes to use from time to time, and there's one that I think is quite relevant to this discussion we're having today. It's a quote from Bill Gates from his book The Road Ahead. It says this: "We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur over the next ten years. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction." I think that when you look at the accomplishments of the last ten years, it has been anything but inaction during that period of time.

Some of you may remember the 90-day agenda. It was the platform we campaigned on in 2001, and when we formed office, that 90-day agenda was rolled out. It included the 25 percent tax cut on the very first day of that government and a whole series of actions that had been mapped out, that were legislated in that summer, within days of being sworn into office.

A few years later I was talking to one of our public servants who had served this province very well through various administrations, and the comment that he made to me about that 90 days was: "You know, in the public service they couldn't wait to get through that 90 days, because it was 90 days of just constant pressure to get things done. They knew that once they got through the 90 days, things might get back to normal, when things would actually unfold at a bit more of an orderly pace."

I can tell you those public servants, if that was their attitude, did not know the new Premier of British Columbia. This public servant admitted to me…. He said: "Once we got through 90 days, we realized it had only begun." I think the analogy was one of being in first gear. The throttle was down to the floorboards, and we were going as hard as we could. After 90 days it was shifting into second gear, and we were pushing even harder.

I think that was the kind of drive that this man brought to the Premier's office in British Columbia. He had a real passion that he brought to this province, and that is one to make sure that families could be supported in this province, supported by making sure…. As he often said: "Leave more money in people's pockets so they can make their decisions."

[1510]

So it's been ten years of making sure that tax changes in British Columbia were there to the benefit of the economy. It was one of making sure that we saw an economy that was diversifying and that was building in new areas that had never been seen before.

My colleague earlier referenced the Olympics. When you think back that British Columbia only won the right to host the Olympic Games by three votes…. That would not have happened had it not been for the work that was done by our Premier to make sure that we reached out and made sure that British Columbia put their best foot forward in that campaign. I can remember the elation that I felt sitting in B.C. Place Stadium at six o'clock in the morning B.C. time as we watched on the big screens that Vancouver had been awarded the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

One of the other areas which I think is so much a part of the legacy of this Premier is that he didn't always follow the easy road. There were challenges that were tough, and he was prepared to show leadership and take on those challenges.

There are two that come to mind that I think would have been particularly easy for this Premier to say: "Let's take an easier road." One was in terms of the new relationship with First Nations in British Columbia. I believe that he alone is instrumental in the fact that we have made such considerable progress in developing that new relationship. It's a long ways to go, needless to say, but that work has been done, and it would have been so easy to not take that road and the tough decisions, refocusing people's energy and people's attitudes towards First Nations in British Columbia the way that he has.

The other area which I think is fundamental — again, tough decisions that required solid leadership — is around climate action and addressing the climate change challenges that we have in the world. It wasn't something just about British Columbia. It was something about reaching out to other jurisdictions, reaching out beyond our borders to make sure that British Columbia could be a leader in trying to solve the fundamental problem that the world was facing, in spite of the fact that there were a lot of people right in our own back yard that made that decision and that leadership uncomfortable.
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But there's one area that I think stands out above all of the others, and that is one where I don't think we could have accomplished all of the things that we accomplished in some of these other areas had it not been for the approach that our Premier brought to this issue, and that's federal-provincial relations. It was one of saying to whichever party was in power in Ottawa, whoever was in the Prime Minister's Office, that British Columbia wanted to be a partner in building a stronger Canada. Our Premier is one who led that very much during that period of time.

If you look at issues around interprovincial agreements, labour mobility, if you look at all of the issues that British Columbia has been seen as being a leader on the national stage, it is because he took an approach that was one of not being parochial in British Columbia but one of saying that British Columbia is a partner with the rest of Canada in building a stronger nation, not just a stronger province. I believe that he will truly be seen as a nation-builder for the work that he has done.

One final thing I want to share with you is just a story which I think epitomizes and underscores the type of leader that he has been for us over this last ten years. It's a time in my life that I will remember very vividly, and that was the spring of 2003. That was when we had the SARS outbreak in the world, and we had the first patients…. Some of the first cases of SARS were identified in British Columbia.

When you think back on the angst we had about H1N1, I'll tell you, as a Health Minister at the time, just living that day-to-day anxiety, not knowing what tomorrow is going to bring…. It's easy now to look back on that history and sort of say: "Well, we know the outcome. Yes, it was bad, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been."

You know, when you're living that day to day, knowing that the next day could get worse and worse…. How much worse would it get? How many people would die before we were able to find a solution to this problem that was confronting the planet, not just in British Columbia? For every day that got worse, we had all kinds of work being done. We had great support from Ministry of Health officials, from the Centre for Disease Control, from experts that they were reaching out to around the world.

The one day that I will remember in that was Easter Monday. In hindsight, I can now tell you that that was the day when our anxiety peaked. That is the day that the world anxiety peaked. It wasn't because of anything that sort of happened that day. It was just that the next day felt a little bit easier and a little bit easier.

[1515]

On Easter Monday, which was a holiday for many people — the Premier is not one to take holidays or days off, as we know — he phoned up, and he said that he wanted a thorough briefing on the SARS epidemic and what we as a province may be facing. So we met down at the Canada Place offices. Dr. Perry Kendall came over from Victoria. Dr. David Patrick from the Centre for Disease Control was there. I was there. The Deputy Minister of Health was there.

We walked through what we knew, and it was frightening. Then we walked through what may happen, what could this lead to and what are the decisions that government may have to make as this got worse. I can tell you that I was watching the Premier, and his understanding of the problem and his understanding of what we as a province may have to do at a time of crisis…. I think all of us in the room felt some reassurance that as scary as that was, we had a Premier who was prepared to lead at a time of incredible difficulty.

As we walked through this briefing and the acceptance of what may have to happen in the province…. There was sort of that point we were ready to move on to other things in the day and the planning and the rest of things that we had to get underway, and a comment was made about something that we had to celebrate, and that was the fact that it was the British Columbia Michael Smith genome sequencing agency that was the first in the world to sequence the SARS virus.

Unlike what was happening in other parts of the world, where scientists and researchers were trying to put the DNA of that together so that they could post it and patent it, in British Columbia they took the attitude that they were going to identify the gene sequencing. You know what they did, at about two o'clock in the morning when they finally finished it after 24-7 research going on for a week? They posted it on the Internet as public information so that nobody could take proprietary rights to that.

So in this meeting there was a bit of self-congratulations that this happened in British Columbia and that it was British Columbia's scientists. Then they talked about what had to happen next on that front, and that was about developing a vaccine and that the world had to get together to make sure that a vaccine was developed as fast as possible.

Well, question from the Premier: "How long does it take to develop a vaccine?" Answer: about two years. There's not time for two years. The Premier said: "What do we have to do as a province? What can we do as a provincial government to make sure that we drive that global movement to a new vaccine?"

They talked about it, and it was actually things that we could do. The Premier said: "What would it take financially?" They said: "About this amount of money to get it started." I remember the Premier turning to me as the Minister of Health. He said: "You find $2.5 million, and tomorrow we are announcing the SARS vaccine initiative. We're going to lead the world."

That, if you look back on history, is actually part of a revolution in how vaccines are developed. That story, I think, epitomizes the kind of leader and the leadership that the Premier has offered British Columbia.
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I think, Premier, that you have a lot to be proud of. It's been an honour to serve with you in cabinet. It's been an honour to learn from you. I think you are an example to everybody who aspires to be a leader anywhere, anytime in the future. Thank you very much. [Applause.]

S. Simpson: Hon. Speaker, we're facing what we would all know and has been said many times: a pretty remarkable time in the politics of British Columbia right now, a time where both the major parties are changing leaders, where there's a whole different kind of energy in this province at the moment.

What we know, of course, is that the two are the most prominent political figures who have sort of generated both of these changes and who have played such an important role over the last number of years, the Premier and the past Leader of the Official Opposition.

I've had the experience; I go back…. I first met the Premier, I think, when he was the mayor, and I was a community activist in Vancouver. I remember issues in my community and, on a number of occasions, having the opportunity to speak to the Premier in his days when he was mayor. We didn't always agree, as we periodically have had a disagreement since I've had the opportunity to come to this place.

[1520]

But the thing that was always clear is that the Premier always had a commitment to public service. That commitment has been unwavering for more than 25 years. The Premier has always very much believed in the work that he did and has done and has continued to believe that. We need to all respect that commitment to service. As the Government House Leader said, it is a very challenging thing to make that commitment to service. Certainly, to dedicate a quarter of a century of your life to public service is a very big commitment.

We know, of course, that the Premier has been called a number of things. He's been called a workaholic often, and certainly by many of his colleagues. I don't know what else his colleagues have called him, but he's been called a workaholic, and my suspicion is that that doesn't change for the Premier the day that he leaves office. I expect that we will hear of many endeavours in the future for the Premier as he looks at the next stages of his life and what he chooses to do.

What I really want to do, whatever those endeavours are, is to wish him the best for all those endeavours and the best for good health and to ensure that many of those endeavours include Nancy and the grandkids and a lot of time. Hopefully, he will have a long time doing that and whatever else he chooses to do. I'm sure he'll be busy. We should all be very thankful for that.

My friend the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill. She was first elected to be our leader in 2003. She took a political party that was on its knees coming out of the 2001 election. She took a political party that many were talking about…. I was quite active in the party at the time of that election, and I know how devastating it was for all of us in the party — that result and where we were sitting.

We were all questioning our future. We had looked at what had happened to Social Credit. We had looked at what had happened to the Progressive Conservatives. There were a lot of questions about whether the New Democratic Party would continue to exist in British Columbia, whether we would survive in ways that other political parties didn't.

As my colleague the opposition House Leader said, we had two members in the House — the member from Mount Pleasant and Joy MacPhail, my predecessor from Vancouver-Hastings — who were doing what they could do here. But the survival of the party was a much bigger challenge.

The member from Beacon Hill stepped up to that challenge, became our leader in 2003 and took a political party that was on its knees, a political party that had a very questionable future at best, and re-established it as a political force in this province — re-established this political party, the New Democratic Party, back to 33 seats in 2005 and then built on that in 2009. She took a political organization that had been torn apart and put that organization back together.

In doing all of that, she demonstrated leadership traits that are somewhat unique. As my leader has said, I've had the opportunity to know many of our leaders at the federal and the provincial level and to see their traits and their skills, and the member from Beacon Hill brought a whole array of skills around her ability to listen, her ability to exude that kind of thoughtful commonsense approach that wasn't always there.

She expressed a commitment to the most vulnerable people in our society. It's a commitment that I have known from her from the day that we first met back in the early 2000s. Maybe it was the '90s that we first met. All the time that I've watched her, in her days as a school trustee and that…. It's a commitment to our most vulnerable citizens. It's a commitment that never wavered. Certainly, when I got to work with her day in and day out from 2005, it has never wavered.

[1525]

It's a commitment that's reflected not just in her political work but in 20 years as a foster parent — work that she continues to do today, a part of her life that she's never let go — in her work in education as a school trustee and with the provincial organization and her work around child care and with First Nations, which, for her, led to the added benefit of meeting the love of her life, Al, and going on and getting married.

The achievements after 2005 are many. She has championed in this place many issues, and in this province. The reinstatement of the Representative for Children and Youth. That was a priority for the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill, for our past leader, and she was successful
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in advocating that position. She has advocated for campaign finance reform, to take big money out of politics and give politics back to the people of the province.

She has talked, demanded and called for an increase in minimum wage — again, talking to those people who are most vulnerable in our province and giving them an opportunity to have a better life — and she has argued since before she came to this place, and has invested her time in child care.

Over the last few years, there really have been two issues that I've seen the member put at the forefront for herself and at the forefront for our party and for our caucus. One has been to advance the causes of equality for our most vulnerable citizens and to look at the places and the different ways that we could accomplish improved equality. Again, the House Leader talked about the Our Province, Our Future initiative.

The second was about making the case that at the decision-making table there has to be a seat for everybody. Whether it's business, whether it's labour, whether it's community interests, everybody has to have a seat at that table and has to be listened to if we're going to advance this province in a way that we want to advance it.

All of that time that that work was being done, the member demonstrated a real inner strength, I believe. As was reflected before, from 2001 to 2005 it was not the best job in the world — being the leader of the B.C. NDP.

She travelled, meeting in Elks halls, with ten people here and five people over there. She continued that work after being elected, once we had a caucus here, and has never wavered in travelling this province, from community to community, and from meeting with people — from business leaders to community leaders to people she meets on the street or in the coffee shop. She is always taking their stories and reflecting those stories in the initiatives and the policies and the approaches that we've taken as the official opposition.

Remarkably, even at the time when she discovered that she had cancer, she never wavered. She went on to continue that work. She took the cancer on. She beat the cancer, and she went back to work. And she continued to work.

The member has had a remarkable and distinguished track record to this point. Thankfully, we have a lot of time left.

I'll apologize for the legislative indiscretion now, but Carole, I am very proud to have had you as a friend and very honoured to have had you as a leader. My hope certainly is that your future includes many more years as the representative for Victoria–Beacon Hill. But I know that regardless of what you choose to do, it will continue to be about public service, it will continue to be about leadership, and it will continue to be about building equality.

I want to thank you for all that you've accomplished, for all that you have helped us to accomplish and for all that I am sure is yet to come. [Applause.]

Hon. S. Bond: I, too, am very pleased to have been asked to speak today as we pay tribute to the Premier and the previous Leader of the Opposition.

[1530]

I want to begin by adding my sincere words of thanks and appreciation to the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill for working hard on behalf of British Columbians and, in particular, for her constituents. Though we may disagree from time to time from a policy perspective and have faced one another across the aisle on numerous occasions in question period, I know we have shared many common goals, not the least of which is our joint passion for a top-notch education system for every child in this province. I know that personally because of our prior connection as locally elected school trustees.

I want to share one quick story that I think characterizes how the public views our roles in elected office. I was waiting in line at the Air Canada counter to check in and board my flight. The line was moving very slowly, and I noticed a bit of a commotion at the front of the line. Well, I finally got to the front of the line, and the ticket agent took my boarding card, looked down, looked at me and said: "Oh, this should be interesting."

Curious, I waited for the next statement. "You should know, and you probably should know now, that the Leader of the Opposition is on this flight too. And in fact, you're both in row one. Are you okay with that?" I thought for a moment, I looked him right in the eye, and I said: "Of course, as long as she's on the left side of the aircraft and I'm on the right."

On the flight, once again we were across the aisle from one another, but our conversation was about the things that mattered most to us — our families, our friends. We got a lot of looks that day, people not sure quite what to expect from us. But what they saw is what frequently happens outside the doors of these chambers — respectful conversation between two people who both care about British Columbia.

Thank you for the role that you have played in our province, and I wish you much joy in your new role as grandma to Charlie Deane Dunsmoor-Farley James.

But my primary task today is to join my colleagues in reflecting on the contributions that our Premier has made to British Columbia and beyond. Much has been said, and very eloquently, by the previous speakers, so I hope you will indulge me as I share my thoughts from a very personal perspective.

Dr. Abdul Kalam, who was the 11th president of India, once said: "Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow." His words are compelling, and very likely some variation of this sentiment has called all of us in this chamber to a life of public service.

But Premier, there is no more active or fitting way to describe your motivation during the course of three decades of exemplary public service in British Columbia: let
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us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow. While many are called to public service, few recognize what is inextricably linked with public service, and that is personal sacrifice. Those of us who know you well know the degree by which your all-consuming passion and drive to ensure a better British Columbia for our children and grandchildren has impacted you personally and your family very personally.

Those of us who live in northern British Columbia have many stories to tell that demonstrate your love of this entire province.

A number of years ago my northern MLA colleagues and I decided to start an annual Premier's dinner. Our initial event had several hundred people in attendance, and now each year we host a sold-out event with almost a thousand people. Setting a date with your hectic schedule was always a challenge, but every time you were asked, you came, and sometimes there were higher personal costs than others.

There was the year that our dinner fell on Valentine's Day. We apologized profusely to Nancy, and you came. Another year our dinner fell on the night of your son's rehearsal dinner the night before his wedding. Your family rearranged the time, and you came.

September 21, 2007, was a day that will never, ever be forgotten in Prince George. Together we opened the Charles Jago Northern Sports Centre, we announced a brand-new cancer centre for northern British Columbia, and we announced the runway expansion at the Prince George Airport.

[1535]

It was a day that people still talk about, and to this day, many people will never know that just the night before you lost your mom. You told us later that you had made a promise. People were counting on you, and you came. Public service and personal sacrifice.

It wasn't just dinners or events. Recently my colleague the MLA for Prince George–Mackenzie and I decided to see just how many times you had visited Prince George in your tenure as Premier. We were not surprised to find that the count was an unbelievable 45 visits to Prince George alone. That doesn't even begin to consider your frequent trips, during your time as Leader of the Opposition, to visit Dawson Creek or Smithers or Prince Rupert or Valemount and, yes, even McBride. Every one of these trips meant a decision not to do something else and to spend countless hours on the road, in the air and, most importantly, away from home and family.

Prince George and the north are very different places than they were just ten short years ago. Millions of dollars in investment, new programs but, most importantly, a sense that the best is yet to come.

Your friends in northern British Columbia recently offered their thanks in a very special and fitting way. Today a fully endowed scholarship in your name has been created, through the Prince George Community Foundation, that will support a northern British Columbia high school student as they pursue a post-secondary education at the University of Northern British Columbia.

The response has been overwhelming, and the scholarship, I'm proud to tell you, will continue in perpetuity. Donations have already come in to support a bursary or a similar scholarship at the College of New Caledonia. In fact, today the endowment fund in your name, Premier, stands at over $115,000 from your friends in northern British Columbia.

No tribute would ever be complete without a reference to the phone calls. Not only did you work long hours every day; you also managed to find the time to squeeze in phone calls. Admittedly, some of those calls were about work and what we had done, should be doing or better get moving on.

In fact, when we were elected in 2001 and I had my first cabinet portfolio, it wasn't unusual to have the phone ring at home. One of our then teenaged children would come to me and say, in somewhat of an anxious tone: "Mom, it's the Premier of British Columbia on the phone." Invariably, the call would start like this. "Hi, Shirl. How are you? Just wanted to talk to you about an idea that I've been thinking about." Then the work would begin. Programs to honour community volunteers, research chairs, book awards — I could go on and on.

But those weren't the only calls you made. Probably everyone on this side of the House and, I'm sure, some members on the other side of the House have received a call about something personal. The calls were often short but always important. Whether it was after a great event just to say thanks, a tough day in cabinet or caucus, a birthday, the loss of a loved one, the arrival of a baby or a grandbaby, somehow you managed to find the time to reach out and remind us that you knew what we were going through, and you were supportive. Those calls will not be forgotten, Premier, and they will be missed.

Today, Premier, we want to thank you for your public service to British Columbia. During your decades of service you undoubtedly had days where you woke up and wondered: "Why am I doing this? Is it worth it?" We can say that too, because in each of our personal lives and careers, we've had days where we've asked ourselves the very same questions. But today we want to assure you it was worth it.

You have been a leader within British Columbia and far beyond our borders. You chose to make the difficult decisions, not always the popular ones. You chose to act with resolve based on our core principles, and the results have provided a strong foundation for our province to move forward and for our next Premier to build on.

[1540]

But today it's also important that we say a very heartfelt thank-you to Nancy, to Geoff and to Nick and their wives and, perhaps most importantly, to Jimmy, Bowen and Sidney for their unending support and patience. We
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understand better than anyone, Premier, that public service means personal sacrifice, most significantly on the part of your family.

Today we thank each of them for allowing us to share the very best years of your life. We know that there have been countless missed birthdays, anniversaries and, yes, even the birth of grandchildren. But that trend is about to change. Just the other day you shared with us the fact that your son called and said: "Hey, Dad, can you babysit tonight?" You said it took you a moment to answer the question, and then you were so excited to be able to say: "I would love to."

As we say thank you today, I have every confidence that your commitment to public service has not ended. It has just entered a new phase. Premier, we wish you many opportunities to spend time with your family and, in particular, a lot of hours babysitting your three wonderful grandchildren.

You will be missed in this place, but you will be remembered for having the courage and the determination to sacrifice your today for the children of tomorrow. You always remind us that it goes without saying, but it goes better with saying. Premier, thank you for your public service, your personal sacrifice and a job very well done. [Applause.]

Mr. Speaker: The member for Victoria–Beacon Hill.

C. James: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Where to begin? I want to start by first saying a thank-you to all members of the House for your very kind words, for the cards, for the phone calls, for the visits over the last while. I very much appreciated it, and I think as other members of the House have said, it speaks volumes to the fact that we may disagree in this House often, but we are all here for public service.

I think it's important to mention that, because public service is not often thought about with politicians these days. In fact, I think we're probably below lawyers now when it comes to trust level. No offence to any of the lawyers in this room.

I think we're now down below the trust level of lawyers, and it doesn't do democracy well when people degrade politics and the job of public service. So I want to say a personal thank-you to all members of the House for your public service to the people of British Columbia.

I want to say a special thank-you to our team. It's been such an honour and a privilege to be able to serve you for the last seven years. Now, I was going to say that I've loved every minute of it, but I didn't think anybody in this House would probably appreciate that or understand it or believe it. But I would say that I wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world.

It is an extraordinary privilege and humbling to be able to take on a role and responsibility of leading a political party in this province. It has been an extraordinary journey to be able to take on this role and responsibility. Thank you to our party and to all of our team members for your extraordinary support over the last seven years.

I think it's interesting that a number of members mentioned the political beginnings and those nods around the room of others who got involved in protests in their elementary and high school years.

I also want to say that my parents — just as a warning for those of you who are thinking of putting your kids into community theatre — actually put me into community theatre in high school because I was so painfully shy that they didn't think I could ever speak in public. So beware if you put your kids into community theatre. You never know where it may lead them. For those of you who want to keep out of political life, it's something to be aware of.

[1545]

Most importantly, I want to say thank you to the people of British Columbia. I've spent a lot of time with the people of British Columbia over the last seven years, and that has been an extraordinary gift.

We live in an amazing province, and the people across this province are extraordinary. What a gift it is to have a job where you get to work with people who are passionate about what they believe in, every single day. You may disagree with the issue that they're coming to chat with you about, but they're only coming to work with you and talk with you and to bring their issue forward because they're passionate about what they believe in.

I think sometimes that gets forgotten in this Legislature — about what an honour and a privilege it is for all of us, not simply the leaders, to be able to have a job where you get to work with the people of this province every single day. That's what I'll always remember: the people whose lives have touched me over this time period.

I'll think about the children and families issue that was something that was talked about so often in this Legislature, and Sherry Charlie's family and grandfather, who I spent a lot of time with and who we honoured in this Legislature by putting in place a children's representative in British Columbia. That is a piece of history that was critical to that family and will always be remembered.

I'll remember the business groups that I went to speak to, who often, I have to tell you, weren't really sure why they had the NDP leader there — many a crowd that wasn't exactly the friendliest group to come into, but who were willing to share their entrepreneurship and their expertise and the work they've done in this province because they knew that if we were going to make a better British Columbia, we'd better make sure that all of us were involved in that discussion.

I'll always remember the individuals I saw every single day, who are often the unrecognized heroes in British Columbia: the people who clean, every single day, the
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hotel rooms I stayed in; the food fair that I'd go down to, to get my 11 o'clock dinner because of being on the road, and the folks who worked in those jobs every single day; the senior citizens I talked to that had to go back to work, to be able to manage and cope in their lives, but who were willing to share their stories and take the time to do that because they wanted things to improve. Those are the people that I'm going to remember every single day in this job.

I want to offer my appreciation and thanks to the Premier of this province as well. I had the opportunity to work with the Premier when he was the Leader of the Opposition and I was involved in the B.C. School Trustees Association. I took our role very seriously that we would work with both government and opposition because the job was to improve public education. I had the opportunity to have many a meeting with the critic and with the Premier himself to make sure that we were doing what we could.

I want to thank the Premier for his years of service. You don't take on a responsibility like this unless you are also passionate about improving this province. Again, although we may have disagreed on issues, I don't know anyone who would question the kind of commitment that you had to improve British Columbia, so a personal thank-you as well.

A personal thank-you to my family — always the hardest piece to get through, I think, for any of us. My husband has been incredibly patient, as have my children and my mother and my father and others in my family over the years, while you missed birthdays and anniversaries and events that have gone on. And they have never, ever questioned the time and the energy that I put into this job, (1) because they knew it wouldn't do any good to try and get me to slow down, but (2) because they knew that I was driven by making sure that I did everything I could while I was in this role to make this province a better place for every British Columbian.

When I decided to run for leader, I met with an elder in the community just outside of Prince George, and she told me that if I could run and get involved in politics, I had a responsibility to take what I'd learned through my life and through my work and do something with it. I'm incredibly proud that I have done that in this job, and I'm going to continue to do that in whatever the next role and responsibility is — an adventure — in my life.

[1550]

Thank you to my family, most importantly. Thank you to the people in my riding who have been, again, incredibly patient while I've spent seven years on the road. I so look forward to serving all of them and showing them the respect that they've given me over these years. Thank you, everyone. [Applause.]

Hon. G. Campbell: Thank you to all the members who have stayed today to listen to the comments about both the former Leader of the Opposition and myself.

You know, it was interesting. This week, as we had the throne speech and I had the opportunity to go and stand on the balcony there awaiting the Lieutenant-Governor to come in, it was really the first time that I stood there on that balcony. I looked out over the harbour and saw the flags waving, the British Columbia flags and the Canadian flags dotted around, and I thought to myself: "You're one of 34 people that have had the chance to serve as Premier of British Columbia in the history of this province."

It is an exceptional gift. It is an exceptional opportunity. I can't think of a more exciting, interesting task than the one that you take on when you're Premier. As I came in today, one of our staff who worked with us when I was in opposition as well as in government pointed out to me, as the Minister of Finance said, that it was actually 17 years ago that I was first elected to the Legislature of British Columbia.

I remember coming in and standing the first time I had a chance to come and stand here. You know, as we come in, we're used to it. We look around, and we think to ourselves: "We're going back into the Legislature. Isn't this great? It's going to be question period." And frankly, that didn't matter whether I was in opposition or in government. It was going to be question period. But you know, it is important for us every once in a while.

Maybe on a day like this it does give us a chance just to stand here and think of how fortunate we are that we get to sit in the Legislature of the province of British Columbia. How fortunate we are to live in a country like this, in a country where we celebrate our differences, where we accept debate and encourage it.

Sometimes it's nice debate, and mostly it's not. But you know what? We allow it to take place. I said in my opening speech in this Legislature that I had been in Nigeria and worked there for two years. That was a place where they made change with bullets, where they were afraid of differences. In Canada we embrace our differences.

Because of generations that came before us, they opened up this incredible institution called a Legislature and parliamentary democracy that encourages people from all walks of life, from every part of this province to come and say: "How do you want to shape your future?"

Some get to sit on that side of the House, and some sit on this side of the House, but every single person that sits in this House cares about the future of the province of British Columbia. They run for office because we all want to make this province a better place for each of us to live, for our kids to live and for our grandkids to live.
[ Page 6394 ]

Today I want to take a moment to just reflect on the first time I met with the former Leader of the Opposition, the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill. It was actually in Penticton. It was a beautiful sunny day, and it was a meeting of the B.C. School Trustees Association, of which the member was the chair.

I think you were called chair. Wasn't it called chair?

Interjection.

Hon. G. Campbell: President, sorry. I never get those titles right.

I remember going, and I remember talking about education. You know, for me education is one of those truly important gifts that we give our children. We live in a time where we can actually transform education so every child can pursue their passion and meet their full personal needs as they go forward. In my particular comments that day I talked about Marian Wright Edelman, who is a huge advocate for children in the United States, and what we can do for children and help to lift them up.

[1555]

Candidly, I felt a real common purpose and common interest with the former Leader of the Opposition. I do think it's one of the important things for us as we look to the decades ahead in this country, to recognize that we all share those common goals. We may not agree — and mostly we don't in this House and in different political parties — but we share a common purpose: to have a great education system that lifts every child up in our province, in every part of the province, from all different backgrounds.

We share common beliefs. We want to have a health care system that's there not just today, but that's there for generations to come.

The former leader and many members of this House now have been here long enough that we've experienced the birth of grandchildren. Each of us has got grandchildren's pictures in our wallets, on our BlackBerrys, somewhere in our offices. Do you know what? There is not one of us that wouldn't do anything that we could to make the life of those grandchildren better, to make sure that we do anything we can to give them a province that's better in the future than the one we have inherited.

I want to recognize and thank the former Leader of the Opposition for the time and energy she put not just in this House, not just as an MLA, as a school trustee, as someone who cared about kids, who led by her own example and showed what we can do in public life in British Columbia. I think it's a contribution we can all reflect on and we can all respect. Although I wish she hadn't done quite as good a job of restoring the NDP, you know, what can you do? Different people have different objectives.

Thank you very much, and congratulations for all you've done.

As we think of our common purpose, I think it's important to think that we often see more differences amongst ourselves than folks outside do. I'll just give you an example.

I'd been involved in public life for, probably at this point, about nine years. I was at the intermission of a play that was going on in Vancouver. I came out, and I was going to get…. I'm sure it was a Diet Coke at the time. I was going for a Diet Coke, and there was someone standing beside me.

He says: "Pardon me, but don't I know you from television somewhere?" I said: "I don't think you know me from television." He said: "I'm sure I've seen you on television." I sort of puffed myself up and said: "Well, you might have. I'm the mayor of Vancouver." He said: "Oh, you're Mike Harcourt?" I said: "No, Mike Harcourt is the Premier of British Columbia. I'm the mayor of Vancouver, and it's my brother Mike you see on television."

This person looked at me. He was serious, and he was thinking. He was working overtime. He says: "So, there are three brothers, then?"

Another time, later on, I was on the ferry going up to the Sunshine Coast. You'll be glad to know I was going up to your constituency there. I was sitting there. Sometimes on the ferry everyone doesn't come up and give you a cheer or a pat on the back, but one person sort of stopped on the ferry. He kind of looked at me in the chair and looked a little harder, and he says: "You're doing a great job." I said: "Well, thank you very much." He said: "Yeah, keep it up, Premier Clark." This is a tough job, you know.

The point is that actually, probably for a lot of people, the way we carry on in here is not the way they'd like to see us carry on. But I think the cares that we have, the passion we have for the province and what we can do in the future are things that actually speak to people. It's why we get elected, and it's why we should remember how important it is that we run for office and we get elected.

As I stand here today after 17 years, I can tell you this. There is no end of thanks that you can give. As the former Leader of the Opposition pointed out, the first thanks have always got to go to your family.

My immediate family — Nancy, Geoff and Nicholas — but also my extended family — my sister, Cath; my brother, Mike; and their families, my nephews and nieces; my brother, Rob, and his nephews. All of them pay a little bit of a price — or, frankly, a lot of a price — when we decide that we're going to seek public office.

I think often, when politicians say, "I want to say thanks to my family," people say: "Oh yeah, sure, sure." I actually mean it, and I think everybody means it, because it's your families that lift you up. It's your families that give you the energy and the opportunity to serve.
[ Page 6395 ]

I do want to say thank you to my family for the incredible support they've given me for 27 years in different areas of public endeavour.

[1600]

Your family gets bigger when you're fortunate enough to be elected, whether it's being elected as the leader of a party, the Leader of the Opposition or as Premier. Your family gets bigger with the caucus that you have. There's no one that can serve as a leader without a caucus that's offering support and commitment.

There are a lot of very nice things that have been said about both myself and the former leader today. But I can tell each and every person here that nobody does anything by themselves. Without the incredible time and effort and energy that everyone puts in, we wouldn't have made the positive progress that we've made, and I do think it's important for people to understand that.

It is the MLA representing their constituency, articulating what is of interest and concern for their constituents that actually helps form a provincial agenda, and I want to say thanks to all of the MLAs who have served with me over the last 17 years.

I've been fortunate, but to show you how a family feels, we've had deaths in the family that we all feel in our hearts; we've had divorces in the family, unfortunately; we've had marriages; we've had births of children and of grandchildren; and that is a gift that we all actually will enjoy and remember for as long as we live.

There's another family of people that allow us in Canada to enjoy this public life. It's the invisible family in so many ways. It's the Sergeant-at-Arms. It's the Clerk. It's the people in the dining room. It's the people who guide the tours through the Parliament Buildings. It's the security officers that make sure that we're safe and that the public is safe as we carry out the public debate, discussion and decisions that we all are called to make. I want to say a special thank-you to all of them.

I want to say a special thank-you to all of the people who have served in staffs with me — my chief of staff, my deputy chiefs of staff, the ministerial assistants, the legislative assistants, the administrative assistants — those people who often seem invisible. But there is an army of people behind each and every one of us that helps us and lifts us up so that we can do the best that we can on behalf of the people of British Columbia.

I want to say two special words of thanks. I want to thank the First Nations leaders in British Columbia, because while we talk about what British Columbians have done or what the government may have done with regard to building a new relationship, I think it's really important for us to understand that the real people that are taking the major steps, the boldest steps, are First Nations leaders who say to us: "Once again we'll trust you. We will trust that you will do right by us."

And as they come to the table and they sit down with us and they work on treaties and economic development agreements and ways that we can make sure they have better education for their kids, better health care for their people, I think we should all recognize the incredible leadership skill it takes to take a major step forward — not the final step forward, but a major step forward — for First Nations, which is, frankly, a small step forward in many ways for us.

We have made some progress. There is a long journey for us to go, but I honestly believe in my heart that if British Columbians are not able to embrace a future that fully includes all First Nations people, that fully includes all First Nations children and that has the same dreams for them as we have for all British Columbians, we will fall far short of our true potential and true promise as a province.

I have been honoured to be given two First Nations names, and I take each of those names seriously. I see them as a step and a recognition of the steps that we've all taken together in this Legislature. It is time for all of us to say: "Let us embrace the recognition and reconciliation that's necessary between First Nations and non–First Nations people in this province."

More importantly than that, as we do that let's lead by example so our entire country will be able to say within a matter of years: "Canada is proud of how we deal with all of our First Nations, regardless of their coast, regardless of whether they're First Nations, Inuit or Métis people." It is something we can do as a country, and I believe we must continue to progress on it as a country.

[1605]

Finally, let me say that I think one of the great gifts we have in this province are the natural endowments that we have. We can no longer take them for granted. It is important for my generation now to think of what we can give to the future. What can we give to every grandchild in British Columbia? What can we give to the next generation of British Columbians?

We can give them a healthier province. We can give them a province with clean water. We can give them a province that actually starts to take the necessary steps to deal with the challenges of climate change. I recognize that there is still some debate with regard to that, but I can tell you that in other jurisdictions they are proud of the steps that we have taken in British Columbia. We again are recognized as a leader. Not just in Canada, we're recognized as a leader in Europe, we're recognized as a leader in the United States, and it is something that we can build on.

We are a rich, rich province. We are rich with opportunity. We are rich with promise. But we cannot just look back to where we were. The status quo has been passed by. We now have to look to the future that we want to create and recognize in this House that we can create it. We have all the tools we need. We have all the creativity we need. We have all the strength and commitment of a population that we need to accomplish
[ Page 6396 ]
far more than we sometimes can ever imagine. But the important thing is to imagine.

Imagine what we can be as a province. Imagine how we can strengthen this country. As we go forward, as we build on the debate, on the opportunities that are in front of us, I believe this: Canada looks to British Columbia. They look to British Columbia to make the difficult choices. They look to British Columbia to stand on the foundation that's been built over our history and say: "How do we move forward into the 21st century?" They look to British Columbia for leadership.

I think we should be proud that as a province, on many occasions, we've tried to break down the barriers that divide us, the borders that separate us. I think that if we continue to strive in that direction, if we continue to imagine the future we want for our children and our grandchildren, Canada and British Columbia will not just be a model for other jurisdictions, they will be, and what we do will be, a model for our children.

I'll just close with this, hon. Speaker. I feel very fortunate to have had a family that supports me. One of the best things that was ever said to me was when my older son, Geoff, said this: "I'm glad you've done what you've done. It will make a difference to me and my generation."

One of the things that I hope, and I will tell them as I go forward, is you can't find a better opportunity, you can't find a better place to live, and you can't find a better thing to do than to serve in public life. People have said to me: "Is it fun? Are you having a good time?" And I have said to them: "Honestly, not so much." But I'll tell you this: it is rewarding.

When I watch the people of this province, and I see them talk about their dreams, and I hear what they think they can do, I know that all we have to do in this Legislature is lift them up so they can pursue their goals, lift them up so British Columbians know that we are in partnership with them. It's their dreams that we're pursuing. It's their dreams that we can reach.

I believe that at the end of the day if we set our goals high, if we reach higher than we can probably immediately imagine, we will surprise ourselves with what we accomplish in this province and in this country.

So I'll close with the words of the Lieutenant-Governor from the throne speech. As you sit in this Legislature, as you represent your constituencies: "Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." We live in a magic province. We live in a magic country, and the magic comes from those of you who contribute to public life.

Thank you to each of you for the contribution that all of you have made. Thank you very much. [Applause.]

[1610]

Mr. Speaker: At this time I'm going to exercise a little bit of parliamentary privilege. On behalf of the people of British Columbia, I want to thank you, Gordon Campbell, and you, Carole James, for a job well done.

Hon. R. Coleman: Well, the Opposition House Leader and I are less than two hours away from the shortest term as House Leaders in parliamentary history, and we're not complaining about that.

Hon. Speaker, at this point I'd like to call budget debate continuation till the Lieutenant-Governor would come later today.

Budget Debate

(continued)

R. Howard: I must admit that the speech I took some care to prepare over the last day or so seems a little inconsequential at this time, given what we've just heard.

I'll just pause in my comments and briefly acknowledge that we've just witnessed a marvellous tribute to two great British Columbians — the former Leader of the Opposition and, of course, the Premier of the province of British Columbia — and I would just say this. The Premier of the province is the reason that I got into politics back in 2001, and it's been remarkable to watch his journey and to have the honour to participate in just the last little bit of that journey.

[C. Trevena in the chair.]

I stand today to respond to the Finance Minister's budget, but before I start, I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank those who support me both in Richmond and here in Victoria. First and foremost is my wife Trudy and son Jay, who support me day in and day out, sometimes on incredibly short notice and often for incredibly long periods of time. I simply could not do this job without their support.

Also in Richmond at the constituency office, Siu-Wan Ng and Chris Chan, my two constituency assistants, do a great job for me and help me be what I hope is an exemplary MLA in Richmond Centre.

In Victoria we share resources, and I am really backed by a first-class team. My new legislative assistant, Britney Milne, is top rate. My communications officer, Russel Lolacher, is just tops as well. Of course, we're also backed by a research officer, Brittany Auvinen, and I thank them all for their support.

[1615]

With respect to the budget, with a focus in my comments on investment in our future, first I will look to the past. A year ago this month we saw what this province's investment can do. The world came to B.C. for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and we displayed our beautiful natural resources and showcased an amazing economic climate.
[ Page 6397 ]

That interest translated into investment and tourism dollars in B.C., and it is a lengthy good-news story. Our investments in tourism support one of B.C.'s largest and most sustainable industries, worth an estimated $12.7 billion and employing almost 130,000 people.

We've seen increases for six straight months in international visitors, according to Stats Canada's most recent figures. From January to November 2010 international visitor arrivals to B.C. grew by just under 4 percent to more than four million visitors. Canada reported a 2.3 percent growth during that same time.

Overnight visitors from the U.S. rose 10.9 percent in November compared with 2009, with Canada reporting a 6.7 percent increase over that same period. Overnight visitor arrivals from Asia-Pacific countries rose 2.5 percent in November compared with November 2009, while entries from January to November 2010 were up just over 11 percent, representing just over 750,000 visitors.

As I said, this is one success story after another. Arrivals from China rose 10.4 percent in November compared with November 2009, and of course, Canada now enjoys approved-destination status with China. This agreement is expected to increase Chinese visitors to British Columbia by 15 percent in 2011, an additional 15 percent in 2012. In 2009, 160,000 Chinese visitors came to Canada, with more than half visiting British Columbia.

That is so significant, when we look to the Asia-Pacific and the key part that the Asia-Pacific will play in the development of our economy in the years to come. We enjoy a strategic advantage in location that has allowed us to establish cultural ties second to none. This government, other governments across the country and local governments have invested over $20 billion in infrastructure, so we are really poised well for the future.

There's more. For the first nine months of 2010 hotel room revenue was up 12½ percent to almost $1.6 billion, and arrivals at YVR for the first nine months of 2010 were up 3.6 percent to nearly 14¼ million passengers. Our investments have made B.C. an attractive place for visitors to come and spend their money, supporting our economy during a time of global economic challenges.

When we look at exports, the world appreciates and wants what we have, and 2010 was a very good year for B.C. exports. They increased by nearly 15 percent or $3.6 billion compared with 2009. That's almost a $10-million-a-day increase over the last year. B.C.'s $11.7 billion worth of exports to Asia last year set a record, including an all-time high of $4 billion to China, and our export growth was above the national average.

Exports of forestry products are up by 21 percent, energy products by 17 percent, industrial goods by 22 percent. Agricultural and fishing products are up by 4 percent, along with slight gains in consumer goods in machinery and equipment.

Still on exports, exports to China are up by 63 percent, to Japan up by 20 percent, to South Korea up by 14 percent, to the EU up by 19 percent, to India up by 74 percent, to South America up by 22 percent, to Taiwan up by 8 percent and to the United States up by nearly 3 percent. These positive numbers show why our government has established a strong overseas B.C. presence, and it appears these efforts are paying off and will continue to pay off in the future.

[1620]

What is behind all these strong numbers, and why do we enjoy this strong performance? First, I think it's prudent fiscal management, which is helping B.C. recover from this recession in a position of strength. B.C.'s efforts in establishing international trade and investment representatives are paying off. We are well positioned to benefit from emerging markets, especially those in Asia, and our province's exporters and manufacturers are playing a leading role in building our economy.

In my riding of Richmond Centre investment is tangible in the form of the Richmond Oval and the Canada Line. Anyone who's had the pleasure of visiting the oval can attest to its stunning views. It offers Richmond a huge community gathering place. This facility is a great reminder of the amazing Olympic and Paralympic events we held in Richmond and the future events we will now be able to host.

Then there's the Canada Line taking 100,000 riders daily, a number that shot up to over 200,000 during the Olympic Games. And we shouldn't forget this about the Canada Line: it reduces travel and congestion times for many, but it also helps eliminate 14,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

It was an integral part of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and continues to be relied on daily to get people home and to work. I've heard many stories from constituents that have had their travel times cut by half an hour or more in the morning and, sometimes, an hour or more in the evenings. That's an amazing statement that that kind of time can be pulled back from time that was spent in traffic and congestion and rededicated to the family.

Of course, I should mention that this project was a P3. It was an investment of $2.1 billion, completed three and a half months ahead of schedule. Investing in our communities is how we prepare for our future, ensuring that the services and programs British Columbia relies on are there.

It was a different story in the '90s. The NDP record speaks for itself. Overspending, destructive fiscal planning and fudge-it budgets undermined confidence in government, raised B.C. borrowing costs and placed a heavy fiscal burden on future generations.

We spent the last nine years working hard to bring B.C. taxpayer-supported debt-to-GDP levels back to a sustainable level after a decade of NDP mismanagement.
[ Page 6398 ]
Following a steady rise through the 1990s, B.C.'s operating debt finally returned to less than it was in 1991.

Through strong fiscal management we've turned our economy around. We are only one of two Canadian provinces that enjoy a triple-A credit rating, meaning our interest costs are amongst the lowest compared to other provinces.

Leading economic institutions agree that our fiscal plan is on track, including TD Economics, BMO Economic Research and CIBC Economics. CIBC states: "B.C. remains a low-debt province, with a highly affordable debt burden."

The steps this government has taken before and including the 2011 budget have shown our fiscal leadership. Total capital spending since 2001 until now has been more than $45 billion. Where did that money go? That money went to transportation projects. That money went to power projects. That money went to health care and education, where British Columbians need it the most.

We are recognized nationally and globally as a destination for tourism, investment and export. Leading economists and financial institutions agree that our government has made the right decisions and taken the right steps to protect us from the global economic downturn, and we're better prepared for a strong future.

Investing back into our communities, creating innovative projects like the Richmond Oval and the Canada Line, and supporting services and programs for British Columbians is what this budget supports. Under this government, we have a very bright future indeed in this province.

[1625]

R. Fleming: I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the budget this afternoon and also recognize that it comes after a very extraordinary afternoon, where we paid tribute to the former Leader of the Opposition and the former Premier. I wish to add my voice and my personal thanks to both of those individuals for, between them, an incredible duration of public service for the people of British Columbia.

I want to make a few remarks this afternoon, of course, very directly on some of the items that were contained in the budget and some things that are very glaringly omitted from the budget — the items that should be in there in the interest of the public and of making British Columbia a stronger province.

This has been called a status quo budget, but I think it must be stated that for a do-nothing budget, it has the potential, especially when you look over the three-year service plan, to do incredible damage to the interests and the people of British Columbia. In this budget there are a number of critical and wrong-headed cuts to valuable public services.

There is, very interestingly, an abandonment of any pretence to show a way forward to a lower-carbon economy, to a green economy in British Columbia. There is nothing in this budget that suggests this government understands the importance of protecting our environment in British Columbia and the inventory of natural capital that British Columbia is so blessed with.

It is a budget that fails to support communities that find themselves in transition, particularly in troubled areas of the province where communities are looking for a way forward out of an overdependence on a resource economy that they once enjoyed.

There's a lot in this budget that will concern British Columbians and that I hope they come to understand and are able to pressure the government to reverse themselves on when we see the real budget, whenever that may be. I found one of the cuts that is most disturbing in this budget around the area of student aid.

The budget that was presented here in this House on Tuesday actually cuts the student aid package in British Columbia by $34 million at a time when youth unemployment in British Columbia is approaching 20 percent, when skills training and opportunity demand is growing for young people who are looking to invest in themselves and find work that will allow them to raise a family and build a life for themselves. At that time this government chooses to reduce the appropriation for student aid.

It happens at a time when, year after year, B.C.'s student aid system has been singled out by the Millennium Scholarship fund of Canada and others as the worst student aid system in all of Canada. The most paltry grants are here in British Columbia. The highest interest rates charged to students who do borrow through the program that is now being cut by $34 million are found here in British Columbia. There could have been action that would have reversed the situation, that would have offered hopes and opportunities to young people when they're looking for them more than ever. But that was missing from the budget.

I mean, it is absolutely appalling that a young person can go out and borrow money for a consumer purchase — perhaps a stereo or a vehicle — and pay a dramatically lower rate of interest for those kinds of purchases than they can get from the government of British Columbia to borrow and make the single most important investment that they will make in their lives, which is their education, that will benefit all of us.

That's a situation that should have been addressed. It's one that the bipartisan Standing Committee on Finance has urged this government to look at for more than two years. It's one that other provinces have moved on in recent budget years, even during budget years like 2008 when all provinces found themselves in the midst of a global recession.

It is action that flies in the face of relatively recent recommendations this government received from Geoff Plant, who implored the government to improve
[ Page 6399 ]
student aid so that British Columbia's poor participation rate by low-income British Columbians and aboriginal British Columbians could be addressed over time and so that more of those people from those backgrounds can go to school and be successful in life in British Columbia.

[1630]

Now, he was paid handsomely for that report, I might add. The recommendations were clear, and they're gathering dust today in British Columbia. This was an opportunity to finally listen and act on that report, and it is a missed opportunity.

It's been said by a number of other members, and said very well, that it was disappointing, when there is so much momentum in other parts of Canada to address shameful levels of child poverty right across Canada, that in the province with the worst record on child poverty seven years in a row there was no action and no intention in the throne speech to support legislation, which now seven other provinces have, that holds government accountable to set targets and implement programs that will lead them along a poverty reduction plan.

There was nothing in the budget that supports children, in particular, in British Columbia who live in poverty here and now.

Again, the question has to be: if a Premier like Danny Williams, a Conservative Premier in Newfoundland, can hold his government accountable to his citizens to legislate targets and allow citizens to judge their performance over a number of years to reduce the scourge of family poverty and child poverty, then why not British Columbia?

This government hasn't listened. They haven't even listened to their own children's commissioner, who has urged them to do just that, most recently in a report that was tabled before the budget.

Let's look at education a little bit. I think the great disappointment…. It won't come as a surprise to many people who have tried to get this government to listen for many, many years. It will come as no surprise that a funding formula that is widely seen as broken in British Columbia, that is not in tune with specific district and inner-city and rural British Columbian needs, has not been addressed.

School closures will continue in British Columbia. We have students learning in portables at unacceptably high levels across British Columbia. We've ramped down school capital spending at this time, while that goes on.

Even as there is a growth horizon beginning in 2013 — a significant one in the K-to-12 system, in the kindergarten learning years — the foundation established by this budget not only fails to address the widely understood problems in the K-to-12 education system; it doesn't prepare for demographic trends that we know are coming here in our province.

There is no action in this budget on the 12,000 classrooms in British Columbia today that are over this government's legal limit on class size and composition.

Education has continued to decline as a percentage of GDP in British Columbia under this government. This budget continues that trend, and it's shameful.

I want to address a number of issues related to my critic area, Environment, and some of the things that we learned when this budget was revealed on Tuesday. I very much enjoy being the critic for Environment and working with the Minister of Environment. The new Minister of Environment — we haven't had a chance to work quite so closely yet, but I look forward to that.

Certainly, it is a privilege to have this portfolio on behalf of the official opposition because the environmental values of British Columbians are so deeply and so widely held by people from all walks of life in every part of this province. They expect to see those values reflected in government policy, and they expect to see them reflected in the budget documents that this government tables. They have not seen that in this budget or in budgets past.

Particularly, I found it surprising that in the year 2011, when we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of our treasured parks system in British Columbia, the B.C. Parks system wasn't even spared needless cuts on top of cuts that have already accumulated over the past number of years. It's a parks system that is seen as dire by organizations like the Outdoor Recreation Council, by park users groups across British Columbia.

[1635]

We're celebrating a hundred years, and the parks in British Columbia have never been in worse shape. You should see, Madam Speaker, how much better supported parks are in neighbouring jurisdictions to British Columbia — places like Alberta, Washington State, Oregon. They understand that the parks system is integral to a strong tourism economy, that it has a number of spinoff effects, that it is something that citizens are inherently proud of. Yet our parks system is in tatters in British Columbia, and this budget will make matters worse.

What's curious as well is that there are a number of areas this government is aware of that are important to British Columbians, that once were even declared by the government as priority areas, that have been cut again. I would draw the House's attention to the branch dealing with the environmental sustainability program.

The climate action secretariat has now had such diminished capacity from repeated cuts that there's no way the work that is expected of them — to prepare our province for a changing climate, to adapt to it, to mitigate against it from rising greenhouse gas emissions…. We are the only province in Canada that saw its greenhouse gas emissions increase in the last year that they were measured, in 2008.
[ Page 6400 ]

We're heading in the wrong direction. Climate action is urgently needed in this province. British Columbians live with it in their daily lives. In many parts of the province it is very acute: in the Okanagan — the recurrence of drought and the wildfire risks that are part of their lives now; in northern British Columbia, where we have seen the scourge of the pine beetle epidemic.

We're fortunate in British Columbia that we don't have a debate, as I think the Premier alluded to, between those that may question the science of climate change. That's not the debate we're having here.

What we're having is a debate about what actions need to be taken now to meet targets that have been put into legislation by this government around reducing greenhouse gases. You don't do that by cutting the climate action secretariat and those people that actually need to better coordinate the efforts of all ministries and Crown entities to reduce their carbon footprints and to put programs in place that will tackle climate change, but that's what this budget does.

I heard the Minister of Agriculture make remarks this morning on the budget that I wanted to return to, because he spent some time talking about aquaculture in British Columbia. That's fair enough. It's a part of his ministry. It's an industry that is important to British Columbia.

What I found interesting was that the minister spent no time disclosing some of the very unique challenges facing aquaculture on the coast of British Columbia. He didn't even mention that this government is rapidly losing its jurisdictional claim over fisheries in British Columbia because this government failed to exercise its right to appeal the Supreme Court decision from 2009 that ruled in Ottawa's favour about having more authority on our coastal waters.

I can't imagine a Premier of any Atlantic Canadian province that would not have exercised the government's right to appeal to a higher court and maintain a jurisdiction and an interest in coastal waters and the economy that comes from our oceans, but this one did. He failed to mention that.

He also didn't mention that right now British Columbia is the subject of a federal judicial inquiry into the health of wild salmon stocks. Justice Cohen has very wide terms of reference to look at why salmon stocks are declining in British Columbia, and part of the interest of that commission is looking at what the fish-farming industry may be doing to contribute to declining wild stocks.

This government has not made its views known on this matter. They continue to ignore the growing amount of scientific evidence that shows some of the migratory routes of juvenile salmon where there have been dramatic collapses of runs and mature stock. They refuse to look at this issue seriously. They refuse to even acknowledge — while he spoke about aquaculture — the value of a healthy and sustainable wild fishery in British Columbia. This is an industry that contributes about $1.5 billion to $2 billion annually to our gross domestic product.

[1640]

It sustains thousands of jobs, hundreds of small businesses across our coast and our coastal communities, and this government has nothing to say to it, has no programs to help enhance wild salmon stocks. It's unbelievable that the minister has not only failed to defend his jurisdiction but has shown no interest, as a province, in dealing with the federal government on the salmon crisis that we face in British Columbia.

I recently went to Olympia, Washington. There was something that was very illustrative about this government's neglect around not just protecting wild salmon but putting the aquaculture industry on a sustainable path. This government has refused for years — again, bipartisan recommendations from the Finance Committee — to give any R-and-D funding into closed-containment technology.

When I was in Olympia, Washington, I went to a closed-containment facility that is raising Pacific-stock farmed salmon and selling it into British Columbia, to Overwaitea and to Whole Foods. They have agreements with these retail giants. They are creating jobs in Washington State and selling products in British Columbia — jobs that could be built here in British Columbia, jobs that could show that we take seriously global concerns about the sustainability and compatibility of this industry and that we're putting it on a sustainable path.

Forestry is another area that I think deserves some comment in this budget because, at a time when British Columbia should be advancing carbon storage applications and looking for innovation in forestry, we see the Ministry of Forests badly cut again in this budget, as it was last year.

We see the B.C. Forest Service in tatters and in this budget — in particular, in this year — another $21 million cut to forest health and silviculture programs at a time when many are looking at the not sufficiently restocked areas of the province of British Columbia on a map and seeing an incredibly large swath of the province falling under that category.

I want to spend a couple of moments on the harmonized sales tax, because according to Statistics Canada we are in a period where consumer confidence is low in British Columbia. Families in B.C. are living under a government that has added, on average, a $521 cost to their daily lives annually on household budgets.

We know that the HST has dampened construction activity and cost us tens of thousands of jobs there. We see it in the building permit records that are now the second-worst in the country.

We know that the HST is hurting recovery and the survival of restaurants and the hospitality industry in
[ Page 6401 ]
British Columbia. The B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association has released numbers that come from their own membership that show how many jobs were lost in that sector. Here on Vancouver Island the number of new housing units under construction tumbled in January of this year by 56 percent year over year. That's what the HST and the uncertainty around it are doing to our economy in those sectors.

But I think it's also interesting to note what the HST is not doing in areas that this B.C. Liberal government said would benefit from moving to the HST and transferring almost $2 billion onto the backs of consumers.

In British Columbia today the goods-producing sector has lost 17,000 jobs just last month. That's 3.8 percent of the total of jobs that we lost. We also have seen a huge decline in manufacturing jobs — 13,000 jobs lost in January 2011. These are areas where the input tax credit and the burden of taxes being shifted to ordinary British Columbians away from business were supposed to help create jobs, and we are seeing these sectors in decline.

I want to say in the few remaining minutes that I have here that the government, I hope, has heard a message from this very short week of session and heard from the interim Leader of the Opposition, who very helpfully suggested and tabled a bill that will move up the date of the HST referendum from September to June. I think that's…

I know there are a number of members, some of whom are running to be Premier on the other side of the House, who also agree with that. It would have been nice to hear them speak to that in the House here today, as opposed to in their own press releases, and it's taken some of them a while to get there.

[1645]

That is a piece of business that this House could have accomplished this week. British Columbians would have released a sigh of relief if that had been accomplished within these four days. Both parties could have agreed to do it, but here we are on Thursday afternoon, with an uncertain date ahead of us for when we'll be back in this place, and that business has not been done.

I wanted to just say a couple of things to reply to some of the information that has come from the government side about the decade of the B.C. Liberals. I want to cite not NDP numbers but the B.C. Progress Board.

The Progress Board was set up by the outgoing Premier, and credit to him for doing so. They began to collect and publish reports in 2002 and now have a decade of data to judge this government by. I think it's remarkable how much those numbers differ from the ones that we often hear from government MLAs.

When you look at the 21 key indicators that the Progress Board set up, the only conclusion that you can come to, and the conclusion that the Progress Board does come to in its published report, is that this government has been in charge and has made decisions that have resulted in a very disappointing decade, a decade of little progress — in fact, reversals — in most of the key economic, social and other indicators that are measured by the Progress Board.

Today B.C. ranks fourth, for example, in economic output per capita. That is unchanged from when they first reported. We're second in real average hourly wages, which is great, but that's exactly the same as where we were when this government inherited office from the previous NDP government. But in personal income, British Columbia has fallen from third to fourth.

There are other things that are more structurally disturbing, I think, going forward as an economy and as a province. In productivity, which is obviously a critical measure to how well and healthy an economy's performance is, we have slipped from fifth to seventh amongst provinces. In exports per capita, we have fallen from seventh to a dismal ninth place in the Confederation, if you can believe it.

That's the Progress Board's verdict on this government. They've also commented on how university completion rates remain unchanged after ten years in power. There is a notation that even though this government claimed to be interested in developing science and engineering in the technical workforce, the workforce is less developed today than it was ten years ago and skills transfer to individuals pursuing those occupations is lower.

It's a decade of evaluation. The first report by the Progress Board said that by 2010 B.C. should be the first or second in expanding GDP per capita, personal income and jobs. Today, after ten years in power, British Columbia is fourth. There is no progress that this government can boast about on the key indicators that matter to British Columbians. I've talked about a number of them.

This budget could have addressed some of those deficiencies that have developed over time around skills and opportunity, around training, around attacking child poverty, around addressing climate change. This budget does nothing to move us in a positive direction in that regard.

R. Cantelon: If I may indulge in a couple of personal notes. I want to express the concerns and the gladness on this side of the House to see the former member for New Westminster present here in the House today. We're happy to see him well and healthy, and we hope that that health continues for a long, long time. To him, from all on our side, we extend our best wishes for a good and healthy life.

I'll be very brief, but it's been said on this side of the House by a couple of people who served before me that the worst day in government is better than the best day in opposition.

To the former Leader of the Opposition, I want to say to her that we recognize how well she carried the banner,
[ Page 6402 ]
how hard she fought in this House for the issues she believed in. She gained a very grudging admiration from us on this side of the House for how she presented herself in the House. She was a formidable foe on this floor and certainly worked hard for the causes she so passionately believed in. I want to extend my congratulations to her.

[1650]

On this side, I consider myself to be an optimist — not a cautious optimist, an unabashed optimist — about things. That's how I've approached life.

That's what attracted me to this side of the House — the philosophies embodied in our Premier. He certainly is an optimist. And an athlete too, I understand. I could see that as a point guard, I'm sure he always was looking forward to how he could advance the ball up the court. That's how he looked at things, and he did an outstanding job. That appealed to me — that positive, forward-looking approach to government. It's one that I support.

This budget is more of that — a continuation of very successful programs that have been instituted over the past ten years. I'm going to try…. This is going to be difficult, because we hear numbers thrown around in budget speeches. It's endemic in the nature of budget speeches to use a wide range of numbers that probably confuse most people.

I'm reminded of a friend of mine who lived in Toronto and often went to one of the major luncheons that they would have. The member from Capilano could probably tell me, but I think it was at the Canadian Club or one of these business clubs that you go to. During these meetings an elderly gentleman, when someone was spouting off an irrefutable number or a number that he knew would be irrefutable, would raise his finger up, and that invoked the phrase: "Thems with a number is one ahead of one of them without a number."

That's what we tend to do on both sides of this House — try to throw out presumably irrefutable facts that are intended to confuse the opposition but inspire the public to their way of thinking.

I'm going to try to stay away from the big global numbers. This debate is closing fairly soon, and I don't want to add to the multiplicity of that confusion that we barrage the public with. I'm going to try to keep it personal and try to keep it specific to my riding.

I'm very, very happy to represent the riding of Parksville-Qualicum. It runs from Nanaimo to Parksville, Nanoose, Parksville itself, Qualicum Beach. It's a wide array of people and professions, very much a community of people who've retired there. They've moved there to enjoy beautiful B.C. and appreciate how this government has been prudent and fiscally responsible so that they can expect to enjoy their retirement secure in the knowledge that their tax dollars that will be spent here.

By the way, the tax dollars that they spend here — there'll be a lot more of them, because the income dollars they get to keep after taxes are considerably more than in the provinces they left. We have the lowest taxes anywhere in Canada, and they certainly appreciate that. It's thousands of dollars a year more for these retirement people. I didn't mention a specific, and I'll try to continue to avoid it.

I want to just briefly talk about some of the different areas where that positive, forward-looking approach in my area of the community is evidenced in some of the projects. In Nanaimo, for example, we have a new conference centre. A lot of people said, "You shouldn't do that," but the council of the day, which I'm proud to have been part of, decided to embark on a very ambitious project to build a new conference centre to attract people from all over the world.

I was part of what we called then a shared vision, where we approached the government and asked for funding to fund a multiple ask, if you want, of initiatives from various parts of the community that complemented one another. They agreed to support one another and advocate for each other's projects. It was quite a unique experience. We were very successful in that, and I'm proud to say that many of those things are now underway or completed.

The conference centre, for example, is exceeding its expectations. It's a jewel. It's a modern wonder in terms of a venue for encouraging dialogue and thought and advancing the causes of those who use the facility.

Under construction right now is a cruise ship terminal. They've already booked four vessels that will visit, and this is going to bring people from all over the world.

What we have found when people visit Nanaimo…. Of course, all of British Columbia is a beautiful place, but the harbour is a particular jewel. Sheltered from inclement rain and wind and storms, it has become a magnet for pleasure boaters, and now the people from all over the world will enjoy the cruise ships coming here and disembarking.

When they disembark, they'll get a taste of our First Nations culture, as the port authority works with the First Nations to provide them with a west coast First Nations welcome. We're very happy to know that $5 million from the government went into contributing to this project, which they funded themselves and through the federal government. I'll comment later on how well we've been able to use the multiplying effect of adding federal dollars to local investments.

[1655]

I again credit our Premier for his breaking down the barriers — instead of fighting with the federal government, working with the federal government. So this is another forward-looking, positive approach that the community is taking to economic development.

They in turn, the port authority people, have supported the airport expansion. Again, through this joint effort, which we call the shared vision, we were able to
[ Page 6403 ]
add $6 million to the extension of the runway. The port authority…. I credit them with an outstanding business plan that laid out the benefits of extending the runway so that larger aircraft could come in. Not just larger aircraft, but concomitant with that was a new navigation system that enabled them to come and land in weather that is not so favourable necessarily here on the British Columbia coast, especially at times in the winter.

That's gone forward, and they've gone and taken the next step to expand the terminal which we participated in. As with the cruise ship terminal, both of these projects were participated in with cooperation and financial assistance from the federal government which we worked very well with, happily. Their participation was essential to both of these projects.

Another component of these projects has been the Island Coastal Economic Trust. The Island Coastal Economic Trust was a fund set up by our provincial government. It's a $50 million fund that basically was handed over to the Island mayors and representatives appointed to look at economic opportunities and fund them, either directly or through loans, and principally driven by priorities from the mayors. It's been an outstandingly successful operation.

Both of these projects received supplementary funding from this organization. It's been very good, and I credit Barry Janyk from the Sunshine Coast in his leadership of this trust.

Those are two of the projects in Nanaimo that moved forward and that are expanding the opportunity, that are bringing people to Nanaimo. Once they come to Nanaimo, they say: "Why don't I move my business here?" And that's a good reason. The answer is: "Why don't we?" We do have the lowest personal taxes, which makes it easier to attract highly skilled, highly trained employees. We have a great, beautiful climate in Nanaimo, undoubtedly. Perhaps Parksville would say it's arguably the best in Canada, with some justification. We have the lowest corporate taxes. We have the lowest small business taxes. Why not invest in Nanaimo?

That is happening today, Madam Speaker. One of the organizations that we've been working with, one of the business opportunities, is a film studio. We would be premature to announce it, but we know that it's coming very, very close. A major film studio, we hope, will be located in Nanaimo which will provide a different type of industry from the traditional resource-based industries in Nanaimo and expand the opportunities for our young people.

That's what we need — forward-looking businesses that will expand the opportunity for our youth so that they can stay on this great green island, this beautiful place in British Columbia.

Another component of the ask was to grant accreditation to Vancouver Island University, to move it up to a fully fledged, accredited university. I want to comment briefly on the president of the university, Ralph Nilson, who has embraced the concept of working with the community, of complementing the training and educational needs of the businesses in the communities, supporting them to support jobs that can flow into the community.

He's done an outstanding job and has been a real leader in our community. We're very glad to have Pres. Ralph Nilson as part of our community, as a leader in our community working with the businesses and the organizations. It's been a great partnership.

University status has made a lot of difference to them. Not only have they expanded their international student body, which is not to be unexpected — being on the coast and being readily accessible and open to the Pacific Gateway — but it's also expanded and increased the enrolment from people on the Island and nearby Lower Mainland who want to get a university education with a more modest and moderate cost to them.

I'm happy to say that right now two of my children are taking advantage of that. As a taxpayer and as a father I'm very grateful that they have decided to start their education and probably complete a good portion of it in Nanaimo so that they're near to me. I love them both dearly, and it's nice to have them close to me. They won't have to embark to UBC or UVic to further their education. It's important to me and it's important to all the parents that this facility is now available with a broadening range of opportunities for them.

[1700]

I want to comment, too, on how well they're advancing. They're doing what we would call applied research. They're doing things in the lab, for example. I was in the chemistry lab. They have a portable gas chromatography system that will analyze the air. They've taken this up to the tar sands so that they can actually move it around and determine what the toxins might be in the air near different facilities and further away, so it can measure the relative effects of being near what might be a source of pollution.

These students are really excited and enthused because they can see the reality, the application of the knowledge they're learning in the business. One of them was a pharmacy student. He had no interest in chemistry, but now he's really got hold of this future that he might have in chemistry and moving forward with it.

These are some of the things. We're looking forward to the First Nations, as well, expanding their opportunities within the city and becoming, as the Premier alluded to earlier, I would say, full partners.

With respect to First Nations, I think the Premier nailed it. Until we embrace and agree and move forward together as partners with First Nations, we'll be a second-class province, and we'll be a second-class country. The rest of the world looks on to us and says: "Yes, we're interested in your history of First Nations, aboriginal peoples,
[ Page 6404 ]
but how are you treating them? Are you giving them a fair shake?"

I would say it's the right thing to do. It's a thing we must do, but beyond that, of course, there's an economic component as well. People will buy and judge our products based on how fairly we treat our First Nations people. But the first element, that we must treat them fairly and properly and equitably, is an immediate imperative.

Now, the forest industry is a great…. On this great green island…. One thing that Vancouver Island and the coast does better than anything in the world is grow magnificent fir and other related species. For a long time that's been not the best business, as we've been so dependent on the forest usage and the demands of our lumber from the United States that the business has declined tremendously.

That is changing, and changing dramatically. We are now shipping almost as much lumber daily to China and the Asia-Pacific market as we are to the United States. No longer will the United States have their foot on our throats, so to speak, with respect to our shipments of lumber.

We will expand that market. I want to assure you that that market is growing, and it will grow exponentially. The China market may be slowing, but nevertheless, the market is so immense that they are just beginning to get the taste of the use of lumber in facilities. I want to credit Pat Bell for the work that he has done…

Deputy Speaker: Member, no names.

R. Cantelon: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Carried away in my enthusiasm. The Minister of Forests.

…in expanding those markets. He's acknowledged in that by people like Western Forest Products. Not long ago I had the opportunity to visit one of the sawmills that opened up because of the China market. I'm quoting from his letter — Mr. Don Demens, senior vice-president of sales and marketing. He thanks me for participating in the commemoration of the reopening of this mill.

"This is a good-news story," he says. "The government's hard work and energy in identifying new markets in China for B.C. lumber has paid off for Western, and the 35 people back at work in Ladysmith are proof positive of the success of this initiative. All told, 200 or more people are working in the mills and logging operations of Western Forest Products than was the case a year ago. As we move closer to full production, we see our current head count of 2,650 rising by 500, to 3,110."

He goes on to say:

"The diversity of the coastal forest profile requires us to develop successful markets for all the species we harvest, and we appreciate that the partnership and support we receive from the provincial government in supporting coastal forest products, whether it's the continued promotion in critical markets like Japan, North America…or in developing countries, in China, promotional activities improve our ability to sell our products."

I know that all members on this side of the House share the wish that we process the logs, that we expand the secondary manufacturing, that we don't ship raw logs. That's the last-case scenario, frankly, of at least keeping the business going, of at least keeping people in the forests working. But the key is to mill those products and to send finished lumber.

We can only do that if there's a demand for this product. There's no sense saying, "Well, send the raw logs to the mills; don't ship any," if the mills themselves have no customer for the lumber that they mill. That's the first step, and it's happening, and it's turning around.

[1705]

One of the other very heartening aspects and developments that I was personally involved with in a small way…. I was greatly excited by the enthusiasm of the workers of Nanaimo Forest Products. It's been just over two years ago now that they took over the mill at Harmac. They were told by everybody: "You'll fail. You have no hope of succeeding. You're wasting your time. You're throwing away your money."

Well, I was happy to be there in the courthouse with them and talk to the then Attorney General and his staff, to say: "Give these people a shot. Let them have a kick at it. Tell the judge that they have to respect that this is about employment of people in a mill. This is about employment in the community and the secondary effects of everybody that supports and feeds business and industry into that mill."

He was persuasive, and I'm happy to say that the judge didn't rule in favour of the people that wanted to buy the mill, break it up and ship it to, perhaps, China. He gave these employees a chance. They committed $25,000 each to become partners in this operation. When your mill has just gone bankrupt…. Think about it. You then say: "I want to start this up" — in a questionable market — "and I'm ready to take $25,000 of very limited and fixed resources and put it in and become a partner."

Well, they did, and they've succeeded. They've succeeded beyond their own expectations, as pulp prices have gone up and their efficiencies improved. They're shipping pulp all over the world at very competitive prices. In fact, I was there recently. From a core of 235 people, they've now added another 55 people to nearly 290 people.

So 55 new employees. These are high-paying, qualified, highly skilled jobs. This is the core of our forest industry. If we were to lose the pulp mills, I would submit that the entire forest industry would collapse behind it. The pulp manufacturers depend on the output and what is basically waste material from lumber — the chips from sawmills. That feeds into the pulp mill and that feeds their markets.

They're an absolute key. Without the pulp mills, we can't have sawmills. Without the sawmills, we can't have pulp mills.

It's an important change. This corrects the imbalance, because basically, the forest industry lost its integra-
[ Page 6405 ]
tion as the bigger companies split up and got rebought. This reintegrates the industry and makes it a very viable concern.

They're not stopping there. I'm very proud to say they've invested $28 million — to answer some of the members opposite concerns about environmental concerns — to use less fuel, to become more energy-efficient and to lower their cost.

In lowering their costs, I certainly have to mention that HST has been a major factor for them and for all related lumber industries. Basically, unlike some 300 companies that do have value-added taxes, they used to carry the burden of provincial sales tax forward as a core component of their costs and then have to compete in a market that's usually price-taking. They take what they can get.

So very simply, on their hydro bill alone in the millions of dollars, 7 percent saves them nearly $300,000 a year just on hydro — never mind all their other input elements — and makes them more competitive. That money that they save — as you can see, Madam Speaker — they're putting back into jobs in the community of Nanaimo and making it a vibrant, exciting place to live.

It gives a future for the young people. It's been said by both sides of this House that we should look ahead to where our children and our grandchildren are. We need to have these kinds of highly skilled jobs, trades jobs, to create a core of our industry. I'm happy to see it's happening.

It's been an exciting thing to watch. I always look forward to the luncheons where they invite me out to update them, and it's always been good news.

I mentioned that I represent Parksville and Qualicum as well. We have, I think it's demographically true, one of the oldest — I hate to say the word, but that's the right word — demographics in Canada in Parksville-Qualicum. But, I hasten to add, it's a healthy demographic.

In British Columbia we have the highest life expectancy. That is even higher in my constituency of Parksville-Qualicum. They're an active group. They're a healthy group, and they participate and live life to the fullest.

One of the concerns of them is health. I want to tell you that — and this, again, is part of our government initiative — we're looking forward to new methods.

[1710]

If we're going to control health care costs, if I may digress a minute, we have to get how we administer and how we deliver health under control. We need to have people take accountability and responsibility for their own health care.

So I'm very happy to say that we're looking at what we would call a new Oceanside health centre, a wellness centre as well as an urgent care centre. Now, I feel like I'm at the front of the band of people in the community who are making this go forward. I want to tell you that this is a band that's pushing me every step. If I slow down, they're behind pushing me forward.

There's a federation of community organizations led by Tom Davies and many other prominent people in the community that are committed to seeing this happen. They're committed to seeing this new facility move in and take root, so to speak. It will involve a different approach to health care. It will have an urgent health care centre, which is badly needed in the Oceanside area.

Right now, if someone has any kind of trauma — and that may be a moderate trauma — they need to transfer to NRGH, Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. So from 7:30 to 10:30, this facility would attend to their urgent care needs. The experience in other areas — in Ladysmith and Chemainus — has been that 75 percent of people who present with symptoms in these kinds of facilities can be treated and sent home. So rather than have to take what can be a very trying, dark, rainy drive to NRGH with your spouse or loved one, you'll be able to get treatment right in the community where you live. So it's important to do that.

Now, as an anecdote, we decided a few months back: "Let's update people and see how people feel about this. Is it really needed?" We had a little meeting, and we had a hall for 200 people. We thought: "We'll just let them know it's happening." So 500 people showed up. I was happy to say that the Minister of Health at the time was more than happy to address the people in the hallways, as well as to later address the people in the hall, very effectively, and to reassure them that, yes, this is happening.

Just recently we received the commitment from the Vancouver health authority, from the chair and the CEO, that land has been set aside and, yes, it will be built. We hope as soon as possible. Certainly, within months this new facility will go. It'll have an urgent care centre. It'll have radiology. It'll have a lab. It'll have associated facilities for diabetes, post-stroke care.

Basically, it's going to reach out to the community and say, "Here's your health situation," and treat them in a multidisciplinary way to help them take responsibility and accountability for their health care. As I mentioned earlier, they're already tuned into this approach, and they welcome it so they can receive the treatment and support and help they need.

Certainly, if we're going to control health care costs, you can't just rely on sending someone to an emergency department, getting a quick fix and sending them out. That doesn't work, and that's not how it happens. This will allow people to obtain diagnosis, ongoing care of what might be a chronic condition, or a remediation if it isn't a chronic condition. So people will take responsibility and seek treatment near where they live and be part of that treatment.

I see this is certainly an important event. My congratulations go out to Tom Davies for all the hard work that he has done with his community groups to push
[ Page 6406 ]
this agenda forward and push me forward. I hope he takes note that I'm referring to this in the House and trying to do my part of the job.

That's not the only part of the health care system that we've worked on. I want to tell you that in Nanaimo Regional General Hospital many, many adaptations have been made.

Interjection.

R. Cantelon: Yes, and I share your excitement.

An Hon. Member: I need health care now.

R. Cantelon: Well, I hope there's an urgent health care centre near you, sir. Yes.

In any case, we've made many improvements. The most recent one at the NRGH is a new emergency department. They've done a couple of things. Firstly, through a $20 million innovation fund…. Basically, they put it to the emergency doctors to say: "If you can improve waiting times, if you can make the system work better, we'll front-end the cost of doing that."

It has been very successful. Waiting times have dropped dramatically, but the next important thing is a $39 million expansion of the emergency to modernize it and to treat patients with different needs according to their needs. For example, there'll be a psychiatric section so that people with mental issues can be treated directly for them. There won't be this mingling of people with different maladies, awkwardly, in the emergency room. Pediatrics will also be available as a separate line.

What particularly encouraged me was the fact that this created a lot of jobs and that local contractors — names that I saw, familiar as local names, on the sides of trucks — were building this.

[1715]

All of these infrastructures are part of what we've done, what this government's been part of, in providing employment during what has been a catastrophic economic global situation. We haven't been part of it. We've been mainly insulated from it, and we're coming through it. We're ready, as markets in China would indicate, poised to take advantage of new opportunities in the world. We look forward to that.

I've generally avoided, I hope, too many numbers. I mentioned "worldwide." My nephew right now is with…. His partner is from Ireland, and her parents experienced firsthand what happens in an economy that's going badly. It was a catastrophic thing for her father to nearly lose his house. Then when you have to remortgage it over there.... They had extreme difficulty doing it.

We have a better banking system, we have a more stable government, and certainly that's what we try to encourage. We can't create business, but what we can do is create the platform for it with taxation policies that encourage investment, that encourage growth. I believe that we'll see more and more businesses come to Nanaimo as our markets expand. We are the gateway to the Pacific. We are leading Canada. We're leading Canada in how we cooperate with the federal government. We're leading Canada in innovative ways to simulate business.

I would close by saying that we want to leave this a better place for our children. It was pointed out to me that now that I have grandchildren…. I don't feel that way, but I seem to be phasing into a different generation of my life. I don't think of myself as a grandfather, but apparently I am. So we want to make sure that their opportunities aren't hampered by the excesses of our generation; that we protect our environment; that we provide them education; that we continue to manage in a sound, prudent fiscal way so that their opportunities may be greater than ours.

S. Fraser: I've been waiting patiently. I appreciate the member for Parksville-Qualicum's enthusiasm. I may not share it, but the clock is running out, so I'm going to try to be as quick as possible. I realize I will be cut off because of the time overrun now.

It was 260 days since we last sat — June 3, I believe. So as we are debating today Budget 2011, the public that I talk to, the people from Alberni–Pacific Rim, are certainly not so enthusiastic. The rudder of the ship of state, if you will, was tied in place on autopilot eight months ago.

For the people of British Columbia and the people of Alberni–Pacific Rim to come across a budget that was delivered earlier this week that we are debating today, which is a status quo budget, a do-nothing budget, is shocking. The problem with tying the rudder of government and just letting it roll and then changing nothing shows a complete lack of understanding of what's happening on the ground in British Columbia today. As we roll along with no changes to the budget, we actually do…. The process that was put in place in previous budgets rolls on.

The net result for the people of British Columbia is a massive loss of many public services — just going to name a few, just a few, ministries — and with this budget, we're seeing that continuation.

There's an overall budget for Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation — decreased. There's funding for negotiation and implementation of negotiations for treaty — decreased. The Attorney General's budget is decreased. The Ministry of Agriculture's budget is decreased. No new investment for children and families, after that shocking report from Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond that demands resources be put in place to help children in care.

There's a cut in Citizens' Services. There's a cut in the Ministry of Environment again. There's a cut for forest resource stewardship programs. The list goes on and on
[ Page 6407 ]
and on. As the ship of state's rudder is tied, we are rolling towards an iceberg.

The problems caused by not being a dynamic entity when you're a government, by not addressing the issues and letting them roll on, are all felt by the public on the ground all the time. So 256 days, and we come back here, and we get a do-nothing budget.

[1720]

Now, it's not really a do-nothing budget. There's something that stands out as quite unique, as far as I can see, as far as I've looked back, and that is the contingency fund that's left in place for the new incoming, upcoming Premier.

The Liberal Premier, the new person moving into that seat, will be getting about a billion dollars for discretionary funding at a time when we're seeing cuts in all the ministries, critical cuts to many services, and of course cuts to gaming grants and non-profits that do the good work in the communities — in my communities, in Alberni, on the west coast, Tofino, Ucluelet, Parksville, Errington.

All of those organizations are facing major cuts. But the priority has been to not address any of those issues, to see the continued dismantling of basic public services and to allow the new Premier to have unprecedented funds set aside while we're running a deficit. So that's borrowed money. That's not sound fiscal management, and that's what a budget is supposed to be all about.

The member for Parksville-Qualicum also raised a few issues that cross into my…. We have shared territory, if you will. Our constituencies have joint issues with health care and education. The health care centre he's referring to, in essence, appears to be something of smoke and mirrors.

There's no new money going into the entire area of Oceanside. No. There is a new building to be built, and it has to be paid for out of the same budget that was there last year. So how there can be new services is baffling to me, and the people of Parksville, Qualicum, Errington, Coombs, Dashwood, Bowser, Deep Bay are all speaking out, raising the red flag about what appears to be misinformation and a travesty, when it's considering health care for probably the oldest demographic in the country.

The member for Parksville-Qualicum failed to mention the failures in education. Qualicum Beach is facing the spectre of losing their high school. It's being fought by every citizens' group, including parents and teachers, business groups, because of a flawed funding formula that has completely failed to be addressed in this budget.

What we've seen to rub salt in the wound of the students and parents is the $34 million cut to help students, after they graduate, to get into post-secondary education and training. This is at a time where we are already probably the worst in Canada for student debt, and this government has made an art form out of cutting every grant there is for post-secondary education. Big problem.

Another big problem that's really, really not addressed in this budget is the fact that seniors in residential care in my constituency and across the province have been levied a new funding formula, which is causing huge amounts of hardship. We have seen a government that has suggested last year…. The Ministry of Health describes the new rate structure as a more equitable rate structure that will reduce the burden on low-income seniors and support ongoing improvement to the residential care system. Madam Speaker, what it has done is cause misery, uncertainty, and 75 percent of the residents in seniors care, in residential care are being levied a major increase.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

It is unfair, and it's causing hardship. None of that, the tens of millions of dollars that are being pulled out of their pockets…. People — many times not able to defend themselves, relying on us in this House to do that job against government decisions — are losing the money they need to support themselves in any kind of quality of life, and their families are being affected too.

I understand there's $54 million that is being sucked out of seniors' pockets in residential care. Now, that's going into the ministry, but it's not falling down into the seniors care facilities. So it's not improving quality. What it's doing is, it's $54 million that is going towards providing a slush fund for the incoming Premier, hon. Speaker.

[1725]

I'm hearing of tragedies as this happens. I've met families. I've met husbands and wives who have been partners — for 56 years, in one case, in a place called Fir Park Village in the Alberni Valley — and they've had to do involuntary separation to try to avoid going into poverty because of these changes.

We see an unprecedented slush fund created through this budget that's running a deficit. So it's borrowed money going to the incoming Premier. It's being sucked right out of the pockets — to subsidize this — of seniors in residential care. It's coming right out of students who are at the brink of losing their high school.

These issues should be addressed in the budget. This is the place and the time to do it. The public has been waiting 256 days that we haven't sat in this place, the people's House, to have these issues addressed, to have us in this House shake our heads collectively and go: "Whoa. There are problems existing in communities, on the ground, that the budget needs to address."

But we got a budget that does nothing — less than nothing. It allows the damage that's been foisted on many communities to continue and accelerate. And it prioritizes funds, discretionary funds, to an incoming
[ Page 6408 ]
Premier to use as they see fit at some future time at the expense of seniors, of students, of children in care.

We in this place on all sides of the House have a responsibility to bring a budget into this place. It's a requirement of this place to do that. I understand we're here for that — for four days only — but the budget doesn't address any of those issues. It does the opposite. It perpetuates a ship of state with the rudder tied and the problems expanding to the people in the province. It provides no leadership, and it provides no guidance.

Interjection.

S. Fraser: It's a status quo budget, Minister. It's a problem for the people in Alberni–Pacific Rim. It's a problem for the people on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Tofino General Hospital under this government's watch has lost obstetrics from budgets that didn't recognize the need for health care where you need it, when you need it.

On the west coast in communities like Ucluelet, Tofino, Nuu-chah-nulth communities, there is a mini baby boom. There is nothing in Budget 2011. There is nothing to address reinstating obstetrics at the Tofino General Hospital.

It's the opportunity to address these kinds of issues in this House. The time is at budget time, and we have a budget. You know, the Minister of Finance said it's a status quo budget, which means that the ship of state runs with the rudder tied and no apparent governance.

I understand and the people of British Columbia understand the challenges for both parties — leadership changes. It is understood. There is still, rightfully so, an expectation that there will be governance in this place, that first and foremost this place will sit, that we will have sessions of government and that when we do have sessions of government — fleeting though they may be under this government — we will address the real issues through the budget, through the throne speech.

We've had four days here. This is the fourth. Everyone is looking and pointing at me. I realize the clock has run out.

Is it the Speaker's wish for me to…? I would like to reserve my place in this debate, hon. Speaker, and I would move adjournment…

Mr. Speaker: Of debate.

S. Fraser: …of the debate. Thank you for the protocol.

S. Fraser moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

[1730]

Mr. Speaker: Hon. Members, if you remain in your seats, the Lieutenant-Governor is in the precinct.

His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor entered the chamber and took his seat on the throne.

Royal Assent to Bills

Clerk of the House:

Supply Act (No. 1), 2011

In Her Majesty's name, His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor doth thank Her Majesty's loyal subjects, accepts their benevolence and assents to this act.

His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor retired from the chamber.

[1735]

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Hon. R. Coleman: I move that the House at its rising do stand adjourned until it appears to the satisfaction of the Speaker, after consultation with the government, that the public interest requires the House shall meet or until the Speaker may be advised that the government is desired to prorogue the third session of the 39th parliament of the province of British Columbia. The Speaker may give notice that he is so satisfied or has been so advised, and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and, as the case may be, may transact its business as if it had been duly adjourned to that time and date and that in the event of the Speaker being unable to act owing to illness or other cause, the Deputy Speaker shall act in his stead for the purpose this order.

This brings to an end the very successful House leadership of the official opposition's House Leader and my House Leader tenure in this House — which is probably the shortest but most successful in parliamentary history, I might add. We will retire to somewhere else.

Hon. R. Coleman moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

The House adjourned at 5:37 p.m.

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