2015 Legislative Session: Fourth Session, 40th 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)
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Afternoon Sitting
Volume 19, Number 1
ISSN 0709-1281 (Print)
ISSN 1499-2175 (Online)
CONTENTS |
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Page |
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Speech from the Throne |
5651 |
Introduction and First Reading of Bills |
5655 |
Bill 1 — An Act to Ensure the Supremacy of Parliament |
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Hon. S. Anton |
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Appointment of Deputy Speaker | 5655 |
Appointment of Assistant Deputy Speaker | 5655 |
Appointment of Deputy Chair, Committee of the Whole | 5655 |
Printing of Votes and Proceedings | 5656 |
Appointment of Select Standing Committees | 5656 |
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015
The House met at 2:05 p.m.
[Madame Speaker in the chair.]
This being the first day of the fourth session of the 40th Legislative Assembly of the province of British Columbia for the dispatch of business, pursuant to a proclamation of the Hon. Judith Guichon, Lieutenant-Governor of the province, hon. members took their seats.
Madame Speaker: I call on Sherali Hussein of the Ismaili Muslim community of British Columbia to lead this House in prayer.
S. Hussein: It is a distinct honour and privilege to lead the Legislative Assembly of the province of British Columbia in prayer today, prior to the throne speech.
Today’s selection consists of recitation of a passage from the Noble Qur’an. Known as Al-Fatiha or “The Opening,” it is the first chapter of the Muslim scripture. This short chapter, consisting of seven verses, is considered the quintessence of the Holy Qur’an. It is a prerequisite feature of every formal Muslim prayer and is often recited prior to the commencement of a journey or at the beginning of important tasks or events to invoke the Lord’s blessings.
As you embark on your trusted and solemn public service duties, it seems fitting to commence with a verse which invokes an ethos and universal themes of humility before one’s Creator and seeking of his ever-present grace, mercy and protection, as well as assistance for wisdom and guidance by which to lead dignified and ethical lives.
We shall now recite the Sura Al-Fatiha, followed by its English translation.
Bismi'l-lāhi'r-raḥmāni'r-raḥīm
al-ḥamdu li'l-lāhi rabbi'l-ʿālamīn
ar-raḥmāni'r-raḥīm
māliki yawmi'd-dīn
iyyāka naʿbudu wa iyyāka nastaʿīn
ihdina'ṣ-ṣirāṭa'l-mustaqīm
ṣirāṭa'l-ladhīna anʿamta ʿalayhim ghayri'l-maghḍūbi ʿalayhim wa la'ḍ-ḍāllīn
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful,
Praise be to Allah, the lord of the worlds,
the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Lord of the Day of Judgment,
It is you whom we worship, and it is You from whom we seek support.
Guide us on the straight path,
the path of those whom you have graced, not those who have
earned your Anger, nor those who have strayed.
Madame Speaker: Hon. Members, Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor is in the precinct. Please remain seated while we await her arrival.
Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor requested to attend the House, was admitted to the chamber and was pleased to deliver the following gracious speech from the throne.
Speech from the Throne
Hon. J. Guichon (Lieutenant-Governor): Members of the Legislative Assembly, it is my privilege to represent Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, who this year will become our longest-reigning monarch, surpassing the reign of her great-great-grandmother, after whom this city is named. Her Majesty provides an example of service to us all. I ask you to join me in extending to Her Majesty our congratulations and best wishes.
Since the chamber was last addressed from the throne, we lost some beloved British Columbians. They made their contributions in different venues, but their accomplishments inspired us and made us proud.
Pat Quinn and Ted Harrison represented the very best of British Columbia on the world stage.
We will also miss two men who took different approaches to fighting cancer: Dr. Jasbinder Sanghera through research and Sgt. Mike Lawless through fundraising.
You all know the demands of public office only too well. With that in mind, I ask you to remember Simma Holt, Jack Adelaar, Jack Talstra, Gordon Harris, Maurice Chazottes and Allan Hustwick.
Events around the world, from Ottawa to Sydney to Paris, have brought the importance of democracy into sharp focus. Each of you has earned a sacred trust not only to represent your constituents but also to represent democratic values: respect for each other, acceptance of diversity and tolerance for differences of religion or political beliefs.
In this House and around this great province we must never forget. While we may disagree with the person speaking, we must always recognize, respect and defend their right to speak.
Members, we live in uncertain times. The global economic recovery remains fragile, and the market conditions remain unstable. Consider the price of oil. Who could have credibly predicted that oil would lose half of its value in a matter of months? Today provinces with oil-based economies, and indeed our federal government, are forced to respond to the sudden fiscal impacts.
We are fortunate in B.C. that we have a diverse economy and the people, working in diverse sectors, to build our future. We are fortunate that we do not rely on one commodity. That’s why it is important for your government to have a plan, the B.C. jobs plan, to strengthen our diverse economy and to stick to it with purposeful determination.
Before I look forward, let me review what we have
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accomplished in our recent past. In September 2011 your government introduced the B.C. jobs plan. Since then more than 70,000 jobs have been created. A near record 2.3 million British Columbians are working. Unemployment has dropped 1.7 percentage points since the launch of the B.C. jobs plan, more than any other province in Canada during that same period.
Last September the jobs plan was accelerated across eight key sectors of our diverse economy to attract investment and to create jobs across the province. They are international education, transportation, forestry, mining and energy, technology and the green economy, tourism, agrifoods, and natural gas.
In international education the number of international students has increased by 20 percent in just five years, spending $2.3 billion in British Columbia and supporting almost 25,500 jobs. At the same time, opportunities for B.C. students to study abroad have increased steadily through partnerships with overseas institutions.
Transportation is crucial, because our trade depends on it. In just the past year the Malahat safety improvement project was completed, the province made changes to provide better wages for container truckers serving Port Metro Vancouver, and thousands of British Columbians shared their input on a new transportation plan.
In forestry your government has focused on forging relationships with new markets and expanding our client base. This strategy has paid off. In just five years forest product exports have increased by 63 percent and now account for over a third of all B.C. exports.
B.C. mining and energy sectors provide good-paying jobs across the province, from rural communities to corporate offices in Vancouver, a global mining hub. Since 2011 five new mines have opened, creating over 1,300 new jobs, and seven major expansions of existing mines have been approved. Later this year we expect the Red Chris mine to open, employing another 300 British Columbians, including many First Nations people.
B.C. technology and green economy sectors are putting B.C. on the world map, with hot spots in Victoria, the new Okanagan centre for innovation and the thriving start-up culture in Vancouver. Technology contributes $23 billion in annual revenue, up $10 billion in just ten years. B.C.’s clean-tech industry is also making strides, leading the way in fields as diverse as biofuels, clean-tech entrepreneurship and carbon capture.
The tourism sector continues to grow, with more than 19,000 tourism businesses throughout the province, many of them small businesses. In 2014 British Columbia destinations received significant international recognition, and revenue has increased steadily over the past decade.
B.C.’s agrifood sector is famous throughout Canada and the world for its fresh, healthy food products. To help farmers and food processors promote their products, your government expanded the Buy Local program and committed more than $8 million for a seven-year tree fruit replant program that builds on the recent success of growers replanting low-value orchards with high-demand and high-quality varieties. The results speak for themselves, with $2.7 billion in exports to more than 140 countries, with record-setting growth in China.
In all these sectors your government is delivering.
Perhaps no sector has attracted more excitement and investment than natural gas. Liquefied natural gas could create 100,000 jobs and the revenues to eliminate our debt by supplying the world’s cleanest fossil fuel to the growing economies of Asia. LNG is a generational opportunity to grow, but it is also a plan to protect a vital resource industry which already employs 13,000 British Columbians.
Your government has worked to ensure that B.C. is globally competitive and a secure place to do business. Global companies have already invested more than $7 billion to pursue their proposed projects, and they continue to undertake the work necessary to bring these projects to life.
B.C. will continue to lead on responsible economic development by continuing to protect our clean air, our clean water and our land. We will continue to provide a positive example to the world that there is no need to choose between economic growth and fighting climate change.
Our carbon tax proves we can do both. When it was launched nearly seven years ago, it was controversial. Today, as discussions move from Lima to Paris, the B.C. carbon tax is a model not just for our fellow provinces but international governments, environmental leaders and the IMF. Our economy has grown, our population has grown, yet our dependence on oil has declined.
Protecting the environment means setting world-leading standards, but it also means making change when needed. British Columbia will continue to lead. When the dam failed at Mount Polley, our first responsibility was tending to the needs of the community, but the second was to order a full and independent review. The third will be to take those findings and apply the lessons learned to ensure this never happens again.
Your government takes the same approach to worker safety, holding employers to the highest standards and learning from past tragedies. The lessons from the Macatee report and the coroner’s report into the Babine and Lakeland tragedies will help to ensure workers return home to their families at the end of their shifts.
We will continue to stand up for B.C. with our five conditions on heavy-oil pipelines — not to build walls against development but to articulate the way we do business in British Columbia: responsibly, safely, with social licence.
In addition to delivering on the jobs plan to support economic growth responsibly across all sectors, your government has consistently taken the right first step, fiscal
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responsibility. Sound fiscal management builds the foundation for growth. It allows us to attract investment and to grow the economy, and that allows government to provide skills training to ensure British Columbians benefit from the economic growth. That allows government to provide the services that have become part of how we define ourselves as Canadians.
In 2013 your government proposed a balanced budget — and delivered. In 2014 your government proposed a balanced budget — and delivered. Your government will start 2015 by proposing a balanced budget. It will deliver a balanced budget.
B.C. will continue to stand strong in an exclusive club. In terms of debt management, your government has met or exceeded every one of its targets over the last three years. Your government is committed to eliminating the provincial debt but will continue to make affordable investments in our future, especially those that help us grow our economy and the jobs that come with them.
Your government will continue to work with B.C.’s dedicated public servants and their unions to reach agreements that deliver services affordably. Today more than two-thirds of B.C.’s public sector workers have already agreed to five-year contracts. Under the new mandate they will benefit as the economy grows.
Most notably, the provincial government and the Teachers Federation set aside more than 30 years of discord to reach a negotiated agreement, the longest in British Columbia history. Many said this was impossible. Now there is an opportunity to work together on our shared priorities, students and student outcomes.
Members, fiscal responsibility must extend beyond our core provincial government. We can never forget that there is only one taxpayer. Following a comprehensive core review of provincial government, the taxpayer accountability principles set out clear expectations for the broader public sector, including Crown corporations, to deliver services well and affordably.
Our government will also continue to work with our municipal partners to share best practices, to control spending, to respect the one taxpayer that pays for all levels of government. That is the central principle behind the plebiscite in Metro Vancouver. The mayors of Metro Vancouver have developed a vision to ease traffic congestion, reduce emissions and invest in new public transit infrastructure. They have come up with a realistic way to pay for it, but the people must have their say. This spring, as promised consistently by this government, people will have their say.
With our fiscal house in order, we have the foundation we need to grow our diverse economy with our B.C. jobs plan. It starts with a special focus on small businesses across the eight sectors. Small business employs more than one million people across our province. B.C. has led the country in supporting small businesses by cutting red tape. In 2015 your government will continue to lead by further reducing the cost and burden of needless regulations, making it easier to do business with the provincial government.
This year in international education your government will open three new B.C. offshore schools, implement a new offshore school application process and continue to work with several countries on promoting bilingual education programs in B.C. schools.
This year in transportation your government is working in partnership with Alberta and Saskatchewan through the new west partnership to add capacity and resolve bottlenecks to strengthen our Asia-Pacific gateway.
In October the softwood lumber agreement will expire. We are working with the federal government and our B.C. forest industry to ensure that B.C. lumber products are treated fairly, especially at a time when the U.S. economy is starting to rebound and housing starts are on the rise. Together we will negotiate a new agreement that recognizes the mutual benefits of trade that is free and unhindered by the harmful effects of protectionism.
This year your government will also introduce amendments to the Forest Act that allow us to implement recommendations from the B.C. Timber Sales effectiveness review and lead the development and implementation of a renewed forest sector competitiveness strategy.
This year will be transformative for the mining and energy sector. Over the next few years there is an opportunity to create thousands of new jobs and billions more in new investment. This year your government will increase funding to the mining division to improve the permitting process for major mines and increase staff and inspections.
This year the Minister of Technology and Citizens’ Services will bring forward an update to the ten-year skills-training plan, focusing on feedback from the tech sector. With ongoing initiatives like the B.C. venture acceleration program and broadband satellite initiative, your government is delivering innovative change.
To encourage another year of strong growth in tourism, your government is reducing red tape and processing times for land-based tenure applications and developing and marketing B.C.’s world-class tourism products through Destination B.C.
With $1 billion in growth in the last three years, the agrifoods sector is positioned for continued success. In 2015 your government will continue to work with the agrifood advisory committee on a new action plan through 2020, including a new fish and seafood strategy.
In February 2014 your government pledged to launch the LNG–Buy B.C. program to connect B.C. businesses with the national and international companies looking to invest billions of dollars in our province. Last fall your government said it would introduce a comprehensive LNG tax framework which gives certainty to investors while ensuring that British Columbians benefit from the
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abundant natural gas resource they own.
Your government said it would introduce world-leading environmental standards to ensure that B.C. has the cleanest LNG. On all these commitments, your government is delivering. In 2015 your government will continue to work with stakeholders, First Nations, communities and proponents and lead the way on natural gas development and export.
Beyond what we can do at home, we must embrace the world and increase our trade to create jobs here at home. One of our greatest strengths is our cultural, linguistic and historic ties across the Pacific. The descendants of immigrants from Asia helped to make B.C. a culturally rich and tolerant society.
Since 2002 British Columbia’s trade with China has grown rapidly. China is now our second-largest trading partner, accounting for $6.5 billion in 2014. Our trading relationship with Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, has strong prospects for industries as diverse as mining, forestry, clean tech, digital media and natural gas.
The recently ratified free trade agreement between Canada and South Korea gives B.C. businesses new opportunities with our fourth-largest trading partner. On the horizon is India, an emerging economic giant. Since 2011 trade with India has increased by 157 percent, and it will continue to grow.
This year the Premier will embark on her seventh international trade mission, returning to British Columbia’s sister province of Guangdong, and B.C. will continue to be a champion for lowering outdated trade barriers that hinder growth within our own country.
Members, neither fiscal responsibility nor growing the economy is done for its own sake. Whether they were born and raised here, new arrivals or considering coming back home from away, we must ensure that British Columbians have the opportunities to benefit from economic growth. That begins with skills training and education.
By 2022 over a million job openings are expected across British Columbia, and 44 percent will be in trades and technical professions. Launched last year, the skills-for-jobs blueprint includes $7.5 billion every year on education and training and more than 1,400 critical LNG training seats throughout the province.
In education our student outcomes are among the best in the world, and we now have an opportunity to improve. Compared to other provinces, B.C.’s students are top-ranked in reading and science and second in math.
Since 2001 the number of aboriginal students graduating from our schools has increased by 103 percent. The number of students with special needs graduating is up by 166 percent. But the world does not stand still. This year the Ministry of Education is bringing some of the best thinking on learning from around the world to B.C. students, teachers and parents to make sure our students are ready for the world they will inherit.
Members, the benefits of a growing economy extend beyond skills training and education. They extend to health care, social services, infrastructure and public safety. A growing economy enables us to continue to make investments to ensure that we continue to deliver the services that have defined us as Canadians.
Now more than ever, First Nations must be our partners. Last year’s Supreme Court decision on Tsilhqot’in title is an opportunity to build a better partnership. Our government has started this work with a historic meeting between the cabinet and leaders of First Nations. We will continue to build on the progress we made last year with a similar meeting later this year.
Building partnerships and ensuring that First Nations are full partners with a real stake in economic growth and development is crucial. Since 2006 your government has signed over 250 significant agreements with First Nations, from treaties and reconciliation agreements to economic development agreements. To ensure that First Nations see the benefits of growth, your government will continue to find ways to ensure that they have the training and skills required for the jobs of the future.
In 2015 your government will continue to build strong, progressive partnerships with First Nations. Your government will continue to work with rural communities across the province, increasing opportunities to build careers and raise families closer to home, meaning more growth in smaller centres.
As opportunities increase in smaller towns, your government is committed to help them meet the challenges that growth can sometimes bring. In the coming weeks your government will introduce the rural advisory committee, which will provide independent and impartial advice on helping rural B.C. increase opportunities, manage growth and meet its full potential in communities big and small.
Last year your government promised to present a comprehensive strategy to end violence against women. Last week your government launched the Violence-free B.C. strategy. It aims to prevent violence, respond when it takes place and give women the supports they need to rebuild their lives. Government has a role to play, but we need collective action from everyone in British Columbia. That’s the only way we can put an end to violence against women. If we work together, 2015 will be a turning point.
Communities are defined not by bricks and mortar but by the people within them. Every day British Columbians go the extra mile, volunteering their time, money and talents to build stronger communities. To recognize the men and women who have made extraordinary contributions, the provincial government will establish a medal of good citizenship to thank them for making a difference and inspire others to follow their example.
Last year your government took on outdated regulations on beer, wine and spirits — sometimes contradictory, often burdensome and, in some cases, 100 years
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old. Step by step, B.C.’s laws were brought in line with how people actually live, while protecting and enhancing health and safety — greater convenience for one-stop shopping at the grocery store, a chance for parents to dine with their kids in their neighbourhood pub or to buy local wine at a farmers market. These changes were also made to help a thriving sector as our craft beer and wine producers attract more and more worldwide recognition.
This coming year your government will look at how citizens interact with government services to reduce red tape for real people. Step by step we will propose changes to ease unnecessary burdens, save time and make things more efficient.
My fellow British Columbians, we have a proud history. One hundred and fifty years ago this month, your predecessors voted to create Government House, the ceremonial home of all British Columbians. At that time, the assembly’s task was to assert more local control over colonial affairs on Vancouver Island.
Today our task is more ambitious: to build a more prosperous province, to grow a diverse economy and adapt to a changing world, and to contribute to Confederation like never before and help build this great nation. As one nation builder said: “Let them look to the past, but let them also look to the future. Let them look to the land of their ancestors, but let them look also to the land of their children.”
As Sir Wilfrid Laurier knew, leadership means striving to leave a better legacy, while never losing sight of what got us here. It means staying true to our principles. It means sticking to the plan.
It will not always be easy. It will take a lot of hard work. I know you are up to the task. We are ready to walk the long road ahead of us to build a better, more fair and sustainable province, a more prosperous province — one with no insiders and outsiders, with no winners and losers, just British Columbians.
Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor retired from the chamber.
[Madame Speaker in the chair.]
Madame Speaker: Hon. Members, in order to prevent mistakes, I have obtained a copy of Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor’s speech.
Introduction and
First Reading of Bills
BILL 1 — AN ACT TO ENSURE
THE SUPREMACY OF PARLIAMENT
Hon. S. Anton presented a bill intituled An Act to Ensure the Supremacy of Parliament.
Hon. S. Anton: I move that Bill 1, An Act to Ensure the Supremacy of Parliament, be introduced and now read a first time.
Motion approved.
Hon. S. Anton: The introduction of this bill prior to consideration of the throne speech expresses the established right of parliament, through its elected members, to deliberate independently of the Sovereign. As such, it is an important part of our parliamentary democratic process. It is a right that was first asserted by the Parliament at Westminster in the year 1603, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
I move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.
Bill 1, An Act to Ensure the Supremacy of Parliament, 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.
APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY SPEAKER
Hon. M. de Jong: I move, seconded by the member for Port Coquitlam electoral district, that Douglas Horne, member for Coquitlam–Burke Mountain electoral district, be appointed Deputy Speaker for this session of the Legislative Assembly.
Motion approved.
APPOINTMENT OF
ASSISTANT DEPUTY SPEAKER
M. Farnworth: I move, seconded by the member for Abbotsford West electoral district, that Raj Chouhan, member for Burnaby-Edmonds electoral district, be appointed Assistant Deputy Speaker for this session of the Legislative Assembly.
Motion approved.
APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY CHAIR,
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
Hon. M. de Jong: I move, seconded by the member for Port Coquitlam electoral district, that Marc Dalton, member for Maple Ridge–Mission electoral district, be appointed Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole for this session of the Legislative Assembly.
Motion approved.
[ Page 5656 ]PRINTING OF Votes and Proceedings
Hon. S. Anton: I move that the Votes and Proceedings of this House be printed, being first perused by the hon. Speaker, and that she do appoint the printing thereof, and that no person but such as she shall appoint do presume to print the same.
Motion approved.
APPOINTMENT OF
SELECT STANDING COMMITTEES
Hon. C. Clark: I move that the select standing committees of this House for the present session be appointed for the following purposes:
1. Aboriginal Affairs;
2. Education;
3. Finance and Government Services;
4. Health;
5. Public Accounts;
6. Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct, Standing Orders and Private Bills;
7. Crown Corporations;
8. Children and Youth;
which said committees shall severally be empowered to examine and inquire into all such matters and things as shall be referred to them by this House and to report from time to time their observations and opinions thereon, with power to send for persons, papers and records; and that a special committee be appointed to prepare and report, with all convenient speed, lists of members to compose the above select standing committees of this House under Standing Order 68(1), the committee to be composed of the Hon. Michael de Jong, convener; Eric Foster; Scott Hamilton; Linda Reimer; Jackie Tegart; Mike Farnworth; Michelle Mungall; Maurine Karagianis; and Shane Simpson.
Motion approved.
Hon. M. de Jong moved adjournment of the House.
Motion approved.
Madame Speaker: Before we depart, I would like to invite all members and guests to make their way to the lower rotunda for our opening reception. While there, I also invite you to enjoy a new display exhibit celebrating the history of these Parliament Buildings. The exhibit, developed by our parliamentary education office, features key milestones in the construction of the Parliament Buildings from colonial times through to today.
With that, this House stands adjourned until 1:30 tomorrow afternoon.
The House adjourned at 2:49 p.m.
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