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 24, 2015

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 20, Number 4

ISSN 0709-1281 (Print)
ISSN 1499-2175 (Online)

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015

The House met at 1:32 p.m.

[Madame Speaker in the chair.]

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. Polak: I call continued debate on the budget.

Budget Debate

(continued)

On the amendment (continued).

Hon. S. Thomson: I look forward to continuing my comments on Budget 2015. I’m wanting to comment about the benefits of this budget, as a start, to our region and to our community in Kelowna. I’d like to focus on some of the local accomplishments that speak to the great business climate we enjoy in Kelowna, one that has been enabled by a strong fiscal discipline, by the economic foundation that we put in place and by the commitment to the balanced budget.

We have a great team in the Okanagan, with my colleague the MLA for Kelowna–Lake Country, the Minister of Agriculture, and the MLA for Westside-Kelowna, the Premier. We are really focused on continuing to build and strengthen the local economy in Kelowna. That’s why the city of Kelowna has been honoured with an Open for Business Award for two years in a row and why Kelowna is the fastest-growing community in B.C., the fifth fastest in Canada.

The Small Business Roundtable distributes these awards annually to municipalities who demonstrate best practices. Kelowna helps make B.C. the most business-friendly jurisdiction in Canada.

When it comes to Kelowna in particular, the city’s 2013 Open for Business noted a couple of positive themes. First was a commitment to continuous improvement, and second was a team approach towards economic development that included business, educational institutions, governments, partnerships and non-profits.

The 2014 award recognized the city for consulting its partners on services, programs and policy that would impact the business community. That’s consistent with the provincial small business accord, which was established to help foster a progressive business culture.

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Kelowna has made significant strategic capital investments to revitalize its downtown and to continue to build partnerships to make the community more welcoming to business, young people, new Canadians and seniors.

I’m really pleased to see the city recognized for the success in attracting and supporting small business and entrepreneurship in Kelowna. We’ve seen our professional sector in Kelowna grow by 183 percent since 2008, nearly 10 percent of our workforce. Our technology sector is a big part of that, which is why the community is very excited about the Okanagan centre for innovation. We broke ground on this new facility at the end of October, and this will be a leading-edge technology centre for our region.

We want to continue to incubate local talent and innovation and give technology entrepreneurs a head start in growing their business. We have seen tremendous local success stories, and we know there are more ahead.

This new centre and the work done there will help solidify Kelowna as one of the leading centres in technological development and investment in B.C., along with Vancouver and Victoria. That’s incredible to imagine, given the recent figures provided by Accelerate Okanagan, which show that our local technology sector contributed $1 billion to our regional economy in 2013.

When we look at post-secondary, UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College’s estimated annual economic impact is more than $2 billion. From the talented people they employ to the research funding they earn to the building of campus infrastructure that creates jobs as well as learning opportunities for students, these two institutions contribute so much to our community and to our economy. In creating so many jobs and opportunities, they help encourage more people to consider living and working in our beautiful city.

Our tremendous outdoor recreation opportunities also bring numerous visitors to Kelowna each year. Kelowna is a terrific year-round destination for tourists from all over the world. This, combined with business growth and tourism….

[D. Horne in the chair.]

The Kelowna International Airport set another record for passenger activity in 2014, up 6 percent over 2013. The airport exceeded its forecasted 1.6 million passenger mark one year ahead of schedule. It’s one of the top ten busiest airports in Canada and the third busiest in the province. That spells jobs and revenues for our local economy.

I want to reflect for a minute on how partnerships with other levels of government are really helping this process unfold. A good example is our $11.6 million partnership with the federal government and the city of Kelowna on the final phase of the John Hindle Drive extension project. The project consists of a two-lane roadway connecting Highway 97 to Glenmore Road at the UBC Okanagan campus. It will also include the construction of a multi-use paved pathway for pedestrians and cyclists.

Once complete, the extension of John Hindle Drive will improve traffic flow and travel times by creating alternate access to the UBCO campus. These measures will increase safety and efficiency for commuters, pedes-
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trians and cyclists. It will also relieve congestion and contribute to the long-term economic growth of the region.

I also want to highlight investments in our community through the Bike B.C. program, a cost-sharing initiative between our government and local governments. Last year we provided $100,000 in Bike B.C. funding to support the Ethel Street bike path in Kelowna, in my riding, and this year $460,000 in Bike B.C. funding supported two other projects to improve pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.

One project will see a separated bike path and bike lanes as part of the Lakeshore Avenue active transportation corridor between DeHart Road and McClure Road in my riding. These dollars continue to expand alternate transportation options for Kelowna residents and help build a healthier community.

Finally, I’d like to congratulate the city of Kelowna and its partners in reaching an agreement with CN Railway recently to acquire a discontinued portion of the rail line between Kelowna and Coldstream. We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the local governments and the community in seeing that vision realized.

There is significant work to do in this regard, but we know that as a long-term vision, we want to see this project completed in our community, dedicating nearly 50 kilometres of rail corridor for recreation purposes, which will increase opportunities for healthy-living activities in communities along the corridor.

On the housing front, we’re pleased to work with the federal government, the city of Kelowna and other community partners on the redevelopment of Pleasantvale Homes.

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We recently broke ground on these 50 units of affordable seniors housing and 20 townhomes for families with low to moderate incomes, in Kelowna.

Our government and the federal government are providing a combined investment of more than $5.6 million and provided the land originally donated by the Pleasantvale Homes Society and the city of Kelowna. The Society of Hope will manage and operate the development, which will enhance and increase affordable housing options in our city.

In many ways, our partnerships with other levels of government and community groups are impacting and benefiting the community. A real example of this is the recent investment in trades-training facilities at Okanagan College, building capacity and opportunities for our students to meet the growing demands in the workforce.

The community has really come forward in supporting this project. The community has a commitment to raise $7 million to support the investment in the enhanced trades building, and I’ve been really pleased to see the level of support come forward from the community — from individual businesses, from groups in the community that are contributing to that campaign. They are well on their way to meeting their goal.

Very recently it was really gratifying to see Okanagan College Students Union come forward with a contribution for that project. They see the real benefits of what that investment can provide for their learning experience and for their opportunities at Okanagan College. “After supporting the centre of excellence at Penticton campus a few years ago, seeing how that building came together and the impact that it has had for students as a place to grow and succeed,” that really inspired those groups to get behind this project. Those are words from Chelsea Grisch, who is the executive chairperson of the Okanagan College Students Union.

Jim Hamilton, who is the current college president, added: “We are very proud and appreciative of the fact that our students have chosen to invest in the future of their college. Their action demonstrates the leadership on their part and confirms the commitment to providing the best possible environment to support student learning.”

It’s really gratifying to see the level of support for these kinds of investments in our community — these kinds of investments, along with investments like the capital investment in the Interior heart and surgical centre at Kelowna General Hospital. These large capital projects are investments in Kelowna’s future, creating jobs in the construction phase and, as well, when these facilities are up and running and providing those very, very important services and benefits to the citizens in our community.

Their training….

Deputy Speaker: Minister of Citizens’ Services.

Hon. A. Virk: I seek leave to make an introduction.

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

Hon. A. Virk: I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome a class from Pacific Academy, which was just in my office a few minutes ago, up here learning about government — in fact, my wife and I spent Valentine’s evening in the auditorium at their school — and the teacher, Mr. Wirtz.

The second class is going to come later on with Mrs. Claudia Peterson. They brought 28 students and a dozen parent chaperones, who are joining us today to learn about the government. Would the House please make them feel welcome.

Debate Continued

Hon. S. Thomson: I was just talking about the benefits that a strong fiscal discipline, a balanced budget and a strong economic foundation bring to our communities.
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This is providing, as I said, the jobs, the services for our communities, the training for our young people for the jobs of tomorrow and improving health care for our patients and families in our region.

Kelowna and its residents have a very bright future ahead. I know that they are pleased to see the budget, the fiscal discipline that’s in place. We look forward to continuing to work as a team in the Okanagan and continuing to build and grow the economy in the Okanagan.

I did want to comment a little bit on the budget about the ministry, the budget with respect to our ministry. The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations is really about innovation, dedicated work by the ministry, about getting to yes. When we say yes we unlock private sector investments that are the backbone of our economy. This is how you grow the economy versus growing the government.

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The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations is tasked with balancing economic development while ensuring environmental sustainability. This integrated approach allows us to take a one-project, one-process approach, which benefits all stakeholders. It is this change that has allowed us to improve permitting times while we ensure we continue to consult with First Nation partners. We, as well as the voters of British Columbia, understand that we need permits to be processed in a timely manner in order to enable economic development.

This government knows that you grow the economy by working with and supporting the private sector while ensuring that B.C.’s resources are providing jobs and tax revenues for today and in the future. Through this government’s approach and partnership with the forest industry, we have helped turn this industry from a sunset industry into a sunrise industry over the past decade.

The results of the focus on the fundamentals are clear. In 2014 forest product exports totalled $12.4 billion, representing 35 percent of all B.C. exports and a staggering increase of 63 percent since the 2009 downturn.

The future continues to look bright. Over the next three years we’re forecasting direct forest revenues to rise from $757 million today to $907 million in 2018. This means more money to support vital services that British Columbians have come to rely on.

However, we know that for forestry to remain a strong economic contributor, we need to continue to have policies that support investment. As the Minister of Finance mentioned in the budget speech, the new renminbi hub will help B.C. companies gain a further edge in China. I applaud the leadership of the Finance Minister and others who have worked to bring this hub to British Columbia and to Canada so that our forest industry and other businesses can benefit from the exchange in working with this hub.

As he noted in the budget speech, applied more broadly, a 3 percent benefit on the $1.8 billion worth of wood product sales to China in 2014 would equal $54 million, moneys that the industry can put to work as it becomes more productive and more competitive. Again, I want to applaud and thank the Finance Minister and others for their leadership in bringing this initiative here to British Columbia.

Our government’s focus on building diversified markets in China has served British Columbians well. When the U.S. housing market crashed, the growing Chinese market helped keep B.C. mills open. Of course, in 2003 the softwood lumber exports to China totalled $69 million and have increased 20-fold, to $1.43 billion in 2014. Now that the U.S. housing market is recovering, we have strongholds in the U.S. and China, and we will continue to focus on growing Asia markets.

Just as B.C. needs a diversified economy, the B.C. forest sector also needs diversified markets. We’re world-renowned for leading forest products and our high-quality wood products. To keep us globally competitive, as mentioned in the throne speech, my ministry will be working with the industry on a forest sector competitiveness strategy.

Later in this session I also expect to be able to introduce amendments to the Forest Act that will help implement some of the recommendations from the B.C. Timber Sales effectiveness review — again, benefiting the industry and making more fibre available to the B.C. industry.

B.C. forest companies are among some of the strongest in the world and support upwards of 60,000 direct jobs in British Columbia and 85,000 indirect jobs in British Columbia that drive 40 percent of B.C.’s regional economies.

We also have some very exciting initiatives coming, some initiatives ahead of us that I’m looking forward to.

As you will note in the mandate letter that I had with this ministry, I’m looking forward to the full implementation of ecosystem-based management in the Great Bear rainforest within the next few months. Working with the forest industry, environmental groups and the area’s First Nations, full implementation will see increased environmental protection while providing economic activity and certainty to support jobs and economic activity for the people and the First Nations that live in that area.

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A very, very important initiative and one that we are working diligently across the ministry and across ministries to complete the process and to be able to fully implement that very, very important agreement.

We’re also continuing to implement the cumulative effects framework. By looking at all resource development activity in a given geographic area, decision-makers can make better-informed decisions. We know we need to continue to develop B.C.’s natural resources in an environmentally sustainable manner. This framework will
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help us continue to do that, to make lasting, durable decisions and fully informed decisions.

I’m also pleased that Budget 2015 provides $22 million over three years to my ministry to support implementation of the Water Sustainability Act and to be able to move that very, very important piece of legislation forward into implementation.

Another key element in the budget — something that I’m very proud of and am going to be looking forward to completing and formalizing in the very short term — is, effective April 1, to be able to provide the revenue from the sale of fishing licences, which will be redirected to the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. to enable them to take on more conservation projects and management in the fishery sector. We project that this will be an additional $10 million to the society over the next three years.

We’re currently finalizing the negotiations with the society to meet that time commitment, this platform commitment, by April 1. The Freshwater Fisheries Society, I think, as people know, has been a very, very successful model, a successful initiative in growing and supporting freshwater fishing in British Columbia. We look forward to completing this platform commitment and providing those additional revenues to the society.

I’m also of the view that the model that we have developed here with the Freshwater Fisheries Society is something that we are looking forward to and should work with in terms of wildlife management in British Columbia as well. I think the model provides a basis on which to engage and to enhance management here in British Columbia. We look forward to initiating those discussions.

Budget 2015 leverages our strengths, builds on our successes and guards against the impact of unforeseen events. It is a balanced budget over the next three years. It has a plan in place to reduce direct operating debt by more than 50 percent over the term of the fiscal plan. British Columbians should be proud that the financial stewardship of this province is in good hands. I’m pleased to support Budget 2015 — balanced, prudent and a solid foundation for the future.

B. Routley: There’s no question that budgets are about choices. This government’s budget will make the poor and the middle class pay, while the rich will just play. It’s just another B.C. Liberal jiggery-pokery plan. The details of this will be revealed.

Interjections.

B. Routley: Don’t get too excited.

The details of this jiggery-pokery plan will most certainly be revealed. Those living on disability benefits, the seniors, the poor and the middle class are going to pay more in fees and increases.

Oh, I’ve listened to the minister. The Finance Minister says that they had this plan all along: “It’s old news. There was a plan to pay the rich back the planned $236 million. It’s just old news, and we should just not look at that.” Well, I want to take a minute to look at what the Broadbent Institute came up with in its recent report on the richest people in British Columbia: “The richest 10 percent of B.C. families have more than half of the province’s wealth.”

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Now, let that set in for a moment and think about this. This government made a conscious choice to actually take $236 million and give it to the richest people in British Columbia. These richest 10 percent of B.C. families already have more than half of the province’s wealth, according to the Broadbent Institute.

In contrast, the bottom half of the province has — get this — just 3 percent. Just 3 percent of the wealth. That gives B.C. the highest rate of wealth inequality in the country. In B.C. the richest 10 percent of families control 56 percent of the province’s wealth, compared to 48 percent for the whole country. In all of Canada it’s on average 48 percent, but in British Columbia it’s 56 percent.

Here’s where the huge wealth gap between the poorest B.C. families and the richest really strikes me right in the heart. I do believe that some of the Liberal folks in this House have a heart in there ticking away somewhere. I’m sure of it. I’m absolutely convinced.

There is a huge wealth gap between the poorest B.C. families and the richest. The richest 10 percent of B.C. families have a median net worth of $2 million. In contrast, the poorest 10 percent of families have a median net worth that is negative $10,000 — meaning they have more debts than assets.

Again, when you think about this, this is really all about benefits for the rich. One Liberal jiggery-pokery plan after another, and there is a pattern. It’s a pattern. Think about the corporate tax cuts, and what did we hear in this House? We were going to give corporate tax cuts, and the trickle down…. Boy, you better run for your rain cap and rain gear. It was going to be trickling down so fast, we would just have cash flowing in the door. What has really happened? The cash hasn’t rolled in the door.

Recently the federal Minister of Finance said that corporations in Canada are sitting on $600 billion worth of cash, and it’s not being reinvested. That is a real issue and a real problem in British Columbia. This robbing from the poor and middle class to give to the richest 2 percent of British Columbians…. Again, think about it: a millionaire, who really doesn’t need the tax break. I’m sure that we didn’t have millionaires lining up out the door here asking, with a tin cup: “Could you give us a little help here? We really are struggling.” No, that didn’t happen. Those richest 2 percent….

If you’re a millionaire, you got handed a $17,000 cheque by this B.C. Liberal budget. How many British Columbians understand that? I’m here to shine a light in
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those dark places where this is actually going on. We’re choosing to take this money and give it to the richest British Columbians. At the same time, we’ve got people living on disability that haven’t had an increase in seven years, eight years, going on. It’s absolutely scandalous when you think about it.

It’s not good enough that they give corporate tax breaks. Oh, they just came up with a new water act, and they’re here to tell you that they’re going to charge $2.25 for a million litres of water. Well, we’re really gouging them now. Isn’t this terrible? We’re being so mean to those people that are making all the cash.

The forest corporations with the dead pine beetle — we need to give them a break. We need to give them 25 cents a cubic metre. At one point, 60 percent of the forests of British Columbia that were harvested — 60 percent — was being taken for 25 cents a cubic metre. Then some of them overcut, and there was a fine. The minister said: “Oh well, these rich corporations….” He just gave a report. They’re doing so well.

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We’re talking about a supercycle, but they’re only supposed to cut one-third healthy spruce and pine. They’re supposed to be on, like, two-thirds dead pine, but they cut a little more than that. They might have burned some of the pine and kept some of the healthy stuff in larger numbers. But we’re watching them. Oh, we’re watching them now. We wrote them a letter: “We’re going to keep an eye on you now, and don’t do it again.”

There was a big fine involved, but just weeks before the election last time around, when they were busy running around talking about LNG…. “Oh, LNG is going to be good for B.C.” Remember? LNG all the time. Now: “Oh, it’s just a chance. Things have changed.” We don’t hear so much about LNG anymore, but it’s still there. The fact is that they’re giving cold, hard cash to the richest people in British Columbia, which I just talked about.

Yet the folks struggling at the bottom of the ladder are not getting a break at all when it comes to this kind of thing. Sure, they did the little thing, and we appreciate that. That’s good for the moms. They were clawing back, and speaker after speaker on this side of this House talked to this government about how irrational it was and how mean-spirited to claw back money from people that were at the bottom rung of the ladder. They were getting a little money for their kids.

This time around they said, “Oh well, we’ve got a little spare change,” so there’s this little tiny bag of cash for the folks that really need it. And there’s this great big bag of cash for the rich and all their corporate friends and the folks that come wandering in and out of their doors that we hear about.

It isn’t the richest people that need a break. Yet, when you think about it, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a millionaire or if you’re trying to live on low income or disability or unemployment. Your MSP has gone up since 2001 by 100 percent.

What has happened with Hydro? Hydro’s gone up 74 percent. What has that been doing? At the same time this government reaches into the Hydro cookie jar and pulls out the cash and stuffs it in their so-called…. “Oh, we balanced the budget. Didn’t we do well?” We took millions out of the Hydro cash drawer and stuffed it into general revenue, and then we took money from ICBC.

Now when the good folks go down to drive their car to McDonald’s or maybe do pizza delivery…. They’ve got a 44 percent increase in their ICBC rates so that they could reach into the cookie jar again and pull the cash out and give it to their rich friends — pile, lavish the cash onto their rich friends at the same time as they’re taking money from ordinary British Columbians, people living on disability.

Now, ferry fares. This government says they can’t change their mind: “Oh, we promised this 2 percent…. We were going to give them the money back. It’s only 2 percent. It’s only $236 million. And we can’t change our mind. Oh, it’s old news. It was already decided.”

Well, I’m glad the minister is here for this. It’s interesting, you know. “Oh, we’ve sold B.C. Ferries, and we don’t have any say whatsoever.” But as soon as the word got out that B.C. Ferries, this independent corporation, said: “Oh, you know what? We’ve been thinking about it, and we’re going to sell Horseshoe Bay terminal….” Boy, that didn’t last a weekend.

All of a sudden the phone call came through from the minister. Oh, they don’t intervene. They don’t intervene in the politics. These are all independent bodies. They don’t intervene at all. But there it was on the front page of the paper, intervening, saying: “No, that’s not going to happen. Not on my watch.”

There seems to be an imbalance here. Sometimes they say: “When it’s convenient.” And this is the jiggery-pokery that I talk about, by the way. This is the jiggery-pokery. They say sometimes, when it’s convenient for them…. They pull it out of their bag of tricks, and they say: “Oh, we can’t do anything. We’re so hamstrung. It’s not in our ability to do anything.” But boy, when it’s politically expedient, they pull out the big hammer, the big club, and they go and have their way with those boys, even in the ferry disputes and issues.

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When they decide it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. That’s the problem. There’s so much missing for the good people of the Cowichan Valley. I heard somebody say that the Premier was able to focus in like a laser beam of light on what was needed. I’ve got a whole list right here of things that I’ll hope that people will listen to, specifically in the Cowichan Valley.

Because I ended up in the hospital myself, I know something about the needs of the good people of the Cowichan Valley. They’ve been telling me that they need a new hospital — the folks, certainly the doctors, the
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people in health care, CVRD. They’re all saving up for a new hospital. They tell me about some of the issues that are critical in the Cowichan Valley.

We have issues that are unique with respect to health care issues in the Cowichan Valley. We have a population of more than 80,000 people, when you take into account the CVRD area. About 8,000 of them are over age 65. More than 6,000 of them are over the age of 75.

Since 2001 the population aged 75 years to 84 years has increased by 15 percent, so the baby boom group is upon us. The population aged 85 and over has increased by 43 percent, so you can imagine what that means at the hospital. In the Cowichan Valley the aging population is increasing at a much faster rate than in either the overall VIHA region or in the province as a whole.

The Cowichan Valley has the province’s highest per-capita rate for people with diagnosed physical, mental and social needs challenges. Currently in the Cowichan Valley there are many serious health care needs. There is a high need for additional residential care beds for frail seniors, and what does this government do? It’s $236 million for the richest folks that really don’t need the cash, and frail seniors can’t get the care beds.

All of the publically funded resident care facilities in the Cowichan Valley are full and have been for more than eight years. There is a high need for additional transitional care beds. The Cowichan District Hospital acute care beds are full of seniors awaiting long-term care placements or transitional care placements. The Cairnsmore Place transitional care beds are full of seniors awaiting long-term care placements.

There is a high need for dementia care, Gentlecare programs, and services and supports. Many seniors with dementia who need Gentlecare cannot access it at all and are instead chemically sedated and physically restrained. At Cowichan District Hospital more than half of the psychiatry in-patient beds are regularly occupied by seniors waiting for long-term-care placement.

Cowichan District Hospital is chronically at OCP-5 status, which is over their limit for…. It’s just clogged. I’ve been in a bed in the hall myself and know what it’s like when you hear the speaker come on and they tell you that they’re at OCP-5 status.

There’s a high need for respite care beds and service. There are only eight such beds in the entire community. Hundreds of Cowichan Valley families currently need these supports. There is a high need for caregiver support services and programs. Burned-out caregivers — professionals, as well as family members and friends — are an increasing percentage of emergency room patients and mental health clinic patients.

There is a need for hospice and palliative care beds. I do note with some happiness that there is at least going to be some effort made by the government to do something more for hospice. Now, I’ll be waiting to see if that’s going to apply in all communities evenly throughout B.C. I would hope so. But I do note that there are going to be some increases. That’s an area where I know they need it desperately — hospice and palliative care beds.

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There is a high for increased adult care programs and services, a high need for an incontinence management clinic and there is a high need for more effective and efficient chronic care management. There is a high need for a fall prevention program and a high need for doctors to make house calls and deliver services to long-term-care facilities. I’m sure that is true all over British Columbia.

There is a high need for more publicly funded speech-language pathology services for all ages. There is a high need for publicly funded, locally available out-patient rehabilitation therapy services, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy. There is a high need for better, faster and more locally available services for people on autism spectrum disorder.

After reading that list, can the folks in this House really say that the best thing that we could do with an extra $236 million is give it to the people in the top 10 percent of British Columbians, who own 56 percent of the wealth of this province? That’s the best you guys can think of to do with that money. To me, it’s more than shameful. It’s sad. It’s just wrong.

I want to turn now to our economy and look at some of what’s happening there. Wages in B.C. are falling or are stagnant, and young people find it hard to get good jobs here. In spite of all the commercials during the hockey game — “jobs, jobs, jobs” — the reality is a whole lot different.

Let’s go to Houston. Let’s go to any of the forest communities that have been devastated by their primary employer shutting down and tell us about how the diversified economy is working. Sure, it’s more diversified than in the past. There have been local communities working on that. I support the need for moving to more diversified.

This government is so disingenuous. All they talked about for years and years was LNG, LNG. Oh, we were going to be absolutely rescued by LNG. When the crash came, and suddenly prices for oil and gas plummeted — I’m going to talk some more about that if I have time in a minute — now not so much. They don’t want to talk about it.

In forestry, it’s good that we’ve expanded markets in China. I congratulate the minister and the government for their efforts there. However, we’ve also seen an increase of more than 500 percent of the export of raw logs, while more and more B.C. mills close.

I was so disheartened to hear that 206 forestry mills have closed from 2001 to 2013. Having come from one of those mills — I used to work at the Youbou mill — I still remember all those guys. When I started there, there were 600 employees, back in 1970. By the time it closed in the early 2000s, it was down to 240 people. Still, those
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folks were devastated. The guys that were 55 and older, a lot of them had a very difficult time making any kind of a transition.

When I look at what’s happened to our B.C. value-added sector, it’s been decimated. This government can talk a good talk about “oh yeah, we care so much about diversity.” But I happen to know that those folks, when they needed you — whether it was on the softwood lumber file and they were getting hammered along with the majors — they got thrown under the bus.

The value-added sector has been decimated, and government has no strategy to bring it back. I’m going watch with interest to see if this government has any concern at all in defending and fighting for the value-added industry. The folks that don’t have tenure, that don’t have 25-cent timber, are you going to really do something for them? Or are you going to let them continue to be hammered…

Deputy Speaker: Through the Chair, please.

B. Routley: …as a result of the softwood lumber deal?

Anyway, our forests represent more than a quarter-trillion asset owned by the people of British Columbia. Yet under the B.C. Liberals, in this budget, we get less and less — less jobs, less revenue out of every tree.

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You look at Quebec, which gets three times the number of jobs out of every tree. Ontario gets four times the jobs out of every tree. Those are the facts.

There’s no question that shipping logs overseas…. I watched, as profitable mills…. I think specifically of TimberWest. Those mills were profitable mills. Now, could they make more money exporting the logs? You bet your life. You bet your bippy, as they say. You could actually sell those logs for more on the export market than you could to just export them.

How do you think it felt for those guys to go stand down at the end of the wharf and watch their jobs going overseas? You have to walk a mile in those guys’ shoes to understand it, and I get it. I stood there with those fellas, watching truckload after truckload shipped out — first Youbou and then at Elk Falls.

The laws in British Columbia…. “Oh, they’re so restrictive,” say some people on the other side of the log export argument. “It’s just terrible that they have to put their logs up on the export market thing.” You know, if you shut down enough mills, there is going to be nobody left to argue that the logs should stay here in British Columbia.

That’s what this government has done — stand by while 206 forestry mills have closed. Now: “Oh yeah, they’re surplus to our needs.” That’s a complicated thing to figure out, isn’t it? I’m not the best mathematician in the world, but I got that one figured out. If you shut down enough mills, boy, those logs are surplus to your needs. No question about it. Community after community now has to stand at the dock and watch their logs and their jobs exported overseas.

Half of the province’s independent value-added wood processors have gone out of business just since 2002. The ones that did survive definitely need some help from government, whether it’s dealing with access to fibre or the issue of softwood lumber. That does affect the budget of British Columbia.

I want to turn now to the “jobs, jobs, jobs” commitment and how many British Columbians have been told that getting a job is their path out of poverty. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that thousands of full-time workers are toiling at $10.25 an hour, the current minimum wage. They find themselves thousands of dollars short of reaching even the B.C. poverty line.

They may even have only part-time work. Many are underemployed. They might have real potential and can’t get a break to get ahead. Every day it gets worse. Their wage is stagnant, but the cost of living keeps going up. Of course, with this Liberal plan, they’re going to go and reach into their pockets some more with hydro increases, ICBC, on and on, fees and other costs increasing. It keeps getting worse.

B.C. minimum wage is determined by the provincial government on an ad hoc basis. The last increase was years ago, and that only happened after nearly a decade-long fight by the B.C. labour movement and the public. B.C. workers are again falling behind, and this B.C. budget will hurt these workers even more.

There are more than 120,000 British Columbians earning minimum wage. The picture of a minimum-wage worker in B.C. is probably different than you would expect and most people would expect. They aren’t all teenagers living in their parents’ basements or working for pocket money.

They are mothers and fathers, students, seniors. In fact, 47 percent are older than 25. Sixty-three percent of people working for minimum wage are women, and 8 percent are older than 55. In other words, there are many minimum-wage workers who are trying to support families or who don’t have the ability to retire.

Just how does this Liberal government think that they can afford the increases to hydro and ICBC and all the other fees that this government has now imposed on them while this government focuses like a laser beam of light on a $236 million tax break for the highest 2 percent of wage earners in British Columbia? Wow. What a jiggery-pokery plan that is.

[1420]

What about regular folks who are being crushed by these premiums and hydro rates — and on and on it goes? Not one word in the budget speech that will really help to make things better for regular people in the Cowichan Valley. What about the people struggling on minimum wage or disability benefits or the unemployed or underemployed? They tell me they are struggling just to pay
[ Page 6052 ]
rent and food and hydro, yet the costs keep going up.

You know, I spoke to a fellow. I think more MLAs need to do this. If you’re not doing it, you need to be doing it. I sat down with a fellow who said that he chose to eat rather than pay for oil and have heat. He asked me in that cold spell back in November or December: “Do I really have to shiver and shake in my cold room and then get sick enough to end up in the emergency room or in the hospital to get warmed up and get some help from this government?” Is that what they have to do?

He said to tell the people in this Legislature that you have no idea what it feels like to lose your dignity. This one fellow was a shipwright. He had good employment until he had the disability that now has him living on $906 a month. He said that lining up and being treated the way he’s treated is just totally unacceptable to him. He said how he felt totally disrespected going to see the folks that should be there to help you.

As people with disabilities age, they are finding it tougher and tougher to survive. Why, in this land of plenty, does a government treat folks who are living on disability this way? I wonder out loud: really, do the Liberals tell people in their constituency who are struggling on a disability pension…?

Do you really tell them about your wonderful jobs program, or do you tell them that the corporate tax breaks will trickle down soon? Do you tell them that the LNG windfall is going to be good days ahead — good days ahead when the LNG prosperity fund is full and when the billions and trillions are there? It will be good times then. Is that the story? Is that really the story, that it’ll be good times then?

I sure hope that we in British Columbia can do a better job of treating our poor, our folks living on disability…. It definitely breaks my heart to listen to them, to hear their stories, to have a little lady come into my office and tell me that her husband is now sick and her trailer is falling down around them. She doesn’t know what she is going to do. They’re living on a disability pension.

I guess these Liberals would just tell them: “Well, these folks need their $236 million break. These poor folks that are millionaires — they need a break too.” At the end of the day, that’s just not good enough.

Hon. T. Stone: It certainly is a pleasure, as always, to rise in this House to speak in support of Budget 2015. I’ve got a range of thoughts that I’m going to share today, some of which are focused more on my constituency, Kamloops–South Thompson. Others will be more specifically focused to the budget itself.

I do want to say, in listening to the former member, the member for Cowichan Valley, that this is why British Columbians deem the New Democratic Party to be so completely irrelevant in today’s politics in British Columbia. For that member to stand in this House and to impugn the integrity of every other member in this House, to suggest that members on this side have no heart, to suggest that there is some moral high ground that can only be occupied by the members of the New Democratic Party, to think that uttering “jiggery-pokery” every other sentence is actually funny….

Interjections.

[1425]

Hon. T. Stone: It’s not funny, hon. Member. It’s actually sad. It’s very sad. He sits there, and the hon. member criticizes this government across the board. We understand that opposition is opposition. But to sit there and make these kinds of accusations, the kinds of accusations that he just made about our commitment to supporting persons with disabilities, for example….

There is no accident that we have three persons with disabilities in our caucus that support this government. That’s no accident. For the members opposite to sit there and impugn the integrity of everyone on this side of the House and to do so under the guise of being a man of the people, a man of faith, I find outrageous — absolutely outrageous. There are members in this House that….

We are all here for the same intentions. We are all here to serve the people of British Columbia. As long as members opposite, like the member for Cowichan Valley, continue to utter that sheer nonsense, the New Democratic Party will continue to be irrelevant to the people of British Columbia.

I would like to now take a moment to acknowledge my family. I am well supported, as I said in my throne speech recently. I’ve got a loving wife at home, of 15 years — we’ll be celebrating our 15th anniversary this year — Chantelle. While I am not able to give my family quantity in time these days, we do focus on quality. Just this last Sunday we enjoyed fantastic ski conditions up at Sun Peaks. My kids are ten, eight and five. Certainly, I couldn’t do what I am doing without the support of my family at home.

I also want to acknowledge my mom and dad. They’re probably amongst the 12 people that are watching the legislative channel right now. If they are, shame on them. They should be out doing something else with their young lives. Hello to my mom and dad. They’re in good health, and they’re a big support to my wife, Chantelle, and my little girls.

I also want to thank my constituency assistants, Maryanne and Pat. They hold down the fort at home. It’s busy being an MLA. It’s busy being a minister. Often ministerial responsibilities take you away from your constituency. It’s important to have good people on the home front looking after taking care of business on your behalf.

I also want to acknowledge my seat mate from Kamloops, the member for Kamloops–North Thompson, the Minister of Health. It’s a pleasure serving the people of Kamloops and the Thompson valleys with the member
[ Page 6053 ]
for Kamloops–North Thompson. We really do approach it — as I know our colleagues in Surrey do and as our colleagues in Kelowna, for example, do — from a team Kamloops perspective. So thank you to him and, indeed, to the people of Kamloops. It is an honour to represent them here in the Legislature.

Kamloops is a great city, filled with great people. The population is now over 85,000. I am so privileged to work with so many fine people in and around the community. The First Nations in the city and in the region — we are working very well together on a number of fronts. The partnership and the relationship is getting stronger and stronger all the time. Those are the Tk’emlúps Indian Band, Skeetchestn, Whispering Pines, Neskonlith, Little Shuswap and Adams Lake.

I want to acknowledge the hard work of the mayor of Kamloops, Peter Milobar, and his council, as well as the mayor of Chase, Rick Berrigan, and his council, the Thompson-Nicola regional district.

I’m very proud to represent what is now a university city. The university that we have in Kamloops, Thompson Rivers University, now has over 12,000 students on campus in Kamloops. And 2,000 of those students, a little over 2,000, are actually international students from over 85 countries around the world — mostly from China but, again, over 85 countries.

So many other organizations in Kamloops that it’s a privilege to work with, all of which punch way above their weight. I often reference here the efforts of our local United Way, the Kamloops Food Bank, the Kamloops Brain Injury Association, the chamber of commerce, Venture Kamloops, and there are so many other organizations that do such a fine job representing the people of Kamloops.

[1430]

The Kamloops economy today is very strong. We have unemployment in the low single digits, approximately 7 percent. It fluctuates a little bit up and down each month, but very low unemployment in Kamloops, and it’s been steadily getting better and better and better over the last ten years. We only have to go back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, and unemployment in Kamloops was well into the double digits — 14, 15 and, in some cases, 16 percent.

Business confidence in Kamloops is growing, despite global economic concerns. The city of Kamloops confirmed that 44 business licences were issued in January of this year. That’s a 15 percent increase over 2014. Kamloops also experienced a ten-year high in building construction values in 2014, reaching a total of $190.9 million, including an 18 percent increase in residential permit values in the year.

Now, Kamloops’ location in the B.C. interior has served the region very well economically. Historically, natural resource industries have steered the area’s economy. While forestry and mining remain core sectors, Kamloops has evolved to become a much more diversified economy.

Back in the 1890s, years of an early mining boom, numerous rail lines were built to service mines in boom towns across the region. Today Kamloops intersects both the CN rail line and the CP rail line, and in fact, is only one of two cities in all of Canada that is serviced by both railways.

Since the 1950s Kamloops has become a highway hub. It is uniquely situated at the intersection of western Canada’s four major highways: the Coquihalla, the Trans-Canada, the Yellowhead and Highway 97. This has led to Kamloops becoming a very important centre for transportation and logistics and trucking.

Since the 1980s tourism has greatly expanded. Kamloops has become an important stopover point for independent travellers and bus tour companies driving between the Lower Mainland and the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Kamloops is a gateway to high-quality outdoor recreation and adventure opportunities, like nearby Sun Peaks and Harper Mountain for downhill skiing and Stake Lake for cross-country skiing.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

In 1990 we saw the launch of the Rocky Mountaineer rail tour company, which travels by daylight from Vancouver through the Rocky Mountains. It stops in Kamloops en route. It’s now the largest privately owned passenger rail service in all of North America. It has hosted more than….

Deputy Speaker: Member for Stikine.

D. Donaldson: I seek leave to make an introduction.

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

D. Donaldson: I would like to introduce to the Legislature and the members gathered here today my wife, Anne Docherty; my son, Dar Yukws, and his partner, Cyra Frisk; and my lovely first grandchild, Ailsa Tegwyn Frisk Yukws. She’s up there in the gallery enjoying the proceedings and enjoying the minister’s speech, I’m sure. I would like the House to make them feel welcome. She’s obviously enjoying herself, throwing her arms around. Thank you very much to the members.

Hon. A. Virk: I seek leave to make an introduction.

Leave granted.

Hon. A. Virk: I take this opportunity today to welcome the second class from Pacific Academy in my rid-
[ Page 6054 ]
ing. In fact, as I mentioned before, myself and my wife spent Valentine’s Day at their academy for the evening. Claudia Peterson should be here — right over there — with 28 students and a whole bunch of parent chaperones. I believe they were just in my office, probably jumping on my chair, not too long ago. Would the House please make them feel welcome.

Point of Privilege
(Reservation of Right)

B. Routley: Hon. Speaker, I want to reserve my right of personal privilege regarding the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure’s personal comments.

Debate Continued

Hon. T. Stone: As I was saying, the Rocky Mountaineer is now the largest privately owned passenger rail service in North America. It has hosted over one million guests, and it pumps on an annual basis over $15 million into the Kamloops economy.

In 2001 Kamloops designated itself as the “Tournament capital of Canada.” The city has long recognized that hosting tournaments and events are important economic generators. In the last ten years over $60 million has been invested in new and improved sports facilities.

[1435]

It has attracted a wide array of different kinds of sport events, as I said, including the Special Olympics. Just last Thursday, along with Mayor Peter Milobar and B.C. Lions quarterback Travis Lulay, I had the honour of participating in the 2015 Special Olympics B.C. Winter Games opening ceremonies. I was blown away by the enthusiasm and the spirit of the over 700 athletes who were in Kamloops. Their energy and their passion were invigorating, and it was infectious.

I have to say that I delivered a very short address at this official opening. It’s a rare opportunity for a politician of any level of government to walk into a room and receive almost a hero’s welcome, with high fives and thumbs-up and just big, big smiles. So it was a real pleasure.

In 2005 Thompson Rivers University was created, as I said earlier, making Kamloops a university town. It was this government that created Thompson Rivers University, and I’m very, very proud of that. We continue to make strategic investments in TRU. Just recently, earlier this month, the Minister of Advanced Education was in Kamloops. He announced $325,000 in funding to purchase new trades equipment as part of B.C.’s skills-for-jobs blueprint. This new equipment will support students at TRU who are entering in-demand occupations — those occupations which will be critical to the B.C. economy.

Late last year we announced one-time funding of $1.5 million to create an additional 188 student spaces in short-term health education programs — including mental health and addictions, and health care assistant training — at TRU as well as public colleges and universities across British Columbia.

Since 2005 Kamloops has also become home to a rapidly growing technology sector. There are now clusters of data centres, software developers and technology support services.

Now, 2009 also saw the expansion of the Kamloops Airport, due to an investment of $20 million to expand the runway and upgrade the terminal building. This has had a dramatic impact from an improved flight services perspective, to and from Kamloops. It’s been instrumental in aiding the growth of an array of different sectors, including mining, tourism and, indeed, international education at the university.

Then 2012 saw the reopening of Afton mine by New Gold. This mine employs 400 people, including 100 of First Nations descent. So you can see, over time, just a really interesting evolution of the economy in Kamloops and how it’s long past being the boom and-bust town that it was in the 1970s. It has a widely diversified economy. We’re very proud of that, and we’ll continue to further diversify it.

I’m also proud to represent the village of Chase, which is on the eastern edge of my constituency. This is a community of 2,500 people on the western shore of Little Shuswap Lake. I try to be in Chase every four to six weeks. I made that commitment to the people of the village in the last campaign. It’s very important to meet them on their turf. Again, I always look forward to my visits to Chase.

Recently I was there to participate in the official opening of the recently completed Chase water treatment plant. Now, this project was funded by the village of Chase, the province of British Columbia and the government of Canada. It will ensure high-quality drinking water for Chase residents, businesses and visitors now and into the future.

Last Tuesday here in Victoria our government followed through yet again on our most important commitment to the people of British Columbia, as we introduced our third consecutive balanced budget for the coming fiscal year. To put this in perspective….

This has been said many times, but I want to say it again. Between 1980 and 2005, a time during which three different political parties governed this province, there were only four balanced budgets in those 25 years. We’ve just managed to accomplish our third consecutive budget, which I think is a huge accomplishment.

What’s more is B.C. will likely be the only province in the country to have a balanced budget this year. Alberta is grappling with what could be a $7 billion plus deficit, and Saskatchewan is teetering on the edge of balance.

The balanced budget is good news for B.C. In addition to that, the current fiscal year that we’re in will see
[ Page 6055 ]
a revised forecast of $879 million and projections for surpluses for the next three years combined, to total approximately $1 billion.

[1440]

It’s because of this strong fiscal discipline that we’re able to find room for investments that strengthen and encourage growth and the creation of jobs in key economic sectors. It’s why we’re able to sustain core public service, and it’s why we’re able to make life a little bit easier for British Columbia’s families.

I contrast the results that we have demonstrated as a government, in bringing forward our third consecutive balanced budget, with what we’ve heard for the last week from members opposite, which has been all about: “Spend, spend, spend some more — and tax. Let’s tax and tax and tax a bit more.”

The NDP message has not changed. Their message continues to be one of reckless spending, high taxes and massive debt. I sometimes wonder, based on comments from members opposite, if there are challenges actually reading the financial statements, reading and understanding what a balance sheet actually means and understanding what an income statement actually is all about.

Funding for health care in this budget will increase another $3 billion over the next three years, including additional funding to support hospice services for children and adults as part of our work toward doubling the number of beds by 2020 and supporting end-of-life care. We’re investing up to another $12.5 million with the Canadian Cancer Society towards establishing a world-class cancer prevention centre in Vancouver.

From a local context, while the NDP built very little through the 1990s, in Kamloops we are in the early stages of now building the clinical services building. It’s an $80 million investment in health care in the region that is served by Royal Inland Hospital, and this government is committed to the next phase, which will be a surgical tower.

With respect to education, kindergarten-to-grade-12 education will receive additional funding of $564 million over the next three years. That includes the 33 percent increase to the learning improvement fund. The $500 education coaching tax credit for teachers and teaching assistants, I think, was very important. My sister is a special education teacher in Burnaby, and this really meant something to her. She called me and said: “Thank you.” She and her colleagues really appreciate the acknowledgement.

My kids are all in the public system. We are so fortunate to have incredible teachers in an incredible school at Juniper Ridge Elementary in Kamloops. The advantage that our children will have as they go on in life, because of one of the best education systems in the world, is going to serve them extremely well.

With respect to infrastructure, we will be spending another $10.7 billion in new capital projects over the next three years. That includes $2.9 billion more in infrastructure so that we can continue to focus on improving key corridors like the Cariboo connector, like the Trans-Canada Highway, like other corridors around the province.

We are continuing to focus on keeping taxes down in this province. B.C.’s families will continue to have the lowest overall tax burdens in Canada when you factor in income taxes, consumption taxes, property taxes, payroll taxes and health care premiums.

B.C. currently has the lowest provincial personal income taxes in Canada for individuals earning up to $122,000 per year. Provincial personal income taxes for most taxpayers have been reduced by 37 percent since 2001, and an additional 400,000 people today actually don’t pay, and no longer pay, any income tax since 2001.

It’s also worth noting that a single individual can now earn more than $19,000 before paying provincial income taxes. I’m sure it’s been said a few times in the last week, but I’ll say this again as well. Back in the 1990s, prior to 2001, an individual earning an income up to $19,000 actually paid about $700 in tax. They pay zero tax today. I’m very proud of that.

We’re using the surpluses from these balanced budgets to pay down government’s direct operating debt, which is representative of the money that’s borrowed in tough times to protect programs and services. Direct operating debt is forecast to decline by more than 50 percent from $10.2 billion in 2014 to $4.8 billion in 2018, which will be the lowest level since 1991.

[1445]

Within three years we will have more than repaid the $4.5 billion that was borrowed during the recession of 2008-2009. I’m very proud of that.

Government’s taxpayer-supported debt-to-GDP ratio, a key measure of affordability, improves in each year of the three-year fiscal plan. In 2017-18 it’s forecast to be down to 16.6 percent. Compare that debt-to-GDP ratio to other jurisdictions. In Ontario their debt-to-GDP is just under 40 percent. In Quebec it’s even higher at just over 54 percent. So we’re doing very well here in British Columbia.

Without question, the credit for British Columbia’s balanced budgets and our overall enviable fiscal position as a province goes to British Columbians, who made this all possible.

What does this all mean? What it means is that our economy is hugely diversified. B.C. is able to weather the storm better than any other province in the country. We’ve seen very significant growth in our exports to Asia and, in particular, China over the last ten years, and thank goodness.

Thank goodness that when the American economy had a major downturn, the Chinese economy was able to make up for that slack. Thank goodness that we made the efforts to reach out to our friends and our partners
[ Page 6056 ]
in China to grow markets there and sell our lumber, sell our cherries and sell all kinds of other products, because we’ve now got a nicely diversified economy as a result.

Even though the Chinese market in some respects has softened a bit, the American market is roaring back, so we’re well insulated in this province because of that economic diversification.

Overall, the economy is strong. It’s creating thousands of jobs month over month. We’re expected, here in British Columbia, to lead the country in economic growth for the next two to three years. Unemployment is at a low, 5.6 percent, which is well below the national average. That is a testament, in large part, to the efforts of this government.

We’re growing our labour supply. We continue to have a triple-A credit rating, thus ensuring the lowest borrowing costs we can possibly obtain, which means more dollars for health care and education. That is why, in part, we continue to have the best health outcomes in the country and amongst the best education outcomes in the world as well.

Now, really briefly, with respect to transportation. For 2015 we’re going to continue to see a robust infrastructure program. Part of the job that I enjoy the most is travelling around the province and hearing firsthand from British Columbians on what they believe the priorities are and what the priority projects should be in their respective communities.

Transportation infrastructure is all about powering the economy. It’s all about ensuring the highest quality of life as possible, but it’s also about moving goods. It’s about creating jobs and opening up markets and getting our goods to market and creating more jobs, so the cycle continues.

I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve invested over $17 billion across British Columbia since 2001 in strategic transportation investments. This budget will see a further $2.9 billion invested in every corner of our province in all facets of transportation.

I will continue to work very closely on behalf of our government within the context of the new west partnership, which is the alliance formed between Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. It consists of many representatives of industry — essentially the entire supply chain, from producers right through to shippers.

At our recent meeting with the Premiers in Regina late last year, the Premiers resolved that the transportation component of this organization’s focus would actually be carried out by the Pacific Gateway Alliance, of which, as the Minister of Transportation, I am honoured to be the chair.

I have had a subsequent meeting with my ministerial counterparts in the other provinces and industry representatives, and we’re working on a game plan to continue to ensure the most efficient and the safest supply chain that we can possibly have in all of western Canada.

Speaking of the Pacific gateway, we’re well into phase 2 of this program from an infrastructure investment perspective. When we look at the combined investments of the public sector and the private sector, phase 1 represented about $20 billion. We’re now well into phase 2. We have over $25 billion worth of combined commitments.

[1450]

These are infrastructure commitments of the three western provinces but also industry — CN Rail and CP Rail and YVR and lots of other private sector organizations. The uniqueness of this alliance is that it’s the coming together of the private sector and the public sector to ensure that our transportation investments are done in a manner that is coordinated so that we can maximize those investments and leverage the investments to the highest degree possible.

We’re working hard with the Mayors Council as the plebiscite in Metro Vancouver is underway. As I’ve said many times publicly and I’ll say again here, we are very proud of the fact that we have given the people of Metro Vancouver the final say on this. It was a very clear commitment that we made in our platform in the last campaign that the people of Metro Vancouver will have the final say if the mayors determine that any new fees or taxes are required to expand transit and transportation in the Lower Mainland. We’re following through on that commitment, and I think that’s something to be very proud of.

We also support a yes vote in the campaign. We’ll be out there talking about congestion. We’ll be talking about the importance of continuing to make strategic investments in transportation and transit. Ultimately, however, the success of this campaign rests with the mayors, who put together a vision. We believe that it’s a good vision. It’s a good plan. We believe the region can get behind it. It’s up to the mayors to get out there with their 100-plus organizations on the yes campaign and to get out there and to sell their plan. Certainly, I will support them in their efforts.

For the forthcoming year we will continue to work as hard as we possibly can with coastal communities and the B.C. Ferry Commissioner and B.C. Ferries as we continue to execute on the vision that we laid out in front of British Columbians about a year ago, which was to get the ferry service to a place of long-term affordability and sustainability.

Part of the solution was to squeeze the greatest examples of underutilization out of the system. That’s largely been done, particularly on the minor and the northern routes but also on the majors.

Complementary to that, the B.C. ferry corporation has been working very hard on internal efficiencies. They’re going to blow past their efficiency target of $54 million. I think we’ll see a progress report on that in the not-too-distant future.

We have been willing to embrace, with Ferries and the
[ Page 6057 ]
Ferry Commissioner, a wide range of initiatives. When members opposite say that the only solution is to bring it back into government, as if that solves the underlying financial challenges at B.C. Ferries, the members opposite are wrong. That solves nothing.

What will solve the long-term challenges is being prepared and willing and able to think outside the box and try different strategies. That’s why we’re aggressively converting ferries to LNG propulsion, starting with the Spirit-class vessels, and the three intermediate vessels would be LNG-propelled. That’s going to save $12 million per year for 27 years, as one example.

We’re also very proud of the work on Port Metro Vancouver. We kept that port open since the shutdown last March. In doing so, we also improved the wages of truckers — very, very proud of that. In fact, we even received praise on this file from unions. We delivered on the 14-point plan, and we went even beyond that. The recent appointment of the very first container trucking commissioner, Andy Smith, who’s now responsible for licensing and rates, demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that truckers get paid what they have rightfully and justly earned and to ensuring that Canada’s most important port remains open for the long term.

Finally, B.C. on the Move. We will be launching our new ten-year transportation plan in the coming weeks. This will build on the $17 billion of investments we’ve seen since 2001, again, in all facets of transportation.

I’m very proud to support our Premier in her vision. I’m very proud to be on the government’s team. As I end all of my speeches around the province, it is my privilege to represent the hard-working people of Kamloops–South Thompson, Chase and the region. It is equally my privilege to speak today and specifically to say just how proud I am to support Budget 2015.

[1455]

M. Karagianis: I’m happy to take my place in this discussion and debate on Budget 2015.

I want to actually just preface my comments, because I heard the member opposite chastising the members on this side of the House earlier. I believe that it is everyone’s privilege who comes to this place to stand up and speak on behalf of their constituents and that this is a debate environment. Even if I don’t agree with members on the other side, I also defend their right to stand up and speak on behalf of their constituents. I don’t think it serves us well to forget that this is a debate and needs to be courteous and needs to be civilized. So I intend to keep my remarks in that same vein.

I am happy to talk to Budget 2015, and I do want also to reference the fact that we’re speaking to the amendment that was put forward by members on this side of the House. I’d like to read that amendment because I think it does set a tone for some of the things I’d like to talk about today.

The amendment to the budget that we put forward is this:

“That the government report in the third quarter of the fiscal year on progress towards their commitment to have one LNG plant and processing facility up and running by 2015; to open eight new mines by 2015; and their commitment to ensure every British Columbian has access to a general practitioner by 2015; and that the government maintain the personal income tax regime for the individuals earning over $150,000 a year.”

That amendment was put forward. I’m supporting that amendment, and I’d like to speak to that as well.

My constituency is very close by. I have the great privilege of having a constituency that’s only minutes away from the legislative precinct. I have four very distinct communities, four distinct municipalities, in that. But my community is, like most communities in British Columbia, made up of very hard-working families — ordinary people who work very hard to provide for their families. It doesn’t matter which end of the community they’re from. They all have the same ethic. They all have the same desires for their families.

It’s been my privilege to have been elected to this House three times now and to have spent nine years as a municipal councillor in Esquimalt. As I’m sitting here 20 years in on representing my community, I do know the community very well. I want to speak, in the context of being their representative here, about what the budget means to them, because this is a budget that has disappointed people from one end of my community to the other.

When I’m out travelling in the community and I’m out doing events in the community, I’ve heard about it. Even in the short time since the budget was tabled, I’ve had the opportunity to be out in my community. I’ve heard from members of my community about their immediate reactions to the budget, and I’d like to speak to that here today.

My community is made up of…. I think the only unique aspect is that we have a lot of public servants who live here in the capital region, and I do have a number of them that live in my community. Perhaps because of that, and because of the various other components of the workforce in my community, I think they pay a bit more attention to what happens here in the Legislature than do communities that are further away.

Certainly, many of the families in this community have ties in some way or another to the legislative precinct, to government, to some aspect of what we do here in the capital. It’s a huge employer, in one way or another, throughout the region. I think that people in my community do feel a strong connection to this place and, therefore, seem keenly aware of what takes place in here, of decisions that government makes on their behalf — certainly around, currently, the decisions that government has undertaken in this budget and in the time that they have been in power here.

I have lots of public servants in my community. I have a very robust shipyard and lots of workers there that live
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not just immediately in my communities but all over the region and, of course, in the lower part of the Island here.

I have two First Nations communities, both the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations. They are excellent neighbours. They are leaders in the southern part of the Island here. Chief Ron Sam has undertaken a beautiful wellness centre, has become very engaged in looking at ways that he can participate in local government more robustly. Chief Andy Thomas, as well, has undertaken some new initiatives for his community.

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I think there are some exciting things happening for those communities, so it’s really important that they be a very intrinsic part of local government here and of the decisions that the community makes.

Of course, I have the naval base, as well, in the heart of my community. Thousands and thousands and thousands of employees work there in one form or another — those that are, of course, in the armed services, but all the people that work around the naval base. Those jobs spread up and down the southern part of the Island as well. You only have to stand in the centre of my community in morning and evening Colwood rush-hour traffic, or coming up and down the Island highway, to know exactly how many people are coming and going into my community who are working.

The community of Colwood, which is the farthest reaches, has been the community that has been earmarked for the greatest amount of regional growth. There is a massive amount of expansion going on there.

Two new schools my friend the member for Juan de Fuca and I have championed for many years — we have two new schools coming in there. We’re very happy about that. There is so much growth going in Colwood. It’s a community that is really trying to grapple with those challenges and their transportation needs around that.

I think, though, that it’s fair to say that when I talk with people in my community…. The budget that’s been tabled here in 2015 by the current government has left them feeling disconnected from government, feeling that government does not understand who they are, does not care who they are and does not, in any way, have plans for their future and their family’s future. I think that’s reflected very much in the budget that we see before us.

I also have seen a new growth in the amount of people trying to seek services through my constituency office. That’s been a very dramatic growth. I think that that speaks very much hand-in-hand with the lack of government services. The continual cuts to government services, especially to the elderly, to the poor, to the most vulnerable and to people with disabilities are now to regular families which are looking for minimal services.

I’ve seen this huge growth burst in my constituency office. I suspect that I’m not alone. I know from talking to my colleagues here that they’re also seeing the same kind of thing, so I’m pretty sure that the government members are also as well. They cannot be unique in their experiences in their communities with the pressures that constituents are putting on them to bring messages of the needs of communities.

When I see a new kind of clientele coming to my community office asking for help…. It’s a variety of things now that seem very new. I talked to my constituency assistant just this week to say: “What are the common themes that you are seeing come through the door?” They are new in the aspect that they are almost always related to some new government service that has been cut or that has been removed from the community. People having trouble getting any kind of physiotherapy. People having problems accessing adequate supports for things like brain injuries.

One person was having trouble with the incredibly crushing load of a student loan. Luckily, my community office staff had some great success. For that, I would like to actually officially say thank you to the Minister of Finance for helping out with this particular problem. I’d like to offer that thanks up to the minister for helping resolve an issue there with a student who had a crushing debt that was making life difficult.

There are always the usual issues around Children and Families Ministry issues. Now also housing-related issues — that’s families and that is seniors. That is not very specific to one demographic or another; it seems to be across the range of ages and people in the community. Long wait-lists tend to be a plague for seniors and for families as well. We hear about that a lot.

The ongoing issue of poverty in the community. It is a working-class community. If you drive through my community, you don’t necessarily see abject poverty, but it is there. It particularly affects working families. It particularly affects seniors. We are seeing more and more of an outcry of needs from seniors and from families around poverty issues. That’s young families. That’s single people. That is certainly people who are living with a disability. Fewer and fewer services, fewer and fewer options for these families.

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Budget 2015. I know that my community was looking to this to be something that maybe spoke to their needs, spoke to their issues, spoke to the implied promise from the Premier that things were going to be better in the future for them. In fact, this budget does not deliver on that at all, and I’m going to talk about that a little bit as well.

I think that this Budget 2015 really is a clear indication that the government has no vision forward for the future of British Columbians. The government bet on and the Premier bet on one specific option for the future and seemed devoid of any other vision or real ideas for going forward from here.

I saw pundits talking about this right after the throne speech was tabled — that it’s a government that’s out of ideas. I agree with that, and my community agrees with
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that. This budget definitely has not shown any vision forward whatsoever.

The whole issue around LNG. Let’s remember that this LNG dream was hyped very much by the Premier and government members going into the last election. But it wasn’t just abandoned then. It was something that continued to be a large promise. Two years ago the Premier said that she had an absolute laser focus on LNG and developing that industry. One year ago the Premier said, “This is our central preoccupation” — bringing LNG to fruition here in this province.

Yet here we are less than two years out from those promises and from the election, and we have seen that, in fact, that particular dream has evaporated. LNG is no longer mentioned in every other sentence that the government utters. It isn’t attached to every single mandate that every ministry has had, and the government has now tried to kind of withdraw from all of the big promises that were made there.

But you know what? British Columbians heard those promises and believed those promises. There were some elements there. When the Premier talked about things like the LNG industry would wipe out B.C.’s debt, I think people really believed that. Now to find out that not only is it not going to be anything that wipes out the debt — it may not be an industry that comes to this province at all — but in fact, the debt is going to continue to grow in this province for some time to come.

The promises that LNG would reduce or eliminate the sales tax. I think that was a relief that every family was looking forward to. In fact, the increase in fees and charges to families has been such a burden that it has pushed so many families right to that edge of poverty. I think that the idea that it would eliminate sales tax was very exciting to people — that it would fund and enhance government programs, generate $1 trillion in economic activity, fill a $100 million prosperity fund and create 100,000 jobs.

Those are huge promises. I know that people in my community…. Even if they did not grasp and believe in every single grandiose promise of trillions of dollars here and billions of dollars there, I think that they did believe that, perhaps, there would be another thriving industry in this province that they could rely on for jobs for their children.

The government has, of course, now forgotten all of that. All of that rhetoric has disappeared. All of those promises have disappeared, and we have a government that now talks about: “Maybe there’s a chance. Maybe this is aspirational on the LNG file.” The people in my community are not so witless that they do not see the writing on the wall here. The LNG industry was a huge bet, a gamble, that the Premier was involved in, and we have lost that gamble. Now government is talking about diversified economies as if they’ve suddenly decided and discovered that we are a diverse economy.

Once the big LNG promise is gone, what is left over for families to think about as future options for their children? Well, this budget is thin on any kind of other vision to replace that in any way. My community is aware of that, and they will continue to struggle.

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As well as having this whole LNG dream evaporate and turn out to have been all talk and no action, the government has continued to whittle away at the standard of living for many people in my community, with increased fees and expenses. I’m going to talk about that a little bit more.

I do want to talk about the fact that I have three opposition files that are really important, because I think it speaks very much to the broad spectrum of people who are affected by this budget and by the fact that the government has delivered nothing in the way of a vision but lots in the way of a more expensive lifestyle for families.

In my portfolio I have seniors, I have women, and I have child care. They are all very closely related. In fact, they speak very much to the heart of middle-class families nowadays and the generation squeeze — who are raising their families, worried about health care for their parents, perhaps having come through a time when they needed accessible child care in their communities and couldn’t find it and therefore couldn’t get back into the workforce in the way that they wanted. Once the children are grown, they’re trying now to kind of rebuild their financial security.

This budget, in so many ways, affects and hurts all three of those particular sectors that I deal with and the groups that I talk with every day. I want to talk a little bit more about each of those in my comments here today.

I want to talk about seniors. In reality — and I know government likes to pay lip service to this — seniors did build this community. The seniors that we now have in our communities are the ones who worked out there in the forest industry or the fishing industry, those who worked in government before we were here. Those seniors who are veterans now, who maybe fought on our behalf or certainly served in the armed forces on our behalf…. Those seniors built our communities and were our community leaders and our grandparents who have established the very culture that we enjoy now.

Those individuals are living in a serious affordability crunch. I hear it right across the board when I meet with seniors, and I’ve met with seniors all over British Columbia. I hear the singular message from seniors that the government has always assumed that somehow seniors are very wealthy, but they are not. As the government has continued to whittle away and whittle away at their fixed incomes and their security, seniors have now grown very fearful.

Seniors who thought that they would have a reasonably secure future with their pension or a reasonably secure future with a health care system that would be there for them are now very fearful. They are concerned about
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whether or not the health care system will be there for them. They are very concerned about the fact that many of them are losing their doctors.

This whole idea of A GP for Me that the government touted as happening in 2015, which does not appear to be anywhere close to being a reality on the ground, particularly affects seniors. We do know that as you age and as your health becomes more fragile, early intervention and having those supports and that health care system there for you will certainly allow you to live a more robust life for a longer period of time before you have to go into any kind of care.

Well, for those people who no longer have a doctor — their doctor has retired earlier than they did or has retired around the same time as they did — where do you get that early intervention? If you are a senior who may be just beginning to experience the early symptoms of dementia, does that get picked up in a walk-in clinic when you go in for a checkup or because you’ve had a fall? No. Not at all. Some strange doctor in a walk-in clinic is not going to know you and is not going to be able to give you the kind of early intervention that all of us want to have.

When you’re in a walk-in clinic environment, often you are waiting an extraordinarily long time to see a doctor, and you are in and out of there very quickly. Many clinics now have capped the number of patients that can be seen. Is that the kind of environment where you want to grow old and feel that the health care system would be there to support you — if they catch a diagnosis in time, if it’s not caught well along before there can be prevention? It is a great fear and a great concern, not just for seniors but certainly for families.

I’m in the same boat as every other British Columbian who has lost their doctor. My doctor retired a couple of years ago. I, just like many British Columbians, do not have a general practitioner who knows me and has my files.

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I’m subject to the same circumstances as everyone else. I go into a walk-in clinic, I wait my turn, and I see the doctor some time later in the day, or, if my schedule doesn’t allow it, I don’t see the doctor that day. That is happening to families right across this province and to seniors, certainly in my community.

The issues around youth mental health. I sit on the Children and Youth Committee, and one of the things that we are undertaking is an extensive forum and discussion on youth mental health. We already know that the issues around mental health, homelessness and poverty are all very much interlinked, and they are very costly on both the justice system and the health care system.

Yet without adequate resources — none of those are apparent here in this budget; we see nothing in the way of a youth mental health program here — how in the world do you expect to get on top of this? What happens to all of those disenfranchised people that the government has forgotten about? Well, we know what happens to them. They continue to rotate through the justice system or through emergency systems.

Families continue to struggle, and the list of fees that are going up here for families is staggering for families that are struggling to get from payday to payday. Frankly, that’s a lot of people in my community. They are seeing increased MSP, and it will continue to go up. They are seeing increased hydro rates, and it will continue to go up. They are seeing increased ICBC rates. They are seeing more in gas taxes, depending on where they live. They are certainly seeing ferry fares way past the tipping point, and families are now unable to stay connected because of ferry fares and service cuts that are taking place. I do hear about that all over this region.

Camping fees have gone up. So even for families who wanted to take a modest holiday with their family, that’s become more expensive. Of course, tuition has become such a debt burden for many young people that they will spend a great deal of the first, probably, two decades of their career paying off huge student loan debts.

We have families that are trying to grapple with all of these costs. We have families now who have young people who are unable to find work — even if they have graduated from university, even if they have the beginnings of a trade — and are coming to live back home because they can’t afford, on a minimum-pay job somewhere, to live on their own. So we have this new term: failure to launch.

All of that developed in this province, one of the wealthiest provinces in the country. In the last decade we have a new culture for families, where the middle-class family is squeezed, where they are fighting to get from payday to payday, where they see the government continuing to increase the cost of living over and over again, unapologetically. We now have young people who can’t go out and start a life on their own until well into their careers — tuition burdens, low-paying jobs. Did this budget in any way help there? No, it did not.

The reality is — and I think that we’ve seen these facts; we’ve recognized these facts — that in real terms, real wages for families are falling, not rising. So people are finding it hard to get ahead, no doubt, because, in real terms, wages are falling. Again, we have talked about it here. This generation, our generation, will be the first generation that does not leave a world that is better for their children and grandchildren but worse. They’re going to leave them worse off rather than better. Again, none of those things seem to have been acknowledged in any way in this budget.

I know it’s a sore point with government, but they made a very decisive choice that the top 2 percent in this province are going to get a huge tax break. Meanwhile, all of the families here in my community that are just a few minutes away from here are going to see an increased cost of living for themselves and a reduction in their ability to stay connected with families because of
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what’s happening at B.C. Ferries. Life is more and more difficult for normal, average, ordinary working people, hard-working people in my community, yet the government believes that money well spent is a tax break for the top 2 percent of earners.

It’s no surprise whatsoever that ordinary families, working families, feel very disenfranchised by this government. They feel very disappointed and cheated by this government.

The LNG promise — way over the top and, of course, not going to deliver for them.

All of the other promises, though, the promises that were outlined very clearly in this amendment…. I want to go back to this amendment, because it speaks very clearly to the heart of the problems here that we have in British Columbia.

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This is very clearly outlined in this amendment, that in this fiscal year, in the third quarter, the government commit to reporting out on what the circumstances are around the LNG plant — one. Never mind the 15 that were originally promised or the six or however many it was, because it grew, and then it shrunk — but one. One LNG plant in 2015 — are we going to see that? Of course we’re not, but we think it’s appropriate for the government to report out on that.

The promise of eight new mines. Certainly, eight new mines are not going to open in Esquimalt–Royal Roads, but those jobs and that promise are certainly there for all British Columbians. I firmly believe that when there are more jobs in the marketplace, we float all boats evenly.

That the government report on their commitment to ensure that British Columbians have access to a GP — the GP for Me program. I’ve talked about this in just a couple of terms. I think it’s very serious. The idea of early intervention for health care for seniors is very serious if you do not have a family doc who can do that. That early intervention for seniors is on a whole range of health challenges but most specifically dementia, because that is a huge concern right across this country.

I think community leaders, governments, health care providers are all grappling with the issue of how we deal with this growing wave of dementia patients in the future and how we ensure that the health care system is there for them. Well, part of it is making sure that they have a doctor who can diagnose early and give them better quality of life for longer.

That’s my hope, just as an ordinary British Columbian. As a working person in this province, that is my hope for me and for my neighbours and my friends. I’m pretty sure my children would say that that’s their hope as well.

Of course, that the government, as we’ve urged them, reconsider this idea of rewarding the top 2 percent at the expense of others.

One thing I’d like to talk about is some of the other future inspirational visions that the government could have engaged in and that they have not. There’s a bit of lip service to some of these things, but the proof is always in your actions more than your words. Talk is cheap and easy, and we know that this is a government that has talked a big talk but has not delivered on so many aspects of the promises.

I want to talk a little bit about a green future. It’s more than a trend in countries other than in Canada that a green future is the only sustainable choice for our populations and for the citizens on this planet. I’ve travelled a little bit to other countries, where I can see very dramatic growth in green technologies. I can see how far behind we are here in Canada, how slow we are to get involved in real change.

I just recently took a trip to Greece, where I saw mile after mile after mile of solar panels. I saw solar panels fitted on many, many houses. I’ve seen the same thing in Hawaii. I’ve seen the same thing in other countries I’ve travelled to. We are so slow on the uptake here.

I read recently that Germany is in a position of being self-sustainable in energy, in renewable green energy. And what are we doing about that? We’re doing nothing about that. There is no program here to help families and to help businesses embrace that aggressively. That’s sad, because others are doing much better than we are.

We aspire to have the best-educated children so that they can take their place in the economies of the future, create the economies of the future. Yet we do not invest in that in any real way. We have decimated the education system in this province.

The battle is ongoing at this moment around class size and composition and making sure that there are adequate resources — adequate, not the best or the greatest but adequate resources — for our young children. How can you have the best-educated children in the world if you’re not going to actually put real resources in place? Again, the government pays lip service to this.

Invest in a real diversified economy. We are so behind the ball here on investment in new technologies. We like to talk about new technologies, but again, our manufacturing and production in this province has dropped off. We’re way behind other provinces in new technology investment in R and D.

I’ve only tried to highlight a couple of things about this budget that are a failure. But at the end of the day, I know from talking to my community, families need a government that will stand up with them, not against them.

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Currently we have in British Columbia the definite impression from families across the region here that the government is not standing with them but against them, and that is not right. This budget proves it to them over and over again.

Hon. T. Wat: It is indeed a great honour and privilege to rise in the House today to speak to the third con-
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secutive balanced budget presented by the Minister of Finance just last week — a feat that we, including my colleagues on this side of the House and my constituents, are certainly proud of.

First of all, I would like to take this special moment to recognize some of the people whose help and support are very important to me. Even though my elderly parents do not speak English and they would not understand what I’m talking about now, I would be remiss if I do not express my gratitude for their strong and overwhelming support for me to pursue my political career.

I’ve been taking care of them, and they have been living with me in the same house, since emigrating to Canada 23 years ago. The hectic life of an MLA and the Minister of International Trade has taken me away from my quality time with them, and they never complain. I’m so fortunate and blessed to have such understanding and forever-supportive parents. Thank you, Mom and Dad.

My heartfelt gratitude also goes to my deputy, Shannon Baskerville, for leading our talented, professional and hard-working team members in the Ministry of International Trade and the ministry for Multiculturalism to provide me with all the resources and assistance I need to achieve my mandate.

I should also mention the strong support of my chief of staff, Jay Denney. Many thanks to him and my hard-working executive assistant, Katie Harper, and also to Angela Jones, Heather Doerksen, Trix Chan, Regina Tsui and Stephanie Fraser. This team sacrifices their time because they believe in me and because they believe in this government, a government that believes in diversification of the B.C. economy.

It is through this diversification of the economy that our province has weathered many global economic downturns. It is important that we keep attracting foreign investors and promoting our exports to our priority markets so that we can secure a brighter future for all British Columbians.

For the past week I have had the honour to celebrate the lunar new year with British Columbians of different ethnicities, including the countdown night and celebration at Aberdeen Centre on New Year’s Eve, the Richmond Chinese Community Society’s celebration at Lansdowne centre and the celebration at Yaohan Centre. They are all in my riding.

Also the spring festival parade in Chinatown, where our Premier and many of our colleagues in this House participated. Last Sunday evening I also joined the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in Victoria to celebrate the lunar new year. And many, many more other events.

As the Minister for Multiculturalism, I am proud to see the flourishing of our diverse cultures in our province. Our variety of cultures here in B.C. contributes to the overall economic health and quality of life in our communities. Our cultural diversity is an asset that helps our economy grow and makes life better for families.

I am very proud to represent my beautiful riding of Richmond Centre, which is an ethnically diverse, growing and dynamic urban centre, comprised of many hard-working people, longtime residents as well as newly arrived immigrants.

Richmond is the fourth-largest city in B.C. Richmond’s current population is estimated at over 200,000. According to the population growth estimates, between 2006 and 2014 population growth citywide has averaged 3,106 people per year, or about 1.7 percent per year. The actual population growth is actually in my riding, the city centre. That accounted for more than half of the growth within the city.

Richmond city plan is anchored by the Canada Line and includes the development of nine transit-oriented village centres. The population of this area is expected to grow from about 40,000 to 120,000 residents.

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For food lovers, Richmond is a daily dining adventure, promising fresh seafood and the best Asian restaurants outside of Asia, especially among the more than 200 restaurants along the three short blocks of Alexandra Road, also known as Food Street, in the Golden Village.

The city is also home to the largest Asian mall outside of Asia, Vancouver International Airport, the renowned Highway to Heaven and the Richmond Olympic Oval, which hosts sporting championships for top athletes from around the world. Richmond is also home to campuses of many post-secondary institutions, including Kwantlen Polytechnic University, BCIT and the new Trinity Western University, located in the same building that hosts the new city centre community centre.

Vancouver International Airport, located on Sea Island, which is also part of Richmond, provides most of the air access to the region. The airport is the second-busiest in Canada and one of the busiest international airports on the west coast of North America.

A luxury fashion outlet mall is coming to Richmond and YVR. The mall will be built on 30 acres of land on Sea Island near the Templeton Canada Line station. It will feature 240,000 square feet of retail space, restaurants and cafés. This project reinforces Vancouver International Airport’s role in the economic development of B.C. and Canada.

On the social front, a new facility that aims to provide a one-stop shop for autism support will also be built in Richmond. The Pacific autism family centre received $20 million from our government and aims to provide support to children, adults and seniors on the autism spectrum. This centre, the Richmond Centre for Disability and the Arthritis Research Centre, also in my riding, are important organizations in our community to help improve the lives of British Columbians.

Our government believes in creating more jobs. Richmond alone supports about 100,000 jobs in various
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areas, including services, retailing, tourism, light manufacturing, airport services and aviation, agriculture, fishing and government. Richmond is also a leading centre for high technology, including MacDonald, Dettwiler.

The amazing growth of Richmond in the last decade is a direct result of this government’s determination to grow our economy, to attract investment, to promote exports, to provide a business-friendly environment, to exercise fiscal restraint, to maintain a triple-A credit rating, to maintain low tax rates, to achieve three consecutive balanced budgets and to provide a vital infrastructure to position British Columbia as an Asia-Pacific gateway and a hub for Asian corporations to expand their business into North and South America.

Despite ongoing global and domestic economic uncertainty, our province is still among the top provinces in terms of economic growth over the next three years, and our government is balancing our budget for the third straight year. British Columbia is the only jurisdiction in Canada to present a balanced budget, with a projected surplus of $879 million in 2014-15. Because of our strong fiscal discipline, we are able to find room for modest investment that strengthens and encourages growth in key economic sectors, sustains core public services and makes life a little easier for families and those in need.

I want to talk a little bit about families and my family. I came to this beautiful province over 25 years ago with my husband and my daughter. We came here for the same reasons that many people come to B.C. We were looking to invest and work here. British Columbia was appealing in many ways, with a stable economy, diverse culture and so many opportunities to succeed. This third consecutive balanced budget will make life easier for people who have chosen British Columbia as a home for their family to raise their children and a place to pursue their career and to do business.

I am among the 30 percent of British Columbians who emigrated from another country. My role and the role of my ministry is to grow our province’s economy by helping B.C. companies export their products or services overseas and bring investment that strengthens our most important sectors.

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Many of those international opportunities and our strategies for capitalizing on them can be found in the B.C. jobs plan. For example, as part of the jobs plan we have doubled our international presence. We now have a network of 11 trade and investment representative offices located all over the world, in key markets such as China, Japan, Korea, India, the United States and Europe. This international network connects B.C. businesses with new markets and trade opportunities and promotes British Columbia as a stable and attractive place for investment.

Last year the total value of investment influenced by our ministry’s program was over $2 billion, far exceeding the target of $550 million. This investment comes in the form of major international firms moving operations to B.C., such as Sony Imageworks. It also comes in the form of important investment in small businesses that keep the main streets of communities across the province vibrant.

During the same time the number of international business agreements facilitated by my ministry reached 230, almost quadruple the target of 60. These agreements allow B.C. companies to grow their exports and in turn create jobs for people in the communities.

Another key way to attract investment to B.C. is for us to meet face to face with stakeholders in key markets. My ministry has supported over 400 inbound and outbound trade missions since April 2011, including six major Premier missions to Asian markets. There’s no question that we all benefit from this growth.

When we launched our B.C. jobs plan in 2011, the Asia-Pacific region was identified as a priority for B.C.’s market development efforts. We have been working hard to capitalize on the opportunities created by the rapidly growing middle class in many Asian countries. That is why trade missions are so important.

Trade missions attract investment in British Columbia’s priority markets. They are a cost-effective tool for B.C. companies to participate firsthand in targeted export markets, and they present excellent opportunities to use government-to-government contact to help open the door for B.C. business to expand in the region.

Our trade missions have laid the groundwork for strengthening ties with Asian investors. Now it’s time to take that work to the next level through HQ Vancouver, our new joint project with the federal government and the Business Council of British Columbia. HQ Vancouver is one of the key commitments in my mandate as the Minister of International Trade. I’m delighted to say that we are delivering on that promise. The three-year, $6.6 million project will deliver major Asian head offices to B.C., furthering our province as a gateway for Asian firms to launch their North and South American operations.

B.C. is a top contributor to the project, with $2.1 million in funding and $1.3 million of in-kind contributions. Head offices generate a number of direct economic benefits, including job creation, business growth and increased awareness that B.C. is a competitive jurisdiction to do business in. By working collaboratively with the federal government and BCBC, we can use our unique assets, knowledge and skills to attract investment to B.C. that will help create jobs, grow the economy and expand key sectors.

One of my roles as the Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism is to look for ways to celebrate British Columbia’s cultural diversity. Cultural diversity and increased participation and engagement by all cultures are vitally important to create a strong and vibrant social and economic future for British Columbia.

Our government remains committed to fiscal management and living within our own means. Yet, recognizing
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these programs are important to our society, our government has added $1 million to the provincial multiculturalism base budget of $625,000. Our new budget is $1.625 million for the continuation of priority programs. We are prioritizing programs that focus on antiracism, community engagement and leveraging our multicultural advantages to promote international trade.

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I would like to conclude by saying that one of B.C.’s most valuable resources is our people. An important aspect of respecting our cultural diversity is having the courage to recognize when things do not go well. That is why, as part of our government’s apology for historical wrongs committed against B.C.’s Chinese-Canadian community, the Legacy Initiatives Advisory Council was established in October 2014.

The council is working with Chinese-Canadian communities and other key partners to ensure that legacy projects are successfully implemented, including identifying and recognizing historical and cultural sites and artifacts, creating a book that celebrates Chinese-Canadian achievement in B.C. and implementing the B.C. education curriculum supplement plan.

We can all be proud of the role we play in helping to honour those Chinese Canadians who helped shape B.C.’s culture and also our future. After all, our many different cultures contribute to the overall economic health and quality of life in our communities. Our goal is to ensure that a meaningful legacy is created for all British Columbians to enjoy.

These goals will carry us forward as we continue to make our province a more prosperous and inclusive place to live. Hon. Speaker, thanks for this opportunity to speak in support of the budget.

A. Weaver: Since my election in 2013, I’ve participated in countless votes on legislation or sections within legislation. In each and every vote the official opposition has voted as one. In all but one vote every member of government has voted as one.

In that one vote, the members for Abbotsford-Mission, Chilliwack-Hope, Maple Ridge–Mission and Surrey-Panorama only voted, in committee stage, against section 115 of Bill 17, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act. This section granted transgender people the ability to apply to the registrar general for an amendment to the sex designation on their birth registration. While I disagreed fundamentally with the position of these four members, I respected their courage to vote the way they saw fit.

For the past two years I’ve been one of only two MLAs in this chamber whose vote wasn’t a foregone conclusion — the other, of course, being the member for Delta South. Perhaps we might reflect on this for a moment. In a chamber of 84 voting MLAs elected across British Columbia to represent the best interests of their constituents, only two MLAs are not subject to collective groupthink exemplified by whipped voting.

Let’s focus specifically on the budget. It doesn’t simply deal with one small area of government policy. It contains the spending for every single ministry and government program.

Each of us could probably point our finger to a number of items in the budget that we like. Each of us could point to a number of items in the budget that we don’t like. Each of us has a wish list of things….

Interjection.

A. Weaver: The member for Nanaimo–North Cowichan should give me the respect that I am allowed to give my speech and hear myself speaking. If he has questions, I’d be delighted to answer them after the fact.

Each of us….

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members.

A. Weaver: I look forward to Twitter later on to see the hon. member’s comments on my budget speech.

Each of us could probably point our finger to a number of items in the budget that we like. Each of us could point to a number of items in the budget that we don’t like. Each of us has a wish list of things not included in the budget. Each of us has a different set of priorities.

The fact is there are also things we can agree on. We all want health care to be funded. We all want to see government create a favourable environment for small business. We want our infrastructure to be in good condition. We all want clean air and water, and we all want to live in a safe environment.

In fact, I suspect that, like me, the official opposition supports a number of the government’s new budget initiatives — more funding for cancer prevention, for instance, or new funding for students who want to focus on programs in the trades. These are rather difficult initiatives to be against.

[1545]

It is here where I feel it’s appropriate to comment on one of the most absurd rhetorical devices that exists in our political culture. That is the notion that if you vote….

Interjection.

Point of Privilege
(Reservation of Right)

A. Weaver: I reserve my right for privilege later to address an issue that I just had to deal with right now.

Deputy Speaker: Noted.
[ Page 6065 ]

Debate Continued

A. Weaver: That is the notion that if you vote against the budget, you therefore don’t support anything in it. This, of course, is closely aligned with the equally absurd notion that if you vote for the budget, you are in favour of everything it contains.

It’s this cynical and simplistic narrative that pollutes our political culture. It drives misinformation and creates a void between people and their elected representatives. We’re smart enough to know that most of the debates we have outside of this chamber have more than two sides. Why, then, do we pretend such nuance does not exist on votes inside this Legislature? This simplistic thinking needs to be cut from our collective discourse. It serves no purpose other than to drive deep wedges between us and to turn the public off important political debates.

As MLAs, we are given a single vote to indicate broad support or opposition to the full suite of measures contained within the budget. We are not asked to vote on every item. The virtue of representing the Green Party in this House, whether officially recognized or not, is that I can separate my political support or opposition to an idea from the question of who brought it forward.

I do not make decisions according to the outdated framing of left versus right or B.C. Liberal versus B.C. NDP or government versus opposition. I base my positions on the evidence that I see at the time and look for opportunities to contribute my own ideas to improve our province.

This is the approach I have taken with the previous two budgets introduced in the Legislature. Despite much to disagree with in both the government’s choices and approach, I wanted to demonstrate an open and honest commitment to compromise. I wanted to make it very clear that I will not prejudge an idea based on its source. I also didn’t view a vote on the budget as the be-all and end-all of my interaction with the government. Instead, I viewed it merely as a starting point.

I’ve spent much of the last two years working hard in an attempt to bring new ideas forward for consideration. I’ve tried to shine a light on issues that have been allowed to slip through the cracks and to offer substantive feedback and criticism when I feel the government is making the wrong decision. To be honest, I think it’s my job to do so.

I think this is an important point. I’ve not been rushed in either my criticism or my support for government. I look to understand what they are saying before responding. I want it to matter when I raise an issue. I want my concerns to have some weight.

With this in mind, I turn to the budget at hand. There was an exchange last week between the Finance Minister and the Leader of the Official Opposition that perfectly captures my discontent and frustration with this budget.

During question period on February 18 the official opposition focused in on the government’s move to reduce the income taxes paid by those earning more than $150,000 a year. In responding to the questions from the Leader of the Official Opposition, the Finance Minister went into detail about benefits that accrue to British Columbia residents earning less than $19,000, who pay no tax. He highlighted the small tax credits that were accruing to families, both low income and otherwise, as proof of a concerted effort to make people’s lives better.

Lost in this dance of rhetorical questions and condescending answers, this dance of dysfunction that plays out in this chamber far too often, was the real question, the pressing question, the fundamental question: how is it that we have people earning less than $19,000 in the province of British Columbia, and how do they possibly make ends meet? Why was this not the central issue of what was discussed? Why was it not the focus of the debate? Why was the government celebrating the fact that it has the fiscal space to offer boutique tax credits when there are more pervasive structural issues that need to be addressed? Why are we not taking concrete steps to address them?

It is this last question that is particularly important. The government seems to be asleep at the wheel, driving blindly in the dark without noticing what is happening around them, who they are leaving behind or what damage is being caused. There are many people in this province who truly need their help.

As I said earlier, there must be more to opposition than blind criticism…

Interjection.

[1550]

A. Weaver: …as the member for Nanaimo–North Cowichan is so good at.

Legislation must be weighed not on its source but on its value, and the budget that stands before us is not without certain merits. Some $12.5 million has been set aside for a world-class cancer prevention centre. It’s difficult for me to capture in words the terrible effects that this disease has and the heartbreak that it leaves behind in its wake. There are few in this province, and indeed in this chamber, that have not felt, either directly or indirectly, its pain. I believe I can stand with my colleagues on both sides of the House as I lend my wholehearted support to this provision in the budget.

Government has also finally begun to listen to the call echoed across the province for a more diversified economy. It’s something I’ve been calling for since I was elected. Government has made important investments in our creative economy, extending tax credits to film, television and video games and other interactive digital media industries. They’ve made investments at Camosun College, alongside other institutions, as part of a larger post-secondary skills program.
[ Page 6066 ]

These steps, however tepid, could mark a change for British Columbia, a shift away from that single-minded pipedream that has, for far too long, dominated the government’s focus. But after two years of racing toward a mirage, it’s not enough to inch back to reason. We must move with the same vigour as the government did with LNG to shape a sustainable and diversified 21st-century economy.

Finally, this government continues to prioritize and put forward a budget that emphasizes living within our means as a critical objective. I, too, believe this to be critical. It’s irresponsible for us to not ensure that our province lives within its means.

While the government’s balanced operating budget is certainly a laudable feat, it unfortunately does not reach far enough. Boasts of surplus and growth fall flat on the thousands of British Columbians who are struggling to make ends meet. The goal of government should not solely be a strong economy but an economy which strengthens all British Columbians. While this operating budget might well be fiscally balanced, it is neither socially nor environmentally balanced. It fails the triple-bottom-line test of accountability.

Here’s my concern. I’ve sat in this chamber for two years now listening to government state that it cannot do more for low- and middle-income British Columbians until the economy grows, that there simply is not enough room in the budget to help single parents, seniors on fixed income or the men and women who spend their nights on the street because they have nowhere else to go.

In response, I’ve offered viable, cost-effective policies that the government could adopt to make life more affordable for British Columbians, most of which either save money in the long term or don’t cost anything at all. I did so with the recognition that my role as an MLA is to contribute realistic, affordable solutions to the challenges we face.

However, with the tabling of the 2015 budget, we are witnessing a growing trend where the government takes small steps on the periphery to make people’s lives better instead of addressing the fundamental systemic and structural issues that underpin those challenges. With so many British Columbians struggling to get by, we simply cannot afford to neglect these structural issues any longer.

Here’s what I mean. Right now we have the second-highest income inequality rate in the country and the highest rate of wealth inequality. We are the only province in Canada without a comprehensive poverty reduction plan, despite half a million British Columbians living in poverty, over 160,000 of whom are children. Eighteen percent of our students don’t graduate high school within six years of completing grade 8, and that number rises to 54 percent for aboriginal students. Four of our cities rank among the five least affordable cities in Canada, and the list goes on.

The inequalities that plague our province exist, in part, because of clear choices that have been made by this government. In order to maintain the illusion of low corporate and personal income taxes, the government has raised regressive user fees, like MSP premiums, B.C. Hydro rates and ICBC rates. Instead of relying on a progressive tax system where government revenue is drawn according to an individual’s financial means, these regressive user fees target all British Columbians with the same set rates, regardless of whether their income is high enough to afford it.

[1555]

To counterbalance the growing affordability crisis, I acknowledge that the government has taken a small yet important step by ending the clawback on income supports for single mothers. While steps such as this one are incredibly important, they barely touch the systemic challenges that perpetuate an affordability crisis in British Columbia. Besides, the fact that this mean-spirited, punitive clawback ever existed at all is indicative of a government that has lost touch with the people it is supposed to represent.

Meanwhile, as the user fees continue to rise, the government has taken steps — like it did in this budget — to phase out the $150,000 tax bracket for the top 2 percent of income earners. I recognize that when that tax bracket was first introduced, it was done so with the promise that it would only last for two years. But the rationale at the time was that the government would not need the extra revenue because of its promised wealth and prosperity for one and all from its spinning of LNG — a Hail Mary pass of hope wrapped in hyperbole.

Well, here we are two years later, while the Hail Mary pass was indeed caught on May 14, 2013, delivering a Liberal majority government, it was subsequently fumbled. The Liberal government was given a mandate to deliver on a promise. It didn’t. And it won’t. While the government will attempt to deflect blame on market prices, external pressures, third parties and everybody else under the sun, the reality is that even despite their generational sellout, exemplified in the Liquefied Natural Gas Income Tax Act — which, remarkably and ironically, was supported by the official opposition — the government failed to deliver, as I knew it would.

For more than two years now, I’ve been pointing out that the economics did not, and still do not, support the government’s reckless LNG promises in a market oversupplied with natural gas and in a jurisdiction that is years behind others in terms of developing an LNG industry.

I strongly support the amendment put forward by the member for Surrey-Whalley. It’s imperative that British Columbians be reported out to by the government on where we stand with respect to its failed promises. Yet this discussion is also indicative of a larger problem. At a time when the government claims it cannot find enough money for affordable housing and other measures, it is
[ Page 6067 ]
eliminating the tax bracket on the highest 2 percent of income earners and forgoing $227 million a year that could be invested in programs that help make our province more affordable.

Here’s the point. It can’t simply be about whether or not there is a tax cut for the top 2 percent or a $3 rise in MSP premiums. We need to start talking about what those policies represent and what they collectively lead to. Through a combination of complacency and choice, we have created a funding structure for our government that relies on low- and middle-income British Columbians paying more than many can afford.

In the context of the affordability crisis B.C. faces, measures like these, at best, perpetuate and, at worst, add to the inequality that exists in our province. The conversation we need to be having is not about the individual measures we’re taking to slightly increase the quality of life of British Columbians but whether, over the long-term, these policies collectively foster an affordable, just and prosperous society in British Columbia.

My concern right now is that we are moving in the wrong direction. We have nearly a $1 billion surplus from the last fiscal year. An additional surplus is projected for the next three fiscal years. Compared to a $46 billion budget, that surplus is admittedly modest. Yet so are many of the steps that we could take with this budget to make smarter, more targeted investments and move us towards tackling the systemic issues perpetuating our affordability crisis.

Where do we go from here? Going forward, we can do better. We need to have the courage to re-envision B.C.’s path to prosperity — developing a 21st-century economy, one that is environmentally, socially and economically prosperous. It’s not about spending more. It’s about spending smarter with proactive, targeted investments.

As British Columbians, we are incredibly fortunate to be so wealthy in both opportunity and potential. We already have the foundation needed to be at the cutting edge of a 21st-century economy. We have a highly educated workforce, renewable energy options and beautiful towns and cities that people around the world want to move to. We can leverage this potential to foster an affordable 21st-century economy.

Here are just a few ideas on how to get there. A budget for a 21st-century economy would restructure tax credits and incentives to encourage the transition to a low-carbon economy and to foster a more progressive funding source for government. Rather than offering marginal boutique tax credits taken from the Harper Tory playbook for political gains, it would ensure that government revenue is based on an equitable, progressive use of our tax system.

[1600]

It would also use a portion of the nearly $1 billion surplus in 2014-15 to invest in affordability and to support those in need. While we get ourselves organized to tackle the bigger issue, we need to tend to the low-hanging fruit — changes that occur at no cost to government but make a big difference to the lives of British Columbians who are struggling. The legislation of creditor protection for registered education savings plans, RESPs, and registered disability savings plans, RDSPs, for example, is long overdue. This simple change, this costless change, will help children saving for their education and individuals with disabilities feel more financially secure and protected in times of personal economic crisis.

Similarly, making MSP premiums a line item in the progressive personal income tax system would be a quick way to save on administrative costs and reduce the net burden on low- and fixed-income individuals while ensuring no revenue is lost to government when actual costs are saved in the administration of this program.

Investing in the health, happiness and success of this generation and the next starts with education. Five years of labour peace, quite frankly, is not enough. We must not aim for temporary peace but rather for a new relationship.

What I find so concerning about the way this budget deals with education is that yet again government is failing in establishing a new relationship with those who administer and provide education to our children. Whether you agree or disagree with the administrative cuts, what I think is unacceptable is that they appear to have caught school boards yet again, once again, off guard. How is the goal of fostering trust served when those who structure our education budgets are in the dark about the resources government is willing to provide them?

Even where government is making investments in education, I would challenge them to broaden their vision. Under the B.C. jobs plan, training focuses on trade skills. It’s good we are training new carpenters, electricians and welders. Don’t get me wrong. I’m here today because my grandfather was a welder and was able to survive the Second World War accordingly.

It’s good that we’re doing this to help build our traditional energy industries, but what about the 21st-century industries? What about high tech, biotech and clean tech? It seems like we are only training for an LNG-centric, 20th-century, fossil fuel economy and not the future. We should also be focusing our educational investment on up-and-coming sectors, like the clean-tech sector, that create well-paying, long-term, stable local jobs and that grow our economy while supporting a healthy environment.

Companies like Google, for example, have committed to making the use of clean energy a priority. Currently only 35 percent of Google’s operations run on renewables. They are actively looking for new locations near green power sources where they can sustainably grow and develop, and many other tech companies are following suit.

The government has repeatedly presented their floundering LNG industry as a generational opportunity. If we started to capitalize on our renewable energy options
[ Page 6068 ]
instead of clinging onto last century’s dinosaur resources, perhaps we could find and sustain that generational opportunity in clean tech.

British Columbians deserve a government brave enough to see beyond their term and bold enough to make proactive investments while living within our means, much like the positive correlation between education level and future health, economic well-being and longevity.

There are many other investments our government could be making to improve the lives of British Columbians and save money down the road. A study, for example, released just last week from the University of Waterloo found that standardizing physical activity programs in Ontario would reduce the $6.8 billion cost associated with sedentary lifestyles in their province.

[D. Horne in the chair.]

Providing housing options for the chronically homeless is another issue I’ve spoken at length about over the last few months. It saves money in the long term by reducing the strain on social health and justice services.

In light of the increasing costs we have already started to incur from global warming, we have no choice but to start shifting to an economy that takes these threats into account. A paper, for example, from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany released earlier this month analyzed the importance of pairing carbon pricing with clean technologies in a more effective policy package. “If we want to contain the impacts of climate change, it is essential to start comprehensive and meaningful mitigation policies between 2015 and 2020. Otherwise, both risks and costs increase substantially.”

[1605]

Quite frankly, there are very few members in this House who really, truly understand the severity of the consequences of unchecked global warming. Trust me, the climate community does understand this, despite the fact that there are many in this Legislature who do not.

We all know climate change is more than an environmental issue. Its impact on the economy will be equally devastating. Even if one prefers to selfishly only concern oneself with the regional ramifications of global warming, the outlook isn’t any better.

As we see from indicator shifts in the larger trend of environmental change, local B.C. economies are already being hit, and hit hard. The mountain pine beetle has devastated our lodgepole pine forests. Acidifiction and warming ocean temperatures are threatening Vancouver Island’s shellfish industries, for example, with scallop death rates in Qualicum Beach rising to nearly 95 percent since 2010. As all of the disappointed skiers in this room know, Mount Washington, now with a 15-centimetre base, closed on February 9 and still awaits snow after yet another warm winter.

Interjection.

A. Weaver: The member opposite, who clearly doesn’t understand the difference between weather and climate, suggests we live in Toronto. I would suggest that the hon. speaker, before making flippant comments like that, read an elementary book, one that’s perhaps appropriate for grade 5–level students, because the person may actually find that weather and climate are different.

Though there is no easy solution to the problems we face, we do have options in the steps we take to improve the situation. In addition to carbon pricing, a polluter-pays model of reducing emissions, technology support schemes can take various forms, from feed-in tariffs to quotas or tax credits for low-emission electricity sources to direct or indirect support for technological innovation and carbon-capture-and-storage techniques.

Where does this leave us? I’ve gone through the merits and the shortcomings of this budget. I’ve offered a critique of the government’s approach and have articulated a few examples of concrete steps we could take to move us towards an affordable, sustainable 21st-century economy. I’d suggest, however, that we must return to where I began this speech.

If we are to make real progress, we cannot continue to evaluate critical budget decisions through simplistic and divisive notions of black-and-white, us-versus-them politics. The challenges are too great and the solutions too complex for us to continue being distracted by partisan positioning.

We need to start with a basic commitment that we will all read the budget before deciding how we’ll vote for it, as I’m sure we all will. To do anything else is to put ignorance and divisiveness above informed decision-making and a genuine willingness to work towards the betterment of British Columbians. We need to see budget votes….

Interjection.

A. Weaver: The member for Peace River North would like me to instruct him how to vote in the budget. I’d be ever so happy to do so.

Interjection.

A. Weaver: Peace River South as well. It is the member for Peace River South.

We need to see budget votes for what they are — a single vote to indicate broad support or opposition to the full suite of measures contained within a budget. There will always be aspects we disagree or agree with. It’s impossible to fully represent this complexity with a single vote, which is why we also speak to our decisions in these debates.

We must, of course, have the courage to vote on behalf of our constituents, not our parties. It is the citizens
[ Page 6069 ]
of British Columbia who sent us here to represent them. It’s the citizens of British Columbia who experience the short-term consequences of the decisions we make in this chamber, and it’s the next generations of British Columbians who ultimately have to live the long-term consequences of our decisions. Each of us needs to reflect on this as we ponder how we will vote.

I will conclude. To the member opposite: I sent you a graphic novel before Christmas on the topic of climate change. I certainly hope you’ve read it, and I certainly hope others in this House have read it, because many people around the world have, and they look to you for leadership. They look to us for leadership. They don’t look to you for blind ignorance.

Moira Stilwell: It’s a real pleasure to be here today to speak in support of our government’s budget and to put it into the kind of larger, longer-term perspective that governments must look at if we’re going to succeed as a province.

[1610]

You see, this particular budget has its roots in the throne speech that was just delivered by Her Honour. In it, our government highlights its commitment to the Canadian federation and to contribute to it like never before to help build a great nation. That kind of commitment, obviously, cannot and does not come from a single annual budget. It comes from a long-term commitment, the kind of generational commitment the Premier has spoken about over the past few years.

The Premier has talked about LNG as a generational opportunity, one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments that will long be remembered as a turning point in our province’s history. But that generational opportunity also extends beyond oil and gas and natural resources. It also extends to the future of our province and the role we play in Canada.

You see, our oil and gas sectors are more than just export commodities that bring in provincial revenues. They are also of strategic importance to Canada and its geopolitical role in the world. We’ve certainly emphasized exports to China and the rest of Asia as Canada’s Pacific province and Pacific gateway, but we cannot forget or underestimate how much of Europe’s energy needs depend today on a Vladimir Putin–ruled Russia, a Russia that is threatening the peace and stability of Europe, all the while controlling much of Europe’s energy requirements.

Will there come a day when Canada’s energy will be called upon to bolster and keep Europe free and democratic and out of the clutches of Mr. Putin? Who knows, but it is certainly not out of the question. The fact that that possibility, however remote, exists reinforces that energy is part of global politics.

Here in B.C. and Canada — with our energy riches, stable and democratic governments, the rule of law and the infrastructure to supply customers at home and abroad — we do not fully understand quite yet what our full international potential is or when that potential might be called upon to fuel freedom or the future of our friends and allies in the face of international bullying and intimidation.

Make no mistake. Instability in Europe could and probably will have dramatic impact on our energy industry in the months and years ahead as countries in Europe look for sources of supply that do not bind them or make them beholden to someone like Putin’s Russia.

Yes, we are making decisions today, both in the throne speech and the budget, that are generational in their capacity to change this province for the better. As I said, generational change isn’t just coming in the energy sector of our province. It also has to come in our capacity and willingness to be innovative in other sectors of our economy. If I have time, I would like to talk about that more.

As an MLA and as a parent, I know firsthand the value a Premier puts on long-term thinking. The same kind of commitment had premiers like W.A.C Bennett, Bill Bennett and Gordon Campbell put our province’s future ahead of the political day to day that sometimes consumes and drives government.

I’m also pleased to be here as a physician and because, like so many of you, I know the importance, value and public payoff that comes from a sound and progressive education system that helps to deliver good research and development that, in turn, innovates, changes and creates new companies, new products, new jobs, new markets.

In fact, I think it’s safe to say that if you talk to anyone in this House or out on the street corner in British Columbia, our fellow British Columbians are counting on innovation, technology and research to solve, cure or fix most, if not all, major issues when it comes to the environment, health care, disease, quality of life and quality of our communities.

Our hope for a better future starts with our belief in the value, capacity and results that come from innovation, research and development. By any measure, we are counting on innovation, research and development to help deliver a better future for people, communities and our country.

I think it’s also timely that as the world marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Sir Winston Churchill and the 70th anniversary of VE day this spring, we understand the central role that science and research played in his life and, ultimately, in the decisions he made that won the Second World War and changed the world.

Throughout his life, Churchill appreciated the role of science and the intrinsic role of research in changing how we live, work and think about major issues. In fact, now at the British Science Museum, as a commemoration of his death in January 1965, there is a Churchill science display, featuring everything from the creation of the tank, radar, to medical successes in antibiotics and even DNA.
[ Page 6070 ]

You only have to watch the Academy Award–winning Imitation Game, with its story about the famous German Enigma coding machine and the dramatic push to find an equally impressive machine to break the code, to understand that far from being afraid of science, Churchill couldn’t wait to put science and research to work, not only to win the war but to make lives better.

[1615]

In fact, Churchill was the first British Prime Minister to have a science adviser. He knew that while government was the primary funder of most science and research, it was going to be up to the private sector to commercialize those results for public good.

Underlying Churchill’s approach to science was a strong belief that science and research were important, important enough to be taken seriously by governments and to be put to work creating a new kind of future that used science to save lives, generate innovation, create wealth and improve communities.

One throne speech or a single year’s budget does not necessarily change a generation, but over time those annual budgets add up to our ability to make choices about the future. With a balanced budget, a better future is much more likely than a future dragged down by deficits year to year.

Balanced budgets like the one just delivered by our Minister of Finance are not in themselves going to change a generation. But they do add up, and they do point us in a direction that gives us more opportunities, the kinds of generational choices and opportunities that just aren’t there or possible when government is making a habit of being in the red. Just ask the people of Greece about the limited choices in generational change that come when you are broke and on the ropes and others are making choices for you.

Together with the people of B.C., who also understand this fact of life, we’re committed to a future that gives us balanced budgets, the kinds of budgets that allow us to make our own choices. When it comes to putting research, science and technology to work for British Columbians, a single budget can be about a single year or it can be a part of a plan that sees farther down the road. That’s the kind of budget that we have delivered.

It’s a budget that delivers stability and the ability over the long term to make long-term choices, the choices you cannot make when you are struggling with deficits.

The Premier is right. We are making generational choices and decisions today in British Columbia. They are choices that are designed to give our children and grandchildren their own choices, choices to build their own B.C., create their own success stories and be able to hand off to future generations a prosperous and progressive province.

Too often as politicians we are accused of keeping our eyes solely on the next election. But as we can see by this government’s commitment to balanced budgets, we are looking further down the road, not just for ourselves but for those who come after us. Giving the next generation the opportunity of choices unfettered by deficits that would limit real opportunities is a legacy that we will be proud of. Balancing the budget is no small accomplishment, but, without it, we turn over our future and that of our children to others.

I want to stop just for a minute and talk about a few things, about an innovation that we’ve not talked about for a couple of years. It was a very popular topic and now seems to have receded. We often talk about GDP as an economic indicator and feel happy that our GDP is 2-point-something and compares favourably to other provinces. But if we really want to grow more — and we often talk about: why do hold ourselves to such limited growth? — we cannot continue to do the things that we are doing. Countries that innovate are countries that create new markets. They create consumption where there was non-consumption.

When the U.S. decided to go to the moon, there was no demand from consumers to go to the moon. But through that bold and risky decision that only governments could invest in, not private business, they created a cascade. They lit the fuse for an explosive cascade of economic development that has lasted for 50 years. It was U.S. Defense Department procurement that invented the Internet. We talk about Steve Jobs as a great entrepreneur, and so he was. But the truth is that he could never have been Steve Jobs if the U.S. government had not make the incredibly bold and risky choices that it did, including funding Compaq, Intel, the algorithm for Google, the voice of Siri. These things come from government procurements.

This is what innovative states do, and not just the U.S. You can say: “Well, we’re not a military complex country.” Think about South Korea. South Korea’s government made the commitment to create consumerism where there was non-consumerism. Samsung was created to get people to consume air conditioning. From that, of course, was a massive spinoff that makes South Korea one of the most innovative states that there is today.

An Hon. Member: She gets it. [Laughter.]

Moira Stilwell: Shhh. You’re ruining my reputation.

I will just say this about LNG, because I think it’s important. I do not spend my nights worrying about whether we will have LNG plants. Of course we will.

[1620]

There’s a huge demand for fossil fuels throughout the world — specifically in Asia, where it’s rapidly growing. These companies are massive companies with risk management portfolios. The Premier herself has said we’re never going to be the biggest provider of LNG. We’re going to be a small part of their huge, huge risk management portfolios. We will create some jobs, and we will create some revenue.
[ Page 6071 ]

The problem is how we innovate. We’re very good and getting better, I suppose, at supply chain innovation — getting the product out of the ground and out of the country. That does not produce jobs. What produces jobs is when you create new industries and new markets. That is the jump that we must make, and that is a bold and risky venture. Only governments can do it, and only governments will do it.

British Columbia has a contribution to make to Canada and Confederation by showing that we are ready to be bold innovators.

L. Krog: I wonder how many of the members were paying attention on budget day, listening to the dulcet tones of the Minister of Finance. If they took a chance or an opportunity to look around the galleries of this wonderful chamber, unlike Fifty Shades of Grey, which is apparently playing to sellout houses, this place wasn’t quite the sellout it normally is.

One usually expects to see the captains of industry and the leaders of institutions literally jamming every seat in the place, ready to cheer on the winning team of government — which has managed, I must say, and my compliments to them, to win power for nearly 14 straight years in this province. But they weren’t there. They weren’t there. Now, I have no idea why they wouldn’t take advantage to come here and support the party that has been so good to so many of them in so many ways.

I mean, I have no idea if Mr. Jiles was in the audience, for instance, or other Liberal friends and insiders who may have enjoyed the great surplus of government moneys poured through the great benefits of public institutions so that they could hire a Liberal to speak to a Liberal to get the Liberals to hand some money back to them. It’s kind of like a circular argument. You just don’t know where it begins or where it ends. But we do know that it generally ends with the Liberals getting something off it somewhere along the range. You have to ask the question: why weren’t those people here? Why weren’t they excited by this budget?

Now, we know the Minister of Finance worked vigorously to try and ensure that expectations were dampened. It was just going to be business as usual — nothing dramatic. Indeed, the one bright spot in the whole budget if you’re actually part of the poor and vulnerable — who are a significant portion of B.C.’s population — was the elimination of the clawback of moneys from the children of this province whose parent or parents happen to be on social assistance.

Now, I complained with a small amount of bitterness just the other night, walking back from the Empress from a reception, to three or four of the Liberal members. They said, basically: “Don’t be down.” That was the message. After all, the opposition does have influence on government. “Look at the $17 million.” I did point out, of course, that the budget of the province is $45 billion.

I haven’t bothered to figure out what $17 million translates into in terms of an hourly or a daily expenditure. My gut reaction was that it wasn’t exactly a high accolade to say the opposition managed to squeeze $17 million out of the coffers of the province of British Columbia to put back in the mouths of children and babes in this province. So I wasn’t quite moved by that argument.

We don’t have access to all of government and the public service to assist us in doing our job. That’s what politics is all about is getting to that position where you can actually do that. What a wonderful feeling it must be to be able to have the kind of authority to make government do things, to make good things happen, to perhaps put a smile on the face of some people who have no reason to smile.

[1625]

When you get to the guts of it, what is it government is all about? Well, it’s to provide safety and order in society. It is to ensure — we’ve come to believe, anyway — public education, public health care, public roads and all kinds of things. But it is also at its heart a recognition that wealth in society must somehow be distributed. To quote one of the English law lords from many, many years ago, and I can’t remember the case: “The only way to get money is by taking it from somebody else.” I thought that was a rather interesting expression.

The wealth of our society can be distributed in a number of smaller ways. You can receive a benefit through charity. You’ll be relying on the heart and deep feelings of those in the community who feel they have surplus funds and will give it to you. You actually could steal it, but we don’t wish to encourage that in society. We expect, after all, that if you wish to work and obtain money, you should be paid for it. I’m not suggesting for a moment that some folks have been overpaid for what they have delivered, by this government, but there are a few of them.

Or you might just enjoy some dumb luck. You know, you buy a lottery ticket, and you win, and away you go. Or the easiest and best of all is to choose the right parents in life and receive an inheritance, and then the money just flows into your hot little hands, and you don’t have to work for it. You don’t have to do anything for it. After all, Lord knows, with the right-wing governments in this country in the last few years, we’ve seen capital gains taxes reduced substantially. There are no inheritance taxes. The best thing in the world is to be born into a rich family.

But there are two other ways of distributing wealth in our society, of getting money, if you will. One is to earn it through wages. You receive pay. The other is for government to redistribute that wealth in the form of direct benefits or services. In our society, that is essentially what we expect of government: to ensure some equity. Not equality. I don’t think there’s anyone in this chamber going to argue for a perfectly equal society. We’re not that idealistic or so far removed from the realities of life. But
[ Page 6072 ]
we do expect some sense of equity.

It is in that regard that this government has so singularly and obviously failed in its most basic function. When, in the same budget, you can let slip away a tiny tax on the wealthiest British Columbians, on the top 2 percent…. That’s not family income. That’s on the top 2 percent of income earners. So if those income earners happen to be married to each other, that squeezes them even further up that scale. They might even slide into the top 1 percent.

So we gave away…. And the members opposite will argue. You gave away $230 million to the people who have benefited most by the last 20 and 30 years of largely right-wing governments in this country, benefited from the philosophies of Thatcher and Reagan. You gave away $230 million, and in a spirit of generosity that would have broken Scrooge’s heart, you handed over a whole $17 million to the hungry children of the province. Is there a greater or, indeed, an uglier contrast in the attitude of government to its essential responsibilities to ensure that there is some equity in society?

You know, it takes a certain…. How shall I say? Gall? It takes a certain strength, almost, to be able to do that all in the same budget. But I’ve got to give this government credit. They were able to do it, and all of these backbenchers — and I’ve listened to some of their speeches — have stood up and trumpeted the glories of another balanced budget, the third in a row, at the very same time that you’re letting the wealthiest amongst us walk away.

[1630]

There are, in my view, and I don’t think I’m alone in this thinking, two great issues facing our time. In our parents’ generation it was pretty clear what the issue was, depending on age. It was the threat of global fascism, followed by the threat of global communism. It was pretty clear what was important to the world. It had to be defeated, had to be stopped. There were no choices. A generation was called upon to make those sacrifices, and they did, with incredible courage.

The two issues that face our time, and not necessarily in this order, are the impact of climate change and the growing disparity between the rich and the poor — not just in British Columbia but all around the planet.

I’ve quoted him before because — you know what? — I like someone who has a sense of humour, and when Warren Buffett commented, “Of course it’s class warfare, and my class is winning,” surely there was a message there. But that message obviously didn’t translate into the thinking of this government, which had every opportunity to say to their rich backers, to the wealthiest amongst us: “You know what? We’re going to ask you to continue to pay a little more.”

And it is a tiny little more. I think if you were making $160,000 a year, it amounted to 200 or 300 bucks per annum. Was that too much to ask? Was a few thousand dollars on someone making a half million dollars a year too much to ask? Especially when the government, arguably to its credit, and sticking to its promise, balanced the budget.

Interjection.

L. Krog: Ah, the Minister of Health. I knew he couldn’t possibly resist speaking. You’re absolutely right.

The minister is correct. They kept their promise to the rich. That was no problem whatsoever. Keeping your promise to the rich was a very easy promise to keep. They fulfilled that promise with glee and satisfaction and then tossed a tiny bone to the hungry children of the province and said: “Enjoy your 17 million bucks. Oh, don’t look over here — $230 million into the pockets of the wealthiest amongst us. Don’t look over here. We’re giving you $17 million.”

Interjection.

L. Krog: The minister makes my point exactly. He wants to talk about the 1990s. I want a government that works in 2015. I want a government that actually places people before its own political gain, that places people front and centre. It’s not too much to ask.

The Minister of Finance and this government gloriously kept their promise to allow those who’ve already got more money than they probably know what to do with to hoard up a few more bags of gold, so to speak, on the backs of the poor.

This government has had 14 years in office. That is nearly a full generation in which to make a real difference in the lives of the poor and vulnerable. They constantly brag about cutting taxes, cutting taxes.

Wait for it. They’re going to start clapping as soon as I say it, because I know my audience. Oh, do I know this audience only too well. They’ve decided that if you earn $18,999 a year in this province, you can’t afford to pay provincial income tax. That’s what they say.

They’re supposed to start clapping.

But if you’re a single employable on social assistance, you’re supposed to survive on — what? — about $7,300 a year. Yeah, $7,300 a year in a province where, if you can find a house in Vancouver for under $1 million, you’ll slap down an offer so fast that the realtor’s head will spin.

Now, 14 years is a long time. What was it Harold Wilson said? “In politics, a week is a long time. A year is an eternity.” This extends beyond the life of Methuselah in political terms.

[1635]

What does this government have to show for it — this constant talk about cutting taxes, cutting taxes? Who do you think benefited when the Liberals came to power in 2001 and they cut income tax across the board by 25 percent? Who benefited? I can tell you who benefited. The richest in the province benefited the most, and the poor-
[ Page 6073 ]
est benefited the least. And only those who were paying any income tax at all got a benefit. The rest suffered along.

The government last raised basic benefits in 2007. Since then MLA s have had raises. Cabinet ministers, as a result of being MLAs, have had raises. Senior deputy ministers have had raises. The public service has had raises. Virtually everybody has had a raise except the poorest British Columbians. Of the $45 billion this government collects every year from the resources and the people of this province, was it too much to ask to give a break to the poorest at the bottom?

You know what? If any of the members in this chamber go home this week and their fridge breaks down and they’ve got to go buy a new one, they’ll be able to go out and buy a new one. But if you’re on social assistance and your fridge breaks down, if you have a fridge — if you actually live in accommodation where you own a fridge and your fridge breaks down — do you think they’re going to be able to go out and spend a thousand bucks on a fridge? Will they be able to pay the cost of delivering a fridge, if they could afford it? Will they be able to keep their food cold?

If they’ve slipped onto social assistance and they still have a car, do you think that when their insurance bill comes in the mail, $500 or $1,000, they’re going to be able to pay it when it arrives?

Does this government have any idea what it is to be poor in a wealthy society? I’m not being cute here. I have to question whether this government does, because in 14 years the weakest and the poorest and the most vulnerable amongst us have seen….

Interjections.

L. Krog: Oh, my friend refers to me as a champagne socialist. I will tell that member I’ll happily pay higher taxes if he’ll have the courage to raise them. Instead of pandering to the people in this province who have already done well, it’s time this government stood up for the poorest amongst us.

All this occurs at the very same time when climate change around us is affecting us in ways that we can’t even begin to imagine. I’ve got an e-mail from an old friend of mine. His name is Gordon Hartman. He’s a retired PhD, a biologist from the Nanaimo biological station. This is what he said.

“As an old man now who has read much and who has written and talked at all levels about this for some 40 years, I am angry and dismayed at what can only be described as unbelievable societal shortsightedness that dominates our culture. We are very near to or now at a break point for our species and hundreds of others.

“Our wallets may be fattened on the basis of short-term thinking, but the future of humans and other species in the longer term is endangered by it. We face a wider and more serious sociopolitical challenge than we have faced before. You and I will only see the beginning of this, but our children and grandchildren will live it.”

Where’s the government that had courage around the gas tax? Well, its leader is off happily in London enjoying his political reward. After all, he was appointed by a guy called Stephen Harper.

I just love this quote. For the benefit of members who take time to look at the Teacher magazine from the BCTF, here’s a quote from the Prime Minister in 2013. “You know, there are two schools in economics on this. One is that there are some good taxes, and the other is that no taxes are good taxes. I’m in the latter category. I do not believe that any taxes are good taxes.” Now, that’s our Prime Minister, and we know what a fan he is of supporting anything that will reduce or ameliorate the damage occurring as a result of climate change.

What do we know about this? I mean, how many people, how many bright lights have to write? Mr. Hartman — Dr. Hartman, in fairness; Gordon deserves the honour — sent me a brief précis of a book.

[1640]

It’s called Collision Course: Endless Growth on a Finite Planet, by a fellow called Dr. Higgs out of Australia. He points out, quite rightly: “Straight after World War II, governments took on a new role of fostering growth. The emphasis increasingly fell on baking a bigger pie so the slices could get bigger but the pie would not have to be divided up any more equitably. Growth could function as an alternative to fairness.”

There’s a guy who’s put it together. You don’t have to worry about solving the problems of poverty if you can just keep growing and growing and growing, because maybe there’ll be enough to be spread around that they won’t notice that we’re now living in an era where many economic experts believe that there are 80 people on the planet who, either now or within a year, will literally own half the planet’s wealth.

Do you think they really care about the environment? Do you think they’re concerned about what happens if we build the northern gateway pipeline? Do you think they’re concerned about the incredible pollution that arises from the extraction of carbon from the ground? I don’t think so.

Dr. Higgs goes on to say:

“We are well into dangerous territory in three areas. Firstly, species are going extinct 100 to 1,000 times faster than the background rate.

“Secondly, the nitrogen cycle is completely disrupted. In nature, nitrogen is largely inert in our atmosphere. Today, mainly through making fertilizer, nitrogen is flooding through our rivers, groundwater in continental shelves, fuelling algae blooms that lead to dead zones and fish kills.

“Thirdly, we are on our way to a very hot planet. Unless we change rapidly in the extremely near future, we risk an increase of 4 degrees centigrade by 2100. So far, an increase of less than 1 degree is melting the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, glaciers nearly everywhere and even the massive Greenland ice cap.”

Someone sent me the other day the snowpack on Vancouver Island — pretty shocking. It’s a remarkable new low. Mount Washington Resort is a source of employment in the member for Comox Valley’s riding — or the member for North Island’s. I can’t remember which. The member well knows what’s happened. The place isn’t
[ Page 6074 ]
operating. Mount Washington was built because it supposedly received the highest snowfall of any ski hill in the province of British Columbia.

I’m trying to make a point here today, in case the members missed it.

Interjections.

L. Krog: Hon. Speaker, I will say nothing about pearls.

We face two issues, as I said. One is the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and the other is the impact of climate change and what that means for us, for our children and our grandchildren.

So far, I’ve looked through this budget, and I have tried to figure out what this government’s response to those two issues actually is. I don’t see anything in here that indicates that they’re ready to face up to them, either of them. Moreover, I’m extremely troubled by the concept that they believe they’re good managers. I mean, that is the great assertion: the Liberals can manage the economy; they can balance the budget, etc.

Well, we ran a fairly major political campaign in the last provincial election. I want to quote a magazine article. It’s called “Asia’s LNG Demand Crashes,” and it’s in The Maritime Executive magazine. That’s not the magazine for sailors and ordinary seamen. That’s the magazine for the maritime executive folks. Those are the bright lights who understand the industry, who can pay attention to these things.

Here’s what they have to say: “Leading ship brokers estimate over one-tenth of the global fleet of 400 LNG tankers is currently unused because of slowing growth in Asia’s biggest economies.” A tenth.

[1645]

Australia. These folks in Australia are way ahead of us. They’re on the ground. “Australia’s LNG export capacity is set to triple to 86 million tonnes a year before 2020.” We don’t even have a spade in the ground in British Columbia in 2015, and they’re going to triple to 86 million tonnes before 2020 — finish the sentence — “putting it ahead of current leader Qatar, which exports 77 million tonnes annually, and U.S. expectations of selling 61.5 million tonnes by the year 2020.”

So I guess the elimination of the provincial debt may be a little further down the road at the hands of this incredibly managerial, capable government.

I mean, do we want to bring up BCeSIS? What did that cost — $97 million? Doesn’t work. Then, of course, there’s the integrated case management, in the Ministry of Children and Families — $182 million.

Now, just imagine for a moment if that money hadn’t been wasted, if they’d actually had some bright folks in charge over there and those moneys had been made available to do some of the things I’ve talked about — maybe to assist in the development of alternate energy; maybe to, you know, put money in the hands of the poor.

I can tell you one thing. When you make $150,000 a year, you probably do a little travelling. You spend your money in some other economy, or you sock it away in an RRSP that may be invested in other parts of the world. But it doesn’t do anything for the corner grocery store. It doesn’t do anything, actually, even for dear old Jimmy Pattison.

But if you put $100 a month, even, in the hands of someone who is living on $610 a month, I’ll guarantee — I’ve said it so often in this chamber that I can hear my own voice — they’ll spend it within a mile or two of their home, whatever that home is, whether it’s under a bridge or a single-room-occupancy place or maybe, in fairness to the Minister Responsible for Housing, in one of those new units that the government built in the last decade-plus. It’s not enough, but maybe in one of them.

Wouldn’t that be good economics? Kind of like the concept of building ferries here in British Columbia, when you know we’re still going to be reliant on automobiles for a while. We really like tourists. They come here, they spend money, and they go away. We love those people, except that they’re rather put off by the high cost of ferries and a system that doesn’t appear to be running that well.

So is it wrong to ask the government to manage things a bit better so that, yeah, they can still balance that budget, and they can crow to their heart’s content and slap each other on the back and say what a great job they’ve done? Just imagine if they actually could manage things appropriately, how much we could do with it.

I mean, everywhere you turn, even in the ministry that I’m critic for…. Budget 2015 indicates that the Okanagan correctional centre, originally promised for 2015, will now be complete in late 2016. Now, that means somebody wasn’t watching this. Construction was capped at $192.9 million. That’s what it said in the government news release. It’s now going to cost $220 million.

The Premier promised, in her last throne speech, a “violence-free B.C.,” and then they cut the budget for victim services and crime prevention. In 2015 funding for victims and crime prevention is effectively frozen. It’s up just 0.3 percent — 0.3 percent.

Then we’ve got the government’s Blue Ribbon Panel, headed by one of their bright fellas over there, a guy I’ve got a lot of respect for: the MLA for Abbotsford South. He’s a PhD. He recommended that the government invest money in mental health and addictions in crime prevention as a means to save money in Corrections over the long term. The Corrections budget this year is up a measly 0.76 percent.

I’m trying to make a point here, a couple of points. They can’t manage. They brag about their balanced budget, and they balanced it on the backs of people who can least afford it, and they’ve cut government services.

I would make a suggestion to them. In politics there is a time to be entirely loyal to your leader. There’s a time
[ Page 6075 ]
to be loyal to the team. There’s a time to be loyal to the folks who got you elected.

[1650]

All of that is trumped, I would assert, by the call of conscience — the call of conscience. When I look across the way and I look at the members and I look at the cabinet and I look at the back bench, it’s fairly clear to me that those for whom the call of conscience has been strong, well, let’s just say — in my humble opinion, with no disrespect to anyone in this chamber — the best and the brightest, the brains, they’ve been banished to the back bench.

It would do this government well to maybe take them out of the gulag and put them round the cabinet table and let their conscience and their hearts be heard so that, in fact, this government may start to fulfil its obligation on the two issues I talked about — the growing wealth between the rich and the poor, and climate change.

Those members might in fact encourage this government to maybe do something really dramatic, which is to actually increase assistance rates or fund public education the way it needs to be funded and have the courage to raise some revenue from those in British Columbia who can well afford to pay for it. Nothing wrong with that concept. I encourage the government to do it.

D. McRae: I rise, as I like to call it, from the glass-half-full side of the Legislature to give my remarks. Now, I do realize that we have roles to play, and I also want to make some acknowledgements as I go forward. While I was in the chamber for part of the debate, I also watched it on TV. I want to acknowledge the member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head for his speech — as always, thoughtful and well presented and interesting. And he was able to do it, I guess, all the while, while there was heckling in the ear.

Again, well done, sir. I think you did a good job of making us ponder our roles in the Legislature.

I also want to also acknowledge my friend, who is still not with us in the legislative chamber today, the MLA for Richmond-Steveston, who is still recovering, but I hear he’s recovering well. As has often been said, he is improving the Nielsen ratings for the Legislature channel by at least a quantum of one. I wish him a speedy recovery because I’m lonely in the office we share, and I look forward to some banter back and forth.

It is my pleasure to rise today and speak in favour of Budget 2015. Before I comment, I thought — as oftentimes we spend a lot of time in this chamber and get perhaps a little jaded in our views maybe one side or the other — maybe we’re not listening to what commentators outside of this chamber are saying as we go forward, talking about British Columbia’s opportunities, British Columbia’s economy and British Columbia’s budget.

I just quickly went through the newspaper today and pulled some points that I thought were rather telling. For example, yesterday in the Vancouver Sun, quotes were along the lines of: “Fortune is smiling on British Columbia. The Conference Board of Canada has revised our economic forecast up to the highest in Canada, and B.C.’s economic resurgence is no flash in the pan. Outlook for 2017 is bullish as well.” There’s a testimony that British Columbia is doing something right. Again, the glass is half full on this side of the Legislature.

In Business in Vancouver, another magazine, just yesterday: “Job prospects in the province will…see improvement through the year.” StatsCan noted that B.C. improved by 11,000 jobs in the last year and has seen unemployment change from 6.4 percent last year to 5.6 percent this year. I think that’s the effort of not just one member of cabinet, though she works incredibly hard, but of this government and our vision to make sure that we have a diversified economy.

Interjection.

D. McRae: I see over there that the cloud has come over the Legislature on the way over, and the gloom. Are there shadows from the members opposite occasionally? Well, maybe it’s just the verbal shadows I’m hearing.

I’m sure the member opposite has also listened to or read the CBC occasionally. The CBC comes out and says that B.C. is “the only province in Canada that’s expected to escape deficit this year.” It says here, from the CBC’s own words, “B.C.’s bountiful resources helped make the province what it is, but its diversified economy will help make it what it can be,” in the future. “It’s about opportunity in this province, opportunity that this government has helped create, opportunity that the private sector and the citizens of this province have created as well.”

As I sat in this chamber listening to the speeches, the common theme I hear often from the clouds on the other side of the chamber is that perhaps LNG is a pipedream. Well, I want to say that LNG is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this province. Even though companies have not made their final investment decision to date, over $8 billion has been spent by these companies as they investigate the opportunity that this province has presented before them.

[1655]

We have created in this Legislature a tax regime. We’ve set out environmental standards that allow these companies to make their decisions going forward. We cannot force them to make the decision at any particular time, but one can always argue that the table is set in this chamber for them to make that decision and to make those kinds of $8 billion of investments.

If you’ve actually ever been to communities like Terrace or Prince George or going up north to the Peace River, you’ll see that this is not a decision that is going to be gone into lightly. The investments are absolutely substantial.

Again, to the members opposite: we’re not talking
[ Page 6076 ]
about decisions that are going to be impacted by the markets today. These are companies that are making decisions based on ten, 20 years — decades — going forward. It’s really important that we take advantage of this opportunity because it gives us that one more level of diversification for the British Columbia economy.

Now, if you’ve been in the chamber before, you’ve heard me…. I always sort of preface my budget remarks by talking about how we compare to the world. Again, British Columbia is not perfect. We’re always trying to do a little bit better. But compared to the world…. I want to make some acknowledgement. The world, especially in places like Europe, is still in a state of uncertainty.

The nation of Greece — which I always think of, because it is a cradle of civilization — has a population of about ten or 11 million people, has an economy about the size of British Columbia’s. Yet sadly, it has an unemployment rate of 25 percent. This is a nation which has great history, great opportunities, great exports — I know that the members opposite were talking about the olive export just recently — but they also, sadly, have some of the largest debt.

A country of 11 million people with a debt of $300 billion is a really staggering place. Well, why do we talk about Greece? You read the economic articles around the world. They always are concerned that one small nation like Greece still has a ripple effect that could have major impacts on British Columbia.

We also look at other nations, nations that are a bit larger. Again, we don’t want nations to suffer economically. There’s a world benefit that happens. But looking at the nation of Russia — again, a very large country, by any standards, largest in the world. Sadly, they are predicting their economy could contract by 3 percent this year, and they have inflation rates that could achieve 17 percent.

These are situations that…. In British Columbia and Canada we just don’t have that kind of experience, and I’m glad we’re there. Why? Because we make sure that we have a vibrant economy, one that is diversified, one that is not dependent on just one sole resource.

I was reading another article just recently, if we talk about what’s happening in Canada. In Ontario, which has had some struggles…. There’s no doubt about it. The high Canadian dollar was a challenge going forward — but also some spending choices that they’ve made in the past. Bond-rating agencies have changed their rating to negative from stable. Again, not a here-and-now change, but it’s one that just shows that you need to be always mindful that a province or a nation is not just reliant upon itself for its economic future.

While Ontario aims to balance its budget in the next three or four years, their debt is, believe it or not, 244 times the total revenue of that province. It is a staggering situation that one just wants to make sure they avoid.

I know that the member opposite knows I’m from the Comox Valley. The Comox Valley has lots of great ties to the province of Alberta. Obviously, we have some of our citizens that have chosen to go work there. Some maintain their residences in the Comox Valley. Their families are there while they are working in Alberta. Others have sadly taken the choice to move their entire family unit to Alberta.

It is a real opportunity. We want Alberta to succeed, but it also is looking at a province where they have a reliance on one large commodity — though I know they have a great farming tradition in that province — and they have one large export market which they rely upon. Because the price of oil has changed substantially — more than I think any pundit has been able to predict — we’re looking at a situation where a province which has been such an economic generator for Canada has basically had a $7 billion hole in their budget because of the price of oil.

I just remind myself, as a person who gets to sit in this chamber, that we have to make sure we have a diversified economy for this province, one that’s going to be there through the ups and downs of the world economic cycle, one that’s going to be there to benefit our citizens.

Sadly, even Ontario is talking about…. Remember, if you would think back a year ago, they were talking about economic growth in Alberta in 2015 of 4.4 percent. Now that’s been revised down to perhaps a contraction of 1.5 percent. It’s a struggle.

Again, I want to remind the members opposite. Canada is a nation. We are relying on our ten provinces and our territories to all contribute and to be part of this vibrant nation which we’re in. We don’t want Alberta to suffer. We don’t want Ontario to have tough choices. The reality is that when one province does well, it often benefits the rest of us. I want to make sure that British Columbia stays strong, stays diversified so that as we go forward, it helps our citizens and helps the rest of Canada as well.

[1700]

Now, we’re talking about the budget this year. I know the members opposite often want to dwell on things that are negative, but there are some real positives in there. I know the members opposite on the sunny side of the Legislature would agree with me. I’m pleased to say that Budget 2015 is our third consecutive balanced budget, one that was not done easily, but we’re also predicting surpluses going forward for the next three years.

Our surpluses are not huge. Oftentimes they’re less than 1 percent of the total revenue. But we want to make sure that we’re sending a message that we are living within our means. You cannot have a deficit budget for 30 years out of 40 and think you’re going to be in a better place, financially, at the end of that time. At some stage, someone’s paying the bills.

I want to make sure that we’re leaving this province in a place where our children and grandchildren are not paying for some of our choices of today. That being said,
[ Page 6077 ]
though, sometimes you do have to make tough choices, and through the Great Recession we went through in the last five years, we show that opportunity.

Through the budget, too — I want to also remind the people at home but also members in the Legislature — we are making some changes. I think everybody in this House has stood up and talked about the film industry and why we’re very proud of it in this province. I know the members opposite have talked about the benefits of it, and the members on this side.

I’d like to basically single out one of my friends in this Legislature, the MLA for North Vancouver–Seymour, who is a tireless champion for this sector. I know she worked here tirelessly and hard, making sure that MLAs were aware of the importance of making sure there is opportunity for that industry, going forward.

She and the members opposite and the industry were really happy to see the extended interactive digital media tax credit, which is extended to 2018. It allows some certainty for that industry to make investments. We also saw an expanded digital animation or visual effects tax credits, which help our film and our video game industries remain healthy and strong and something that we can be very proud of.

We’ve also had an opportunity in this budget, as we spend dollars…. Oftentimes it’s forgotten that the mining industry, which generates about $8.5 billion of economic activity in this province, supports about 11,000 British Columbians. We’ll see the numbers increase going forward. It has a huge role to play in the province. I often remind students when they come to the Legislature and we do a little bit of a tour. You go to the rotunda. You look up. You see mining has always been one of those cornerstones of our province. It has been there when we came into Confederation in 1871, and it’ll be there for a very, very long time.

British Columbia wants to make sure it stays at the forefront of the mining industry. I’m pleased to see, in the budget, that we’re investing more dollars into the Ministry of Energy and Mines — $6.3 million more, as a matter of fact — to support mining in British Columbia. It will improve permitting and regulatory oversight and increase inspections. It’s the right thing to do to make sure that our mining industry stays robust and healthy in this province.

As a province that lives on one of the three coasts of Canada, we want to make sure that we have our place for the ship presence in our country. I was also pleased to see that over the next three years we’re investing $3 million to re-establish an International Maritime Centre — an opportunity, especially, as we continue to export and be a gateway to Pacific nations and Asian nations across the ocean.

I know the MLA for Nanaimo, who was speaking earlier, highlighted one of the opportunities we were able to do by making sure that we were investing some of the balanced budget surpluses going forward. I was pleased to see the Finance Minister and the members of this chamber were supporting the opportunity for parents to make sure that they retain their child support payments.

I want to thank, definitely, the Finance Minister, the cabinet. I definitely want to make sure that we acknowledge that, as the Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation, I did hear from families across British Columbia. I appreciated that. One of the things that…. As minister, we want to make sure that we’re out talking to stakeholders, people who are affected, and finding out if there are ways that we can deliver services in a better way, in a way that is going to be more advantageous.

Government doesn’t often move quickly, because it’s not often designed to do this. Sometimes the members opposite said: “Well, just change it tomorrow.” As Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation, I would look at the services we were providing in that ministry to vulnerable British Columbians. We provide many services. In fact, many people are actually surprised to find out that 70 different programs are there for vulnerable British Columbians. The money was allocated as we went forward. We needed new dollars.

[1705]

That’s why, as we have a balanced budget and we talk about other opportunities to make those investments, I was pleased that we had that choice to be made. I thank again the families who talked to me, both personally and by letter, and through the consultations that have been going on for the last six weeks or so, talking about ways we can better support those families so they have that opportunity.

There are other vulnerable British Columbians who are being supported in this budget, one that I haven’t heard the other side acknowledge. If the members opposite missed it, there is also an additional $106 million being invested in CLBC — Community Living British Columbia — persons with developmental disabilities in this province.

If members aren’t sure, CLBC — Community Living…. There are about 16,000 individuals who are supported by Community Living British Columbia, and about 300 to 400 more, at least, will join the ranks, leaving the high school system and becoming adults, every year. I want to take my time in this chamber, as well, to thank both the CLBC board and the new CEO. But also I want to take special note and thank Doug Willard, who took over the helm as temporary CEO for the last 2½ to three years and really was a very stable influence — an excellent person, I know for myself, to work with.

I want to celebrate because not only did he have a long career in the social service sector, but he is this month — and I think the current Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation introduced him the other day when I was away — also going to be retiring. I want to wish Doug and his family well. I know he is a person who
[ Page 6078 ]
also likes to participate in choral activities, and I wish him well. I’m sure he will continue to find opportunity with his time.

Also, sometimes in the chamber we use our time here to remind everybody…. We’re not talking, obviously, just to the 85 members here; we’re talking to the general public. It was also in the Budget 2015. We talked about the training and education savings grant. Now, there aren’t many people in this chamber who have children who were born after 2007, but there are about 40,000 British Columbian children every year who are born into the province. If you were born after January 1, 2007, you are now eligible for that education and training savings grant — $1,200.

To remind the members opposite and to remind people at home, starting this summer people can go into financial institutions that are participating — and I would imagine most are — and fill out the application process, and $1,200 will be going into an RESP opportunity for young people. If you do it quickly, assuming that your young son or daughter will start their post-secondary career at the age of 18, literally, they’ll have 12 to 13 years to accumulate extra interest. If families are fortunate enough to have some other dollars to invest, as well, it also helps jump-start that. But if it’s only the $1,200, well, it’s $1,200 that families are able to invest.

If you will, basically, allow me to just go off the budget for a very short period of time, I also want to talk about another financial vehicle which is absolutely essential and is often misunderstood. It is tax season. As we’re going forward in British Columbia and in Canada, there is a tax vehicle called the registered disability savings plan. It is horribly underutilized, although I am very proud to say that the province of British Columbia has the highest uptake of RDSP subscribers in the nation.

The RDSP is basically meant for persons with disability to allow them to save for their future. There are some criteria. The easy criteria, as I stand in this chamber, is you have to be under the age of 49. If you’re thinking: “Well, how do I know if I’m eligible?” Well, if you’re eligible for a federal disability tax credit, chances are you are eligible for the RDSP.

The thing that I think many people are often surprised by is that even though it is a federal tax vehicle invented by Al Etmanski from British Columbia and taken on by Jim Flaherty, the former Finance Minister federally, it is just an absolutely great opportunity. If you’re a person who has very little ability to contribute to financial investments, the government of Canada will actually…. If you put nothing in yourself, you’re under the age of 49 and you are eligible for a federal disability tax credit, the federal government will contribute $1,000 a year for 20 years. And that’s assuming that you do not put any dollars in — $20,000.

It’s an opportunity that…. If you have a young child, they don’t have to wait until they’re of age or majority. You can do it at the age of one or two or three. As long as they keep investing, those dollars will be there to help those individuals going forward in their later years — an absolutely great opportunity, one sadly that is, perhaps, not as well understood in the financial world as we would like to see in British Columbia.

I know there are efforts going forward to improve that by the current Minister of Social Development. But if people aren’t sure about that, please investigate the RDSP. It’s a absolutely great opportunity for individuals.

Interjection.

[1710]

D. McRae: Thank you to the Minister of Social Development, I think, in the corner over there.

The other thing in the budget that I would like to acknowledge was the extracurricular sports and arts tax credit for teachers and teacher assistants. I know the members opposite know I am a high school teacher, currently on leave. One of the things I always liked about school sports and arts is that it was the great equalizer.

The school I taught at, G.P. Vanier — I’ll speak more specifically to that. Young men and women playing a sport or getting involved in an extracurricular arts activity — the school always went the extra mile to make sure that students were able to participate, even if the family didn’t have a lot of resources at home. Whether you were in the school musical or on the rugby team, we made sure there was an opportunity for you to participate.

I think it’s also one way, not only in terms of the tax credit, to acknowledge that people are going the extra mile. I know coaches and fine arts sponsors for a musical are spending literally hundreds and hundreds of hours, and it’s just one more way, I think, to say thank you for the great job that they do and hopefully recognize the good work they’re doing.

As well, you may remember that several years ago I had the opportunity to be the Minister of Agriculture. During my time there we set the foundation to talk about the Buy Local program. I know the current Minister of Agriculture has been a huge champion, and in this budget we see another $2 million to help the Buy Local program. The nice thing about that program is that it goes to the producers to make sure that they are growing their sector. It’s helpful across the province, and it’s not just meant for very large producers.

I know they’ve targeted sectors, like the farmers markets, the cattle sector, the tree fruit growers, the wine industry, the shellfish sector. All of these investments…. Sometimes they’re rather modest. Sometimes it’s $5,000 to $15,000 that comes from Buy Local to assist a producer to get their farm product to a better market to have more opportunity there. It’s just another example of how we, as a province, are supporting a really, really important industry, one that’s alive and well in almost every corner
[ Page 6079 ]
of this province. I’m really thankful that the Minister of Finance was there with another $2 million.

As well — I know it’s been a champion cause for the Minister of Finance in the past and one that I’m fully supportive of, because I’ve seen it in action — we’ve added another $1 million to the B.C. school fruit and vegetable program, benefiting almost 500,000 students in school districts and First Nation schools across this province.

I always want to remind individuals: where would we be in this province without children and their passion for recycling? Young people really took up that cause. Why? Because I think that in their time in school, they were basically taught the value of recycling. I know my children have benefited from that.

In the schools, we talk about the value of having good quality fruits and vegetables as a daily part of your diet. That’s really important, especially when, if we go to a modern grocery store, we see so many times that we’re inundated by processed food, food that’s probably really high and concentrated in sugars and unhealthy, processed additives. Having a chance to celebrate that in B.C. schools every several weeks in the province of British Columbia is, I think, absolutely the right thing to do, and I want to thank the Minister of Finance for that.

Thirdly, we talk about benefiting British Columbians. In the budget — I’m sure the members opposite caught this — there was another $10.7 billion of infrastructure spending over the next three years. It’s going to benefit every corner of this province. But I’m going to talk about the area that I live in. Obviously, I live in the Comox Valley, but I spend a lot of my time in that corridor on the east coast of Vancouver Island — Comox Valley to Victoria. I drive down once a week and back home another time a week.

Oftentimes, we’ve got to make sure where we are prioritizing those investments. Where are we getting a real, I’ll call it, bang for your buck? Well, just recently I had the opportunity to attend an event with the Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation. We celebrated the completion of a project on the Malahat. If anybody has ever driven the Malahat, it’s an absolutely beautiful piece of spectacular scenery. It can also be a deadly place to drive. It’s always been a priority of this government to make sure we’re constantly improving that highway.

Just several weeks ago we had the opportunity to basically celebrate the last stretch of improvements — 2½ more kilometres of median on that highway, in the area they call the NASCAR corner. They’ve added some passing lanes. They’ve improved a rest stop area there as well. Again, it’s a part of the highway where people, sadly, often drive a little too quickly, but we want to make sure that people get home safe.

That project came in on time and under budget. I’m really pleased to say that we were there to celebrate it, because again, it’s just an example on Vancouver Island where we’re making those investments, keeping B.C. motorists safer.

The other day, actually, I was driving around the Comox Valley, and there’s something new happening in the Comox Valley, something that hasn’t happened before. We’ve had large projects. We’ve had interesting projects. We’ve never had a $330 million project sponsored by the government underway. That is the new hospital project in the Comox Valley, one that’ll benefit all residents of the Comox Valley.

[1715]

In the Comox Valley there right now, what do we have? We have two cranes for the very first time. We’ve never had a crane in the Comox Valley constructing something. We are constructing a new hospital with 150 beds, acute care beds, that will be servicing the residents not just of the Comox Valley but of the north Island for generations to come.

St. Joe’s has been an acute care hospital for 100 years, celebrating their 100th anniversary last year. They’ve done an absolutely phenomenal job, but the structure is aging. I’m really excited as I watch St. Joe’s currently evolving to a new stage of its life.

The Catholic Church, which owns St. Joe’s Hospital in Comox, had has said very loudly that it wants to stay in the health care business, and they want to make sure they’re there to support not just Comox Valley residents but north Island residents. We are seeing a new acute care hospital being constructed in our community, and we’re also going to see a future for St. Joe’s going forward, which I think will be very exciting.

I know the member for North Island is also experiencing, in the same project, a hospital being built in Campbell River. We do serve a very large geographic area. That hospital has 100 beds. It will serve areas from Campbell River to the north. Again, it’s a very difficult geographic area to serve, so we’re looking forward to seeing that hospital.

Again, between those two projects, government is basically seeing a bill of about $630 million. We get to make those investments because we have a vibrant economy, because we’ve made good choices in the past.

Just two weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit a hydroelectric project, the John Hart dam. I’ve never seen a billion-dollar project in the north Island in my lifetime. The John Hart dam was built 70 years ago. It’s actually a great piece of engineering, an incredible piece of engineering when you consider that it was designed and started construction in the 1950s. But it needs to be updated.

They want to make sure that if there is a seismic earthquake — which will happen, I think we know statistically, at some stage in the next 150 to 200 years — that we are prepared and we have the infrastructure that survives it. So the old spillways that were constructed above ground are being replaced with a massive tunnel that will go straight through bedrock. Generation stations that were state of the art in the 1960s are being replaced with modern generating stations. It will provide power for more
[ Page 6080 ]
than 15,000 more homes today, using the same amount of water going through it.

Again, we have to make sure, just like our homes, that we constantly, basically, reinvest in our assets to make sure they’re going to be there for the generation after us. It’s exciting to see this, and I’ve been told by B.C. Hydro that there are plans in the works as well. Once this billion-dollar project on the John Hart dam is done, there’s another phase 1 and a phase beyond that, which is another hundreds of millions of dollars of work to make sure that the John Hart dam continues to provide power for residents of Vancouver Island going forward.

I also want to thank the Minister of Transportation. Last year he had the opportunity to come to the Comox Valley and tour around. He had the opportunity to see something that you haven’t seen in the Comox Valley before. He had an opportunity to see three mayors and a regional district chair say that we have one major ask in our community. It’s one that we all agree on, one that is not specific to one community and one that’s not specific to one corner. We all realize that this is the most important transportation project that we need to get completed in our community. It’s the north connector.

It’s not a huge project. It’s probably in the magnitude of $10 million or $20 million, but it will help move workers and residents in the north Island and the Comox Valley back and forth between the airport. I’ve heard members in this chamber talk about how fortunate they are to have vibrant airports. Well, the Comox Valley Airport has 300,000 people a year going through it. It also will bring people from the north Island to some of the shopping nodes in the Comox Valley. It’ll also allow Comox Valley residents to visit the north Island much easier, much more quickly.

Even more importantly, on the day-to-day sort of how you get around the Comox Valley kind of environment…. For the agricultural community, because it’s replacing a temporary bridge which large machines cannot actually travel on — they have to travel on other highways on a long, circuitous route — it’ll allow farmers to move their major equipment machinery from one side of the river to the next without having to take a nine-kilometre detour. In some people’s measure, it may be a small investment. But I think this is an example where, with transportation in the Comox Valley, we’re making those investments.

I think I mentioned earlier that I was a teacher at G.P. Vanier. G.P. Vanier — again, a phenomenal school. I think it was opened in 1967. They’ll be celebrating their 50th anniversary in several years. My father taught there. I taught there. In fact, I even went to daycare in G.P. Vanier. It was built of cinder block construction, so I look forward, as we go forward, to seeing some seismic work being done on that. I know the work is underway.

[1720]

Lastly, something I’m incredibly proud of because our community got together and did so much work. The Minister of Health has talked about, and the Minister of Finance as well, how we’re going to continue to invest in hospice and double the number of beds by 2020. Well, I want to thank St. Joe’s. I want to thank the Comox Valley Hospice Society and Island Health for their efforts to make sure that these beds are going to become a reality.

I look forward to inviting all colleagues of this chamber to come to the Comox Valley sometime probably in June to see these four beds open. I know we’ve worked so hard, like many communities have, to make that a reality.

You know, you balance your budget so you can make investments, make opportunity for your citizens. I believe that on this side of the House we have done that for the last 12 years, the last 13 or 14 years. We do it because we make those strategic investments.

Our work is not done. We will continue to look at opportunities and look at ways we can continue to improve lives, especially for vulnerable British Columbians. But I think that if people look at the comments I’ve made in the last half hour, you see there are real, tangible results. When the glass is half full, when you have an optimistic kind of outlook, you can make these choices. So I say I support the balanced budget 2015, and I look forward to hearing the comments from the members opposite, and their sunny dispositions, in the near future.

S. Fraser: It’s always great to be up in the House, and it’s great to follow the member for Comox Valley. I am an eternal optimist in my personal life and professional life. Some of the things I’ll say during this response to the budget speech may seem like a glass half empty, but it’s not because of my nature of being a pessimist.

The budget — we’ve heard it many times, of course, from government members — is a balanced budget. That does not tell the whole story. It’s a balanced budget, yet the total debt will increase by $4.4 billion over the next three years because of borrowing and spending and capital spending. It’s a balanced budget, yet the total government debt will rise from $66 billion to over $70 billion.

A balanced budget, yes, but it doesn’t tell the story of how this budget affects 98 percent of British Columbians. Two percent of British Columbians are very, very happy with this. Their glass is overflowing. They have been given, the top 2 percent income earners in this province, a huge, huge gift. I don’t even believe they asked for it, but this budget provides a $236 million tax benefit to the 2 percent that need it the least, and it’s paid for by the other 98 percent of the citizens of British Columbia. So it’s balanced, yet it is ridiculously unfair.

For British Columbians we’re seeing a massive increase in regressive taxation. I know we’ve never really had that debate in this House, but there is a difference in taxation and taxation forms between progressive and regressive taxation. Most of the world knows that regressive taxation exacerbates inequality in our world, and we’re see-
[ Page 6081 ]
ing way too much of that. I’m going to touch on that a bit later. I’m going to cite an Oxfam report that came out earlier this year.

However, for the people of British Columbia, Budget 2015 means a 6 percent hike on hydro rates, which have already been increasing very quickly. I have members in my constituency that have had their hydro cut off. They can’t afford to pay any longer. It’s going up another 6 percent in this budget.

MSP rates yet again — another hike of 4 percent. ICBC rates up again, another raise — 5.2 percent. I think last year it was over 6 percent for ICBC. Ferry fares again — another 3.9 percent rate hike April 1. Tuition fees up 2 percent — that’s the maximum that the government can do with their cap.

[1725]

The people of British Columbia are generating $714 million more in this budget than they had to pay last year, and this is not based on their ability to pay. This is a regressive form of…. It’s sort of a flat tax.

Let me give you an example. If you make $31,000 a year, your MSP payment will go up — what did I say? — 4 percent, on top of yearly rate increases. If you’re making $31,000, it goes up 4 percent; if you’re making $31 million per year, it goes up the same — 4 percent. This exacerbates the difference between those that have and those that have not. This takes money out of the pockets of people that most need it and actually, by tax voodoo, gives it to those that least need it — a $236 million bonus to the top 2 percent income-makers.

I read an interesting article in the Times Colonist a few days ago. I’m going to cite from that article, and I’ll note the author when I’m done.

“Government policies should be designed to help citizens as they try to move up the economic ladder, not penalize them for trying. On that count, this week’s budget from Finance Minister” — I won’t say his name — “is an abject failure.

“In its budget highlights the government presented four scenarios to bolster its case that ‘British Columbians continue to have one of the lowest overall tax burdens in Canada.’”

We hear this time and again in this House from government members.

“But buried deep in another budget document, on page 106 of the three-year fiscal plan, are two other scenarios, and strangely, B.C. doesn’t fare quite as well in comparison.

“If we accept the government’s numbers at face value” — sometimes it’s difficult from this side of the House, but if we do — “a single individual earning $80,000 in British Columbia would have the lowest tax burden in Canada. Yet a single individual earning $25,000 has the third-lowest burden in Canada. A two-income family of four earning $90,000 has the second-lowest burden, but a two-income family of four earning $30,000 has the fourth-lowest.”

Now, I know that might have been lost on some of the observers. The author goes on to encapsulate that.

“Notice a pattern? The wealthier you are in British Columbia, the lower the comparative burden when compared to other provinces.

“Undoubtedly, it’s a coincidence, but surely no government would stoop so low as to design fiscal scenarios that were the most favourable for their political spin, such as setting income levels marginally below where the full impact of MSP premiums might kick in, which would likely throw some of those favourable interprovincial comparisons right out the window.

“It’s why what other provinces say about tax burdens is so fascinating.”

The author goes on to say:

“According to the Saskatchewan government’s intercity comparison, a family living in Vancouver, earning $50,000 in 2014” — Vancouver, of course, is in British Columbia — “had the highest tax burden of the ten cities included in the analysis, including property tax. A family earning $75,000 was a little bit better off, fifth highest.

“Numbers compiled by the Manitoba government don’t back up B.C., either.”

Some of the statements made by the minister, either.

“A single parent with one child, earning $30,000, would have a lower tax burden in seven other provinces than they do in B.C. A two-income household of four, earning $60,000, would have a lower tax burden in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

“But what’s really killing off the economic hopes of most British Columbians is the incessant nickel-and-diming by a government that lacks the political will to set personal income tax rates at a level where the tax burden is shared fully and fairly.

“Whether it’s a B.C. Hydro rate increase,” which I have cited, “an Insurance Corporation of B.C. premium hike,” which I’ve also cited and will get back to, “or a rise in MSP premiums,” which I’ve also alluded to, “they’re all just another way for the B.C. government to pick the pockets of taxpayers. And since incomes rarely factor into the equation with regressive taxation,” which I have talked about, “it’s generally those who can least afford the hit who get hurt the most.

[1730]

“According to an analysis by PBI Actuarial Consultants, MSP premiums for a family of three or more have gone up by 33 percent since 2009, while per-capita health care costs increased by only 15 percent. PBI notes that since ‘all families with an adjusted net household income over $30,000 pay the same flat MSP rate,’” which I also alluded to, “‘the lower the income above $30,000, the higher the impact of the premiums increase will be.’

“And since premium assistance levels aren’t indexed to the cost of living, every pay raise for someone on premium assistance risks putting them a little further behind the eight ball as that assistance begins to cut out. The last time that the limit for MSP assistance was changed was in 2010, when it was raised from $28,000 to $30,000.

“By 2017-2018 the B.C. government forecasts that MSP premiums will bring in $2.666 billion” — it has a satanic ring to it — “or $1.06 billion more than they did in 2009-2010. The revenue it generates will be $18 million shy of what the government forecasts its royalties will be from natural gas, forestry and mining combined.

“It would seem the B.C. government has found its own prosperity fund in MSP premiums.”

This was from an article in the Times Colonist that Dermod Travis wrote on February 20. I’ve seen in the paper and in much of the press that it has got a huge reaction. It resonates with the public in British Columbia, and the truth of it is compelling: a balanced budget, yet this budget hurts the majority of British Columbians, and it hurts those that can least afford it.

That is, in its essence, the definition of regressive taxation — a move away from charging taxes on a progressive scale for those that can afford it. I remember reading an article by Warren Buffett in the United States talking about some of the policies in that country — of course a multi-billionaire, a very successful business person. He
[ Page 6082 ]
was commenting that his secretary — who made $50,000 a year, he said — was paying a higher rate of tax than he was, making billions of dollars.

We’re seeing a government that is fixated on trying to exacerbate that difference — ensuring that those that have the majority of the wealth in the province get even more, at the expense of the rest of the people of British Columbia. That’s, in essence, what this budget stands for.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

The budget did not mention the $236 million tax cut for the top 2 percent income earners. If you make over $150,000 — if you are fortunate enough in this province to make that kind of income — you’ll start getting an increase. At $250,000 a year, you’ll get $2,000 more in your pocket. If you make $1 million, it is $17,000 in your pocket. And a person making the $1 million — and getting the $17,000 back in this budget — pays the same MSP premium increase as the person making $31,000.

We can see where this goes. This is a philosophy of government that is creating great hardship, not just in British Columbia but all over the world.

[1735]

Wealth: Having It All and Wanting More — it’s a research paper published by Oxfam on January 19 of this year. They could well be writing about B.C. Budget 2015. It shows that the richest 1 percent have seen their share of global wealth increase from 44 percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014. At this rate, it will be more than 50 percent in 2016. That’s extreme inequality.

The combined wealth of the richest 1 percent will overtake that of the other 99 percent of people next year unless the current trend of rising inequality is checked. That’s what Oxfam warns. The government probably didn’t read that report, or if they did, it didn’t fit into their philosophical outlook on budgeting in this province.

Of the remaining 52 percent of global wealth, almost all — that’s 46 percent — is owned by the rest of the richest fifth percent of the world’s population. The other 80 percent share just 5.5 percent and had an average wealth of $3,851 per adult. That’s 1/700 of the average wealth of the 1 percent.

I know these statistics are sometimes confusing. If you get a grasp of them, they’re staggering in their highlighting the inequality that we’re rolling through in this world and in this province.

The executive director of Oxfam International said: “Do we really want to live in a world where the 1 percent own more than the rest of us combined? The scale of global inequality is quite simply staggering, and despite the issues shooting up the global agenda, the gap between the richest and the rest is widening fast.” These are words of wisdom.

She continues. “In the past 12 months we have seen world leaders from President Obama to Christine Lagarde talk more about tackling extreme inequality, but we are still waiting for many of them to walk the walk. It is time our leaders took on the powerful vested interests that stand in the way of a fairer and more prosperous world.”

Well, we’re not seeing a government in British Columbia that is taking on the powerful vested interests that stand in the way of a fair and more prosperous British Columbia. What we’re seeing is a government that’s pandering to the top 2 percent of income earners in this province. That’s what Budget 2015 is all about.

The executive director of Oxfam goes on to say: “Business as usual for the elite isn’t a cost-free option. Failure to tackle inequality will set the fight against poverty back decades. The poor are hurt twice by rising inequality. They get a smaller share of the economic pie.” The prosperous world should make tackling inequality a top priority.

We’re seeing a government…. This is a textbook case of a government that is doing exactly the opposite of what Oxfam has been warning us.

Oxfam went on to suggest that business must act. Business has to be part of this too. Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, chief executive officer of E.L. Rothschild and chairman of the Coalition for Inclusion Capitalism, who spoke at a joint Oxfam–University of Oxford event on equality, called on business leaders meeting in Davos to play their part in tackling extreme inequality.

She said: “Oxfam’s report is just the latest evidence that inequality has reached shocking extremes and continues to grow. It is time for the global leaders of modern capitalism, in addition to our politicians, to work to change the system to make it more inclusive, more equitable and more sustainable.” That is the role of government — in British Columbia’s case, to ensure that British Columbians receive a fair share of the common wealth of this province.

[1740]

Ms. Rothschild goes on to say: “Extreme inequality isn’t just a moral wrong. It undermines economic growth, and it threatens the private sector’s bottom line. All those gathering at Davos who want a stable and prosperous world should make tackling inequality a top priority.” That was the message that went out earlier this year to the world community.

“Oxfam made headlines at Davos last year with revelations that the 85 richest people on the planet have the same wealth as the poorest 50 percent, 3.5 billion people. That figure is now 80, a dramatic fall from 388 of the richest people in 2010. The wealth of the richest 80 doubled in cash terms between 2009 and 2014.” So this is accelerating. This is a pattern. This government is part of the problem.

Now, the international agency is calling on governments to adopt a seven-point plan to tackle inequality. British Columbia has the appalling statistic — and has
[ Page 6083 ]
for almost as long as I’ve been sitting in this House, almost ten years now — of the worst child poverty rate in the country. That’s a terrible statistic that we have in British Columbia. If there were ever a government that should heed what the international agency is calling on governments to do, to adopt a seven-point plan to tackle inequality….

There doesn’t seem to be any sign of this getting through. Giving $230 million to the top 2 percent at the expense of the other 98 percent, especially hurting those, in an exorbitant way, at the very low end and squeezing the middle class to the point where they’re not in the middle class anymore — that’s the result of these policies we see in Budget 2015.

Let’s see how they’re doing on the seven-point plan urged by the international agency. One is to clamp down on tax dodging by corporations and rich individuals. Well, there’s no sign of that in this budget. I mean, the wealthiest individuals are getting a bonus they didn’t even ask for — a huge bonus, $236 million.

The second point in the plan to tackle inequality is for governments to invest in universal, free public services such as health and education. Well, well. Look at this. We’re seeing more downloading on our schools and on our school boards in this budget.

Anybody that knows anything about our educational system in this province…. Great teachers. Great people that do great work with our students. They’ve been cutting not to the bone but to the marrow for years. They’ve been on their own austerity plan, and it has hurt students in this province for 12 years. The changes made by this government were done contrary to the constitution of Canada.

If there was a government that was doing the complete opposite of what the international agency is calling for — government to invest in universal, free public services such as health and education — well, education doesn’t get it. Health care premiums have been going through the roof, and the cost of that has been most dramatic on those that can least afford it.

The third point in the plan for tackling inequality urged by the international agency, to governments…. Here’s a government with a budget. Here was their opportunity. The third one is to share the tax burden fairly, shifting taxation from labour and consumption towards capital and wealth.

Well, this is the opposite of what this government did. They handed $236 million to the richest 2 percent, and they had the other 98 percent pay for it. Again, $31,000 you’re making a year. You pay the same health premiums as the person making $31 million a year.

[1745]

This is not shifting taxation. It’s not making the people share the tax burden fairly. This is the opposite. It’s the polar opposite. This is unfair.

The fourth point in the plan that was highlighted at Davos last year is to introduce minimum wages and move towards a living wage for all workers.

Well, besides the Premier’s first move to raise minimum wage, which we on this side had been pushing for…. I will give credit where credit is due. The Premier did that. [Applause.] Please take it. We need to recognize when government does make the right decisions. Right now, we’re seeing that that is not enough. Many are calling for more. We need that debate in this House.

I know the member for Nanaimo touched on this earlier today, but $230 million plus to the top 2 percent isn’t going to get spent in the local economies. An incremental raise in the cost of living will. It’s a grass-roots way of supporting local economies, local communities, and it makes all the difference in the world to those people that are on the edge of poverty or in poverty themselves.

We know that British Columbia has a bad record. I mentioned that already: the highest child poverty in the country. An increase of $1 an hour in minimum wage can make a huge difference. Many of the people that are poor in this province and part of that grim statistic are working poor — a large and growing number of people in this province. Often both parents in families working multiple jobs are still not able to make ends meet.

Again, what they’re saying in Davos, what Oxfam is saying, what international agencies are saying, urging governments all over the world, is to make the changes necessary. There was a change made, and then it stopped. Then we see other changes, which far eclipse that, that benefit those that need it the least, actually.

Number 5 on the points that this government, all governments, should be introducing is equal pay legislation and promoting economic policies to give women a fair deal. There’s nothing in the budget dealing with that, so I’ll move on to point 6: ensure adequate safety nets for the poorest, including a minimum income guarantee.

Again, I’ll give credit where credit is due. The government took away that punitive clawback to single parents with disabilities. I applaud those parents who took time that they little could afford to try to lobby this government. I applaud members on the opposition side for taking that battle forward in this House. The government did the right thing here, but it was the wrong thing in the first place. So again, credit where credit is due. A victory for equality and justice.

Then the seventh point is to agree to a global goal to tackle inequality. Again, this is a budget that increases the inequality in this province. In every one of the seven points listed by the international agency, this government has failed, and failed dismally.

Oxfam is concerned that the lobbying power of these sectors is a major barrier in the way of reforming the global tax system and of ensuring intellectual property rules do not lead to the world’s poorest being denied life-saving medicines. It’s another issue. It’s not directly related to Budget 2015, but it’s part of a pattern.
[ Page 6084 ]

There is increasing evidence from the International Monetary Fund, among others, that extreme inequality is not just bad news for those at the bottom but also damages economic growth.

I know we’ve all read the reports — poverty, homelessness, tragedies. They speak badly of societies that allow them to happen unchecked. They’re also costly to the economy. It’s more costly to have poverty and homelessness than it does to fix those problems. It just takes the will of government to do the right thing, and this government is making the wrong choices.

[1750]

The member for Comox Valley, who spoke before me, spoke of government making tough choices. They did not. The tough choices come from the people of British Columbia, the 98 percent that were left out of this budget. The tough choices come from those people that have to make a decision about putting a meal on the table or paying the rent. Those people, far too many people in this province, were abandoned in this budget.

Yes, a balanced budget, yet…. Thank you.

J. Tegart: On behalf of my constituents of Fraser-Nicola, it’s a pleasure and an honour to provide my comments on Budget 2015 during this fourth session of the 40th parliament. There are many, many things debated on the floor of this House, and while members often disagree on a number of issues, the one thing that we all agree on is that British Columbia is a very special place to live and work.

My riding of Fraser-Nicola is no exception. From Princeton to Cache Creek, from Gold Bridge to Lillooet, from Lytton to Merritt and every other community in between, the natural beauty of Fraser-Nicola is unmatched in British Columbia. It offers a broad range of recreational opportunities and is a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds, including sport fishing, heli-skiing, snowmobiling, mountain biking, horseback riding, camping, hiking and much more.

Forestry, mining, agriculture and a variety of other industries like transportation and ranching are the lifeblood of our communities. I will be addressing all of these industries and how Budget 2015 will benefit these industries in Fraser-Nicola.

But before I begin, I’d like to say what an honour it is to serve Fraser-Nicola as their MLA. I am fortunate to have excellent staff in my constituency, and I would like to thank Lori, Nicole and Shirley for all that they do for my constituents.

A few weeks ago I assumed the responsibility as the chair of the government caucus. While the job description may elude most people, I am basically the chair of the 48 members of the B.C. Liberal caucus. My job is to serve as a conduit between my fellow MLAs and the Premier’s office and keep the Premier up to date on concerns and ideas expressed by each of them. I’m truly honoured to hold this post.

Before coming to the Legislature, I’ve had the opportunity to serve as a school board member for 17 years, serving as chair for 15 of them. During that time I also served as president of the B.C. School Trustees Association, as a facilitator for B.C. Healthy Communities and as a coordinator for Community Futures.

While the job as caucus chair may seem a little intimidating at first, all in all, you could say I am the type of person who’s not shy about speaking my mind. But then again, the Premier is no shrinking violet herself. I can assure you the Premier is truly interested in creating dialogue, and she has told me on more than one occasion that she wants to do everything possible to spark economic activity and generate job growth in Fraser-Nicola.

For too long, my riding of Fraser-Nicola has been shut off from government and lacked the type of representation it desperately needed to reach its full potential. Now all that has changed, and I intend to use my term in office to make sure that my riding benefits from everything government has to offer to the people of Fraser-Nicola. That includes all the benefits included in Budget 2015.

Much has been said about having a balanced budget. In fact, our critics have been quite vocal about government being quite determined to balance the books — not just this year but three years in a row. They say that all we care about is crunching the numbers and focusing on the bottom line.

[1755]

That is not what a balanced budget is all about. It also means balancing all of the demands on the public purse, especially once a government begins to generate a small surplus, and deliver them in a thoughtful way to British Columbians most in need.

In fact, the hallmark of this government is to help British Columbians struggling at the low end of the income scale and make them our first priority. Things like committing an additional $1 million toward the B.C. school fruit and vegetable nutrition program, which benefits close to half a million children. This new funding will ensure that milk continues to be provided free of charge to participating schools, including First Nations bands. Things like child care.

Starting on April 1 of this year, approximately 180,000 families across British Columbia will begin receiving the B.C. early childhood tax benefit. It provides up to $660 a year for each child under the age of six to help offset the cost of child care.

As a caucus, we also decided that effective September 1 of this year, parents receiving income assistance will not see their benefits reduced when they receive child support payments from non-custodial parents. This means parents can keep every dollar they receive in child support. That translates into $32 million over three years for some of the neediest children and families in British Columbia. I know there are many families in Fraser-Nicola that will benefit as a result of these measures.
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[Madame Speaker in the chair.]

To support those most in need in British Columbia, other measures include an additional $106 million over the next three years to Community Living B.C. to support people with developmental disabilities. There will also be an additional $20 million for income assistance programs. While these are small steps, they are the first steps the government is taking as we emerge stronger and able to target those most in need. That’s what defines a balanced budget.

My riding has a rich First Nations heritage that we are very proud of. There are 26 First Nations bands in Fraser-Nicola, and aboriginal people are an integral part of our communities. As their MLA, I am proud to represent their interests in government and to advance the goals of building a strong and prosperous future in their communities.

Madame Speaker, in anticipation of the vote that is scheduled to take place on the amendment, I shall adjourn my participation in this debate and reserve my right to continue.

Madame Speaker: Hon. Members, pursuant to Standing Order 45A, a division must now be called on the amendment to the budget, standing in the name of the member for Surrey-Whalley on the orders of the day. As such, the division bells will now be rung.

[1800-1805]

Hon. Members, the question is the amendment to the budget, which reads:

“Be it resolved that the motion ‘That the Speaker do now leave the Chair’ for the House to go into Committee of Supply be amended by adding the following:

“‘That the government report in the third quarter of this fiscal year on progress towards their commitment to have one LNG plant and processing facility up and running by 2015; to open eight new mines by 2015; and their commitment to ensure every British Columbian has access to a general practitioner by 2015; and that the government maintain the personal income tax regime for individuals earning over $150,000 per year.’”

Amendment negatived on the following division:

On the main motion.

J. Tegart: I invite everyone to stay. It’s a great day. A person can always wish.

My riding has a rich First Nations heritage that we are very proud of. There are 26 First Nations bands in Fraser-Nicola, and aboriginal people are an integral part of our communities. As their MLA, I’m proud to represent their interest to government and to advance their goals of building a strong and prosperous future.

As part of the B.C. skills-for-jobs blueprint, the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology will soon have a new trades-training facility where aboriginal students can receive training for jobs in LNG and other in-demand sectors. The new trades-training facility will create spaces for an additional 40 electrical, plumbing and piping foundation students each year at NVIT, where aboriginal students make up about 80 percent of its enrolment.

Located at NVIT’s campus in Merritt, the 670-square-metre trades facility is scheduled to open next year. As announced, as part of the B.C. skills-for-jobs blueprint last year, our government is investing $185 million in trades and skills infrastructure and equipment projects around the province, including at NVIT. In addition, a $366,000 investment has been made to give 95 aboriginal students from Fraser-Nicola access to a variety of programs at NVIT and Thompson Rivers University, helping these students start their careers and further their post-secondary education.

Just last week I had the pleasure of attending the announcement of a small but significant trades initiative in the South Cariboo community of Clinton. It was for the opening of the Interior mobile trades trailer which will train young welding students at home in Clinton, which means students don’t have to move away to Kamloops, Prince George or Vancouver to learn their new trade.

How often have we heard the term “brain drain” to de-
[ Page 6086 ]
scribe when bright young people are forced to move away from home to further their education, never to return except for the occasional visit? By learning their trade at home, chances are good that most will stay in their home region when they start their careers, strengthening and building a prosperous future for small communities.

[1810]

Of the one million job openings expected by 2022 in B.C., 43 percent will require trades or technical training. Our government is determined to train young British Columbians to fill those well-paying jobs, and training as many of them as possible where they live is vital to keeping them in their home region.

The B.C. jobs plan also created the Aboriginal Business and Investment Council to work with First Nations to create new economic partnerships. We are committed to continuing our partnerships with First Nations to spark investment, create jobs and provide economic benefits for First Nations bands and all British Columbians.

We believe the LNG industry will provide untold benefits to British Columbians for years to come. We’re determined to seize this opportunity and become a world leader in energy export. To achieve this, we will take advantage of our world-class port in Vancouver and our expanding ports at Prince Rupert and Kitimat, where most of B.C.’s LNG proposals are concentrated.

Looking inland from the coast to my riding, the Ashcroft Terminal inland port is a key terminal for B.C.’s expanding trade sector. The Ashcroft Terminal has significantly expanded capacity for B.C. exports by connecting our coastal ports to the vast North American rail links through the CP Rail and CN Rail networks. The Ashcroft Terminal will be a major employer in my region and will benefit the Ashcroft area and the region as a whole.

When people ask me what LNG has to do with some of the small communities in my area, it’s these kinds of opportunities that make people realize what an important initiative this is.

Forestry is another industry that is very important to the economic well-being of my riding, as it is for B.C. in general. I’m incredibly proud of the fact that B.C. has expanded and diversified its markets abroad and is finding more customers for B.C.-made products. The forest industry, in particular, is reaping benefits with B.C.’s emphasis on expanding its presence in China, which was a minor customer only 15 years ago but now consumes more than a quarter of B.C.’s softwood lumber exports.

Another emerging market for B.C. lumber is India. Our Premier made a trade mission to India in October, which followed a trade mission by the Minister of Forests to promote B.C. forest products in Japan, South Korea and China. Missions such as these are crucial in building stronger relationships with trade partners, result in new investment and spark economic activity and job creation throughout the province.

This is certainly important in my constituency of Fraser-Nicola, where hundreds of families depend on these jobs. They depend on a strong forestry sector. By continuing to take advantage of expanding markets for B.C. forest products, we will ensure a bright future for the forest industry, which will benefit the many forestry-dependent communities throughout the province.

B.C. softwood lumber, of course, has made incredible inroads overseas, but let us not forget the opportunities presented by the bioenergy created from wood waste. More emphasis is being placed on bioenergy development for green solutions to electricity and heating needs.

In my constituency the Merritt green energy project is a leading example of how we are creating greener energy from renewable resources. In China the appetite for energy to keep their economy growing provides a wonderful opportunity for B.C. to supply bioenergy solutions to this market. When it opens up next year, the Merritt green energy project will be a state-of-the-art facility and one of the largest and most efficient biomass plants in North America.

It will produce 40 megawatts of renewable energy for the B.C. Hydro grid, using 307,000 metric tonnes of biomass, mostly sawmill waste from local mills. That’s enough energy to power 40,000 homes with clean energy.

[1815]

It’s the equivalent of removing an estimated 95,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere or removing about 45,000 cars off the road.

The project will also open many doors for skilled workers, with an estimated 250 jobs being created during the construction phase and 80 new direct and indirect jobs over the plant’s operation. First Nations in the community will also benefit, thanks to an agreement between the plant’s proponents and the Lower Nicola Indian Band to provide that community with employment and investment opportunities.

First Nations are also sharing in the benefits of my riding’s robust mining industry. B.C. is the first province to share mineral tax revenue with First Nations whose traditional territories are impacted by new or expanded mines. These revenues ensure current and future generations of First Nations share in the benefits mining brings to towns throughout British Columbia.

I have firsthand knowledge of how important mining is to our communities and to families in rural B.C. Three generations of my family have worked in the mines in Fraser-Nicola. My grandfather, father, husband and four brothers have worked in mines in Copper Mountain, Bethlehem Copper and Highland Valley Copper. Their work in the mining industry provided all the necessities and allowed us to live in one of the most beautiful areas in British Columbia.

Mining has played a key role in building and shaping our communities, dating back to the gold rushes of the 19th century that led to the development of many Fraser-
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Nicola communities. Mining continues to play a key role in Fraser-Nicola by providing opportunities for young families who set down roots in our communities.

Our government continues to invest heavily in ensuring our transportation networks are world-class. In my riding we continue to add more four-lane sections to the Cariboo connector between Cache Creek and Prince George. We are also addressing safety issues on Highway 5A, the old highway between Merritt and Kamloops, which sees a lot of heavy truck traffic.

Also of particular interest to people in my riding is a promise in this budget to expand high-speed Internet to rural areas. Our government has promised to expand high-speed Internet to every remote area of British Columbia by 2021, but we are pledging to improve on that promise by completing the project even sooner thanks to our matching of partner contributions of up to $10 million over the next two years.

This will give more people access to important features, such as on-line courses to further their education and telehealth, which puts patients in remote areas in touch with health professionals without having to travel great distances to get to an appointment. Telehealth reduces the travel burden, particularly for elderly people and those with young children; provides access to a wider range of specialist advice and services; and delivers faster, more efficient health care by using technology to eliminate the barrier of long distances.

We’ve always said our commitment to health care is world-class. Now we have proof. The Conference Board of Canada recently ranked B.C. number one in Canada on health performance, and around the world only Switzerland and Sweden ranked higher than our province. British Columbians love living here, and statistically, we live as long as anyone anywhere in the world — 82.2 years, according to the Conference Board of Canada’s study.

For this and many other reasons, including the few I’ve touched on today, it is my pleasure to add my support to Budget 2015.

[1820]

S. Chandra Herbert: Well, here we go.

Budget 2015 — a document which, to be fair, most people in B.C. will not lay their eyes on, nor will they lay eyes on this debate. However, our job as legislators is to listen to our citizens, listen to our constituents, look for the best evidence, make the best case for what would work for our communities, what would work the best for the province of British Columbia and what would work long term too — not just thinking of today, not just thinking of the short term, but thinking long term about the decisions that we make and their impacts.

A budget is a political document. It lays out who a government is looking after, who they’re looking out for, who are top priorities. I just think that we need to think on this for a moment. What did the budget tell us about what this government’s priority is? If we think about who gets the benefit, if you look at money — if you’re looking at a financial benefit, who benefited financially the most from this government’s budget — well, it would be the top 2 percent income earners.

Now, there are a number in my constituency who probably fit into that top 2 percent of income earners, those earning over $150,000. But every one that I’ve talked to said they’re doing pretty well. They didn’t need that money. They didn’t need the $230 million that this government has written off by giving the top 2 percent income earners a major tax break. They said no.

Those that I’ve spoken with have said no, that their priorities are more about community cohesion. Their priorities are about making sure everybody else has a chance to get ahead, has a chance to live life, fulfil their dreams, see their futures bright. They don’t see that in too many parts of this province.

For those that are in the 2 percent, and the 98 percent that aren’t making that kind of money, I would say that this budget has failed them, because $230 million is a big chunk of change.

That’s a lot of money, when you think about how much was spent to help the single mother who has been fighting for her children, to actually get the money owed to her child from the father — the clawback as it has been called. How much did that really cost this government — $8 million, $9 million, maybe $10 million? That was something that they shouted out from the rooftops that they were doing because they cared about the vulnerable.

Well, $10 million for those who are most vulnerable, who have nothing, versus $230 million given to those with the most. It kind of says right there — a stark division — what the government’s priorities are.

What about all those people in between? What about those who are not the super rich? What about those who are not the super poor — those average citizens that make up most of our constituencies?

Well, in my constituency…. I thought I should sort this budget through for what concerns are being raised by my constituents and by organizations in my community. In the end, I’m just one person. We are all just individuals here trying to do the best we can, as we know, some with different priorities than others. But we learn and we do our best when we actually listen to citizens, when we learn from each other, when we reach out for advice.

What have constituents told me? What are the constituents who are not in that top 2 percent but those just trying to make a living telling me — those just going to school, going to work, maybe retired? What do they tell me? They tell me that right now things are tighter. They’ve seen rents go up each and every year.

Now, that’s not the government forcing the rent higher, although they are the ones that add it on the rent hike, the 2 percent plus inflation. Ontario does not have legis-
[ Page 6088 ]
lation like that. They say just the cost of inflation is the cost of a rent increase.

No, these are folks being hit every year by an increase in medical services premiums. My folks tell me, my constituents tell me: “Why am I paying the same MSP hike as somebody who is making $1 million? How is that fair? How is that sharing? How is that community?” And they’re right.

Why do I focus so much on sharing, community? The West End is a small riding, geographically, but we fit a lot of people into a tiny space. We know a lot about sharing. We share parking spaces, if you have a car. Most people don’t. We share the bus. We share the community centre. We share the streets, which for many folks, are their living rooms. We share the restaurants, which for some folks, are their kitchens because these apartments are so small.

We share the air we breathe, because you can smell what your neighbour is cooking. You can hear what your neighbour is watching on TV because people live stacked on top of each other in little shoeboxes, for the most part. Some live in houses, but those are often split up into little shoeboxes, as well, because the land is so expensive.

[1825]

We have a great quality of life in the West End. It’s an incredible place to live. Our province is an incredible place to live. But we are challenged. Just because one is doing very well does not mean all are.

Again, I return to my constituents — those who are not in the top 2 percent who got the $230 million tax break but those who are seeing MSP rise, who are seeing their hydro bills go up and, as I mentioned, their rents. Other fees that government puts on a whole bunch of different projects and different….

Whether it’s your cost of going to get your eyes checked, whether it’s seeing costs in other forms or whether it’s your pharmacy bills, as some seniors have raised with me recently — those have been going up. Their wages have not, by and large. So it’s hard.

Each year people will show me their budgets. And they budget. They do their best to have a balanced budget in their own homes because they think that’s important. But they’re finding that the government has been shifting more of the debt burden on to them — more and more of it on to them.

They’re concerned. Not only are they concerned about balanced budgets. They’re concerned about a balanced community, where everybody has an equal opportunity to succeed, where we treat the environment as if we want to leave it better, healthier, more lively, with more diverse species and with a better climate than we have ourselves today.

When I think about organizations, I think about an organization that unites the community — Gordon Neighbourhood House. It’s an organization that works hard to connect vulnerable people to services and to build community between people of all different walks of life.

I think about their focus on food security. They’ve often raised this issue with me — that they don’t think people should have to line up in long lines just to get expired produce because they are poor or because they are working but still can’t make enough money to properly feed their family. They think food security is vital — incredible programs around food security, community gardens and those kinds of things.

I see the Speaker would like me to continue more tomorrow. I understand we are approaching 6:30, so I will move adjournment of the debate and reserve my right to speak at the next opportunity.

S. Chandra Herbert moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. T. Lake moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

Madame Speaker: This House, at its rising, stands adjourned until 1:30 tomorrow afternoon.

The House adjourned at 6:27 p.m.

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