2016 Legislative Session: Fifth 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)

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 32, Number 2

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

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016

The House met at 1:34 p.m.

[Madame Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Prayers.

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Introductions by Members

L. Reimer: It’s my absolute pleasure to welcome a wonderful group of students from the Tri-Cities to the Legislature this afternoon. My constituent Harriette Chang, school counsellor at Maple Creek Middle School, and 27 students and parents are visiting the Legislature to mark the tenth anniversary of their Real Acts of Caring initiative, which started in school district 43 schools and has spread across the province. Would the House please join me in a warm welcome for Ms. Chang, her students and parents.

Hon. S. Bond: I’m very pleased today to introduce two MLAs, one present and one past. We’re delighted to welcome Karla MacFarlane here. She is the MLA for Pictou West in Nova Scotia, serving her first time. I know the Speaker has made her feel very welcome this morning, and we’re delighted to have her joining us here on the floor of the House. So welcome.

And a previous MLA in this House — someone who is a very good personal friend. He was my work partner for a very long period of time. He now, though, is the current owner and creator of Northern Lights Estate Winery, proving there is life after politics. He has done a fantastic job of building a new winery in our community. Pat worked very hard to serve the constituents of northern British Columbia. I’m most delighted to welcome back to our House, in a different seat today, Pat Bell.

J. Horgan: I want to join the member for Prince George to welcome Pat back. I’d like to be able to say: “Pat Bell, Pat Bell, Pat Bell.” I couldn’t say that before. Pat distinguished himself by sitting down beside me at the press gallery dinner the first time I was there, making me feel at ease in his Hawaiian shirt, and we were sort of friends ever since.

I also want to follow the lead of the minister by introducing two new MLAs that were here yesterday, but because of decorum I wasn’t allowed to introduce them. They’ll be taking their seats next Wednesday — about there and there. It will be Melanie Mark and Jodie Wickens. I know the House will make them very, very welcome at that time.

Hon. S. Cadieux: It’s an honour today to introduce to the House a couple of people who work very hard in the Ministry of Children and Families. ADM of service delivery, Allison Bond, is in the gallery today, along with a brand-new executive director of service, Teresa Dobmeier. Would the House please make them welcome.

S. Robinson: I, too, would like to welcome the students that are here. But in particular, I want to acknowledge a parent of one of the students who happens to be a vice-principal of a school in Burnaby. He had been my son’s teacher when he was a teacher at Dr. Charles Best. David Mushens is here.

I want to give a very special welcome to David because he instilled in my son a passion for politics and a passion for good process. It just so happens that my son was here visiting us. Aaron Robinson was here. Aaron and Mr. Mushens have a very special relationship, and I am very pleased to see Mr. Mushens is here today.

Hon. N. Letnick: At lunches, at breakfasts, at suppers, one of the key ingredients in many, many of our meals is chicken. I’m pleased to welcome Robin Smith — and his wife, Liz — of our chicken board right here in British Columbia. Please make them feel very welcome.

Hon. N. Yamamoto: The Minister of Agriculture just beat me to the punch, but I would also like to welcome two special guests, Robin and Elizabeth Smith, who are in town for the Chicken Marketing Board. Robin is the chair. Anyways, they’ve been great friends and great supporters. Would the House please make them feel welcome.

Tributes

DEBRA HARTUNG

G. Holman: My former constituency assistant, Deb Hartung, passed away on February 3, 2016, at Lady Minto Hospital on Saltspring Island. Debra is survived by her husband, Bill Warriner; daughter Bronte; special niece Justine; brother Rick and family; and sister Tammy and family.

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Debra worked as a senior policy analyst in several roles within the Saskatchewan government. She was particularly proud of her career as an international officer with the ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs, where she met her husband, Bill. Debra had an abiding fondness for the Saskatchewan prairies and its people, but she fell in love with Saltspring on her first visit in 2010.

She moved to this special place in the summer of 2013 and began working in my office in the fall of that year. She was able to help many people in this role and was quietly instrumental in constituency issues, like Grace Islet, until she retired at 60 in October 2015.
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Debra was a long-life advocate for social justice and a consummate public servant who had worked with Premiers, yet she chose to spend the last two years of her professional life mentoring my constituency office. Her colleagues — and I’m proud to count myself as one — will always be thankful to her for sharing her experience, her calm guidance and her prairie pragmatism.

Thank you, Deb.

OLLIE CHICKITE

C. Trevena: Ollie Chickite died in November at the age of 78. Ollie had been a fisherman from the age of 14, and he worked on and was the last owner of the BCP45. That was the seiner that used to grace the $5 bill.

He took it to Expo 86, continued fishing from it and eventually retired it, handing it over to the Vancouver Maritime Museum. It didn’t get the TLC there that he thought it deserved, so he helped move it to the Campbell River Maritime Heritage Museum and led its restoration. It now graces the centre of the Campbell River Maritime Heritage Museum, and it’s well worth a visit.

In 2005, Ollie’s vessel was named a national historical site. Ollie was a member of the Wei Wai Kai First Nation. He was a gentle man, a good storyteller with a very warm laugh, a man of definite opinions, a lover of boats. Ollie will be missed by many in Cape Mudge, on Quadra Island, in Campbell River and along the coast of B.C.

Introductions by Members

M. Farnworth: I know they have already been introduced by some of my colleagues from the Tri-Cities, but I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome the students from Maple Creek Middle School, formerly known as Hastings Junior Secondary. It is in the great city of Port Coquitlam, so I would like to welcome their teacher Ms. Chang and all of those grade 8 students here today.

Would the House please make them welcome.

Ministerial Statements

BILL BENNETT

Hon. C. Clark: Last year, we lost British Columbia’s 27th Premier. I didn’t have the honour of knowing him well personally, but I know very well the example he set for his office and for this Legislature.

I was 11 years old when he became a Premier, and I was on the cusp of 21 when he retired from public life. He very much set my understanding of what a leader looks like in the time that he was the Premier of British Columbia. I became attached to him as my Premier in the way that you can only become attached to a Premier before you realize that they come and go at a pretty quick pace in British Columbia.

He left us a vast legacy of cultural and economic touchstones — the Alex Fraser Bridge, Coquihalla Highway, B.C. Place, Expo 86, the SkyTrain. They did the initial work on Site C, which we are now in the process of completing. But Bill Bennett’s impact on British Columbia and, I think, on British Columbians was so much more than just the physical legacies that he left for us.

The great social reformer Jane Addams once said that when we think of great men, it is easy to think only of their great deeds and not think enough about their great spirit. That’s what I think about when I think about Bill Bennett and his service to our province.

The stories of his cabinet’s loyalty…. I’ve heard it said that his cabinet ministers didn’t just feel respect for him but that they loved him. He let them do their jobs, let them take credit for their victories, and he commanded that respect from them because he gave it.

He had such a fierce strength in his beliefs. We all saw that. He stood up to make government smaller, not bigger. He stood up to make sure that government spent less, not more. He was attacked for it vigorously, and he never wavered from those beliefs, because he had courage.

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He had an apparently endless reservoir of will to do what he believed was right. So when all of Canada was hurting, when it became clear that in British Columbia, government was just too big and the economy was just too small, Bill Bennett decided that it was time to take it on. In one day, he tabled 26 bills in this Legislature and stepped outside to confront the biggest labour disruption in this province’s history. He was asking our public servants — it’s notable to say — to accept 14 percent and 8 percent increases over two years.

He loved this province, and he had a tremendous desire to improve it. He wanted to leave it better for the next generation, and he did that. He left us with bridges, and he left us highways. He left us a world fair. But more important, I think, was the example that he set of the tremendous courage that he always exuded in everything that he did. Those are the qualities of character that are the real legacies that Bill Bennett has left, I think, for British Columbians. Those are the things that have etched him forever into the memory of our province.

We are honoured by his love for this place. He didn’t just make our province better; he made all of us better. And he proved that leaders will never be remembered for doing the easy things. Leaders are distinguished by their willingness to do the hard things.

J. Horgan: I, on behalf of the official opposition, want to join with the Premier and all of her colleagues in commemorating the passing of William Bennett, Premier of British Columbia, distinguished public servant and someone who gave much of his life to his devotion to this province and its people.
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That career paralleled another giant in our political history, Dave Barrett, and despite their absolute differences, the two will always be joined as giant shadows cast over this jurisdiction, this institution, but also the province.

My political awakening, like the Premier’s, happened on Mr. Bennett’s watch. I remember it vividly. I got an envelope in the mail, and I said: “Hey, mom, what’s this?” She said: “They’re your BCRIC shares. I’ll give you 35 bucks for them.” I pocketed that money, and I thanked Bill Bennett for it.

Years later, I found myself on the lawns of this Legislature, on one of my first political protests, which led me taking $5 of those $35 and joining the B.C. NDP as a result of the policies — no, seriously — that the Premier references. But as a young man, as someone who did not at that time see himself in a political role, I did not understand the magnitude of his premiership and his time served for all of us here, regardless of our political stripe.

It was later, as a member of this Legislature, that a second personal moment with Bill Bennett came forward. I was giving a tour, as I often do, of the buildings, and I always take school groups to the library, which in my opinion is the most important room in this facility. One of the kids from Sooke Elementary asked me if there was a comic book in the vast collection of the library. I quickly said, “No,” to be corrected by the reference librarian, who said there is one: “Betty and Veronica go to Expo.”

So Mr. Bennett did not just have an impact in 1986 by bringing the world to Vancouver, but he also brought to the good citizens, the good students of Sooke Elementary and every student that’s come since, the knowledge that in the library here at the Legislature, Betty and Veronica went to Expo because of Bill Bennett.

I want to also add to the great list that the Premier provided of Mr. Bennett’s great accomplishments. B.C. Hydro was certainly a component part of that. Building Revelstoke was a massive achievement — and also creating the B.C. Utilities Commission to protect us from ourselves. Great achievements, a great man. He’ll be missed.

Introduction and
First Reading of Bills

BILL 5 — MISCELLANEOUS STATUTES
(SIGNED STATEMENTS) AMENDMENT ACT, 2016

Hon. S. Anton presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Miscellaneous Statutes (Signed Statements) Amendment Act, 2016.

Hon. S. Anton: I move that Bill 5 be introduced and read a first time now.

Motion approved.

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Hon. S. Anton: I’m pleased to introduce the Miscellaneous Statutes (Signed Statements) Amendment Act. This bill amends numerous statutes from across government to reduce the unnecessary use of sworn statements in many non-court-related matters. The amendments will modernize and simplify the law, improve access to justice and reduce cost, delay and inconvenience to the citizens of British Columbia. The amendments will reduce red tape.

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

Bill 5, Miscellaneous Statutes (Signed Statements) Amendment Act, 2016, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

BILL 6 — PHARMACY OPERATIONS AND
DRUG SCHEDULING AMENDMENT ACT, 2016

Hon. T. Lake presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Amendment Act, 2016.

Hon. T. Lake: I move that the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Amendment Act be introduced and read for a first time now.

Motion approved.

Hon. T. Lake: This government has made protecting patients and focusing on patient-centred care a priority for the health system here in British Columbia. The community pharmacy plays a vital role in the overall delivery of health services and meeting patient needs.

Clients go to community pharmacies to fill prescriptions, to get vaccinated, to receive medication advice and to get support while recovering from opioid addictions through methadone maintenance. Community pharmacies also offer advice through pharmacists on properly taking medication, drug safety and other topics. In fact, the community pharmacy and its pharmacists are on the front line of community health care. It’s essential, therefore, that community pharmacies are held to the highest standards.

The College of Pharmacists of British Columbia already upholds those standards for pharmacists throughout B.C. and has done a commendable job. While the vast majority of people involved in community pharmacy are honest and ethical, the college remains concerned over a small number of unscrupulous pharmacy owners. The Ministry of Health and the college share a commitment to protect pharmacy clients and honest, hard-working people involved in community pharmacy.

Last year the college approached the ministry and said it needed better tools for regulating those involved
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in community pharmacy who are not registered pharmacists. Quite often the owners and people involved in running pharmacies are not pharmacists themselves and, therefore, not regulated by the college.

That’s why we are introducing the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Amendment Act, which will give the college the tools it needs to better deal with those instances of unscrupulous owners and operations. Through these amendments, the government will continue to support the important work of the College of Pharmacists to protect patients. They’ll also help the college protect the good name of the vast majority of those in community pharmacy.

I move that the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Amendment Act be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Bill 6, Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Amendment Act, 2016, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Statements
(Standing Order 25B)

LEONARD KOOYMAN

L. Throness: I rise today to pay tribute to Leonard Kooyman, of Chilliwack, who passed away on January 21. Leonard was born in Holland in 1938. He spent his childhood with his brothers and sisters on a dairy farm in the province of Zeeland.

On February 1, 1953, the southwest of Holland suffered the worst flood in its history when a storm surge from the North Sea breached the dikes in the middle of the night and took a total of 1,800 lives. One of Leen’s brothers was lost when the family farmhouse itself was swept away while the Kooyman family took refuge in the attic.

This traumatic event made a deep spiritual impression on young Leonard and changed the course of his life. Having lost everything, the Kooyman family immigrated to Canada, where they purchased a farm on Prairie Central Road in Chilliwack. It remains their central farmsite today.

Leen married Gerda in 1964, and together they brought new meaning to the term “family farm.” With seven boys and three girls, there was no shortage of labour, and as the size of the family grew, so did the size of their herd. Other local farms were purchased, and today the Kooyman children and grandchildren operate Canada’s largest dairy farm.

In spite of his personal and professional success, Leen was a quiet and humble man. It was important to him to acknowledge God as the giver of all blessings and to use them responsibly. In addition to his business activities, Leen served as a deacon of the Bethel Netherlands Reformed Congregation in Chilliwack for 30 years, retiring from that position just last year.

Leonard was a leader in his family, his community and his industry, and his loss will be keenly felt. The condolences of this House go to Gerda, their ten children, 45 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. Well done, good and faithful servant.

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INTERNMENT OF ITALIAN CANADIANS
DURING WORLD WAR II

K. Conroy: On January 10, the Trail and District Library opened the exhibit Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Times: Italian Canadian internment experiences. This project commemorates the experience of Italian Canadians during World War II.

On June 10, 1940, Mussolini joined the war. Within minutes of this announcement, the Canadian government gave the RCMP orders to arrest Italian Canadians considered a threat to the nation’s security. Thirty-one thousand were officially designated as enemy aliens. Of these, about 600 were taken from their homes and separated from their families.

Viewed as fascist supporters and even spies, they were held in prisons and remote camps. None of them were ever formally charged in a court of law. They all felt the repercussions. In many cases, these events contributed to fear and hostilities in their communities across Canada, leading to loss of work, vandalism, verbal abuse and violence.

In Trail, seven men were arrested that June. Eugenio Della Lana, Ermando Cecconi, Pompilio Di Vito and Augusto Secco were all released one month later. Silvio Romano was not released till July ’42. Victor Fabri, a lawyer, whose wife and family lived in Vancouver, wasn’t released until December ’41.

Fioravante Tenisci, or Fred, was detained until September ’43. After his release, Fred returned to Trail and in June ’45 married a Canadian-born Italian, Emily, 15 years his junior, and they had ten kids. His son, Ray, who still lives in Trail said they fell in love in Vancouver before the war. Her mother said no, that Fred was too old, and the marriage couldn’t happen.

Fred sent Emily letters during his detainment via the priest, as he knew that her mother would never let her have the letters. The mother, though, was too smart and told the priest that if he got letters, to hide them. It obviously didn’t work.

Trail is the only community outside Toronto where the exhibit is being displayed, although you can also go on line to italiancanadianww2.ca and view stories and photos and listen to interviews of Italian Canadians talking about how the internment affected their families. Men from Kamloops, Vancouver and Trail — a dark part of our history that is finally being shared.
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SQUAMISH LIL’WAT
CULTURAL CENTRE EXHIBIT

J. Sturdy: A new exhibit has just opened in the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler. The cultural centre is an institution whose mission is to inspire and educate visitors and community members about the depth and beauty of the distinct Skwxwú7mesh and Lil’wat cultures. The new exhibit from the Legacy of Hope Foundation is called Where are the Children?: Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools. It opened this past weekend and runs until October.

The goal of Where are the Children? is to help visitors come to understand the history of residential schools and the lasting impact that residential schools have had on generations of aboriginal peoples and on the First Nations, Inuit and Métis cultures, languages and communities. The exhibition also helps to inform visitors of the impact that residential schools have had on shaping relations between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians and on shaping the history of this country.

Through photographs, stories and documents, the exhibit encourages visitors to ask questions and understand this period, which has been such a significant part of First Nations history in Canada, as well as putting context to our collective opportunities for the future.

The Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre is the ideal location to showcase Where are the Children? The centre, which is an impressive collaborative project between First Nations, local and provincial governments, aims to revive and renew cultural traditions, to be a place to share and pass down traditional stories and to support skill development and generate sustainable business practices. And incidentally, it’s a recipient of the 2014 TripAdvisor award of excellence.

Where are the Children? will be one of this year’s most important exhibits for Whistler as well as Canada, and I encourage you all to take the time to visit.

RESPONSE TO UBC
PRIDE RAINBOW FLAG BURNING

D. Eby: I’m very proud of the work of the students of the University of British Columbia, and again this week I was reminded of why. Students at UBC, under the leadership of the UBC Pride Collective, have pulled together to denounce the burning of a rainbow flag at the school, an act that took place some time over the Family Day long weekend. The rainbow flag is a symbol of the long struggle of gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans people in British Columbia and the world to have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.

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It was displayed at UBC as a symbol of the UBC community support for OUTweek, an annual event where students, faculty, staff and administration emphasize support and outreach efforts for students who may feel isolated, scared and alone because of who they are.

The message of flying the pride flag is: “Campus is a safe place for you. You have a right to be here.” The message of the thoughtless, hateful act is that a large group of people at UBC no longer feel welcome. They feel that campus is not a safe place for them.

Students of every background, every race and every gender and sexuality have the right to attend school in British Columbia free from harassment, racism, discrimination and threats. They have the right to a safe learning environment and the same opportunities as everyone else — period.

That’s why I’m so proud that despite this act of vandalism and hate, the UBC Pride Collective is proceeding full speed ahead with OUTweek. As Yulanda Lui told the Georgia Straight: “This is a really difficult time for a lot of us, but we see this as a big reason why we do the work we do…this is just part of the motivation we have.”

Congratulations to the Pride Collective and the UBC lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community and their allies for your courage in standing up to threats, bullying and hate. We all support you in your efforts to educate and empower more than ever this week.

REAL ACTS OF CARING WEEK

L. Reimer: British Columbians are no strangers to real acts of caring. We have some of the most active and supportive communities I’ve ever met. Thanks to school counsellor Harriette Chang and students from Maple Creek Middle, Scott Creek Middle, Panorama Heights, Harbour View, Mountain Meadows and Anmore Elementary schools, Real Acts of Caring has been officially proclaimed to be the week of February 14 to 20, a week where everyone feels cared for.

Schools and communities have been participating in Real Acts of Caring for over ten years now, but this year’s goal is to reach everyone and all school districts in the province to bring positive experiences to every British Columbian. Recognizing what happens every day is a first step in encouraging others to join to make our communities happier, friendlier and better places to live. Whether by carrying someone’s groceries, giving up your seat for an elderly person on public transit, buying a stranger a cup of coffee or topping off someone’s parking, you can bring a moment of joy to a total stranger.

This all started with a few students wanting to make a difference, to show others what it feels like to be cared for by a complete stranger. The students from Maple Creek Middle School became leaders in their school and community, and they’ve become advocates for change.

I’ve had the pleasure, in my years as an elected official, to see firsthand the reaction of people when they experience a real act of caring. You can’t hide a genuine smile. Sometimes in our busy lives, we forget how many op-
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portunities there are to demonstrate we care. Real Acts of Caring Week is a chance to connect with people and remember how important we are to one another and to bring positive change to our lives, all without expecting anything in return.

Thank you to Harriette Chang and to the students who have travelled here today for promoting this great cause, Real Acts of Caring Week.

TIMA KURDI AND SYRIAN REFUGEES

S. Robinson: According to the Oxford Dictionary, a hero is a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities, and Coquitlam is home to one such hero. Now, she would never agree to the title, but in my eyes, she’s a hero because she has demonstrated tremendous courage. She has been relentless with her efforts, and as a result of her efforts, she’s changed the world.

On September 2, 2015, the world saw and realized the full impact that the civil war in Syria was having on its people. We all saw Alan Kurdi’s tiny body washed up on the shore, and our collective hearts broke at the sight. We had all read about what was going on in Syria, or we heard about it on the radio or saw it on the news, but there was something about that image that struck a different chord for all of us. We had the picture, but we didn’t have the story.

The story came from Alan’s aunt, Tima Kurdi, a suburban mom who makes her home in Coquitlam-Maillardville. Tima was the one who told us about three-year-old Alan and his five-year-old brother, Ghalib. She was the one to tell the world how the family had been trying to escape the violence in their country by making their way to Turkey. She was the one trying to get her older brother Mohammed and his family to Canada, before bringing her younger brother and his family to Canada, and at the time was having great difficulties.

Tima was the one who shared with us her younger brother’s heartache at losing his two sons and his wife to the seas as they tried to make their way to safety. Tima was the one responding to reporters from all around the world, telling her brother’s stories, talking about her nieces and nephews and the fact that their lives were no longer lives of children who went to school or who played with their friends. Tima was the one who travelled to Europe to meet the world leaders and talk about the plight of Syrian refugees.

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Tima Kurdi is a suburban mom raising her family with her husband, Rocco. She operates a small hairdressing salon in Port Coquitlam, and she has become a spokesperson and advocate for those desperate enough to take to the seas to escape civil war and to seek out safety for their families.

In my eyes, Tima Kurdi is a hero who saw what was happening and gave voice to those who have no voice. Thank you, Tima, for helping us to see, for sharing the story and for speaking up for others. You are, indeed, a hero.

Oral Questions

HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IN LOWER MAINLAND
AND INVESTIGATION INTO
REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

J. Horgan: In neighbourhoods across the Lower Mainland, housing prices are absolutely and completely out of control. Property speculation is clearly part of the problem. A whole range of other issues — foreign investment has been tagged as one of the potential problems. But throughout the past year, the Premier has sat indifferent to appeals for action with respect to housing prices in the Lower Mainland.

Red hot would be an exaggeration of the markets today, and that says something in British Columbia, where the ups and downs are well known to all of us. But she’s claimed that her government has been investigating for the past year.

But it was only this week, after the work of the member for Vancouver–Point Grey and the media, that we discovered evidence of shadow flipping, a practice that the Premier now apparently knows quite a bit about. She said yesterday to media that she’s known about it for some time.

So my question is to the Premier. If she has been working on this file of affordability in the Lower Mainland, and if she’s known about shadow flipping for some time, why in the world hasn’t she done something about it, not just to protect realtors but to protect consumers, to protect sellers and to protect the economy?

Hon. C. Clark: Gung hay fat choy. Gongxi facai. I’m delighted to be back in this legislative chamber to do the work that we’re looking forward to doing this session as we start a new Chinese New Year.

On the issue of affordability, I do want to correct the member. I’m pretty sure that the member for Point Grey learned about it in the Globe and Mail, but I will also say that we are working on making sure that this is addressed.

Now, the Finance Minister and I were both very clear yesterday that the Real Estate Council, with the assistance of a group chaired by a statutory officer in the government, will be looking at and investigating the issue. Really, what’s at issue here is the fact that for a buyer, it’s absolutely vital that they have trust in their realtor. When that realtor may have failed to disclose that they also have an interest with another buyer while they’re trying to manage the sale of the home…. Clearly, if that’s happened, it’s against their legal and ethical obligations. So we’ll wait for the report, the investigation, to be completed.

As I said yesterday, though, I don’t have a lot of patience for this. We expect that it will be done quickly, and
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if it’s not done quickly by the Real Estate Council, we will fix it for them.

Madame Speaker: The Leader of the Official Opposition on a supplemental.

J. Horgan: Never letting the facts get in the way of a partisan quip, the Premier missed the point that the member for Vancouver–Point Grey contacted the Real Estate Board well over a month ago about this issue.

Interjection.

J. Horgan: It’s all well and good for the histrionics from Quilchena there, where housing prices are probably affordable for his constituents, but for the rest of us, it’s completely and utterly out of control.

Last year, when we raised these issues in this Legislature — not last weekend, not last month, but last year — the Premier said, “If you don’t like it, move to the north,” which is a reasonable proposition, I suppose, if people want to move to the north, but does zero to affect affordability in the Lower Mainland.

Her opposite number there, the Minister Responsible for Housing, replied to questions, again, from the able member for Vancouver–Point Grey, an area that the Premier might be familiar with. He asked, specifically, the minister for housing what he was going to do about it, and he said: “Well, I think housing prices are quite affordable.” Again, perhaps for those on that side of the House, multi-million-dollar increases in neighbourhoods are okay, but for the rest of British Columbia, it’s startling and disconcerting. Shadow flipping is affecting confidence not just in realtors, not just in this Premier, but is affecting how people look at the economy.

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Now, the Premier knows her dependence — and the Minister of Finance can correct her if she’s not up to speed on this — on the property transfer tax. If she’s been looking at this issue for some time now, can she advise the House and British Columbians how much we’ve been losing on property transfer tax revenues because of shadow flipping in British Columbia?

Hon. C. Clark: The issue of affordability in the Lower Mainland is of great concern to the government. The Member will be pleased, I’m sure, when he sees the budget and some of the measures that are in it that have been underway for some time. I’m sure he’s also delighted to know that the government is absolutely committed to making sure that we address this specific issue that has come to public attention — apparently in the last month for the NDP.

I will also say this, though. As our economy continues to grow…. British Columbia is No. 1 in Canada in economic growth, doubling growth in the rest of the country. Fifty thousand new jobs created last year in B.C. — No. 1 in Canada.

Ten thousand people have in-migrated from across the country to make their homes here in British Columbia, including 5,000, or somewhere thereabouts, who’ve crossed the Rockies from Alberta to make their homes here in British Columbia. We are delighted to be able to welcome them here.

However, it does present issues of affordability. It’s no doubt the downside of a fast-growing economy. And the Member will be delighted to know that in the budget we have measures to address some of these issues that have been raised, because clearly, these are very serious issues for young people. But it won’t just be issues with respect to affordability of housing. There will be a range of measures that we will be funding and addressing because — guess what — when British Columbia is No. 1, we can afford it.

Madame Speaker: The Leader of the Official Opposition on a final supplemental.

J. Horgan: Several numbers from the Premier but, of course, never the one that’s been asked for — that being: what was the loss in revenue as a result of these shady practices?

The Premier now says that the real estate board…. The hens should be comforted by this — that the foxes now are going to take a look and see if the self-regulation that worked so well at Mount Polley can work in this case as well.

I’m wanting to know if the Premier has reviewed the statistics that have been placed ably in her binder by her staff, if anywhere in there it says that perhaps a better solution to restore confidence in this area is to not appoint a government appointee to observe and oversee a review by the real estate board but instead to find someone completely independent.

Now, we’ve had to go through this routine several times over a vast range of issues with this government and particularly with this Premier, whether it be Health firings, whether it be deleted emails, whether it be children in care. It always takes a lot of cajoling to get to the final point, which is: how about someone independent to protect the interest of British Columbians when the government of B.C. doesn’t do it?

Will the Premier avoid months of questioning, and just do it today? Appoint someone independent to get to the bottom of this before the stench gets too bad, even for your backbench.

Hon. C. Clark: Well, we are all very familiar with the numerous and regular requests we get from the opposition for an independent public inquiry on every matter that comes before the Legislature — the millions that they would spend on that and the length of time that would
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take. We intend to work more quickly than that, and we intend to make sure that we get it done.

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members.

Hon. C. Clark: But it is a little rich to hear the Leader of the Opposition talk about affordability when he says he wants to raise the carbon tax on everybody in the province to pay for transit in the Lower Mainland. He wants to raise ICBC rates for everyone in the province to pay for transit in the Lower Mainland. He wants to pay for half-empty schools in Vancouver and make everyone across British Columbia pay for that.

He wants to nationalize B.C. Ferries at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars to everyone all across the province.

[1415]

These are the member’s approaches to affordability. It’s a little bit rich to hear him stand up and pick on issues where he thinks that there is a problem, because affordability is an issue with respect to housing; it’s an issue with respect to taxes; and it’s an issue with respect to ferries, B.C. Hydro and a whole range, almost all of which the member would like to see become more expensive rather than less.

D. Eby: According to sworn testimony in front of the B.C. Securities Commission just three months ago, realtor Liang Ming Wei attended a Bank of Montreal branch at the Park Royal mall in West Vancouver with his client, a resident and citizen of China who wanted to buy a house in the Lower Mainland.

When opening the bank account, Mr. Wei’s client lied about her residency, saying she was a resident of Canada. She was not. She lied about her occupation, saying she was a homemaker. She actually works in the transportation industry. Finally, she lied about where she lived, using Mr. Wei’s real estate office address in Burnaby as her home address. Her home address was not in Burnaby; it was in China.

Mr. Wei was there the whole time assisting his client with the process. He later came to the bank himself and deposited $520,000 into the account, including a money order that had been obtained by fraud that was the subject of the B.C. Securities Commission itself.

Does the Premier agree that this is exactly the kind of transaction that should be investigated by the Real Estate Council of British Columbia, the agency tasked with being the watchdog of real estate agents in British Columbia?

Hon. C. Clark: As I said, we don’t have a lot of patience to see this investigation go on a long time. Self-regulating professions in British Columbia, including lawyers and nurses and doctors and dentists and the realty industry, have the right and the obligation, the responsibility, to discharge those duties. But as I said, we expect this investigation to be quick. We expect it to be well done. If it is not, at the end of that investigation, properly fixed, our government is going to do that for them.

Madame Speaker: Vancouver–Point Grey on a supplemental.

D. Eby: Despite sworn testimony that a B.C. realtor brought a client to a bank where that client then committed fraud, lying about where she lived and where her residency was, by using the B.C. realtor’s office as her address instead of her own and the realtor personally depositing a money order obtained by fraud into that account, the real estate council responsible for investigating realtor conduct never investigated.

Three months have passed and still no investigation, even though the Real Estate Council of B.C. is well aware of this case. They’re also well aware of this practice of realtors helping clients avoid money-laundering rules by using realtors’ office addresses instead of their own. How do they know? I wrote to them about it in January.

If the Real Estate Council of B.C. is so incompetent that it doesn’t investigate realtors even when they’re handed sworn testimony about realtors’ direct and personal involvement in fraud, in avoiding money-laundering rules, why is the Premier the only person left in B.C. that has confidence in this council to do this investigation?

Hon. C. Clark: The committee that is investigating this will be chaired by a statutory officer of the government who is independent and able to make those decisions independent of government and, of course, the realty industry.

I’m sure if the member is upset that we are acting to fix this, he’s going to be even more upset when he sees the budget and the other measures that we are bringing in that will address issues of affordability right across the board for all British Columbians in a growing economy that’s No. 1 in Canada. We want to make sure that economic growth and the benefits of that are shared and felt by people all across this great province.

G. Heyman: My constituents, many of them seniors, are telling me personal stories about a small group of realtors trying to pressure them into selling their homes.

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One 80-year-old woman finally sold to a realtor who claimed she wanted the house for herself — even that her dogs would love the backyard space — but then flipped the house within one week of the seller vacating her home. The house was torn down. The realtor made a cool extra $300,000.
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Is that how this government protects homeowners’ equity? When will the Premier take action and protect sellers and buyers from those realtors who put their own vested interests first?

Hon. M. de Jong: Look, there’s an issue here. There’s no question that a realtor, as a professional whose conduct is guided by statutory and other professional obligations, has a duty to the person they purport to represent, to act in that person’s best interest.

What we have seen is evidence that that, in some cases, is not taking place. That’s why the Real Estate Council has brought in the superintendent of real estate to review and investigate that matter specifically — because individuals who own a home, own property — probably the most valuable asset they’ll ever own — deserve to know that when they retain the services of a realtor, for whom they pay a sizeable amount of money, that that realtor is indeed acting in their best interests. That is what the Real Estate Council is going to investigate, and that is why the superintendent of real estate is involved.

Madame Speaker: The member for Vancouver-Fairview on a supplemental.

G. Heyman: The Premier claims she has known about this practice for some time, yet we’ve heard about no action until public revelations.

Families with two wage earners are finding it impossible to remain in the neighbourhood they and their kids love. Now we’ve learned that some realtors are engaged in what can only be described as predatory practice. They’ve taken advantage of homeowners and buyers, and they’re helping drive housing prices out of most people’s reach.

You can’t address affordability by allowing the market to be manipulated. The government has known about this practice and done nothing. When will the Premier put a stop to this market manipulation and protect sellers, buyers and the taxpayer?

Hon. M. de Jong: In recognizing the importance of the issue, I have taken the opportunity to write to the Real Estate Council to make clear the seriousness with which the government views this matter and the seriousness with which we expect the real estate sector, as a self-regulated industry, along the lines of other industries…. I noted the member for Vancouver–Point Grey, in one of his correspondences, actually referenced the Law Society, in an analogous situation, as a self-regulated industry.

We expect the Real Estate Council to fulfil their obligation to protect the public interest. The superintendent of real estate is charged with the task and will now be directly involved. I’ve asked the Real Estate Council to complete their report in a timely way and to meet with government and with me by April 15 so that we can review their findings.

REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS AND
COLLECTION OF PROPERTY TRANSFER TAX

C. James: The Premier admitted that her government was aware of shadow flipping, but she still won’t take immediate action. In addition to the ethical and affordability issues, the province has not been collecting the property transfer tax on these shadowy real estate assignments.

My question is to the Premier. How much has her inaction cost taxpayers so far?

Hon. M. de Jong: Look, I may have a slight difference of opinion than the member about the crux of the issue here. The question is not around the assignment of contracts, which is a process that at times, depending on the condition of the market, can act to protect the interests of a vendor.

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The issue is realtors who do not disclose when basic and fundamental conflicts of interest exist. That is something a vendor deserves to know. If a realtor is engaged in a transaction and, on the one hand, purporting to act in the best interest of the vendor but, on the other hand, seeking financial advantage for themselves or other parties, that is a conflict.

The Real Estate Council plays an important role in protecting the public interest. They are engaged in that work. We’ll await their initial report and, as the Premier has said, if they don’t take this matter seriously and don’t arrive at solutions to prevent that kind of conflict from continuing, the government will act.

Madame Speaker: Victoria–Beacon Hill on a supplemental.

C. James: I’d like to remind the Premier and the Finance Minister that, in fact, taxpayers are also impacted through this process through the property transfer tax. Last weekend the media reported on more than a dozen cases of shadow flipping in which the province wasn’t paid the property transfer tax. The member for Vancouver–Point Grey reported similar cases to the Real Estate Council in January and was told that they didn’t care.

My question is to the Premier. Has the Premier even made the effort to ask the Ministry of Finance to find out how much these dozen reported cases have cost the taxpayer?

Hon. M. de Jong: Two things, I think, flow from the hon. member’s question. First, rightly or wrongly, our property transfer tax is a taxation instrument that is triggered by registration…

Interjections.
[ Page 10240 ]

Madame Speaker: Members.

Hon. M. de Jong: …and that is the design of the act.

The members will, I’m sure, be interested, in a few days when the budget is presented, in any changes that might result. The thresholds that have been in place since the Vander Zalm government introduced it in the 1980s have been largely unchanged. Members will be interested to see if that changes at all with the budget.

To suggest, as the member has, that the Real Estate Council has not been engaged in fulfilment of its duty to protect the public interest by conducting investigations, by reviewing circumstances in which complaints have been filed, is simply not true. They have, in fact, done so.

In this case, with the assistance of the superintendent of real estate, they will conduct that work. They will report out, and we will determine, as government, whether they have addressed this fundamental question — which I, the Premier and the government agree is an important one — to protect the public interest.

EDUCATION MINISTRY DATA BREACH

R. Fleming: In response to the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s damning report issued two weeks ago that outlined in detail the complete disregard for the security of personal information collected on 3.4 million former B.C. students, the Premier was interviewed. True to form, she said this: “In Alberta, there are almost no rules” and “Instagram has come and gone.”

Well, I’m not exactly sure what Instagram has to do with the data security, but I’m quite sure that what everybody in this province understands is that there are legal rules in British Columbia. This government chose not to follow them, and that is, plain and simple, wrong.

My question to the Minister of Education is this. When there are widely understood rules through every ministry, when there is a legal obligation by his ministry to protect personal, private information about millions of British Columbians, why weren’t the rules and statutes and the protection of privacy criteria followed by this government?

[1430]

Hon. M. Bernier: It’s no surprise to anybody in this House that right from the get-go we said a mistake was made. An apology was issued at that time. Notification was made to all of the people that were affected. We also cooperated fully when an investigation was done into this issue.

What really bothers me is…. I listen to the members opposite, who actually go as far as basically insulting the staff within the ministry and the hard work that they’ve been doing. The Leader of the Opposition as well as the critic have publicly said that this is an issue with the staff.

I want to stand here and say I take exception to that. We have amazing staff. We have staff in the Ministry of Education that come to work every single day — devoted, hard-working staff, who have spent 30 and 40 years of their lives to make sure that we have the best education system in the province. It’s because of those staff members.

Was a mistake made? Absolutely. We acknowledged that, which is why we’re making sure we have steps in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Madame Speaker: Victoria–Swan Lake on a supplemental.

R. Fleming: We agree with the Information and Privacy Commissioner who in her findings in her report said that the blame for this debacle belongs at the top — at the executive level of this government. We agree with that finding.

The question, again, is about ignoring the rules, which has gone on here. Losing millions of files in contravention of rules, of the law, is bad enough. But worse still is this government’s inability, once the breach has occurred — to fail to tell them that their information is at risk.

This ministry says that it’s “too expensive” to notify individuals. What this entire debacle has shown is that it’s a lot more expensive to break the rules than to follow them in the first place.

The ministry says that tracking people down is hard. Well, I’m one of the files that was lost. I’m not so hard to find. The Privacy Commissioner has particular concern and well-placed concern that some of the data lost, some of the sub groups here, are about special needs kids, child custody cases, health conditions, police interventions in family matters, and over 1,000 childhood survivors of cancer.

My question to the minister is this. Given that the Privacy Commissioner has said that the efforts to date to notify individuals have been completely inadequate by this ministry, my question is: when does the minister intend to properly inform people whose data they’ve lost and is at risk in British Columbia?

Hon. M. Bernier: Actually, in fact, the Privacy Commissioner complimented the ministry for the work that took place after this breach happened. In fact, we took a lot of efforts to make sure that all of those affected — even though some were hard to find, I will admit…. The hard work was taking place within the ministry. In fact, we sent out personal letters to 26,000 people that we knew that were high risk, that were concerned, that wanted to be notified on this. That work did take place.

Did it take a little bit of extra work? Absolutely. That’s why the hard-working staff within the ministry did that work to make sure that those people were notified. I’m proud of the work that the staff did on this file.

D. Routley: Let’s remember what happened here. According to the Privacy Commissioner, this government
[ Page 10241 ]
tried to save $14,000 by breaking the rules. They stored nearly 3.5 million students’ personal information on a $100 hard drive. They stored that hard drive on a shelf in an unsecured warehouse. They didn’t even bother to password protect it. Maybe they were afraid of losing the password. What they did lose was the hard drive itself.

Shoddy, shoddy, shoddy, illegal. My question to the Minister of Education is: how much has this debacle cost taxpayers so far?

Hon. M. Bernier: Within the ministry, within government, we take the protection and the collection of personal information very seriously. We did acknowledge right at the beginning when this happened that a mistake was made. That’s why we worked with the commissioner. There are recommendations in place. We’re going to be following those recommendations.

[1435]

Right from the beginning, it went right as high as the deputy minister, where the good work was taking place, where we were doing the training. We were making sure that all of our staff understood the regulations and the rules to ensure that this won’t happen again.

There is no evidence that this information has been released to the public. Has the data been misplaced? Absolutely. We acknowledge that. Was there a mistake made by staff? Absolutely. We acknowledge that. Was an apology made right at the beginning? Absolutely. We agreed to that. That’s why we’re making sure that we have processes in place, that we’re following the commissioner’s recommendations and that we have all of the training that’s taking place with the staff to ensure this does not happen again.

D. Routley: When the B.C. Lotteries breach happened, they said they’d do better. When the Wainwright breach happened, they said they’d do better. When the breaches occurred in the Health Ministry, they said they’d do better. At least ten significant privacy breaches. Numerous damning reports from the Privacy Commissioner. Repeated promises to do better, to see that it never happens again.

Well, it doesn’t get better. It gets worse. Now we’re cleaning up a mess that has put the information of nearly 3.5 million students at risk. This breach involving sensitive education data happened because government knowingly ignored its own rules. Why should anyone believe that next time they will actually do better?

Hon. M. Bernier: We acknowledged, right at the beginning, that a mistake was made, which is why we are making sure all the staff continue to get the proper training to follow all of the rules that are required within government.

[End of question period.]

Petitions

N. Macdonald: I rise to present a petition on behalf of my constituents in Edgewater. The petition is to pave Crescentwood Drive, Cordillera and Purcell avenues in Edgewater. It is signed by over 30 of the residents of those provincial roads.

K. Conroy: I have a petition, also, from over 1,177 residents in the Trail area — a petition to stop the creation of an access management area in wildlife management unit 4-8, the Pend-d’Oreille River valley.

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. de Jong: Debate on the Speech from the Throne.

Throne Speech Debate

J. Martin: Welcome back, everybody, on both sides of the House. It’s great to be here once again.

In accordance with parliamentary tradition, I move, seconded by the hon. member for North Vancouver–Seymour, that:

[We, Her Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in session assembled, beg leave to thank Your Honour for the gracious speech which Your Honour has addressed to us at the opening of the present session.]

[R. Lee in the chair.]

On behalf of my constituents in the riding of Chilliwack, it is a privilege to be the first member to rise and address the Speech from the Throne. Yesterday the Lieutenant-Governor officially opened the fifth session of the 40th parliament, laying out the priorities of this government as we continue our hard work growing this economy. We heard that B.C. is on the right track despite a fragile global economy with oil at historic lows and the dollar falling. B.C. remains vigilant facing these economic challenges. We truly are a resilient bunch here in B.C., and we are doing well in Canada.

British Columbia is leading the country in economic growth and job creation with 50,000 new jobs in 2015. We have been focused. We have been focused on growing and diversifying our economy so that we’re not dependent on one industry, as is the case in some other provinces. We have seen the benefits of a diversified economy, with various sectors doing very, very well.

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This government has a commitment to controlling government spending, balancing budgets and focusing on building a strong, diverse and growing economy that creates jobs and prosperity for all British Columbians.

We are on track for our fourth-consecutive balanced budget. Not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times —
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four times — we are balancing the budget, and we’re creating a climate where businesses can thrive and create jobs for British Columbians. We recognize that economic development and environmental protection go hand in hand. With a growing economy, we can sustain and expand on the critical services for a growing and aging population. We can invest in infrastructure, schools, hospitals.

B.C. is in a very good place right now, and this is because we say yes to responsible economic development in B.C. I know the NDP is against that.

It’s good to look at the past every once in a while and remember how far British Columbia has come. Let’s think back to the ’90s, when there were eight budget deficits in a row, six consecutive credit downgrades, the highest income taxes in Canada. British Columbia became a have-not province. The once proud and prosperous British Columbia became a beggar of Confederation and went cap in hand with our cardboard sign to Ottawa, saying: “Please help. We are governed by the NDP. We need help.” Well, that is not going to happen under this administration.

B.C. has come so far since those days. We just do not share the negative, endless doom and gloom of the NDP. Conversely, we have a positive view of British Columbia. We have a positive view and optimism for the hard work that British Columbians put in to make this province a better place to live each and every day.

B.C. is growing. We’re seeing that people who left B.C. during the ’90s are moving back here because of all the jobs that are being created. We are number one in the country right now, and that is thanks to the hard work of this government and British Columbians. We are number one. Previously, the NDP took us from first to worst. Well, we’re back. We are number one.

It’s a privilege to serve my constituents in Chilliwack. It’s such a beautiful place to live. There are plenty of opportunities to explore the great outdoors. We have numerous hiking trails and are establishing even more with the Experience the Fraser trail system. We continue to invest to expand the trail system, with more than $320,000 in funding, while also providing the opportunity for people to gain work experience through the job creation partnerships. Experience the Fraser is a unique vision to connect the communities, parks, natural features and historic and cultural sites along the Lower Fraser River, connecting Hope to the Salish Sea.

Our search and rescue organizations venture out in extreme conditions to rescue those who have gotten lost, those who have been stuck, those are stranded. The volunteers deserve our gratitude and our thanks each and every single day.

People love to enjoy the beauty of super, natural British Columbia, and I’m pleased that we are providing further support to search and rescue operations across the province. In fact, we are providing an extra boost of $10 million to bolster training, administrative support and equipment renewals for the 80 ground search and rescue groups. This is in addition to the $6.3 million we already provide each and every year. I would like to thank the Chilliwack Search and Rescue society for their hard work and for their diligence during the operations that they perform throughout the year. They indeed do save lives.

We are investing in our schools through capital improvements. Last year we provided $1.34 million to three schools in Chilliwack to upgrade their mechanical systems and replace the rooftop heat pumps. Investments like this extend the longevity of our schools. As well, we continue to work to seismically upgrade B.C. schools.

We introduced a new curriculum to help prepare our students for the jobs they will need once they graduate. And I know the NDP is against that. As well, we have provided funding to expand access to high-speed Internet in our rural areas around Chilliwack. Last year we provided over $890,000 in gaming grants to support local organizations that provide valuable services to members of the community.

Over the years, we have maintained a focus on the B.C. jobs plan, and we’re seeing the results. Our plan is to keep B.C.’s economy diverse, strong, and growing, and that plan is working.

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The plan builds on the strengths of our key sectors and our educated and skilled workforce. We have currently met 14 of the 19 targets, and progress continues to be made on the remaining five targets. There are eight key sectors in the B.C. jobs plan, and the fastest-growing one is the tech sector. The technology industry in British Columbia already employs 86,000 British Columbians, at wages 60 percent higher than the industrial average.

Last month we launched the new B.C. tech strategy. That will support growth of B.C.’s vibrant technology sector and strengthen B.C.’s diverse knowledge-based economy. The strategy will attract and reward investment, create jobs and provide more training.

We have the $100 million B.C. tech fund to help promising tech companies get the capital funding they need to start their businesses, and I know the NDP is against that.

To prepare our next generation for the changing technology, coding will become part of the K-through-12 curriculum. Targeted programs include coding academies, enhanced access to work experience electives, and dual-credit partnerships between secondary and post-secondary institutions. This provides an opportunity for students to gain the basic skills needed for careers in technology.

We are so lucky in British Columbia to be blessed with an abundance of natural resources. Forestry, mining, oil, natural gas — these are all important industries in B.C. With the expired softwood lumber agreement, this government is committed to working with our federal counterparts to create a new agreement.

We are looking out for our mining sector during tough times, very tough economic times. Supporting families
[ Page 10243 ]
and communities during the current slowdown in the sector due to low commodity prices. We are taking action to keep thousands of B.C. mineworkers on the job. Supporting the mining industry directly helps not only the workers but also the surrounding community and the businesses that would be impacted. We all know the NDP is against that.

LNG remains a major component of our plan for a growing and diverse economy. Currently there are 20 active projects at various stages of development, and $20 billion has already been invested. We have done everything we set out to do to attract investment for the cleanest LNG in the world. As companies move toward final investment decisions, we continue to work on bringing the opportunity of LNG to B.C. And once again, the NDP is against that.

Our strategy to increase international trade has been paying off. B.C. is moving to strengthen and diversify trade in Asian markets in order to grow the economy. Total exports from B.C. are worth over $35 billion per year. We have seen an increase of 41 percent since 2009. During that time, exports to China have increased 116 percent and exports to India have increased 660 percent. Through our new trade strategy, raising our game in Asia, we will be opening trade and investment representative offices in Southeast Asia to grow trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region.

There will be many trade and investment opportunities created by the ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. B.C. is well placed to benefit from this as Canada’s Pacific Gateway. I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the NDP is against that too.

B.C. is known around the world for our agricultural products, and 2015 was a great year for agricultural products. In fact, it was a record year for our exports, as some $3.8 billion worth of B.C. agrifood and seafood products were shipped around the globe. We also saw a record $12.3 billion in sales of B.C. food and beverage products in 2014 — the highest ever.

This positive trend will help B.C. meet its goal of seeing revenues in agrifoods and seafoods reach $15 billion a year by 2020. There are 55,000 British Columbians who are directly employed in the provincial agrifood sector. It is a key economic driver in B.C.

We recognize the importance of controlling spending, but we can also invest in our future. There are currently $7 billion worth of infrastructure projects underway without pushing B.C. into debt. We have said yes to projects such as the South Fraser Perimeter Road, the Evergreen line and the George Massey Tunnel replacement, which will reduce wait times spent in traffic and give more people time at home with their families.

We have said yes to the Site C clean energy project, which will provide clean energy for our growing economy for generations to come.

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These projects are creating 150,000 jobs over the next ten years. We say yes to these projects, while the NDP continuously, over and over again, say no to responsible economic development and the jobs that come with it. In fact, this government has a history of saying yes to infrastructure projects, while the NDP has said no each and every single time.

They said no to the Coquihalla Highway. They said no to the Alex Fraser Bridge. They said no to Expo 86. They said no to improvements on the Sea to Sky Highway. They said no to the improvements on the Port Mann Bridge. They said no to the Canada Line. They said no to the revitalization of B.C. Place. They said no to Site C. They said no to the Pacific NorthWest LNG.

B.C. has the potential to be a clean energy superpower and help others reduce emissions. Developing and growing economies like China and India are looking for cleaner energy to power their future. That clean energy can come from British Columbia through LNG, helping others reduce emissions by replacing coal-fired plants with LNG overseas.

Another significant achievement is the Great Bear Rainforest agreement, a monumental and globally significant agreement that conserves a large area along the beautiful coastline of British Columbia while also establishing certainty required for economic development.

We continue to stand up for British Columbians with our five conditions for pipeline projects. We have been clear from the beginning. Our position has not wavered.

Housing affordability is an important issue to British Columbians. Many people are feeling the pressure of cost-of-living increases. We will be taking steps to give British Columbians a better opportunity to enter the housing market and to encourage more housing supply. There’s no single simple solution, but we will work with the municipalities to ensure hidden costs are clear and transparent to the homebuyer. We want to protect the savings and equity existing homeowners have placed in their homes.

British Columbia’s dedicated social workers work hard in the most difficult of circumstances. They touch the lives of thousands of children and families. We owe them our gratitude for helping some of our most vulnerable citizens. They deserve our support. We are committed to maintaining the stability in the ministry that has been deemed critical in the Plecas report. We are hiring even more social workers than recommended. We will see further measures to support both at-risk children and our social workers.

B.C. is doing so well because British Columbians have stepped up. About 80 percent of B.C.’s unionized public sector employees are covered by agreements negotiated under the economic stability mandate. This is a unique position where British Columbians have given themselves a stake in the growing economy. So 250,000 hard-working men and women said yes to B.C.’s economy,
[ Page 10244 ]
and they are seeing the benefits from that. They said yes, while the NDP said no.

Thanks to a stronger than expected growth in 2014, public sector workers will see a modest salary increase. British Columbians work hard, and our economy continues to prove its resilience and outperform expectations. As we welcome new British Columbians into our beautiful province, we want to make sure that they have the skills they need for the jobs that are already being created and the jobs to come.

All across our province, people have generously opened their homes to Syrian refugees coming to Canada and B.C. We continue to work with Ottawa and individual sponsors to settle more refugees and continue to welcome them to our beautiful province. As the most ethnically diverse province in Canada, we have worked together to build vibrant, thriving communities.

I am proud to stand up here and speak about the priorities of this government and how well B.C. is doing thanks to the hard work of British Columbians. We are creating a climate where job-creating businesses can thrive, where our growing economy means we can expand services for British Columbians. We are doing all this because we know how to say yes, unlike the NDP, who continuously, time and time again, say no to British Columbia and British Columbians.

J. Thornthwaite: On behalf of my constituents in North Vancouver–Seymour, it’s with great pleasure that I rise in the House today to second the Speech from the Throne. I’d like to thank my colleague from Chilliwack for moving the debate, and I’d like to welcome back my fellow MLAs on both sides of the House for this legislative session.

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I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank my constituents on the North Shore, and particularly those in North Vancouver–Seymour. I feel extremely fortunate to represent such a beautiful, vibrant and diverse community, and I’m always proud to stand up in the House on its behalf.

I’d also like to say hello to my constituency assistant Nick, my legislative assistant Brianna and, of course, my communications officer Marc Wang, who work very hard on my behalf.

My riding of North Vancouver–Seymour contains some of the most beautiful landscapes in the province — arguably, in the world. We’ve got: Lynn Creek; Lynn Valley — we’re in the middle of a rainforest; Mount Seymour; and, of course, beautiful Deep Cove; lots of beaches, forests, bustling tourist spots; and everybody wanting to get out to the North Shore.

In the speech that officially opened the fifth session of the 40th Parliament yesterday, our Lieutenant-Governor recognized our province’s first responders and search and rescue volunteers, thanking them on behalf of all British Columbians for keeping us safe and for always working tirelessly to find those who are lost.

Search and rescue is particularly important in my community. North Vancouver is home to some of the best skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking and hiking trails in the province. And because of our proximity and easy access to the outdoors, we see many hikers and back-country visitors who get injured or lose their way. Over the last few decades, this need for rescue services has increased dramatically thanks to the rise in popularity of extreme sports and other outdoor activities.

North Shore Rescue is one of B.C.’s most well-known search and rescue teams. It’s made up of 40 highly skilled volunteers who respond to about 90 calls each year in mountain, canyon and urban settings. They lend their assistance to members of the public, police, fire, ambulance and other emergency first responders and handle everything from helping lost and injured hikers to locating patients who wander away from facilities like Lions Gate Hospital. They even help locate lost pets. Hurley, the Bernese mountain dog, was one of the more famous ones.

This winter was particularly busy for North Shore Rescue. Many hikers were not prepared for the cold conditions and were either dressed inappropriately or became disoriented and lost. By November, the team had already responded to more than 125 calls. This unprecedented number taxed the team’s resources and led the team leader, Mike Danks, to reach out and ask the province for financial help.

On January 27, our Minister for Emergency Preparedness announced that the provincial government will provide $10 million in one-time funding to help the 80 search and rescue teams across British Columbia, including North Shore Rescue. This is to pay for additional training, replace or update safety equipment and provide administrative support.

This is great news. I was very happy to join the minister, who is also the member for North Vancouver–Lonsdale, and our colleague from West Vancouver–Capilano and all of the North Shore Rescue members for this announcement, along with other members from other search and rescues.

The team North Shore Rescue is an invaluable asset to our community, and all of our residents recognize the vital role they play in keeping people safe. Much of the team’s community outreach was done by former leader Tim Jones, who passed away suddenly on January 19, 2014. We still miss him.

Tim volunteered with North Shore Rescue for nearly three decades, saving thousands of lives and leading even more rescues. He was a relentless advocate for the community gaming grant program and lobbied all levels of government on behalf of the North Shore Rescue. He had me and our MP on speed dial.

Tim’s legacy lives on with the men and women who volunteer with North Shore Rescue, many of whom were
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trained by Tim. I know he would have loved to be there for that announcement, but he would also be the first to say that our work is not finished.

In the Speech from the Throne, the Lieutenant-Governor reiterated our province’s envied economic position. This year we lead the nation in economic growth, and we will be introducing a fourth consecutive balanced budget next week. Our economy is founded on the principle of fiscal discipline and diversification. It’s crucial to its continued growth.

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Of the eight key sectors in the B.C. jobs plan, the fastest growing is tech. Our province has become a hub for start-ups like Hootsuite, Cognilab, QuickMobile and Fitplan. These are ambitious companies that are pushing the limits of innovation and are attracting and encouraging B.C.’s creative talent. More importantly, they are keeping B.C. talent in British Columbia.

Our tech-friendly environment is the result of the success of establishing industries such as film and digital media. For decades, our province has been Hollywood North. We have helped local talent create a wide variety of screen-based entertainment. The film and television industry alone supports more than 20,000 direct, plus indirect, jobs. That’s a conservative estimate that increases when the business is booming. And yes, business is booming.

B.C. film just finished one of its most successful years. In fact, many in the industry said this past summer was their busiest ever, thanks, of course, to the low dollar, competitive tax rebates and the extension of the digital animation or visual effects tax credit to the post-production sector of the industry.

Extending this tax credit was one of the commitments our government made to support this sector during the last election. By following through, we have ensured that local companies can remain competitive. As Paul Sharpe, president of Sharpe Studios, told me, his company, like many in the industry, was going through a rough time way back in 2013, but the day after the extension was announced, the phone started ringing.

The film industry also supports local companies by opening up new markets for them. Cool Air Rentals opened in 1995, renting heating and cooling equipment to special events and commercial, industrial and IT customers. Soon after they opened, they started supplying film and television productions with heating and cooling equipment. By honing its trade on productions like The X-Files and Jumanji, the company has been able to expand into other sectors.

The film industry has been integral to the company’s growth and now accounts for between 40 and 60 percent of its annual business. This is significant, because that business would not be included in StatsCan’s figures for the film industry, but the film industry certainly contributes to their success.

Cool Air now has the largest fleet of portable air-conditioning units in western Canada and expanded into Alberta in 2013 with the opening of an Edmonton-based warehouse.

To give back to the industry that has been instrumental to its development, Cool Air became a corporate member of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association in 2009 and now contributes to charity fundraising efforts like the Stephen J. Cannell Classic Golf Tournament. If the late Mr. Cannell’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he created classics as The A-Team, The Rockford Files and the locally shot 21 Jump Street and The Commish.

Cool Air isn’t the only company to give back to the community. The film industry routinely supports events like the Reel Thanksgiving Challenge, an annual competition that encourages productions filming in British Columbia to try to outdo each other with raising money for the food bank. In the fall of 2015 alone, local productions raised $87,000 in just three weeks.

The Motion Picture Production Industry Association also supports emerging talent and youth at risk with an annual fundraiser. Over the past ten years, ten emerging young B.C. film-makers have been endowed with mentorship funding and up to $100,000 in in-kind to support emerging talent and help them get their vision to the screen.

The association’s annual fundraiser also supports youth sports groups and community initiatives and provides funding to a wide range of organizations. Over the past decades, more than $100,000 has gone to support organizations such as A Loving Spoonful, Habitat for Humanity, the Paralympic Foundation and groups helping at-risk youth. For three decades, the industry has also hosted Oppenheimer Park Christmas dinner, an annual event that, to date, has served more than 80,000 meals in the Downtown Eastside.

This industry isn’t just a big economic driver. Its members have a huge commitment and community engagement. They have had a great deal of success in encouraging partners to come here to shoot their productions and to give back and help create better, more livable communities.

Last month, the member for Maple Ridge–Mission and I joined the B.C. Creates community, a Motion Picture Production Industry Association special event to celebrate B.C.’s creative industries’ contribution to the community and philanthropy. We also honoured their special guest, industry veteran Danny Virtue.

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When we support industries like film and tech, we’re helping to diversify our economy. But investing in the future also means upgrading and renewing our province’s infrastructure. There are currently more than $7 billion worth of infrastructure projects on the go, which are expected to create 150,000 jobs over the next decade.

The infrastructure project that I’d mostly like to talk
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about, at least related to the North Shore, is the lower Lynn corridor improvement project. Transportation is the number one top priority for my community, and alleviating congestion and improving traffic flow is of particular importance to our residents, my neighbours.

As part of B.C. on the Move, the government’s ten-year transportation plan will include the construction of new interchanges at Fern Street and Dollarton, which will greatly enhance safety and improve east-west traffic flow along the biggest and busiest bottlenecks in the region.

The plan also includes a new pedestrian, cyclist and emergency vehicle structure at the Crown Street overpass and a new rail overpass at Phillips Road that will enhance rail capacity and provide better access to the Seaspan shipbuilding facility.

This $150 million project in the lower Lynn area will greatly improve safety and access and promote alternative forms of transportation. It’s a great example of what can happen when all levels of government work together — the municipality, the province and the federal government.

This project is part of our government’s commitment to work alongside communities to invest in infrastructure, enhance the movement of goods and bring some relief to the daily commute for thousands of British Columbians. It has been in the works for a long time, and I’m very happy to see it moving forward. I understand there will be a groundbreaking coming up soon.

Another top priority for my community and everybody on the North Shore is affordable housing. Last month, our government announced an increase to the homeowner’s grant threshold. The threshold for 2016 is now $1.2 million, an increase of $100,000 over last year. This program is designed to help alleviate some of the financial pressures of home ownership, particularly for low-income British Columbians, families, seniors, people with disabilities and first-time buyers.

Many residents in the community have been affected by the dramatic rise in home prices, particularly seniors, some of whom bought their homes decades ago for a fraction of today’s costs. They’re now struggling to pay the property tax on properties that are now worth well over $1 million, sometimes $2 million. That’s why I was pleased to hear an investigation will look into allegations of fraud and insider trading by some real estate agents in Metro Vancouver.

The Real Estate Council of British Columbia has already advised us that it intends to appoint an independent advisory group to look into these allegations and to develop recommendations to increase council’s enforcement and oversight. This practice of shadow flipping is definitely concerning, and I look forward to seeing what the results of the investigation will be.

I was also very happy to hear the Lieutenant-Governor talk about helping First Nations share in the benefits of a modern economy, about working with our partners in Ottawa on the inquiry into the missing and murdered indigenous women and about moving forward with the five-point action plan for safe transportation along Highway 16.

Recently, our government announced a landmark agreement over land use in the Great Bear Rainforest, including ceasing the commercial grizzly bear hunt on coastal nations’ traditional territories.

I have visited the Great Bear Rainforest, and it truly is a global treasure. This agreement, which was a successful collaboration between government, forest companies, environmental groups and 26 First Nations will help preserve the unique ecology of what is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world. This is a great example of what can be achieved when government, First Nations and stakeholders come together respectfully to produce a plan that is to everyone’s mutual benefit.

First Nations will also, I believe, play an integral role in helping us develop and deliver a new plan to combat climate change. Last year, we launched the climate leadership plan, which is currently being assembled by the climate leadership team and through public consultation. We are inviting all British Columbians to tell us what they want to see in the new climate leadership plan.

In fact, last weekend I attended Climate Change and Its Impact on Our North Shore Fish and Habitat, in Lynn Valley, and look forward to their summary and report and their recommendations.

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We are already a global leader in climate action, thanks in large part to the revenue-neutral carbon tax that we launched in 2008. This new plan will help us develop long-term goals to shape how our province deals with this issue for decades to come.

On the North Shore, the Squamish Nation has been embracing a balance of environmental protection and economic opportunity. In 2013, the band used a $30,000 grant from the province to assess and identify renewable energy opportunities on its territories, and it has taken an active role in the environmental assessment of the proposed Woodfibre LNG project at Howe Sound.

In October of last year, the Squamish Nation council granted conditional approval of the project, saying that environmental risk can be managed if proper technology and controls are in place. The company backing the proposed facility has said that they are committed to working with First Nations on the project and that with their help they can build a better project.

Currently, $20 billion has been invested in LNG products provincewide to date, and government continues to work towards bringing the projects forward despite low commodity prices that have slowed things down. Not only are we very adamant that industry continue to work with First Nations to find solutions; we are also committed to economic development that is balanced with environmental protection, as set out in our heavy
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oil policy. In order for the province to consider support for heavy oil pipelines, the following five conditions must be established:

(1) Successful completion of the environmental review process.

(2) World-leading marine oil spill response, prevention and recovery systems for our coastline.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, as you know, I attended with you last week the Western Canada Marine Response Corp. in Burnaby to get a firsthand view of their efforts on marine spill responses in Burrard Inlet. I encourage all members in this House to take them up on their offer to have a tour, and I appreciate joining you as well.

(3) World-leading practices for land spill prevention response and recovery.

(4) Legal requirements regarding aboriginal and treaty rights are addressed, and First Nations are provided with opportunities to participate in and benefit from projects.

(5) British Columbians receive a fair share of the fiscal and economic benefits of heavy oil projects that reflects the degree of risk borne by the province, the environment and taxpayers.

Not only do proponents have to clearly identify the measures that will protect against environmental impacts; they must also ensure that benefits to First Nations are evident.

I’d also like to talk about the Tsleil-Waututh, another First Nation in my riding. I’d like to talk specifically about their Child and Family Development Centre. The centre works to promote healthy development in children and families by using a strength-based approach that is community-based and culturally inclusive. In 2014, the facility was recognized with a Child Care Award of Excellence in the innovation category. This award recognized the exceptional contributions of the centre and its staff, who continue to use community supports in innovative ways to bring families closer together and help them reach their goals.

The Lieutenant-Governor also touched on child welfare in the throne speech. She said, “For communities to truly thrive, we must care for those among us who need it,” and to support the many social workers in our province who do admirable work to help the most vulnerable. I understand our budget will be having some good news for them as well.

In the fall of 2013, the all-party Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth, for which I serve as Chair, undertook a special project to examine child and youth mental health in British Columbia. The interim report was published in November 2014 and presented to the House at that time. The second phase of the project was launched last February and focused on identifying concrete and practical initiatives that can enhance mental health services and outcomes across the province.

After extensive public consultations and work by the committee members as well as staff, the committee was able to release its final report a couple of weeks ago, which I have the honour of officially presenting to the House tomorrow. It is called Concrete Actions for Systemic Change.

The committee’s 23 recommendations are based on two years of work investigating ways to improve mental health services. While there are many services and very good work going on in several ministries, as well as by the professionals involved, we found that sometimes they are not easily accessible or well integrated into a system of care. I encourage all members of the House to check out the report on the parliamentary committee website.

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I’m very proud of the work the committee has done over the past two years, and I hope that the recommendations we’ve put forward will be considered by the new cabinet committee for mental health, which the Lieutenant-Governor mentioned in the throne speech.

Mental health services are particularly important in schools, which is why I’m very pleased to see the changes to B.C.’s K-to-12 curriculum which will not only include more non-instructional time for teachers but will also include a bigger emphasis on mental health, social collaboration, hands-on learning, environmental sciences and aboriginal perspectives.

Youth are at increased risk for anxiety, stress and depression. The Canadian Mental Health Association estimates that more than three million Canadians between the ages of 12 and 19 are at risk and may experience daily symptoms such as panic, nausea and difficulty sleeping. This can affect academic performance and cause them to avoid places, activities and important social experiences. Helping school-age children develop tools that strengthen resiliency and reduce the risk of anxiety is key to reducing their suffering and improving their ability to cope with school and all that life has to offer.

One of my priorities as parliamentary secretary is to promote the program called FRIENDS. FRIENDS is a school-based anxiety prevention and resilience initiative and provides programming from kindergarten to grade 7, with activities and lessons ranging from healthy eating and sleeping habits to empathy-building and mindfulness exercises. These programs also offer training for teachers, counsellors and parents on how to help children learn to be confident and brave.

FRIENDS is available right now to all schools in British Columbia — public, independent and First Nations schools — and is funded by MCFD. Initiatives like this help us create a more welcoming, tolerant and understanding school environment and reduce the hold anxiety and other forms of mental illness have on so many British Columbians.

I’m very pleased with the plan put forward by the throne speech. Our economy is a bright spot in a time of global uncertainty. We are capitalizing on our success, diversifying and investing in front-line workers and
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infrastructure renewal, all while maintaining our fiscal discipline. We are the envy of all of Canada.

We are continuing to care for those who need it and are actively searching for ways to enhance how we can provide them with service. We are continuing to move towards a stronger, healthier and more secure tomorrow for British Columbians.

N. Macdonald: As always, thanks for the opportunity.

I just want to start…. Actually, there’s a number of corrections that I’ll make, but I’ll just start with the mover of the throne speech, the member for Chilliwack.

He cited $7 billion in spending for infrastructure, and he asserted that it wasn’t borrowed money. But it is. It is borrowed money. It’s debt. And members should know these things. This is not something that just magically appears. This is borrowed money and adds to debt, as this government has done at record levels — repeatedly — and will continue to do.

Both members talked about $7 billion. There are promises that total $30 billion going forward, and it’s all borrowed money.

Now, I came to this session, as most members do, with a list of local issues to highlight, but I cannot let what the government repeatedly asserts stand unchallenged.

I wasn’t going to come here and launch on the LNG failures, but in the throne speech, government had to roll out the tired, fantastical, B.C. Liberal promises on the prosperity fund and getting B.C. debt-free, all from LNG revenues. And it’s fantasy. There is nothing true. There’s no way that we should be here as politicians, as MLAs, and have as the basis of the discussion something that is not in any way based on fact or truth or likelihood to ever be true.

Where is the LNG that was promised? First plant up and going by 2015. That was a clear promise in a previous throne speech. Well, 2015 has come and gone. Turns out that promise was as real as the other commitments made by B.C. Liberal candidates in the last election.

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We were told there were going to be — guaranteed — five LNG plants by 2018. Does anyone who has any knowledge about the industry at all think that that’s possible? It is completely impossible. It always was a fantastical suggestion from government.

We were told there were going to be 100,000 jobs — 100,000 jobs. That figure is still used. It is a made-up number. How is it that elected people come to this House and talk about things that have no possibility of being real? The number was never real when it was put together. It was always intended to confuse the issue.

A new LNG plant supposedly employs 125 people. Now, there would be jobs building pipelines and the facilities themselves, and then there are jobs created by support services — things like that. The support and services are usually estimated by using the multiplier effect. Commonly, if you’re looking at a pulp plant or a mill — the previous member talked about the wonderful film facility in her area — there’s a multiplier. It’s often 2.5, 3, 3.5. Now, with LNG plants, when the government of the United States took a bipartisan committee from the House of Representatives and looked at LNG, they used a multiplier of 3.5.

What did the B.C. Liberals use? Well, first, they went to Grant Thornton. They paid them to do a study. But the B.C. Liberals required them to use B.C. Liberal numbers. The report had to assume that there were going to be five LNG plants. Where did that number come from? It was made up. Why not six? Why not seven? No, it’s a made-up number: five.

Then they had to assume the number of employees that the B.C. Liberals provided, the number of construction workers that the B.C. Liberals said would be used, and then they had to use a multiplier of 30. Now, where is the justification for a number of 30? Nobody uses that. It doesn’t make sense.

In my area, we lost the Canal Flats mill. We lost it. That was a serious blow. That was 150 employees. That’s just the latest of 100 of these mills that have gone down under the B.C. Liberal watch. What if I applied a multiplier of 30 to those 150 jobs? Suddenly we’re up to 4,650. What if I came to this House and said: “Oh, we lost 4,650 jobs with that shutdown of the 150-employee mill”? It would be ridiculous.

Interjection.

N. Macdonald: That’s what this government’s doing. That’s what you’re doing. It’s fantastical. It’s not based on reality.

When you’re handed a package of information as MLAs, do you ever go through it? Do you ever ask questions? Where does this number come from?

Do you notice that certain ministers do not repeat certain things? It’s called self-respect. Does the Minister of Finance talk about the prosperity fund very often? No, because he knows it is a fantasy. It will never happen, just like the 100,000 jobs. It is a made-up number.

I have a lot of problems that intelligent people who have gone through the electoral process come here and participate in that sort of a discussion. If it wasn’t in the throne speech, I would let it go, because I’ve said this before. But to throw back in the throne speech the prosperity fund, the fact that we’re going to be debt-free, is ridiculous at a level that is beyond any normal scope of political debate.

I get exaggerations. I get partisan shots. I get all of that. But there surely is some sort of a realm that we don’t drift beyond. But this government is immune to it. The 100,000 is a made-up number. If you want to go and check, read the Grant Thornton report. Look at what was presented. Look at the assumptions they were forced to
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use when they made the report. Look at the provision they put in saying: “Hey, these aren’t our numbers. These are numbers that were handed to us.”

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If you do that, and you still use the number 100,000, well then, I guess that says a lot about how seriously you take the job. It’s a bogus number from the get-go, the 100,000.

What about revenues from LNG? It was going to eliminate the debt of $168 billion. It was going to eliminate the debt. It was going to get rid of sales tax. What is it — $7 billion a year brought in by sales tax? LNG is going to get rid of that and create a $100 billion prosperity fund.

In previous sessions, members here sat down and put together the tax framework for getting LNG revenue. We all participated. Everyone had an opportunity to debate. Everyone had an opportunity to vote. So you should be in some way knowledgable about the possibilities for revenue coming in through LNG.

So $125 million is the amount that comes in if an LNG plant is developed. It’s not an inconsequential amount of money, but it is only $125 million after six to eight years after it starts up. The tax cut to the richest 2 percent of British Columbians uses up $235 million a year — the amount of revenue that it takes for two plants to create after they operate six to eight years.

I mean, I would just invite members: take out your paper, and do the math. None of the figures come anywhere close to reality.

The prosperity fund — honestly: no sales tax, at $6 billion a year; no debt; all $168 billion paid off; and there’s no need to borrow ever. Well, none of that is true. Before the Liberals took power, in 2001, the debt was at around $30 billion. Go have a look. It was about $30 billion, and that took over a century to accumulate. But now debt and contractual obligations total $168 billion.

The Premier who campaigned with “Debt-free B.C.” on the bus has added more debt more recklessly than any Premier in the history of the province. The intention is to add another $30 billion in borrowing. Now, the minister questions that. Just go. You can talk to the Minister of Finance. The fact is that this Premier has added debt faster than any Premier in the history of this province.

On its own, if that is what you’re doing, then fine. Be honest about it. But there is something frankly ridiculous about a discussion amongst elected, intelligent people where the premise is that that gets you to debt-free.

How does borrowing a further $30 billion after accumulating up to $138 billion more than when you were first elected get you to debt-free? Okay, if that’s what you are doing, at least be honest about it. The throne speech again talks about debt-free.

What about the prosperity fund? The B.C. Liberals campaigned on it. They talk about it again in this throne speech. It was to be $100 billion as well as no sales tax and the debt all gone. “Just imagine,” we were told.

The Premier’s best friend was here today, actually. Pamela Martin was up there. She tweeted it was a $1 trillion prosperity fund. Wow. I guess after a certain point, who cares — a hundred billion, a trillion? How much is it? It’s zero. How much is it going to be in five years? Zero. How much is it going to be in ten years? Zero.

You might as well, if you’re going for $100 billion…. Well done, Pamela Martin. It’s a trillion. Just fly at ’er. Make it up. But that that should be the basis for a discussion in this House is frankly ridiculous and kind of shameful.

It’s hard to be proud of the job that you’re doing when you’re forced to participate in debates where that’s the premise. What sort of government is it that puts that out and says that this is what’s going to happen when it’s clear that it’s not going to happen?

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What are the revenues that we have today? Back under the NDP in the fiscal year of 2000-2001, the natural gas revenues that were collected in that year were $2,169,918,288. That’s what it was. Go look in the publicly available financial records of this province. That’s what it was.

Last year, this premier had natural gas revenues, after — what? — four or five years of talking about it, of $666,462,285. That’s not a small figure, but it is one-third of what was collected under the NDP. It’s one-third. In 2013, it was as low as $42 million

Okay, well, that is as it is. But to then stand up with a throne speech and talk about taking those revenues — as well as the tax that gives you money six to eight years after an LNG plant is up, which only gives you $135 million — and to talk about that somehow creating $168 billion to get rid of the debt, get rid of sales tax at $6 billion a year, as well as a $100 billion prosperity fund…. You would have no self-respect if, as politicians, you stood up and repeated that.

The fact is that the notion of exporting LNG is not new. It was talked about by Glen Clark. It was talked about by others. It exists as a possibility, but it is dependent upon the price difference between North America and Asia.

There was a moment in time when North American prices for natural gas had fallen to about $4 per million Btu and Asian prices were at $18 per million Btu. That made it feasible to make money if natural gas were liquefied and shipped from North America to Asia. But if you go back and you look at articles from that period, from 2011, 2012, 2013 — and these are articles from around the world — they point out that this was a temporary price difference and that factors would quickly change the prices to a more equal pricing structure, which is, fairly unsurprisingly, what has happened.

Without a $6-to-$10-per-million Btu price difference between North America and Asia, the B.C. LNG industry cannot work. It just can’t, and no amount of happy thinking changes that stark reality. You can stand up and cluck,
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“Yes, yes, yes,” all you want, but it doesn’t change it. That is the reality that you cannot get past. The price in Asia is what it is. Nothing that has happened now was not always abundantly obvious.

For five years, the government has led a discussion about pure fantasy. There might be an LNG plant. That’s possible. We hope that there’ll be an LNG plant. But the proposition that it would be trillions was always not true. It means one of two things — a willingness by government to engage in a misinformation campaign that, quite frankly, is at a grotesque level…. With the B.C. Liberal tax regime, even if you got five plants you would still have revenues of only one 1/1000 of what was promised.

Members should know this. You participated in setting that fiscal framework for collecting money. Is it possible that you did not understand that in voting for that, you were setting it up so that it was impossible for your prosperity fund or debt-free?

So it’s either that it is an intentional misinformation campaign or the political leadership of the province is so mind-numbingly incompetent that they’re not aware of the reality. It can only be one of….

A. Dix: It could be both.

N. Macdonald: Well, it could be both, but it could, realistically, only be one of those two things, and neither can possibly be acceptable to the people of British Columbia.

The reason we have so many members is…. Surely, if not in here, within your own caucus you sometimes raise these concerns. I mean, that’s what I would ask of you. In your own caucus, can you please speak to your leadership and say: “I don’t want to be representing your expressed views if it’s misleading or if it is so devoid of reality that it’s embarrassing to stand behind it”?

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I think that’s an obligation that you have to the people of British Columbia as B.C. Liberals and members of government.

Now, the minister of LNG and the Premier are still on about it. I just find it completely insulting to the intelligence of British Columbians. It’s like Bush and his weapons of mass destruction. Enough already. At some point it becomes ridiculous. I am willing to be fair on overstatement and normal political rhetoric. I mean, I am willing to be fair on it.

When the minister of LNG made this statement here in the House…. “Eight new mines and nine expanded mines will be here by 2015.” We guaranteed this because of B.C. Liberal efforts, but instead we have, since 2013, now over 2,280 direct mining jobs lost due to mines closing or going on care and maintenance for various reasons.

Now, I could add the multiplier of 30, but something about having some personal integrity stops me from doing it. So we’re just talking about direct jobs — 2,280. I can accept that miss, actually, from the minister responsible. I actually accept that as a legitimate miss, and I see it as different than what is said about the LNG, the LNG rhetoric. There were supposed to be eight new mines and nine expanded mines.

If I was being honest, I couldn’t actually say that I knew copper and coal prices were headed down. Maybe I should have known. I’m the critic. But LNG is completely different. It always was based on fantasy, and I just find it so offensive for any member to repeat things that anyone informed in this House should know are ludicrous.

What is the B.C. Liberal record, by the way, on mining since 2013? It’s 2,280 direct mining jobs lost, 16 mines down, three opened. I can give you the list of mines that have gone down. Here I can be fair. I can say that’s a miscalculation. Okay, I get it. There are things that government doesn’t control. The government promised eight new mines, and instead we have 16 closed and three opened. It’s a long list, and it impacts a large number of people. The hope is that commodity prices will at some point pick up and we’ll get people back to work.

Commodity prices are down. It is a failure by government to meet promises, but at least I find it somewhat within the realm of normal political discourse, unlike the LNG rhetoric from government, which is, frankly, embarrassing and appalling, really.

This throne speech said an interesting thing. It said that there were enemies of mining. Oh, okay. I think that’s kind of ridiculous too. There are people who are very legitimately concerned about poor B.C. Liberal oversight at mine sites. A total failure of a tailing storage facility leading to 25 million cubic metres of tailings and waters dumped into a pristine lake in British Columbia is, I think, a fair reason to raise some questions. For the Premier, through the throne speech, to support that those are enemies of mining is, frankly, ridiculous. It’s as ridiculous as saying that opponents in other places are part of a ragtag group.

These are legitimate concerns. And 25 million cubic metres of material that is supposed to be contained flowing into a pristine lake is appalling. It happened here in B.C. It didn’t happen in Congo. It didn’t happen in Colombia. It happened here in B.C. If you read the report about what took place at Mount Polley, it is appalling, frankly. If the enemies of mining are those that have legitimate concerns about the lack of B.C. Liberal oversight, well, that’s, frankly, a ridiculous and indefensible position as well — by government members, presumably.

Maybe that’s not what the government is talking about. Maybe the government is talking about First Nations objections to destroying a lake to create a tailings pond at the proposed Prosperity mine. Maybe those are the enemies of mining.

[1540]

I guess it skips a step. Unlike Mount Polley, which has a tailings pond that then goes straight in and destroys or damages a lake, the intention with Prosperity was to do
[ Page 10251 ]
that straightaway. Well, even the federal Conservative government of Stephen Harper said that that was not acceptable. When Stephen Harper is the champion of the environment compared to you, then you’re probably well off the mark environmentally. So let’s be clear. For most of the over a dozen mines that have closed, it is commodity prices down internationally, and the domestic concerns that are raised are legitimate and need to be treated respectfully.

Governments don’t control commodity prices, but there are areas that governments do control. There are other factors, I think, that this House should acknowledge. It complicates mining projects, as well as other resource development projects, and that’s uncertainty on the land base.

What is happening with First Nations land claims? Where is that? What’s happening with that? The throne speech would have been a good time to lay out what the government has planned for a really important issue, to try to get some certainty on the land base. The Tsilhqot’in verdict has really serious and complicated implications for the land base that require government action. Government — the provincial government — must work with its partners to be part of the solution.

Now, George Abbott was going to head the Treaty Commission. For six months, the federal government and First Nations thought that was the plan. Then a week before he was supposed to take over, he was dumped by the Premier. People asked why, but there was no explanation for a number of days. Then the Premier comes out and says that the treaty process is a failed approach that needs replacing. Okay. That was almost a year ago.

It’s complicated, but it’s critically important, and there was no mention in the throne speech of where we’re going with this. Instead of having fantasy discussions with made-up numbers, why not use this House to have a serious debate about what we’re going to do to move forward with treaty issues and trying to get some certainty on the land base for First Nations and for people who depend upon resource development?

Well, the government — again, this is borrowed money, just for the information of the member for Chilliwack — is going to be taking $10 billion, maybe $12 billion, to work on Site C. And that will be, for this election, the push on jobs. Okay. That’s a lot of money, and it’s public funds that we don’t have, so we’re actually going to borrow to build it.

It is a project that wasn’t reviewed by the B.C. Utilities Commission. Government had to specifically use legislation to make sure that happened, because probably it does not stand up to the scrutiny that the B.C. Utilities Commission would put to it. It is power that will be generated that was first described as power needed for LNG, but that’s not happening.

This throne speech…. They talked about it going to Alberta. Okay, really? I doubt that. Alberta will have the ability to use natural gas to produce its own power. I mean, it’s a ridiculous premise that seems to have been just made up at the moment, as so often happens with this government.

So while we meet in the Legislature and have fantasy discussions about LNG bringing in trillions of dollars, I think there’s so much that is unaddressed by government. In forestry, we have lost 20,000 jobs. Those are direct jobs, by the way. I haven’t used your 30 multiplier on it. So 20,000 jobs have been lost by B.C. Liberals in forestry, and we’ve seen over 100 mills close under B.C. Liberals, including Canal Flats.

The throne speech stated that forestry was booming, but it should be doing way better. Forestry has all of the elements that should make it a boom period for them. The dollar is low, the U.S. economy is healthy, but the jobs aren’t there. They’re not coming. Those that live in rural communities must know that.

[1545]

We still have record levels of raw log exports, which are a waste of the resource. Under the forestry act, it’s not supposed to happen, but it’s up to record levels. The government is not replanting in the way that it responsibly should. There is extremely poor inventory, not only with our forests but with wildlife as well. There is a lack of planning that includes communities. There is a lack of oversight in forestry and safety in mills. All of these need to be addressed.

But in this session, again nothing’s going to happen. That all will be ignored so that the government can play games with TPP and Site C motions and all these things that it thinks are clever, as well as the fantasies of 100,000 jobs and a $100 billion prosperity fund, while the real debate on hard topics like forestry is ignored.

In my area, the Trans-Canada Highway remains as a subpar transportation route that is too often unsafe and too often closed. The Premier — I think it was in 2012 — talked about dividing and four-laning from Kamloops to the Alberta border within ten years. They’ve had signs up along the highway. They come up before each election. They promise the same promise, but when you look at the money and you look at the three years, laying out how much money is to be spent, there’s no significant amount of money, ever.

That was 2012. It was going to be done in ten years. There is no serious effort. It’s not mentioned in the throne speech. It again is just this vacuum of straightforward talking.

Jumbo. Why is there a municipality there? Why has it not been cleaned up? There are issues there. There never was an investor. That’s another local issue.

Zebra and quagga mussels. There are a very few people, but there are some, on the opposite side who should be aware of this. I was in Gimli, where there’s an infestation. Government should be taking this seriously and should be putting in all of the measures that it can to protect this
[ Page 10252 ]
province from zebra and quagga mussels. We have the ability to do it. In other provinces, it’s more complicated. Just a small amount of money would prevent an infestation, and I can tell you it’s well worth doing.

I’ve talked about this for a long time, and I wish that I could be successful. I don’t know what to do now. I’ve talked to the ministers. I’m telling you: once it happens, it will be too late to fix it.

Anyway, I look forward to this session. I thank you, as always, for listening.

D. Barnett: It is my pleasure and great honour to rise today on behalf of the people of Cariboo-Chilcotin to offer my comments in response to the throne speech during this fifth session of the 40th parliament. First, I would like to wish all members of this House a very rewarding and productive legislative session.

Our province is the envy of Canada for our growing and thriving economy. I am extremely proud that much of our province’s wealth is derived from the natural resources in outlying regions, including the Cariboo-Chilcotin.

Thinking about the year ahead, I am filled with hope. Yes, there will be challenges for all of us, but it is up to all citizens to turn those challenges into opportunities. As I stated, resource industries are vital in the Cariboo and the Chilcotin. The people of that area are working together to bring investment in those key industries — and all industries, in general.

Everyone has a role to play — from ordinary citizens talking about and celebrating what makes our region a great place to live, to chambers of commerce, economic development agencies, First Nations and all levels of government — creating a business atmosphere that convinces investors to come to the Cariboo-Chilcotin. We are pulling together to attract projects that will build our economy, while being environmentally responsible.

[1550]

As we know, a strong economy allows us to strengthen our social programs, create jobs, and curb crime and homelessness. Our government continues to support all communities in our great province.

Last March I was honoured to be named chair of the rural advisory council, which was established in 2014 to help identify opportunities for small communities to diversify their economies. The rural advisory council is made up of 14 other people from rural British Columbia, from towns such as Skidegate, Vanderhoof, McBride, Armstrong, Christina Lake, Port McNeill and others.

One of the rural advisory council’s recommendations was the creation of a rural dividend fund to assist smaller communities in transitioning their economies. Last fall I was thrilled when our Premier announced the creation of the rural dividend, which will provide up to $75 million over the next three years to economic stimulus projects in smaller communities.

As the global resource economy is in transition, some of the communities that contribute the most to B.C. are feeling the pinch. The rural dividend will help communities that are working to reinvigorate and diversify their economies and support them in putting in place their own solutions based on each community’s values and needs. The rural dividend will support innovative and ambitious ideas and solutions with potential for the greatest impact on rural communities.

Supporting rural community transition and stability, the rural dividend is focused on the following priorities: building community capacity and quality of life, expanding learning and skill-development opportunities, providing opportunities for rural youth to stay and return to rural communities, and encouraging collaboration and partnerships between rural British Columbia and First Nations.

The $25 million per year pilot program will run from 2016-17 to 2018-19 and be available only to communities outside urban areas with a population of 25,000 or under. The funding will be administered by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, which has responsibility for rural development. This is a great opportunity for the people of small communities — not governments — to work together. I hope to see as many communities as possible getting to make their common goals a reality.

I can’t overstate the importance of the mining industry in our province and in my riding of Cariboo-Chilcotin. Rural communities across B.C. depend on the well-paying jobs that their mines provide residents. So it was a proud moment last Friday when I joined the Minister of Energy and Mines as he announced a plan to keep thousands of B.C.’s metal- and coal-mine workers on the job by allowing mining companies to temporarily defer a portion of their hydro bills.

We are in the midst of a challenging time for the mining sector. This program will provide some temporary support to help the mines stay open as long as possible, hopefully until commodity prices bounce back.

Under the five-year term of the program, which will be delivered by B.C. Hydro, companies operating metal and coal mines in B.C. will be able to defer a portion of their electricity payments to B.C. Hydro. The amount a mine will be allowed to defer is capped at the equivalent of up to 75 percent of its electricity costs over two years of the program. As commodity prices recover, the mines will repay the amounts deferred plus interest.

The mining industry provides more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs in B.C. This program offers immediate and meaningful relief to mining companies facing significant power costs and will help keep mines open.

In my own riding, the Gibraltar mine employs more than 600 people who live primarily in Williams Lake, 100 Mile House and Quesnel. Gibraltar spends roughly $1 million every day to operate, most of which goes directly
[ Page 10253 ]
into the local economy. The general manager of Gibraltar mine said himself that this flexibility on the part of our government will help Gibraltar continue to operate.

[1555]

It is known around the world also — the Cariboo-Chilcotin and British Columbia — for its agricultural products.

Another important industry in the Cariboo-Chilcotin is the cattle industry. Beef cattle are raised in great numbers in the Cariboo-Chilcotin and throughout B.C., which is about 5 percent of the national beef herd. Our Cariboo-Chilcotin ranchers supply top-quality beef to local, national and international markets.

As a whole, exports of B.C. food and beverage products last year accounted for $3.8 billion for the provincial economy, the highest sales total ever. Our government will continue to work on increasing provincial revenues in agrifoods and seafoods toward a goal of $15 billion a year by 2020. At home, we will capitalize on our success in agriculture by encouraging and supporting British Columbians to buy local and grow local to strengthen our cities and towns and allow the sector to flourish even further.

My riding is also a four-season vacation destination and an outdoors person’s paradise. Just last weekend saw the completion of a snowmobile ride from Kamloops to Barkerville and back. This ride was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the B.C. Snowmobile Federation, and much of the ride was on the famous Gold Rush Trail. Ice fishing and downhill and cross-country skiing are also popular tourism draws at this time of year.

But our rugged terrain can also be dangerous. Fortunately, we have some of the best search and rescue volunteers anywhere. South Cariboo Search and Rescue is one of the provincial organizations that will receive a portion of our government’s one-time funding of $10 billion to help pay for new or additional training, replace or update equipment or provide administrative support.

There is a dedicated army of 2,500 volunteers who comb our province’s back country, rappel into steep ravines and weather the worst of the elements while leaving behind the comforts of home to go seek and find those who are lost or injured.

Over the coming months, the B.C. Search and Rescue Association will work with its membership to bolster ground search and rescue services throughout the province. In the past year, emergency management B.C. has had several discussions with the B.C. Search and Rescue Association on an alternate support model for this service. The funding will help to meet the 80 ground search and rescue teams’ immediate needs while EMBC continues to work with the B.C. Search and Rescue Association on a long-term solution.

The $10 million investment builds on the $6.3 million that our government is already providing each year to cover ground search and rescue operational costs for deployment, as well as training and equipment cost and the insurance and liability for the members of the 80 groups serving across B.C.

Within ground search and rescue, there are roughly 100,000 hours of volunteer time donated to searches. To replace these would cost more than $5 million annually in direct salary dollars. Public safety is our number one priority, and this additional resource will help bolster support to the front lines of search and rescue operations in communities throughout British Columbia.

As I stated at the beginning of my remarks, British Columbia stands as the envy of Canada. Thanks to our government’s plan and the hard work and determination of British Columbians, our economy is Canada’s bright spot in a time of economic uncertainty. Our plan is working, but we will not sit and rest on our laurels. Our diverse, strong and growing economy is founded on fiscal discipline, which has made British Columbia a leader in prosperity and growth.

As a result, we created more than 50,000 jobs last year, and we have the opportunity to eliminate the operating debt in just four years, paving the path towards a debt-free B.C. Next week we will introduce a fourth consecutive balanced budget, controlling spending and growing the economy, so we have the ability to invest further in the vital services that British Columbians rely on.

[1600]

Investments in front-line workers, patient care, persons with disabilities and easing housing pressures are key examples of the benefits that come from a growing economy. By keeping our focus on our B.C. jobs plan and growing sectors like tech, agrifoods and natural gas development, we will create real opportunities for families here at home, ensuring British Columbians remain first in line for the jobs of today and tomorrow.

We will continue to stand up for B.C., defending the interests of our natural resource sectors and the hard-working families in the Cariboo-Chilcotin and throughout our province.

S. Robinson: It’s always an honour to get up in the House as the representative for Coquitlam-Maillardville and to speak to this year’s throne speech.

As members know, as a people’s representative, we aren’t able to do this work by ourselves, so I’d really like to take this moment to just acknowledge those who work with me in my community. As everyone here knows — and, I’m sure, as you know, hon. Speaker — there’s a lot that we have to do.

There are two people who work out of my office who help me do the work as the people’s representative, making sure that my constituents get the information, advice and support that they need. I’d like to acknowledge and thank Laura Gullickson, who’s been working with me since my election in 2013, and Linda Asgeirsson, who’s been working for me the last year — one day a week, but
[ Page 10254 ]
who’s now with me four days a week. I depend on these two women so much, because they keep my life sane, and they help me deliver the best that I can to my constituents in Coquitlam-Maillardville.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

We all know that it’s more than just our staff who make a difference in the lives of our constituents, that our community members do that for us as well. I also think it’s important that we acknowledge our families, because I never would have imagined how much my family would have had to give up in this role here.

My weekends, when I’m at home, are filled with community events, community fundraisers and meetings with constituents. So serving our constituents is more than a full-time job. I’m sure everyone in the House recognizes that. I wish somebody had told me before I put my name forward, but that’s okay. I sort of had an idea that this is what it was going to be like. I’m very thrilled to continue to do that, and I’m very grateful to my family for their willingness to share me with the residents of Coquitlam-Maillardville.

Now, Coquitlam really is a wonderful community. It’s filled with just fabulous people, as I’m sure everyone else says about their constituencies, but mine is particularly fabulous. It’s home for a diverse population. We are rich with many cultures and histories and languages. We are also home to the historic French language culture. Our streets are named Lebleu, Laval, Boileau, Allard, really demonstrating the historic origins of Coquitlam-Maillardville, when the Fraser River was the economic engine that brought not temporary foreign workers to our community but brought migrants from Quebec to work in the mills and invited them to bring their families with them to settle the area and to create a vibrant community.

There are still some of these francophone families in the area. Some of their history is captured at Mackin House, our local museum. You can see evidence — Laval Square, carré Laval, where Our Lady of Lourdes is the focal point for the francophone community and where Père Maillard 100 years ago served his parishioners. Today a remnant of that history — we have the Festival du Bois. It’s a French language, French music festival, that starts with a dîner en plaid — a takeoff of dinner in white, but it’s “en plaid” to commemorate the lumber industry that was very active once upon a time in Maillardville.

Of course, over the years, Coquitlam has grown. As the idea of suburbia took hold and the idea of raising your family outside of the city became the ideal, Coquitlam sort of stretched its boundaries and lost certainly some of the spaciousness that it once had.

[1605]

We have many neighbourhoods making up Coquitlam-Maillardville. They each have unique identities, often built up around a school or a shopping district. I find that really fascinating about how our neighbourhoods are construed around schools. It just speaks to how important schools are, not just for educating our children but also for creating identities and for creating neighbourhoods, and how important that is.

It’s also wonderful to go to the local grocery store and engage with neighbours about the latest changes in the shopping centre or to catch up with mutual friends. I’m sure others here in this House have certainly had the experience that walking into the drugstore to get some postage stamps or whatever is not a ten-minute exercise but a 45-minute exercise. It’s because by the time you get to the door, you’ve heard from four different people who want to tell you about something that’s going on in their lives.

It’s this idea of being connected with our neighbours, I believe, that strengthens all of us as we all work hard to raise our families and create good lives for ourselves and our children and also good lives for our parents. I will confess that I am getting to that place where making sure that my parents have good lives is very, very important.

I just want to share a small example about how Coquitlam-Maillardville is incredibly special. It has to do with how we responded to the Syrian refugees. I’ve mentioned it earlier in the House. I did a two-minute statement about Tima Kurdi and her nephew, Alan, when he drowned, along with his brother and his mother. Tima Kurdi rose to the occasion, reluctantly, to help educate all of us on the impact of the Syrian refugee crisis. She became a voice in a world where the images were so startling that we couldn’t even begin to process them.

Coquitlam sort of rallied around her and made sure that she was supported, and that when she could bring her older brother Mohammad and his four children over, they would be well supported. People were starting to call my office and ask questions about how they could help. It always warms my heart when people offer to provide some assistance, but the challenge, of course, was that they didn’t know how to provide assistance. They didn’t know what was needed.

So with the help of my fabulous staff and a couple of volunteers, we hosted a forum on how you can help the Syrian refugees who are coming and making their way to Coquitlam. We had a panel of speakers from the various resettlement agencies. The local mosque came as well, and the local volunteer organization, and we filled that room. People came from all over the Tri-Cities, because they cared, because they wanted to make sure that these people who were leaving their war-torn country had a safe place to be.

That’s the kind of place Coquitlam is. That’s the kind of community I represent, and I’m very proud to continue to represent it. These are the people that I think about as I listen to the throne speech that we just heard yesterday.

As I reflect on the throne speech, I think about: what
[ Page 10255 ]
do we actually do here in Victoria? I mean, we all take turns standing up and speaking to different things. So what is it we’re really doing here? Each and every one of us is here because the community has entrusted us to make decisions on their behalf. At the end of the day, that’s really why we’re here. Then I got to thinking about: so how did we get here? How did we get to this place? What was it that we needed to do so that the people that we represent picked us, picked me? What was it?

We can say: “Well, we campaigned, and people had different campaign platforms.” Yeah, so what does that mean — that you campaigned? Well, when I reflect more on it, it’s more that we worked hard to form a relationship with the electorate, which told the electorate that they could trust us, that we would have their best interests at heart, that what we said meant something. That, to me, is very important. It’s very serious. I think that when we say we’re going to do something, we’d better do it.

It got me thinking about how we form relationships with the electorate. Really, the campaign is where we start to do that. We talk about the kinds of ways we’re going to conduct ourselves. We talk about how we’re going to talk about things. We talk about how we’re going to prioritize their concerns.

[1610]

Now, I’m a family therapist by training. I haven’t done any of that work since I’ve been in this House, although I probably do more work than I think I do. Therapy is relationship-based work, so I know a thing or two about relationships.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with families, many of whom are very, very resilient. Their relationships are very resilient. They have a relationship based on mutual respect and trust and understanding, so that even when they’re faced with adversity — when things go sideways, when they couldn’t predict something — they managed to find their way through the difficulty.

I think of a friend of mine whose baby died of SIDS, probably about 18 years ago. I remember talking with her and being afraid for the resiliency of their relationship, because I can’t think of anything more horrendous than losing a child. They came through it. It was hard. But because they had a relationship based on mutual trust and understanding, they could take each other at the other’s word. They got through it.

Now, I’ve also had the pleasure of working with families where there were fragile relationships, where the slightest misstep, the slightest offhand comment just cut deep to the core and created irrevocable harm to the relationship.

These are two extremes that I’m providing here. There are many kinds of relationships in between those extremes.

Coming back to our relationship with the electorate, I think about: what kind of relationship do we have with the electorate, and what do they expect from us as their elected representatives when we make commitments? Is it a resilient relationship that we have, or is it a pretty fragile relationship that we have with the electorate? Are we committed to being true to our word? Are we prepared to follow through on our commitments and our promises?

When I think about the throne speech and I think about what I have heard in my three years here, I have to scratch my head. I’m puzzled because over the years, this B.C. Liberal government has made a number of promises and commitments in their relationship with the electorate.

They promised that LNG would create 100,000 jobs. They promised a prosperity fund that would eliminate the debt. They promised…. I remember it was a couple of years ago. No, it was last year. It was last year this time, in fact, that they promised a violence-free B.C. They promised to put families first. That was once upon a time.

They also promised A GP for Me — a GP for every British Columbian — by 2015. They promised to seismically upgrade schools. Lots and lots of commitments.

At some point, because we live and eat and breathe this stuff, the relationship just has to be damaged. In this last throne speech, just yesterday, there was acknowledgment of the Tsawwassen First Nation for their investment. The throne speech spoke to that but said absolutely nothing about the families of the murdered and missing women along Highway 16.

There were commitments to act on the recommendations, yet nothing. We’ve been calling for it for years. In fact, we learned that this government triple-deleted emails, hid information about what they were doing on that project. That has to impact the relationship.

They said nothing about the treaty process or the fact that they blew it up last year and have nothing to show for it. There’s no movement here, and that’s something that folks on the other side of the House have to speak to. They have to be able to find a way to acknowledge that they have failed in that effort.

Another thing in the throne speech yesterday which caught my eye is when they talked about jobs, they said: “We led Canada by creating 50,000 new jobs.” Well, we know that’s actually not the case. This is where people like to joke about: “Well, it depends on your numbers. You can do anything with statistics.” And it is true. You can. That’s why it’s really important.

[1615]

I’ve maybe become jaded in my short period of time, but when we get numbers like this, you take a look and you say: “Well, gee. Where did they get those numbers? Those are interesting numbers. Where did they come from?” You do the math. You do the stats. You run the numbers, and you think: “That’s not what I’m coming up with.” Well, this is how they came up with that number.

We actually came in second for creating jobs — only 30,000. But rather than use the normal way of calculating jobs, which is to compare the average for all of 2014 and compare the average with all of 2015 — that’s what you would call a good comparison — they just picked two months, and I’m going to bet they picked the two
[ Page 10256 ]
months that made it look the best. Really? Is that what we’re getting from our government? We’re getting sort of: “We’ll just pick what makes us look best rather than what’s really going on.”

We were fifth place for private sector jobs, creating just 12,100 private sector jobs, and we were fifth place in the country in wage growth. The B.C. jobs plan, between 2011 and 2015, created 11,400 private sector jobs, which was sixth place in all of Canada. That does not make us number one.

We have lots of work to do. We all have lots of work to do. We have to ensure that we have a diverse economy, but we have to be honest with the electorate. We have to make sure that they trust government when government puts out numbers. This isn’t how you do that. It’s so disappointing.

If you want to be able to say you’re number one, then you need to be able to demonstrate, with the real numbers, exactly what that means. So when government talks about jobs and they don’t talk about post-secondary education in the throne speech, I have to hear that that’s a disconnect, because it’s not just what government says that we have to be paying attention to.

As a family therapist, I worked with a lot of couples. They would come in, and they would tell a story. Part of what I would have to do was also to listen to what they’re not saying, because what people are not saying also tells part of this story.

I actually have a friend of mine…. I used to play ice hockey, and the women would all, after the game, talk about what’s going on in our lives — about kids, about the spouse, about work. There was one woman on the hockey team who talked about work and talked about kids. I knew she was married, but she never talked about her spouse. She never talked about her husband. I thought that her not talking about it was speaking volumes.

A couple of weeks after, we went for a beer, and I just asked her about it. It was just a private moment, and I asked her about it. It turns out that things were not good in her relationship. She was struggling. But it was what she was not saying that was speaking volumes.

It also becomes that what was not in the throne speech has to be part of what we’re listening to and listening for. There was nothing in the throne speech about post-secondary education and its role in diversifying our economy — nothing. Rather disappointing, because I would have thought that when you talk about advanced education and you talk about a diverse economy, you talk about making investment in people. People are our greatest resource, and there was nothing in this throne speech that talked about investing in our children and in our young adults. They are struggling, and there was nothing here.

There was also something else that caught my attention. That was that in the throne speech, there was certainly talk about agriculture and opportunities, which, interestingly enough, hadn’t appeared in any earlier throne speeches but somehow, magically, it’s more interesting to this government. That’s a good thing. Not going to take that away. I think it’s a good thing that we pay attention to agriculture.

But there was the reannouncement of the December 2015 announcement that this government would implement a 25 percent tax credit on the value of farmed food donated to non-profit organizations.

Now, I’ve spent a good part of my career working in the non-profit sector. We have a fabulous social service organization called SHARE Family and Community Services that really fills gaps, identifies needs and is incredibly responsive. They do an amazing job. They also operate the food bank that was supposed to be a temporary measure back in the ’80s, when things got really tough. It’s become a permanent fixture in our community, and I certainly have been pretty vocal in Coquitlam about my concern about the role of the food bank in our community.

[1620]

Now, I used to be SHARE’s fund development director and so was the one knocking on doors and asking for money to support our food bank, because it doesn’t get government funding. It’s completely privately funded.

But, frankly, I’m tired that we have food banks. We should not have food banks. People need to be able to earn a living so that they can go shopping like everyone else. It is a humiliating experience to have to stand in line for an hour, two hours and get your $20 worth of groceries that’s going to last you two weeks. I can’t think of anything more humiliating than that, and my heart cries out for those who are faced with that, who have to do that in order to feed their families.

What this government says it will do is provide a tax credit to farmers who will donate their food to food banks, that that’s the priority. Now, I don’t want to see food waste. I think it’s a terrible idea. Food waste makes me crazy. You can talk to my husband and my kids. It makes me nuts when we throw out food. But this is not an answer. This is not an answer to the fact that our food bank lineups are growing and there are more children than ever in those lineups.

There is nothing that this government talked about in terms of a poverty reduction plan. What’s the plan? We have these one-off little ideas here and here and here, but there’s no vision. There’s no plan. And so what we have…. We don’t have jobs. We keep talking about jobs, but they haven’t materialized.

If anything, we at least need to have some sort of response. Except what we’re saying is that we want more people going to food banks. And guess what. Now you can get apples, and you can get corn on the cob — only when it’s in season, of course — and so you’re going to have to wait now three hours in line because those lineups keep growing.

That’s not an answer. That’s not a vision. That’s about saying: “We’re going to keep you stuck. We’re going to keep you stuck in those lineups.”
[ Page 10257 ]

The other thing it doesn’t address, which is always very interesting, is the transportation piece. In terms of operations, we were always able to get farmers to give us their produce. That was never a huge deal in the Tri-Cities. But who was going to pay to transport it to the food banks?

Who is going to pay to store it at the food banks? Who is going to pay the rent at the food banks? Who is going to pay the hydro that the food banks have to pay? Who is going to pay the staff ? Even though you have fabulous volunteers, you still need to staff it.

While government might think that they’re doing a great favour by bringing in this 25 percent tax credit, the reality is that food banks now have to fundraise more in order to make this a viable option. It’s not what I would call pragmatic in any way, shape or form.

Interjection.

S. Robinson: My food bank certainly didn’t.

As we talk about….

Interjection.

S. Robinson: Well, it would be great if their hydro rates weren’t so high. It would be great if they got some government funding so that they could have some staff to support their volunteers.

As we talk about what else is not going on, there was nothing that this government talked about in terms of child care. They did mention that there are more than 111,000 licensed child care spaces, but the reality is for most families that they can’t afford it. They just can’t afford it. It’s an economic issue. It’s not a child care issue.

Every time I get up to stand here in the House and talk about the things that matter to my constituents, I always think about this family that I spoke to when I was first campaigning in 2013. I mentioned her here in the House, and I was talking to some colleagues about…. It’s like this woman I talked to is this homunculus that sort of sits on my shoulder, and I carry her around with me because she sort of represents the voices that I heard in Coquitlam-Maillardville.

This is a woman who appeared at the door. It was a Sunday afternoon, about 4:30. She had a knife in her hand because she was…. She had an apron on, and she was talking about how difficult life was for her and her family, how affordability was getting to be a real challenge. She never thought that she would be one to complain about affordability because she, I think, was a radiologist or some technician in a hospital in Surrey, and her husband was a small business owner.

[1625]

She was saying that she was having a hard time managing all the pieces that she needed to manage to live a middle-class life, that things were getting more and more expensive. She now had to pay the tolls on the Port Mann Bridge to go to and from work. Well, that was an added expense for her. She had to pick up extra shifts. She couldn’t afford to keep the two cars running on the road because gas was expensive, and she was picking up extra shifts to make ends meet, which meant for her that she wasn’t home for dinner as often as she would have liked.

What that meant was that Sunday was the only day they had as a family, and here I was interrupting their family time. I felt horrible, but I also felt sad that Sunday was the only day she felt, as a mom, that she could be with her children and her husband — and she would invite some extended family. As she was talking about how life was becoming unaffordable, she was wielding this knife, which made me take a step back. I certainly saw her frustration.

This woman sort of lives with me. I’ve internalized her in some way because she represents the voices of my constituents who are feeling the pinch. They’re feeling the pinch every day. So when I think about the fact that child care isn’t in this government’s vision, it’s not part of what they’re talking about, I think about this woman, whose kids were now in public school. If she had another child, what would that mean for her family budget? How was she going to be able to manage that?

This also leads me to talk about education. Now, in case you haven’t heard, the NDP won Burke Mountain. It was amazing. I was out on the doorstep regularly. Jodie Wickens will be a fabulous MLA. I got to spend some time up in that part of Coquitlam and hear what people were saying.

I have to tell you I was surprised by what I heard. I heard stories of affordability — housing affordability, absolutely, but general affordability. People were frustrated that here they were in Burke Mountain, a new community, a community that was supposed to have schools.

The city of Coquitlam, back before 2005, had committed to building a transit-oriented community. This government knew about it and knew that schools were coming, knew that 24,000 residents would be populating that part of the hill, and only in December 2015 announced a school. I think they announced the school because there was a by-election. It was very, very timely. I’m a little bit suspicious of it.

The community is grateful that one school has been announced. Really, when you look at the timeline about what was going on in Burke Mountain, that should have been the third announcement of the third school. But no, it was the first.

There are families who are living there whose children will never go to a neighbourhood school. They moved in when their children were three, and they’ve done the math. By the time, they figure, they build out all of the schools that are needed there, their children will never go to school in their neighbourhood. I heard from residents of Coquitlam–Burke Mountain that they are frustrated about the lack of schools, about how this government has ignored that community.
[ Page 10258 ]

You know what’s more? There are communities in Coquitlam-Maillardville…. We have schools in Coquitlam-Maillardville, but a lot of them are falling apart. A lot of them have holes in walls or stairs that are broken. Yes, you go to the school board. They’re doing the best with what they can. But school district 43 gets, on average, $1,000 less than any other student in the province.

That’s a problem. It’s a serious problem, and there’s nothing in this throne speech, not a word, that speaks to addressing the issues around education.

The other thing that I heard on the doorstep in Burke Mountain that I thought was very interesting was the issue around having to fundraise for everything. Parents were starting to get really anxious about the coding announcement, that all children are going to learn to code. But the schools don’t have computers, so parents are asking: “Am I going to have to fundraise for computers now?”

That’s the reality. Parents were saying they have to send their children with reams of photocopy paper because there’s not enough room in the budget for photocopying. These parents were talking about getting nickel-and-dimed to death. They were frustrated.

[1630]

This is where Coquitlam-Maillardville and Coquitlam–Burke Mountain are very similar. They’re different communities, but certainly the theme of affordability is something that I heard over and over and over again. It’s getting harder, not easier. Transit is not coming to Burke Mountain any time soon, and it’s certainly not going to be strengthened in Coquitlam-Maillardville.

I know that the Liberals talked about the Evergreen line. It’s great that it’s coming. But the reality is that Coquitlam–Burke Mountain will not have the services it needs to access, and neither will Coquitlam-Maillardville. We’re going to have to drive backwards along the line to make use of any park-and-ride. Because guess what. There’s no park-and-ride for Coquitlam-Maillardville. It’s really going to be a non-issue, a nonentity, a non-announcement, because how are we going to access it unless there are buses?

There was nothing in this throne speech that talked about making transit a priority for our communities.

L. Reimer: As this is my first opportunity to speak during this fifth session of the 40th parliament, I would like to once again express my great thanks to the constituents of Anmore, Belcarra, Port Moody and Coquitlam for the honour I’ve had in representing them in this Legislature.

I also want to thank my husband, Les; my sons, Gord and Bill; and my mom, Norma, who make sacrifices that allow me to represent my constituents well.

Of course, where would we be without our wonderful staff? They keep me organized. They are my wonderful constituency assistants, Vicki, Mary and Isabel; my legislative assistant, Rhiannon; and my communications officer, Doug Secord.

It’s a privilege to represent all of my communities at such an important time in our history. The ripple effects of the dropping price of oil are wreaking havoc on our national economy. This is especially true in the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland. Dropping commodity prices mean lower government revenues. Hardest hit are the people of Alberta.

For many years, the resource boom has hidden the fact that government services were never securely funded. Consequently, by relying on a single-resource economy, any downturn in commodity prices would result in the crisis that they are facing today: plunging government revenues, thousands of jobs lost and no real, sustainable source of funding for vital government services.

In fact, the only bright spot on the horizon is British Columbia. B.C. has met its goal: to be in the top two in GDP growth in Canada by last year. Fastest employment growth, adding 52,000 jobs. And since our jobs plan was announced…. I feel I have to say this due to the comments of the member for Coquitlam-Maillardville. Since 2011, we’ve added 120,300 net new jobs. We’re the only province in the country on track to balance the budget for the fourth year in a row.

Even Saskatchewan, which managed to balance the books last year, is now forecasting at least two years of deficit financing. That is a shame. Everyone knows that governments that rely on deficits are not really in control of their own agenda.

Here in British Columbia we can chart our own future. We can choose how to spend and where to spend in vital areas. And the hallmark of this government has been to direct any government surplus towards British Columbians most in need.

For example, the single-parent initiative gives low-income parents the opportunity to continue to receive income or disability benefits for up to one year while they train for a new job. This covers tuition costs, child care expenses and transportation costs — everything people need to help them make a better life for themselves and for their children. In fact, the single-parent employment initiative has the potential to lift 16,000 single parents, along with their 26,000 children, out of income assistance and into employment and independence.

There are other examples too. Families with children collecting income assistance in British Columbia can now earn more money per month without having their monthly benefits affected. The current monthly exemption has been doubled, from $200 to $400 a month and from $300 to $500 a month for families who have a child with a disability. These measures will have a tremendous impact on low-income families in the province. We’ll continue to help those most in need in upcoming budgets too.

[1635]

A balanced budget also means we can help fund the small army of volunteers in this province who bravely
[ Page 10259 ]
comb the back country to search for and rescue people who find themselves lost or injured in the wild. Often as they do this, they’re put at great risk. So $10 million in extra funding has been extended to the B.C. Search and Rescue Association to help 80 ground search and rescue teams across the province.

As a matter of fact, the Premier recently paid a visit to Coquitlam Search and Rescue to announce an additional $10,000 that will be spent on ten new digital radios for search and rescue volunteers. This investment will complement the new state-of-the-art mobile command centre that will help save lives in some of southwestern B.C.’s most treacherous terrain.

A balanced budget also means students and teachers in Coquitlam and Anmore will benefit from over $700,000 in minor capital funding. Gleneagle Secondary in Coquitlam will see improvements to the heating and ventilation systems. And Anmore Elementary will have the money to go towards a backup generator. This will assist not only the school but also the community as well. Families in nearby Burke Mountain will benefit from a brand-new $20.5 million Smiling Creek elementary school, thanks once again to a balanced budget.

It’s not just education that this government is making serious investments in. Just last month I had the opportunity to get a sneak peek at the Evergreen line’s new Burquitlam and Moody Centre stations. With a great use of wood and glass, they are warm and inviting but also visible and safe.

The Moody Centre station has been designed as a transit hub. It will serve bus, SkyTrain and West Coast Express passengers. The centre will include an expanded park-and-ride, providing approximately 85 new spots for a total of 400 parking stalls at the station. Burquitlam station will also offer direct bus service to Simon Fraser University, a bus exchange and a passenger pickup and drop-off area.

Now over 80 percent complete, the Evergreen line is going to make my community and surrounding communities more accessible and is going to mean that more cars are taken off the road. That means a greener future for the Lower Mainland.

A balanced budget also means we can invest more money in health care and really make a difference in the lives and health of British Columbians. Unfortunately, we’ve all been touched by cancer in one way or another. That’s why we are dedicating more resources to make sure that British Columbians continue to receive the best care in the country.

In January, the Premier announced $3 million will go towards personalized oncogenomics. By applying advanced genome sequencing techniques, essentially decoding the DNA inside the cell of each patient’s cancer, we can then understand what is enabling the cancer to grow and develop treatment to block its growth. It’s nothing short of a miracle.

By placing a focus on the individual patient, personalized care will lead to the best-targeted treatments for the most challenging cases. We are seeing stunning results to this type of approach to cancer care, giving hope to those with the most aggressive and recurring forms of cancer.

This is why it’s so important to balance our books. We now have additional resources to fund miracles in health care, invest in our children’s education, make significant investments in infrastructure like the Evergreen line, help low-income families plan for a better life, and give search and rescue volunteers the tools they need to help save lives. These are the government’s priorities.

I, for one, will continue to support balanced budgets, a diverse economy and a single determination to make British Columbia the best place to live in the world.

L. Krog: I want to start the way I’ve started pretty much every response to a throne speech in, lo, these many years of sitting in this place. That is to recognize, firstly, what an immense honour and privilege it is to do so. This, as I’ve pointed out on many occasions, is given only to a limited number of British Columbians since this province joined Confederation — indeed, I suspect, for not even over 1,000 people, actually, in total.

One should be conscious of that when we listen particularly to the rhetoric from the government members talking about how wonderful things are, when there is obviously so much that is very wrong in the lives of many, many British Columbians.

I had the pleasure this afternoon — or late this morning, properly speaking — to go to Government House, that wonderful symbol of our democratic system, a recognition of where the significance of the monarchy still lies and the role it plays in our constitutional system of government.

[1640]

I admired the stonework. As I’ve pointed out before, that lovely stonework was done by Mr. Guizzetti’s firm from Nanaimo back in 1958 after the last great fire at the Lieutenant-Governor’s home. I always take a certain personal pride in seeing the quality of that craftsmanship — Mr. Guizzetti being one of that generation of Italian immigrants who came out after the Second World War, many of them. Others came back in the heyday of mining in our community.

To come back to where I was trying to make a point a minute or two ago. On the route, of course, I had an opportunity to look over at the lovely tent city not far from Christ Church Cathedral, not very far from the Supreme courthouse in beautiful Victoria.

You know, I understand a little bit of the philosophy behind things. There’s still the view — and it’s particularly evident in the United States elections, where things are so much more vicious than they are here — around the concept of the deserving and the undeserving poor — that somehow there are many who are without and
[ Page 10260 ]
homeless and suffering because of some moral failing, because of their poor decision-making skills, because of their choices in life, as opposed to recognizing that so many of the folks who are occupying that tent city, so many of those who still continue to live in the streets of British Columbia, are in fact those amongst us who suffer from some degree of mental illness, some degree of addiction. Again, even then, many will still think addiction is somehow not a health issue. It’s, again, a moral failing somehow.

When you take that view of things, then it becomes acceptable in society for tent cities to exist, for homeless people to exist in great numbers, for food banks to see increasing use across our province. Indeed, in my own community, in preparation for this session, I took some time to talk to a few of the folks who work with our Nanaimo Loaves and Fishes food bank, some of those good women who still go to those wonderful old churches that Nanaimo has and serve lunch to people who are hungry, provide meals. What they tell me is that things aren’t getting any better, and indeed, arguably, things are a bit worse.

There is no question that 40 years of fiscal conservative management in the province of Alberta has put that province in a very sorry state indeed, and unfortunately, as many of the members here represent people who formerly worked in Alberta, as do I, a lot of those folks are now jobless. So they’re back in British Columbia hoping for some spark of enthusiasm, some future, some hope, because the jobs in Alberta are gone.

When we look at these increasing numbers in my community — and we see it across the province, and we see this tent city — surely it behooves this government, above all else, to step back and ask itself…. When you’ve been in power since 2001, when you’ve won every election, when you’ve seen good times and bad times…. You’ve seen an up in the economic cycle. You’ve seen it down. You’ve seen another up. You’ve seen it down. When you’ve been in power that long, I would think that there would be some part of government, some outcry within the government caucus, that would say: “Maybe what we’re doing isn’t really working. Maybe it’s not working.”

Now, I love listening to this. We’re going to be leading all the provinces in Canada in terms of our economy. In comparison to the high growth back in the days of Dave Barrett, just for an example, the growth we’re experiencing now is pretty small potatoes. And quite candidly, it’s not that British Columbia is doing brilliantly. It’s that the rest of this country is doing so poorly.

I mean, when the province of Saskatchewan, which enjoyed sound fiscal management for decades under repeated CCF and NDP governments and built a base for a diverse economy and built a social safety net….

[1645]

When even a province like that sees itself in financial difficulty, and you see the high unemployment rates in Newfoundland, where the price of oil likewise has had a significant impact, one can’t help but think to themselves that maybe things aren’t as rosy here as are portrayed by the government, particularly in the throne speech, which is what I’m supposed to be addressing.

You’ve got to love a throne speech that says British Columbia’s economy leads Canada. Well, in fairness, that’s probably true. It reminds me of Rafe Mair’s old joke about politics. In the race, you don’t have to be a ten to win. You only have to be a three in a race of twos. That’s pretty much where we are. Then the next line: “We have the opportunity to eliminate the operating debt in just four years, paving the path towards a debt-free B.C. In 2015, we led Canada by creating more than 50,000 new jobs.”

I’ve heard it so many times from the government benches: “Government doesn’t create jobs.” So I want to know: which is it? Is it the government that created these 50,000 new jobs, or did the economy, or is it a dispensation from God to a chosen people here in this beautiful province? I mean, where does this come from? I just want the government to be moderately consistent on this point. Either the government created the jobs, or the economy created the jobs, or indeed, maybe it’s even something of a bit of a compromise, a bit of a mix.

Maybe government has a role to play in the economy. If that’s the case, I’d love to hear them admit that governments have a role in the economy. They certainly go on, a couple of paragraphs down, to say: “Consider our neighbours in Alberta, a province of similar size and also blessed with natural resources. Over the decades, Alberta lost its focus.” Naughty Alberta. My goodness, I think we should take them out and spank them. “They expected their resource boom never to end, failed to diversify their economy and lost control of government spending.”

Interjection.

L. Krog: My friend from Surrey-Whalley, being the intelligent soul that he is, always points out a few basic facts. I tend not to fill my arguments with facts, lest anyone actually is paying any attention to what I have to say. Rhetoric is so much more effective in a place where — I hate to say this — the government really doesn’t care what we say anyway.

But let’s come back to those joint cabinet meetings that he just mentioned. Yes, things were so tight between beautiful British Columbia and beautiful Alberta. But I mentioned it last year, and I can’t resist emphasizing it again. “Krog” is Norwegian, and I still have a certain national pride. My grandfather immigrated to this country well over 100 years ago. I always thought that…. Dear old Peter Lougheed, God bless him, was one of the last truly great Canadians and a Premier who actually talked about the national interest. When was the last time you heard a Premier talk about the national interest?
[ Page 10261 ]

That aside, I always thought that dear Premier Lougheed went to Norway around the time the North Sea oil was starting to come in and figured out that if Alberta was going to secure a real future for itself and create what has become the heritage fund, then they should set aside real revenue from the oil industry, which was a non-renewable resource — that they should take account of the fact that when it was gone, it was going to be gone.

That’s what I thought. But you know what the truth is? It was the Norwegians who came to Alberta, and they saw what Premier Lougheed was doing — a man with his eye to the future. Now, you can say the Premier’s got her eye to the future with liquid natural gas, but I think the oil in the ground probably has a little more promise than the gas in the future. We’ll get on to that in a moment.

What happens is that the Norwegians go home and set up a significant royalty structure, unlike the fiasco we passed in the Legislature here last year. That was basically: “Please come and take our resources, and we’ll pay you — thank you very much — to do so.” They set up a real royalty structure. They set up a fund to secure oil revenue.

What’s the example of those free-spending, wild socialists? I know the member for West Vancouver–Capilano’s ears always perk up when I mention free-spending socialists, because after all, he’s of Swedish background, and we know how bad they’ve been at managing the economy for the last 80 or 90 years.

What are the numbers? In Alberta, the last time I heard the figure, they had about $17 billion. I think that works out…. I don’t know. I’m pulling this out of the air. I think it might be 30 or 40 percent of Alberta’s annual budget.

[1650]

Now, those free-spending democratic socialists, those social democrats — whatever you want to call them — in Norway have, at last count, $1.1 trillion set aside from their oil revenue. That’s U.S. dollars, just for those of you who’re interested. When the oil runs out in Norway, they won’t even see a blip in their economy.

My point is: contrast that with British Columbia, where we’ve got this government whacking its former friends now. My goodness, how quickly we desert our friends. There were joint cabinet meetings a decade ago, and now they’re the bad people who lost their focus.

Here we are talking about our island of prosperity. Well, hon. Speaker, I’ve got to tell you, when I see the phrase in the throne speech “our island of prosperity,” and representing the community I do, which happens to be on an island, that is a particularly cogent phrase for me, a phrase that resonates, a term that I understand and take to heart. And frankly, if it wasn’t for the housing market in British Columbia, which has now become the new gold rush, there are not a lot of sectors we can point to where there is either tremendous growth or benefit.

One of the areas is, of course, the film industry. I know the members opposite will remember this, because they paid such close attention during the ’90s. That was the industry that the NDP government of the day invested so heavily in, in order to secure a future for film production in British Columbia. It created the infrastructure and the support systems that allow us now, today, to reap the incredible benefit of not just the skills that were developed over time and the programs and the universities and colleges that contributed to the training but also to take advantage of the change in the value of our currency versus the American dollar. Again, good long-term thinking.

But this government doesn’t seem to have that long-term plan. We are now talking in the throne speech: “One of the products B.C. is known for around the world is agriculture.” One of the products — isn’t that interesting. The very government that helped diminish the agricultural land reserve last year by legislation is now bragging about agriculture.

Guess what. At the very same time, they’re telling us it’s so important and that, last year, $3 billion was the highest-ever sales of B.C. food and beverage products. They, at the same time, are the very government who earlier today praised William Richards Bennett, the former Premier of this province — praised him in this very chamber — the man who brought in the B.C. Utilities Commission, who set up a process whereby governments wouldn’t get to fiddle with the ultimate crown jewel of British Columbia. In turn, at the very time, they’re now saying: “We’re the great friend of agriculture.”

Oh my goodness, they’ve all got straws in their mouths and shovels over their shoulders and rakes in their hands and tractors gassed up beside them ready to go, Ma and Pa Kettle, out into the fields to bring home the harvest. They’re just such great lovers of agriculture and, at the very same time, just happened to shuffle the Site C dam past the Utilities Commission without an ounce of public scrutiny so that we can see hundreds of hectares of the most prime agricultural land in North America and in this province disappear, because this government has to supply power to a liquid natural gas industry which has now become a bit of a laughingstock at the same time.

The same government that is so petty when it comes to agricultural policy, which even in the throne speech capitalized Buy Local, can’t ever bring itself back to just say: “Buy B.C. was a good program of the NDP, and we should support it, and that’s what we should call it.” Now we’ve got to call it Buy Local.

Now, I’m not going to be as critical of a tax credit for farmers that donate to non-profits. All right. I’m not going to be petty about that. They asked for it. It’s a program that is going to put some food in the mouths of people who need it.

[1655]

I’m glad in one respect. It’s at least finally an admission from this government that there are lots of British Columbians who need food in their mouths, and they’re not getting it under our present system — the way we redistributed wealth in this province in the last 15 years
[ Page 10262 ]
since the Liberals came in with that incredible tax cut across the board that saw the rich get richer faster than they’ve ever gotten rich in the history of this province and the poor get poorer all at the same time.

This is the government that thinks they’re going to grow the economy by cutting red tape. Here’s the line: “Red tape restricts growth, impedes flexibility and makes life more complicated for families. That is why your government extended its commitment to a net-zero increase in regulatory requirements to 2019.”

Goodness, if you go to the seating plan of the Leg, I’m always reminded we don’t have just have any old ordinary ministry. We’ve got the Minister of Small Business, Red Tape Reduction and Minister Responsible for the Liquor Distribution Branch. That’s just a fascinating thing. A minister responsible for red tape reduction.

I have to tell you. I listen to the CBC — not a big surprise. Most New Democrats do. Listening to this interesting discussion the other day about listeriosis and E. coli and how it’s becoming a growing problem, particularly with precut salads and things that are prepackaged. And I’m thinking to myself: “What’s the public reaction to that?” Well, the public reaction is we need to regulate that industry, we need to ensure that there are inspections, and we need to ensure that the public is safe.

Oh my goodness. I think I just made an argument for regulations to protect public safety. What a shocking proposition. We actually might regulate something because it’s good for the public.

At the very same time, the government that prides itself for free enterprise is now talking about doing some more regulation with the real estate industry because they don’t like what’s happening, only because it’s become a political pain in their side. Everyone’s been telling them about it for months on end, and everyone’s been seeing it happen in Vancouver. But all of a sudden now, the same government that believes we should have a stand-alone minister responsible for small business and red tape reduction is actually going to take some action.

I’ll guarantee you one thing. At the end of the day, what will be in place will be further regulation, because that’s government’s job. It’s to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of wealth. It’s to ensure a just society where social and economic justice are what motivate and drive this and symbolize everything we do.

Instead, we’ve got a government that’s still promising that liquid natural gas is going to solve our problems. Here’s the phrase: “A major component of your government’s plan for a growing and diverse economy is the opportunity presented by LNG. There are 20 active projects at various stages of development. Over 30 investment partners are involved, and between them, they have invested some $20 billion.”

Well, I don’t know about the investment of the $20 billion. I don’t know about all these active projects. But it puts me in mind of the enthusiastic farmer who’s got one old bull with a glint in his eye and one willing cow and has already got a herd of 20 calves out there. There’s a bit of optimism there that doesn’t seem to be borne out by the reality.

Now, I don’t know if that old bull is ever going to come to fruition here, but we don’t see it happening in the near future. What we do know is that decisions are being made by major investors to delay. We know that we missed the boat on this.

We know that at the very time we are killing B.C. Hydro with increasing rates and a construction program which may or may not be necessary for future development in British Columbia because, after all, we never put it past the Utilities Commission for an independent review…. While we’re doing all this, we’re killing B.C. Hydro all for the hope of liquid natural gas.

I can hear the next election campaign. What’s the line in the throne speech? “Success is not for quitters.” Well, nor is success for the wilfully blind. I’ve got to tell you, I don’t care what side of the fence you’re on. You know, I met a payroll. I understand a little bit about the economy.

I’m looking around my community, and somehow I just don’t sense that liquid natural gas is going to explode and that we’re going to have all these wonderful, wonderful jobs available. Gosh, I’ve got to tell you, there are a lot of places that are way ahead of us on this one.

[1700]

At the same time, this government is talking about taking steps to ease the pressure of cost-of-living increases. Where could government relieve the pressure of cost-of-living increases? I mean, what could government actually do? What could they do?

Well, gosh, the last time I checked, it’s the government that sets the MSP premiums, the Medical Services Plan premiums. The last time I checked, it’s the government that appoints the board of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, which is a monopoly corporation delivering insurance services to all British Columbians. The last time I checked, it’s the government that owns the only share in the British Columbia Ferries corporation, which some of us — hundreds of thousands of us, actually — depend on for transport back and forth between our communities, back and forth from the Lower Mainland to Vancouver Island. And you know, the hydro rates. My goodness. Well, I don’t even want to go there.

If the government wanted to relieve some pressure, how about not increasing those rates so much? How about managing those Crown corporations — or private corporation in the case of B.C. Ferries — managing them better, doing a better job for the people of British Columbia? How about using the authority and power that government actually has, as opposed to somehow pretending that they can fiddle a little here and fiddle a little there?

How about…? And this is a really dramatic suggestion. Oh, that’s right. The B.C. Liberals did it already. Yes,
[ Page 10263 ]
they instituted a surtax on high-income earners — and then they cancelled it. Now, I defy anyone in this chamber to point out the millionaires in this province — the people with hundreds of thousands of dollars and millions of dollars of assets — who ended up in those food bank lineups as a result of the fact that they had to pay that higher surtax on high income.

I defy anyone in this chamber to point out one individual who had to jump into their Jaguar or their Cadillac or their BMW and drive down to the food bank that week because they had to pay that extra tax. Now, if there is somebody, I want to extend my sympathies to them, but I don’t think they exist. I don’t think the rich in this province — and you are rich, by definition, when you’re earning that kind of money — were suffering.

But I do know what the face of poverty looks like, as I know each and every member in this House knows what the face of poverty looks like, because there’s not a constituency in this province where you don’t run up against it every day. That face is not a pretty face. It is not a face that gives me any comfort to see, particularly when I know that much of it is as a direct result of government policies by right-wing governments over decades.

I’ve said it before. Forgive me for saying it. The reality is that you were better off on the minimum wage when W.A.C. Bennett was Premier, when Dave Barrett was Premier, when Bill Bennett was Premier. There was greater wealth redistribution, greater equity in society. We were prosperous. We had more union jobs. We had better-paid workers. We had better wage redistribution in terms of the economy across the board.

The reality is that these policies are not working. They haven’t worked, and it behooves this government, after 15 years in power, to perhaps re-examine its priorities.

Now, when you talk about poverty, as well, we talk often about poor children. But of course, children don’t exist in some vacuum. Children live in families, by and large. The government, finally, in response to the disaster in the ministry, says: “Besides cultural changes, your government is committed to maintaining the stability Mr. Plecas deemed crucial and hiring even more social workers than recommended. In the coming weeks, your government will announce more measures to further support both at-risk children and our social workers.”

Now, I understand the old expression never look a gift horse in the mouth. I get that, so I am grateful that we’re going to hire more social workers — extremely grateful. But I have a suggestion for government. Here’s a remarkably novel suggestion which they will hear from every social worker in their ministry, if they talk to them.

[1705]

It’s not about just resources or further measures to support at-risk children. It’s to actually support British Columbia’s families. Support the parents of these children. Give them a level of social assistance that enables them to put some of that healthy B.C. food, which we’ve all become such big fans of in this throne speech, on the plates of their children to ensure that maybe those kids, when they get up in the morning, will have something to take to school in their lunches. Or if their parents are struggling with addiction or mental health issues, provide some direct supports for the family.

But don’t keep taking children out of homes, and don’t pretend that you can keep social assistance rates at the same level they’ve been at since 2008 — I’m sure one of my fellow members will correct me if I’m wrong — while we’ve watched this horrendous inflation.

Everyone in this chamber is upset about the cost of housing in Vancouver going through the roof, on the Lower Mainland in particular. Even in Nanaimo it’s hard to find a house, in some respects. But if you think it’s tough looking to be able to buy a house when you’re at least in the market to buy it, imagine what it’s like trying to find accommodation or housing when you have no hope of ever purchasing a home. Imagine what that’s like.

Again, just a simple suggestion: maybe put some money in the hands of the very people who will not be spending it on holidays abroad, who won’t be stuffing extra cash in their RRSPs, who won’t be using it to give an extra present to their grandchildren, as the case may be. Put some money in the hands of the people who spend literally every dollar that comes through their hands in any given day, any given month and any given year, right back into their local economies. They often can’t afford transportation to go anyplace else to spend it. They certainly aren’t meeting their basic human needs.

That’s a suggestion. Maybe we should think about that one, instead of blabbing on, as we do in this throne speech, about all the joys of liquid natural gas and balancing the budget, balancing the budget, balancing the budget.

The reality is that debt in B.C. is up to an extraordinary level because of this government’s fiscal irresponsibility, particularly back in the 2000s when they were engaging in a construction program at the very time that they were hyperinflating the economy — drove up wages, drove up the cost of public buildings when, in fact, it should have been the reverse. We should have been in the position now to have that money and be spending it to promote the economy and promote employment.

I say this with absolute dismay. I was trying to do a rough calculation. I have probably responded to no less than 17 or 18 throne speeches in the time I’ve served in this place, both on the government side and the opposition side. All I have learned in that time is that we have had an opportunity to do the right thing, and in essence, we have generally not.

It saddens me that I’ll be back here in the spring, no doubt, God willing, making a similar kind of speech to a government that isn’t going to listen, that is going to brag about a balanced budget, that will not care a wit about the numbers of homeless people or the people who are
[ Page 10264 ]
still hungry or the students who go without education or the environmental measures that aren’t implemented, because we need them to protect our future for our children — all of those things. It’s not going to happen. That’s what troubles me the most.

Doing this year after year makes me think of Groundhog Day, except it’s not funny. It’s not funny at all, and it has ceased being funny for me. I would hope, and it is my fervent hope, that at some point it will cease being funny to the members opposite, that I won’t have to listen to some silly speeches about how wonderful things are and that, in fact, we will make this province a better place for British Columbians.

D. Bing: On behalf of my constituents in Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows, it is a pleasure and an honour to provide my comments in response to the Speech from the Throne during this fifth session of the 40th parliament.

Before I start, I would like to take this opportunity to thank some of the people who make my work possible. First of all, I’d like to thank my wife, Helen, for allowing me to do this job. As all of the members know, we can’t do it without the love and support of our loved ones.

I would also like to thank my constituency assistants — Cheryl Ashlie, Gay Conn and Brenda Sieg — who answer the questions and look after the needs of my constituents while I’m in Victoria and while I’m at events around the community and the province.

[1710]

It is a pleasure and an honour to represent the good people of Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows in the Legislative Assembly. I have a great sense of pride living in and representing two picturesque communities that are bursting with enthusiasm and community spirit. I would like to thank them for allowing me the privilege of representing them in the Legislative Assembly.

It is hard to believe, but as of May 13, I will be starting my fourth year as the MLA for Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows. From my first day, my focus has been and remains to work collaboratively with my colleagues in this House, with both local governments and with all the citizens of Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows to help build a better community and a better province.

In Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows last year, organizations benefited from over $1.4 million in community gaming grants. It is always a pleasure to visit these organizations and to see the good work they do and the services they provide for our residents.

As the chair of the Experience the Fraser project, I oversee a recreational infrastructure project that connects trails from Hope to the Salish Sea. Improvements have been made along this trail last year thanks to $320,000 through the community and employer partnership program, which provides the opportunity for work experience to British Columbians while also creating a beautiful recreation area for people to use.

I would like to thank our valuable search and rescue organizations for the service they provide to our communities. I am proud that we are providing an additional $10 million to the ground search and rescue organizations in B.C. I especially want to thank the Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue Society and their many volunteers for the service they provide to our community. The generosity of these volunteers who venture into wilderness and back country, usually during dangerous conditions, to rescue those in need is beyond measure.

Another issue that is of importance to me is ensuring passenger safety in party buses. My constituents Julie and Danielle Raymond have been vocal about their concerns on this issue. I support the regulatory improvements that have been made in response to their concerns.

I have also been working with the Ministry of Transportation on improving the safety of the Haney Bypass in Maple Ridge.

I have taken the time to meet with the Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows seniors network, who are focused on implementing the age-friendly action plan. Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows received an age-friendly grant in 2015 to collaborate on an age-friendly assessment and action plan for both communities. We continue to work together to improve the quality of life for seniors in these communities.

In December, updates to the Riverview lands were announced. After two years of consultation, the government released a vision for renewing the Riverview lands. The vision lays out a master development plan for a comprehensive mixed-use community that will include a health care district, as well as market and supportive housing.

The public and stakeholders felt strongly about establishing mental health care facilities at the Riverview lands. Two new buildings will be constructed to house three government programs. These buildings are specifically designed to meet the needs of clients. The 105-bed mental health facility will be constructed to replace the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addiction. This is an increase of 17 beds and is expected to open in late 2019. A new facility will also be built to accommodate the 28-bed Maples Adolescent Treatment Centre and the ten-bed provincial assessment centre. This new modern facility will create a safe, positive atmosphere to better meet the needs of each client.

Improved mental health and substance use services are one of the major areas of focus in the government’s strategy to strengthen health care in British Columbia.

Affordable housing is an important issue to British Columbians and, of course, for my constituents. In Maple Ridge, we have invested over $5 million to provide subsidized housing and rent supplements for over 1,100 households. Combined with federal and other contributions, over $6.3 million was invested in Maple Ridge in the 2014-2015 fiscal year. We have provided support for 480 senior households and 375 family households.
[ Page 10265 ]

Housing affordability and rising cost-of-living pressures are important to British Columbians. We will be taking steps to give British Columbians a better opportunity to enter the housing market and to encourage more housing supply.

[1715]

There is no simple solution, but we will work with the municipalities to ensure that hidden costs are clear and transparent to the homebuyer. We want to protect the savings and equity of existing homeowners that they have placed in their homes.

We are lucky to live in such a beautiful place in this world. Thanks to the commitment and focus of this government in controlling spending, balancing budgets and building a strong, diverse and growing economy, B.C. is leading the country in economic growth and job creation. In 2015, we created 50,000 new jobs. Thanks to the hard work of British Columbians, and with a growing economy, we can sustain and expand on the critical services for a growing and aging population. We can invest in such things as infrastructure, schools and hospitals.

We are able to do this because our plan to keep B.C.’s economy diverse, strong and growing is working. We have maintained focus on the B.C. jobs plan, and we are seeing the results. We currently have met 14 of the 19 targets and continue to make progress on the remaining five targets.

Of the eight key sectors in the B.C. jobs plan, the fastest-growing sector is the tech sector. It already employs 86,000 British Columbians, at wages 60 percent higher than the industry average. We launched the #BCTECH strategy, which will support the growth of B.C.’s vibrant technology sector and strengthen B.C.’s diverse knowledge-based economy. This will attract and reward investment, create jobs and provide more training. The B.C. tech fund will help promising technology companies get the capital funding they need to start their businesses.

To prepare our next generation, coding will become part of the K-to-12 curriculum. This provides an opportunity for students to gain basic skills needed for careers in technology.

Every summer, Maple Ridge hosts Country Fest, one of the oldest country fairs in B.C. at 115 years old. Agriculture is a very important sector in the area I represent and in British Columbia. B.C. agriculture products are known around the world, and 2015 was a great year for agriculture exports. We saw $3.8 billion, with B.C. agrifood and seafood products shipped around the world. We saw a record $12.3 billion in sales of B.C. food and beverage products in 2014, the highest ever. This positive trend will help B.C. meet its goal of seeing revenues in agrifoods and seafoods reach $15 billion a year by 2020.

Our natural resources are important industries in British Columbia. We are committed to working with our federal counterparts on reaching a new softwood lumber agreement. We are supporting our mining sector as they face tough times with low commodity prices. We have done everything we’ve set out to do to attract investment for the cleanest LNG in the world. We will continue to work to bring home the opportunity of LNG to B.C. as companies consider their best opportunities to reach final investment decisions.

B.C. has the potential to be a clean energy superpower. We can help others to reduce their emissions. With developing and growing economies in countries like China and India looking for cleaner energy to power their future, we can help them reduce emissions by replacing their coal-fired plants with LNG. By being a vital supplier, this means more jobs in B.C., and it means reducing global emissions.

B.C. was one of the first jurisdictions in the world to not only set a price on carbon but to use that revenue to cut your taxes at home. This is a truly revenue-neutral tax and not an opportunistic grab into taxpayers’ wallets.

Currently, British Columbians have an opportunity to participate in developing B.C.’s new climate leadership plan. Consultation is now open. We want B.C.’s future climate actions to reflect the values of British Columbians. A final climate leadership plan will be released later this year.

[1720]

This government is committed to supporting those in our communities that need it the most. Our dedicated social workers work hard in the most difficult circumstances and help thousands of children and families. We are committed to maintaining the stability that Mr. Plecas deemed crucial in his report and are hiring even more social workers than recommended. We have seen more than 111,000 licensed child care spaces funded.

B.C. is remaining vigilant, despite the fragile global economy. We are doing well because we have a diverse, strong and growing economy.

D. Routley: Thank you for the opportunity to rise in response to the throne speech 2016. It’s been 11 years in this House for me and many, many responses to throne speeches and budgets and such. It’s hard not to repeat oneself when the themes of opposition remain so consistent, that being that we have a parade of claims by government and assertions by government that are simply untrue and, in fact, exist as an insult to the experience of British Columbians.

There isn’t a member in this House, including those on the opposite side, whose offices aren’t inundated by people who come in and complain about the terrible circumstances they’re facing in this province right now and for the past decade and a half. British Columbians’ experience of this time has been to be more than simply aware of problems but to be the ones living them and the ones paying for those problems.

The poverty levels in this province are so extraordinarily high. We have people coming, with children, into our offices who can’t afford housing, who can’t afford
[ Page 10266 ]
food. We have constantly…. Year after year, we are reminded that British Columbia is the leader — the leader in child poverty and the leader in poverty and the leader in income inequality. These are the things that we are leaders in.

It’s an insult to the experience of these British Columbians that their government exists, as its sole purpose, to maintain power and to deny and to ignore the experience that they are creating and failing to address for so many of the people we represent.

There have been throne speeches in the past — particularly before this current Premier; so Premier Gordon Campbell — that did, in fact, contain some big ideas, many ideas that I quite diametrically opposed on philosophical and political grounds.

This throne speech stands alone, unique in its void of idea or inspiration. This throne speech is so absolutely lacking in any vision for this province’s future, for any hope for the people of the province to unify them in some kind of common purpose, to elevate their province.

This throne speech is an exercise in cynicism by a government that has no credibility and has shown its lack of integrity in so many examples, scandals and failures to govern adequately the province of British Columbia.

One of the things about the last fall session that was most galling to me was the establishment of red-tape-reduction day. In my speech at that time, I objected to that as an icon of this B.C. Liberal administration because I sat through the inquest of a faller named Ted Gramlich, who died in the woods. The coroner’s inquest into his death listed deregulation as one of the contributing causes of his death. We have a coroner pointing to deregulation as causing the death of at least one worker. We saw record numbers of workers dying at work and young people dying in care.

[1725]

Yet this government refers to regulations that it has gutted from the laws of British Columbia as though they are something toxic. In fact, the people of Mount Polley, who saw the mine disaster, the people who have family members in the forest industry who have been killed or seriously injured, those people who have seen their environment negatively impacted by decisions by this government — they don’t see this as a toxic notion, this notion that government has a role to play in regulating industry and economy so that people, environment and communities are protected. They see that as responsible governance. They see that as one of the many areas of responsible governance that have been abandoned with pride by the B.C. Liberal government.

We watch this government spin its accomplishments and its failures in complete disregard of fact. This government, the current Premier’s government, has the worst job creation record of any government for 46 years, yet they bang a drum. “We’ve got a jobs plan, and look what we’ve done. In a two-month period, we created 50,000 jobs” — never mind that over a ten-year period, this is the worst job creation record in almost a half-century in British Columbia. That’s the experience of the people who come into my office.

This government, rather than being responsible and facing the problems and acknowledging the challenges of British Columbians and grappling with them in a way that’s constructive, cooperative, consultative…. Instead, they absolutely deny the living experience of the people they represent and that we represent. It’s hard to fathom that a person could look themselves in the mirror, having misrepresented the facts of their own record and the experience of the people they are responsible to. It’s hard to imagine.

We constantly have people coming through our doors complaining about the increasing cost of living, the enormous increases in costs that have been imposed by this government’s decisions. The MSP premium increase of more than 100 percent now. ICBC premium increases, while the government robs ICBC for a dividend every year at the expense of the very ratepayers who have had to endure these incredible increases in fees. We see hydro increases that are skyrocketing directly as a result of decisions made by this government to bankroll their insiders and donors into an industry in order to achieve success for a narrow few at the expense of every ratepayer and every small business and every industry in this province.

Their record is absolutely abysmal, and it continues to go unaddressed by this throne speech. We’ve seen scandal upon scandal, the refitting of a ferry recently at over $15 million, only to see it sold for a few hundred thousand, or far below the value of the immediate investment that had been made, to an insider of government. We saw the sale of properties to insiders, to donors of government, this governing party. A $5.6 million property in Burke Mountain sold for $150,000 to a person who had donated heavily to the B.C. Liberal Party. That’s the absolute void of integrity that British Columbians see in their government, when they look up.

We’ve seen the divisiveness of this government. In order to pursue its own political gain, it is absolutely willing to drive wedges into points of division amongst the population of this province.

[1730]

A perfect example of that in my constituency was the recent feasibility study done to examine the feasibility of building a bridge between Nanaimo and Gabriola Island. Tens of thousands of British Columbians who live on the coast responded with anger. They protested on the lawns of this Legislature in the thousands. They signed petitions by the tens of thousands. They’ve organized into political action groups to resist the changes and mismanagement of the B.C. ferry system by the B.C. Liberals.

The Union of B.C. Municipalities did an economic impact study which showed that had this government kept its ferry fare increases only increasing to the rate of infla-
[ Page 10267 ]
tion rather than the skyrocketing fares we saw, there would have been more $2 billion in increased economic activity.

[R. Lee in the chair.]

The tax revenue from that $2 billion of extra economic activity would have brought more revenue to government than the revenue brought by increasing those fares and doing such damage to the coastal economies. Coastal residents are constantly badgered by a government that says that their highway is a loss, that their highway loses money.

We don’t hear that from the government referring to the residents of Whistler when it comes to the Sea to Sky Highway. We don’t see that from this government when it comes to the residents of the Lower Mainland, when it comes to roads and bridges. They aren’t told that that’s an operating loss. Those are vital economic and community infrastructure, just as B.C. Ferries is, and it’s all been mismanaged.

Against that backdrop of mismanagement, increasing fares, enormous political protests up and down the coast, this government threw a cat amongst the pigeons by funding a feasibility study to examine whether they should build a bridge from Nanaimo to the Gulf Island of Gabriola.

Now, if you’ve been to any of these Gulf Islands, as I have — I represent Gabriola — you’ll know that “bridge” is a very bad word for most of the people who live on these islands. When a candidate mentioned the word “bridge” at an all-candidates meeting on Gabriola, I feared the building was going to collapse. There was such a resounding hollering of no and anger over the mere suggestion of considering the bridge.

We know that a few thousand people on an island cannot realistically support the investment of tens of millions, perhaps hundreds of millions, of dollars to build a bridge of that scale. We know that that study and this government’s actions have only been to divert attention and distract people from their terrible record in managing ferries. We knew that the feasibility study in the end would come to the conclusion that a bridge is not feasible, and that is exactly what happened.

In the meantime, our government, the government of British Columbia, has completely abandoned its responsibility to lead. It’s evident in the throne speech. There’s nothing in the throne speech of any substance other than clinging to an empty and vacant promise made during the election campaign in 2013 that this government, this Premier, knew was absolutely false: that an LNG industry could save this province.

Anyone at that time who cared to look at articles internationally and study the work of international economists and energy economists knew that the existing price disparity between Asian LNG gas prices and North American prices was a temporary blip and a window that would close quickly, that an industry in B.C. had no hope of being established in the time frame of that window closing.

Even so, the government took more than two years to establish its royalty and tax regime for that nascent, stillborn industry. At the same time, it has proffered an absolute fallacy about what that industry could deliver: 100,000 jobs, a $1 trillion prosperity fund, a debt-free B.C., up to 20 projects in place by 2020.

[1735]

These were absolute constructs, falsehoods that the government promoted, and now we see the result of that. At the same time that they worked so hard to divert and distract the attention of British Columbians towards an absolutely unrealizable promise, they ignored the core industry of our province, that being our forest industry.

Our forest health is in such a terrible state of decline. This government has no idea what the inventory of our forests is. The information that this government uses to calculate the annual allowable cut in our forests and to manage our forests is a half-century old. Stands of trees planted 20, 25 years ago that are being counted by this government as being healthy are standing dead because of pine beetle infestation.

It has, indeed, attacked younger trees than anyone expected. But this government has failed to properly manage the asset of our Crown forests, so not only do we not know just how much fibre we have that’s healthy, available and economic; we have over two million hectares of Crown lands that have been logged but not replanted.

A healthy forest is the heart of a thriving B.C. economy and the lungs of the planet. The B.C. Liberal government has failed to take care of the investment in the health of that asset, and we will pay the price for that for decades to come.

We have seen the government take steps that have undermined our most essential investments in that future. This throne speech bragged about education being on a solid foundation and that the education of students was not vulnerable to disruption for years to come.

Well, this is the same government that called their ridiculous Education Minister of the time the Fix It Minister — the man responsible for the longest strike in B.C. education history, a man responsible for aggravating divisions between this province’s teachers and this B.C. Liberal government for purely political gain, a government whose chief negotiator admitted under oath that this government intentionally attempted to provoke a strike for political gain.

That’s the level of cynicism of this government — that that most precious investment in our future should be the subject of a political gamesmanship that has known no parallel in the history of British Columbia. That’s the reality.

I’m sure that British Columbians, when they hear a throne speech like they just heard yesterday, must just shake their heads. The cynicism they already feel about government and about political process must be under-
[ Page 10268 ]
lined again and again, every time they hear these absolute falsehoods and absolute rejection of the experience that they know. And then the government has the gall to tell those British Columbians that they are only good British Columbians if they have “the courage to get to yes.”

So if they have concerns about an industry, if they have concerns about their environment, if they have concerns about the way this government manages the classrooms their children study in, if they have concerns about this government’s failure to guard the safety of children in care…. So many have died while in care of this government. Anyone who has reservations and concerns simply doesn’t have the courage to get to yes.

[1740]

That’s the level of divisiveness in this throne speech — the divisiveness, the absolute refusal to acknowledge the experience of British Columbians.

We’ve got 20 percent of the children in this province living in poverty — living in families in poverty. That’s a stark reality. I don’t know if the members know what it’s like not to be able to make it to the next paycheque with food in the kitchen. I’ve known it. Is there anything more unsettling for parents than to know they can’t even feed their children, let alone clothe them, let alone give them the experiences they need to develop?

Those parents heard this government’s throne speech refer to this province as an island of prosperity. I mean, really. Obviously, the government is going to promote itself. It’s going to try to put as good a picture as it can on its record, but there’s a limit. There’s kind of like an ethical, civil limit to that.

When a government just completely fails to recognize the struggles of the people they represent, to the degree that 20 percent of our children live in poverty, to the degree that those families hear their government ignore their plight, ignore them completely in the throne speech and instead refer to an island of prosperity and throw their backs out patting themselves on the back — for credit for such outstanding performance — it’s no wonder that people are as cynical as they are.

Then we have a generational scar in British Columbia, and that is our relationship with our First Peoples. There are so many documented examples of how colonialism has so negatively impacted the lives and cultures of the First Nations of British Columbia — people who have, with dignity and nobility, stood on the shores of this province waiting for that partner that has never really come, that partner of integrity and respect.

There was a glimmering of hope in the middle of the Campbell government’s time when the new relationship was promoted. We were told that there would be reconciliation and that the relationship between ourselves and our First Nations would be rebuilt and that there would be a new respect and that government’s every action would reflect that.

We’ve seen, since that time, an abandonment of that leadership role, and we’ve seen insult stacked upon insult to the dignity and respect of First Nations. They have had to pursue in the courts, at the expense of tens of millions of dollars, absolutely every small baby step towards equality.

The Tsilhqot’in decision that was rendered in B.C. gave title to First Peoples in British Columbia and went far beyond previous decisions, instructing that government owed not just a duty to consult but a duty of partnership, a duty of engagement to our First People, that their consent is required for social licence for industrial resource projects in this province.

[1745]

Did the government respect that? Well, in order to promote their political well-being over the well-being of the public interest of this province, they’ve driven a deep wedge into British Columbia by promoting Site C and promising — this Premier promising — to take that project beyond the point of no return in the next year. This, despite the fact that it will flood over 1,800 First Nations culturally significant sites and hunting and fishing grounds. This, despite the fact that First Nations are currently in court seeking an order from the court for the project to stop until their concerns can be addressed.

This government that supposedly exists in respect and a newfound relationship with First Nations is completely ignoring their wishes and their concerns when it is politically expedient for them to do so. Far from governing, this government is in constant campaign mode, trying to divide the people of B.C. along political lines to their own benefit. And that is a very depressing place to find oneself after 11 years of service in this House and responding to throne speeches. To respond to such a cynical throne speech that would treat the people of B.C. and their concerns…. The First Nations, the children living in poverty, the teachers and students of the province — all are simple pawns in a political game by a government that simply doesn’t care.

They brag about being the cleanest of the dirty shirts. As every provincial economy in Canada struggles, B.C. finds itself slightly above the struggle of some others, and they gloat. Despite all the things that I’ve mentioned that they’ve ignored, they gloat. It’s political gamesmanship, when we need serious leadership. The business of B.C. has been put on hold in favour of political gamesmanship and posturing. Decisions that require the deepest and most significant conversation with British Columbians about their environment, about climate change and the effect it’s going to have on our province, about the social condition, about the well-being of future generations and about investments in our forest land base — all those things ignored.

All those things are diminished to these ridiculous catchphrases — bumper sticker slogans like “Get to yes.” Well, I’d like to get to yes. I’d like to get to a yes where children are being lifted out of poverty. Yes, we fund our
[ Page 10269 ]
classrooms adequately, not ninth out of ten provinces. Yes, we adequately fund mental health treatment in this province. Yes, we acknowledge that we have an obligation to First Nations. Yes, we will stop Site C until we have adequately and properly consulted and partnered with First Nations. Yes, we will put Site C in front of the B.C. Utilities Commission for review.

We need big ideas. At a time when we need big ideas, we get a throne speech that says there are “those among us who would look down on mining.” What more divisive phrase could a government deliver in a throne speech than there are “those among us who would look down on mining”? I’m sure that the people of Mount Polley, the people who live near mines all over this province, really appreciate a government that dismisses their rightful concerns over their environment, their health and their communities by being told that they are those among us who must be admonished by their government for not having the spirit of British Columbia at heart.

[1750]

It’s been a long time for this government. They’ve clearly run out of ideas. They’re clearly engaged in an effort simply to spin and fabricate a record that they can pretend is defensible. They clearly have no intention to govern the essential interests of British Columbians. They clearly have said yes to ignoring the fact that they have the worst job creation record in 46 years, according to Stats Canada. But it’s equally clear that we need a government that’s far more respectful and far more responsible.

Hon. P. Fassbender: Every time that I enter this chamber I’m reminded of what a privilege it is to be in this House and represent the people of Surrey-Fleetwood, the community that elected me as their MLA. I also clearly know that there’s no other job that I can think of that provides the same opportunity to contribute to my local community while being a part of a team that is going to help shape and continues to help to shape the future of this province as a whole.

The 2016 Speech from the Throne reminds us that this country and the world face immense economic challenges, and those can’t be underestimated, nor can they be ignored. The global economy is facing uncertain times. We all know that. We see it. We hear it every day in news reports from countries that are struggling to keep their people employed, where pensions are being cancelled, where people are suffering because of lack of foresight and willingness to make hard decisions.

We look at oil-producing provinces like Newfoundland, Saskatchewan and, indeed, our closest neighbour, Alberta. The slumping price of crude has resulted in significant job losses in those provinces, and it has affected government revenues and people’s personal incomes to the point that they are looking for safe havens to come to. I’m proud to say that when they look, they do see a light in British Columbia because of our sound fiscal policy, because of three balanced budgets to date, a fourth to be introduced next week. And we are putting out opportunities for people in every sector of our community.

Yes, I’ve heard it from opposition members that we’re proud of our economic performance. We are proud, because we have worked hard and made the hard decisions and worked with the people of British Columbia to keep British Columbia moving forward, providing jobs, providing income for people. That does not minimize nor suggest that this government does not care about those that are disadvantaged or that need support from government because of circumstances that may be beyond their control. But we would not be able to do that if we did not have the sound economic policy that has been reflected in the past budgets, past throne speeches and, indeed, in the throne speech that was just read yesterday.

We know that the slumping Canadian dollar, as a result of some of those world economic impacts, has also had a positive effect in terms of some of our industries like tourism, like film production. We see that there is a benefit to Canada but also, more importantly, to British Columbia. But the suggestion by members opposite that we’ve hung our hat on one sector of the economy is dead wrong.

[1755]

Currently we have an economy that is performing without LNG revenue, other than the investment of billions of dollars in construction being readied for this generational opportunity that is going to come. We are going to realize that, but in the meantime, agriculture is growing. The high-tech sector is growing. The forest industry is looking at and realizing new opportunities.

The mining industry is suffering because of commodity pricing, but because of our policy, mining companies want to continue to operate here. We’re providing them with the support so that 30,000 jobs in that sector are protected. That is because of sound economic policy and planning.

I know the members opposite would like to say no, as they always do. They would close down mines and see 30,000 jobs disappear, but this government is not prepared to do that. We stand on that record, and we continue to see families be able to earn incomes because of our policy.

It is clear to us…

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Order.

Hon. P. Fassbender: …that British Columbia is a destination of choice for many people across this country and, indeed, around the world. I’m honoured to serve a community like the city of Surrey that is one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada and is one of the fastest growing in the province of British Columbia.
[ Page 10270 ]
We have jobs. We have opportunities. That is because of our fiscal policy. Surrey is unprecedented in job creation when it comes to construction.

We have over 800 to 1,000 people that move to Surrey every single month. They make that choice because they know they have opportunities for their families. We have a great education system. We have an unprecedented health care system that is providing them with the support they need.

And you know what? We shattered the billion-dollar mark in construction in the city of Surrey because of the economic growth that we’ve seen there, and we’re going to continue to do that.

I could list a whole list of things that we have done, but one of the things that I do know is that British Columbia and the city of Surrey that I represent welcome people from all over the world, all cultures. The city of Surrey was one of the first to put out its hands of welcome to Syrian refugees. It has volunteers in that community that are working hard to provide opportunities to the Syrian refugees that are coming and giving them their first entry into British Columbia and Canada.

They are thankful for that opportunity. I want to thank the city of Surrey, the members of council and the mayor, and the community organizations that are providing that welcoming atmosphere and are going to give these refugees a hand up, not a handout, so that they can live prosperous lives in British Columbia and in Canada.

Just a little over two weeks ago, I attended a grand opening of a new corporate headquarters for Coast Capital. It’s called their Help Headquarters. That B.C.-based financial institution chose the city of Surrey as their headquarters for a real purpose. That is, it completes one of the first phases of the hub of new technology growth and medical research in the city of Surrey. Coast Capital Savings chose that because they know the future for them is in Surrey. As a result, they will be able to serve people throughout the province of British Columbia.

[1800]

According to Tim Grant, the vice-president in charge of PCI Development Corporation, the reason why Coast Capital built the $100 million state-of-the-art facility in Surrey is simply because: “Surrey is a really exciting place with a growing, young and educated population. Given all the government infrastructure that’s been put in over the last several years, we’re starting to see things take off. From our standpoint, it is a community” — and a province — “to watch.”

That’s pretty impressive, and it’s because of the hard work of Surrey city council, the citizens of the community, the board of trade and all of the other people who contribute to the message that goes out across Canada and, indeed, around the world that British Columbia, and the city of Surrey, is the place where they need to come to build their futures.

My job as the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development and the Minister Responsible for TransLink is to help build, along with the team that’s represented on this side of the House, strong communities in British Columbia in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration. I’m pleased and absolutely privileged to meet British Columbians and communities across the province. I look at every region and every sector of our economy, and I see people that are dedicated to growth, to the future, to embracing a vision that talks about opportunities, not about the kind of negative rhetoric that we hear across the House.

Large and small communities are working hard to carry on their responsibilities, and they share a joint vision that British Columbia is a province that has that future. We’ve got hard-working people in this province that have strong values. They care about the well-being of their families, the security of their jobs and their businesses, and the capacity of their community to provide great places where they can raise their children in a safe and prosperous environment.

The heart of every community is every single household, and the households are the cornerstone of this province. Very often when families sit around their kitchen table and talk about their future, and when parents or grandparents talk about the future for them, they recognize that they live in a province that is going to provide that. The Speech from the Throne brings good news to the communities and households throughout British Columbia.

The Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development combines many key government services and supports that are needed to make B.C. communities strong and great places to live, work, visit and invest. It’s because we have an economy that is diversified, that is growing, that is performing — where people have jobs, where they’re earning an income and are appreciating the work that the government does to provide that environment for them.

I know — and the Premier has said it many times — that government does not create jobs, but what we do create is a positive environment for companies, like Coast Capital Savings and many others across the province, to invest. We create that climate by having a positive vision, by creating the opportunities, by going around the world — as the Minister of International Trade does — and inviting international investors to come into this province and to invest in the future for themselves and for their companies.

My ministry works closely in overseeing issues around Crown corporations and agencies and boards that, again, contribute to the social fabric of this province. Whether it is the Royal B.C. Museum, which the other day, on Family Day, opened its doors free of charge to people who were visiting this community and people who live here on Vancouver Island…. My wife and I had the privilege of going there, and we saw thousands of people, families
[ Page 10271 ]
who came in and experienced the history and the culture and all of the things that the Royal B.C. Museum does. I was impressed with the great work that they do in sharing that.

[1805]

The legacy and the history of this province is being built every day. I believe that, years from now, there will be displays about the good things that were done by industries and people in this province, our First Nations and the great contribution that they’ve made to this province in the past — and in the future.

Our ministry works closely with 189 local governments, including 162 municipalities and 27 regional districts throughout the province. What I keep hearing from them every time I visit any of them is: “What more can we do to work together to continue to build a secure tomorrow for our communities and our citizens?” And we are doing that, day in and day out.

There are many other things that the ministry does, but I know that when we work with UBCM and talk about the future of local governments, we understand that they have infrastructure challenges, that they have needs to raise resources so that they can meet the needs of their communities.

I will say this. What’s very clear to me, every visit that I make, is that if their businesses are shutting down, if their people aren’t able to be employed, if they move out of our communities, they lose the tax revenue that’s going to help them to build their communities. That is why this government and our diversified economy is creating those opportunities for them.

I know everyone in this House is aware that we recently appointed a new Auditor General for Local Government. One of the reasons that we did that, and the premise behind it right from the beginning, was to provide support to local governments in ensuring that they can find efficiencies, ways that they can better serve their communities.

I’m delighted to say that the reports that we have seen since the new Auditor General for Local Government has been in place have been very positive. There have been good responses from local governments about the reports that have been done.

I know that Mr. Ruth, as the Auditor General for Local Government, has lived up to his commitment, from the first day, to go out and collaborate and communicate with local governments.

I know that the office has released a number of audit reports, and they have worked very well for communities like Port Alberni, Merritt, Comox Valley regional district, Vernon, the district of North Vancouver, Sechelt, Dawson Creek, the district of West Vancouver and the city of Surrey.

The feedback has been: “We appreciate the support that we’re getting.” That’s what they’re receiving from the office, and I know that these audits are valuable. They’ll ensure taxpayers that they’re getting the best value for their tax dollars and that the audit showcases the strengths of specific local governments and is working with them to help those governments that need additional support.

I’m confident that the Office of the Auditor General for Local Government is demonstrating the intent that this government had in the beginning, and that is to give value to local governments for their future.

When the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development provides funding, it does it to, again, support local governments in terms of their infrastructure needs and helping them to define what some of those needs are. That is because we have an economy that is generating revenue that we can invest in local communities for their benefit.

[1810]

Since 2001, the government has provided support for infrastructure programs, along with our federal partners, where the Canada-B.C. infrastructure program provided $269 million. The Building Canada fund, including the top-up of $201 million; infrastructure stimulus fund of $100 million; municipal rural infrastructure program of $75 million; B.C. community water improvement program of $80 million; Towns for Tomorrow of $68.5 million; LocalMotion, $40 million; Spirit Squares, $20 million; community recreation programs to help people live healthier lifestyles, over $30 million.

Those resources come to the province of British Columbia because we have an economy that is generating income, that is generating revenue that we can give back to communities. That is what this government is all about. That is what the throne speech is all about.

We are going to be renewing the gas tax agreement. We will have an announcement later this week with the federal Minister of Infrastructure. I know that B.C. municipalities, because of our cooperation with the federal government, will be eligible for additional dollars to help them in their infrastructure needs.

In 2014, when the gas tax agreement was renewed, it transferred over $1.3 billion to the people of British Columbia over the next five years. That is because we have the kind of growth that we do in this province.

The government of Canada has announced over $70 billion in a ten-year economic action plan, including the New Building Canada fund at $53 billion. The Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure and I had the opportunity to meet the new Minister of Infrastructure federally. We talked about the importance of the growth in British Columbia and moving goods and services, moving people. We’ve supported the mayor’s vision for Metro Vancouver in terms of transportation.

I know we are poised to receive the benefit of the investments that the federal government wants to make. We are going to be sure to see movement that is going to provide construction jobs to build the infrastructure, and it is going to provide opportunities for jobs afterwards to
[ Page 10272 ]
people throughout the province.

I know that many communities have visited Ottawa. They’re talking about the needs of their community. This government is supporting those requests, and we will work with local communities and the federal government to see that realized.

There are many other things that we have done because of our sound economy. If you think about the Peace River agreement in its 20-year, $1.1 billion investment between the B.C. government and local governments in the Peace River region, that is to protect their economies, to continue to allow them to move ahead. We’re assuring them of a stable source of funding in a region where they have had challenges but great opportunities lay on the horizon.

When I was in Fort St. John, I saw what is happening there as a result of the growth that we see — Site C development and the generational opportunities we’re providing. We are investing real dollars in real communities that provide real jobs for people who need them.

There are so many times that I look around at the kinds of opportunities…. Just recently we announced a creative economic strategy. We’ve worked with the creative arts and culture community to talk about the opportunities in the creative economy, which the United Nations cites as one of the fastest-growing opportunities for people around the world. British Columbia is leading the country in our commitment to that, and we’re going to see that benefit young people as they look at careers and opportunities that we haven’t even seen to date.

We’re working with many agencies across the country to ensure that these opportunities are not just centred in the larger metro areas. Through technology, we can provide those throughout the province. I know the Ministry of Education is working very hard to provide high-speed access for every school in this province. The federal government is working with us to provide it to our First Nations communities, so that every single young person has the same opportunity and access to those kinds of technological advancements and they have careers that they can look forward to.

[1815]

My ministry is also responsible for sport. Just recently we signed a new MOU with the Canadian Olympic Association, the Canadian Paralympic association, ViaSport and other organizations to talk about how we, collectively in the province, have taken down the individual silos and are working together in the interest of healthier lifestyles for every single person that lives in this province. That was well received.

In the fiscal year of 2015-16, we have provided, as the province of British Columbia, close to $50 million in sport funding — not just elite sports but sports at the grass roots, where their lifestyles and their activities are helping young people live healthy lifestyles and change from what we know is a concern about sedentary lifestyles for young people. We’re giving them opportunities.

Some examples of that. We’ve provided over $21 million in direct transfers to the sports system in the province; approximately $11 million for sport participation programs at the grassroots level; close to $7 million for high-performance programming; more than $3 million for sport events hosting, including the support for the B.C. Games, Hosting B.C. and other major events; and $28 million in community gaming grants for sport programming throughout the province.

We provide, additionally, approximately $11 million annually in participation programming to ensure that young British Columbians, as I’ve said, have every opportunity to be involved in recreational and sport activities. We think that’s good for young people and good for their families.

With that in mind, also, since 2006, we’ve provided more than $3 million to KidSport to help families defray costs, for those people that couldn’t normally afford to provide those opportunities. We’ve done that through that support. KidSport helps more than 7,400 children every year, along with support from the corporate community and other community agencies. But the province has stepped up to the plate, and we’re there helping as well.

I know that that program, and many others that we’ve done, are helping to change lives and the future of young people in this province.

In 2010, the joint B.C. government and UBCM Local Government Elections Task Force made some recommendations related to B.C.’s local government elections. Our ministry has helped to develop a new track record and a new direction for local government elections.

We will be introducing some of the recommendations that the joint parliamentary committee came up with and from the consultation we’ve done with local governments in terms of providing expense limits for elections. I think that is in response to the requests that we’ve had from local governments. I know we are going to see it provide an opportunity for involvement in local government elections.

I’ve heard a lot today from members opposite about how all of this is a shell game. Well, I need to tell you that the moneys that we’ve invested in this province — because we have a growing economy — are proof positive that this government’s vision for the future, our vision for industry and our vision for a diversified economy are bearing fruit.

We are not hanging our hat on one sector of the economy. We have a diversified view of the future.

Interjections.

Hon. P. Fassbender: I know the members opposite want to shout out their support for the great job we’re doing, but I’ll finish by saying this. If we followed the direction that the members opposite have talked about, we would not have more jobs. We would not have a di-
[ Page 10273 ]
versified economy. We would have people out of work. We would see government growing and the tax burden growing on every single taxpayer. This government is committed to creating an economy, creating an environment, where jobs will continue to grow, where people will have opportunities.

[1820]

I believe that our throne speech is, again, another plank in a great vision for the people of British Columbia, a great example of a government that knows what it takes to get people the jobs they need, the kind of environment where they can succeed and where the future for their children and grandchildren is very bright.

G. Heyman: It gives me great pleasure once again to stand in this House and talk about the people, the constituents, of Vancouver-Fairview — their desires, their hopes for the future, their struggles, the issues they raise with me. But before I begin to do that, I want to pay some tribute to four people who play a very important role in my constituency community office. Those are the constituency assistants who work with me and, more importantly, with the residents of Vancouver-Fairview — especially ones who have issues, who have needs, who have questions — that come and see them every day of the week.

I will start with one of my two original constituency assistants, Ashley Fehr, who does a tremendous job not just in casework, not just in advocacy but in finding out which events are happening in the distinct communities within my constituency, ensuring that we have a presence there, helping to organize community events around issues of interest, of importance, to the residents of Vancouver-Fairview.

Another constituency assistant who’s been with me for a couple of years now and who fills in when one of the more full-time constituency assistants is off for a while is Reamick Lo. She is incredibly sharp, incredibly diligent, very good at handling, with empathy, the people who walk in the door and ensuring that I’m well aware of the issues that they’re raising and that we get them answers and we get them action, whether it’s directly assisting them to interface with government agencies, with landlords, with other bodies or simply to give them the advice they need to carry on, on their own.

Recently I had the pleasure to engage a second backfill constituency assistant, Amber Armstrong, who came to us from Surrey and just fit in almost perfectly from day one, understood how things worked — very, very good on casework, very good in helping to guide people who are very troubled through the issues they were facing. The times I was in the office and listened to her patiently on the phone assisting people — helping them to focus, giving them advice about how to put their best foot forward in meeting the people with whom they had to deal to resolve their issues — I was simply impressed.

I saved my fourth constituency assistant, who is actually one of my original two, for last. His name is Jarrett Hagglund. Jarrett is a humorous person, a funny person, a deeply empathetic person, very skilled at helping calm people, helping them focus; persistent and diligent at pursuing their issues with agencies and government ministries with which they’re interfacing.

He also has a tremendous interest in the community and just knows exactly what to do to ensure that our community outreach and our community forums are focused, are successful, have the right people on panels to be both informative for the residents of Vancouver-Fairview who attend as well as ensuring that we take the information they give us so we can do a better job of advocating for them in this Legislature and with government.

I’ve saved Jarrett for last because I just found out last week that he has accepted a position in the Premier’s office in the province of Alberta. Let me simply say that my loss and the loss of the people in Vancouver-Fairview when Jarrett leaves in about three weeks will certainly be a gain for the Premier of Alberta, her staff and the people of Alberta.

[1825]

I wish him well. Certainly, when he returns, at some point, to British Columbia, I hope to have an opportunity to work with him again. It’s been a tremendous honour to watch this young man learn, grow and do a tremendous job.

Let me now move on to the issues that are raised by people in Vancouver-Fairview with me on a regular basis. Contrary to the speeches from many members opposite — in particular, a number of comments by the minister responsible for community, sport and cultural development, who preceded me immediately — for many residents who come to see me, they don’t experience well-being. They don’t experience their lives being made better.

Instead what they experience is their lives being made harder in any number of ways. Whether it’s struggling with B.C. Hydro rates that have gone up tremendously in the last 11 years — about 50 percent — and just in the four-year period between 2013 and 2017 will rise by 28 percent….

It’s a tremendous hit on household budgets, a tremendous difficulty, and one that could have been avoided if B.C. Hydro, under the direction of this Liberal government, had been more diligent, more focused on ensuring that the projects that were pursued had value, were necessary, and produced the most jobs for the least cost and the best energy for British Columbians now and into the future. I will go into some more detail on that shortly.

Whether it’s Medical Service Plan premiums — a completely unfair and unequal tax…. There is no reason why somebody earning $30,000 a year should be paying the same maximum Medical Services Plan premium as somebody who is earning $3 million. That’s why we, supposedly — and used to — have a much more progressive income tax system.

When this government talks about its low-tax regime
[ Page 10274 ]
benefiting British Columbians, they fail to note that the replacement of progressive income taxes with ever-escalating flat fees is a tremendous hardship on everyday working families. They notice it. They come to my office, and they talk about it, and they are not better off.

What really stands out for me in this Speech from the Throne is a broad-brush approach that is very, very, very scant on detail. It’s big on rhetoric. It’s scant on detail.

When members opposite talk about the vision over many years of this government in building British Columbia’s economy and providing jobs, there’s been no consistency in that vision. When one project doesn’t work, they turn to another. When one sector is successful despite being ignored for years by this government, they claim credit for its success.

[Madame Speaker in the chair.]

That doesn’t work for British Columbians who are feeling the pinch every single day. This throne speech and the statements by members opposite both in this Legislature and outside this Legislature don’t bring British Columbians together. They’re not aimed at bringing legislators in this House together to do the best job for British Columbians. They always have a political angle.

They’re always built around wedge politics. They’re always trying to divide people into “us” and “them,” and not surprisingly, the “us” are always the people who believe in what the Liberal government thinks is the best path forward for British Columbia.

It does not demonstrate respect, consideration or appreciation that other people have differing views, validly held views, views that are rooted in their concern for their community, their history, their local economies and their opportunities for their children. They’re just, in the eyes of members opposite, simply wrong or bad British Columbians or naysayers or a ragtag bunch.

[1830]

It’s not the job of the Premier or the government to divide British Columbians. It’s the job of the government to unite British Columbians in common purpose. It’s the job of people in this House who sit in government to look for ways to make this place work better, and none of that is in evidence on a daily basis in this chamber, and none of it, certainly, is in evidence in the throne speech.

Let’s talk for a moment about education. Parents come to me frequently in my constituency office or meet with me in groups at parent advisory committees with endless tales of inadequate resources; of children who are falling through the cracks because they don’t get the tools that they need, because the programs that could help them aren’t available, because the school board doesn’t have the money to invest in new programs that have been demonstrated to, for example, help with very speedy addressing of the ability of children with dyslexia to learn.

Just recently a parent came to my office to talk about a program developed here in British Columbia, which is in use partially in schools and is in use very successfully in other jurisdictions, that completely changes the traditional way of dealing with dyslexic children and helps them move ahead to full learning capacity and reading and writing ability very quickly.

There isn’t an argument, I don’t think, about whether this technology works. The argument is simply about who is the priority, because there’s not enough money to purchase enough licences to make this more readily available. So parents, like with so many other things in the school system, are forced to dig deep into their own pockets, if they have the resources, to support their children and give them the best possible opportunity to get ahead in life, to be the best they can be, to reach their full potential.

We say that everyone should have opportunity. We profess, even members opposite, to believe that everyone should be provided opportunity. But if children in the earliest years of their learning are not given all of the supports they need from day one in school, and those children with learning disabilities or challenges don’t get the supports and the most modern, recent, proven and successful tools to overcome those challenges and disabilities and learn at a pace to the best of their ability with their classmates, they will not get the opportunities that they deserve.

They will not get the opportunity for an equitable, fair start in life. They will not get the opportunity to be the very best they can be, whatever that may be — whether it’s a physicist, a doctor, a mathematician, a lawyer, a welder, a carpenter, somebody who drives a bus, somebody who serves in a restaurant. Everybody deserves a chance to be the best they can be and to do work that is gratifying and successful to them.

It is regularly raised with me by parents in Vancouver-Fairview that there is no equity in our education system, that parents are forced to cough up to fill the gaps left by a government that does not adequately fund education, and it’s simply not good enough.

This throne speech has no new commitments for K-to-12 education. There is not even a reference to the Premier’s very high-profile announcement at the B.C. Tech Summit that coding would be taught from K to 12 and that it would be mandatory — a claim, by the way, that was immediately disavowed by the Education Ministry as not being exactly the way they’d envisioned it. Not even a mention of that promise.

Let me move on to another issue that’s regularly raised, even by people who come in to talk to me about one issue. Before they get to that issue, they want to talk about the high cost of housing throughout Metro Vancouver but, obviously, specifically in Fairview, which is a very high-cost constituency for housing.

[1835]

They want to talk about the unaffordability. They want
[ Page 10275 ]
to talk about the challenges that they face, as their family grows, in finding space that is suitable and adequate for their family, for their children, to have the ability to have a yard for their kids to play in. Even parents with quite good dual incomes are facing challenges.

What does this mean? Yes, they could move. Yes, they could go to parts of Metro Vancouver where housing is more affordable or perhaps, put another way, less costly. But what will happen to the life of Vancouver when the people who work in Vancouver can’t afford to live in Vancouver?

That’s already happening. It sucks the life and the creativity out of the city. And this government, faced with absentee ownership, vacant properties, rampant speculation — not because people want to get into the housing market for housing but because they read articles that say the Vancouver real estate market is a better bet than the stock market — thinks that it’s not a problem.

The Premier said: “We can’t do anything about that. We don’t want to attack the equity that people have worked hard to build in their homes.” Yet she admits that she was aware of shadow flipping for many months. It wasn’t until the story broke in the Globe and Mail that she even said she would do anything about it, although all she said is: “We’re going to rely on the Real Estate Council to do a better job of regulating itself.”

In question period today, I talked about a Fairview resident, a woman in her 80s, who was talked into selling her house — the home she’d loved and lived in for many years — to a real estate agent who said: “I’d love this home. It would be so great for me. My dogs would love the yard.” She even brought pictures of her dogs. She brought friends over to say how lovely this home would be for her.

This woman sold her the home. And within a week of moving out of her home, that house was flipped by the real estate agent, who made between $300,000 and $400,000 more on the sale. That’s not hard-earned equity. That is scandalous. The house was torn down. The woman who’d built equity in her home was not adequately represented by the realtor, who simply took her for a ride.

Who knows how often that happens? But it goes to the issue of fairness. It goes to the issue of protecting sellers and buyers. It goes to the question of rampant speculation and manipulation of the market, driving up housing prices, which are already astronomically high.

It is driving people out of my constituency. It’s driving people out of my city. It’s taking people who grew up in their neighbourhoods and telling them: “You aren’t good enough to live here anymore. We’re more interested in foreign capital having free rein here.”

This government says it’s not a problem. The Minister Responsible for Housing went so far as to say, when the issue was first raised, that housing is actually pretty affordable in Vancouver. It’s not as bad as London or Geneva. We’re talking about British Columbia and Canada, and when we’re talking about emptying out a vibrant, important city in British Columbia of the people who grew up there, who work there and who want to live there, we’re talking about a massive failure of responsibility by this government.

There are many things that can be done to correct this massive increase in unaffordability. This government says it’s taking measures. We’ll see what they are. But vague statements in the throne speech aren’t good enough — promises to come down hard on a regulator that has failed to do anything more than give slaps on the wrist to people who are found guilty of violating the practices recognized as responsible practices by the Real Estate Council and profited immensely from that.

[1840]

What we need to see is a meaningful commitment to action, independent review of the system and real measures to ensure that housing in Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland — and, in fact, everywhere in British Columbia where house prices are going up — is, first and foremost, for people who live there. Whether they’re people who grew up here or people who immigrated to here, people need to be able to afford to live close to where they work and in their communities.

Let me move on to an issue that wasn’t addressed whatsoever in the throne speech, and that’s the issue of worker health and safety. It’s the issue of protecting workers’ rights to know that they will be able to return home safe and healthy at the end of the workday.

Back in November, we debated in this House the Workers Compensation Amendment Act brought in by the Minister of Jobs. I asked some questions of the minister at that time and said: “I’ve heard stories. There are stories about people, all the time, who raise safety concerns in their workplace and end up being dismissed. That’s illegal. It’s illegal under the Workers Compensation Act. It’s illegal under other acts, yet it happens.” The minister’s response was: “That’s not acceptable. I expect the Workers Compensation Board to address that.”

For a number of months now, I have been regularly dealing with two workers who worked on the Evergreen line — skilled workers. They’ve worked on tunnelling for many years, and they were very concerned about a number of what they claim were extremely unsafe practices. They reported these to the board. They reported them to the safety supervisors. They reported them to other supervisors.

These issues include failure to maintain adequate ventilation in tunnel during working hours, improper storage of flammable gas cylinders underground, failure to provide adequate first aid on site, inadequate operation of the hyperbaric chamber on site, unsafe crane operation, failure to maintain a working refuge chamber underground and failure to uphold the terms of a variance that was issued by WorkSafe, allowing underground construction to proceed without a supervisor holding an under-
[ Page 10276 ]
ground excavation certificate.

I haven’t looked at all of the inspection reports of the WCB, but what I do know is that one of these complainants made a number of complaints about these issues, and so did the other one. There were 15 inspections of the tunnel between January 2014 and January 2015, and those inspections resulted in 38 orders — 38 orders — to correct unsafe practices.

I have communicated with the Minister of Jobs, responsible for WorkSafe B.C. I’ve communicated with WorkSafe B.C. itself. I’ve asked exactly: “What did the board do to address these complaints? What did it do to ensure that the committee and the safety system with these contractors were up to snuff, that they were protecting workers?” I got back some answers, but in some cases, I simply got back answers from the Workers Compensation Board. The minister replied and said that it was in the hands of the board. The board replied and said: “Some of these are no longer relevant, because the tunnel work is completed.”

What that doesn’t say is what the board actually did about it when the complaints were made. What I do know is that one of these workers, 17 days after he refused unsafe work that he’d reported after a number of other issues that he’d raised, was let go on the grounds that there was no more work for him, despite the fact that another crane operator was hired the week before he left.

[1845]

Both of these workers have discrimination complaints filed with the Workers Compensation Board. These are serious complaints, but instead of dealing with them in a timely manner, they waited months to have their complaints heard. They still haven’t been finally determined. What I do know is that in the case of one of these workers, many months went by before any attempt was made to interview him about his allegations, although WorkSafe B.C. had no trouble talking to the company. The companies, SNC-Lavalin and SELI, have huge resources, many people who can spend a lot of time dealing with a complaint. These workers, out of work, have only their own limited time and their own resources.

I will be watching what happens with these cases. It’s interesting to note that after I wrote two letters to the board, there appears to be some interviewing of the worker going on. But there are serious concerns with these workers about how effectively WorkSafe B.C. is pursuing the issue of dealing with discriminatory action against employees for raising safety concerns and representing themselves and their fellow workers.

I don’t know what the final result of the investigation will be. I do know that if 15 inspections resulted in 38 orders, something was wrong. I would think that in that event, if one of the workers who’d raised the concerns was let go shortly after protecting his interest and that of the other workers by exercising not only his statutory right but his statutory responsibility to report unsafe conditions and refuse unsafe work, that that, for me, should have been a priority. I’m shocked that it appears not to have been for WorkSafe B.C., because there is a clear message when this happens to other workers on site. That message is: if you want to keep bringing food home for your family, take your chances, don’t raise safety issues and don’t call WorkSafe B.C.

If the minister is serious about protecting workers, is serious about the amendments that she introduced in November making a difference, I encourage her to take an active interest in this case — in what the actions of WorkSafe were leading up to it, in investigating it and in concluding it — and send a clear message to employers and workers around B.C. that it’s going to be more than talk in this chamber that protects their lives and health. It’s going to be a clear mandate for WorkSafe B.C. that will be carried out — full stop.

Let me simply close by saying that the Premier, unfortunately, believes that if people don’t agree with her vision of an economy, her vision of job growth, her vision of what should be done to provide jobs in B.C., then they’re naysayers.

Recently she received some flak for referring to people who are concerned about the effect of one of her pet LNG projects on an important salmon-spawning ground near Lelu Island as professional naysayers. She got an immediate reaction from First Nations, who termed her remarks as paternalistic. Just yesterday the Premier again defended her remarks by saying: “Well, it was kind of a ragtag group of people who came out and made this comment.”

The throne speech said that social licence was invented in British Columbia. It’s right about only one thing. We can only develop the economy in this province and ensure that the environment is protected and economic development is done in such a way that all the environmental values that British Columbians hold so dear are protected — that these two aren’t a choice, one or the other, that they go hand in hand as we go forward developing this province. But social licence isn’t built by denigrating people who disagree with you, people who have a long, long history on the land, of living off the land, of valuing the fisheries, of valuing the plant life, of valuing where they live.

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As former chief councillor of the Haisla, Gerald Amos, said, to call that group a ragtag bunch is completely wrong-headed, and someone of the Premier’s stature should not be slagging First Nations if she still has hope for reconciliation.

I think it’s important to say that if this government means what it says about building social licence — for which there’s no evidence that I’ve seen…. If it means what it says about reconciliation with and respect for First Nations, then it’s not appropriate or useful to disrespect the people who disagree with you.
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L. Larson: It’s an honour to be able to speak in support of the throne speech and to talk a little bit about the riding of Boundary-Similkameen.

It’s the policies of this government and the new programs introduced that have enabled even the smallest of communities to become involved in projects of all kinds that enhance their local areas, and many of those government-driven initiatives have benefited the most vulnerable in our society with new and better ways to improve their standard of living.

The creation of 1,700 new licensed child care spaces in the third phase of the child care major capital funding program, one of the commitments through the B.C. early-years strategy, is providing affordable care for children. The single-parent employment initiative is helping to remove barriers to employment for the 16,000 single parents in British Columbia on a fixed income by providing a wide range of supports, including child care, transportation and access to training or upgrading for a more fulfilling and supporting job.

In my riding of small rural communities, the ability to train and keep people working locally is extremely important. In Grand Forks, Service B.C. is expanding the services it offers by partnering with the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation to give people a one-stop shop for services like this employment program and a wide range of other government services. The people of Grand Forks would have to travel many hours to larger centres for these services without this Service B.C. centre partnership.

It was also a year of fire for the riding of Boundary-Similkameen. At one point, it was hard to find a part of the riding that wasn’t on fire. From Christina Lake to Rock Creek and OK Falls to Osoyoos, fire touched the lives of everyone. In the South Okanagan, residents watched fire burn to the edge of their homes, but the extraordinary efforts of local volunteer fire departments and the B.C. Wildfire Service managed to save all structures.

Unfortunately, the residents from Rock Creek to Westbridge on Highway 33 were not as fortunate. More than two dozen homes were lost, and the lives of those people have been changed forever. Again, the efforts of volunteer firemen, search and rescue personnel, and the B.C. fire services prevented any loss of life in an extremely dangerous situation.

Rural people are resilient and incredibly generous. The community of Midway became a staging ground for the B.C. fire services and a safe and welcoming place for the hundreds of misplaced campers and residents who needed food and shelter. Those needing help outnumbered the residents, but that didn’t seem to bother the volunteers. They worked tirelessly, ensuring that everyone was welcomed with a hug and their immediate needs taken care of.

The landscape no longer looks the same, but the residents carry on. The Rock Creek fair, held only a short time after, was a success as always.

From fire to snow. The community of Big White continues to experience a growth in the number of winter sport enthusiasts who have found this treasure of multiple ski runs and some of the best snow conditions anywhere in the province. The snowpack this year will ensure a good supply of water for our typically hot and dry summers.

Summer at Big White is a wonderful way to get away from the heat of the valley bottom and enjoy spectacular scenery and hiking trails. Big White continues to work with its partners through Tourism B.C. and the Westbank First Nation to improve the Big White experience.

B.C. continues to outpace the rest of Canada in job creation. It is forecasted that there will be nearly a million job openings in B.C. over the next ten years.

Through the blueprint on skills training and the Find Your Fit initiative, new opportunities are opening up for all British Columbians. Most recently, our government and the federal government have partnered to provide additional skills training through the Canada job fund. Together, we are investing over $10 million in 46 training programs, providing 1,370 British Columbians with the training they need for jobs in their own communities.

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The new corrections facility in Oliver is estimated to create 240 full-time, well-paying jobs and will have employed over 1,000 people during its construction. This is a strong partnership between our government and First Nations that is providing jobs and training for many members of the Osoyoos Indian Band.

Tourism has also seen solid growth during this past year. Last September, the government announced a new three-year funding model for community visitor centres in Oliver, Grand Forks, Greenwood and Keremeos. This model will ensure more stable and predictable tourism funding and allow these communities to better take advantage of the growing tourism industry with greater flexibility and innovation.

Agriculture is still the most important industry in the Boundary-Similkameen. The investment of $8.4 million over seven years to the B.C. fruit growers for the tree replant program supports producers’ efforts to meet consumer demands for high-value and high-quality fruit from the region.

The continuing support of value-added products and the ability for farmers to enhance their income on their farms with innovative products continues to be a priority of government. The agrifoods sector directly employs more than 55,000 British Columbians and has seen significant growth in annual revenues.

The cherry growers are just one of the examples of the growing success of agriculture in British Columbia. Last year, record exports of 13,000 metric tonnes of cherries — an increase of 56 percent and worth $91.7 million — were just one example of the work being done by this government towards a goal of $15 billion in annual revenue by 2020.
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The safety of highways in the Boundary-Similkameen continues to be a priority. Improvements to Highways 3 and 97 have been completed, and Highway 33 will be resurfaced this spring. The experience for our visitors and the safety of all of the travelling public are priorities of this government going forward.

While balanced budgets and disciplined spending are not glamorous, they have enabled this province to rise above the rest of the country and earn positive forecasts for the economy over the next two years. It also has meant more help for the vulnerable in society, with supportive policies and innovative ways to deliver services. We have a diversified economy and a positive attitude. I am pleased to support the Speech from the Throne.

L. Larson moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. P. Fassbender moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

Madame Speaker: This House, at its rising, stands adjourned until 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.

The House adjourned at 6:57 p.m.

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