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)

Monday, March 14, 2016

Morning Sitting

Volume 35, Number 3

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

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

The House met at 10:02 a.m.

[Madame Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Private Members’ Statements

LOCAL SCHOOLS STRENGTHEN OUR FUTURE

R. Fleming: I rise this morning to speak today about the importance of good schools in our communities and neighbourhoods in British Columbia.

I think I will begin by suggesting this: members of this House would be hard-pressed to name a better investment over the past century that has paid greater dividends to our province’s economic, social and cultural development than public education which is equitably delivered in community-based schools across British Columbia.

[R. Lee in the chair.]

Indeed, it is unimaginable to try and fathom what B.C. would have become without more than a century of investment in learning and the social capital of our citizens. And there is this point. In the 21st century, the age of lifelong learning and of knowledge-based economies, the need for schools today as a critical resource in our communities and neighbourhoods has grown not smaller but larger and larger over time.

A school today is not just a place that operates from a morning bell to an afternoon bell. Schools throughout B.C. have developed and delivered a variety of educational, recreational, cultural and social opportunities for children, youth and adults, in response to the needs for services, activities and issues identified by that community. You’d be hard-pressed today to enter a school in British Columbia and not discover an integration of services in partnership with public-service agencies, non-profit organizations and local governments. That’s an efficient use of a building that benefits more than just school-aged kids.

[1005]

To those who make an argument that communities and towns somehow can’t expect to keep what they’ve always had in changing times, I would urge them to look at the dynamics and changes that have happened in their local schools in the constituencies that they represent. While families today are smaller than 50 years ago — although the birth rate and family size are beginning to inch up again — families have changed in other ways. In most two-parent families in British Columbia, we work a lot. We work longer hours and sometimes at two or three jobs.

That’s why most schools offer before- and after-school programs for kids and their working parents. It’s also why many schools offer preschool on the same sites as elementary school, so younger siblings attend the same school as their older ones and so schools can attract kids and parents before they get into kindergarten.

The province even funds StrongStart centres, which are housed in many elementary schools, for pre-kindergarten kids. These are supervised programs with parent involvement. In a number of schools, there’s adult education, helping adult learners upgrade their courses so that they can transition to post-secondary education.

The point is this. Schools are full of activity all day, evenings and weekends, and that is a good thing. They serve entire communities. Most importantly, it helps to make families stronger and the diversity of extracurricular opportunities greater for our kids. Yet this government, in its ministry funding policies, is forcing through a $54 million cut to public education for so-called administrative savings.

That is what is forcing trustees at school districts not to cut administration, because they have done that for more than a year, but to consider the elimination of entire programs and the closure of schools in their district.

Funding cuts, combined by an edict from the province that every school in B.C. should be at 95 percent capacity…. That number was pulled out of the air, as far as anybody knows, but 95 percent capacity is the edict from the government. If it falls lower, supposedly, the minister and his government are saying that those schools should be on the chopping block. “Below 95 percent full, you really shouldn’t have a school.” That’s the message from this government. If taken to its logical conclusion, that would decimate rural British Columbia and even neighbourhoods in urban B.C.

The blunt forces of this policy are beginning to show across B.C. Right now we face something like 30 school closures, under consideration because of the provincial funding situation for K-to-12 education.

The 95 percent policy is also absurd because of the things I’ve mentioned that go on in schools today. It doesn’t consider any of the desirable things I’ve mentioned. On-site out-of-school care, before- and after-school care. Preschool. StrongStart centres. Computer labs. Art rooms. Music rooms. All of these are considered empty space by this 95 percent policy. Unless 19 out of 20 classrooms are homerooms in a school, the school should be closed, according to this government.

Now, to be clear, the pressures on school districts to make cuts have been building for a long time. British Columbia has gone from being the second-best funded
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province in Canada for K-to-12 education to the second-worst funded province over the past 15 years. Statistics Canada comparisons show that our kids, by virtue of being British Columbian, under this government, receive $1,000 less per pupil than the Canadian average. Lucky them to grow up under this government and this pathetic funding regime.

Now this situation, combined with the $54 million in cuts for what the Premier described as “low-hanging fruit….” This is what is driving school districts to have to cut in a hurry to balance their budget. It’s not faceless bureaucrats losing their jobs at the head offices of school boards or whatever the Premier had imagined. That’s not what’s going to happen.

In fact, a recent report showed that B.C. school districts are 30 percent more efficient than their Canadian counterparts and more efficient than any other U.S. jurisdiction. So where are the cuts going to come from? As one trustee said, the low-hanging fruit was gone a decade ago, and they’re chopping down the fruit trees for firewood.

It means that the $54 million in cuts are going to come from the elimination of in-school and districtwide programs. It will mean fewer staff for special needs students. It will mean fewer, not more, teachers in B.C. even though provincewide enrolment grew by 7,000 students this year. Besides larger class sizes and more classes falling out of compliance with class-composition rules, it will mean school closures in vital and vibrant communities and towns right across British Columbia. That’s what it will mean.

[1010]

Now 16,000 classrooms are out of compliance. We’re getting less personalized learning, not more, even though that’s the service plan and the education plan of the ministry. A drive towards more individualized learning — we’re getting less of it. In every town and region of British Columbia, they are at risk of losing great schools. We’re not talking about one-industry towns.

I will have more to say after the response from the government side.

J. Martin: I’m very happy to have this opportunity to respond to the subject matter regarding local schools.

In my own riding, we have invested more than $94 million in the Chilliwack school district to complete ten capital and seismic projects since 2001. This includes the replacement of Greendale Elementary and Chilliwack Secondary and the new G.W. Graham secondary school. All of these are absolutely spectacular facilities.

I want to point out that in the greater Victoria school district, which covers the Victoria–Swan Lake riding, we’ve invested more than $117.6 million for 25 capital and seismic projects since 2001. In the member’s very own riding, we’ve invested $4.9 million for a gym replacement at Doncaster Elementary in 2010; $8.1 million for seismic upgrades to Quadra Elementary, completed in 2014; $2.6 million for seismic upgrades at Tillicum Elementary, approved and moving toward construction. And both Cloverdale elementary and Cedar Hill Middle School are supported for seismic upgrades to proceed.

All across beautiful British Columbia, we’ve committed more than $4.2 billion in new and improved schools since 2001, and $2.2 billion of that is for seismic upgrades. For example, in Sooke, school district 62, the replacement of Belmont Secondary school was completed last fall. In fact, the leader of the opposition was so pleased about our investment in this school in his riding that we saw him tweeting that it was an awesome facility. Here’s what he had to say: “Truly spectacular upgrade to the old school. Kids will excel in open design and modern facility. Gym is massive.”

Well, we are investing a record $5.1 billion in public education this year. Annual education funding is $1.2 billion higher than it was in 2000-2001. That’s a 32 percent increase. Since 2001, we have built 48 new schools, replaced 70 aging schools, added space at 186 schools and seismically upgraded 149 schools.

Along with these investments, we are focusing the maximum number of tax dollars on kids in the classroom. We’ve seen decreasing enrolment of students in our school system over the years. I want to make this very clear. Despite what the opposition say, schools are not closing because of a lack of funding. They’re closing because of a lack of students. Closing a school is never an easy decision, but it’s one that rests with the boards of education, who know the situation in their communities.

The member for Victoria–Swan Lake appears to be under the impression that he knows better than the local trustees and seems to think that Victoria is the proper place to make these types of decisions, that an MLA representing Victoria knows the situation in communities around our province much, much better than the people who live there. Well, on this side of the House, we believe that local trustees are best situated to make these decisions. It’s wrong to take away the right of school trustees to make these difficult decisions.

The member has been touting his tour around the province, using people in these communities for a political statement. We know that local decisions should be made by the people who know the community best — the people who live there — and not by the people in Victoria.

May I suggest that the member heed some advice from his colleague the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill. “While there’s no question that you will see some school closures in British Columbia because of declining enrolment…. I mean, I sat around a school board table for 11 years, so I know the situation well, and we also looked at school closures in Victoria. When you see dropping enrolment, that
[ Page 11375 ]
is one of the considerations that has to be on the table.”

I just saw this flicker. I’m not sure Hansard caught that. Let me repeat: “When you see dropping enrolment, that is one of the considerations that has to be on the table.”

The NDP have voted against every budget supporting education funding and capital programs since 2001.

Deputy Speaker: Member, non-partisan. No party names should be mentioned.

[1015]

J. Martin: They have opposed the province’s registered education savings plan program. In 2013, during the election, they promised to scrap the $1,200 grant per eligible child, although they now support it. Under the regime in the ’90s, school boards could not undertake long-term planning because budgeting was year to year. Under that regime, the agreement with the BCTF, 170 elementary schools were forced to turn away 750 children from their areas as a result of the negotiated class-size requirements. They voted against enshrining class size in law.

Thank you so much for this opportunity to speak about the local schools, which we love and respect and support.

R. Fleming: I would like to close this part of private members’ time by applauding the member for Chilliwack for such a stirring defence of the right of school trustees to cut their own throats and close their own schools. What a great defence of local autonomy. I bet he could not find a single trustee or chairperson of a board who would like to share his enthusiasm for this so-called right. Well done, to him, for making such an absurd argument. It is one that is not being heard anywhere on the landscape of British Columbia today.

The fact of the matter is this, and the member ought to know it: the K-to-12 budget is made in Victoria by the provincial government. It is the constitutional responsibility of provinces like British Columbia, and in practice, it has always been that way.

This government is happy to take people’s income taxes, their sales taxes. They’re happy to take almost $2.3 billion in property taxes — almost 40 percent of the education budget — out of local communities and return a smaller and smaller bag of money to fund those schools. That’s what’s happening in B.C. right now, and trustees and boards are sick of being told by a Premier who pays 500 grand on a private jet to go from Vancouver to Kelowna to find low-hanging fruit in their school districts.

We are not talking about one-industry towns in decline, where mills have closed, closing schools anymore. We are talking about major regional economic hubs looking at closing schools, where their economies are diversifying, where they have economic development strategies to attract workers and business investment, like the town of Osoyoos.

Let me tell you, that’s a great example — over 7,500 people in that town, one elementary school, one high school, a K-to-12 continuum of high-quality public education. Here’s a city that 20 years ago barely had a wine industry. It had a much smaller resort and hospitality industry. It now has that, as well as fabricators, construction firms, agrifood processors and other industries growing GDP in the town.

Yet, this government has demanded cuts that mean the loss of one of this town’s schools is on the table. Osoyoos’s reputation as being a family-friendly community is under threat because of this government. How are they going to attract skilled workers and attract businesses when that’s the reputation that is being forced upon the town by what this government is doing?

Then there’s the example of Ecole Puntledge, in Courtenay. By the way, the elementary school population in Osoyoos is 300 students and growing. That’s the absurdity of it. And a similar situation at Puntledge, in Courtenay. I think it’s the community represented by a former Minister of Education in this very House.

I will be travelling up there tomorrow to listen to parents and trustees. They’re being forced to consider closing a school that is growing as well. That’s going to hurt Courtenay’s opportunity to be an economic hub in British Columbia. It’s wrong. The government knows it. It’s their fault. It’s the 95 percent policy and the funding cuts that are at play here.

EXPORT GROWTH

J. Yap: It’s a pleasure to rise today to speak about a vital source of economic growth and job creation, and that’s B.C.’s exports. We’re seeing tremendous growth in exports, thanks to factors like our Asia trade strategy and our focus on diversifying our export markets, finding new arenas to promote and sell high-quality B.C. goods.

From seafood to berries to various technologies and resource products, our province has a lot to offer the rest of the world, and the more that we export and expand our trade relationships, the faster we can grow our economy and provide quality opportunities for British Columbians.

[1020]

Certainly, our efforts are paying off. From 2009 to 2014, the total value of B.C. exports increased by 45 percent. Total international exports of B.C. goods totalled $2.8 billion as of January 2016, an increase of 2 percent compared to the same period of 2015. Over the course of ten years, British Columbia’s exports to China have increased by more than 300 percent, and India by 80 percent. These are two fast-growing, middle-class economies in the world.

As mentioned, we are diversifying our export markets. For example, ten years ago 65 percent of exports went to the United States. In 2015, exports to the United States made up 51.9 percent of total exports, while 37.8 percent of exports went to markets in the Pacific Rim.

While we continue to diversify B.C.’s markets, exports to the U.S. are still growing. Wood product exports were up 98 percent over the last five years — $4.9 billion in
[ Page 11376 ]
2015 versus $2.5 billion in 2011. Meantime, China ranks No. 2, behind the U.S. for B.C. exports, with 17 percent of our exports shipped there.

In 2015, goods exports to India increased by 5.6 percent, with $623 million in exports, up from $590 million in 2014. That’s a 210 percent increase since the B.C. jobs plan was launched in 2011. Softwood lumber exports to China increased 1,370 percent since 2006.

This work has been helped by 11 international trade and investment representative offices located throughout the world. There are also plans to open additional offices in Southeast Asia this year.

I can’t help but take a lot of pride in our efforts around trade and expanding our export capability, given that Richmond, my home community, is host to Vancouver International Airport, a key gateway for the movement of goods. YVR is also a big employer in the community, from the people who work to ensure the smooth travel of daily passengers to the folks who manage cargo shipments and keep our economy moving forward.

I think back to 2011, when we saw YVR welcome Canada’s first all-freight cargo service to mainland China. China Southern began operating a Boeing 777-200F freighter with a whopping 110 tonnes of capacity four times per week. For B.C. businesses with perishable goods in high demand, this service offered unprecedented access to the growing Chinese market, where their products command a high market price.

I’m also extremely proud of some other Richmond success stories, companies that are getting international attention for their products. For example, Richmond-based water park company WhiteWater West is making waves in China with the signing of a new agreement to develop an all-season water park in Hong Kong that will accommodate up to 10,500 visitors a day.

This agreement is an important milestone in WhiteWater West’s significant and continuing expansion into the Asian market. It has completed more than 100 high-quality water park and themed attraction projects in Asia, many of which are award-winning parks with state-of-the-art water rides and various other attractions.

Here are some positive words from CEO Geoff Chutter of WhiteWater West. He says: “Working with the Ministry of International Trade has allowed WhiteWater to grow in far-reaching markets in China. This ocean park contract represents the strong future ahead for WhiteWater within China and the Chinese amusement industry.”

Then we have Misty Mountain Specialties, a company based in Richmond that sells foraged mushrooms. Owner David Lee Kwen attended the B.C.-Korea Trade and Investment Forum this past summer. His company is looking at opportunities to expand into the Korean market now that Canada has signed on to the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement, or CKFTA.

These opportunities exist because the CKFTA will eliminate tariffs on 87 percent of agricultural products, including mushrooms. This duty-free access will give these products preferential treatment to the growing Korean market and put Canada on a level playing field with Korea’s current free-trade-agreement partners.

[1025]

Another local success story is SignalChem. SignalChem is based in Richmond. This company specializes in the development of innovative cell-signalling products. This meets the demand of scientists in the basic research and drug discovery sector.

SignalChem recently opened up a research-and-development facility in Bangalore that will mean more jobs in its B.C. operation. The expansion allows SignalChem, which specializes in cancer, inflammation and central nervous system disorders, to convert its oncology drug discoveries into use.

You see, growth in exports means increased opportunities for B.C. companies to grow and to create jobs. We look forward to continuing the momentum and seeing further positive impacts for our communities and our province.

B. Ralston: I’d like to thank the member opposite for initiating this discussion here this morning. I think everyone recognizes that for small open economies, small regional economies such as British Columbia, export trade and trade relations are very important for developing our economy. Since British Columbia doesn’t really have….

In Canada, although it’s a country of 38 million, relative to other trading areas or populations — indeed, our neighbour to the south or the European Union — it’s a relatively small population, so in order to achieve the economies of scale, the management innovation and the higher wages that come with export opportunities, it’s necessary for firms in British Columbia to look outside the province and to look abroad.

Those export opportunities clearly yield economic benefits. It allows the companies to achieve economies of scale and scope that they would not otherwise be able to achieve. Studies show that export industries tend to pay higher wages to their employees, and they employ more highly skilled workers. The process of gearing up to export to achieve success in foreign markets generates a management edge, a capital intensity and attracts, of necessity, a more highly skilled labour force. The adoption of new technologies and leading-edge management techniques also spurs innovation at the firm level and makes those companies more capable of competing in the international market that they choose to enter.

Now, it is interesting to hear the member talk about increase in trade. I think he selected 2009 as one of the starting points for his statistical growth, not surprisingly because that was the bottom of the last recession, and perhaps that’s a convenient and appropriate place to start. Certainly, there has been growth.
[ Page 11377 ]

The exports to China, though important for the timber industry and for our forest industry…. As we face the softwood lumber negotiations with the United States, it’s particularly important to have those other markets. Those are markets that are of a very traditional type that British Columbia has specialized in and excelled in for over a century.

Some of the other agricultural exports are, again, very welcome additions to our economic growth here. I think what people are looking for from the medium-sized firms is in our non-resource manufacturing sector, where the economies of scale that derive from exports will, I think, make for greater growth in British Columbia in the future.

Much as the member has talked of his community of Richmond, I think of my own community of Surrey and a few examples of companies that are in non-resource manufacturing and that have achieved success in global markets. There’s a small company, Singer Valve, which is in Newton, on a relatively small 1½-acre site. They manufacture a complex valve for water systems, and they sell them, whether it’s to New York or Singapore, to water systems around the world — again a value-added, non-resource manufacturing firm that has experienced real growth and derives most of its income from exports.

[1030]

I think also of Endurance Wind Power, a company in Surrey which manufactures some of the components for a medium-sized wind turbine. They’ve achieved great success, actually, in Great Britain — in England, in particular — where their product, their medium-sized wind turbine, is a sought-after addition to the energy needs of rural farms in England. In fact, they’ve experienced real growth there and continue to grow.

There are other examples. In Surrey, whether it’s specialized cutting of lumber, whether it’s a company like Kitply Industries…. That manufactures and assembles an array of kitchen products which they have developed a market for across not only the country but externally as well. These are start-up companies. This is the success that can be achieved in that sector, particularly in Surrey.

J. Yap: I’d like to thank the member opposite for his remarks. I’ll be very pleased to, in my closing comments, talk about some other comparatives — provide a reminder of how success in exports compares to what we saw in the 1990s. According to a report from the B.C. Business Council, since 1995, B.C.’s merchandise exports have grown $10 billion higher in nominal terms. In fact, despite a significant softening in global and North American commodity markets, B.C.’s exports reached a new high in 2014.

Since 1995, the composition of B.C.’s merchandise exports has become more diversified, both in terms of foreign markets served and the industrial mix of products. Two decades ago the province’s exports to China were just $500 million. Since then, export shipments to China have increased 12-fold in dollar terms. China was the destination for only 2 to 3 percent of the province’s exports in the mid-1990s. By 2014, its share had jumped to 18 percent.

The product mix of B.C.’s merchandise exports has also shifted over time. Since the mid-1990s, natural gas, agrifood and seafood products, machinery and equipment, and high-value non-resource manufactured goods have all become more important within B.C.’s export economy.

The member opposite talked about some that are based in his riding. I want to elaborate on some of those areas. Agrifoods — what a success story we see there. B.C. agrifoods exports grew 11 percent in 2014, reaching the highest total ever — just short of $3 billion. The top three export markets for B.C. agriculture and seafood products in 2014 were the United States, $2.04 billion, up 12 percent from $1.8 billion; China, $264 million, up 16 percent from $228 million; and Japan, $199 million, up 17 percent from $170 million.

What’s more, in 2014, B.C. cherry exports increased more than 32 percent, rising from $41 million to $54 million. Of B.C.’s total cherry exports, China made up more than 20 percent. Again, a lot of success on the agrifoods front and another source of pride for my community, Richmond, where we are home to a strong agricultural tradition.

In closing, let’s celebrate this tremendous growth that we’re seeing in the export of B.C.’s products and thank our hard-working farmers, producers, manufacturers and business people for their many contributions to our diversified and growing economy.

SAFE COMMUNITIES
ARE STRONG COMMUNITIES

S. Hammell: I rise to speak to the topic that stronger communities are safer communities.

I believe in that saying, and therefore I believe we need to strengthen the citizens of our communities — in particular, by informing those citizens as they play their role in strengthening our communities.

[1035]

I’d like to speak, in particular, about the violence that Surrey has seen in the past number of years. In Surrey, we have seen a deeply distressing increase in violence on our streets. We in Surrey have all been concerned about this increase and have worried about how we all participate in decreasing, bringing in to check, the need to be violent.

There was another drive-by shooting last night at 142 and 64. That left one person seriously injured and, again, into our hospitals. That was last night. There was another near the same location on Friday evening. A house was hit by gunfire from a vehicle. What we have is people who are out on our streets, randomly or carelessly shooting at each other and having those shots move past their intended persons and, often, into another house and, in fact, even a school.
[ Page 11378 ]

On March 11, a man was found dead in a vehicle after a car accident. But police stated the accident was not the cause of death and they were treating it as a homicide. We had a drive-by shooting last night on 142 and 64, near the same location as a shooting on Friday from a vehicle where a house was hit. Then we had a homicide discovered when a vehicle was in an accident.

Compared to 2014-2015, we just saw an incredible dramatic increase in violence. Robberies in our city were up 24 percent, 497 from 402. Sexual assaults were up 39 percent, 228 from 164. Assaults up by 22 percent, 2,670 from 2,189. Abductions and kidnappings have risen by 57 percent, from 30 to 47. Attempted murder is up 188 percent, 23 from 8. Fraud is up 33 percent.

The shootings began last March, and we are now a year later. When we look back, the majority of the shootings took place on what we call the upper plateau or between Surrey-Whalley, Surrey–Green Timbers, Surrey-Newton and Surrey-Panorama. I have reached out to the superintendent a number of times to be informed directly regarding the shootings, and so have the other MLAs — the other NDP MLAs for Surrey-Whalley and Surrey-Newton, and myself.

We, being in the middle of this arena, have received numerous requests from our community to be informed about what the police are doing, what they can do and what the community can do to help. I deeply believe that a strong community, a safe community, is a well-informed community. We — the three MLAs for Surrey–Green Timbers, Surrey-Whalley and Surrey-Newton — have requested a meeting with the superintendent of police in Surrey.

It really is perplexing, and none of us quite understand, why the superintendent would not meet with the three MLAs whose communities are largely affected by these shootings. I’d just like to read into the record a response that I got from the superintendent. He said:

“I understand and share your concerns regarding the recent gun violence that’s played out in Surrey and neighbouring municipalities. Indeed, this is an issue that has been affecting citizens beyond your constituents. As such, the RCMP has taken many steps” — I’m not sure what all of them are — “to communicate with residents regarding this violence and what police are doing to address this issue. Public forums and meetings have been held, news releases distributed and posted on our website, and we have done a large number of media interviews.

[1040]

“I provided updates to the mayor and council through the public safety committee. In addition, the commanding officer of E division provides updates to the Justice Minister with respect to the deployment of provincial RCMP resources in response to provincial policing priorities.”

The issue I have when we talk about strong and safe communities is around empowerment. It seems to me that you empower a community by providing information and that empowered and knowledgable communities are stronger communities. Everyone can be involved in violence prevention, and everyone can be involved in a myriad of strategies that have been proven to work.

Abbotsford police wrote the book on how to engage communities in supporting the police and working to create safe, strong communities.

M. Hunt: I would like to thank the member for Surrey–Green Timbers for initiating this morning’s private member’s statement entitled “Safe Communities Are Strong Communities” and continuing the discussion that we had two weeks ago with the member for Surrey-Newton. It serves as a reminder that we all have a stake in promoting public safety. That’s why the RCMP has been having a lot of public community meetings to inform the community and advise them of how they can be a part of working for solutions in Surrey.

As a matter of fact, one of our community newspapers, Surrey Now, has been running a rather interesting six-part series entitled “Public on Patrol.” The series talks about people who volunteer to assist police and their fellow citizens and do their part to promote public safety. I’m going to use a bit of my time in recognizing these people, because they deserve a great deal of credit for what they do.

First off is the Surrey Crime Prevention Society. They run a volunteer program called the citizen community safety watch. These volunteers are best described as the eyes and the ears for the police. From Thursday through Sunday evenings, the volunteers head out to patrol the streets. Now, while they do not directly intervene on behalf of the police, they do keep a watch out for trouble of any kind and immediately report any suspicious circumstances or people in distress.

In 2015 alone, the Surrey citizen community safety volunteers made 831 calls to law enforcement — that’s an average of more than two calls on any given evening — to help make their community safer. Many of these volunteers are interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement, and this program serves as a point of recruitment. Overall, the Surrey Crime Prevention Society has more than 300 volunteers that dedicated some 30,000 hours of community service in 2015.

Naturally, I’d be remiss if I were not to mention Surrey’s time-honoured auxiliary constable program. Surrey RCMP is Canada’s largest detachment, and it has over 80 auxiliary constables, making it the largest contingency of the roughly 1,500 auxiliaries across the nation.

It’s not easy to qualify as an auxiliary constable. You have to meet a high standard of physical fitness, pass security tests and commit to at least two years of service after the training. Now, the basic training itself includes 260 hours of full-day classes and practical instructions over a six-month period. Auxiliaries receive instruction in law, police procedures, self-defence, foot drills, first aid, the use of force and dealing with the public.

I should also mention the ceaseless dedication of Surrey Search and Rescue volunteers. These are people who are willing to respond at a drop of a hat to locate
[ Page 11379 ]
people who have gone missing, whether they be hikers or people suffering from mental illness who tend to wander. In January, I’m proud to say, the government of British Columbia announced one-time funding of $10 million to help boost training for volunteers, purchase equipment and provide administrative support. Search and rescue volunteers are a highly dedicated group of people that deserve our gratitude.

Last of all, I want to recognize a group that many of us are familiar with. That’s the Block Watch volunteers. Block Watch is about crime prevention. Neighbourhoods with active Block Watch volunteers can make a huge impact on discouraging criminal activity just by reporting suspicious activity to law enforcement.

[1045]

This program, of course, is modelled after a similar project in Seattle, which has been credited with reducing residential break-ins by up to 60 percent. With some insurance companies — you may not be aware of this — you can get a $200 reduction in your home insurance if you’re a member of your local Block Watch.

Overall, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all the volunteers with the Surrey Crime Prevention Society, the Surrey citizen for community safety watch, the Surrey RCMP auxiliary constable program and all the Block Watch organizations in Surrey. Together, these people truly are making Surrey a stronger community by making Surrey a safer community.

S. Hammell: I’d like to thank my colleague from Surrey-Panorama for his words. Like him, I think many people in Surrey are doing an absolutely marvelous job. That doesn’t get away from the fact that there was another drive-by shooting last night at 142nd and 64th. There was, near the same location, a shooting on Friday night. There was a man found dead in a car and not because of an accident.

Robberies are up. Sexual assaults are up. Assaults are up. Abductions and kidnappings have risen. Attempted murder is up, and fraud is up. I do appreciate what the member has said, but I think we’ve just begun. We have to do better. We have to communicate with the community in a stronger way. We have to include the community in a stronger way to make our community safer.

We put forward some ideas that the government might try to do. We suggested that law enforcement agents have adequate resources to deal with the escalating drug and gang violence. We know that Surrey had a huge problem around policing — the number of police that were to be deployed in Surrey. We asked to have specialized courts to deal with the underlying problems of repeat offenders. We asked for strategies to help with people with mental illness, and we asked that recovery houses be regulated and licensed. The vast majority of people of Surrey believe that these are just some of the actions that should be taken to build a stronger and safer community.

Again, I would say that a strong community is a well-informed community. It’s an engaged community. It’s an empowered community, not only just from specific programs but from including a wide range of people, who then have some kind of stake and are encouraged to participate in a broad way with the strategies.

If the RCMP cannot even speak directly with three of their MLAs in the city that are of the area where there are serious problems, then we need to have more strategies around building a stronger community.

KIDS IN SPORT

G. Hogg: Nelson Mandela said that sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers.

We have seen, in this province, the extension of Mandela’s quote. We’ve seen the magic that sport has provided in bringing together our province around the FIFA Women’s World Cup and, more recently, the rugby sevens world championships, where Canada played above their weight. They were ranked 12th going into it, and they finished ninth.

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They beat France, Australia and England through that process and put on a great show, as did our province. That show, while seen province- and worldwide…. We see that happening in local communities all across this province every single day of the year as we look at kids in sports and the engagement that sports have for youth.

The United Nations has proclaimed that sports have historically played a crucial role in the development of societies. Sport and play are recognized and used as low-cost, high-impact tools for humanitarianism, for development and for peacekeeping efforts. Sport has a unique power to attract, mobilize and inspire. It is about inclusion, about citizenship. It stands for human values such as respect for your opponents, acceptance of rules, teamwork and fairness. It speaks to us in this Legislature in that sense.

Values, beliefs and the mores of societies are taught through the processes of play in virtually every culture, every society. Those processes of play — teaching those values, mores and beliefs — morph into sport as the youths age and learn those values and are able to expand them.

The roles of physical literacy, the fundamental movement skills of jumping, throwing, catching, striking, running, kicking, agility, balance and coordination, are foundational skills that are seen as necessary in the development of health from an early age.

The biggest barriers for participation in sports around the world are financial barriers. Early participation in sport is a crucial part of the foundational skills and the image that Mandela portrayed.
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In British Columbia, we have KidSport. In fact, it has now gone across Canada. John Mills, who was at one point the president of Sport B.C. here in British Columbia, started KidSport. KidSport now is a national program. It helps fund over 8,100 kids each year, kids from every part of British Columbia.

There are now 41 chapters of KidSport across British Columbia, and they provide $1.8 million for kids to develop and to be engaged in sport. The province contributes some $400,000 each year to that. As KidSport’s moniker runs: “Sports skills are life skills.” They teach us to be engaged in, how to participate in and how to be a part of what happens in life.

If we look at, manage to reimagine the role of youth sport, prioritizing health and inclusion, getting kids to the age of 12 engaged in a part of physical activities and helping them develop abilities, confidence and drive….

A U.S. study recently found that over the past five years, there are 2.6 million fewer kids aged six to 12 participating in six of their major sports: basketball, soccer, track and field, baseball, football and softball. That’s a rate reduction of 8.8 percent of participation of youth. Whether or not those extrapolate or can be extrapolated and provide information for the impacts we’re seeing in Canada…. I certainly think that there is some possibility of that.

The era of unstructured play, of kids making up games, playing and participating and having fun, is largely gone. Today adult-led competition, dominated by tryout-based and competition, has replaced a lot of those spontaneous roles of play and fun as it once existed. The emphasis is on performance over participation well before kids have the physical, the minds and the interests mature to a level where that can happen in a reasoned way.

Nine out of ten kids say they participate in sports to have fun. Parents concerned with the reduction, when they were interviewed about why we’ve seen this drop, are saying their concern is that there is some bullying, that some coaches don’t respect kids, that kids are not having fun. Parents are also concerned with injury — particularly, in this day and age, concussions.

The main reason the kids say they participate in sport is to have fun. The top six reasons they have are that they want to try their best, they want coaches to respect them, they get playing time, playing together as a team, getting along with a team, and exercising and being active — pretty positive goals.

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Number 48 on the list of things that were important to kids participating in sport was winning, whereas I think that if we look at the role that parents play in that and many coaches, it’s slightly different.

I was told a story by a parent about a year ago who drove his son to Coquitlam to participate in a Little League tournament on a Saturday and Sunday. They played four games over the course of that tournament. He was driving his son home on the Sunday after they’d lost the game. I think it was 11-0. His son was in the back seat of the car, the father was driving home, and there was silence. After a while, the father thought: “Well, I should probably see how he’s feeling. Maybe I can perk him up and make him feel better by stopping and getting him an ice cream cone.” He said: “Son, how are you doing?”

The boy said: “Dad, this was the best weekend of my life.” He said: “I met people that I hadn’t seen before. I saw Joey, who I played Little League with years ago. I got to see him again.”

The context, framework and understanding of the culture by that child was so positive, in terms of engagement. Yet the implications that a parent provided and others provide is that it’s about winning. Certainly, it’s not if we want to look at positive development of our culture and our children.

S. Robinson: Thank you for the opportunity to talk about children in sport. It’s my pleasure to respond to the member for Surrey–White Rock and to share my thoughts about children in sport. As the opposition spokesperson on Sport, I’ve been following this file and talking to various stakeholders about the role that sport has in the lives of children and in our communities.

We can all agree that sport is a great opportunity for children to be physically active, develop friendships and learn skills, whether those skills are physical skills or leadership skills. We know that these skills are life lessons and that engagement and appreciation of sport at a young age can lead to a lifelong participation in sport and physical activity.

I want to note that there’s another component to children in sport, and that’s the development of community. When my daughter aged out of organized hockey, a sport she loved from the time that she was five years old, my husband and I would still find ourselves at the hockey rink on a Sunday afternoon at 3:45, even though our daughter wasn’t there. Parents would ask us why we were there. We were off the hook. We could do whatever we wanted. There were no more skates to tie. There were no more game sheets to complete. There were no stinky dressing rooms.

We were there because that’s what we had been doing for years, and we were missing our friends. After 12 years of practically living at the rink, I came to discover that my social group, my community, were the hockey parents, the parents that I came to appreciate as we took turns tying skates, shared strategies for de-stinking hockey gear — yes, girls’ gear smells as bad as boys’ gear — and, of course, travelling to tournaments.

We’d become friends, caring for each other, becoming backup parents for our girls. We had created community, each of us becoming more resilient because we had each other’s backs. We all hear how it takes a village to raise a child, and we had a village — a village of hockey parents.
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But what about those parents who can’t quite afford to have their children participate in sport and reap the values and benefits that organized sport brings — from the life lessons and physical activity for our children to the community that is created among parents?

I am grateful that we do have KidSport, an amazing organization committed to raising funds so that all children have access to organized sport. In my own community, the Tri-Cities chapter of KidSport raised $131,000 last year and made it possible for 635 children to participate in organized sport.

I had the opportunity to talk to the Tri-Cities KidSport executive director, Chris Wilson, when I learned that I would be responding to this statement, and I asked him what I should include in my response. We talked about the generosity of the community and the value that all children should have the opportunity to access organized sport.

We kept coming back to the importance of changing the need for KidSport. Just like with food banks, which were supposed to be a temporary measure back in the early 1980s when the economy was particularly difficult — and we’re all grateful for food banks — we now have KidSport. But at the end of the day, this is not a solution.

Food banks and KidSport often serve the same families, families who are poor or who are really struggling to make ends meet. Additionally, there is something really humiliating about having to ask for a handout, whether it’s a bag of groceries or funding to enrol your child into organized sport.

KidSport requires that someone endorse the application, an application usually made by the parent. The endorser verifies that the parent is in fact unable to pay up to $300 to support their child in their chosen activity. I’ve been an endorser, and I’ve witnessed the humiliation that parents have when they have to ask for help.

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Their preference would be to have enough money at the end of the month to pay for their child’s participation in organized sport, but after paying for increased hydro rates, MSP premiums and unaffordable housing, they just can’t make it work.

These parents would prefer to not have these increased government fees. These parents would prefer to not have to pay increased public school fees, where they have to dole out hundreds of dollars at the beginning of the school year. These parents would prefer to have real financial assistance in upgrading their high school diploma or perhaps relief with student loans. These parents would prefer to be writing a cheque directly to the sport organization rather than completing an application for KidSport.

These parents know that these increased fees are making it more difficult to make ends meet. We know that a multi-pronged and comprehensive poverty reduction strategy would make a real difference in the lives of these parents. Without a plan — and a growing wage gap — these parents have to make difficult choices.

While I appreciate that our communities step up to support these children through KidSport, I would prefer to avoid the humiliation that comes with asking for help and give these parents the dignity and the real supports they need to make ends meet so they don’t have to fill out an application form and so they don’t have to ask someone to vouch that they indeed don’t have the resources to pay for their child’s desire to play their sport like everyone else.

I would prefer a government that stopped nickel-and-diming its citizens, a government that didn’t give tax breaks to the wealthiest taxpayers. A government that developed a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy would be better for all children to access organized sport in their community.

G. Hogg: Thank you to the member for Coquitlam-Maillardville for her comments with respect to that.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

I have the honour of sitting on a national committee, funded by the McConnell Foundation, that looks at sport for social change and looks at engagement models. Certainly, one of the models that we have across Canada, as referenced — and have in British Columbia as the originator — is KidSport. It is seen as one of the models around the world. It is seen as a very positive way of engaging.

We run KidSport for all of Surrey out of our office, which I probably shouldn’t let the Conflict of Interest Commissioner know, as we put some resources…. So you can strike that part from the record there, Mr. Speaker. [Laughter.]

KidSport in Surrey–White Rock is doing very well, thank you. We have a fundraiser each year that is hosted by Jim Hughson, who is the voice of Hockey Night in Canada. Jim tells a number of stories of KidSport, and we’ve had a number of youths from KidSport who’ve been there to talk about their experiences, including some players who are now in the NHL and give credit to KidSport.

The process that the member talked about suggested, perhaps, a depersonalizing, dehumanizing process for people applying. Most of the organizations, most of the sports organizations, if people have some issues with respect to financial barriers, give permission and take that down and take away that burden.

Being able to identify oneself at KidSport has about the most innocuous process by which people apply for it, and it is all kept confidential with respect to that process. I think, as referenced, that the McConnell Foundation and others have seen it as by far the most effective way of developing and providing support to those who might need it to access sport.
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I want to also make reference to aboriginal sports and the role in British Columbia of aboriginal sport. The British Columbia sports aboriginal team won the North American Indigenous Games last year — first place — the first team ever to come in first place and win the spirit award. That’s quite a tribute to the work that they’ve done. And the women’s soccer team, a Canadian soccer team, won the world gold medal for winning the soccer championships in South America. Two great feats, primarily with students and participants from British Columbia.

Now, we’ve still much more work to be done with aboriginal youth in terms of their participation rates, and we’re working hard at doing that. The partners council of aboriginal leaders receives $600,000 from the province each year, as does Right to Play, to participate in that. We’re making great strides in terms of the delivery of sports for youth in this province, primarily through the aboriginal leaders.

Hon. M. Polak: I call debate on Motion 7.

Deputy Speaker: Hon. Members, in order to proceed with Motion 7 without disturbing the priorities of the House, unanimous consent is required.

Leave granted.

[1105]

Private Members’ Motions

MOTION 7 — PLAN FOR
WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EQUITY

M. Karagianis: I’m very happy to move the motion this morning that is under my name on the orders of the day:

[Be it resolved that this House call on the government to develop a plan for women’s economic equity.]

I’m going to quote this morning from a really excellent document that was put out by Oxfam-Canada and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. This is: Making Women Count: The Unequal Economics of Women’s Work. It’s quite a fascinating document. I will be quoting from it quite a bit this morning. The data is very informative and interesting.

As we all know — and this is something that has been in the headlines for some time now — today the top 1 percent of the population owns 25 percent of the wealth in this country. As wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of the few, so, too, is the power to drive economic policies that increase that gap between the 1 percent and the rest of us. Examining inequity through a gender lens helps us understand who ends up where on the wealth spectrum and what the repercussions of that are long term.

In reality, men are offered higher wages and rates of promotion than women from the very beginning of both of their work lives. This has huge impacts on the economic equity and well-being for women in particular. In a world where so many are still left behind, addressing these unequal economics of women’s work is an imperative and something that we rarely talk about here in this legislative chamber.

First, there is the inequity of unpaid work. Women spend between three and six hours per day on domestic or caregiving work. In contrast to that, men spend between 20 minutes and perhaps an hour and a little bit more on the same kind of work.

Even where women have paid employment, lack of child care and family care limit the jobs that they can take and the hours that they can work. Paid work comes on top of the burden of unpaid work, resulting in a double day for women, where they work in a day job and then go home and do these three to six hours of domestic work or family caregiving. In fact, it results in less job security for women.

As legislators, I think that these are important issues for us to look at long term, and the decisions that we make in this Legislature will have a huge impact on that. Women make up 59 percent of those on minimum wage. If you put that hand in glove with the fact that women start their work life knowing that they will get less wages and probably less job promotions…. One of the very first steps that we could take to begin to lift all workers — especially those on minimum wage, of course — would be to raise the minimum wage. It’s a small step towards equity for women, in particular.

I think wages as a whole are recognized as being unfair and unequal. There’s been a lot of conversation nationally about this as well recently. Women currently earn 72 cents for every dollar that a man earns — 72 cents. Unequal access to work and wage disparity like this means that women are over-representative of those living in poverty here in Canada. One in three single mothers lives in poverty in British Columbia.

If you look at this, this wage and work disparity plays out over the lifetime of women’s work. It affects their pensions. It affects their income security as they age. Thirty-two percent of single women over the age of 65 in British Columbia live below the poverty line.

You can see that this disparity that’s set up early in time has a long-term effect. One solution, of course, would be a provincial poverty-reduction strategy, a solution that the government has been loath to take on but that this side of the House has promoted and will continue to promote.

Child care is a significant part of this picture. Lack of affordable, accessible child care is creating a crisis in British Columbia, keeping mothers out of the workforce long after they want and need to return to work. The high cost of child care means that a working parent often spends as much as a third of their income on child care. In many areas of British Columbia now, child care has
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escalated to the point where it’s equal to or more than a mortgage. How can there be a jobs plan that helps women create economic equity in their life without an affordable child care plan?

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Even as the government tries to play catch-up after years of ignoring this problem, women are being left behind. Extreme inequality is bad for everyone. Eliminating the gender gap would be a powerful step towards creating a more fair and equitable society.

J. Thornthwaite: As one of two women representing the North Shore in the Legislature, it gives me great pleasure to rise in the House today to speak on women’s economic equity.

I’m very proud to share a place in this House with some amazing women from across the province like the member for Cariboo-Chilcotin, who twice served as the mayor of the district of 100 Mile; or the member for Nelson-Creston, who was the youngest person ever elected to Nelson city council; or the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill, who served on the Greater Victoria school board for more than a decade and was the Leader of the Opposition for seven years; or our very own Premier, who is now the longest-serving female Premier in the country in Canadian history. What an inspiration to my daughters and everybody else’s daughters.

It is a privilege and an honour to serve with these amazing, accomplished women from both sides of the House. I truly believe we have proven that society benefits greatly when more women are serving in government. In fact, an article published in Time magazine last November detailed a study which found that countries with increased female representation in government make greater strides in education and labour-force participation.

Canadian women are more likely than our male counterparts to live longer, earn a high school diploma and enroll in a post-secondary institution, so it is in everyone’s best interests that we invest in and support social and economic gender equality.

Our government supports building a stronger economy that provides more diverse opportunities for women, who are a critical component to developing and maintaining a highly skilled workplace. Women bring fresh perspectives, new ideas and broader experience to the workplace, all of which benefit our diversified and growing economy.

For a great example of this, one need only look to the film industry. Yes, as you know, I’m always talking about the film industry. This past weekend the industry celebrated the 11th Annual Vancouver International Women in Film Festival. The event took place at the Vancity Theatre and coincided with International Women’s Day to recognize and promote films made by women from around the world.

I’m very happy to say that not only was the festival a big success, but it also featured the premieres of two films from Canadian filmmakers. Siobhan Devine’s The Birdwatcher was shot on location around the Lower Mainland and tells the story of Saffron, a social worker and single mom who finds out she’s dying of cancer. FSM, from Vancouver director Melanie Jones, tells the story of an underground DJ looking for a meaningful connection in today’s technology-driven world.

These two projects bring a unique female perspective to film, telling real stories that contradict the oft-heard refrain that film is devoid of anything other than superhero movies and raunchy comedies. These female filmmakers are proof that women play a key part not just in our booming film sector but across our entire economy.

Nearly 1.1 million women are working in B.C. today — the highest number in our province’s history. Over the last seven years, the number of self-employed women has risen by more than 7 percent, while the number of women welder apprentices has increased by 98 percent.

Economic equity isn’t just about supporting women in the workplace. It is also about providing programs that help with the cost of living and allow women to take advantage of greater opportunities — programs like the single-parent employment initiative, which helps single moms and dads cover the cost of child care while they train for a job, or the $15 million we’re investing since November 2014 to support the creation of more than 2,400 new child care spaces across the province.

Women have a vital role to play in the many sectors of our economy, and our government prides itself on providing programs and services that level the playing field so that we all have equal access to opportunities that create wealth, grow the economy and raise the quality of life for everyone.

K. Conroy: I’m pleased to rise to speak to this motion: “Be it resolved that this House call on the government to develop a plan for women’s economic equity.”

As my colleague for Esquimalt–Royal Roads has summarized, there are a number of issues women face when trying to achieve economic equity in B.C. I want to talk about how acquiring a trade can help women to achieve economic equity but also what barriers women face when trying to achieve that goal.

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In B.C., there are incentives to get women interested in the trades — the WITT program, for instance, women in trades and technology, a program originally started in the ’90s, cancelled by the Liberals but then reintroduced in 2008. WITT, along with other programs, is provided in post-secondary institutions in B.C. — either at an introductory level, so women can try a variety of trades and see if one fits, or at a direct-entry level into the trade of their choice.

Since 2008, more than 2,000 women have benefited from these programs. The problem in B.C., though, is
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that even though we have women who enter the trades, we need to ensure there are supports in place to complete the trades training and education and to guarantee they become journey-level tradespersons in their chosen trade. There is only a 3 to 4 percent participation rate in construction trades — that is, 3 to 4 percent of workers are women. For some trades, it’s lower; for some, it’s higher. The government’s numbers can look higher, as they include culinary trades and others with typically higher female participation.

Although creating incentives is working to get women into the trades, it’s not just about that. We need to get those supports in place once a woman has started on the trades path. Who’s going to employ her, mentor her? What kind of experience is she going to have? How do they learn and develop leadership skills? That part is missing from the government’s programs. It has become obvious that you can’t just say, “Come on and get a trade,” without the required support on the journey to finish. Women talk about the barriers. They also talk about the need for legislated and regulated support from government.

A good example of regulations brought in by progressive governments in the past can be used as a framework to provide the supports women need to complete their trades and stay in the workforce. In the ’90s, when the Columbia Basin Trust came into being and took over responsibility for decision-making and construction in relation to some of the power projects in the Columbia Basin, it inherited and was part of the renegotiation of a collective agreement with the building trades’ Allied Hydro Council, B.C. Hydro and the Columbia Power Corp.

Contract clauses in that original agreement, negotiated as part of this province’s employment equity commitment to the social and economic components of the former Build BC Act, were also used for the collective agreement guiding the Island Highway construction project in the ’90s. There were some issues with the Island Highway process, so an equity integration committee was formed to examine the difficulties, suggest solutions, request effective data, monitor and applaud successes.

The committee was made up of representation from WITT; the aboriginal contractors’ representatives; the Nanaimo multicultural society; the ministries of Women’s Equality, Social Services, and Employment and Investment; several building trade unions; and the contractor.

This committee worked for months to ensure effective and accurate reporting and good working relationships between the parties, and enabled effective special measures to be put in place to achieve their goals. At its prime, the Island Highway achieved overall equity targets of 18.9 percent, with approximately half of that women and half aboriginal men.

The trust and cooperation with the Columbia Power Corp worked to implement an equity strategy as well. Over the 20 years of the projects, there has been a significant effort to ensure employment equity on all three projects completed to date: Arrow Lakes, Brilliant and Waneta. With each project, they got better. Cooperation with building trades, as well as the contractors, ensured success. They average an 8 percent equity for women — sometimes up to 12 or 14 percent on certain jobs.

They implemented a program at Selkirk College where women could go and try out jobs specific to the trades at the projects, and they provided support to the women who ended up working on the projects, ensuring there were policies in place as far as safety, cultural awareness and anti-harassment training.

Gabby Hurle, a young local woman, was able to start her training as a carpenter, following in her dad’s footsteps, and become a Red Seal journey-level tradesperson by the end of the Waneta project. Another local woman, a mother of three kids, became a crane operator, as well as operating some other heavy-duty equipment, and supported her family for the four years of the project.

These are good union jobs that ensure family-supporting wages; benefits, including pensions and health; and good working conditions — all that women need to ensure they have employment equity. It’s a huge success that should be duplicated on any job a government is involved in, in B.C. Hopefully, regulations are put in place so that any jobs in B.C. have employment equity so that women in this province can also have employment equity.

D. Barnett: On behalf of the constituents of Cariboo-Chilcotin, I’m honoured to contribute my observations to the motion from the member for Esquimalt–Royal Roads. Over the next decade, we forecast more than one million job openings in B.C., 44 percent of which are expected to be trades or technical occupations. Our government is committed to building an economy that provides opportunities for women, because diversity is critical to developing a highly skilled workforce.

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Employment levels for women in B.C. are at a near-record level, and women are earning more money today than at any time in our province’s history. Today nearly 1.1 million women are working in B.C. — also the most in B.C. history. In 2015, women accounted for more than 38 percent of self-employed people in British Columbia, and that is above the national average of 36.9 percent. Between 2008 and 2015, the number of women who were self-employed rose by more than 7 percent in British Columbia.

To create an environment that is even more beneficial to B.C. women, our government created the Premier’s Women’s Economic Council to give advice to government on how to foster more business opportunities for women. The 15 members of the Women’s Economic Council come from various regions and industries. Their input and in-
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sight into how we can encourage women’s participation in B.C.’s economy is invaluable. We will continue working with them to ensure women have the opportunities to succeed.

Our government is leading by example. Nine of our 21 provincial cabinet positions are held by women, including our Premier. Our Lieutenant-Governor and Speaker of the Legislature are also distinguished women. On all sides of this chamber, 32 of the 85 members are women — the highest proportion in Canada. All of them were successful, in their own right, before joining the Legislature and are an inspiration to girls and young women across British Columbia and in their home communities.

Looking across, the member for Surrey–Green Timbers served in a number of cabinet positions and as government caucus chair. She is also a founding member of the Minerva Foundation for B.C. Women, has been working with the National Democratic Institute in Washington, D.C. since 2000 and is past executive director of the Surrey Aboriginal Society.

The member for Vancouver-Kensington is the first B.C. MLA of Filipino heritage and was a transit operator for ten years.

The member for Burnaby-Lougheed studied cell biology and genetics and holds a medical doctorate degree. She also taught at Vancouver Community College and BCIT, where she also served as the head of the health care management department.

The Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation was an ambassador for ActNow B.C. and the Rick Hansen Foundation and has been a motivational speaker and community advocate for persons with disabilities and children with special needs.

She is the only Canadian female athlete to be a Paralympic champion in two separate summer sports: basketball and athletics. She won gold medals in Sydney in 2000, Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. Also in 2012, she was presented with the first key to the city of Parksville and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

The member for Boundary-Similkameen was the mayor of Oliver from 1997 to 2005, owned three businesses in Oliver, served on B.C.’s Small Business Roundtable and is the past chair of the provincial board of Community Futures.

Finally, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General was previously minister responsible for liquor and for emergency management B.C. She served as a Vancouver city councillor from 2005 to 2011 and as a Vancouver park board commissioner from 2002 to 2005. She holds a law degree from UBC and was a Crown counsel and is a former math teacher.

I consider it a privilege to serve with these and all of our women of distinction in the B.C. Legislature. Collectively, we have shattered a lot of barriers, erased many old myths and misconceptions and blazed many a trail in our own life journeys. These are accomplishments we can all be proud of.

M. Elmore: I’m very pleased to rise and speak to the motion moved by the MLA for Esquimalt–Royal Roads: “Be it resolved that this House call on the government to develop a plan for women’s economic equity.”

[1125]

When I’m prefacing my remarks and considering the context of women in British Columbia, I’d like to draw a contrast from the comments that we just heard from the member for Cariboo-Chilcotin. I appreciate her comments. The focus I want to discuss is, really, looking at the experience of the vast number of women in British Columbia, in particular, women of indigenous and also those who come from racialized backgrounds. This is where we see the contrast.

While we’ve noted that, in terms of marking the opportunities of elected officials…. I think we need to take into account the vast numbers and the majority of the experience of women here in British Columbia. We’ve heard about the recent report issued by Oxfam and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Making Women Count — unpaid, unequal and undervalued, the new report on women’s work and wages. It looks at how women in Canada and around the world are affected by rising inequality, including the burden of unpaid work, the undervaluing of work in predominantly female fields and the unspoken social norms that see men offered wages and rates of promotion over women.

When we look at the experience of women in British Columbia, there’s a quote from Brittany Lambert, the policy advisor for Oxfam-Canada that “women make up some of the poorest and lowest-paid workers in the global economy” — including British Columbia: “Women are doing more and more work to grow our…economies without seeing equal benefits.”

The story in British Columbia is that women are being left behind, and we see that women are bearing the burden of unpaid work. The reality is that not only are women being left behind in British Columbia as a result — a culmination — of the successive policies we’ve seen brought forward by the B.C. Liberal government, but in addition, to add insult to injury, we see the wage gap growing larger. It’s worse for marginalized women, including indigenous and racialized women.

We see the reality — what is the experience of racialized and indigenous women. We see racialized women earn less than racialized men, and up to 32 percent less than non-racialized men. We see that immigrant women earn less than immigrant men and even less than non-immigrant men.

The wage gap increases for indigenous, racialized and immigrant women with university degrees. Indigenous women with a university degree earn 24 percent less than aboriginal men with a university degree and a third less
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than non-aboriginal men with a university degree.

In British Columbia, we’ve seen the reality of this government, the B.C. Liberals, bringing the great shame to our province of the distinction that British Columbia holds the record for the firing of the most women workers in Canada — 9,000 women, most of them racialized workers — to the great shame of our province and, indeed, with the greatest impact to these communities. That is the record of the B.C. Liberals.

When we look at opportunities for women workers from the indigenous and racialized communities, we see those opportunities closing, with the cut of funding to English language programs, the cut of funding to adult education programs, really bringing additional barriers to women from these communities seeking to upgrade their skills and advance their efforts.

When we look at the experience of women doing care work in our province, particularly caregivers, we see that they are the most precarious of workers, with temporary status as temporary foreign workers in our province, and a real lack of oversight in our province to ensure that these workers — that their rights are protected and that employment standards are enforced.

We need to see action to ensure that these wage gaps are closed, that opportunities are afforded to indigenous and racialized women, that these women are not continuing to be left behind by this government. We need to ensure that opportunities are in place, that funding is restored for English-language-learning classes, that employment standards are upheld and that serious steps are taken to ensure that all women move forward — and not a certain select few who really benefit from selective policies of this government. We need dramatic change.

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G. Kyllo: As a father of four daughters, with four granddaughters and a fifth granddaughter due in May, it’s my pleasure to stand and speak on behalf of the need to support women in our economy.

It’s indeed a pleasure to add my voice to this motion on achieving economic equity for women. When we speak of opportunities, in British Columbia we have some of the best opportunities in all of Canada, with 14,000 new positions created just last month alone.

Women are central to our province’s future and our government’s ongoing plan for building an ever-stronger economy. Our government is committed to helping to improve opportunities for women by increasing funding for child care, introducing full-day kindergarten and ensuring that programs, like women-in-trades training, are there to help support women who are considering a career in the skilled trades.

Successful women in the province are blazing a trail for young women who aspire to reach their full potential in their chosen walk of life. I can think of Carole Taylor, our former Finance Minister, who is now a special adviser to the Premier, and Jessica McDonald, CEO of B.C. Hydro and former head of the B.C. Public Service.

Looking around this chamber, I see so many remarkable women who are role models for young women and girls in their communities. I’ll start with Madame Speaker — with a volunteer record in her community of Richmond that shows a lifelong commitment to public service that has shaped her distinguished record in government as MLA for Richmond East since 1991. She is the recipient of three commemorative medals: a 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

As well, we have the new member for Coquitlam–Burke Mountain, who received honours at Douglas College in behaviour intervention and classroom and community support after her child was diagnosed with autism. Prior to being elected, she was the executive director of the Autism Support Network.

We also have the member for Delta South, who was the first independent elected to the B.C. Legislature in more than 60 years. Her re-election as an independent is a first in modern B.C. political history. She also served five terms as a councillor in the municipality of Delta.

The member for Esquimalt–Royal Roads served on Esquimalt city council for three terms and created and chaired the capital regional district arts committee, worked in the communications industry for more than a decade and ran a consulting firm that worked with non-profits and First Nations from 2001 to 2005.

Also, the member for New Westminster previously served as national president for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Canada’s largest union, and was for many years the only woman to lead a national union in all of Canada.

The member for North Vancouver–Seymour had a 22-year career in health care, which included being a registered dietitian and nutritionist and teaching nutrition at UBC. She also served as a school trustee on the North Vancouver school board.

The Minister of International Trade and Minister Responsible for Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism serves as the president and CEO of Mainstream Broadcasting Corporation. It launched B.C.’s first-ever live daily news programs in Cantonese, Mandarin and Punjabi. In 2010, she was named one of B.C.’s Top 100 Influential Women by the Vancouver Sun and received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee award in 2013, based on her extensive community service work.

Nine of our province’s 21 cabinet ministers are women, including our Premier, and women represent almost 38 percent of our MLAs, the highest proportion in all of Canada.

Our government has created the Premier’s Women’s Economic Council to offer advice to government on how to expand women’s business opportunities in key sectors
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of our economy. The council is comprised of 15 members from various regions and industries, including business leaders from B.C.’s key economic sectors. Their input and insight into how we can encourage women’s participation in B.C.’s economy is invaluable, and we will continue working with them to ensure that women have the opportunities to succeed.

Women bring fresh perspectives, new ideas and broader experiences, all of which benefit our diverse, strong and growing economy. Yes, there is work still to be done, but we have made great strides in the fight for economic equity for women.

L. Popham: It’s a pleasure to rise and join this debate calling on the government, in a motion, to develop a plan for economic equity, encouraging and supporting women in the workforce around equity and moving more women into the workforce.

When you look around the world and look at the contributions that women make — I’m especially going to focus on the food and agriculture sector — you see the United Nations reporting out that more than 50 percent of the food grown worldwide is produced by women and more than 50 percent of women being involved in the food industry. That would be including jobs like food processing and women in the restaurant industry.

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It also accounts for women who are active in the food industry in areas where it actually doesn’t get measured. It goes unnoticed by statistics, especially economic statistics. Those are women who are participating in producing food for their own households and supporting men in the workforce. Those sorts of statistics don’t actually get measured, but they are a huge contribution to our economic numbers worldwide.

When you look at the way that women are producing food around the world, you see that there’s a backbone of women but the pay that’s included in those jobs is not equal. In fact, you can look at the amount of jobs that are going to be needed in North America over the next decade in the food industry. We see staggering numbers of people that we want to attract into the food industry.

Just in Canada alone, we’re going to need over 200,000 additional employees in the Alberta and B.C. area in the food industry. What we want to do is make sure that women have just as much opportunity as men at those jobs and that the rate of pay is equal in those positions.

As far as gender-balanced leadership jobs go, when you look at corporations and industry that involve women in their management teams, you see that the impact overall on their business is notably higher. Just as far as the amount of contribution…. I’ve got a statistic here from the Canada Labour Force Survey. It’s quite interesting and quite staggering.

A study that was published found that gender diversity accounted for a difference of $599 million, on average, in sales revenue in businesses that bring women in on their management teams. The lowest rates of gender diversity had an average sales revenue of $45 million, compared to $640 million for businesses with the most gender diversity and equity. So you can see that women’s contributions in business are significant.

Now, when we want to move people into certain areas, we need to support them. One of the ways to support women in the employment industry in B.C., is to have supports in place that support them so they can enter it, like a child care plan in B.C.

One of the interesting things about women in the food industry is that we’ve always been in the food industry, but we haven’t been recognized and we haven’t had the top positions. In the 1970s, as we saw significant social upheaval and the women’s rights groups taking hold, we saw that we really wanted to move women into the professional level of jobs.

What we saw in the restaurant industry is that it was actually quite significantly run by men. One of the groups in North America that started up in the 1970s was a group called Les Dames d’Escoffier. Les Dames d’Escoffier specifically looked at women in the restaurant industry, food industry — any sort of food production — supported them in scholarships and moved them into that industry, into the top chef positions. In B.C., we have a local chapter called Les Dames d’Escoffier B.C. chapter, and every year money is raised to give out scholarships. I’m happy to be part of that organisation.

Last year alone, we saw many scholarships given out to young women and women who are changing careers so that they were able to go on and improve their skill levels in the food production industry. We see that they are getting scholarships and going into the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. They’re becoming….

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Member.

D. Bing: I’m pleased today to rise and speak on behalf of my constituents of Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows on the motion on women’s economic equity.

Last week we celebrated International Women’s Day and the economic, political and social achievement of women in our province, our country and around the world. We heard from a number of women in this Legislature about how far we’ve come and that we still have further to go.

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I want to join my colleagues in highlighting some of the accomplishments of female MLAs in our own Legislature. There are a number of women that served as city councillors, including the members for Coquitlam-Maillardville, Port Moody–Coquitlam and North Coast. As a lover of kayaking, I’m pleased to see the member for North Coast is an NCCP level 1 kayaking instructor.

The member for North Vancouver–Lonsdale was the first person of Japanese ancestry to be elected to the
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B.C. Legislature. As well, the member has been extensively involved in her community, serving on the boards of Capilano College, North Shore Credit Union and Vancouver Coastal Health.

Our female MLAs have been involved in diverse committees and organizations prior to being elected and are heavily involved in their communities. For example, the member for Saanich South has been involved in many agriculture organizations — a true passion of hers.

The member for Vancouver-Langara has been past chair of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, B.C.-Yukon, and has served on the boards of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance and the B.C. Women’s Hospital Foundation. Not to mention, the member was head of nuclear medicine at St. Paul’s Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital and Abbotsford Regional Hospital and cancer clinic.

I’m proud to work alongside all of our accomplished female MLAs. We are seeing more women not just in politics but also in other areas that used to be dominated by men. These professions include doctors, dentists, lawyers, engineering and policing, just to name a few. It is a sign of social progress as more and more women take up these positions, and while it is reported that women still earn less than men, we continue to see progress.

While there’s still more to do, this government is leading by example. B.C. has the highest number of elected women in any Canadian legislature at 38 percent. This is 32 of our 85 members. Our Premier — I am proud to say now Canada’s longest-serving female Premier — our Lieutenant-Governor and our Speaker of the Legislature are all women, as well as our caucus chair. As well, we will soon have a female head of the B.C. Public Service. Forty-eight percent of our deputy ministers and associate deputy ministers are women, and women represent 41 percent of approximately 2,000 board appointments that government makes.

Female entrepreneurs and professionals play a key part in the strength of B.C.’s economy and are inspirations to our younger generation.

I want to highlight a program of ours that greatly benefits women’s equity, and that is the single-parent employment initiative. While this program assists all single parents, it is a significant support for helping single mothers transition into the workplace and contributes to improving women’s economic equity. Through this program, eligible single parents can access approved training programs that last up to 12 months for in-demand jobs or paid work experience placements. They will be able to stay on income assistance while they train for their new job.

As well, government will cover child care costs during their training for up to one year and transit costs to and from school. By offering these supports, we are giving single parents and single mothers the opportunity to take advantage of our growing economy.

We truly do live in a world that our grandmothers wouldn’t believe was possible. Things have changed, and they will continue to change.

J. Wickens: I’m happy to stand in the House today to speak to the motion calling on the government to develop a plan for women’s economic equity. But I have to pause for a moment to acknowledge some of the comments by members opposite — simply listing off the resumés for female MLAs in this House. I think that it’s pretty much missed the point of this motion altogether.

We have a tendency as human beings to make comparisons, or sometimes in our lives we are told by others that we should make comparisons. As a parent and an advocate, I cannot tell you how many times I have sat at a table across from a professional making downward comparisons about my situation. There is the explicit intent of trying to make someone lower their standards when this is done.

It is so important for us to understand that people in positions of power try to make others feel that because things aren’t as bad as they could be, we should feel lucky and grateful, even if our circumstances are not right or are unfair or unjust.

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I have been told my entire life that when it comes to gender equality, I have nothing to complain about. I have been told: “Look how bad it is elsewhere.” The thing is that there is a ring of truth to this. Just by being a white woman born in Canada, I am one of the luckiest women in the world, and I know this. But when I look at my daughter and I look at my son, what I know is that I have to continue to stand up for their right, for their human right, to live equally.

Where have I seen the greatest impact that gender has on economic equity in my life? I would say that it has to do with caregiving and work in the field of the non-profit and community support sector. We already know that if we want to develop a serious poverty reduction plan, we need to look to have serious commitments to child care. We know that this affects women the most.

Above and beyond this, it is our social policies around children, disability and education that are negatively affecting the economic well-being of women and children in this province. And the consistent inaction that this government has is making things much worse.

What I saw very often in my work in the field of autism and disability is that most often it was women who shouldered the work for caring for their child living with a disability. Adding to this, most jobs in the community support sector are jobs had by women, and the wages in this sector are incredibly low. Women are already forced to make decisions about employment based on child care, but when you add to this a child with needs, things get even more challenging.

Imagine not being able to hold a job because you don’t know when the school is going to call you to pick up
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your child because they don’t have adequate supports. Imagine choosing between housing and much-needed therapy for your child. Imagine being forced not to work at all because there is no adequate support for your child — period.

I have met many mothers — some working full-time, some forced to care for their children full-time — who live in extreme states of stress. These tolls and this extreme level of inequality, because of the social policies in place by this B.C. Liberal government, have incredibly negative consequences on our society.

I can’t help but go back to the budget speech, where the government talked about fire prevention and the importance of investing in preventive measures rather than reactive measures. When we look at what many women and children are going through in B.C., what we can be sure of is that many of our policies and practices are not at all preventative.

Many mothers in B.C. right now are caring for their children with needs. They are in extreme distress themselves. I think about Angie Robinson and her son often — a mom who killed herself and her son because of chronic poverty, lack of support and resources and unmanageable stress. We need a government and we need leaders that will start to stand up for women and children. Our economy will actually depend on it.

L. Reimer: It’s a pleasure to take part in this morning’s debate on women’s economic equity. As a woman who has served on a city council and now in our provincial Legislature, I can relate to the types of artificial barriers that all women encounter when they decide to lets their names stand for public office.

There are many fine examples of women here in this chamber who have accomplished much before arriving at the Legislature and are, indeed, fully behind women in trades, as an example, who are trying to move their lives forward.

For example, the hon. member for Langley has represented her constituents for over a decade. Prior to serving as an MLA, she also served as a trustee and chair of the Surrey school board before moving on to being the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, Minister of Children and Family Development and Responsible for Child Care and the Minister of Healthy Living and Sport.

How about the hon. member for Kootenay West? She’s a trail-blazer and is one of B.C.’s first female power engineers. The member for Kootenay West has also served as an early childhood educator, administrator, college instructor and as a small business person who, with her husband, runs a successful ranch in Pass Creek, breeding prizewinning polled Hereford cattle.

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Another woman of distinction is the hon. member for Fraser-Nicola. She is a three-term Ashcroft city councillor and has served as a school board member for 17 years. The member for Fraser-Nicola has a background in small business and served as the facilitator for B.C. healthy communities’ Interior region and the coordinator for Community Futures, which plays a significant role in entrepreneurial and community development. The member for Fraser-Nicola currently serves as our caucus chair.

Another example of a true trail-blazer is the hon. member for Prince George–Valemount. Prior to coming to the Legislature, she served three terms on the Prince George school district. She’s the first woman to hold the position of Attorney General in the history of British Columbia and has served in numerous other cabinet positions since 2001. The member for Prince George–Valemount is a recipient of the B.C. Interior, North and Yukon Woman of Distinction Award for her work in public education.

You could say the current Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training has a true passion for encouraging women to explore non-traditional occupations. As a matter of fact, the government announced only last Friday a $1.8 million grant for the women-in-trades training initiative through the Industry Training Authority. Its purpose is to support women and help them get the skills and training they need to start a career in the trades.

Right now there are approximately 4,200 registered women apprentices in the province across 72 different trades. While there are more and more women pursuing trades careers, the percentage of male journeymen is still significantly higher than women. To encourage more women, this program will provide them with introductory trades training, technical training, an overview of various trade occupations as well as job placement support.

In conclusion, I would encourage any woman to pursue her passion, whether it be in the trades or even public office.

[Madame Speaker in the chair.]

K. Corrigan: You know, it’s been interesting listening to a list of accomplished women in this province. But I think if you were a single mom struggling to pay your rent every month, trying to find child care and having it eat up maybe a third of your income every month, getting booted out of apartments because the cost of rentals is going up and up, being absolutely unable ever to purchase a house in many parts of this province….

I think that women — many of whom exist in this province, thousands and thousands of women — would be appalled to hear that we are doing just fine, thank you very much, because of a list of somewhat privileged women who have managed to get elected to this place. We are the privileged few. There are thousands, tens of thousands, of women in this province who are not part of the privileged few because of the policies of this government over the last 15 years.
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Women in British Columbia, the fact is, earn 72 cents compared to $1 for men — 72 cents for every dollar that men make. There is unequal access to work. There is wage disparity. One-third of single mothers lives in poverty. We do not need self-congratulation. We need anti-poverty plans. We need child care in this province.

One of the things that we can do, one of the best routes to economic equity for women, is through education. A plan for women’s economic equity must include improved opportunities for education, and that has simply not been the priority for the B.C. Liberal government.

For the last two years, funding for post–high school education institutions has actually fallen while government has imposed new costs, like MSP premium increases and hydro rate increases, that have hit our colleges and universities just as they have hit the broader population, including those thousands of single mothers. For the next two years, we’ll again, in our post-secondary system, have cuts to services and programs since the very small increase will not even cover the Liberal fee increases and other inflationary costs.

That is four years of cuts to the post-secondary system, a system which is the clearest path to economic prosperity and to equity for individuals and for our province.

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Not only have the B.C. Liberals cut funding to advanced education; tuition fees have doubled. B.C. charges the highest student loan interest rates in Canada. The 2013 BMO student survey says student debt averages $35,000, the highest in Canada.

In addition, thousands of students, primarily women, are being shut out from post-secondary education because this government broke its promise to provide free adult basic education courses. This is in addition to the thousands more that no longer attend post-secondary institutions because this government stopped funding English-language-learning programs — again, primarily women.

Both these programs were pathways out of poverty and inequality for lower-income women and men and immigrants. We should be opening the doors wide to post-secondary education. Instead, we are slamming those doors.

We also know that tech and other jobs now increasingly require a higher level of education. Yet women are falling behind in those areas as well. While more women are going to post-secondary institutions than men, women are not being represented accordingly in the technology sector — again, hurting women. We should be looking forward in the high-tech area. That is the future of our province, yet women are badly unrepresented.

I am pleased to talk about the importance of post-secondary education, but we are failing women with regard to many, many programs in post-secondary. We are failing women when it comes to child care. We are failing women in terms of lifting women out of poverty in this province. I certainly am supportive of greater equity for women, but we are not providing that support now.

K. Corrigan moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. M. Polak moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

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

The House adjourned at 11:57 a.m.

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