2017 Legislative Session: Sixth Session, 40th Parliament
HANSARD

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

official report of

Debates of the Legislative Assembly

(hansard)

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 42, Number 7

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

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017

The House met at 1:34 p.m.

[Madame Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Prayers.

[1335]

Introductions by Members

Hon. C. Clark: Since we introduced the B.C. jobs plan in 2011, British Columbians have created over 202,000 jobs in British Columbia, over 70,000 new jobs in the last year. Those are 202,000 jobs that hard-working British Columbians depend on to look after their families and build the lives they want.

Today it’s my pleasure to introduce two men who represent some of the hardest-working British Columbians of all, the ironworkers. If you drive across a bridge, you can thank an ironworker. If you drop your kids off to a safe school, you can thank an ironworker. If you take your mom or dad to a hospital, you can thank an ironworker. If you turn on your electricity, much of produced by the legacy of dams in our province, you can thank an ironworker.

Joining us today are Darrell LaBoucan, who is the Ironworkers third vice-president, the most senior Ironworker in Canada; and Doug Parton, the business manager for Local 97. I hope that the House and everyone in these buildings will please make sure that Darryl and Doug feel very welcome in their time here.

R. Chouhan: It gives me great pleasure to introduce two of my best friends from the building trades, Bruce Ferguson and Merrick Walsh, members of LIUNA, or Laborers International Union of North America. Please give them a very warm welcome.

I also welcome all my HEU friends.

Hon. R. Coleman: Today we have people from the Canadian Home Builders Association, who are the voice of residential construction in British Columbia, representing more than 1,700 members, including builders and renovators, among other companies that employ people in all regions of B.C. Gordon Bliss, the president; Neil Moody, the chief executive officer; and Ron Rapp, the committee chair, are here today. Would the House please make them welcome.

C. James: There is a guest in the gallery today who is no stranger to this place. I think she’s spent a lot of time, as her second or third home, visiting the Legislature. She is an incredible advocate for people with diverse abilities. She is also an employee at Thrifty Foods. As well, in her spare time, she is a competitive swimmer with the Special Olympics. She has started a new business as a dog walker, so if anyone is looking for their dogs to be walked, I can highly recommend this individual. She is also a very longtime volunteer at the Beacon Hill Park petting zoo. Would the House please make Sheenagh Morrison very welcome.

Hon. S. Anton: I’d like to welcome Cathy Noel of Langford–Juan de Fuca. Cathy is a business owner and entrepreneur. She’s involved in sport, she’s involved in events, and she’s involved in her community. She’s worked through the Commonwealth Games, government and now runs her own event management company.

Cathy is a runner. She has completed the Boston Marathon and is now running in another very interesting competition happening on the ninth of May. Would the House please make Cathy Noel very welcome.

N. Simons: It’s a pleasure to introduce a group of approximately 30 residents and friends of residents of the Sunshine Coast, including nurses and health care workers and people who stand up for the rights of seniors.

It’s nice that you took two ferries to get here today. You’re always welcome here, and I hope the House expresses that.

S. Gibson: It’s my pleasure to introduce four students from Summit Pacific College, a beautiful college in a bucolic area of my riding. The four students’ names are Markus DenBraber and his sister Brianna DenBraber, also Anna Holdsworth and Nicolas Debruyne. With them is Jason Goertzen, who we all know is a key member of Leading Influence Ministries. Will the House please welcome these guests.

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D. Routley: Could the House help me welcome two veterans from my constituency.

The first is Ronald S. Osborne. He was born in London, U.K., and came to Canada in 1956. He later became the zone field manager for a large computer company from Detroit. Mr. Osborne is a World War II veteran who suffered three spinal fractures from an action in the Greek Islands in 1945. He considers himself — and I consider him as well — a walking miracle, thanks in part to a Canadian doctor in Duncan and doctors of Veterans Affairs Canada.

Mr. Osborne’s mother, Emily Jay, was secretary of the local Labour Party in London. She would take young Ron to political meetings when he was 11 or 12 years old, and he remembers marches from the Thames Embankment to the Houses of Parliament. In Hyde Park in 1939, he was introduced to some of the great socialist writers of the day. Ron says B.C. is a wonderful place to live, one of the very best places in the world, and he knows about the world. Help me welcome Ron S. Osborne.
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Madame Speaker, with your indulgence, I’d also like to introduce John Pimlott. John served in the Grenadier Guards in England, Malta, the Suez Canal and Cyprus. He came to Canada in January 1968, at which time he joined the Steelworkers and the NDP. He was proud to be a member of the party that elected Ed Schreyer to government in 1969 in Manitoba. He worked for Manitoba Hydro and raised four beautiful children. He came to the Island in 1996.

He is currently active with the Cowichan Valley Arts and Cultural Society and the Royal Canadian Legion and is a proud 48-year member of the NDP. Now, John is an actor. John is a handsome, dashing gentleman who has no trouble attracting ladies in Chemainus, and he’s well known for having played a starring role in a production of The Full Monty. Please help me welcome my friend and my sign crew leader, John Pimlott.

Hon. T. Lake: The member for Powell River–Sunshine Coast introduced some nurses that are visiting with us today. I got to meet some of them in the legislative dining room and to have a great conversation.

They’re also joined by the vice-president of the B.C. Nurses Union, Christine Sorensen. I would like to introduce Christine to the House. Christine is a Kamloopsian that has moved on from our fair city. She’s a great example of leadership and a great working relationship. Would the House please make Christine very welcome today.

G. Holman: I’m very pleased to introduce today a constituent of mine, Marko Kardum, a local farmer in Central Saanich who gained some notoriety recently by coming to the aid of neighbours to clear their roads during a heavy snowfall with his newly acquired Zamboni machine. I know that most of us in this House probably own a Zamboni, but not many of us have volunteered to help out our road crews. Mr. Kardum represents the spirit of community volunteerism in the most Canadian of ways possible. Could we all give him a warm welcome to this House.

Hon. C. Oakes: We all know the importance that small businesses play across the province in all of our communities. I’m delighted to have members of the Small Business Roundtable here today.

We have Cybele Negris, CEO and co-founder of Webnames, with her fantastic daughter Chantele, who is ten years old and loves math and science. We’re delighted to have her here today. Ingrid Hope, from Trail and Nelson, is owner and president of Hall Printing. Mark Startup, from Vancouver, is the vice-president of the Retail Council of Canada. Val Litwin, from Vancouver, is president and CEO of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce. M.J. Whitemarsh, from Burnaby, is CEO of Whitemarsh Enterprises. Angie Barnard, from Nanaimo, is the founder of TripTide Canada. Ian Tostenson, from Vancouver, is president and CEO of the Restaurant and Food Services of British Columbia.

[1345]

As well, joining us today are our hard-working staff from the small business and regulatory reform branch. We have Christine Little, Francois Bertrand, Roseanne Sovka, Andrew Shaw, Karina Kersten, Dana Hubackova and Rachel Perkins.

Would the House please help make them welcome.

J. Rice: I have a constituent and a friend in the House today. Dallas Allison is the manager of the Prince Rupert Search and Rescue and also involved with our marine search and rescue, and he is a Canadian Ranger. He’s the father of a son, Austin. Dallas is in Victoria refining his SAR skills and studying to be a B.C. paramedic. Would the House please make him feel welcome.

Hon. M. de Jong: Like all members, I have the advantage of being served by some very capable and talented staff. One such individual, Zoe Keirstead, is today proudly squiring around the precincts her parents, Jan Keirstead and Todd Tait. They have travelled here from snowbound New Brunswick, only to arrive in what, momentarily, was snowbound Victoria. But I know that they are proud — and they should be — of the work that Zoe does. I also know that all members will want to make our visitors from the Maritimes feel very welcome here.

N. Simons: I thank the Minister of Health for introducing Christine Sorensen. In addition to Christine, we have other members of the labour movement. We have Victor Elkins of the HEU here. I’d like the House to please make him welcome.

Also, it’s my pleasure in particular to introduce Ray Haynes and his wife, Vivian. Ray is the former president of the B.C. Federation of Labour. A few years ago Rod Mickleburgh wrote about him: “Happy at Last.” It was about the first time he was ever arrested.

“Despite his active involvement in the trenches of numerous wildcat strikes and seven years at the helm of the Federation of Labour, he’d never been arrested. And that gnawed at him, until now. Militant after all these years, he stood on the railway track passing through White Rock and briefly stopped a coal train headed to Roberts Bank. Along with 12 other protesters, he was arrested.

“‘It’s off my bucket list,’ a smiling Mr. Haynes said of his arrest. The experience didn’t come easily. He travelled the day before from his Sunshine Coast home to the anti–fossil fuel protest, arrived at the scene at 5 a.m. and waited throughout the day until a coal train finally showed up at 6 p.m.

“By then, the feisty trade unionist could barely move. His legs were essentially frozen stiff. ‘I was in bad shape,’ he recalled. ‘I couldn’t get into the paddy wagon. They had to lift me up.’ He was booked, photographed and fined $115. The cause was worth it, according to Mr. Haynes.”

It’s that kind of spirit that makes him such a leader in our community. I’d like to particularly thank him for his presence here today.
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J. Thornthwaite: March is Nutrition Month. The theme this month is “Take the fight out of food!” It’s also Dietitians Day on March 15, and we have a lot of dietitians here.

I’d like to introduce the executive director of the Dietitians of Canada, Sonya Kupka. She’s brought a bunch of UBC dietetic students with her: Timothy Lau, Jessica Tsai, Carla Obando, Shadi Balanji, May Hasegawa, Britney Lentz, Grace Tan, Betty Sung, Mary Cao, Carla Centola, Alexa Tucker, Hannah Zmudzinski and May Ho. Can the House please make them welcome.

B. Ralston: On behalf of the member for Surrey–Green Timbers and myself, I’d like to introduce Debra Yearly to the House. She’s a longtime Surrey resident and a member of the BCGEU. She takes a keen interest in politics and is very much looking forward to the next election. Will the House please make her welcome.

L. Reimer: It’s my great pleasure to introduce my constituent from Anmore today. Mr. Morgan Weverink is here. Morgan has been a great help to me in my position as MLA and now, moving forward towards May 9. Would the House please make him very welcome.

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J. Yap: I have two constituents in the gallery. Jimmy Yau and Venus Yau are here to join us and also be present for a statement I’ll be making during private members’ statements. With them are mutual friends Nicky Li, Po-Wah Ng and Siu-Wan Ng. Would the House please give a warm welcome to these guests.

G. Kyllo: We’re joined in the House today by a good friend of mine and, I know, of many members here, M.J. Whitemarsh. M.J. and her husband have a small consulting company on government relations. M.J. also sits on the Industry Training Authority and the Small Business Roundtable and is also a director for Island Health. M.J. is an amazing person with a great personality and just makes all of us, I think, feel better about ourselves when we’re in her presence. Would the House please welcome M.J. Whitemarsh.

D. McRae: I have a plethora…. No, I have a cornucopia of young B.C. Liberals visiting the Legislative Assembly today. They are here because of the organizational skills of Sebastien Zein and Madison Fleischer. They are joined by members and students, who are Chris Ramsden, Daniel Verrier, Shay Bowick, Jennifer Harvie, Zac Mndebele, Aliasha Pennie, Petra Grundman, Neil Parkinson-Dow, Andrew Liang, Felix Soheili, Morgan Weverink and Emmett Mark. Would the House please welcome this incredibly well-dressed and passionate throng of young politicians.

Introduction and
First Reading of Bills

BILL M229 — LOBBYIST REGISTRY
REFORM ACT, 2017

L. Krog presented a bill intituled Lobbyist Registry Reform Act, 2017.

L. Krog: I have two bills to introduce. Firstly, I move introduction of the Lobbyist Registry Reform Act for first reading.

Motion approved.

L. Krog: I am pleased to reintroduce this bill to amend the Lobbyists Registration Act to improve openness and transparency. This bill creates an outright ban on public organizations using public funds to lobby the government. It creates a duty for the government to directly engage with the needs of the public bodies — allowing public money to be spent on British Columbians, not on lobbying.

This bill also calls for a cooling-off period for former public officials and office holders and their ministerial staff before they can start lobbying, establishing that 24 months must pass before public office holders can start lobbying their former colleagues. Having this 24-month period limits the opportunity for the former public office holder to unfairly benefit from their position.

This bill reflects recommendations made by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner in her 2013 report by making the nature of the lobby more transparent and requiring that information be included in filed returns. This bill would also ensure that all interested parties are known to the public and that the Lobbyists Registration Act is reviewed every five years.

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

Bill M229, Lobbyist Registry Reform Act, 2017, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

BILL M230 — ANTI-SLAPP ACT, 2017

L. Krog presented a bill intituled Anti-SLAPP, 2017.

L. Krog: I move introduction of the Anti-SLAPP Act for first reading.

Motion approved.

L. Krog: I’m very pleased to reintroduce the Anti-SLAPP Act. SLAPP is an acronym which stands for
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strategic lawsuits against public participation. British Columbians have a strong tradition, represented by one of our guests here today, of democracy and expressing themselves regarding matters of public interest.

Sometimes this public expression is inconvenient and problematic for companies and governments. SLAPP suits are used to exert undue influence and to try to shut down that expression or intimidate the public. SLAPPs are often baseless lawsuits which target organizations and individuals purely to force them to waste resources and time to defend themselves from these attacks and thus constrain their continued active public participation. It’s quite literally the cliché “one law for the rich, and one law for the poor.”

This bill, the Anti-SLAPP Act, would protect British Columbians from these lawsuits of questionable merit. This act protects peaceful protesters exercising their right to associate and express their opinion. Promoting the freedom of the public to participate in matters of public interest should be one of the main goals of government, as it is the foundation of a working democracy.

I’m pleased to move that this be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting after today.

Bill M230, Anti-SLAPP Act, 2017, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

[1355]

BILL M231 — LOCAL GOVERNMENT
AMENDMENT ACT, 2017

A. Weaver presented a bill intituled Local Government Amendment Act, 2017.

A. Weaver: I move that a bill intituled the Local Government Amendment Act, 2017, of which notice has been given in my name, be introduced and read a first time now.

Motion approved.

A. Weaver: I’m pleased to be reintroducing a bill intituled the Local Government Amendment Act. It’s absurd that in British Columbia today, a municipality exists that has no houses, no infrastructure and no people. The Jumbo Glacier Resort is designated as a mountain resort municipality, and despite not having any people, it has a salaried, province-supported mayor and two councillors.

This government created the loophole that has allowed this municipality to exist, despite there being no residents. It was created solely for the purpose of a specific pet project that this government wants to proceed. This bill would close this ridiculous loophole and ensure that municipalities in British Columbia actually have people living in them.

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

Bill M231, Local Government Amendment Act, 2017, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

BILL M232 — MOTOR VEHICLE
AMENDMENT ACT, 2017

A. Weaver presented a bill intituled Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, 2017.

A. Weaver: I move that a bill intituled the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, 2017, of which notice has been given, be introduced and read a first time now.

Motion approved.

A. Weaver: This bill will amend the Motor Vehicle Act by prohibiting tampering with emissions control devices in motor vehicles.

This bill adds language to the Motor Vehicle Act to explicitly prohibit the removal of emissions control devices installed by manufacturers and prohibits the operation and sale of a motor vehicle that has had its emissions control device tampered with or removed.

It also increases the fine that can be levied on contraveners to provide a stronger disincentive against tampering. Tampering with emissions control devices in cars and trucks increases air pollution, undermining progress on reducing emissions and resulting in harmful environmental and human health effects.

As the Canadian Trucking Alliance has noted, provincial regulations and enforcement vary widely across Canada. This amendment would bring British Columbia legislation in line with Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act and the Clean Air Act in the United States.

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

Bill 232, Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, 2017, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Statements
(Standing Order 25B)

FME DATA SOFTWARE

M. Hunt: The tech sector is one of the most exciting industries here in B.C., and when you look at innovators like Don Murray and Dale Lutz, it’s not difficult to see why.
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When Don and Dale started Safe Software in the basement of a Surrey residence back in 1993, they were working on a problem with roots right here in B.C. Forest companies and the government wanted to be able to share maps with one another, but the two groups were using different kinds of data, and the sharing process took too much time and effort. As a result, all kinds of useful information was being lost.

Sensing an opportunity, the pair started to develop their flagship product, FME. FME is a piece of software that lets clients take different types of data about the physical world from different sources and combine that information however they want. If that sounds complicated, well, that’s because it is. There are hundreds of applications, file formats and data structures out there, but FME handles them all.

Dale and Don are still based out of Surrey, but they don’t work out of the basement anymore. They have a state-of-the-art headquarters and employ 130 of B.C.’s best and brightest. They do business around the world. Their clients include the U.S. Department of Commerce, Royal Dutch Shell and municipalities across the globe, from the beautiful city of Surrey to the city of Malmö in Sweden.

That’s what entrepreneurship looks like here in the province of B.C., and with that in mind, I hope that the House joins me in recognizing the achievements of the team at Safe Software as they contribute to our growing tech sector.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND
SHELTER IN TRI-CITIES AREA

J. Wickens: Housing and affordability is a major challenge in the tri-city area, and a very important Tri-Cities Homelessness and Housing Task Group has been working to address these complex challenges for some time. According to the Rental Housing Index, Coquitlam is the second-worst performer in Canada, and 11 percent of our renters are at risk for homelessness.

[1400]

In December 2015, 3030 Gordon opened on land provided by the city of Coquitlam. The project is run by some absolutely wonderful people at RainCity Housing. It has 30 shelter units and single rooms, 30 transitional suites and an extreme weather response program. They provide support services for the shelter residents, including meals, counselling, life skills development and connections to the community health and wellness services.

Shelter rooms at 3030 Gordon have been full since opening day. Every day the shelter has to turn away people who are living on the streets. Today they are currently experiencing a logjam because there is little to no affordable housing for clients who are available for independent living.

I have had the amazing opportunity to visit 3030 Gordon a number of times. The staff and residents are amazing. The conversations I have had with vulnerable people I will hold in my heart forever, and the humanity is something that can’t really be described with words.

Today I want to thank all of the staff at RainCity Housing for the incredible work that they do. I want to thank the fighters in our community, working tirelessly to find housing for people who need it, and I want to thank the Tri-Cities Homelessness and Housing Task Group for all of their efforts for the people in our community.

125th ANNIVERSARY OF
DISTRICT OF MISSION

M. Dalton: I rise today to talk about an exciting, upcoming milestone in the historic town of Mission. Nestled south of the coastal mountains and north of the Fraser River, this beautiful community of 38,000 people is celebrating its 125th anniversary. With its official June 2 birthday fast approaching, Missionites are encouraged to come out and play a role in making the celebration a success.

To prepare for this momentous occasion, the district has formed a steering committee consisting of volunteers and various community leaders while working hard to make sure that Mission’s 125th birthday will be celebrated with exciting arts, culture and heritage activities as well as meaningful recognition of its great history.

Organizations such as the Mission Historical Society are making efforts to help members of the Mission community look back on the last 125 years. Some of Mission’s memorable moments include the construction of the CPR bridge in 1890, the opening of Mission’s first swimming hole in 1933 and Mission’s renowned Soapbox Derby, which first started in 1946. Madame Speaker, did you know that in 1893, Mission had the first board of trade in B.C. or that Mission infamously had the first train robbery in B.C. by the notorious outlaw, Billy Miner?

Today, in its 125th year, Mission’s culture and economy are incredibly diverse, from tourism and fishing to festivals and farming. But to those who live in Mission, community is what matters the most. This June members from across Mission will get together to take time and fun, celebrating all the things, people and groups that have made Mission a great place to live for the past 125 years.

VOLUNTEERISM IN
CENTRAL SAANICH AND GULF ISLANDS

G. Holman: The spirit of volunteerism is alive and well throughout British Columbia. In Saanich North and the Islands, this community spirit reveals itself in interesting ways. One recent example comes from Central Saanich, where Mr. Marko Kardum, who I just introduced, helped out his neighbours, clearing heavy snowfall. I’m sure
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that the emission controls on the Zamboni meet current standards.

In the Gulf Islands, hundreds of groups support their communities in a number of ways, from environmental stewardship to supports for seniors to community economic development. Even local government services are overseen by volunteers, as they are in many unincorporated, so-called unorganized areas. Believe me; these rural areas are far from unorganized. In fact, the volunteer time, expertise and fundraising capacity of volunteer groups mean that the local taxpayer cost of service delivery can actually be reduced.

The Salt Spring Transportation Commission is a good example of this. This volunteer CRD commission oversees two services, public transit and pathways. Saltspring’s community bus has been expanded several times, and its ridership has more than doubled to well over 100,000 trips per year since I established it, as a CRD director, in 2008. It has the highest ridership of any community its size in B.C. and costs Saltspring taxpayers $2 per household per month.

The Salt Spring Island Transportation Commission also has a unique relationship with a volunteer organization called Island Pathways. Working together, they’ve constructed $1 million in pathways on Saltspring at a local taxpayer cost of $200,000. Now, that’s value for money and demonstrates that volunteerism in my constituency and other rural areas of B.C. not only contributes to community well-being but also to governance itself.

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JIMMY AND VENUS YAU

J. Yap: I rise today to give big thanks to my constituent Jimmy Yau and his wife, Venus, compassionate and dedicated individuals who founded the Steveston Chinese senior circle, part of the Steveston Community Centre seniors program.

Before immigrating to Canada in 1987, Jimmy was a champion in archery from Hong Kong. He represented the Hong Kong Archery Association at the Los Angeles Olympics and international games held in India and South Korea.

During the 1990s, Jimmy and Venus volunteered as interpreters to help new immigrants incorporate into the community.

In 1991, they led the creation of the Steveston Community Society’s Chinese senior circle. As of today, there are more than 100 active members who participate in a variety of activities every week. Some of these activities include playing chess, readings of newspapers, learning about the community, learning about our wonderful province, B.C., and, most importantly, sharing their life experiences.

In 2010, Jimmy’s hard work and dedication were recognized by the Steveston Community Centre Society, who awarded him the Spirit of Steveston Award, and 2016 marked the 25th anniversary of the Steveston Community Society’s Chinese senior circle.

We’re so fortunate to have citizens like Jimmy and Venus Yau in our community. I ask this House to join me in thanking them both for their 25 years of dedicated service to the community of Richmond-Steveston.

PROTECTION OF SOUTH DELTA
ECOSYSTEM AND MIGRATORY HABITAT

V. Huntington: Members have heard me say many times that South Delta is an international icon of immense significance. South Delta is not just green fields over which industrial developers, the province and the Port of Vancouver salivate. It is a critical and irreplaceable ecosystem that is the most important on the west coast of North America. I’ve tried repeatedly to focus attention on this fact, and I ask the question: at what point did we, as human beings, decide we don’t have to protect environments that are crucial to life?

Delta has among the most stunning and important biodiversity in this country. It boasts a natural abundance that depends on the rhythms of the Fraser River, on nutrient-rich mudflats, on the eelgrass beds of Roberts Bank, on the ebbs and flows of tidal currents and on our superb agricultural lands.

How is it possible we don’t know about Canada’s greatest wildlife migration? Why don’t we know that millions of migratory birds, sometimes entire species, are dependent on Delta’s ecological integrity for their very survival?

Don’t we care that the day is coming when the thronging multitudes of scoters, grebes, scaup, winged pintail, goldeneye, mergansers, bufflehead, coots, wigeon, mallards, sandpipers, dowitchers, dunlins will disappear, that the swans and snow geese and blue heron will be gone? Why do humans go down this sad road? Why do we turn our backs on the ecological heritage given to us by God? Why do we so often fail to share our environment with other creatures on this planet?

I will say one last time. Balancing our economy and our environment means saving South Delta. Delta is the balance. It is all that is left.

Oral Questions

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO
YOUTH DEATH CASES

J. Horgan: Two weeks ago we asked the Premier about the death of Alex Gervais. We asked the government why they had treated this young man with such callous indifference. We were told that although he was left by himself, alone in a hotel room, before he took his life, the government had learned from that experience. In fact, the Premier said the following: “Our duty is to respond
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in the face of those tragedies to make sure we do everything that we can to learn from them and to ensure that they don’t happen again.”

Now, last November a 19-year-old girl who I must refer to as S.H. died alone in a tent in the woods in Surrey, a full year after we were supposed to have learned lessons about the death of Alex Gervais.

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My question is to the Premier. Why is it that every time a child dies in the care of this government, we get the same answer: “It’s a tragedy. We’ve learned from the lessons, and it won’t happen again”? Despite that, we continue to get tragedies happening again. To the Premier, when are we going to finally have some action on children in care of this government?

Hon. C. Clark: This year’s budget is adding further resources to the Ministry of Children and Families, over and above the $72.2 million that went in the previous budget. That money has gone to support more front-line social workers, more support for children and young people in emergency situations. It’s gone to support more children finding their way out of care and into permanent, forever homes — a record number, thanks to the work that this minister has done.

There is much, much more to do. As always, the ministry and the government are working to make sure that when legitimate complaints, concerns and tragedies — like the issue that the member has raised, the death of Alex Gervais — occur, we do everything that we can to learn from them, to change the practice and improve the practice of the ministry so that we can continue to always do a better job of protecting children who are relying on government for their care.

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

J. Horgan: Of course, just a brief history lesson for the Premier. Her government cut the budget for Children and Family Development by 25 percent when they came to power 16 years ago. You can’t erase 16 years of neglect just before an election by throwing some money at a problem. There has to be genuine sincerity in the responses from government, and they’ve been sadly lacking, death after death after death.

The similarities between Alex and S.H. are troubling. Both came from First Nations backgrounds, and both were given over by government to the care of the same private care contractor. The same company that was negligent with Alex was designed to have care for S.H. S.H. didn’t have any options. She had just aged out, at 19 years and several months.

When we talked about Paige in 2013, the Premier said she was going to take action and take steps to ensure that children aging out had programs and supports that they desperately needed. But S.H. had no programs. S.H. had no supports. There was nothing in place. Lessons were not learned.

Again to the Premier, it’s a little bit late for S.H., for Alex, for Paige and the dozens of others. What will the Premier do, genuinely, to make sure that kids in care have the protections they deserve and they need? No more: “We’re going to follow up; we’re going to learn.” You’ve failed to learn these lessons. Why should we believe you now?

Madame Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition is aware he directs comments through the Chair.

Hon. C. Clark: Just to be clear, the budget for the Ministry of Children and Families since 2004 has increased significantly, well over 46 percent as of the previous budget, and another $267 million to the Ministry of Children and Family Development, which includes $147 million for child protection and $120 million to begin to address the recommendations that were delivered to government, at our request, from Grand Chief Ed John — recommendations that are intended to fundamentally change the way that government and social workers and the Ministry of Children and Families interact with, look after and support First Nations children.

One of the most important recommendations, in my view, that Grand Chief John made was the recognition that we aren’t just dealing with a child. We are dealing with a family and with a community, and fundamentally changing the way the Ministry of Children and Families interacts with First Nations communities across the province, with the intention of ensuring that families get the support that they need to be able to succeed in caring for the children that they have and that belong to them — that we support them in making sure they are more durable, to support them in ensuring that their children don’t come into care, recognizing that in First Nations communities, this is going to take a different kind of effort.

It’s also going to take more resources to ensure that we do it right, to make sure that First Nations children are not taken into care at greater rates than non–First Nations children.

[1415]

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

J. Horgan: Sixteen years of neglect cannot be made up in a quick question period. I understand that, and I appreciate that. But in this instance, the Premier’s failing to acknowledge and recognize yet another child in the care of this government — in fact, in the care of the same private care provider that neglected and let down Alex Gervais, let down S.H…. This is a repeated pattern of behaviour, and we’re told time and time again: “We’ve
[ Page 13964 ]
learned the lesson of the tragedy, and we will do better.” Too late for S.H., too late for Alex Gervais, and it was too late for Paige. She died alone in an SRO, Alex in a hotel and S.H., now, in a tent in Surrey.

Again, after 16 years of wanton neglect of children in care, why should the people of British Columbia believe a word this government says about the most vulnerable citizens in our care?

Hon. C. Clark: Well, in this most recent budget, there has been, as I said, a very significant increase in the budget allotted to the Ministry of Children and Families to ensure that children who are in government care get the care that they need — ensuring that we are following up appropriately on Grand Chief Ed John’s recommendations, in particular to support First Nations children, who come into care much more frequently than non–First Nations children. We need to work to close that gap, and thank you to Grand Chief John for making sure that we have the guidance we need to be able to follow up on that.

This work continues. It’s work that is vitally important for the province. As I’ve said, it’s important that we learn that when a tragedy happens, when mistakes are made, when criticisms are levelled, we need to make sure that we continue to evolve the practice of the ministry to make sure that we are meeting children’s needs in this province. This minister — and I know this ministry and all of our government — is making sure that we continue to do that.

M. Mark: When the government takes children into their care, I’ll remind the members opposite, those in government, that they have a responsibility to be a prudent parent. This government placed S.H. with Community Vision, or ACV, the same for-profit contracted care provider that was supposed to care for Alex. They paid ACV a lot of money. While she was in the care of ACV, she was a victim of a vicious sexual assault. While she was in the care of ACV, her caregivers provided her with drugs.

This government knew that. Like Alex, this young lady had been traumatized and abused by this contractor. Why did they abandon her?

Hon. S. Cadieux: The member raises another terribly tragic situation — a young girl, who was no longer in the care of the system, who died. It’s tragic. It is absolutely tragic. We know that there’s always more government can do to support young people in our care.

As the Premier has mentioned, there are significant changes underway in the ministry over the last number of years and continuing into the next number of years with our plan that we’ve mapped out, with guidance from Grand Chief Ed John and the representative and others, as to how we can better serve the youth in our care before they come into our care, while they are in our care and if, unfortunately, they age out of our care because we haven’t been successful before that in finding them permanency.

We now have, thanks to this government and our changes to our supports for AYA, for youth aging out, the most comprehensive set of supports to the age of 26, unmatched by any other jurisdiction in Canada.

Madame Speaker: Vancouver–Mount Pleasant on a supplemental.

[1420]

M. Mark: I’ll remind the members opposite that we are talking about a young person who aged out of foster care and was sleeping in a tent city. She died in a tent city. No one’s daughter should have to experience that. No one’s kid should ever age out of their home to be living in a tent city. I can’t imagine what her last days were like. And this isn’t about politics. This is about being a prudent parent and the conditions that she experienced.

Our kids in government care are not thriving. After Alex died, we urged the Premier and the minister to provide support for all children aging out of government care. They refused. A year later, this young lady died alone in a tent in Surrey. The Representative for Children and Youth said that she was part of far too large a group of “young British Columbians who are being abandoned” — by this government — “at the age of 19.”

When Alex died, this government and this Premier said they would do better, but they didn’t. Why should anyone believe anything she or they have to say?

Hon. S. Cadieux: First, let me say that’s exactly what we are doing: more, more than anywhere else in the country, because we believe there is more to do. I take very seriously the advice I am given by the Youth Advisory Council, who are all youth who are either in care or who have aged out of care of the system. What can we do to make their experience different and better and their outcomes better?

It is with their guidance that we made the improvements that we did to the agreements with young adults program. We increased the age up to which youth are eligible, to 26. We increased the length of time that youth can receive supports by 100 percent, to four years. We expanded the types of supports available to include life skills programming, on top of the substance use programming or post-secondary skills training that was already included.

We are ensuring that every one of our front-line social workers, the 2,500 front-line people that work with these youth…. We are making sure that they do their utmost, in their professional capacity, to serve these youth, to make sure these youth know about the supports that are available to them and access those.
[ Page 13965 ]

OVERSIGHT AND AUDIT OF CONTRACTED
CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES

D. Donaldson: The Premier said she wants to learn from the deaths of children in care, but apparently, she doesn’t want to learn too much. After Alex Gervais died, the ministry hired an accounting firm to conduct a forensic financial audit into the contracted care provider. The minister put a stop to it.

Can the Premier explain why her government stopped an audit that would have explained why ACV was given so much money to provide such appalling care to Alex, S.H. and hundreds of other children?

Hon. S. Cadieux: What I can say is what I’ve said before in this House, but members opposite refuse to listen. Every time something tragic happens, there are extensive processes that are put in place to take a look at what happened and figure out what went wrong, what we need to change and what we need to do better.

We know we need to do a better job of quality assurance and contract monitoring, and we’re doing that. We’ve hired a number of people into the quality assurance function already, and 13 more are on the way, because we know how important this is.

But let me just say this. When we put our trust in caregivers to care for the youth that are with us in this ministry and to provide a certain level of service, we expect that certain level of service to be provided.

Madame Speaker: The member for Stikine on a supplemental.

D. Donaldson: This government likes to fancy themselves prudent financial managers. But when they had the opportunity to find out how a contracted care provider was given millions of dollars for substandard care — care that included reports of staff supplying teenagers with illegal drugs — they said they weren’t interested. The minister stopped the audit, and they covered it up.

[1425]

How can the Premier honestly claim to have learned from these deaths when they told the auditor to stop investigating?

Hon. S. Cadieux: Again, when we have youth in our care, it is not by their choice, and it is not by our choice, because government will never replace a loving family. But when we are responsible for children and youth, we take great care in ensuring that that care is provided to the level we expect to meet the individual, specific needs of each and every youth.

When we learn that that level of support is not being provided, we all feel let down — the workers on the front lines who care for these children and find proper accommodations for them and all of us and the public. Most importantly, the youth in these circumstances is let down. It’s not okay.

When we deploy the support, as we did in this case, we expect it to be delivered. Not knowing that that wasn’t the case was not okay. That’s why we are strengthening the oversight functions in the ministry to include better oversight of contracts, and we’re bringing all of the screening of contracted caregivers in-house.

C. James: The minister had a different line on audits last time we asked. The minister said: “It’s because we do audits and have oversight that we know standards aren’t being met.”

According to the independent Representative for Children and Youth: “In this case, agency oversight appears to have effectively meant no oversight…tantamount to gross neglect.”

The fact is, the minister cancelled the audit of this very agency. My question is to the minister. What was the minister afraid the audit into ACV would reveal?

Hon. S. Cadieux: As I’ve said before and I’ll say again in this House, when we found out about Alex’s tragic situation, a lot of processes were put in place to find out what happened, and we put in place a number of things to ensure it wouldn’t happen again.

We are doing more. We are standardizing providing greater oversight for contractors. Contractors themselves will no longer be in charge of vetting the caregivers that they employ. We will bring that in-house to ensure that the contractors and the caregivers are qualified. We’ve banned the use of hotels for non-emergency placements, and we’ve strengthened the oversight for any use of a hotel in an emergency placement, because that is essential.

We’ve hired front-line staff in the ministry — 200 so far, 100 more on the way and more again announced in this year’s budget. We know there’s more to do, and we’ll continue to do it.

Madame Speaker: Victoria–Beacon Hill on a supplemental.

C. James: Perhaps the minister wasn’t interested because the audit might actually hold this government to account for the terrible care of children who are vulnerable.

What British Columbians hear is that vulnerable children in government care keep dying. What British Columbians hear from this minister and from this Premier is: “Don’t worry. Things will get better.” It’s 16 years. This government has had 16 years. When will the minister take responsibility for protecting vulnerable children, and why was this audit cancelled?

Hon. S. Cadieux: There have been tremendous accomplishments in this ministry. While there are tragedies, and while we learn from those, it is the opposition
[ Page 13966 ]
that is intent on ignoring the vast majority of circumstances in the ministry — the vast majority of the 7,200 kids in care who are well supported, who are succeeding and who are resilient.

[1430]

In fact, it was surprising to me to hear just recently, when there was a select standing committee meeting, that the critic for the ministry wasn’t aware that in our performance management report, where we publicly report on all of the various things that we track in the ministry to determine whether or not we are having success, whether or not we are moving in the right direction…. I was surprised to hear that the member didn’t know that all of those performance indicators are moving in the right direction.

I’ll quote the member for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant: “All of the performance areas that needed improvement are improved, so why aren’t you reporting out publicly?” I’m paraphrasing there because of the grammar. The reality is she went on to say: “The people aren’t hearing how great things are because there’s no transparency.”

Well, there is transparency. That report is available on our website. We report out twice a year, and we report out regularly on things that are changing in the ministry — improvements that are being made, success stories. In fact, since the member from Mount Pleasant was made the opposition spokesperson, there have actually been 31 such news releases.

M. Farnworth: My question to the minister is this. Why was the audit cancelled?

Hon. S. Cadieux: I’m sure the member is interested. I’m sure the member wasn’t paying attention before. The organization was shut down. An audit was no longer required.

EMERGENCY SERVICES AT HOSPITALS

J. Wickens: Yesterday the Minister of Health said that a situation at Abbotsford Regional Hospital, a situation that a local doctor described as dangerous overcrowding, was simply the fault of the weather. According to the minister, patients should just accept that “winter is a busy season.”

Let’s talk about a different hospital. On January 22, Jean Donaldson was admitted to Eagle Ridge Hospital. She had suffered a brain bleed the night before and was unable to move her right arm. Jean is a senior with strong ties to her community and strong ties to Eagle Ridge Hospital. She expected to receive the care she deserved. Instead, Jean spent 36 hours on a gurney in the lobby beside the gift shop.

To the minister, my question is: does he think that is good enough, or is he going to blame the weather again?

Hon. T. Lake: I characterized one of the members opposite’s comments as ridiculous the other day. I didn’t think I would hear a more ridiculous comment than I heard the other day, but we just heard it today.

I did not blame the weather. I said, in fact, that it is a busy time of year, as the member well knows. That’s not just about the weather. It’s about viruses. It’s about the fact that every winter we experience influenza epidemics. We experience slips and falls. It puts a lot of pressure on our hospitals, particularly in the emergency departments. I experienced it myself on the weekend.

But what I witnessed, as I’ve witnessed in every hospital around this province, is that the highly trained professional men and women who work in our hospitals don’t make excuses about the weather. They treat people, and they treat them with professionalism and compassion.

The members opposite…. That member’s riding is benefiting from a $1.2 billion hospital, and that member’s riding is benefiting from a $1.2 billion hospital. The member for North Coast — her riding is benefiting from a brand-new $50 million state-of-the-art hospital.

In community after community in the province of British Columbia, new health care facilities are being built because they weren’t built when the members opposite had the opportunity.

[1435]

S. Robinson: Well, given that flu season comes around every single year, I would imagine that we would be better prepared for the busy season.

I want to get back to Jean Donaldson, because this is really about people. To add insult to injury, Jean Donaldson noticed something very interesting while she was on that gurney in the lobby hallway, as she lay there looking at the walls, because there’s nothing else to do when you’re in the hospital lobby. She noticed that the staff had placed her directly below a plaque on the wall, a plaque that actually had her name on it.

You see, Jean Donaldson loves her community and loves her community hospital, and she had a plaque on the wall with her name on it commemorating her donations to Eagle Ridge Hospital. Here she was, staring at that plaque in the hallway of the lobby. She was embarrassed and humiliated about having to be, for 36 hours, on a gurney in the hallway.

I want to know. Why does this government believe that it is okay for vulnerable seniors to languish in the lobby outside the hospital gift shop while waiting for a hospital bed?

Hon. T. Lake: It is, in fact, the case that wintertime is busy. We know that. The members opposite would seem to think that had they had the opportunity, they would build capacity to 150 percent to accommodate the busiest days of the year and leave hospitals half-empty the rest of the year — good stewardship of taxpayers’ money.
[ Page 13967 ]
In fact, when they had the opportunity, they didn’t build one single hospital. They talked about building a hospital in Abbotsford. It never got built until this government took power.

New hospitals in Haida Gwaii. New hospitals in Penticton. New hospitals in Kamloops. A new concept plan for a hospital, Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace. From community to community to community, not to mention the new St. Paul’s and the redevelopment of Royal Columbian Hospital — the list is extensive — we’ll continue to invest in top-quality health care facilities in the province of British Columbia.

RESIDENTIAL CARE FOR SENIORS
ON SUNSHINE COAST

N. Simons: This government has decided to close two long-term care facilities on the Sunshine Coast, only to replace them with one for-profit facility with a small increase in spaces. This is a bad decision for seniors affected, it’s bad for the hundreds of employees who will be laid off or rehired at lower wages, and it’s bad for our communities. The Sunshine Coast has been saying loudly and clearly that seniors, elders and their caregivers deserve better. They don’t want to see profits going to private companies because that’s money that is not spent on care.

Will the minister please explain to the family members and caregivers why seniors are paying the price for this government’s failure?

Hon. C. Clark: First, let me acknowledge the caregivers in Powell River–Sunshine Coast and around the province who do so…. I mean, in long-term care in particular, the relationship that caregivers create with the patients is really admirable. In many cases, it’s almost unbelievable the amount of energy and love that people bring to that job. So on behalf of everybody in the House, I’d like to say thank you to them.

In this case, it’s a new facility that will be state-of-the-art, with an additional 20 new beds, over and above, that will be added, which will make it even easier to be able to look after people who are elderly or need that long-term care in that part of the province.

[1440]

That is in addition to the $101 million for the new centre for mental health and addiction at Riverview; the $417 million for a new patient care tower at Royal Inland Hospital, which the NDP said they wouldn’t build; the $325 million in Penticton, which again, the NDP said they wouldn’t build; $606 million in Comox Valley and Campbell River hospitals; and the money, over $1 billion, that will be going into the new state-of-the-art hospital at St. Paul’s, which again, the NDP said they would not build.

The way to make sure that we are looking after patients in British Columbia is through items in this budget, like $4.1 billion into the health care system. It’s investments in making sure that we are building the infrastructure.

After a decade in the 1990s, when not a single hospital was built, this government is making sure that we are looking after patients, investing in infrastructure, making sure British Columbians have the health care that they need. I know that the ironworkers who are here today will appreciate this, making sure we are putting British Columbians to work, when they build them.

[End of question period.]

Reports from Committees

L. Larson: I have the honour to present the report of the Select Standing Committee on Health titled Looking Forward: Improving Rural Health Care, Primary Care, and Addiction Recovery Programs.

I move that the report be taken as read and received.

Motion approved.

L. Larson: Madame Speaker, I ask leave of the House to move a motion to adopt the report.

Leave granted.

L. Larson: In moving adoption of this report, I’d like to make some brief comments. In 2014-15 and again in 2016, the Select Standing Committee on Health asked British Columbians to help us identify strategies for maintaining the sustainability and quality of B.C.’s health care system. The 59 recommendations included in the committee’s unanimous report represent the input received during these two public consultation periods and relate to improving health care services in rural, remote and isolated communities; wider use of interdisciplinary teams; and enhancing the effectiveness of addiction recovery programs.

On behalf of all committee members, I would like to thank the individuals and organizations who put forward so many innovative ideas and thoughtful suggestions. I would also like to recognize our health care providers for their dedication to our health care system. I would also like to thank the Deputy Chair, the member for New Westminster, for her tireless and always thoughtful input during our deliberations.

In closing, I would also like to thank all committee members, past and present, for their contributions and the many hours they dedicated to bringing this report to the House today.

With that, I move adoption of the report.

J. Darcy: I would like to begin by thanking the Chair of the committee and all of the committee members for the incredible amount of work that went into this committee report.
[ Page 13968 ]

We have been at this for over three years, issuing the portion of the report on end-of-life care earlier and now this section of the report on strengthening interdisciplinary team-based care, on improving health to rural British Columbians and also, very importantly, on strengthening our addiction and recovery programs.

We have tackled some very, very tough issues together. I want to say that this committee has been, really, a shining example of collaboration, of honest discussion — sometimes very emotional discussion, because we were grappling with very, very difficult questions — in a spirit that I believe this Legislature would well be served by. We worked through those very difficult questions and, I think, have issued what is a very bold and compelling report.

I also want to join the Chair of the committee in thanking all of the health care workers and all of the health care providers who make our health care system today what it is. I want to also assure them that this report makes bold recommendations about improving the health care system so that indeed, they can do the kinds of jobs they want to do even better — serving British Columbians.

Motion approved.

Petitions

G. Heyman: It’s my honour today to present a petition with over 40,000 signatures, calling on the B.C. government to join every other province in Canada, but one, in having stand-alone species-at-risk protection legislation.

[1445]

B.C. is recognized as having the richest, greatest biodiversity in Canada, yet we have 1,649 species that are either endangered or threatened. A stand-alone piece of legislation, as this petition calls for, would allow us to take measures to protect species at risk while protecting and enhancing community values and reducing conflict in economic development.

Hon. P. Fassbender: I have two items.

One, I have a petition similar to ones presented last week from Catholic Women’s League of St. Matthew’s Parish in Surrey with respect to hospices and palliative care facilities.

Tabling Documents

Hon. P. Fassbender: Also, I have the honour to present the 2016 Annual Report for the Property Assessment Appeal Board.

Petitions

B. Routley: I have a petition. I met with some constituents from a Cowichan Valley Catholic women’s group. They presented me with a 204-name petition. They request that the honourable House enact laws that will keep hospice and palliative care facilities separated from those that offer assisted suicide, and they ask that we will implement regulations and policies and ensure respect for the freedom of conscience of all health care workers and administrators.

N. Simons: I have the honour to present a petition from approximately 10,000 residents of the Sunshine Coast who are opposed to the privatization of long-term care and who humbly ask that the public facilities remain open and that they are properly staffed to provide the care and dignity that our seniors deserve.

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. de Jong: Continued debate on the budget.

Budget Debate

(continued)

Hon. C. Oakes: While people leave the House today, I do want to take a moment just to thank our fantastic staff that all of us count on in our offices. To Caroline, Sheila and April in the Cariboo, thank you very much every day for your hard work and your dedication. And, of course, here in Victoria, a huge thank you to Derek, Yarko, Kirby, Dustin and all of the ministry staff for all of the work that you do every single day. I really do appreciate it.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

Today I continue my response to Budget 2017. It truly reflects the values that I grew up with — hard work, grit, perseverance and optimism — that I feel are so reflected in today’s budget that we are discussing. These values of fiscal responsibility matter today and for our children’s future.

The government’s fiscal plan, based on fiscal prudence, is a plan that has helped B.C.’s finances stay on solid footing against the same economic forces that have driven other economies down. But make no mistake that this has been a challenging task. It has taken hard work, it has taken grit, and it has taken perseverance.

We have worked for many years to be in the position we are today, with $3 billion over three years in enhanced programs, $3.1 billion over three years in competitiveness and affordability measures, record levels of infrastructure investment supporting more than 30,000 jobs, and all the while maintaining enviable debt affordability metrics and continuing to be on track to eliminating our operating debt.

As Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction, it truly is my distinct honour to represent and fight for small businesses every single day. Small businesses make up 98 percent of all businesses in British Columbia,
[ Page 13969 ]
and they are responsible for employing over one million people in our province. They are the hearts and the souls of our communities. They support our local hockey teams, our gymnastic teams and our local live arts. They are the volunteers and service groups, and they contribute so very much to the livability of communities. We know that British Columbia’s success depends on the hard work and success of small businesses in every corner of this province.

Budget 2017 shows the results of this prudent fiscal planning and ensures that small businesses benefit from the strength of our economy. These are investments in new and upgraded provincial taxpayer-supported infrastructure to support services and jobs.

[1450]

We’ve extended and enhanced tax credits for the tech sector, scientific research, economic development and venture capital to support innovation and commercialization. And we are supporting programs to help build B.C.’s export capacity by training small and medium-sized enterprises across British Columbia to better access export markets.

Keeping business taxes low is an essential part of maintaining a competitive tax environment to attract investment, to create jobs and to move B.C.’s economy forward. Effective April 1, 2017, government is reducing the small business tax rate from 2.5 percent to 2 percent. That means British Columbia will have the second-lowest small business tax rate in the country, and businesses will be able to keep more in their own pockets to invest in their communities.

Small businesses like Kekuli Café in the interior of British Columbia. “Don’t panic. We’ve got bannock,” the cafe claims. The owner, Sharon Bond, knew she would franchise her business from day one and now her success is evident and still growing.

We’ve listened to businesses who’ve told us through the Commission on Tax Competitiveness that the provincial sales tax on electricity was making it harder for them to grow. We responded with a two-step approach to reduce and, ultimately, eliminate the PST chargeable to electricity. Starting this October, PST on electricity will be reduced from 7 percent to 3.5 percent, and in April of 2019, we’ll move to a full exemption.

This was something that we heard universally, from big and small businesses. For Cariboo North, for example, this will make a huge difference, improving the competitiveness of energy-intensive businesses like mining and forestry. But for Carol at Super Suds Laundromat, this will mean a huge savings for her business that she can flow back into job creation and building her business.

Small and medium-sized businesses are expected to save about $50 million a year. Once implemented, companies will save 7 percent on their power bills. This is a significant and meaningful change for small businesses, because we know that every dime matters.

I’m pleased to be joined today in the House by board members of the Small Business Roundtable for our quarterly meeting. The round table was permanently established in 2005 to serve small business communities as its voice to government. It is made up of small business leaders from across the province who meet regularly to represent their regions and economic sectors in order to provide advice to government to further the success of small business sectors.

The four pillars of the round table are human resources and education, regulatory reform and red-tape reduction, economic growth and small business issues. The longevity of the round table can be attributed to the role the members play to develop recommendations to government. And the government is listening.

The round table identifies key issues and opportunities facing British Columbia’s small business sectors and develops recommendations for the sector and government to enhance growth and propel companies forward.

A specific focus in the last few years of the round table is on youth entrepreneurship — and what great timing as we have some young people that have just joined us in the House today. Welcome to the B.C. Legislature.

We are talking about financial literacy for the K-to-12 levels of education to help kids access Junior Achievement B.C. programs and others like it — instilling a spirit of ambition and business acumen in future generations.

In fact, this year additional support was provided to Junior Achievement B.C. and Community Futures to deliver entrepreneurial training to eight First Nations communities in the province. We’ve also supported Futurpreneur’s “Rock My Business Plan,” a multisection workshop that helps new, young entrepreneurs or existing business owners create and hone a business plan, that they can launch a business with a solid foundation. This year “Rock My Business Plan” sessions were held in Kelowna, Prince George and Nanaimo, with more to come.

One of the items that we consistently hear during the consultations across the province is the importance to access venture capital.

[1455]

The small business venture capital tax credit provides 30 percent tax credits to B.C. resident investors who invest directly into companies or in managed funds. Budget 2017 will see a venture capital tax credit increase of $3.5 million, bringing the total to $38.5 million per year, supporting up to $128.3 million annually in total investments.

This tax credit, unique in our country, allows individuals and corporations to invest capital directly into eligible small business and offers strategic expertise to accelerate company growth. These investments will support our efforts in becoming the most business-friendly jurisdiction in North America.

This government knows that having a creative tech strategy is important business in British Columbia.
[ Page 13970 ]

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

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

Hon. A. Virk: I have the third of classes from the Pacific Academy in the House today. We have Mrs. Yeung and many of those enlightened young grade 5s and their parents here. Also, in this crowd of parents, I have my dear friend, my adopted sister from university, Mindy Rise, also up there, who I very rarely see but is a mom as part of this class.

Would the House please make my guests feel welcome.

Debate Continued

Hon. C. Oakes: It’s also timely, because we were talking about technology. To the Minister of Technology: thank you for introducing the young people in the House today.

This budget’s $40 million investment, extending the availability of rural broadband services, is a great example of this government’s support and belief in the importance of small businesses in rural communities. And 96 percent of B.C.’s tech companies are small businesses. The tech sector’s enormous annual revenue of over $26 billion is all proof that this government needs to make sure the business opportunities in tech are available and possible in every corner of the province, and that in B.C., local and small businesses are leading the charge.

As I mentioned before, one of the pillars of round table is the importance of reducing red tape, and today, our annual Red Tape Reduction Day, is another example of how we are listening to British Columbians. I’d quickly like to thank all of the members in the ministry for their hard work.

We want to make government services easier to access and simpler to use. British Columbians are the experts when it comes to using government services. More than 5,900 people participated in the six-week initial public engagement in the fall of 2015. Continuing our efforts to listen to British Columbians, we launched the help-cut-red-tape button on the B.C. government home page so anyone could submit their idea at any time, any day of the year.

B.C. is a leader in reducing red tape. In 2017, we won the Golden Scissors Award from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business for creating Red Tape Reduction Day. We are one of two provinces to ever receive A grades for cutting red tape, which we’ve been given for the past six years.

Let’s put this into perspective. This is a reduction of 2,303 regulations since March 2016; a reduction of 26,106 regulations since 2014. B.C. Liberals have cut 173,439 regulations, reducing red tape 48 percent from when the NDP were in government.

I would like to thank the staff of the ministry for their efforts on the file. In fact, I’d like to thank ministry staff across all ministries, who have worked hard to reduce red tape.

One of the great programs that we support and help entrepreneurs with is BizPaL. BizPaL helps entrepreneurs hit the ground running by guiding them through the permitting and licence process of starting a business. BizPaL is a web-based service that makes it easier and faster for businesses to identify federal, provincial and local government permits and licences to start and grow businesses in their community. Throughout the province, 130 local communities have access to these very helpful services, with more getting on board soon.

Also, the province’s mobile business licence program allows mobile businesses — like construction, electrical and gas fitting companies, for example — to operate in more than one municipality by purchasing a singular licence rather than having the headache of obtaining non-resident licences in each municipality it serves. This has been an effective, cost-saving support for many small businesses. As of today, there are 14 agreements in 82 communities across British Columbia.

[1500]

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a topic that is close to my heart and close to the hearts of many of my colleagues and to British Columbians.

As we celebrate 100 years of women’s right to vote, I find myself wanting to continue the celebration of the accomplishments of women in our province. While two-thirds of self-employed people in British Columbia are men, women continue to push forward in the small business sector. In 2015, 38 percent of small business owners in British Columbia were women. That is 1 percent higher than the national average, and the third-highest rate among the provinces, but we know that we can do better.

While the fields most populated with self-employed women in British Columbia are education, health care and social assistant fields, women like Claire Wilson, owner of Dogwood Brewing in Vancouver, are proving that women are not afraid to branch out into fields that are typically dominated by men.

Just last week three female business owners were named winners at the Small Business B.C. Awards, including Yvette Cuthbert, co-owner of Port Moody’s Rocky Point Ice Cream, that took home the award for best company.

I look forward to hearing about more progress and inspiring success stories from strong and ambitious female entrepreneurs and business owners in our province in the coming years. Hopefully, some of the young people joining us today in the House will consider starting a small business.

Our government’s priorities and careful financial management are making these investments and savings possible. We’ve chosen these priorities so that we can deliver
[ Page 13971 ]
the dividends of a strong and diversified provincial economy back to the hard-working British Columbians that I mentioned at the beginning.

Truly, balanced budget 2017 is a budget for a province poised to take advantage of all our unique opportunities — five successive balanced budgets; strong economic growth; on track to eliminate direct operating debt; services that support our citizens; and a plan to continue, enhance and diversify our growing economy to create good, family-supporting jobs. Because British Columbia’s economy is strong and because we’ve controlled our spending, we are now able to make investments that help us to achieve our goal of becoming the most small-business-friendly jurisdiction in North America.

M. Mark: Simgigat, Sigidimhaanak, K’uba Wilksihlkw. That means, in our traditional language, “Chiefs, guests, matriarchs.” It is indeed an honour to be speaking in this Legislative Assembly.

I’d like to thank all of my constituents for the opportunity to be their advocate in this Legislature, to speak on behalf of matters that are important to them and, of course, matters that were either mentioned in this balanced 2017 budget or those things that were left out.

First, I’d like to say thank you to my team, my wonderful staff, that get me to where I need to be each and every day: Stewart Alcott, Cate Jones, Christina Rzepa, Abby Leung, Samantha Ponting, Hilary McNaughton; the practicum students that have joined me, Jennifer Sather and Jennifer McDermid, both from the schools of social work; Chardaye Bueckert; and, of course, the sunshines in my life, Maya, Makayla and Cassidy, who provide balance in my life and restore my sense of faith each and every day.

I also want to thank, of course, my family and the matriarchs and elders that guide me each and every day to do this important work on behalf of Vancouver–Mount Pleasant constituents. Every day is a journey. Every day is an adventure, and today will be the first time that I get to speak to the budget.

Vancouver–Mount Pleasant is a diverse and resilient community, home of the Chinese lunar new year festival parade celebrated by thousands from across the Lower Mainland, the mural festival, the Eastside Culture Crawl, small businesses, craft breweries, a vibrant night life and a bustling port.

[1505]

Today we’re in these chambers to talk about the budget. Of course, the budget is really an opportunity for the government to set its priorities and to send a message to British Columbia on what matters most. We’re often reminded in these chambers that they’re on time and on budget. I’ll speak later on in my remarks about some of the mismanagement of our public purse.

The Liberals want us to believe…. I have sat in these chambers for a number of days now, listening to them talk about balance in B.C. The B.C. Liberals want us to believe that, in all corners of this province, people are thriving. But the reality is that the division of rich and poor is really driving the inequality across this province. In the throne speech, in the budget speeches, they want to shape this narrative, grounded in fear, that we are living in uncertain times and: “What are we going to do?”

I often find it quite remarkable, having spent 16 years in government, that there’s such a sense of uncertainty. That doesn’t really restore a lot of confidence in myself or the constituents of Vancouver–Mount Pleasant. It certainly doesn’t send a message of balance.

They fail to mention, when they talk about balance in the balanced budget for 2017, about neglecting the skyrocketing housing market and the real estate market, transit and the number of folks, especially in my constituency, who take the 99 B-line, the No. 20, who are jam-packed on the SkyTrain — how those services have been neglected over the last 16 years.

They want the constituents of Vancouver–Mount Pleasant and those across B.C. to forget these systemic failures — their lack of investment in child care, the lack of commitment to the environment and, of course, the lack of being a prudent parent to kids in care.

The B.C. Liberals boast about having a $2 billion surplus. However, they’re relatively silent about the social deficit that they’ve run for the last 16 years. They want to talk about principles. When I think about principles, I think about fairness and justice. I don’t wake up each morning thinking about: “Fend for yourself, and leave everyone behind.” I value: “Lift as you climb.”

When I think about a balanced budget, it’s about supporting people and lifting as we climb. The B.C. Liberals, after 16 years, want our students to forget that our leaders…. The teachers had to take them to court to restore balance in the school system. They want, after 16 years, the seniors to forget the lack of health care that they’re getting and the lack of care that they’re getting as they age on into their sunset years.

They want us to forget that the promises that were made to the small businesses about reducing the corporate taxes…. It’s now down to 2.5, but I believe in their campaign back in the 2013 election — filled with what I would call broken promises — that there was a commitment to make it 1.5. Numbers are just numbers. So I just want to underscore that when we think about a budget, it’s very important that we speak the truth, that we share with British Columbians the truth and expose what is really going on in the province.

I would have to say that I’m faced with a number of people that are homeless in my constituency. Every day, there isn’t a person asking for change that I don’t go by. The shelters are overflowing. People are living on the streets. Report after report comes out explaining that homelessness is on the rise in this beautiful, prosperous province with a balanced budget.
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The Liberals would like us to forget the last 16 years of this social deficit by showing random acts of generosity. It was interesting to think about the article from the New York Times and the Wild West up here in British Columbia, where you’ve got the leader of the government who receives a salary from the public purse and an additional stipend that ran upwards of $300,000.

When we think about the division of have and have-nots, there’s a lot of work to do, as we think about how inequality is actually on the rise in this province.

The B.C. Liberals have done very little to make life easier for the constituents in Vancouver–Mount Pleasant and across B.C., but they’re still pleading for more time — more time, on budget, more time, on budget.

[1510]

I apologize if I sound like a broken record, but the B.C. Liberals are always asking for more time — more time. We’re going to make the system better. We’re going to do more. We’re going to work harder. But people are running out of time. People are tired of the broken promises. They are tired of hearing about debt-free B.C.

Let’s talk about debt-free B.C. While taxpayer-supported debt and Crown corporation debt continue to increase every year, the B.C. Liberals have changed the goalposts and are now trying to eliminate “the direct operating debt” in order to continue making some claim about debt-free B.C. So when we’re talking about debt-free B.C., I guess it depends on the definition that you’re referring to when it comes down to debt.

Let’s talk about mismanagement, which I had mentioned earlier, and cost overruns. The Vancouver Convention Centre, which is in Vancouver–Mount Pleasant, came in at over $341 million over budget. That could have really helped the Ministry for Children and Family over the last 16 years. The Port Mann Bridge was $1.8 million over budget. But it’s just numbers. Never mind the fact that people are paying more and more and more — not perhaps in taxes, but let’s call them hidden fees. But, again, who’s paying attention? Hidden fees, taxes, debt, operating debt, Crown corporation debt — who knows? Who is paying attention?

All we know is that after six years as Premier, the B.C. Liberals have added $21.5 billion to the debt, which is the biggest increase in B.C.’s history. Again, it’s about numbers and balancing a budget, but at the cost of what? I’m going to underscore the point that I made earlier. It’s about running a social deficit. Who paid the price for that balanced budget? I’ll get to that in a moment.

Other broken promises. B.C. claims to have the lowest taxes. Well, yes, if you’re looking at, perhaps, the income taxes, but let’s not forget about the MSP fees, the hydro and ICBC rates — all hidden taxes that everyone pays. But again, they’ll point the finger and say that it was back in the ’90s and what the New Democrats did.

It’s actually quite fascinating to be in this House sometimes. I feel like I’m in a comedy room of, you know, the last comic standing, laughing back at the ’90s instead of taking accountability for choices that have been made by this government today.

In five years, the B.C. Liberals increased MSP, hydro, ICBC rates every year by 25 percent to 36 percent each. That adds an extra $1,000 that is coming out of families’ pockets. Families aren’t getting an extra $1,000. They’re paying more. More money is going out of their family budget. Nothing is coming in. That isn’t balanced, to me, when I think about the constituents of Mount Pleasant, again, who are doing more with less. So when we do the math, B.C. doesn’t have the lowest taxes. We have one of the highest costs of living.

Let’s add to another broken promise. In 2013, the government announced a commitment to build the new St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver–Mount Pleasant. Yet three years later, there is no capital plan in the budget. This is another broken promise where this government has failed to deliver the health needs of people living in the Lower Mainland.

Finally, when I think of another broken promise, I think of LNG. The B.C. Liberals promised British Columbians 1,000 jobs, an LNG plant up and running by 2015 — it’s 2017, hon. Speaker — and five by 2020. They promised a $100 billion prosperity fund and a debt-free B.C. None of those promises have materialized, yet they want us to believe in them now. They want British Columbians to have faith. They want us to go to the polls and vote for the government that balanced the budget with what isn’t really a debt-free B.C.

Interjection.

M. Mark: Pardon me?

There is no revenue from LNG, so, as I said in my maiden speech a year ago, it is still nothing more than a pipedream.

Part 3. I had mentioned how the people of Vancouver–Mount Pleasant feel that this government is out of touch with reality. So I’m going to just illustrate what my real world looks like and that of people living in Vancouver–Mount Pleasant.

People are working two to three jobs in precarious employment just trying to make a living. You know that song by Dolly Parton, “Working nine to five”? It’s not nine to five for one job. They’re working nine to five on two jobs just to stay out of poverty.

[1515]

Persons with disabilities are staying home in isolation because they can’t afford to buy a bus pass.

I know we’ll hear a lot about how people had a choice, but I’m going to underscore that there’s a different definition in the dictionary about ultimatums and choices. I will add, as an advocate on behalf of my constituents, that people felt like they were given an ultimatum, when it comes to the bus pass clawback for persons with disabilities.
[ Page 13973 ]

People on income assistance are living on $18 a week, which is an impossible task. Trust me. I did the welfare challenge last year in November, living off of $18 a week. For my birthday, I didn’t have any cake. There was no cake to go around. There was nothing to celebrate. I was counting, figuring out when I was going to eat next and when I wasn’t going to eat, because I couldn’t afford to.

Let’s not forget that people are living off $375 for a shelter allowance. So really, we’re setting people up to fail. We are setting people up to do the impossible task. What we’re really doing is letting people down.

Children, parents and teachers are worried about seismic risks to their children and school closures in their neighbourhood. I spent most of this summer running around with parents and students advocating, lobbying the school board to keep the doors open and the lights on.

Again, let’s remind the members opposite about the government’s priorities. People in Vancouver–Mount Pleasant, myself included, are worried that this government is taking us down an archaic path by investing in more tanker traffic on this pristine coast, making way for Kinder Morgan and risking the well-being of Mother Earth and our grand-children’s interests instead of being a leader in renewable energy and reducing our carbon footprint.

I’m going to add further about this government being out of touch. People are worried about being renovicted, because they can’t find an affordable place to live. People are hoping to win the lottery. They are literally going to B.C. Lottery Corporation every day trying to win Maxmillions or set your life up to be a millionaire. They’re crossing their fingers to win the lottery. Parents are hoping that they’ll win the lottery so that their kids can get into daycare.

Small businesses are closing their doors because of the out-of-control real estate market and increased hydro and ICBC rates. People are taking on more personal debt, therefore relying on payday loans to get by, cheque to cheque.

We risk losing the tech sector to the U.S. or other countries because we don’t have affordable, accessible housing available to that professional group. Tenants can’t afford to pay for the increased fees to file disputes regarding the Residential Tenancy Act. Seniors are on wait-lists for hip and knee replacements. They’re in constant need of dental support, coming to my office saying: “Please, can you help so I can get dentures?” Good grief. Seniors have to come to my office asking for help to get dentures?

The B.C. Liberals want people to forget that they have more than doubled the MSP premiums since 2001. Their new promise to cut premiums is half of the real promise. What people really want is no MSP premiums.

There was no mention in the budget about women fleeing violence and the experiences that they face after receiving sexual assaults. They have nowhere to turn with respect to safe houses. Many of them are full, or they’re wait-listed to get victim support services or counselling. So again, people of Vancouver–Mount Pleasant felt like their priorities were left out. I’ll underscore that women fleeing violence really felt like they were ignored in this budget.

Children and youth are waiting 200 days for child and youth mental health services. I’ll get to the Ministry of Children and Family in a moment, but there are a number of kids that have gone without services in this province for the last 16 years under the B.C. Liberals.

There was no mention of the arts and culture sector in this budget. No real mention of seniors, and no real mention of the film and TV industry.

With respect to housing, let’s not forget how out of control it is, so I’ll underscore. In Vancouver–Mount Pleasant, the far-reaching effects of the housing affordability crisis are felt by almost every resident.

[1520]

Every day, I hear from people who want to see swift and meaningful change when it comes to making housing more affordable. Currently, if you don’t have $2 million in the bank, you can’t afford a home. In my office, it is no surprise that housing is the number one issue for my constituents. Seniors on fixed incomes, students that are bunking with five people just to keep rent at a minimum, young families, people on low-income salaries are, again, doing more with less as they try to secure housing.

People, again, as I mentioned, are feeling that they’re…. They fear renoviction. Many people are forced to deal with landlords that aren’t taking care of maintenance, not being responsible stewards of the building and leaving people in unsafe conditions. There are, I believe, 4,000 people on the wait-list to get into B.C. Housing. So when we talk about a balanced budget and everyone doing so great in British Columbia, why are 4,000 people waiting for housing? Let’s get real here.

I had mentioned earlier about this lottery. When it comes to that 4,000, people are crossing their fingers, pleading: “Please, please, can I get into affordable housing? I’ve got health concerns.” One of my constituents, because of her medical needs, couldn’t get up and down the stairs. She was begging to get into housing. People have to go to the media to get any action from this government.

As I had mentioned earlier, yes, when it comes time for the budget, there’s been an injection of money — $855 million to build 4,900 units, when we understand that there’s a need for approximately 10,000 units across British Columbia. We’re going to keep driving this homelessness across this province unless someone injects action pretty damn quick.

I would add that out of those 4,900 units that have been promised to be built, many of them won’t materialize until 2018. This is one of those bait-and-switch, make sure that British Columbians come to the light. They’re promised that they’re going to get balanced and prudent stewardship from the B.C. Liberals, and once they’re elected, we’ll have them on wait-lists.
[ Page 13974 ]

With respect to the opioid crisis and mental health issues, last year the B.C. coroner’s office reported that 914 people in B.C. passed away as a result of the opioid crisis. Today those numbers are climbing. Yet after declaring a public health emergency in April, the B.C. Liberals refuse to resource the services that are necessary in the Downtown Eastside and throughout this province in an effort to save lives. I say this because we know that this government had the data for three years. They knew that the fatalities were on the rise, yet they still waited and waited and waited and waited until they were forced to take action to save lives.

Now, I have to tell you that in my constituency office, this crisis has affected a large cross-section of my constituency. Constituents have come into our office to ask for support on their way to the morgue to pick up friends and family who have passed away. People have come in who can’t afford to pay for funeral services and have asked us to advocate for them. We have seen children who have lost parents in this crisis and who are now being disconnected from their families and landing up in foster care. Overall, our community office has heard from many constituents who are worried that not enough that is being done by this government.

When we talk about balance, a balanced budget, I think about balancing the quality of life for individuals in this province. Balance could have happened when we were addressing the opioid crisis by having a strategy in place that reduces the level of harm and has things like treatment on demand. I’m not sure how much was injected into this budget to provide that treatment, but I can assure you that people are probably on a wait-list.

With respect to small businesses, small businesses are the core of our economy. Over 388,000 small businesses are responsible for a third of British Columbia’s GDP and jobs for over a million people, which is just fantastic. Small businesses are an integral part of Vancouver–Mount Pleasant’s vibrant community. They generate new and local jobs. They provide a steady source of income to over a million individuals.

[1525]

They also contribute to the unique sense of identity that exists throughout constituencies. In Vancouver–Mount Pleasant, we’ve got the Drive; we’ve got Chinatown; we’ve got Railtown. But when I think of small businesses, I think of places like Wonderbucks, which was a longtime accessory store on the Drive that was forced to close its doors because it couldn’t afford the exorbitant real estate market and the high cost of rent, to keep the lights on, to keep the doors open. Small businesses are really feeling the squeeze.

So yes, we see in this budget that there was a lift, but let’s not forget the promise, back in 2013, that said that small businesses would have their corporate tax reduced to 1.5 percent. Now it’s 2 percent, so we’ll get there eventually. Again, what the Liberal government would like to do is remind British Columbians to be patient.

Well, on that note, let’s think about education. Fifteen years in the court. But the Supreme Court has spoken, and there was a victory for students in this province. My children, my daughters — my oldest is 13; my youngest is six. They don’t know what it means to have a staff complement that will make sure that they get the quality education they deserve.

Let’s recap. The B.C. Liberals spent a number of taxpayer dollars to take the teachers to court, to refuse the rights of children and their education in this province, and in the end, the Supreme Court of Canada has spoken.

Where are we now? We’ve got a commitment, $250 million a year, giving back to students. On the one hand, we should be grateful, I guess. But on the other hand, I have to point to the fact, and the fact is that for 16 years, kids…. I see up in the gallery that there are children in this gallery. Children have a right to an education. They have a right to a quality education. For 16 years, children in this province did not get that quality education.

The government will talk about….

Interjections.

M. Mark: Well, you know what? Special needs support…. We can go down the list, but I’m sure you don’t want me to waste your time.

Eleven schools were at the risk of closure in Vancouver–Mount Pleasant. People were running around worried about advocating, trying to keep the doors open. We can talk a lot about the government’s perception — or, pardon me, this illusion — that they’re committed to public education. But I have students that remind me each and every day that their needs are not being met.

When it comes time for the environment, there was barely a whisper, really, about reducing our carbon footprint. There was mention of Kinder Morgan. I had mentioned earlier that I think we have a duty to invest in our grandchildren’s well-being. We have to honour the rights of First Nations — the right to title, the Tsilhqot’in decision, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — and, really, to be pointing the dial in a direction that is going to reduce our carbon footprint.

Poverty. I don’t have much to say other than we still don’t have a poverty reduction strategy in B.C. So while this budget has efforts to inject a little program here and there, it doesn’t really paint an overall picture that’s going to reduce the systemic poverty that’s happening in this province.

Child care. There was an injection of money, 2,000 spaces, which is great. But in the end, my constituents are on wait-lists, or the child centres are being closed. So it depends on where you sit, but in my constituency of Vancouver–Mount Pleasant, I will add that people are doing more with less.

Let’s talk about truth and reconciliation for a moment. I wasn’t here for the throne speech. I was marching with
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the women at the 26th annual Women’s Memorial March. There have been thousands of indigenous women and girls that have been murdered and have gone missing in this province. The B.C. Liberal government has not committed to UNDRIP, the United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous people. They have not committed to the Truth and Reconciliation’s call to action. There is so much work to be done in the area of reconciliation.

I will add, for the record, that I sit in these chambers time and time again being told about reconciliation, but the important piece, when we talk about reconciliation, is not to forget the truth. There is the Truth and Reconciliation that’s going to guide us forward, that’s going to steer the canoe in the direction that’s going to make everyone’s lives better in this province.

Lastly I have a lot to say about children and families, given that I’m the spokesperson for children and families.

[1530]

All I’ll say with respect to this budget is that Chester was a young boy who died by suicide because his mental health needs weren’t met. Nick was a young boy whose parents had to charge him criminally so that he could get treatment — which really wasn’t treatment; it was jail. But it was the only way to keep him safe.

Another report came out of the representative’s office illustrating that over 100 kids were being sexually assaulted, sexually victimized — in foster care, I will add. A number of those kids, the majority of them, were indigenous. And let’s not forget the story of Alex Gervais, another indigenous child who was failed by this system.

When we speak to the budget, is it great that there has been an injection? Is it great that there has been a lift of 10 percent? Sure, but let’s not forget — because I know this government wants the people of British Columbia to forget — that there was an undercutting, an underfunding since 2001, by 25 percent — a constant gouge at the system for children and family. It has really, essentially, led children to be on the streets, as we talked about in these chambers earlier today.

[R. Lee in the chair.]

I want to close by saying that we know that we’ve got a Premier…. I think a media source claimed her as the Diva of Deflection. I know that this government wants the beautiful people of British Columbia to forget everything. But I’m going to add all of those points that I raised earlier. We are running a social deficit in this province. The people in my community are doing the best they can. They are hustling, they are working hard. This government had every chance to pay it forward.

This government, if they were committed to balance, would be lifting as they climb, all along the way, not showing up 16 years later with these random acts of kindness, these random acts of generosity, showing that they’re so committed to the well-being and the welfare of British Columbians when that clearly isn’t the case. We see these huge lifts, which signals to me that you weren’t there from the start.

I know this government likes to do the bait-and-switch. I know this government likes to tell us that it’s all about triple-A ratings and how great everything is in this province. But I believe I made the case that British Columbians deserve better in this province. And as…. I think his name was John Lennon. Let’s let John Lennon remind us about the power of the people. The power to the people will be left to them on May 9.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak on behalf of Vancouver–Mount Pleasant. Haawaa.

Hon. Michelle Stilwell: It is certainly my pleasure, and I am so proud to be standing, sitting here today, to support a government that supports British Columbians, our communities and our businesses. I’m proud to be here to support Budget 2017 because it is our government’s fifth consecutive balanced budget.

I am pleased to be here today to share the truth about the budget — not the way the member opposite has described the budget, which couldn’t be further from the truth. I want to stick to the facts, as the MLA for Parksville-Qualicum and the Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation. We here on this side of the House stand behind the budget. This fifth consecutive balanced budget is an outstanding accomplishment all on its own, but there is so much more to recognize.

Deputy Speaker: Minister, the member for Powell River–Sunshine Coast would like to make an introduction.

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

N. Simons: I’m sorry, to the minister, to interrupt her remarks.

We have some guests in the gallery who I’d like to introduce. They are residents of Powell River and Campbell River. It’s my pleasure to welcome them to the people’s House. We have Balraj, Simran, Jaswinder, Lavpreet, Makhan and Gurbux Sunnar, and Bobby Sunar, who’s a proud grade 5 student from Assumption School. Will the House please help me welcome them to this place.

Debate Continued

Hon. Michelle Stilwell: Thank you, Member opposite, for allowing me to continue, and welcome to your guests.

As I was saying, it’s our fifth consecutive balanced budget. It really is an outstanding accomplishment all on its own, but there is so much more to say about the balanced budget.

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We are leading the way in so many other areas. We have an economy that is racing along. It is stronger and outshines any other province, and it’s doing so consistently. We actually have become stronger during an extremely difficult global economic time. We’re making record numbers and levels of capital investments, and we have the strongest economy and the lowest unemployment rate in all of Canada. We provide some of the most comprehensive supports for individuals and families who need that extra hand, who need that little bit of extra stability and security for the future that they dream for themselves and their children.

This is what’s possible when you have a government that’s actually focused on fiscal responsibility. Every time we reduce the province’s debt, we reduce the interest payments that we pay on those debts, thereby freeing up more resources for things like tax relief and spending increases in critical areas, which we see over and over in this budget.

When you compare B.C. to the other provinces that don’t have a triple-A credit rating, you’ll certainly find some not so fiscally responsible governments that are mortgaging their future, that are putting the future at risk for their children and their grandchildren. It’s certainly how the NDP would be running things in this province if they had the chance. Just go ask our neighbours to the east in Alberta. Ask them what it’s like. Just look at how much in additional interest that they are now paying.

The NDP have no problem spending more than the government takes in, spending beyond their means and, as a result, in return, paying billions of dollars of taxpayer money in debt-servicing fees — billions of dollars that could go towards infrastructure and capital investments in schools and in health care.

Our government is spending 25 percent less than Alberta, on a per-person basis just to deliver the same services to the public, and we have better outcomes. This fifth consecutive balanced budget allows our government to continue to make those increased investments in the supports that are truly helping individuals and families in need across this province. It demonstrates it in spades.

Let’s look at health care for a moment. When we talk about those investments, affordable health care and maintaining good health is important to everyone in British Columbia. It’s important to me, it’s important to my constituents — and many of those are seniors — and it’s important to this government. That’s why 41 percent of Budget 2017 is specifically devoted to health care.

In last year’s budget, we saw changes made that resulted in almost two million people paying no MSP premiums as of January 2017. That’s two million people across this province that are paying zero dollars, nothing — nothing at all to receive the quality health care that they need and they deserve.

Now, with Budget 2017, we’re going even further with those investments. Beginning January 1, 2018, the first step that we are taking to eliminate the MSP premiums entirely is to reduce the premiums by 50 percent for households with an annual net income of up to $120,000, which means that the rates will actually match where they were in 1993. It means that approximately two million more people in British Columbia will have their MSP premiums cut in half — up to $900 in their pockets to help support them and their families.

It’s not what the members opposite would do. No, they’d like to hide it in the tax system. They’d still be paying MSP; people just wouldn’t know that they’re paying it because it wouldn’t be seen. They wouldn’t see it happening. It would be hidden in the tax system. We, however, on this side of the House, are working towards eliminating it completely for British Columbians.

Although the members opposite would like you to think that there’s really nothing in the budget for seniors, that, again, couldn’t be further from reality. Not only will 90 percent of seniors households have reduced or zero MSP premiums, but there are significant other investments being made for seniors in health-related projects: $25 million is going to improve surgical wait-lists this year; $20 million will fund four new MRI machines, one of which will be in my community, in Nanaimo.

There are two hospitals coming to Vancouver Island, one in Courtenay-Comox and one in Campbell River. That’s $606 million in investment for Vancouver Island — not to mention the $417 million investment in the Royal Inland patient tower in Kamloops or the new patient tower in Penticton Regional Hospital or St. Paul’s Hospital. Millions upon millions of dollars in investment for British Columbians all over this province.

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This is on top of the many benefits that seniors already will see included in the $20 billion for care, such as publicly subsidized residential care services, assisted-living services, home support services, allocated all into this fiscal plan — not to mention that there’s a federal agreement now that we have with the Minister of Health for the health care transfer dollars that will be coming and be designated specifically for home care supports for seniors. Low-income seniors also benefit from Fair PharmaCare, the B.C. bus pass program, the home-renovation tax credit, the property tax deferral program, the B.C. Ferries discount — so many opportunities for seniors in this budget.

The Ministry of Health is seeing a $4.2 billion increase in the next three years, significant dollars to increase and provide and enhance the services to help people. And $100 million of that will combat the growth of mental health and substance abuse challenges taking place throughout British Columbia to support our citizens, particularly youth, who need some extra help to overcome those situations.

We’re certainly responding to the clear challenge in this province with mental health and addictions. We have to combat it now, and we have to do it quickly.
[ Page 13977 ]

We’re doing just that: $45 million is going to the Ministry of Children and Families for more mental health counselling and treatment for children, $12 million is going to create up to 28 additional specialized youth addiction treatment beds, $5 million is being earmarked to support mental health services for post-secondary students, and another $11 million in the next three years is to support the B.C. Centre on Substance Use. Youth in every community will benefit from these targeted investments that will help ensure our younger generation have the tools they need to heal.

We’re also investing in our communities. We’re investing in industry, which is essential to make sure that British Columbians have access to training opportunities and good-paying jobs. We certainly recognize that British Columbians need safe and modernized infrastructure, so we’re building it. We know that British Columbians need an improved education system, so we’re transforming it.

A good education is important to every parent and every child. A good education is what prepares students for the rest of their lives, and we’re working on that. Budget 2017 includes $740 million over the next three years to help with the education budget. This is substantial investment. It includes $228 million to fund increased enrolment in B.C. schools. It’s also for the rural education enhancement fund. There are salary costs for K to 12. We’re eliminating the cost of bus transportation for regular students so that they can get to school, savings the parents will see this year.

We have created a path of success, of growth and opportunity, and the work is not done. We will continue.

When it come to post-secondary education, Vancouver Island University is right in the heart of my region. It’s one of the most highly sought-after educational facilities in the province. Students are looking for the skills in technology, in manufacturing and in other in-demand areas that are preparing them for the jobs that are opening in the market now and in the future.

Vancouver Island University offers an outstanding educational experience for its 16,000 students, and I am thrilled to see that Budget 2017 also includes a $2.6 billion post-secondary education infrastructure plan that will ensure today’s students are prepared for the million job openings that are expected by 2025.

I know that I spent time at Vancouver Island University in the last year announcing some of this great investment. We’ve seen a new science building coming to VIU, and new trade seats were recently announced for the marine, automotive and trades complex — investments that are making a difference right in my region for the students that are calling Parksville-Qualicum, Oceanside, home.

Let me turn my attention for a few moments now to affordable housing. I can certainly say that our government continues to make concrete actions to address the housing supply and improve housing affordability for middle-class and vulnerable families all over the province. This year alone we have added $159 million to help low-income families and seniors through our rental assistance program. That’s helping those individuals who are already in place to pay for their rents.

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There is another $2 million in the home renovation tax credit for the seniors and those people with disabilities around the province to increase their accessibility in their homes. But the one that I’m most proud of, the one I think is truly significant, is $920 million — that’s almost $1 billion — of support in the creation of 5,300 affordable housing units around this province to help seniors, people with disabilities, those with barriers, health, mental health addictions.

This is very exciting for communities everywhere, but particularly my constituency. I know that we’ve had some local groups that will have the opportunity to access that portion of the funding to allow for more affordable units to be built in Parksville-Qualicum, benefitting the communities in the areas and the entire region that I represent. I’ve been working very hard and very closely with our homelessness task force to find just this kind of solution for our community.

On top of that, for an estimated 42,000 people that are first-time homebuyers — including young adults, couples and families that are just starting out — we now have the B.C. HOME partnership program, which will provide $700 million in mortgage down payment assistance loans over the next three years through this budget, giving those opportunities to those young families, those young individuals to get into the market of home ownership and to buy their first home. The threshold for the first-time homebuyers has been increased to $500,000, saving first-time homebuyers up to $8,000 in property transfer tax on the purchase of their first home.

These are programs that the NDP would eliminate. They would shut them down. They wouldn’t be available for people in our province, if they had the opportunity.

I’ll turn my attention now to my Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation, because our government is making investments that are essential to the vulnerable people and families, the individuals and the children of this province that need the extra support.

Our goal in our ministry is to ensure that those families and individuals have the help and support they need, that they have options and that they have opportunities to create the life that they want for themselves and their families. So this year, between the Ministry of Children and Families and myself, we are investing $796 million in support; $267 million of that is to strengthen children and youth programs and services and to provide supports and additional staff to keep families together — this despite that the child care caseload is continuing to decline. We are also investing $20 million in child care to build 2,000 more child care spaces.
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My ministry alone is receiving $510 million in new funding over the next three years. That will strengthen the social safety net that we already have in place to help those individuals and those families that are in need. It includes $199 million over three years to further increase the rates for people with disabilities. It’s the second increase in a row. Two years in a row we have been able to increase the amount of support for people with disabilities.

I am also seeing money to support the caseload pressures that we see, $175 million. As well, CLBC — Community Living British Columbia, a Crown corporation — will see $135 million to support their caseload needs so that they can better serve the families of British Columbia.

It’s my responsibility and the responsibility of the thousands of dedicated staff that work each and every day in my ministry to deliver those supports and the tools to allow British Columbians to fully participate in their communities and become more independent. I am grateful for the support of all my ministry staff to allow us to function each and every day to provide those supports to the British Columbians who rely on us.

One of those supports that I am truly and infinitely proud of is the single-parent employment initiative. It is a program of one of a kind. Nowhere in Canada will you find such an exhaustive, comprehensive support for single parents. The single-parent employment initiative helps single parents who are on income assistance or disability assistance overcome those employment barriers. We provide them with education, up to a year, for an in-demand job. We pay for their daycare, we pay for their tuition, and we pay for their transportation to school, all while they maintain their income assistance cheques so that they have a roof over their head and food on the table.

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The program is exceeding our expectations. When we first started the program and had the idea, we thought maybe 200 or 300 people would take part in the program. But today we have 4,450 individuals who are making their way through the program at various stages of their assessments, of their education, of their training, on their way into employment.

We have now seen 861 single parents leave income assistance and find their way into secure jobs. That means that 861 single parents that were once struggling to get by and to get back into the workforce are now earning a stable income. They are joining the booming workforce that we have here in British Columbia, with more people working now in this province than ever before. They are a part of it, and they are having a brighter future for themselves and their children. Again, it’s a program that the NDP would scrap.

Let’s talk a little bit about some of the other innovative changes that we’ve made in my ministry over the last few years. In 2015, B.C. became the first province in Canada to fully exempt child support payments. In 2016, we were the second province to exempt EI, maternity and parental benefits.

Well, Budget 2017 now builds on those adjustments and policy changes to further support families who are receiving income or disability assistance by providing $8 million over the next three years to exempt even more additional child-related benefits — a move that will benefit approximately 1,000 more children and 600 families per year. This means that British Columbia will have the most comprehensive exemptions when it comes to child-related benefits and payments in all of Canada.

As I mentioned, Community Living is seeing an increase in their supports, and 3,000 more people across the province will be seeing increased services through Community Living B.C.

You can see from what I’ve been sharing with you that Budget 2017 demonstrates to B.C. families that our government is listening. We’re committing to taking those steps that will benefit them directly.

B.C. has weathered an economic storm that many jurisdictions have not been able to overcome. We haven’t just survived this storm; we’re thriving like never before. Part of that has to do with the B.C. jobs plan and our government’s actions to increase our economic prosperity. British Columbia is now leading Canada in economic growth, in job growth. Our unemployment rate is now the lowest in Canada, and our government’s efforts and actions are paying off.

They are changing people’s lives for the better. They’re changing our businesses for the better, and they are changing our communities for the better. Certainly, the changes that we’ve made and the investments and the fiscal prudence that we’ve had are helping people realize that their dreams are achievable and that there are no barriers to success and happiness but the limitations you set upon yourself.

We will continue to see more and more positive things happen in the coming year and new investments coming to further support families, seniors, single parents, children and those in need around this province. We do that and we are able to do that because we’re keeping our financial house in order. Our government is able to make those investments that are lifting British Columbians to a higher ground. We’re able to invest the surpluses that we’ve secured over the past few years and put them to work for British Columbians.

Hon. Speaker, I realize that I, perhaps, didn’t share too much about my community. I hope you will give me a few minutes to talk a little bit about my community and some of the important people that really have allowed me to be here today.

It certainly is my great privilege and my honour to represent the incredible people of Parksville-Qualicum. Together they make up five very distinct commun-
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ities: Parksville-Qualicum, the city of Nanaimo, the town of Qualicum Beach, the town of Lantzville and the rural region of Nanoose Bay. Of course, we have three First Nations, as well, with the Snaw-Naw-As, the Snuneymuxw and the Qualicum First Nations.

There are 54,000 people in the riding. Some of them are the most committed and caring families I have ever met — the most committed and caring seniors, students, community organizations and businesses that I have the pleasure to work with and interact with on a daily basis.

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I am so incredibly fortunate to work on their behalf here in Victoria. They each invest time, in their own way, in making sure that our communities are prosperous and that our citizens and the visitors that come to our communities have an opportunity to experience our local way of coastal life. It’s because of them that our picturesque little piece of Vancouver Island has remained a very quaint, family- and senior-oriented area, while we still have continued business growth and investments that are coming to the community, a community that has great spirit and is becoming more and more vibrant every year.

I’m certainly lucky to call Parksville-Qualicum home and to call those people my friends and my neighbours. I certainly acknowledge that Parksville-Qualicum has so much that draws people to be there. Not only is it an affordable place to live, but it has great transportation networks. It has schools that are fantastic, and amenities — golf courses, beaches. The great wild outdoors is right next door for residents to enjoy — the lakes. There’s skiing just an hour away. You name it; we have it in Parksville-Qualicum.

We have new families who are laying down their roots and new businesses that are drawn to the lifestyle, to the community and to the natural beauty that’s offered there. We certainly have a vigorous tourism sector and a growing film industry, and we are seeing many technology companies pouring into the region.

The tech sector, as we know, is wildly successful throughout B.C. It boasts stats like wages 75 percent higher than the average in British Columbia. Four years ago we only had 12 tech companies in Parksville-Qualicum, and today there are 164. That’s 1,450 employees, 1,450 families benefiting from tech growth in our region, and the projections tell us that’s going to double in the next three to five years.

These are positive and significant markers of a very healthy community and a healthy economy in Parksville-Qualicum. Simply put, Parksville-Qualicum is a great place to live, to work, to play, to start a business, to raise a family. Indeed, it’s where I choose to raise my family, and I’m proud to call it my home. Of course, I’m no doubt somewhat biased by it, because Parksville-Qualicum and my constituents…. I know every one of my fellow colleagues would brag that the communities they represent are the best.

I certainly feel that I’m very fortunate to have the incredible opportunity to work with some of the local mayors, the hard-working mayors — Teunis Westbroek from Qualicum Beach, Marc Lefebvre from Parksville, Mayor Bill McKay of Nanaimo and Colin Haime in Lantzville — and Chief Recalma from the Qualicum First Nation, Chief Brent Edwards from the Snaw-Naw-As and, of course, John Wesley of the Snuneymuxw. We also have the regional district of Nanaimo in our community. I work with the chair, Bill Veenhof, as well. It’s just an incredible community to support.

When I say I work with them, I know I couldn’t do it without my staff in my constituency office. I have Tamie Nohr, Krista Bryce and Shayne Blandin, who work tirelessly every day to give the best customer service they can for the people who come into my office who need that support. I certainly couldn’t do the job of an MLA without their hard work and their incredible support, as well as the support here in Victoria with my staff in the office here.

The two people who support me the most are, of course, my husband, Mark, and my amazing son, Kai, who take up a lot of slack when I’m not home. They have to do far more dishes, cook for themselves and do their own laundry. I certainly appreciate the ability to be here today to represent the people, and they give me that opportunity by supporting me in the background. They keep me going every day so that I can keep going for the constituents of Parksville-Qualicum.

I note that my time is running low. I just want to finish with the fact that in the last four years since I was elected to represent the people of Parksville-Qualicum and serve the people of the entire province, it has been my privilege to do so. I am proud to stand beside our Premier for her vision for this province.

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I am certainly disappointed that the NDP have not seen the light, that they don’t seem to understand that supporting projects…. Saying no to everything, saying no to Site C, saying no to Kinder Morgan, no to LNG, no to mining projects and no to infrastructure means that you’re saying no to jobs, no to the workers, no to securing the future for future generations, no to the investments that allow us to make the money that we need so we can make those investments in the seniors, the health care and the education of this province.

I’m proud to be part of a team of colleagues who are truly making a difference in British Columbia, creating jobs, growing a strong, diverse economy and investing in the infrastructure and the services that people need.

We have a plan. We’re sticking to the plan. Progress is being made. I am certainly excited to see the progress that will be made and the positive outcomes of our government that we’ll bring to the citizens all over British Columbia.
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J. Darcy: Let me begin by thanking the wonderful people of New Westminster who give me the honour of representing them here in this Legislature. It is an honour to represent them every single day.

When I listen to the budget, I always listen to it through their eyes and through their ears. I listen for the human impact, because budgets are about choices. We all know that. We look to see what is in every budget and what choices this Premier and this government have made.

I have to say, this is my first time sitting in this Legislature as MLA for a pre-election budget. I was elected almost four years ago. I have sat here, certainly, and I have witnessed — year after year, week after week, month after month — a whole lot of broken promises that were made before the last election.

Like the GP for Me. Every British Columbian would have a GP for Me by 2015. It’s now 2017, and the number of people without a family doctor has gone up, not down. “Health care where you need it, when you need it,” yet we know we have the longest wait-lists in the country, in many cases — and, in some cases, for MRIs, some of the longest in the developed world.

We were promised 100,000 new LNG jobs. No mention of LNG. As the member sitting beside me said, those are popular consonants — L, N, G — but they don’t appear together anywhere in this budget.

Not only that, no matter how many times the members opposite like to repeat their message box and repeat the message about the great and booming economy, the reality is that most of the jobs that have been created — and people in my community can attest to that — are part-time jobs, casual jobs or low-wage jobs, not good, family-supporting jobs that our communities depend on.

The prosperity fund that we were promised, $1 a trillion, was going to wipe out not just our deficits; it was going to ensure that we took care of health care, education and social services forever. All of a sudden, we don’t hear those words anymore.

A poverty reduction strategy? Nothing about that in this budget. When my local paper, the New West Record, asked me last week, after the budget had been introduced, what grade I would give this budget, I had to say: “Well, it’s an F.” I said to the reporter: “F, because it’s an attempt by the Premier to get us to forget everything about the last 16 years of neglect.”

The reality in my community is, as elsewhere across British Columbia, most people are living paycheque to paycheque. In my community, as across the Lower Mainland and the province, we have an enormous affordable housing crisis. We have children who are still learning in unsafe schools.

We had a march last weekend, as in many communities — the Coldest Night of the Year march — to ensure that we raise money for homeless seniors. What kind of a concept is that, that we actually have to do fundraising in order to ensure that seniors in our community are not homeless? We had a wonderful turnout. We always do, because it’s an incredibly caring community, but surely no one, and especially our not seniors, should be homeless.

People talk to me all the time about more and more out-of-pocket expenses that they’re experiencing. The affordability crisis extends in so many fields, not just housing but people paying more and more out of pocket for health care expenses like physio, eye exams and prescription drugs, and making unacceptable choices — month to month, which prescription can they afford to fill. “Maybe I’ll do this one this month, this one next month.” Those are medical decisions, but they’re making them because of an affordability crisis.

Tuition fees. Other people have spoken about that. Students who graduate from post-secondary education carry an enormous lifelong debt.

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Let me just talk about some of the human impact of this, going through some of the key issues that affect my community.

On education. You know, I never cease to be amazed at the audacity of the Premier and the members opposite to say in this budget and in the throne speech: “We are so excited that we now have the opportunity to invest in classrooms, to invest in public education.” It’s as if the Premier wanted to do this all along and something was holding her back. But we know that it’s because this government and this Premier chose to invest in courtrooms, not in classrooms. That means that education funding fell from second best to second worst in British Columbia.

How can we brag about being the best place on earth and having a thriving economy when we’re not investing as we should be in our children’s education?

What does that mean in classrooms in New Westminster, as it does across the province? It means that during that 16 years, an entire generation of children have been robbed of the best possible education, the best possible education for every single child. That hurts special needs children, absolutely, because if we don’t catch those problems early, give them the supports that they need, they will fall into greater difficulty later in life. They’ll drop out of school. They run into problems with the justice system. They cost the health care system more. It really weakens their employment opportunities in the future as well.

Underfunding a public education also hurts all children, because unless there are the resources in the classroom to support all children, everyone in the classroom suffers. But this Premier expects us to forget 16 years of attacks on public education and 16 years of neglect. I can say that the people of New Westminster are not about to forget that 16 years of neglect of public education.

The people in my community — the parents in my community, and students — are also very, very concerned about seismic upgrades to our schools that are
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long overdue. Students surely have the right to learn in schools that are safe. We all know what risks we’re at, living here in British Columbia. Yet that’s an area that has been ignored year after year.

Parents raise this with me all the time, especially as it relates to our oldest school, McBride Elementary. Richard McBride Elementary is almost 90 years old and is desperately in need of a seismic upgrade. It’s our oldest operating school. It was built in 1929 after a fire destroyed the original building. The 87-year-old classroom blocks and the gymnasium have been deemed to be at high risk of structural failure, and we can’t afford to let that go on any longer.

Let me talk about child care. I’m hosting child care forums in my community. I’m hosting….

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members.

J. Darcy: Thank you. I’ve been hosting child care forums in my community. The members opposite — who are heckling, who choose to heckle instead of listen — know very well that in British Columbia, we have the second-highest child care fees in all of Canada. There is a massive affordability crisis when it comes to child care. Parents are paying as much as an average of $10,000 a year for child care, more than university tuition. It’s $10,000 a year, and the regulated spaces are available for only 27 percent of the children under five who need them.

Now, I say $10,000 a year, but I can tell you the message I’ve received at these round tables that I’ve been organizing. Parents are routinely paying $1,000 a month, $1,200 a month, and, as one mom told me last week, $2,500 a month for child care — $2,500 a month. Nothing in this budget about affordable child care, yet the Premier expects us to forget 16 years of neglecting affordable child care.

Let me talk about other aspects of affordability. We have this awesome group of seniors. They’re called the Notable 90s. They meet at Century House every month. They’re all over 90. That’s why they’re called the Notable 90s.

One woman wrote to me. She’s 91 years old. She wrote to me, and she said: “I was listening to the government’s budget, and there’s nothing in there for me.” Through her life, she said, she’s worked two jobs and raised three children. She worked until she was 74.

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Prices are going up for hydro, food, maintenance on her building, but her income is still fixed. She receives CPP and OAS. She owns her own home. Maybe she should sell it, but she worries about how long her money would last if she had to pay the kind of rents that she would have no choice but to pay. She’s very concerned about the affordability issues that she faces every single day.

She thinks seniors deserve more, and she wishes there was something in the budget for someone like her. She is struggling to remain independent, but she’s struggling to continue with her financial situation as prices increase and her fixed income remains stagnant. Ninety-one years old.

The issue of MSP — I hear about this, next to housing and workers compensation. I probably hear about MSP more than any other issue. People come into my constituency office about it constantly. And the fact that this government has raised MSP premiums, a flat health care tax, by over 100 percent since they came to power in 2001…. People experienced that. They are suffering because of that every single day.

The Premier expects that because she has made a promise that will begin to take effect eight months after the election, somehow people in my community are going to forget that MSP premiums have gone up by 100 percent. She expects people to agree to just trust her. I don’t think that’s going to happen.

On the issue of affordable housing, we’ve had postcards about affordable housing, and these are some of the comments that people have shared on them. “The rental housing situation is unacceptable,” one person says. “Why hasn’t the government addressed this sooner?” Good question. After the official opposition has been raising this for two years and after the crisis has gotten out of control…. “Finally,” we say. Tiny steps, many of which have made some of the situation worse.

Another person says: “Canadians who’ve worked all of their lives have become homeless due to your substandard housing policies.” Another person says, “The lack of affordable housing is a disgrace,” and “For people to be turned out of rental units for renovictions is shameful when there is nowhere else for them to go within their means,” and “Sympathetic platitudes don’t cut it. For the government to have any credibility, we need immediate action.”

Another person says: “Renters in B.C. are in a crisis. Your government has let the people of B.C. down. We need long-term housing. We need more co-ops with subsidies — another area where this Liberal government has failed people.” Another one says: “I’m tired of being pressed out of my home. I don’t want to leave Metro Vancouver because of this.”

Another person says: “My fiancé and I are both education professionals, and we struggle to see a future where we’ll be able to afford a place large enough to raise a family.” Finally, someone says: “Make the whole spectrum of affordable housing a priority in your ministry. In the past decade, the government has destroyed the income-based rental stock. It’s very important in my neighbourhood to maintain existing standardized rental income housing.”

I will say that our mayor and city council of New Westminster have done everything within their power
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to ensure that we not only protect existing rental housing stock and affordable housing but create more family-friendly housing. But they need a government in Victoria that will be behind them to support those initiatives.

Finally, on the housing issue, let me share a story from a constituent of mine, Reza. His wife and two sons aged seven and four are refugees from Afghanistan. They arrived last May. They’re currently living in a 490-square-foot apartment. They’re on the wait-list for B.C. Housing. They’re located on the third floor, without an elevator. The only access to their unit is by taking stairs located outside of the building. The laundry is located in the basement at the opposite end of the building, and they have to take the outside staircase.

A few weeks ago Reza’s wife, who is pregnant with their third child, due in July 2017, fell on the icy steps as she was taking the laundry down to the basement. Reza took her to the hospital to check on the health of the unborn baby. Fortunately, the mother and child were fine. But Reza is especially desperate for safe, affordable and appropriate housing; 490 square feet is far from enough room for what will soon be a family of five. As a refugee, Reza is on social assistance while he’s taking English language courses and applying for jobs. Their rent — $1,050 a month. Electricity is over $100 a month. And when they live on social assistance, it leaves them nothing, virtually, for the rest of their expenses.

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There are 10,000 people on the wait-list for B.C. Housing. And $375 a month is what they’re allowed? I challenge the Premier and the Housing Minister to go out and see where — not just in the Lower Mainland but anywhere in this province — they could find housing for $375 a month.

Earlier this week the mayors of the Lower Mainland, including the mayor of New Westminster, issued a report about homelessness in the Lower Mainland. They talked about what a serious, serious crisis it is and called for 3,000 more units of transitional housing to be built by the end of 2019. The Minister for Housing and the Premier panned it. They pooh-poohed it. They basically said the mayors were making things up. Hon. Speaker, they have their ear to the ground. My mayor has his ear to the ground, and he knows what’s happening in our community.

That report said that 80 percent of homeless people in the region also have a chronic health issue, 49 percent have an addiction, 34 percent suffer from mental illness, and 31 percent of people who are homeless are of First Nations descent, even though only 3 percent of the region’s population is First Nations. They also pointed out that the region’s homeless population has steadily increased over the past 15 years. They called on the Premier once again — and once again were ignored — saying: “We need a poverty reduction strategy, and the province of B.C. is absolutely critical to prevent homelessness.”

Let me speak now about health care. I have the opportunity to travel this province to hear from people right across the province — emails, phone calls, meetings all the time — both in my community office, as well as in various parts of the province. I have to say, when it comes to seniors care in particular: what an incredible disappointment this budget was.

There is no fix to seniors care in this budget. In fact, there was not one word about seniors in this budget, even though the Health Minister rose later on during question period to say: “This is a seniors budget.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a budget called a seniors budget where there isn’t the word “seniors” even appearing in it. There’s also the continual and chronic underfunding of our health authorities.

The seniors crisis is 15 years in the making, and it is getting worse. Over a year ago, in response to the seniors advocate reports, in response to the official opposition raising issues about quality of seniors care and staffing hours, day after day, week after week, the Health Minister finally said: “Well, we’re going to be doing an investigation. We’re going to be doing a review of staffing levels in our care homes.” Have we heard anything about it since? No, we haven’t.

That was in response to a seniors advocate report that said 82 percent of care homes weren’t meeting the government’s own staffing guidelines of 3.36 hours of care. The Premier promised and the Health Minister promised that it’s going to get better. The seniors advocate report for 2016 came out just a few weeks ago. What did it say? The situation has gotten worse. Now it’s 91 percent of care homes that aren’t meeting that staffing standard. What does that mean? Talk to people on the front line. Talk to family members.

The bath is the first thing to go, because there’s also short-staffing all the time. The bath is the first thing to go. If there is time for a bath, it’s 20 minutes. How many people in this chamber, if they take a bath, do it for only 20 minutes? And it’s a senior, for whom, like with food, this can be a really important part of their week, of their lives. But that gets dropped. It’s the first thing to be dropped. Sometimes it’s two weeks; sometimes it’s three weeks.

It’s the indignity of not being brought to the bathroom in time, not being toileted in time and having to soil your clothing and soil the bedsheets that you’re lying in. It’s about being gotten up first thing, really early in the morning, and having to sit doing nothing for hours, sometimes, before feeding time, again because of understaffing. Most important of all, it’s about the care staff not having the time to just listen to a senior, to hold their hands, to listen to their stories, to comfort them in their fear and in their isolation.

The Health Minister and the Premier take it as a badge of honour that we are the second-lowest in funding for health care in the country. But we’re doing that at whose
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expense? We’re doing it at the expense of vulnerable seniors.

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A nurse who works at Royal Columbian Hospital came to see me a while ago and talked to me about the continual emergency room congestion there. On a typical day, 16 patients are…. When they’re overflowing the emergency room, they put them in surgical daycare overnight. Then during the day, when that’s needed, they bring them up to the hospital wards. Then they bring them down at night — hardly quality care, hardly continuity of care. These are people who are seriously ill. They’re admitted to the emergency room.

And home care…. This nurse said to me, “You know, we help patients to go home more quickly. We release them sicker and quicker” — as the saying goes — “but we’re failing them because we don’t have the support services to help them when they’re at home.” So she says: “It’s a revolving door in the emergency room.”

The lack of home support means they end up in the emergency room, sometimes more ill than they were when they left. So we’ve reduced the length of stay. The Health Minister loves to brag about that. We’ve reduced the length of stay in hospitals, but then far too many of them end up being readmitted.

And what about the wait-list? I have spoken at great length in this House about wait-lists for hip replacements and knee replacements. But it doesn’t just affect people who need joint replacements, like seniors. The story of a five-year-old boy in my community whose mother wrote to the health authority, wrote to the Minister of Health, was reported…. I raised this issue in the Legislature and was ignored repeatedly. Her five-year-old son waited 14 months to get about the simplest surgical procedure that you can imagine — a tube in his ear so that he could hear. Fourteen months.

He ended up starting school in September not being able to hear. We all know what happens in classrooms. It’s so easy for children to be labelled problem kids, for them to act out, for them to be disruptive. This child couldn’t hear. He had a disability that could have been fixed. Eventually, he got that surgery. But his mother, a few months after he had started school, decided to take his story public because she didn’t want it to happen to other children across British Columbia.

But I don’t see anything in this budget that prevents that from happening to the hundreds of other kids like Leo. What does the minister do in that situation? They blame the doctors. They blame the parents. They don’t know how to navigate the system.

Fourteen months for a child to be able to hear when he starts school is an abomination. It’s an abomination that should not happen with a Premier and a government that brags that this is the best place on earth to live.

Another young person, this one in his 30s — I guess age is a relative thing, but he’s certainly a young man. He was referred by his GP to the UBC sleep clinic. He had a sleep disorder. The doctor said he thought the wait would be six months to a year. Then he got a call from the clinic at the end of September, and he was told the wait to get into the sleep disorder clinic would be until September, 2019. He was referred in the fall of 2016. He was told there was a three-year wait. And sleep disorders can lead to serious, serious problems. Serious problems — a greater risk of heart attack and stroke; less attention and more likelihood of vehicle accidents; better chance of depression, anxiety; productivity significantly reduced and lost time from work as a result.

Let me come back to seniors care. I’ve had the opportunity to speak to so many care aides, especially who work on the front lines of seniors care. And this is what I heard very recently from a woman who works as a care aide in Cranbrook.

What does it mean that 3.36 hours of care aren’t provided in every care facility? She says: “Well, very simply, you have to say to the senior, to the resident, ‘You need to wait. Sorry, I just can’t do that. Sorry, I know you need to go to the toilet. I just can’t take you to the toilet right now.’”

And she said: “This is not what I expected when I became a care aide.” She also says it takes two people to get someone on a lift. And sometimes they’re so short-staffed — only one person on a shift for ten or 12 frail, elderly residents — and she has nobody to help her.

What does that mean? It’s about not getting toileted in time, but it also means her not being able to get the resident to be able to get a bath a week. It’s rush, rush, rush, rush, rush. And where she works there are routinely ten or 12 residents on a unit, with only one person to care for them.

[1625]

That includes a 57-year-old person, a stroke patient, who is going to the gym regularly, is trying his absolute best to recover so that he doesn’t have to stay in residential care. He’s very active. He’s not confined to a bed. He really wants to get better. He is not only in a ward with people with dementia, but even someone like that, who’s incredibly active, only gets one bath a week.

For home support…. The home support workers I talk to, whether they’re in Victoria, in Kamloops, in Salmon Arm, Vernon or New Westminster, are rushed off their feet. They say there is no time for the compassion that they want to show. It is a thankless job. They go to bed worrying because they weren’t able to provide the compassionate care that they want to provide to the clients in their homes.

They say their clients are much more complex than they used to be. Some of those clients…. And I know this because I used to deliver for Meals on Wheels in my community. Sometimes that home support worker is the only person that you see in the course of a week. Some people don’t have family members, or they live far away. They depend on them. And there are more and more
[ Page 13984 ]
people living at home who have dementia, who are in early stages of dementia and Alzheimer’s. They could cope if they had more support at home, but frankly, the support is just not there.

Let me finish with a story from my community. I met a few months ago with a lovely woman by the name of Joanne Holme. She came to see me about her mother, Jean Roberta Holme. At 89 years old, she said, her mom Jean was remarkably healthy for her age. Her health started deteriorating last June. She had lots of visits to the doctor. Eventually, she ended up in the emergency room at Royal Columbian Hospital where she had what Joanne said was an unacceptably long wait, especially when you’re 89 years old.

Her mom had a CAT scan. They discovered there was something serious going on in her stomach. She was told she had to do a scope the next morning. Her mom would need to stay in hospital overnight. All the beds were full, so where did this 89-year-old woman sleep? She had to sleep on a recliner overnight. The next day they did the scope, admitted her and put her on IV. Her iron levels were low.

She said: “My mom’s really sharp for her age, but the staff were so rushed that nobody had the time to be able to tell her what was going on with her.” They got the results of the scope back, and it indicated that Jean had cancer. Even though Joanne’s sister, who’s a nurse, camped out with her mom in the hospital every day while she was there, one evening, when she happened not to be there, palliative care brochures were dropped off for her mom without anyone having the time to tell her that she had cancer.

Later, Jean was woken up at night and told that surgery was too risky, that it wouldn’t be possible. She had been given a sleeping pill. She was a bit confused. She didn’t really remember the next day what she had been told. The family tried and tried and tried to see a doctor, to see someone who could give them a full sense of the diagnosis, but after a few days her mom was discharged from the hospital before the family had been given the opportunity to meet with anyone to talk about what happens next.

She began radiation. Eventually her health got worse. She had more trips to the hospital. Again, the emergency room was so overcrowded, such long waits, such understaffing that she couldn’t even get a glass of water. Finally, Jean Holmes said: “I’m sick of hospitals. I want to be moved into hospice.”

Joanne said they had so much recordkeeping to do at that point. The GP couldn’t approve her admission to hospice because he hadn’t seen Jean for months and she’d been healthy. While in hospital, her status hadn’t been updated so those documents couldn’t be sent to the hospice. At one point, she was told she wasn’t eligible for a defibrillator, even though it had been removed months ago.

In short, her mom was eligible to be moved into a hospital, but she had no proof because the health care system failed her. Eventually the GP agreed to do an assessment over the phone. She was admitted to St. Michael’s, and she died just a few days later.

Joanne is sharing her story because she thinks what happened to her mother was outrageous, and she doesn’t want any other seniors to experience that same thing. Her family were strong advocates. The sister was a nurse, and the mom had worked at Royal Columbian Hospital.

[1630]

She says no money is being put into seniors. Other countries respect their elders, but here in B.C. they are in a throwaway society. This government failed Jean Roberts. This government has failed seniors like Jean Roberts right across this province. This government has failed students in public education. This government has failed families who are looking for affordable housing. This government has failed parents who are looking for affordable child care for their children.

The Premier wants us to forget everything after 16 years of neglect. I don’t believe the people in the constituency of New Westminster are going to forget this government’s record. They expect better from this government. They want a government that will be working for them, and after May 9, that’s what they’re going to get.

D. McRae: As I rise, I must first thank those whose hard work and sacrifice have allowed me to be here. First of all, I want to address my wife, Deanne, who has supported me for eight years and will support me for another two months. Then we get to actually return to a normal life where I get to come home and see her every single day. I also want to say a special hello and thank you to my daughter Gracie, who is 13, and my other daughter, Chloe, who is seven. Gracie has started high school this year. Chloe is in grade 2.

Of course, we wouldn’t be here without the staff that support us in so many different ways. I’ve been blessed in this chamber to have legislative support staff who have been phenomenal. I’ve been blessed in the Comox Valley, of course. Dianne Lineker in the Comox Valley works tirelessly to support me and has done so since the day I became an MLA. She’s supported in the office by Linda Grant, who works the front desk. And once a week we have Donald Taylor, who comes in and helps out when he can, which is always much appreciated.

Here in the building, there are so many people I’d like to talk about and to say thank you. Right now I’m working with Shala Robins, who supports me as a legislative assistant.

Zach Millward, you support me as well. You’re relatively new to the building. Thank you for coming down from Kamloops to Victoria to support us as a legislative assistant.

I get to do something that most people don’t get to do, actually. I get to be the last MLA for the Comox Valley, as I see it. Because of riding readjustments, the Comox Valley as a constituency riding ceases to exist after this
[ Page 13985 ]
next election. I have been blessed to represent three municipalities — the city of Courtenay, the town of Comox, the village of Cumberland — and rural areas, with places like Hornby Island, Denman Island, Fanny Bay, Royston, Union Bay and Ship Point. To the north, we have places like Black Creek and Merville. Of course, there’s Lazo, and we are on the traditional territories of the K’ómoks First Nation.

If I may, we have a new chief in the K’ómoks First Nation. Her name is Nicole Rempel. She was elected in January. She replaced Rob Everson, who did a great job for two terms. Nicole Rempel I’ve known for about ten years, not because of her activity in the political realm but because her daughter and my daughter have been going to school together and have been friends for their entire time in the school system. It just reminds you that small townisms are everywhere in your life.

I know the member for New Westminster was probably taken aback today, and she forgot some things in her speech. I just want to address those before I get to the body of my speech.

I don’t blame her for being a little bit discombobulated today. I would have been a little bit surprised, too, as the members opposite, when I see the Ironworkers coming out and supporting this party and the Premier today in the upcoming election.

On this side of the Legislature, we’re not surprised. We know that we are the party of getting things done, and the Ironworkers recognize that. But I know, of course — from traditional support, perhaps — that the NDP weren’t expecting it. It was a bit of a surprise. But it must have just thrown her for a loop, because she forgot to talk about the new school at New Westminster.

I had the fortune to be the Education Minister and to open several schools across the province, but one thing I never got to do was to open a $100-million school. How do you forget that in a speech when you’re talking about problems in British Columbia?

All you’re going on is: “This is bad. This is bad.” You are getting the single biggest educational capital investment in the public school system in the history of the province, and we’re approaching 150 years.

If you look forward, in this budget, there is $2 billion dedicated for new capital build and seismic build, and that one school is more than 5 percent of the whole budget — unbelievable.

[1635]

Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s not the biggest school in British Columbia. It has 2,000 students it’s supporting. But to its credit, New Westminster has waited a long time for a new school, and I’m looking forward to seeing this one built. It also reminds me that schools are built in all ridings. We support, whether it’s this side of the House or the other side of the House — regardless…. When school districts come forward with good projects and capital is available, we make sure it is spent to support those young people.

You know what? I am excited to see that go forward. When the members opposite vote against Budget 2017, what are they doing? They’re voting against that school.

They’re also voting against seismic upgrades in schools. She talked about lack of seismic activity. This budget actually talks about capital investments in seismic activity, seismic school upgrades. But by voting against it, that means they’re saying no to that. They are not going to support this budget because they don’t want to see that happen.

They also talked about affordable housing. Now, I must give the opposition credit. I must do this, because the opposition helped me with affordable housing in the 1990s. I’ll give you the example. I was married in 1995. We bought our very first place. It was small. It was a condo — no complaints. We were so happy to actually have our first place.

You know, I’ll round the numbers up just for easy math. We bought it for $60,000, which as a brand-new teacher was a lot of money, and we sacrificed. We actually took our honeymoon money to get the down payment. That was fine. We had no complaints.

We get there, and we’re there for three years. We say to ourselves after three years that we want to buy our next place. So we thought that if we sell our $60,000 condo, which we bought three years ago, what is it worth now? Well, to the opposition’s credit, my $60,000 condo went, like a magic trick, from $60,000…. I could have sold it like that for $27,000. You know what? It actually decreased in value in three years by 70 percent. It was unbelievable. It was like that. How do you do that?

The good thing was this. I held the condo. Obviously, I couldn’t afford to sell it, because the debt was actually worth more than I paid for it. But that was okay. What I did is…. I was looking for our dream house. We looked at our dream house for six months, and it sat on the market untouched for six months. Thanks, opposition. Because of that, it just sat there and wallowed in a market that wasn’t moving.

People weren’t coming to British Columbia. In fact, if you remember the news, it was story after story. It must have been painful for those who were staffers in the building, as you actually saw doctors and nurses saying: “The taxation levels are too high in this province. The opportunities are not good enough in this province. We have to leave.”

Well, in the Comox Valley, this house sat for six months. So my wife and I, we scrimped everything we had. We went into our RRSPs. We took them out. We borrowed money from every corner we had. We made sure we got there. We got our down payment, and we got our dream house, which I never could have afforded under this government because we actually grow the economy. The house which I have now — and I have no intent to move…. I would never have a chance at it.

Honestly, thank you for driving the real estate market to depths we’ve never seen in British Columbia — unbelievable.
[ Page 13986 ]

There are other things too. We talk about some health care issues as well. Again, I know it’s a tough day on the other side. Those Ironworkers threw them for a loop. But you know what? There’s an individual they may remember. You’ve heard of this individual. He was on the radio today, as a matter of fact. His name is Paul Kershaw. He came to talk to you folks. Do you remember that? He came to talk to you about daycare — $10-a-day daycare.

When I see the member opposite saying this is not a budget for seniors, she must have forgotten to listen to him on the radio when he was talking about…. This is a quote — you might want to hear this, members opposite — from Dr. Paul Kershaw.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members. Members.

Continue.

D. McRae: This is what Paul Kershaw says: “I’m sorry, B.C. NDP. It makes no sense to suggest that the 2017 provincial budget ignores seniors.” He says this. He’s a respected educator and professor. You know what? Let’s give you some examples of where housing is actually addressed.

By the way, folks, I haven’t even got to my budget response speech right now, actually. I’m just sort of going off the cuff based on the last person.

Just to the member opposite, because I know the member for New West does care deeply about seniors. I believe that, honestly. But just in case she forgets to talk about it…. Budget 2017 provides an additional $159 million to maintain rental assistance programs for low-income families and seniors. It helps make rent more affordable in private market rental areas.

I know in my office as constituent MLA, it’s something we talk about often, when people think about it and need it. It’s surprising how some people don’t know about it. Again, we want to make sure people are available through these programs. There’s the RAP program and SAFER program.

This budget also provides $2 million for the home-renovation tax credit for seniors and persons with disabilities. I want to thank the various ministers for pushing forward this opportunity. It also has committed $920 million to create 5,300 units of affordable housing across this province, which includes 542 units of affordable seniors housing.

[1640]

I’ll give you examples, because I know the members opposite want to hear. In this area, 510 new units of affordable housing in greater Victoria for low- to moderate-income individuals, seniors and families; in Burnaby, 137 units of seniors rental housing; 82 units of affordable housing for seniors with low to moderate incomes in Langley; 60 units in Maple Ridge; 26 units in Clearwater; 24 in Kamloops; 130 in Kelowna. I would turn the page and keep going, but I actually want to get to my budget speech.

Before I do that, there’s one other thing I want to ask the members opposite but also members on this side of the House, because it’s one of the things that has troubled me since I came to this chamber. I want to make sure that we are always serving those who we need to the most, the vulnerable British Columbians. It does sadden me when we talk about premium assistance and MSP.

There is a statistic that floats around. I believe it to be mostly true, and if I’m wrong by a couple of percentage points, regardless. If some are caught, it is still something that I want to work and improve upon. Some people believe that about a third of seniors who are eligible for MSP seniors premium assistance, for the program, don’t apply for it. Those are dollars that they can get right back in their pocket, regardless of Budget 2017.

In a best- or, arguably, a worst-case scenario, when I think about the opportunity to actually have a senior couple come in, if we were able to look at their tax returns not just for this year but for five years back, we can actually see if we can get a reconsideration. Again, in the best- or the worst-case scenario, a senior couple could be eligible for up to $12,000 of moneys for premium assistance that they shouldn’t have paid in the first place.

I think it’s really important, as MLAs on both sides of this House, that we continue to make sure, whether we love those programs or not, that we are putting money in the pockets of individuals who need it the most. That’s one that when I talk to seniors over and over in the Comox Valley, the number of people who don’t hear about it saddens me. Maybe it’s because they do their own tax returns. Maybe they don’t get professional tax advice. But I know there are members on both sides of the House that actually make sure that their constituents are aware of these programs. They, like myself, want to make sure that vulnerable British Columbians are getting dollars when they need them the most.

Now let’s get back to Budget 2017. I have had the honour to serve in this chamber for eight years. I came at an interesting time. I arrived in the midst of the great recession. Now, I came from local government. I was there for seven years, and it was an interesting time for me. Three terms, and it was my first foray into politics. Why did I run for local government? Well, like all of us in this chamber, I’m sure, and municipal politicians and federal politicians across the land, we want to make our society, our communities that much better.

Now, it was a little easier, a little challenging when I was a city councillor, because we were in a real sort of trajectory of growth in the Comox Valley. People were coming, in the 2000s, to the Comox Valley. The population was growing. The tax base was growing. New commercial enterprises were coming. And we were actually going to make choices to guide the community, to make sure that quality of life was not only maintained but enhanced.
[ Page 13987 ]

Then I got elected in 2009, and like everywhere across North America and the developed world, we were in the midst of financial crisis. It was not done on the back of any one issue. We can talk about certain things. You may remember the sub-prime mortgage issue in the United States — obviously, devastating to homeowners in that country. You can talk about commodity prices falling across the world.

To use some examples — for example, look at the price of oil. In 2008, it hit a peak of about $140, $145 a barrel. In 2009, less than a year later, it plummeted to about $33. Copper — really important in the world of industrial manufacturing and development — in 2008, it hit a high of about $4, plummeted the next year to $1.40. B.C. is well known for copper mines. Gigajoules of natural gas — in 2008, $13 a gigajoule for a sale on the open market. It plummeted, again, to $3. Consumer confidence was challenged across North America, across Europe, across the world.

Interjection.

D. McRae: And in our province too. There’s no doubt about it.

Because of choices, we were better off than many, but we still were challenged. We avoided, like I said, the sub-prime disasters, but we also had the opportunity to not go down some of the paths that other provinces will have chosen. For example, you might remember that in 2009, Ontario continued to deficit-finance — a $20 billion debt in that one year alone they were saddling, not just the taxpayers the next year but children and grandchildren going forward.

In B.C., we also made that decision to deficit-borrow. We had to make sure that programs were maintained, but it was a challenge. We wanted to make sure that when we were able to, we were able to come out of deficit financing and make sure that our children and our grandchildren were not saddled with our choices today.

[1645]

I was really pleased, right before the election in 2013 — and not just in 2013 but 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. What did we do? We submitted a balanced budget for this province. Now, for most of those years, it was balanced on a razor’s edge — hundreds of millions of dollars in a budget of $40 billion to $45 billion. That is not by much. We’ve been fortunate in the last two years to actually have surpluses that are in excess of that, very high. Not because of…. Well, look at the real estate market in Vancouver. You don’t want to rely on that one particular line item too often, but we’ve had dollars, and we have had the opportunity to make choices.

We can argue lots of things. We can argue process. We can cherry-pick stats. Sometimes the members opposite choose to do so. But do you know what? The one group that doesn’t care what we say in this chamber — they measure based on what they see on the books — is bond-rating agencies.

How does that work? Well, think about this. When we talk about Standard and Poor’s, one of the most respected bond-rating agencies, what do they say about us? They said this. “We find B.C.’s financial disclosures transparent, comprehensive and timely. Its financial…practices are the best among Canadian provinces” — and they don’t want to hear it.

What else did Standard and Poor’s do? They reaffirmed our triple-A credit rating. Why? Because we are making the right choices in this province to make sure we are not saddling our future generations with bad decisions. How are we doing this? Well, we’re doing it on huge opportunity. We’re leading our nation in economic growth. Why would you be upset about that, members opposite? We are leading the nation. Our unemployment rate is 5.6 percent. It hasn’t been this good since 1961. I was not even alive in 1961.

There are 2.4 million people employed in this province. Has anybody on the opposite side ever remembered a time before this time when there were this many people employed in British Columbia? No. Why? Because it has never happened. There are more people working in this province than in the history of British Columbia.

When I came to this Legislature, we had a $40 billion budget, and yes, we had a deficit. It was around $2 billion. As I leave this year, we have a $50 billion budget, and we leave with a surplus. Why? Because of good financial management. We’ve grown the economy, and we are allowing investments in areas that will help vulnerable British Columbians and the economy continue to grow to make life better for all British Columbians.

Members opposite are against this budget. I’m always hopeful. I’m hopeful that maybe they’ll see the light, but you never know.

I know there is $13.7 billion in capital spending. For members opposite, that’s roads in all our communities. That’s schools. That’s hospitals. That’s investments in public safety. I ask the members opposite: if you’re not in favour of this, what are you going to do? Are you going to cancel some of these projects? Which hospital, which school, which road are you not building? And if you aren’t going to build them, be honest about it. Just say: “We’re not doing that hospital. We’re just not going to do it.”

Are you guys going to jeopardize our triple-A credit rating? I think you might. If you are, just tell. That’s all you’ve got to do. If you get elected because you’re going to jeopardize the triple-A credit rating, the voters get their choice.

Look at Ontario. Look at their debt level. Look at their credit rating. Literally, if we had to deal with their debt level and their credit rating, $2.5 billion is what we would have to spend just to service the debt. That’s almost the equivalent of what the Minister of Social Development
[ Page 13988 ]
and Social Innovation does in her entire budget. We don’t have to make those choices. We get to actually invest in growing, not servicing debt. I think that’s a great idea.

I’m a history teacher, and as some of you know, I will be returning to the classroom soon. Let’s think about history here. How was our credit rating in the 1990s? Well, to the credit of the 1900s, it was amongst the best in the nation. In the early 2000s, it led the country. In fact, it was double-A-plus, it says in my notes here, just making sure. It was.

Do you know how you can fix that? Not one, not three, not five…. If you, eight years in a row, decide to deficit finance, it hurts. The members opposite, by running the deficit financing…. They go from, let’s see, double-A-plus to double-A to double-A-minus. We went from leading to losing, automatically, in this province. Why? Because of the decisions. Because we were living beyond our means.

I ask the members opposite: are you guys going to do it again? Are you going to balance the budget coming forward, or are you going to be spenders, or are you going to find new revenues? I wonder this: are you going to raise personal income tax? You did in the 1990s. Are you going to raise corporate tax? Yeah, you did that too. Are you going to raise small business taxes? How about hydro rates, ICBC? There’s always the PST; there are lots of ways to go through that. Or are you going to deficit finance?

[1650]

There’s also one other way you can actually raise a bit of money. You can. It’s not my first choice, by the way — transfer payments. Remember transfer payments? That’s when the federal government sends money to provinces because we’re actually in a financially poor situation. I don’t want to be in that place. I would rather be one who contributes to the Canadian economy rather than a taker from the Canadian economy.

You know what? The opposition — they were able to get us transfer payments and leave us in a situation, when the B.C. Liberal government came in, in 2001, because of bad choices, and I don’t want to go there again.

Now, let’s talk about some specifics. First of all, I want to compliment the Minister and the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation. I would argue that in my eight years here, there have been some programs that have been absolutely phenomenal. But the one that I think is probably more impactful than almost any that I can think of is the single-parent employment initiative.

I want to congratulate the minister and her staff for the hard work they did — the opportunity to target single parents and their children to make sure that we can have wraparound supports that will allow people to make choices and become less dependent on government supports. To date — I just saw this the other day, and I know the members opposite would like to hear this as well — we’ve had 4,456 individuals sign up for the single-parent initiative, and of those, 861 have achieved employment already.

That is making a huge impact on the lives of individuals and their children. Why? Because it was a great social program. It was innovative, and it came from a great minister, great bureaucrats who saw the opportunity and said: “Let’s think outside the box. How can we do it? How can we perhaps provide some people with the supports they need to make them not tax-takers but tax-makers?” I think that’s a great example of why we deserve to come back in 2017.

I’m also pleased to see that as we’ve returned to budget surplus, we are choosing to support vulnerable British Columbians. We are supporting vulnerable families, individuals and children. We’re providing, over the next three years, $796 million, and I’m glad we’re spending that because I think it’s absolutely essential to support those individuals.

It also includes raising disability payments another $50. Yes, I know we raised it $75 last year.

In fact, it was interesting. I was in Vancouver the other week. I was walking down the street, and a person who I didn’t know came up and said: “Thank you.” I said, “Do you live in the Comox Valley?” and she said: “No, I don’t. I live in Vancouver. I am really thankful for the two increases in disability assistance we’ve received in the last two years — $75 last year and $50 this year.” I said, “Yeah, I know. It was a challenge. The bus pass was something we had to work around,” and she said: “You know, I’m okay with that.”

In the end….

Interjection.

D. McRae: I’m not making this up. I don’t want to get you upset, but honestly, I’m literally telling a story. I can’t believe someone came up to me on the street in Vancouver and told me this. But nonetheless, it is more money in the back of people’s pockets, and I’m really pleased.

People even more vulnerable are people that are served by Community Living British Columbia. Over this budget, we’re going to see $135 million more to support persons with disabilities — again, continually improving dollars in that line item, that Crown corporation.

I’ve only got to the first section of areas I’m pretty proud of, by the way. But let’s keep on going. Let’s talk about some of the capital investments.

We talked about education a little bit earlier. I want to talk about my community because right now, as I drive by one of the schools in the Comox Valley, I’m seeing a $34 million seismic investment at G.P. Vanier high school, a school that was built 50 years ago. It was built with great technology for 1966, 1967. But unfortunately, when they were building the school…. I guess the practices back in the day…. They had, basically, cinderblocks. They put it on a concrete slab, but someone decided at the time that it wasn’t good practice to actually connect those cinder-
[ Page 13989 ]
blocks to the concrete slab. So if there was an earthquake, the mortar would move around and, literally, the building could fall.

Again, I’m really pleased that we’re seeing these kinds of investments in seismic upgrades. It’s not just in the Comox Valley. It’s across the province. It’s an example of a school board that worked really hard to make sure they did the seismic upgrade. But they were also able to do a little bit of extra work along the way in terms of making sure some of the infrastructure — that 50-year-old pipe, that 50-year-old wiring, that 50-year-old telephone system — is going to be brought up to modern standards.

It’s not just in my community that it’s happening. It’s happening in communities in the Kootenays. It’s happening in communities in the Interior. It’s happening in Vancouver, southern Vancouver Island, northern Vancouver Island. It’s happening across this province. Why? Because we’re making those choices, and yes, we can’t spend it fast enough.

I apologize to the voters that we haven’t got it done yet, but a lot of work needs to be done, and we are working. And we do so at the expense of certain other buildings, ones that…. Perhaps it’s the right choice.

[1655]

I was touring a group of 13 young people around the Legislature today. I love this building. I think the architecture, the ambience and the history behind it are just so awe-inspiring. But I always remember when I go to the basement and look at these huge, huge stone blocks and the mortar that holds them or doesn’t hold them together…. I hear occasionally in the chamber that for a mere quarter of a billion dollars, we’ll move a long way towards seismically upgrading this building. But I think it’s still important that we look after the schools first, before we get to saving this building, though my heart wants to see this building here for a generation.

That reminds me. Do you remember that liquor warehouse that they seismically upgraded in the 1990s, rather than doing the schools? It comes back and haunts them. It’s a story that just keeps on giving. It’s about choices you make. If you make bad choices, we don’t forget.

The world is changing too. Advanced education. Let’s talk about advanced education. The world has changed as well. When I graduated from high school in the 1980s, it was still very possible to go into the resource sector and actually make not just a good living, but a phenomenal living in various sectors, whether it was logging or fishing or sometimes mining. There were really, really good jobs. But the reality is that the world has continued to evolve, and those jobs are fewer and harder to find than ever, sometimes because of technology, sometimes because of the changing market.

You go to a modern mill, and it’s funny. You walk into a mill. When I was a kid, you’d go in, and there were people everywhere. You go visit a modern mill, and you take out the forklift drivers…. It’s hard to find people in many modern mills.

Nonetheless, post-secondary, advanced education, is just so important. It’s an opportunity for individuals to make choices, whether they want to become a mechanic, a chef, a doctor, a high school teacher. These are opportunities that allow individuals to gain employment and personal growth. It allows people to become more worldly. It’s just an opportunity to make sure we continue to invest.

I want to use my opportunity to stand in this chamber to remind individuals that if they had a child who was born after 2006, there is the B.C. training and education savings grant program, which gives young people $1,200 that will help start them towards saving for post-secondary.

I’m also very pleased, in this budget, to talk about the student loan rate, which is now being reduced to prime instead of prime plus 2.5 percent. It’s just one of those opportunities to make sure that choices of people in their post-secondary education…. Not everybody does have a student loan. I had a student loan. I think my student loan, when I graduated in ’93, was at 6 or 7 percent. After ten years, in 2003, I was happy to pay that sucker off. But nowadays it’s prime. I think that’s a great opportunity to make sure individuals, when they’re investing in their post-secondary future, do so in a way that is as painless as possible, though I do know it’s a choice one makes when one decides to go to post-secondary.

Also in this budget, we include $2.6 billion over this plan for capital spending. I think that’s a great opportunity.

I’ll give you an example. I was up in Campbell River the other day at Timberline high school, where North Island College and the high school have a combined campus. It’s arguably innovative. I guess it’s an opportunity for young people to do their grade 8 through grade 12, and if they choose to, they can continue on, take some trades programs still at the school. If you live somewhere in the north Island, you could actually come to what I’ll call Timberline.

But the reality is that we need to make sure we continually invest and have modern facilities that will help young people get that training in areas that will lead to jobs. That $13.5 million investment for British Columbians to stay in the north Island, to learn a trade, to get a skill, to get a family-supporting job is something that I think is absolutely great. It’s just one example of….

When we’re making this budget, spending dollars, it’s to make sure that young people and people who are retraining have a chance to actually live a life in their community as best they can and have a meaningful, well-paying job. I want to thank the Minister of Advanced Education for continually supporting that.

Now, I also want to get to health care, but I’ve got to take a sip of water. The glass is half full. That’s okay, though. Not half empty, but it depends on perspective, I suppose.

In health care, one of the things that I’ve noticed in my time here is the changing demographics. Yes, it’s some-
[ Page 13990 ]
thing we’ve been talking about. You could say it’s something we have to be addressing. I always remind myself that in the last 23 years, the health care budget in this province has risen by over 300 percent to $20 billion. It’s increasing because technology is increasing. Aging demographics — seniors are needing more supports. We’re making those investments.

I notice…. It happened way too fast. I hope I get a chance to come and speak about the throne speech, because I have some more stuff to say. I haven’t gotten halfway through my speech yet, but I want to say thank you in the end.

As I close, it is kind of a sadness to say goodbye to my friends on both sides of the House. But it’s funny that the day I’m giving this speech — maybe my last speech — is also the day I had to send an email to the school district to say: “I’m coming back. I’m re-engaging back into the school system, and I’ll see you in the fall.” It’s kind of ironic that way.

[1700]

As I look back on my time as an MLA, I know I could have done things differently. I wish there were certain things that I could have done a little bit better. I think hindsight allows us that opportunity.

The question I ask myself — and maybe we should all ask ourselves during our time here, whether it’s four years, eight years or 28 years — is: have we left the place a little bit better? Have we made investments in health care? Have we made investments in schools? Have we done things in our communities that maybe aren’t as big? Like, maybe, have we got that bike path, or have we helped create that recreational facility? Have we got sewer and water infrastructure upgrades? Have we done some environmental good?

We’ve done a lot of those things on this side of the House. I’ve done a lot in my community with the support of the community organizations and individuals. We’ve grown employment. We’ve invested in post-secondary. We’ve increased social programs. We’ve invested in housing.

I think, after eight years…. I don’t mean this in a way of bragging, by any stretch, but I came here to leave Comox Valley and B.C. in a little bit better place, and after eight years, I believe that we on this side of the House and our community have done just that. Thank you very much.

N. Macdonald: After 12 years as a member of the Legislature, I’m pretty sure this is going to be my last opportunity to speak to the Legislature, because I’m not seeking re-election and this is likely going to be a short session.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

A few thank-yous to begin with. I want to thank first and foremost my wife, Karen, for her patience and her support. It is not an easy thing for a politician’s partner in life, but Karen was always there for me. Similarly, my children, Danielle and Brandy.

I was really fortunate here to have my father and mother visit often from Manitoba. It’s not hard to convince people to come out to Victoria in February if they’re from Manitoba. They came out a lot, and they always enjoyed it. With them came my brother Andrew. My late sister, Margaret, came often as well. I’m very happy that she did that. Just a few weeks ago, my brother Donald was here from Thompson, Manitoba. That was really wonderful. My mother-in-law Betty and sister-in-law Jean also came from Golden. So the family has been wonderful.

These are personal debts of gratitude that I think we all feel. I hope that I’ve expressed often how thankful I am for the support over the years. So that’s that. Thank you.

I also want to thank, in a more public way…. Just sincere gratitude to the staff that are here in the Legislature. I think we all feel this, but the Hansard staff, the security personnel, the library staff, personnel here in the chambers, the dining room staff — consistently helpful, always decent, kind and very, very professional. It always reminded us, I think, of what a privilege it is to come here and serve. So thank you for that.

The NDP legislative staff were wonderful. If I start naming them, I’ll miss somebody, and I don’t want to do that.

Colleagues that are joining me here, I have to pick out…. I know I’m not supposed to say Bill Routley, but I’m going to. Bill Routley made everything that we did together a lot of fun. That’s special. The rest of my colleagues, many of them that are here with me, it was the same thing. These were enjoyable moments that I appreciate.

Another person that may be watching is Anthony Britneff, a retired professional forester and a tremendous resource, somebody who is a champion of the public’s lands.

I also want to thank the volunteers at home who came out every election. I took a lot of pride in the fact that the B.C. Liberals in our area would outspend us 3 or 4 to 1, and we always were successful because, I think, we had people that were willing to come, step up and do work that’s not very glamourous but wins elections. I thank them.

I have to make a special mention of the incomparable Glen Ewan, who raises whatever money that we have. He’s done it for every candidate. He is the only person who literally offered the shirt off his back. I was going to my 2005 nomination meeting, actually, and I spilled coffee on me. He tried…. Well, the shirt didn’t fit. It wasn’t close to fitting. But he did offer, which I thought was nice.

[1705]

The last two people that I want to thank are really amazing fighters for justice. They started with a recall campaign. They weren’t in the NDP. They have been with me ever since. Leslie Adams and Joy Orr ran my cam-
[ Page 13991 ]
paigns. They kept me on track. These are my constituency assistants. Leslie was my caseworker. Joy Orr was my office manager and so much more. I’m really proud of the work that we did together fighting for people, which is where we started this journey. We were going to fight for people.

Those are my thank-yous. I want to use the remaining time that I have to talk about Budget 2017.

A B.C. Liberal MLA that I saw outside yesterday suggested that I be kind in my comments for this last speech, but I’m not going to do that for a couple of reasons. First, the B.C. Liberal government has over 200 people in their propaganda section. They seem to have an unlimited budget for government pre-election advertising. So I think me looking the other way on what this budget represents is simply…. That’s not going to happen.

The budget documents — in a slightly positive thing, which I’ll start with, that accompanied the budget speech — included funds, over the next number of years, from both the federal and provincial governments to complete the rebuilding of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Kicking Horse Canyon immediately to the east of Golden. I’m really pleased about that. I’m pleased the government is doing that. I’m pleased that the Leader of the Opposition is committed to four-lane and divide the remaining parts of that highway, and I’m pleased that the federal government is stepping up to help fund it.

Lives will be saved. If you’re living on this highway, you know people that have lost their lives there. You know the people that go out and do the rescue and the paramedic work. So I’m really pleased about that commitment. There is a lot more that still needs to be done. The section that is committed to is only five kilometres, and there are hundreds of kilometres of substandard roads on the Trans-Canada that remain to be completed. That has to come.

Certainly, the rest of the budget I’m less pleased with. It is a budget, like so many B.C. Liberal budgets, that is there for B.C.’s wealthy and well-connected first. More than anything else, that’s what this budget is about. The middle class carries the load. It is our seniors, children and those in need that pay the price for services that are denied.

I’d just say: consider this for B.C. Liberal priorities. It is the billions that they chose to spend on tax cuts for B.C.’s richest 2 percent. That’s the priority. This is a province where the wealthiest 10 percent of British Columbians control 56 percent of the wealth. The poorest 50 percent have 3 percent of the wealth, yet the priority for this government is to give more breaks to the wealthy. I don’t know what you say about that. For working families, we have a series of increases to MSP, B.C. Hydro, ICBC, park fees.

I want to talk about decency. In Kimberley, in Canal Flats, in Invermere, in Golden and in Revelstoke — actually, in communities across British Columbia — there’s this community spirit. We all know this. There’s a community spirit. We look after each other, and we care about each other. That’s what makes a community. It also should be what makes a province. It should be what makes a country. It should be how we look at the world as a whole.

A budget like this perpetuates the pattern that we’ve seen from the B.C. Liberals over the past 16 years. It started right away with massive cuts to programs. We saw today in question period the implications of those cuts. That was a decision made 16 years ago, and it is made with every budget year after year after year. A conscious decision to not treat all British Columbians like they’re a meaningful member of a community.

Now, the B.C. Liberal Deputy Premier talked about people on social assistance. He had a fairly rambling speech, and he talked about his cruise that happened to stop in Nicaragua. It gave him some insights, apparently.

[1710]

I have to say he sounded like a Deputy Premier of a government that’s been in power for too long. That was my opinion, but the Deputy Premier somehow thought it was appropriate. This is the same Deputy Premier that talked about people just liking to wake up and whine, right? He somehow thought it was appropriate to share with us his insight that social assistance in B.C. is twice the average income of people in Nicaragua. Well, that’s his point: “What are poor people complaining about?”

Now, Nicaragua has different income levels. It is a different climate, a different history. Two Canadian dollars buy a good meal in Nicaragua. It might have been more appropriate and more reasonable if he had compared social assistance rates with Alberta, which is the jurisdiction, in the same country, beside us.

There he would have found that social assistance is twice what it is here. The cost of living is nowhere near as high as here. They don’t have property transfer tax. They actually don’t have sales tax. The price of gas is substantially less. Still, right-wing governments there, continued by the NDP, have social assistance at twice the level as it is here. That’s a conscious decision by B.C. Liberals to put people into a position of destitution. We all know that. We all hear it in our offices. This government chooses again, with this budget, to ignore that.

What does the Deputy Premier say? “Well, let’s compare ourselves to a Third World nation and compare ourselves to that income.” That somehow justifies what the government does here for the people of British Columbia. It’s a failure. If you’re going to go around and look and try to set the bar as low as possible by comparing to a different jurisdiction…. What if we did…?

Let’s play with that for a while. Here in British Columbia, people point out that the B.C. Liberals regularly cancel legislative sessions. They use public funds for a massive propaganda service. They use closure on key pieces of legislation like the Clean Energy Act, which will
[ Page 13992 ]
cost us $55 billion. We didn’t actually debate that in the House. Closure was used on it — a $55 billion mistake — and we didn’t debate it here in this House. They regularly destroy documents that they’re legally required to save.

I suppose you could compare us to North Korea. We’re better than that, right? But to say that that’s something that the people of British Columbia should settle for…. I don’t know. And debt and contractual obligations. When the B.C. Liberals took over, it was less than $40 billion. It’s up to $170 billion. Now, it’s better than Greece, right? It’s better than Greece, but still you basically have the Deputy Premier saying: “Quit whining. Look here.”

As to the influence of big donors here in B.C., forget about it. If the Premier gets a $60,000 top-up from donors every year, on top of her $200,000-a-year salary from taxpayers, that’s nothing, according to this government. The Prime Minister of Malaysia has $1 billion stashed away that he says is from donors. It’s just like the Deputy Premier saying: “Keep that bar low, British Columbians. Keep that bar low. Don’t expect better than that. It’s better than other parts of the world that we randomly choose, selectively choose.” I think we can expect better.

Let’s do one more. Let’s look at LNG revenues.

We were supposed to get rid of the sales tax. We still have a sales tax. We still have a debt that is growing faster than ever. I heard a previous minister talk about getting rid of the debt. You do know, as a minister of the Crown, that it is growing faster than ever, that no Premier has had debt grow faster than this Premier. Yet still we have speakers on that side talking about debt disappearing.

There certainly are no hundreds of billions in the prosperity fund. But it must be better than somewhere, right? Actually, I don’t think that that’s possible. There is no political jurisdiction that has experienced a ruling party promising so wildly and delivering so disastrously poorly. There is actually no comparison. On the democratic stuff, you could find that North Korea is worse. But on this, there has never been a promise that has been so disastrously missed as the LNG promise.

[1715]

The B.C. Liberals promised $1 trillion in economic activity in LNG. When I sit and listen to the members speak and say the same lines again and again…. In 2013, the line was: “$1 trillion in economic activity.” A trillion? That’s a big number. A trillion is a lot. If we started counting seconds right now, it would take 30 years to get to a billion seconds. It would take 30,000 years to get to a trillion seconds. That is a big number. That is a big number, a big lie, right?

Then you have $1 trillion. If you spent $1 million a day and you started at the time the Roman Empire began, you still would not have spent $1 trillion. So when government members stood up and talked about a $1 trillion LNG industry, of economic activity, and nothing is delivered, that is as big a miss as you could possibly get.

The Deputy Premier — whose ministry loses money, by the way — says: “Oh, just wait. Woodfibre LNG is just around the corner. Don’t wait. LNG is just around the corner.” Well, I don’t believe that. But what if it did get built? What impact would Woodfibre have? On their website, they say they have 100 employees. Walmart Canada says their average store has 120 employees. So this was the industry that members stood and, ad nauseam, talked about changing not only B.C.’s economy but the economy of Canada. Everything that these members say has to be looked at from that lens.

This is described as the forget-everything budget, trying to make everything go away. But the reality is that after 16 years, there is not a bar low enough…. This is like a line painted on a gym floor. That’s the bar they want to jump over. It is a massive failure. It’s a massive failure, and they want to be unaccountable, like everything else, for those failures. When was the last time any minister has actually accepted responsibility for failures in their ministry, massive failures? It never happens.

The only jobs that have been created are those making the publicly funded ads created by B.C. Liberal donors. Running ad agencies — that’s it in LNG. Oh, and I guess Gordon Wilson too. He got a job, right? Jas Johal maybe.

But this Deputy Premier, Natural Gas, tasked with bringing in enough revenue to eliminate sales tax in B.C…. It was supposed to eliminate B.C.’s debt, which is growing faster than ever, and it was supposed to create a $100 billion prosperity fund. There’s not one penny of LNG money in that — not one penny.

Dan Miller. People here know Dan Miller. In the last days of the NDP government, he brought in far more money from natural gas than the Deputy Premier is doing. That is a pretty big miss.

Of course, Canada….

Interjection.

N. Macdonald: There’s a Liberal member that’s yelling across here. I’ve learned in my time here not to repeat what they say. It can only lead to bad things. That’s been my experience.

Of course, Canada is a great country, and in B.C., I think we’re particularly lucky. But it’s no excuse for a substandard government.

The right-wing philosopher Ayn Rand rejected altruism. She rejected it. She said that people are motivated by self-interest. She writes that. Her best known book is Atlas Shrugged. Obviously, that’s a philosophy that I reject. I reject it intellectually, and I reject it emotionally. My life experience is that people are wired to care for others. I think we are, by nature, altruistic.

[1720]

If you think of what’s most important to us, it is not power. It is not money. It is the relationships, the people that we care about. Even seeing a stranger, we are drawn
[ Page 13993 ]
if they’re in need. I honestly think that that is what centrally motivates us.

When you look at this budget, it is a budget that reflects the “shrug” part of Atlas Shrugged, as well as Ayn Rand’s philosophy, in my view. It’s a budget where, once again, there’s indifference to those not amongst the B.C. Liberals’ rich and well-connected — you know, people in poverty. The 50 percent of the people with 3 percent of the wealth — people in poverty. From this government, it’s a shrug. “What can you do?” People unable to find housing — shrug. Debt piling up for future generations — shrug. Seniors, children, people with disabilities — they are all repeatedly ignored by this government.

Governments fatigue. We are lucky in Canada, particularly so in B.C., but that should not be an excuse for complacency. There’s no need for voters, in my view, to just settle for mediocrity. What about rather than settling for what we have, we instead create an economy that’s built around fully utilizing our resources rather than squandering those finite resources? I mean fully utilizing our logs, our power — all of these things. Treat them like they are finite, which they are, and make full use of them, get the full value out of them.

What about governments that reflect our community values? In our areas, we prioritize the environment, our seniors, our children, those in need. These are community values, but they’re also the values of Canada when Canada is at its best. You know, Canada at its best reflects those community values. When someone is sick in Canada, we look after them. They don’t do that in the United States and many other countries, but as Canadians, we do.

Communities in trouble, like Fort McMurray was last year — everyone chips in. We educate everyone’s young. We value our seniors. We’re tolerant. We’re welcoming. That is Canada at its best, and that’s what British Columbia should be at its best as well.

This budget doesn’t reflect those values. This is the B.C. Liberals looking, as they always do, after the rich and the well-connected. Now, maybe if you want to compare selectively, as the Deputy Premier does, to other parts of the world that are struggling, well, then you might settle for this budget, but I don’t think that we should.

In Columbia River–Revelstoke, we always made a different choice. In our part of B.C., people aspire to better child care. We absolutely think that’s possible, and we think that the provincial government should make it happen. We want seniors treated respectfully. We want local, healthy food and think that the provincial government can put together programs, as has been suggested by the member for Saanich South, that actually allow this, enable it to happen.

We want our resources used wisely. We want to enable small business, to enable local decision-making, and we want decisions made for the broad public good rather than for cronyism. That’s not too much to expect and absolutely achievable.

As we go into the next election, this is what I believe. I’m excited about what the Leader of the Opposition has to offer. I think there have been some tremendous ideas that people can get excited about. There should not be MSP. There’s a commitment to get rid of MSP. That is a great idea. It should happen right away.

I think the commitment to divide the four-lane Trans-Canada Highway is a great idea. Affordable child care — an affordable child care plan. Business groups and families have been talking about this forever. It is absolutely possible. It simply takes a government and a leader that’s willing to make it a priority. A meaningful energy plan, an effective climate change plan, a sincere commitment to public education, a curtailment of raw log exports, an elimination of big money in B.C. politics — those are all exciting ideas.

[1725]

The other thing is that after 16 years, the Leader of the Opposition brings a freshness and a respect for the province’s democratic institutions that the B.C. Liberals have completely forgotten about. I have watched it. I did not think it could get worse than Gordon Campbell — right? — but I’ve watched it deteriorate and deteriorate. Maybe that just happens over time, but 16 years in, with the B.C. Liberals, this is a tired group. It is a group that has a sense of entitlement and arrogance that simply comes from too many years in power, and I think most British Columbians are starting to recognize this. There’s a staleness that pervades this government, and it’s time. We’re lucky to be in a democracy. It’s time to refresh government.

You know, when you look at what’s gone on this session…. I think there have been 20 bills that have been introduced by opposition members — independents, Greens and a host from the NDP — and they’re good bills. You know, you look at them. What has the government introduced as a bill? What’s their agenda? There’s hardly anything. They have run out of ideas completely, so time to refresh. It’s a democratically healthy thing to do — to change government.

Now, I’m not running in Columbia River–Revelstoke, but I know Gerry Taft. He’s the mayor of Invermere and the B.C. NDP candidate, and I know that he is going to represent our values well. I know, as well, that my colleagues here that are running again…. I’m really pleased that so many of them have chosen to do that. They represent an absolute change for the better, and a change for the better is something that I’m looking forward to, come May 9.

Now, it is always a pleasure to speak here. I’ve always enjoyed it, and I once again want to thank those that have given me the opportunity to be here and do this. With that, I’m going to take my seat, and I look forward to hearing others speak. Thank you, as always, for the opportunity.
[ Page 13994 ]

D. Ashton: Before I start my speech, I just want to thank the member for Columbia River–Revelstoke for his years of service here in the House, in representing the constituents that he has in Columbia River–Revelstoke. It doesn’t mean I necessarily agree with his thoughts, but I know he has done his best to represent those individuals, and I’m quite sure they’re very appreciative of it.

On behalf of my constituents in Penticton, it’s a great privilege to put my comments forward in support for British Columbia’s fifth consecutive budget. Serving as an MLA for the past four years has been an incredible experience and a very memorable one for myself. I consider it a great honour to be able to stand in this chamber with each and every one of you on both sides of this House — and yourself, hon. Speaker, and staff — to represent the citizens of British Columbia, but especially to represent the citizens of Penticton, Naramata, Peachland and Summerland.

Before I begin, I would like to thank some…. First of all, my family — my mom, who’s in a care home in Summerland, being wonderfully looked after by an incredible staff up there, as all the people are on the floor in the building in which she is in. It’s so nice to see those hard-working individuals take such care and provide such kindness to people like my mom. It makes a huge difference for them.

My wife, Monique, a nurse. My children. Coleton, who’s a third-year biology student here at the University of British Columbia, wants to go into medicine/dentistry. He’s still trying to make up his mind. He got his mother’s smarts, so I know that he will be successful in one of them. And my daughter Chantal, who got her street smarts I think maybe from me, wants to be an RCMP officer. So dad has no fingernails left, as he’s been worrying as of recently, gnawing them apart, wondering if it’s the right career choice for her. But it’s hers, and as my dad always said: “I can only show you the path that I think that you should take. It’s up to you if you want to stay on it or not.” She’s an adult now, and it’ll be her decision.

We all have people that work with us, especially in our constituency offices. I really, really want to thank Dick, Ali and Sue, who really help me an awful lot in Penticton and Summerland and Peachland. They travel back and forth.

[1730]

Actually, we have an office in Summerland, and it might be something of a seed that I would like to plant, not only for Hansard but for those that are here. I share an office with a Member of Parliament, a Conservative Member of Parliament, in Summerland. It’s a huge benefit.

Let’s take the politics out of it. Having that opportunity…. As we all know, we have people come into our offices and ask us questions, and we have to say: “I’m sorry; that’s federal. We’ll see if we can give you a hand. We’ll phone.” But just having the opportunity to walk right to the next door in the office complex and have a chance to talk to the staff from the federal side of it makes a huge difference. So it’s something that I’d like to plant a seed with you. In the future, if that opportunity ever comes up, really consider it. It’s been a huge benefit in Summerland.

Also, the staff downstairs. We have Shala and Zack — wonderful people. I got to meet Shala’s husband, Patrick. He used to be the former CAO of Princeton. He was an incredibly well-organized man, and now I know why he was an incredibly well-organized man. Shala is absolutely wonderful at keeping our group of individuals in our offices on the straight and narrow. And these individuals deserve an incredible amount of thanks.

As I get into the budget, there’s another group of individuals that I really want to thank, and it’s the staff from the Ministry of Finance. There’s the political end, but there are the staff who are there on a continual basis. It doesn’t matter who’s in power in this wonderful House; those hard-working individuals make such a huge difference for everybody in this province. They’re there all the time. The hours are absolutely exorbitant during budget time. Those individuals are always on the line on a continual basis to serve the individuals of British Columbia and the citizens of British Columbia. I really have to extend a heartfelt thanks to them for helping out with this particular budget.

For me, it’s an incredible pleasure to rise and offer my support for this budget again. As many know, my personal philosophy on finances is based on something that was instilled by my father. He always told me: “Dan, look after the pennies, and the dollars will follow.” He also told me that you can’t continue to spend $1.10 if you’re only taking in a dollar.

That is something that we have done as a government. The driving force that has carried us through these five consecutive budgets is our commitment to be responsible with what has been entrusted to us. Through prudency and thoughtful planning, we have taken the necessary steps to ensure that we are spending within our means, especially in today’s economy.

In 2016, many were expecting the risk around the world to recede, and maybe things were going to get a little bit better and a little bit more predictable. But as we enter 2017, in the first couple of months here now, the global economy and the global situation has been anything but predictable, especially here in North America.

But we know things for certain, a few things for certain. British Columbia has the lowest middle-class taxes in Canada. We have record investments in health care and infrastructure; record investments in roads, airports, ports, schools, hospitals; programs that lift people up, like the single-parent employment initiative; and we have to the best job creation record in Canada and the lowest unemployment rate.

Our provincial economy is the envy of the rest of the country, and it’s probably the envy of many countries around the world. There are not many jurisdictions in North America that have succeeded in balancing their
[ Page 13995 ]
budgets on a continual basis like this government has in British Columbia.

The results from our balanced budget policy are actually paying off. Governments that pile up huge deficits and burden future generations with mountains of debt are definitely not seen as desirable places to live. When the public sector is addicted to borrowing to pay for services, it is literally steering capital away from the private sector. We all know, and I heard it mentioned earlier today from the opposition, that the private sector is the largest job creator in this province.

That is something we have to continue to remember. That’s another reason. Because of what has been transpiring in British Columbia, as of recent…. It’s how are we viewed by the rest of the world. In a world of economic uncertainly, B.C. has established itself on solid economic footing, and people who want to invest in British Columbia know that.

That’s another reason that British Columbia enjoys a triple-A rating. B.C. is, in fact, the only province in Canada that enjoys the highest rating. So what does it really matter? Well, in this budget, as presented by the Finance Minister last week…. He pointed out if we compare ourselves to other provinces with lower credit ratings….

[1735]

You heard my peer who spoke just before me say that the average cost for us would be $2.23 billion in debt services cost if we had the credit ratings of some of the other provinces in this wonderful country. Thankfully, we are not in that boat. If we were paying that extra $2.23 billion in interest payments, the choices for the citizens we all represent would be substantially challenged.

The lessons my dad taught me have followed me through my career and my service as an elected official — first as a city councillor in Penticton, then the mayor of Penticton and also as the chair of the regional district of Okanagan-Similkameen. During my career in local government, we faced many demands on local ratepayers, and we had many heated debates on what we could afford and what we could not afford. Untampered spending might yield short-term gains, but it will leave a heaping amount of debt on our children. That’s something we discussed on a continual basis.

Members on this side of the House believe that providing services and programs are a better use of our resources than servicing debt and that we should put our money back into the pockets of hard-working British Columbians instead of raising taxes.

There have been lots of comments and lots of rhetoric inside this wonderful room about the 2017 budget. I’m known to be very polite, but I’m also known to try and get to the point. I’m going to get to the point right now, and it’s going to be fact and only fact about the budget and how it represents to the citizens of British Columbia and what it represents.

In a point form, which I really like, Coles notes, the key messaging that I would like to put across to not only my friends here inside the House, on both sides of the House, but also the people I represent and also all British Columbians is: let’s hear some facts — not hyperbole, not rhetoric. Let’s hear some facts about the budget.

British Columbia’s fifth consecutive balanced budget delivers dividends of a strong and diversified economy and prudent fiscal management — fact.

British Columbia’s Budget 2017 cuts the costs for middle-class B.C. families, investing in priority programs and services and promoting a competitive, job-creating economy, including funding new investments for classrooms, mental health services and other supports for families, children and those in most need; investing a record $13.7 billion over three years in new and upgraded provincial taxpayer-supported infrastructure to support services and jobs; and leaving $1 billion in the pockets of British Columbia families by cutting Medical Services Plan premiums in half and starting to eliminate them.

Our outlook remains steady as a result of our diversification of industries and a continued balanced budget and continued fiscal prudent planning, and that makes a difference. Our balanced budget is a keystone of our economic plan. It provides for new investments in programs and services while ensuring taxpayers get to keep more of their hard-earned money.

I can spend my money way better than what the government can spend it. I can spend it on my kids. I can spend it on my mom and help support where she’s living right now. We all appreciate what government does, but I sure like to keep government out of my pocket as much as I can. It really demonstrates to us what we’ve been doing here while we have been in power as a government, securing our needs and our affordable future for the future generations of British Columbians.

Another fact: British Columbia continues to have one of the lowest overall tax burdens in Canada when all taxes are considered. This includes income tax, consumption tax and health care premiums. With regard to that, government is forecasting a modest surplus in the next three years to help keep taxpayer debt supportable.

By the end of 2019-2020, the direct operating debt, forecast at $1.1 billion, will be 90 percent lower than the $10.2 billion in 2013-14. That’s going to save the people of British Columbia about $500 million more a year, and that’s a substantial amount of money, when you think about it.

Provincial taxpayer-supported-debt-to-GDP ratio is a key measurement of affordability, and it’s is forecasted to climb to 16 percent in 2019 and 2020, down from almost 18 percent in 2013 and ’14.

[1740]

Direct operating debt is going to decline in the fiscal plan, reducing to its lowest point since 1982 and 1983. There’s been all kinds of talk in this House about what that
[ Page 13996 ]
means, but it just gives us more spending opportunity.

My analogy is — and it’s been raised on numerous occasions — that we all have to borrow. There isn’t a person, I don’t think, in this House, on either side, that can afford to go pay cash for a home. So we take a mortgage, and we pay that mortgage off over our lifetime — for some of us. Some of us may be more fortunate and are able to pay it quicker.

But you know what one thing we do is? We do our darndest to continue to pay down the charge cards and the monthly charges that we have to intake to keep our house going, because if we don’t, we all know what happens. That’s one of the things that I look at about the opportunities presented when you pay down that operational debt.

Yes, debt is going up. But debt goes up because of roads. It goes up because of new hospitals. It goes up because of new schools. It goes up because of new highways, which the current member for Columbia River–Revelstoke had mentioned he wants to see in his area. The sections that he’s talking about are incredibly expensive. But when we have that opportunity to go forward and do that by keeping our fiscal house in order, it can make a huge difference. That’s one of the things I think we have to consider.

As we all know, medical services premiums…. This is a fact: effective January 1, 2018, premiums are going to be cut in half for families with a net household income up to $120,000. That’s going to reduce premiums for over two million British Columbians. That’s in addition to the two million people in British Columbia that pay zero right now for medical services premiums. It’s going in the right direction, and it’s something that we can afford to do.

I’d love to see them go. I don’t want to see them incurred in another form of taxation. Nobody wants to see that happen. I don’t even think the opposite side of the House would like to see that happen.

I think the plan that has been proposed by government is a good plan that will show what can happen, and we can reduce it without incurring any more debt on the citizens. But we have to have that cash in hand, and we have to have that fiscal management that’s going to allow us to do that.

Health care. You know, health care is incredible. It’s almost 41 percent of our budget right now. We know how much is being put into it: $4.2 billion over a three-year increase.

I relate to my mom. You use so much more of health care requirements as you get older. And those costs…. People have said that costs have continually gone up, and I’ll be the first person to agree that they’ve continually gone up, but so have the expenses.

The member in front of me that spoke earlier talked about buying his first house and the trials and tribulations that he went through. He knows what that house is worth today — or what the new house that he had purchased after…. This is one of the things. We’re all faced with ongoing costs. Government is faced with them, and costs of operation go up. I think it’s a bit bittersweet to say: “We were here, and you are now here, and these costs are being incurred.”

I take a look at the tremendous productivity that has taken place in this province. I take a look at what’s happening in Penticton. I’m incredibly proud to say that when I was elected as a councillor and put over at the regional district as a director, there was a group of incredibly talented people there that worked really hard.

We wanted to pay off…. We had a hospital project under planning that was going to cost approximately $100 million — in those-days dollars — and for what we were told that we could not only afford but what we could have. So we planned really hard, because we have to pay…. Rural British Columbia — we pay 40 percent of the cost. We worked really, really hard to get that money put forward and to have it put away.

Fortunately, though, for the people of Penticton, what we had envisioned and what the people of Penticton are getting for $312 million is substantially more. But what we’re able to do is have a substantial amount of that cash. We don’t have to go back on a continual basis for additional taxation, and that can make a big difference.

Governments have committed $100 million in funding to support enhancement for services addressing mental health and substance abuse with a focus on youth, including $45 million to the Ministry of Children and Family Development over three years for more mental health counselling and for the treatment of children.

[1745]

We all know it’s required. There was a terrible incident in Penticton. There’s a group in Penticton right now doing their darnedest to establish a drop-in youth centre to try and help sway some of these kids from committing some of the terrible things that have happened to some of them in school — which nobody should have to go through, no family should have to go through.

There is a commitment by the province, but there’s also a commitment by our community that has stepped forward. They have raised a substantial amount of money to try and make a difference.

And $12 million for 28 additional specialized youth addiction treatment beds; $9 million for the expansion of youth service centres in up to five sites, each expected to reach 1,200 to 2,500 more clients annually. That’s something I just spoke about. That’s incredibly important — those numbers, and getting those kids into services where they can get the help that may be required.

Up to $5 million to support mental health services for post-secondary students, and $11 million over three years for the B.C. Centre on Substance Abuse.

These addiction issues have to be addressed. Substance abuse issues have to be addressed. We all have to step forward, collectively, to ensure that that happens.

A fact for families and people in need: balanced budget is providing $796 million over three years to support
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families, individuals and children in the most need, including $267 million for support services for vulnerable youth and those with special needs to help keep the families together. We know how important it is to have that cohesiveness of a family.

And $199 million to increase assistance rates by $600 a year for more than 100,000 people with disabilities. Is it enough? No, it’s not. It’s what we can afford now. We hope, and I know everybody in the House hopes, that we can keep increasing those rates for those people that really desperately require those additional funds.

And $175 million for caseload growth in income assistance; $135 million for community living services, including Community Living B.C.; and $20 million for child care, including up to 2,000 new child care spaces.

You know, I’ve been very fortunate. I was on the Finance Committee. We had a wonderful lady come in and talk to us on several occasions, over the past three years, about $10-a-day child care. It’s a great idea, but it’s not attainable right now. It’s just not affordable right now. I really think that we have to go back to the drawing board on this. We collectively have to put our heads together and see what we can come up with.

It was spoken to us at the Finance Committee. It was a $1.2 billion charge to initiate this, and after X amount of years — I don’t have the number in my head, but it was three, four or five — it would be down to $300 million a year of ongoing operating costs expected to be paid for by the government.

We all want to see that our kids are going to have good child care, but once again, we have to be able to afford it.

Post-secondary school. Interest rates on student loans will be lowered from prime plus 2½ to just prime, effective August 1 of this year. That’s going to save $11 million this year and $17 million each of the next two years. That’s a lot of money.

And $2.6 billion for post-secondary education infrastructure. That includes a new sustainable energy and engineering building at the Surrey campus of Simon Fraser University; a new industrial training and technology centre at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops; renewal of the trades facilities at College of the Rockies in Cranbrook; a new heavy-duty mechanics building at College of New Caledonia in Prince George. My nephew is in his last year of apprenticeship as a heavy-duty mechanic.

Renovations and the renewal of trades facilities at Selkirk College in Nelson; North Island College, Campbell River campus, their trades facilities — that’s a replacement and a campus consolidation; Northwest Community College, Terrace campus, trades facilities renewal; Northern Lights College, Dawson Creek, trades campus replacement; and Okanagan College, Vernon campus, new trades-training facility.

Boy, when I was a kid growing up, I wish my parents had steered me toward a trade. It’s something you can carry in the back of your pocket. You’ll always have it. It’s something to be incredibly proud of, and there is always work for a good tradesperson.

Affordable housing. The province continues to act and address housing supply and improve housing affordability for British Columbia families.

[1750]

The government has committed $920 million to support the creation of approximately 5,300 affordable housing units. B.C. HOME partnership program will provide $700 million in mortgage down payment assistance loans to an estimated 42,000 first-time homebuyers over the next three years. Rental assistance programs for low-income families and seniors support over 33,000 households each year. Think about that: 33,000 households have assistance by government. That’s phenomenal to hear, absolutely phenomenal to hear.

As well, the threshold for the first-time-homeowners program will be increased to $500,000, saving first-time buyers up to $8,000 in property transfer tax for the purchase of their first home.

Helping B.C. communities and businesses in economic development in British Columbia. Eliminating the PST on electricity over the coming two years is supporting jobs and competitiveness by saving small, medium and large industrial businesses across the province $164 million by 2019-2020, which further increases the use of B.C.’s clean hydroelectric power. This measure was recommended by the Commission on Tax Competitiveness.

We know that government is cutting the small business corporate tax to 2 percent from 2½ percent. It makes a difference. As I said, small business creates jobs in this province and especially in my community.

Other Budget 2017 measures to improve competitiveness: $6 million for the Buy Local program.

Agriculture. There’s a member on the other side that is a staunch advocate of agriculture and does a great job of promoting agriculture. I’m an orchardist. I have 5½ acres in Trout Creek. I have cherries, apples and horses. Horses are hay burners. They’re way more expensive than anything else you want to have on your farmland. But my sisters and my mom love horses, so that’s what we have.

I can tell you that today’s fruit production in the Okanagan Valley is absolutely incredible. Our vineyards are one thing. But with high-density fruit and the new varieties that are coming out…. I think there are many members in this House and within this Legislature that have had the experience of trying an apple called an Aurora Golden Gala. I have between 350 and 400 new trees going in this summer of that particular apple. I’ve been getting them from a friend of mine.

It’s an absolutely stunning apple. It’s an apple that was developed less than a mile from my house, at the Pacific agricultural research station. Even on smaller blocks, if you have a smaller farm or a larger lot, some of the opportunities that are presented in agriculture today are absolutely stunning.
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There’s $10 million for the Island Coastal Economic Trust for economic initiatives and $6 million for three new international trade offices in Southeast Asia. We all know where the people are coming from. We all know the opportunities that extend to us just across the Pacific Ocean — phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. They love our fruit, they love our wine, and they love Canada because of what we offer them: good, stable governance in all of Canada and huge opportunities not only for themselves but for their children. It really can make a large difference.

So $50 million for local government infrastructure under the Building Canada and clean water and wastewater funds, $15 million for new community gaming grants and capital programs and $12 million to maintain provincial highways to the appropriate standards. These are additional funds. And $23 million — a lot of us will be glad for this — for the guns and gangs strategy and community safety.

Parks and environment — $150 million for forest enhancement. I’m fortunate enough to fly down here sometimes. When I do fly over that country that has been logged because of the pine beetle, I see that new growth being regenerated up there. As many of you know, I spend a lot of time on a motorcycle when I can. Most of it is in the back country. I can tell you that the growth is coming. It’s slow, but it’s such a renewable resource for this province.

There’s $36 million for the Parks future strategy and $18 million for mines and permitting oversight. We want to get people working. There is an opportunity here for staff to have additional staff to help them out, and an additional $9 million for environmental management and compliance enforcement.

Something that I think is good: $27 million for the caribou recovery program. With the pine beetle and the fires that we’ve had and the exposure these animals are getting to their own predators…. The impact of us in the bush has made a difference. The government is stepping forward to ensure that we can protect these threatened herds.

[1755]

So $9 million for enhanced forest reforestation work and another $40 million for the clean energy vehicle program.

I’ve only touched on a couple of things. I want to come back very quickly to the hospital, the new hospital we’re building in Penticton. The new hospital tower is 281,000 square feet. My quick math is going to say that’s just under seven acres of floor space, and that’s incredible. It includes five new operating rooms and expanded medical services for reprocessing and sterilization.

Three floors are going to have 84 rooms where you’re a single occupant. You always want to be in a single room if you can, if you’re in a hospital. This project could not go ahead without the opportunities that the government has advanced not only for Penticton but for an awful lot of the citizens in British Columbia.

It’s been incredible to be able to stand up here today. I’ve only covered a small fraction of the things. Our balanced budget has allowed us to redirect millions of dollars towards our local communities. I know some people don’t agree with the balanced-budget approach, but it does make a difference in the long run.

Hon. Speaker, I want to thank you for your patience. I know that yourself and the other Speakers that get to occupy that chair and the incredible staff that’s here get to hear from each and every one of us as we address the concerns, pro and con, for the budget process. I want to thank everybody in this House for listening to me.

Once again — the hon. member for Columbia River–Revelstoke left the room — I want to thank him for his incredible service for his constituents.

You’ve had an exemplary career here, I’ve been told, and I only came in through part of it. You’re feisty, you stand forward, and that’s what the people elected you for in your area. You’ve done it for my four years here. I wish you the best in your future travels.

Hon. Speaker, thank you very much for allowing me to stand today.

B. Routley: In this, my final speech in this Legislature, I want to thank a whole host of people who have helped me along in my journey. First of all, of course, are the fine Cowichan Valley constituents, the voters, the people of Cowichan Valley, who twice gave me this amazing opportunity to be a member of the B.C. Legislative Assembly, to be their MLA. I have been humbled and honoured, and I’m very thankful for this interesting and challenging role as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, getting to represent my community that I grew up in starting in 1952. That’s when I moved to Duncan.

Later on in life, I brought my wife, my bride, to the Cowichan Valley, to Youbou, where we could raise our children. Now I get to see my grandchildren living in the Cowichan Valley. I certainly want to thank my wife, Charmaine, for her love and support all these years. This year it’s going to be 47 years. We were married on November 7, 1970. My, how time flies. Again, our first home was a mill town.

I want to camp there for a second and just mention that when I first came into this Legislature, I drove down to the Gorge Road car wash. That was my first job back in the 1960s — working at the Gorge Road car wash right here — at 18, at minimum wage. I worked my way up to front-end manager, and then I decided to branch out into being a shoe repairman. I thought I was going to have a full-time career. I never imagined MLA. I was shooting pretty low, although I thought: “Hey, I could have my own shoe repair one day.” So I worked at a Fort Street shoe repair for a little while before I headed off to work in the forest industry.
[ Page 13999 ]

It was quite an amazing experience and quite moving to me to go to the car wash on the first day that I came to work here in the Legislature. I camped outside there just for a little while and kind of looked around and thought of all of those times. Then I drove down here, and I had to pinch myself that I was wandering into this place, with all the marble and all of the opulence, certainly from a car-wash point of view.

[1800]

It has been quite amazing. I’ve talked to other MLAs that said they didn’t really make a choice to be a politician. It wasn’t a straight line, anyway, to that. I do find it fascinating — and you’ll hear in a minute how I ultimately ended up here — when you look back at the history.

[R. Lee in the chair.]

I have acknowledged Charmaine. I also want to acknowledge my children and grandchildren, who have also been very supportive of me, certainly, throughout my life. My son, Noah, who is a school trustee — he works in Nanaimo for B.C. Mental Health — has brought us two amazing and fun grandchildren. My grandchildren with Noah are Tiana and Carson. They’re wonderful kids, and I’m looking forward to spending more time with them, as well as other pursuits. My daughter, Alisha — who works with special needs children, specifically autistic children — brought us three beautiful grandchildren, Gabriel, Sarah and Peter.

I want to, for sure, thank my amazing staff. Let me just tell you a little bit about how amazing they are. I think about Doug Morgan, Debra Toporowski and Diana Brynlee.

First, Doug has got an amazing heart. He was a chairman up at the Duke Point mill, and he had had an injury. I knew Doug as somebody that was liked by both management and labour, so I got Doug involved, and I found out that he’s also got a huge heart. He’s a stabilizing, calming and listening kind of guy who exudes confidence. That confidence always felt good to be around. I discovered that he was a Golden Gloves boxing champion. So I always felt good when Doug was around, because I knew, no matter what craziness went on, he was there and going to take care of things.

I still remember his compassion when…. I’ve got a little bit of time. I know it’s got nothing to do with the budget, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to kind of colour outside of the lines. I know you find it hard to believe that I enjoy that.

I want to talk about Doug. We had this fellow come in, living on a disability, and he needed dentures. He explained that they’re capped at 900 bucks and they were $1,600, and he couldn’t afford to get his teeth. They were in the shop right in our same complex, but he couldn’t get them out. So Doug had gone on a search, and he’d found a way, a contribution for a hundred bucks a month, to make up the difference between $900 and $1,600. Next thing I know, though, he told me that he had written a cheque out. Well, I said: “Doug, you can’t be doing stuff like that.”

I asked my constituency assistant, “Could we write it out of here?” and they said: “No, no, no, Bill, no. Don’t even think about that. You can’t use that money for anything like that.” I said: “Well, that just doesn’t seem fair, so I’m going to write you out a cheque.” I wrote him out a cheque, I gave it to him, and he ripped it up. That’s the kind of constituency assistant I got — to me, just the amazing heart that he had to help people. He eventually got paid all of it back except a hundred bucks, and I’ve been trying to give it back to him for a long time, but he…. I’ll find another way.

Anyway, Debra is also an amazing person all on her own. She was there first under Doug Routley, and then I asked her if she wanted to stay in the Cowichan Valley. Of course, she did because she is Cowichan Tribes. She’s an unusual mix — Cowichan Tribes from her mom’s side and her dad is Chinese. She’s now a two-term Cowichan Tribes councillor. You can imagine how valuable that is in the Cowichan Valley constituency office — to have somebody that is well connected, understands and can help empathize with people from all factions of our society.

[1805]

She’s got the biggest heart and the biggest smile of anyone I know. I don’t know a happier person. I’ve often said to her: “How come you’re so…? Like, what’s…?” She explained that in her early days she’d been shot at, she’d been dragged by her hair. She’s seen the worst of times. She said: “You’ve got a choice in life. You can look at the cup half-full or half-empty.” In her case, she chose to be happy. Again, Debra is an amazing person, and I was so honoured to have her in my office.

I thank them both from the bottom of my heart.

I also had the world’s most amazing volunteer — in my mind, anyway. Diana Brynlee has come in every day for my eight years that I’ve been there, and she volunteered so much. She’s been retired. She just found us a friendly group to hang around. She was there day in and day out. Finally, I got tired of not paying her, so I volunteered to give her a day a week, whether she needed it or not, just because I didn’t feel right to have so much volunteering going on. But she doesn’t care.

Anyway, I’m going to miss this bunch of people to work with. It’s been an honour to be an MLA, but it has also been equally an honour to work with such fine people who gave such service to the fine people of the Cowichan Valley. I’m going to miss that time.

We had two simple goals in our office, and I like this part too. Early on we talked about it, and we said: “We’re going to have two rules. We’re going to try to help everybody that comes through the office, and rule 2, we’re going to have fun doing it.” And we did.

There were a lot of people who had nothing to do with politics. I remember one day sitting and listening to a guy
[ Page 14000 ]
talk for an hour, and at the end, I said to him: “Is there anything of a provincial nature I could help you with?” He said: “No, it’s just been great to have somebody listen to me.” And away he went.

Hey, it’s been interesting. You never know what kind of an experience you’ll have. But there were tragic stories, too, and folks that it was great to be able to help. I won’t even go down that path, because there are so many amazing stories of folks that we got to help.

I do want to also mention both my mom and my dad. My dad and mom are both passed away now. I’ve got to try not to get emotional about this part. Mom passed away first, in 1991, and my dad in 2005. I just want to mention that they not only were a bedrock in my life as a kid growing up….

I didn’t know that I had good parents until later in life, right? My dad used to hug me all the time. I remember, when I was a teenager, I got him to drop me off a block away from the school because I didn’t want everybody seeing my dad get out and hug me. It didn’t matter whether I was 16 or 17, there’s dad. I said at his funeral that if only I could have one more of those hugs.

He was not only an awesome guy…. My mom and he actually met studying Chinese in Winnipeg. They were going to be missionaries, and they heard that there were Chinese folks in Duncan, of all things. So they moved to the Cowichan Valley. Now, they were in for a big surprise, because there weren’t a lot. There were some.

I remember, as a kid growing up, I didn’t know we were poor. I didn’t realize, living in this little house with a little garden and wearing hand-me-downs, that there was anything wrong with that. The pastor got food brought to him, and every Saturday we’d go down and get a roast from Mr. Parnell. I remember all of those experiences well.

My dad had the biggest heart in the world, and he brought people in off the street. I can remember alcoholics we brought in, a young mom that had been thrown out of her own home because she was pregnant — all of that kind of stuff. All of those experiences, though, helped grow me up with an understanding and particularly compassion — with empathy, like my dad and mom. I didn’t realize it at the time. There wasn’t a name for it, but that’s most definitely what it was.

Thanks, Mom and Dad. You certainly raised me up with empathy.

They were ministers in Duncan for all those years, and then they moved to Victoria. In the Chinese church here in Victoria, they ran a daycare for mostly Chinese children, but there were some others mixed in.

[1810]

Then that led to, of all places…. They got to spend the last part of their career in Honolulu, Hawaii. Not a bad gig, eh? They got to spend the last 11 years of their career over there — again, looking after Chinese and Filipino kids. So it was amazing role models that they had.

I would be so remiss…. I have to thank my union because, after all, it was the IWA Local 1-80 that gave me a start when I first began working at the Youbou sawmill back on September 16, 1970. There were about 500 workers working back then. That was when I first became a union member. I didn’t really know what a union was until I got in there. But I got my hand crushed at work — a lack of training I put it down to — so that led me to get interested in accident prevention, and pretty soon I was elected on the safety committee back in the early 1970s. And I’ve been running for something every two to three or four years since the 1970s.

It just happened to me. There was no plan. But I got from safety committee to safety chairman of the entire mill and then my safety activism. I blew the whistle on them dumping pentachlorophenol in the lake. Imagine the irony of me today protecting the good people of Shawnigan or worrying about their water, when the first time I actually got to be known was blowing the whistle on BCFP dumping pentachlorophenol, which is a wood preservative — it’s got dioxins in it — and the company was not happy with me at all. They called me a disgruntled employee. So the rest of the workers said, “You’d better get more involved in the union,” so the next thing you know, I was union plant chairman.

But there is one part of that that’s kind of funny too. I still remember this Scotsman who I really respected. He was a hard-nosed union kind of a guy, and I didn’t think that I had that kind of style. Anyway, I still remember this Scotsman saying to me: “You know, Routley, you should be the next plant chairman, but I’m not sure you’ve got the guts.” In fact, he used something else, but I can’t say that in here. So I thought: “You know, I’ve got to run.” So the next thing you know, I ran, and I was plant chairman. It was a huge honour to represent workers at that big mill and wander around there, talking to workers and learning how to work with them.

The next thing was that the local union in Duncan decided to test me out. It was supposed to be for a three-month term as a union organizer in the spring of 1985. I never made it back to the mill after that. I did okay at union organizing and, obviously, okay enough that a year later, in the middle of the longest strike in IWA history, I was elected the union vice-president and then was elected president of the IWA local, which used to have 3,000 to 4,000 members, in 1990. That was such an honour that I got to continue to be the longest-standing president of Local 1-80 in Duncan. For 19 years I did that. That local, by the way, was started in 1937, so there was a lot of history involved.

I clearly couldn’t have gotten here without all of the experience that my union supported me in. It was very challenging at times. There was constant learning and sometimes very high drama involved in interacting with working people who were having issues. It seemed that one day was never the same as the next. It was exciting
[ Page 14001 ]
to go to work every day. Listening, learning how to deal with conflict resolution — or create it — learning public speaking skills, research, innovation and writing were just some of the skills that I honed on the job.

That helping and working on behalf of working people, I think, prepared me well to try to help and provide service to the entire community as an MLA. There was, again, no plan, but when suddenly the opportunity was there, I’m so grateful that I had the good sense to take it. I did ask my wife: “Will you leave me if I become a politician?” And she said: “No, but you’re crazy.” And she’s a little bit right there — half-right about the crazy part, anyway.

[1815]

But I’m so thankful for all of the fine union people who work every day to make things better for working people and offer people like me a chance to learn and to grow in a democratic society and a democratic worksite, in an environment, a place, where free collective bargaining rights give workers a feeling of rights and dignity and respect on the job.

I don’t know. Unless you’ve worked at a non-union place where you don’t have any rights and you just kind of jump when they say how high, and if they disrespect you, you just eat it up by the shovelful…. When you find out that you’ve got rights in the workplace and rights to speak up on things like safety and things that matter to working people….

It was indeed an honour and a privilege to work with them.

I also want to take this opportunity, while I’m thanking people, to thank and acknowledge Brian Butler, who is now the president of my old local union. Some of the other locals have merged together, becoming Local 1-1937 of the Steelworkers, which was the year all of those local unions started. I like to think I helped mentor Brian Butler. He’s an outstanding, hard-working, competent and caring union president and someone I hold in high esteem.

Thank you, Brian, for all your help and support over the years.

I also want to thank the Steelworkers leaders. I wasn’t sure about the Steelworkers, but — boy — after becoming one…. They actually took over the local in 2004, from all those years of IWA. We merged with them.

I want to thank the leaders like Leo Gerard, Steve Hunt and Ken Neumann for their amazing leadership. I feel so proud of a union that fights every day to make better wages and working conditions for working people, to actually help communities all over the world. I mean, in Leo’s case, it’s all over the world.

We’re helping to take a share of the profit pie that working people make. It’s the working people that help build that profit pie, and all they want is a decent and fair share of it. I’m so proud that we have leaders like that that are still doing that day in and day out, honouring working people by supporting them and helping them to secure a safe workplace with reasonable benefits.

I’m also grateful that we live in a country like Canada and a province like B.C., which have passed legislation to enable worker and union rights. However, we must be diligent, as there are some people who would undermine workers’ rights. I think we have some examples of that.

I find it very interesting that democratic countries that have a better standard of living for working people — and, actually, it raises all the boats, so to speak — have one thing in common. Everybody that doesn’t think much about unions should think about this. What do those countries that have stronger economies have in common? They have unions and union worker rights to free collective bargaining, worker rights to a union that can provide workplace fairness and safety in the workplace and just take that share of the profit pie that they can help share in the community.

I also want to thank — and I know others have done this as well — all the amazing people that I have met here in this B.C. Legislature, all of the working people. But I also would include all of the MLAs, MLAs from all over B.C. I very much enjoyed the experiences working here with MLAs from both sides of the House on the Finance Committee, on the Health Committee, even on the B.C. Timber Supply Committee.

I thank you all for our fantastic Legislature staff. All of this has made my time as an MLA a very special experience, an experience of a lifetime. It’s one that I will always treasure in my memories. I’m not ready for the rocking chair quite yet, but when I am, I’ll have some great memories.

I also want to give special thanks to my friend Norm Macdonald. Now that you use…. I had Columbia River–Revelstoke, but I can use “Norm Macdonald.” I think that’s nice.

[1820]

I want to thank you, Norm, for making my time in the Legislature not only very interesting, but working with Norm as the deputy critic…. He was the critic for Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations. He was a very special person to work with. He was always so selfless, so smart and so encouraging. So thank you, Norm. I’m going to miss you, buddy. I’m going to miss you.

Now, moving to something that I’m sure you were expecting. Moving to some final comments on what you may have noticed is one of my favourite words: jiggery-pokery.

I must admit, I pondered whether or not to do this, but I thought, as this is my final speech, I must come clean. I must admit that as a teen, I did try some jiggery-pokery myself.

Interjections.

B. Routley: Yes, I know it’s shocking. I know it’s shocking, and yes, it’s true. However, I would add that I did it, and I’m glad.
[ Page 14002 ]

Why do I say that? I did it and I’m glad because it gave me a context of what to avoid, what not to do, what I could improve on to avoid a jiggery-pokery kind of lifestyle, to avoid the slippery path of ongoing jiggery-pokery. I now try to live by saying what you mean and meaning what you say. There may have been a little slippage from time to time, but I certainly have not tried to make jiggery-pokery part of my lifestyle.

I do think it’s interesting that in recent times, jiggery-pokery has gained some real notoriety. On June 25, 2015, in a blistering dissent, then-still-alive U.S. Supreme Court Justice Scalia wielded an insult. Arguing against his colleagues’ reason in their decision, Scalia accused them of “interpretive jiggery-pokery.”

I’ve done a little research, and there is more jiggery-pokery. Jiggery-pokery dates back to at least the late 1800s. It is a rhythmic English phrase — that’s why I like it; it’s got a rhythm to it — describing dishonest manipulation or, the meaning that I prefer, nonsense, akin to hocus-pocus, humbug, bambosh, baloney, bunkum, hogwash, flapdoodle, flim-flam, flumadiddle, rubbish, hooey, hot air, motor-mouthing or poppycock.

Politicians can, after all, be fairly called snollygosters, which is an unprincipled politician — so I don’t mean anybody here, necessarily — and quockerwodgers. A quockerwodger is actually a puppet from the 1500s. Basically, it means pulling your strings. So quockerwodgers who flip-flop. Or as Judge Scalia said: “Flapdoodlers who deceive themselves and others with their jibber-jabber” or balderdash.

[Madame Speaker in the chair.]

For me, to be clear, I’m quite happy just to stick with jiggery-pokery.

When I play the tape back and I review what I heard the Liberals say over the years…. For example, back when I started, I remember reading that the Liberals had said: “We won’t sell B.C. Rail.” Then they did. The B.C. Liberals, at the time that I started out as an MLA…. Boy, I thought that debating HST would never end. It was the gift that kept on giving. The Liberals said: “We won’t bring in HST. It’s not on our radar.” And they brought in HST.

Then we go back to looking at some of the things that historically have been either before the courts or whatever. The B.C. Liberals said: “We won’t rip up contracts.” That’s what they told the health care workers. Then they ripped up both the teachers’ agreement and the health care workers’ contracts, which has become a huge legal cost to the province of British Columbia.

[1825]

In 2001, newly elected Gordon Campbell tore up the legally signed and binding contracts between the government and the HEU. Just to start with, the result was the firing of 450 care aides who provided personal care for seniors at three taxpayer-funded facilities in the Lower Mainland. These workers were all given termination notices in the largest mass firing in the health care history of British Columbia. I feel pain, as a labour leader, when I see what happened to those workers and their families. What happened was just wrong, in my view.

The government’s legislative changes attacked both union workers’ and seniors’ rights by creating a rush to privatization and contract flipping — a sorry situation to try to hold back senior care workers’ rights, creating a mess and a race to the bottom in the quality of senior care. It’s a situation that exists to this day, even in senior care right there in the Cowichan Valley.

I want to say that unions have given the rights of association and democracy to free collective bargaining, but it means, simply, the right to negotiate wages and working conditions between employers and unions, free from government involvement or legal restriction. That’s what it means. So no one should have tried to suggest that it was okay to rip up those contracts.

I mean, imagine if the NDP ripped up a contract of any one of the Liberals’ corporate sponsors. There would be screams from parts of British Columbia wherever the Liberals hang out. They would be outraged at the idea that we could take one of their contracts and just rip it up. That’s how I feel about taking working-class people and ripping up their rights.

I do see that my time is somewhat limited. I’ve got a little bit of time left, so I do want to say, in closing if I can, that I’m sure jiggery-pokery will continue on without my observations. To be certain, I’m sure somewhere I’ll be sitting in my armchair, and I’ll be tuned in. I’ll see what’s going on, and I may be mumbling from somewhere: “More jiggery-pokery.”

Happy trails to you all, and thank you all. Good night.

Hon. P. Fassbender: I’m delighted to follow the member for Cowichan Valley. That was 13 jiggery-pokerys. I counted every one of them, and we are going to miss that. It has been something that I’ve enjoyed in my time in the House so far.

I do want to thank the members of my constituency in Surrey-Fleetwood for allowing me to serve them in this capacity as their MLA. I also want to take the time…. I find sometimes, in these remarks, it sounds almost like the Academy Awards, where you’re giving thanks to all the people that got you to where you are. But I think it is important.

One of the first, of course, is my wife, Charlene. Eleven days after the election, we’ll be celebrating 50 years of marriage. Yes, we were married at the age of two, and it was arranged. But it’s been good.

I also want to thank my son Phil; my grandsons, Andrew and Charles; my other son Steve and his wife, Hollie, who are both RCMP members in Manitoba.

I want to thank my constituency staff — Carmen, Effie, Brittany, Emily and Preet. And no, they don’t all work
[ Page 14003 ]
for me at the same time. Three of them are on maternity leave. That was a bit of a challenge for me, as I became an MLA, because they kept saying they’re helping to grow the population of British Columbia, which I thank them for. The three of them — Brittany, Emily and Preet — who are on maternity leave have got beautiful young children. Carmen and Effie are serving the community very well in their role.

[1830]

The team here in Victoria in my office — Joan, Parveen, Tim, Lia, Megan and Alexis — serve the people of British Columbia in helping me do the job that I have to do day in and day out, not only as an MLA but as a minister for this government.

I also really want to thank the ministry staff, both in my time in Education and now in Community, Sport and Cultural Development. The staff are amazing. I think many of us really appreciate the hard work that goes on in every single ministry in this government day in and day out, and we’re honoured to be able to be a part of that team in serving in our roles. I know they work very hard, and every chance I get, I thank them for their efforts on behalf of the people of British Columbia.

I also want to thank the mayor and the council of the great city of Surrey. We have seen amazing growth in that community. The current mayor and council and previous mayors and council have worked very hard to build a vision for the future. They took a community that was referred to often by people who lived north of the Fraser River as the suburbs. It has now become an economic powerhouse in the province of British Columbia and is continuing, on average, to attract 1,000 people a month to that great community.

You see the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that comes from the people who’ve chosen to call Surrey their home. You see the work that they’re doing in building new businesses, farming the farmland that is there — and the truckers that serve the entire province by moving goods and services. All of the people who live in this city and who contribute make a big difference to the economy of this province.

I also want to thank the members of the Surrey school district, who are facing enormous pressures with that growth in trying to manage and project where the pressures are.

I think everyone is aware that, recently, the Minister of Education announced a project office in the city of Surrey, working with the school district, working with the council, working with the development community to have a made-in-Surrey solution for the rapid growth that we’re experiencing and meeting the needs of the students and the families that live there. They are working very well together and will be bringing together people so that we can be more efficient in providing the facilities that we need. I really do appreciate the work of the Surrey school board, working with the Ministry of Education to do that.

In Surrey, we nearly broke a previous record of building permits in 2016, with $1.47 billion of building permits in that city. When you realize what that means…. It’s not just residential. It is all about industrial development, warehousing and all of the things that contribute to the economy of the province.

I also know that young entrepreneurs are choosing the city of Surrey because of our great educational institutions, when we look at post-secondary. Think of Simon Fraser University, Kwantlen Polytechnic University and the investments that have been made by this government and those institutions to provide great opportunities not only in university education but in trades. It is amazing to see that young people and their families can come to Surrey. They can get a great K-to-12 education, and they can move on to post-secondary in their home community.

Just recently, we announced a new facility with Simon Fraser and with the partnership of the federal government where we contributed $45 million, for a total of $120 million with our partners, to build a new wing and a new trades training and engineering faculty there that is going to be leading edge.

The day that we announced that, the Prime Minister was there along with the Premier, and we saw the amazing work that the university is doing to be leading edge in the world in research and development of new technologies that are going to, again, create amazing jobs.

[1835]

I also look around Surrey, and I know the Minister of Technology knows clearly how technology is growing in Surrey as well. You see the innovation boulevard and some of the announcements that are being made in developing facilities, offices and research facilities that are leading edge, again, in the world. I know that in medical research and medical technology, innovation boulevard is going to be on the leading edge around the world. They’re partnering with institutions as far away as Israel, which is also a powerhouse when it comes to medical technology.

So we see that these opportunities are coming. That brings me to: why is that happening? Why is it happening in Surrey? Why is it happening in Kelowna and Kamloops and all of these other communities? It’s happening because the province of British Columbia has the strongest economy in the country and has a fiscal plan that is envied not just in Canada but around the world. People look at British Columbia as being a stable, safe place to make investments, to put their employees and to build new opportunities for employees from all over Canada — who are moving back to British Columbia to be able to build a future for their families.

So it is because of that stable economy. It is because of our credit rating. I very often find that when I talk to people in Surrey, when I’m connecting with my constituents, they say: “Can you help me understand why that
[ Page 14004 ]
credit rating is so important?” The simple answer is, to each and every one of them, that that credit rating saves the people of British Columbia hundreds of millions of dollars every single year that can be reinvested in health care, in education, in social services. That is what this budget is all about.

We have realized that by having a strong fiscal discipline, we can create the kind of atmosphere that will help economic growth and that will encourage further development and investments. That is why the budget that we are debating today is a clear indication to the world that we have promised, not just one, two, three or four times, but five times to balance the budget and to ensure that the people of British Columbia, in all of the sectors, benefit from that strong fiscal discipline. That is what this budget is all about.

When I was thanking some people, I did want to say a couple of things about a couple of my colleagues who are not going to be serving their constituents again. I think about the Minister of Energy and Mines and the Minister Responsible for Core Review. I’ve watched this minister, over the years that he’s served the province of British Columbia, fight for mining and fight for expansion of the kinds of energy resources that we need to again help the foundation of this province move forward. I’m proud to say that I’ve served with him for the last four years, and I know that the legacy that he leaves in the work that he’s done will benefit British Columbians for generations to come. So to the Minister: I want to say thank you for everything that you’ve done.

I also want to recognize the Minister of Health. I’ve heard lots of debate in this House about health care and all of the challenges that it faces, but I don’t think I’ve served with anybody in all of my life that is more dedicated and more passionate and cares more about the people of British Columbia, the health care workers, the people they serve and the institutions that serve British Columbians. Again, I am sorry to see him leave this House as a member.

[1840]

Again, the legacy that he leaves and the foundational work that he’s done on health care reform, because of our strong fiscal platform, is going to serve generations to come. I want to say thank you to him as well.

The member for Comox Valley spoke earlier this afternoon. He’s going back into the education system. I was fortunate to follow him as Education Minister, and I need to say this: again, an individual who served the students in all of his career prior to being elected as an MLA. I’m delighted that he’s going back into that profession, because I think what he’s learned here is going to contribute to him going back into the education system and challenging young people to explore their dreams and to see their futures in the greatest province in this country. I know he is going to do that in spades, and I want to thank him for everything he’s done.

The other member of this House, for Surrey–White Rock, that I want to thank is my Parliamentary Secretary for Youth Sport. He’s got some of the most amazing outfits I’ve ever seen in this House, but again, he’s a man who is passionate about youth. He has done so many things with our aboriginal communities in helping them to challenge young people to look to the positive, to look at the opportunities that we’ve created because of our strong fiscal environment.

With what we’re doing in education, we’ve seen in the province of British Columbia the highest rates of educational graduation in First Nations across this country, and we are held up by the other provinces as the leader when it comes to our relationship with First Nations educational institutions. The proof of the pudding is the graduation rates and the opportunities for future careers that young people in First Nations have as a result.

We’ve heard a lot in the debate about the budget. We’ve heard a lot about education. I said earlier that in the city of Surrey, we are working very hard to continue to build and to provide the kinds of opportunities…. Just recently the Minister of Education announced another $217 million of capital expansion in the city of Surrey, which is going to create an additional 5,200 spaces for young people where they can realize their educational opportunities. Since 2001, we’ve created over 12,000 spaces, and — yes, I say it without hesitation — we are not done.

The investments will continue in the city of Surrey and throughout the province of British Columbia for education. I know that, indeed, we know the future is education, and the future is our young people. We are going to continue to invest, because we have the resources that we are able to invest. The benefits will be there for each and every one of our young people.

We’ve invested in health care. This budget again: record investments in health care. I’ve heard criticism that things like seniors weren’t mentioned in the budget. Well, all of the people who benefit from health care were not mentioned by name in the budget, but they are reflected in every penny of investment that is going to be made. I know that we will see people get the services.

Again, the Ministry of Health has been working very hard with communities to find ways to deliver health care in communities where people can stay in their homes and get community care. I think that transformation is going to be long-standing for this province, and the Minister of Health has been passionate about working with the health authorities to make sure that we deliver health care where it’s needed, when it’s needed. This budget has made that investment to ensure that that happens.

[1845]

There’s been a lot of talk about our economy, and there are many people that contribute to it. One group that I want to speak to in my constituency, because very many of them live there, is the truckers of this province. When you look at what the Minister of Transportation intro-
[ Page 14005 ]
duced in the B.C. on the Move plan that he has for the next ten years, for the first time, the trucking industry was singled out. It was recognized for its significant contribution and the contribution that the truckers make to this province.

The investments that are made in that industry in the city of Surrey will ensure that they have facilities that will help them to do their job day in and day out. One of those was the investment that the government made — over $2 million — in a new parking facility on Nordel Way. That facility is there for the truckers to make their lives easier. I can assure this House and the people of Surrey and the trucking industry that more investments will be made to honour the work that they do.

They are significant contributors to the economy of this province, and I want to thank them because I think that, at times, they have been under-recognized. But I know clearly, in the time that I’ve spoken to them and met with them, that the kind of work they do is not often very high profile, but it is so critical to the economy of British Columbia. They do a great job.

Again with the budget, I had a number of mayors call me saying they were disappointed that they didn’t hear about transportation in the budget. Well, indeed, it was in the budget — significant investments as part of our fiscal plan — $246 million of investment in phase 1 of the Metro Vancouver transit plan.

We are working with the mayors. We are looking for opportunities with the federal government on how we can continue to build on the infrastructure. Because of our strong economy over the years, not millions of dollars but billions of dollars invested in infrastructure that serves the people of my constituency and every constituency in this province.

I know the members opposite say it’s not enough. But I know as well that when I was a local mayor, there was the opposition against the Port Mann. The opposition was against the South Perimeter Road, against the Evergreen Line — all of the investments that this government has made to move people and to move services around this province.

I’m proud to be part of a government that is willing to invest in transportation through the kinds of work that we have done. That is why the people of British Columbia will see clearly that this government has a plan. It’s worked the plan, it’s delivered on the plan, and it is going to continue to do that for my constituency and every other member of this House, whether they’re on the government side or not. The investments this government has made have been for the people of British Columbia no matter where they live.

I heard the opposition members a little earlier today saying it’s time for the people of British Columbia to refresh government. Well, you know what? I know they get excited when they think about that, but I’m going to tell the people of British Columbia one thing. You do get refreshed government by the government that is currently in power, because we make the changes that are necessary when they’re necessary. If you look at the history of the opposition party, you can see that…. I wouldn’t use the word “refresh.” I’d use the word “regress.”

That is what it’s all about. That’s what this budget is all about. It’s about the future, it’s about investment and it’s about commitment to the people of British Columbia for a strong economy, for returns to them that benefit them day in and day out.

[1850]

When I think of all of the opportunities that lay before the people of British Columbia, when you look at the next number of years and you look at what we can do, I know that the people of British Columbia will see a government that has worked hard, that has been disciplined, that has a plan that will take us into the next century and that will ensure economic health and prosperity for their children.

The last major issue that I hear from the opposition is we’re running up huge debt. I’m going to repeat what the Minister of Finance said. We borrow to build for the people of British Columbia, and we make no apologies for that. But we don’t borrow to feed the people of British Columbia, because we have an economy that allows them to feed themselves and to have jobs that are good jobs and well-paying jobs.

The track record speaks for itself. This budget lays the groundwork for the future. I know that we are going to see that future grow, because the people of British Columbia will return a government that knows what it’s doing, doesn’t make false promises, delivers on the promises it makes and ensures that they have a healthy economy.

I think of all of the opportunities. I think of the expansion that is going to happen in Surrey as we look at the expansions in transit services that will allow people to move throughout the region — the extension out to the Langleys which, again, are growing communities that are creating opportunities.

I was speaking to someone just the other day who has been riding on the Evergreen Line since it opened. They’ve clearly recognized that they now have more opportunities for themselves and for their children to be able to move around the region because of the investments that this government has made, to the jobs that are being created throughout the region and, I’m proud to say, in the great city of Surrey.

I know that there is always negativity that comes when the opposition feels that they have to criticize. That’s their job. They’re there to try and find what’s wrong. The problem is that I did not hear any questions for the last few days on the budget in question period — I heard all kinds of things — and you know why? They don’t want to ask questions because they won’t like the answers. The answers are economic growth, security, prosperity, a plan for people and a future for the province of British Columbia.
[ Page 14006 ]

We’re making record investments in modern, safe infrastructure. We are making record investments in health care. We’re making record investments in social services for people who need the support. Those investments are only there because of the strong fiscal plan and our balanced budgets. The budget that was introduced is the next step to the future for the province of British Columbia.

Hon. P. Fassbender 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 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.

The House adjourned at 6:53 p.m.

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