Orders of the Day

Hon. M. de Jong: I call continued debate on the throne speech.

Throne Speech Debate

(continued)

Hon. L. Reid: To recap from yesterday, and to say what a pleasure it is to again rise in support of throne speech 2017.

I talked a little bit yesterday about post-secondary education in British Columbia and the commitment that it remain accessible and affordable. Many of you will know there are 426,000 students enrolled in 25 public universities, colleges and institutes. They are well situated across British Columbia. They do an amazingly great job.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

Today 53 percent of the student base is female, 46 percent are aged 18 to 24, 11 percent are international, and 6 percent are aboriginal students. It’s $1.9 billion invested annually. If we think about that, that’s $5.2 million a day. It’s an extraordinary investment in something I believe to be critical to the future of our province and hugely important to me personally.

Additionally, more than $1 billion will be invested in new and expanded buildings and equipment over the next three years. Infrastructure is important. It continue to build glorious learning situations, glorious learning environments for students across British Columbia. Operating grants to public post-secondary institutions increased by 45 percent to $1.827 billion in 2016-2017. That’s huge.

I’m passionate about affordability, and one of the pieces I’m going to spend some time on today is undergraduate student housing, because I think it’s hugely important. Undergraduate students in British Columbia have paid the fourth-lowest average tuition in Canada for the last 11 consecutive years. Tuition increases have been capped at 2 percent annually since September of 2005, all of those things building important pathways to post-secondary education.

A post-secondary education offers a great return on investment. For example, British Columbians with an undergraduate degree can expect to earn an additional $827,000 over their lifetime. So, does post-secondary education launch young people into great careers, great choices and great opportunities? It absolutely does, and we need to continue to offer that level of support.

I mentioned earlier that student housing is a passion of mine. There’s no question that it’s important, and government continues to explore options to look at the supply of public housing for post-secondary students. This includes looking at different financial vehicles to encourage and allow public post-secondary institutions to be part of a market housing phenomenon without the debt being placed on provincial government books — hugely important.

There are 16 public post-secondary institutions in British Columbia with student residences. There are some today without student residences and, certainly, those are changes we can make, things we can do that will absolutely be not just of benefit to students in the province of British Columbia but to their families. The actual tuition cost is about one-third of a student’s outlay today — two-thirds of their living costs. If we can do some things to lessen that burden, we absolutely should.

Some universities — UBC, UVic, TRU and VIU — guarantee all eligible first-year students an on-campus residence space. Many institutions are not in a position to do that today. We need to absolutely look at that and see if there are ways we can do better.

Current examples. Current housing projects include work camp–style housing at Northwest Community College in Terrace, affordable student housing at Capilano University in North Vancouver and redevelopment to include student housing by the University of Victoria and a new student residence at UBC. So the work is underway. In my view and the view of this government, it needs to continue.

A 2015 survey of 28,000 former post-secondary students found 93 percent were satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of their education. That is an enormous tribute to the system in British Columbia. My alma mater is UBC. Many of you attended different institutions across this land. All of us have the benefit of a great, great educational program. Do we want that program to be available to more and more students on a continuing basis in the province of British Columbia? Absolutely, we do.

The number of credentials awarded to students increased 30.2 percent to 62,116 credentials in 2015-2016 compared to 47,700 in the years 2003-2004. Each time someone leaves a post-secondary institution in the province of British Columbia with a certificate, diploma or degree, it launches them into an array of different opportunities.

[10:10 a.m.]

Is that degree, diploma or certificate an asset? It’s absolutely an asset. What we would wish for our children and I wish for every single child in the province of British Columbia, every single student in the province of British Columbia — that they have the opportunity and the choice to go forward.

The number of credentials awarded to aboriginal students increased 24 percent. So work to do, but that work will warm our hearts on a go-forward basis. It’s hugely important.

I touched on yesterday, in terms of a throne speech comment, that the B.C. government invests more than $1.9 billion. Since 2001, our government has added seven more public university campuses and added more than 32,000 students to the public post-secondary system — 32,000 more opportunities for growth, more opportunities for learning, more opportunities for application and perhaps more opportunities for trades transfer. All of those things are critical to the success of this province, and all of those things are critical to the projects currently underway in the province of British Columbia. It only works if people are working in British Columbia.

Since 2001, government has invested more than $3.3 billion in capital infrastructure projects at public post-secondary institutions throughout the province. We are building a province with skills and talents to build an amazing array of very sophisticated projects across British Columbia.

Let me touch on one such project that’s near and dear to my heart. It’s the new crossing over the south arm of the Fraser River. What I would like to see — and what I would hope that all members of this House could see their way to, particularly the women — is that we look at something that hasn’t happened in our province before, which is naming a piece of infrastructure after a woman. I think it’s timely. I think 2017 is our year, and I’m hoping we could come to the conclusion that we might want to call it the Grace McCarthy. That would be my suggestion for today.

The new Emily Carr University of Art and Design is just one example of a great capital project. It will officially open this fall. It’s one of only four institutions in Canada that offers specialized programs in fine arts, media arts and design. I’ve seen the photographs; I’ve seen the plans. It’s absolutely spectacular. It’ll be a state-of-the-art facility that will attract national and international students. Graduates will become part of a creative economy where innovation leads industry and industry connects to innovation — hugely important.

We have some of the finest minds, some of the finest graduates in the province of British Columbia. In fact, there was a student who joined us in this chamber and was introduced by the former Attorney General. He was a David Thompson graduate, and he was the best science student in the world. That level of talent, that calibre of learning…. We are leading. We have world-leading institutions and world-leading students.

I’m intensely proud, enormously proud, of those accomplishments, as all British Columbians should be. Our system continues to support an amazing array of talent, an amazing array of sophistication — and students that will take the name British Columbia across the globe. That speaks to me; that absolutely warms my heart.

As well, government is directly investing $1.3 billion in capital infrastructure projects in B.C. post-secondary institutions over the next three years, fiscal 2017-18 and fiscal 2019-20. Examples of current infrastructure projects at B.C. post-secondary institutions. College of New Caledonia — a new heavy mechanical trades training facility in Prince George, which will make the minister to my right very, very happy. Students in the north will learn the skills they need to work in industries such as oil and gas, forestry and hydroelectricity.

I talked a little bit yesterday in my remarks about trades transfer. Whether it’s aerospace or marine technology or forestry or mining, those skill sets have enormous transferability across projects in British Columbia. It’s the project work that keeps British Columbians employed and continues to build this province.

Northern Lights College will have a new trades training centre in Dawson Creek. Northwest Community College will renew its trades training facility in Terrace. The University of Northern British Columbia — a new wood innovation research lab in Prince George. All of those things have the ability to capture the imagination of students in British Columbia.

That speaks to me. That speaks to me as a former teacher; it certainly speaks to me as a parliamentarian. The number of students, as we have today, who sit in the gallery, have an opportunity to be part of post-secondary institutions in this province and to have their passion, their innovation, their science launched, explored, refined. All of those things speak to teachers when it becomes about analytical skill sets, about curiosity.

To my graduating classes — and I had the privilege of attending all five graduation ceremonies in my riding this year — I say: “I expect and I trust that you will be more curious on the day you graduate than you were at school entry.” It’s hugely important. If we don’t build that level of curiosity, if we don’t build that level of energy, excitement and enthusiasm for learning, we are in fact diminishing the responsibilities and diminishing the prospects for the province. We don’t want that. We absolutely want us to be on the cutting edge.

[10:15 a.m.]

In the Thompson-Okanagan, a new health sciences centre at Thompson Rivers University and Okanagan College — hugely important that that opportunity is spread across British Columbia. Back in the day, everyone came to either Victoria or Vancouver to go to university. The notion that we now have huge opportunity across the province of British Columbia…. It’s a kindness to families, it’s a kindness to students, and it’s an opportunity.

When you talk about something like medical school training in Prince George, it’s an opportunity for those individuals who graduate as doctors, as physicians, in northern British Columbia to actually have a support system in place, to have a hub, to have a network. All of that is important if we expect people to stay. You stay in places where you feel well supported — to have locums available, to have students available, to have a network, to have a peer group.

Regardless of the area of endeavour, whether it’s medicine or nursing or teaching, you stay where people have created opportunities for you to feel a sense of welcome. It’s huge. Universities, college, institutes across British Columbia have contributed to that sense of welcome. We need to ensure that those hubs continue so that, in fact, it’s not always the case of trying to incentivize students to return to northern communities. We want them to make their homes there, build their family there and, hopefully, have two or three generations participating in post-secondary education.

The new health sciences centre at Thompson Rivers University and Okanagan College. These new facilities will train the next generation of health care professionals, including nurses and health care assistants. No matter the endeavour, no matter the work underway, no one does it alone — not in this chamber, not in an operating room. Everyone has a support system, and to put that in place and to honour that makes perfect sense.

The Nicola Valley Institute of Technology, a new centre of excellence and sustainability in Merritt — hugely important. We live in the best province. We have the most diverse province, I believe, in Canada. We need to do some things in terms of how we care for that on a go-forward basis.

A new trades training facility in Vernon — hugely important — as part of the Okanagan College system. Thompson Rivers University — a new industrial training and technology centre in Kamloops. This state-of-the-art facility will house the trades, technology and industrial programs students will need for their jobs in the region.

The University of British Columbia Okanagan — a new teaching and learning centre in addition to a number of infrastructure upgrades.

It warms the heart of a teacher to be able to talk about projects that are underway. A majority of these projects will open this September, September 2017, or September of 2018. This work is consistent. It’s steadfast. It’s delivering on sustainability.

In the Kootenays and the College of the Rockies — a new trades training facility in Cranbrook. Selkirk College — the renewal of the Silver King trades campus in Nelson. Opportunities for grade 12 students today to look at entire array of choice and decide how they wish to build their future, how they wish to build their family and where they wish to build their family.

I said yesterday and I’m happy to continue to reiterate: the best social program in the world is a job. The notion of self-confidence, of renewal for your family, of the ability to care for your family is absolutely huge.

In the Lower Mainland, the British Columbia Institute of Technology — a new health sciences centre for advanced simulation. Students will experience hands-on learning opportunities in environments that mimic those found in hospitals and laboratories. It’s huge — the notion that that kind of simulated environment will give you a leg up in terms of exposure to new procedures, new technologies. That is the best, most sophisticated learning available today, and it’ll be found in our province. Those are absolutely spectacular choices for students.

Do students choose British Columbia and come from many, many parts of Canada? Absolutely, they do. Do international students choose British Columbia? Absolutely, they do. I welcome that. I think that’s a tremendous opportunity.

The B.C. Institute of Technology renewed its electrical infrastructure by about 50 percent at the Burnaby campus. Maintenance is important. Renewal is important.

Justice Institute of British Columbia — lots of upgrade happening.

At the Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the new Chip and Shannon Wilson School of Design, in Richmond. I have watched this project just about every week as I drive by, seeing it come out of the ground. It will be welcoming students.

Some of the best international design students in the world will come to Richmond, British Columbia. Will they inspire those who come after them? Will they create businesses? It’s an entrepreneurial program. They will drive business growth. I say to my graduating high school students this year and every year: “It’s delightful that you will get a job, but think more about being an employer. Think about creating jobs for those who come behind you. That is the mark of a prosperous economy: when you can actually take your idea to the marketplace and employ other British Columbians — your peers, your colleagues.”

To build a business in British Columbia is an entity, is an experience. It is a project that I’m intensely proud of, whenever I have a student who comes back and says they’ve created a business and they’ve employed other folks. Hugely important, because it’s how you pay it forward. It’s how you build.

Kwantlen Polytechnic is renovating some facilities in Surrey. Simon Fraser University — a new energy systems engineering building in Surrey. The University of British Columbia — new undergraduate life sciences laboratories.

[10:20 a.m.]

Cutting-edge technologies. Cutting-edge thinking. Cutting-edge learning. The best scientists. British Columbia’s policy should always be uplifted by the best science of the day. These institutions inform the decisions of government on a go-forward basis.

On Vancouver Island, North Island College’s new trades-training facility in Campbell River is hugely important. The renewal expansion project means that trade students will have their own dedicated learning space.

At Camosun College, a new health sciences building at the Interurban campus in Victoria. Students completing their training in the new building will go on to be the health science professionals families rely on each and every day, such as daycare professionals and community outreach workers. These are all the entities, all the practitioners who build the fabric of community and who strengthen the fabric of community. It’s hugely important.

At Royal Roads University, a new centre for environmental science and international partnership in Victoria. Victoria, Vancouver — international hubs, no question. Vancouver Island University’s expansion of the marine, automotive and trades complex in Nanaimo. And, again, at Vancouver Island University, a new health and science centre in Nanaimo. If you were an 18-year-old high school graduate today, the array of choice you would have across this province is enormous — absolutely enormous.

I pay tribute to the former minister and my current colleague because this work is a labour of love. This work has launched careers across British Columbia, in terms of students having choice.

Liberalism is about choice, the opportunity to make some choices in terms of what you would have happen across this province for students. There are many, many parents in this chamber this morning. I know that what you wish for your children is the same as what I wish for every child in the province of British Columbia. Choice is a big part of that.

I’ve covered off a number of institutions this morning and a number of new capital infrastructure projects because all of it is about how we build a province, how we go forward.

I continue to talk about access because I believe it’s hugely important. Provide free post-secondary tuition for all children in care — that speaks to me. Many of us will have set aside dollars for our children’s education. In instances where that has simply not been possible for the children in the care of this province, this is a glorious initiative, one that speaks to me and, frankly, warms my heart.

Investing in technology-related programming, including 2,000 more graduate spaces in science, technology, engineering and math throughout British Columbia, is hugely important. New engineering schools in Kamloops and Prince George…. The science pieces, the math pieces, the engineering, all of that underlays any infrastructure project in the province of British Columbia, but it also underpins just about every medical science discovery.

We have some of the best researchers in the world at the science centre in British Columbia and at the Cancer Centre in British Columbia. They are doing the Genome B.C. work. They’re doing some amazing work.

Something like a cancer diagnosis is a family diagnosis. All of us would wish that we have the best professional of the day if it’s us or a member of our family who’s been diagnosed or any British Columbian. We would want that theory and practice to be the best that can possibly be delivered. That absolutely is the case in the province of British Columbia. Our post-secondary institutions contribute to that level of success and that calibre of understanding. There’s no question it does.

There will be 100 new graduates in the engineering building at SFU Surrey. That’s hugely important to support the work that happens south of the Fraser.

Supporting affordability of post-secondary education. Nothing nearer or dearer to my heart. The British Columbia government is working to keep post-secondary education affordable for all British Columbians. The B.C. government contributes $1,200 to children through the B.C. training and education savings grant. As of May 31, 2017, 73,000 children have an additional $1,200 in their RESP to support their post-secondary goals. That’s over $88 million invested since August of 2015. That’s an absolutely huge investment. It’s the right investment. It’s a timely investment, and families will have some comfort knowing that their students will have the ability to make some choices.

In 2005, we introduced a policy that limits annual tuition increases to 2 percent. Undergraduate students in B.C. pay the fourth-lowest tuition in Canada. It has been the fourth lowest in the country for the last 11 years. Is that some stability? Absolutely. Is that some steadfastness in support of students? Absolutely.

British Columbia was also the first jurisdiction in Canada to launch a government-sponsored open textbook project. I believe that was under the tenure of my colleague from Richmond-Steveston. More than 180 open textbooks are now available on line for use by students, faculty and staff. That is an enormous cost savings.

[10:25 a.m.]

Back in my day at university, textbooks, on average, were $100 then. I’m sure the cost hasn’t gone down. To be able to find that information on line and reduce your outlay — an absolutely tremendous initiative on behalf of government.

It is estimated that approximately 40,000 students in British Columbia have saved as much as $4.5 million so far with open textbooks. What enormous savings, and ones that we can all be proud of.

We also support students who need student financial assistance. The B.C. government has invested approximately $4 billion since 2001 and issued approximately $199 million in student loans in fiscal 2015-16 and approximately $55 million in grants in the same year, 2015-16.

Our world-class education system also benefits international students. British Columbia hosts almost one-third of all international students living in Canada — extraordinary.

The number of international students with study permits increased 52 percent to 136,905 in 2016 from 90,000 in 2010. This includes international students studying in public and private post-secondary language schools and K-to-12 in British Columbia. The province more than met the ambitious B.C. jobs plan goal of a 50 percent increase in the number of international students by 2016.

We’ve also increased the opportunities for British Columbia students to study abroad through scholarships and access to study-abroad opportunities across the system.

International students spent more than $3.5 billion in British Columbia, supporting 29,300 jobs. Revenue from international-student tuition created additional student spaces and opportunities for domestic students. International students bring social, economic and cultural benefits to communities, schools and institutions in British Columbia.

In conclusion, hon. Members, it warms my heart to be standing today as the Minister for Advanced Education. It is about a great throne speech. It is about a successful province.

I’m going to end with an example of a student from Capilano University’s 2D animation diploma. Benson Shum won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature as part of the animation team of Disney’s Zootopia. Absolutely outstanding — a British Columbia student doing an amazingly good job.

Leigh Wall completed Vancouver Community College’s introductory course to heavy-duty commercial transport. She’s working part-time to complete her apprenticeship and as a student recruiter for the college.

Great opportunities for growth in our province and continuing prosperity. Those are the things that this 2017 throne speech speaks to. I’m absolutely delighted to have had the opportunity to speak in support of what I think is an outstanding cadre of services and supports for advanced education in British Columbia.

Across the system, the Ministry of Advanced Education stands ready to continue some absolutely superb work.

Hon. J. Sturdy: It is a pleasure to stand and to rise to support the throne speech, but I would like to start by thanking my constituents in West Vancouver–Sea to Sky for giving me the honour to represent them in this chamber for another term. It is truly humbling to be granted this opportunity yet again, and I commit that every day I will work and advocate on behalf of the constituents of my riding and of British Columbia.

Before I carry on, I do also want to take the opportunity to thank my wife, Trish, and my daughters, Emma and Thea, for their continued patience and support, both in the day-to-day demands of being an MLA and the more intense activity of an election campaign. Thank you three. Your unwavering support really does make it possible.

I want to also thank Sharon and Nicola in our constituency office in West Vancouver–Sea to Sky. They continue to do great service for all of the constituents in the region. We can’t say often enough how they really are the horsepower in the day-to-day actions for constituents. I want to thank them for their commitment and their willingness to go above and beyond on my behalf, but more importantly, on behalf of the constituents.

And, of course, I’d like to thank the volunteers who worked tirelessly on all members’ campaigns. It’s important that people engage in democracy, and working on a campaign truly is democracy in action.

[10:30 a.m.]

I rise today to speak in favour of our government’s Speech from the Throne. On May 9, British Columbians sent a message to all members of this House. They said they want us, as their representatives, to minimize our differences and work together to build a province that is stronger for all British Columbians. With this Speech from the Throne, our government is doing just that.

While we’ll not agree on certain issues, this speech sets out not to focus on issues that divide us, but rather those that unite us as British Columbians. That’s why we’re presenting a new agenda, one that keeps our economy strong, protects and enhances our environment while continuing to fight against climate change and invest in the social services that people need.

Our plan to build a stronger British Columbia starts with a strong economy. Only when our economy is strong does government have the resources to invest in the future of our province. And I’m proud to say that because of the management of our B.C. Liberal government over the past four years, British Columbia currently has the strongest economy in Canada.

Our province has the second-lowest unemployment rate in the country. We have the lowest youth unemployment rate. And since the start of the B.C. jobs plan, we have added over a quarter of a million jobs to this economy.

Last year British Columbia saw export values climb by over 25 percent, spurred by further diversification. Be it in forest products, food products, clean tech, film or education, we saw tremendous growth in export revenues. We saw exports to Japan rise by 61 percent, South Korea by 103 percent and the European Union by 71 percent. Diversifying our trade partners helps ensure our economy is better positioned to remain strong and stable for years to come.

Certainly, one particular area of diversification and growth has been the tremendous growth that we’ve seen in tourism here in British Columbia. In B.C., clearly Whistler is a standout. Whistler contributes 25 percent of all the new money that comes into this province as a result of tourism — actually, just behind Vancouver and the town that we’re in right now.

Employment growth in the Sea to Sky and in Whistler in particular has been extraordinary. Whistler visits in the summer, the winter and the shrinking shoulder seasons have been phenomenal. In the last four years, 2,500 new jobs have appeared. Hotels are full. Tour companies, restaurants and service providers are running full out.

Our government’s partnerships and agreements with First Nations are an important part of this and are at the forefront of our collective future. In the spring, I had the pleasure of being emcee at a ceremony at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler. The province of British Columbia, Whistler-Blackcomb, Squamish Nation and Lil’wat Nation signed a 60-year master development agreement and a master plan for the controlled recreation area.

These plans include an agreement with Whistler-Blackcomb, the province, the Squamish and the Lil’wat, on whose traditional territories the resort operates, and facilitates first steps they need and the company needs to make new investments. The agreement will see Squamish and Lil’wat Nations become revenue-sharing partners as well as being consulted on enhanced cultural protections, increased employment opportunities, job creation and job training, including educational and recreational opportunities for First Nations youth.

The province has continued to support Whistler and all of the resort municipalities with RMI investments. The resort municipalities initiative invests $10 million a year in resort municipalities across the province and helps them create events, animation, programming and infrastructure that enhance the visitor’s experience. Whether it be way-finding signs to guide tourists, cleaning up after thousands of event-goers in the Olympic Plaza or creating a bridge and trail to an iconic old train wreck in the woods, these investments support the community to provide better service and better experience for guests so that they come back to B.C. again and again — and bring their money with them.

[10:35 a.m.]

It is because of our strong fiscal situation that the province has been able to continuously reinvest in the guest experience of getting to Whistler or beyond, and the Sea to Sky Highway is one of them. This has been an excellent investment for the province. In the last several years, millions have been invested in resurfacing the highway, widening shoulders for cycling and increased and earlier sweeping.

We’ve also installed signage identifying the Sea to Sky as a world-class cycling destination. Obviously, mountain biking is growing in popularity throughout British Columbia, and the Sea to Sky is certainly no exception. From the North Shore of Vancouver to Pemberton, people come from around the world to experience what we have to offer. An economic assessment was repeated last year after an assessment done ten years ago, through the region, which is giving us some important metrics on the growing value of mountain biking to our tourism sector. Preliminary data is incredibly positive, and the growth and resulting economic impact on all communities is remarkable.

The Whistler Blackcomb bike park and the Crankworx festival are globally significant in the mountain-bike community. The B.C. Bike Race starts on Vancouver Island and then down the Sunshine Coast and up the Sea to Sky to Whistler and draws riders from around the world to the province, and the province has been pleased to support it.

On the road-biking front, if you haven’t ridden the GranFondo…. I can see all of you are engaged in this particular conversation, but if you haven’t ridden the GranFondo from Vancouver to Whistler, you’re missing one of the epic road rides in the world. That, frankly, is no exaggeration.

This government has responded to this ever-increasing interest. We’re dealing with pinch points like the Porteau Bluffs, where we’ve installed a set of cyclist-activated warning lights, and on the hill out of Britannia, where additional shoulder infills will increase safety on that hill climb.

The province has continued to focus on safety on the Sea to Sky through the installation of message boards and signage to help drivers react better to delays and road conditions. As well, just recently we removed the vegetative barrier in Lion’s Bay to improve safety there.

Throughout the Sea to Sky there is tremendous growth. Squamish is an area of huge strength and potential. Squamish is expected to double in population over the next 20 years, but based on census data and housing starts and the general attractiveness of Squamish and its proximity to Vancouver and to Whistler and because of the breadth of recreational opportunities, we may see that doubling of population coming much faster than the forecasted 20 years — maybe closer to ten or 15.

Our focus needs to be on creating diverse employment opportunities for people in Squamish so the people have options to work in the community that they live in. If in 20 years the incredible Sea to Sky Highway is bogged down in congestion with people heading to work in Vancouver, then as community leaders, both provincially as well as locally, we’ll not have succeeded in our planning and in realizing as diverse an economic base and employment opportunities as we need.

The Squamish oceanfront and post-secondary opportunities have added to the well-recognized and respected Quest University. It is one of the keys to Squamish’s future. The oceanfront is a 100-acre brownfield site on the water, below the Stawamus Chief, and gives Squamites back access to the ocean, an incredible venue for residential, commercial and institutional development. Clean tech, renewable energy and green technologies that support our traditional industries are the vision for this area. Given the strength of purpose of the people of Squamish, I have no doubt that we will be successful in re-visioning, repurposing and renewing this land and creating a thriving oceanfront community that globally makes its mark.

As I said, West Vancouver–Sea to Sky is thriving from one end to the other. From Dundarave to D’Arcy, from Bowen to Britannia and on to Pemberton, the economy and economic activity are thriving. One area, however, I am focusing on is new to my riding. During the last electoral boundary redistribution, the riding was expanded now to Twenty Mile Bay on Harrison Lake to include the In-SHUCK-ch people.

[10:40 a.m.]

This makes sense, even if it did add 1,000 square kilometres to my riding. As a cultural transportation and service focus of the lower lake communities, it’s always been back to the Sea to Sky. But they are isolated and remote, and it provides real challenges to connect them with opportunity. This will be one of my priority focuses in this next term.

While rural and remote challenges are throughout B.C., overall, our economy is enabling British Columbians to get ahead. In 2015, wages, salaries and benefits saw an increase of 4.5 percent, well above the 3 percent national average. This has been accomplished while delivering five consecutive balanced budgets without raising taxes, ensuring that we’re not burdening the future generations with increased debt or raising costs for British Columbian families.

Speaking of future generations, it’s just as important to ensure that our children inherit a planet that is better than we found it, and that’s why our government is taking additional steps to combat climate change. For example, our government is investing $50 million to build 4,321 new electric vehicle charging stations across the province — 110 fast, 30-minute chargers and 4,200 five-hour chargers installed right across the province.

The transportation sector is the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, and in B.C., it’s nearly 40 percent of our emissions. If we’re to take concrete action to help to meet our GHG goals, then we have to reduce the amount of emissions created by motor vehicles. That’s why we need to do more to help people transition away from fossil fuel–dependent transportation to electric and zero-emission vehicles.

That is, in fact, happening. Our government’s clean energy vehicle program helps to make the purchase of a zero-emission vehicle more accessible and affordable for British Columbians. Consumers can receive $6,000 toward the purchase or lease of a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, $5,000 for the purchase or lease of a new electric battery vehicle or $2,500 to $5,000 for the purchase or lease of a plug-in hybrid.

These incentives, combined with B.C.’s SCRAP-IT program, can save British Columbians up to $12,000 on the purchase of a zero-emission vehicle. In an industry of vehicles that are getting cheaper all the time, this is a great incentive. The $50 million we’re investing in new charging stations will also help make owning electric vehicles more practical by helping people reduce their range anxiety.

As more and more people transfer over to electric vehicles, we’re going to see an increased need for electricity, and that’s why our government is committed to providing clean, renewable power — a key reason that this government will continue moving ahead with the construction of the Site C dam.

The facts are clear. If British Columbia and the rest of Canada are going to reach our climate change targets, we are going to have to increase the amount of electricity that we produce. In fact, Environment and Climate Change Canada released a report last year. Their conclusion was that if Canada was going to meet our Paris agreement climate change goals, then we’re going to need to significantly increase electrical generation capacity.

Site C will provide a clean and renewable source of power that will help us make this transition. As we’re successful in transitioning our vehicle fleet to electricity, it will require many times the capacity of Site C to generate the equivalent of the fossil fuel energy consumed in transport alone.

But the real opportunity for Site C is its firm power, its storage power. It is power that can be available at any time and can be turned on or off in just minutes. It is, in fact, a big battery. We’ll have 35 percent of the capacity of the W.A.C. Bennett dam with a mere 5 percent of its footprint.

Site C will allow British Columbia to bring in many intermittent renewable sources, which the province has had the opportunity to take advantage of. Storage hydro allows us to firm the grid and give stability when demand requires it. When the freshet is over and when run-of-river generation starts to diminish or where the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine, storage power allows us to firm the grid. Site C and storage hydro creates opportunity for other renewables; it does not diminish them.

[10:45 a.m.]

Site C will not only help British Columbia. We are working with the federal government and the government of Alberta to increase our electric transmission inter-tie between British Columbia and Alberta. People praise Alberta’s climate plan — with good intention, and rightly so — but it is in sharp contrast to British Columbia. Alberta’s aspiration is to move to 30 percent renewables in 15 years. B.C. is already 98 percent clean and renewable. Alberta relies on coal for much of its electrical supply. B.C.’s grid has no coal power generation.

Deputy Speaker: Minister, the member wants to take leave to make an introduction.

J. Yap: May I seek leave to make an introduction?

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

J. Yap: Colleagues, it’s my pleasure to introduce to the House a group from Maple Lane Elementary, from my riding of Richmond-Steveston. There are 24 grade 7 students and three adults led by Mr. Kevin Miller, a teacher. They’re here to experience the history that is our Legislative Assembly, especially this week. I ask all members to please give a warm welcome to this group of students from Richmond-Steveston.

Deputy Speaker: The minister will continue.

Debate Continued

Hon. J. Sturdy: As I was saying, Alberta currently relies on coal for much of its electrical generation, and B.C.’s grid has no coal power generation. Alberta will move the remaining 70 percent of its generation from coal to natural gas over the next 15 years. This is a move we support, as it can reduce GHG emissions from the electrical sector.

But as I said, here in B.C. we’re already 98 percent clean and renewable, and we are in a position to support Alberta’s aspirations. By transferring clean power over the Rocky Mountains, we can provide Alberta with a clean source of power, significantly reducing Canada’s overall greenhouse gas emissions.

While Site C is key to providing British Columbia with the power we’ll need for a generation, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. That’s why our government will continue to pursue other forms of renewable energy, including solar, wind and geothermal.

For example, in my riding, there have been potential locations that have been identified for geothermal power. The south Meager geothermal project, located 55 kilometres north of Pemberton, has average temperatures of 260 degrees centigrade and has been assessed as having potential generating capacity of up to 100 megawatts of power. That would be enough to supply 80,000 homes, and it’s just one site. Another potential project has been identified near Squamish — Mount Cayley — which has been estimated as having geothermal potential of somewhere between 20 and 100 megawatts.

But these are challenging opportunities. In the case of Meager, there’s adequate heat but not enough water. The private sector has invested millions of dollars in the area but has been unable to come up with a plan that makes sense. It does raise an interesting question, though, as to whether energy purchase agreements should allow for different rates for firm versus intermittent renewable power supplies, and I certainly do support that discussion.

It’s going to take a range of power generation options for us to meet our climate targets. That’s why our government is committed to continuing to build on the work of the last decade with our renewable power industry.

But it’s not just how we create energy that will help us fight climate change. If we really want to make a difference and reduce GHG emissions, we must invest in transit and transportation. That’s why I’m excited that this throne speech includes a commitment to envisioning new transportation options to connect Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the Sea to Sky.

By investing in transit, we can help people get where they need to go while, at the same time, taking actions to reduce emissions. And we can shape growth with transit rather than having that growth shape us.

We also recognize that carbon pricing plays an important part in our strategy to combat climate change. British Columbia was the first jurisdiction in North America to introduce a price on carbon, and that’s a record we are proud of.

[10:50 a.m.]

Last year, British Columbia was privileged to receive an award from the United Nations, recognizing our province’s contribution to the fight against climate change. This United Nations momentum for change award recognized excellence and innovation in carbon pricing, specifically referencing the importance of revenue neutrality.

However, we have to recognize and we do recognize that we need to do more. That’s why we’re committed to working with the federal government to incrementally raise the price on carbon — provide business certainty while keeping any increased revenue neutral. By increasing the carbon tax and correspondingly reducing the provincial sales tax, we will keep taxes low while reducing emissions.

We also need to continue to ensure that British Columbians have the quality of experience in our natural environment that they’re used to here in British Columbia. B.C. has one of the largest protected-area systems in North America. There are 1,033 provincial parks, recreation areas, conservancies, ecological reserves and protected areas covering more than 14 million hectares, or nearly 15 percent of the land base, here in British Columbia, which is the highest percentage of protected land base anywhere in Canada.

We have the third-largest parks system in North America, behind only the U.S. parks service and Parks Canada. We have added more than 2.3 million hectares over the last 15 years to B.C.’s protected-area system. That’s why we’re investing an additional $50 million to increase B.C. Parks’ budget. This will go towards creating almost 3,000 new campsites, improving park facilities and creating a youth rangers program, along with additional park rangers.

The youth rangers program is something that I’m particularly excited about, because it will engage kids from throughout the province in parks in their areas. It will help them learn about parks and the environment and climate change, to work building and improving park infrastructure and to be park ambassadors for visitors from around B.C. and around the world. These and other initiatives will ensure that British Columbians are able to venture into our parks and experience everything that Beautiful B.C. has to offer.

While British Columbians are experiencing our beautiful parks, we’re taking steps to ensure that interactions with wildlife are positive ones. That’s why British Columbia has developed WildSafeBC and Bear Smart programs. These programs are designed to reduce human-wildlife conflict through education, innovation and cooperation.

Provided by the B.C. Conservation Foundation, WildSafeBC helps provide British Columbians with the information they need to avoid conflict with wildlife while they’re in the wilderness.

The province’s Bear Smart program works with communities, businesses and individuals to help avoid human and bear conflicts. The goal is to address the root causes of human-bear conflicts, thereby reducing the risk to human safety and private property, as well as impacts on bears and reducing the number of bears that need to be destroyed.

These are issues close to home for me. As an organic farmer and a grower of food that has historically been an attractant to bears, I work closely with the conservation officer service to come up with a strategy to reduce conflict. We used to, in fact, lose half of our corn and half of our pumpkins to bears. Ultimately, the solution was electric fencing around the whole farm while leaving and considering how wildlife corridors work, so that we minimized disruption of the natural patterns.

There is no question that my farm has an impact on the landscape. It is a managed landscape. Part of the farm is cropped annually, while some is perennial. But while we do our best to be good growers, there is an impact to the landscape in producing food. In fact, there’s an impact in a number of different sectors, and I think we should all recognize that.

I think that most reasonable people do understand — be it food or energy or fibre or minerals or other human impacts such as tourism or residential development. For too long people have characterized economic development as a choice between a strong economy and a sustainable environment — an either-or proposition.

[10:55 a.m.]

Our government understands that it cannot be either-or. We need to do better. We need to bring people together. We need to bring people along. We need to continue to strengthen our economy, while at the same time protecting the environment and ensuring that we retain and support healthy ecosystems and healthy communities.

Our throne speech has set forward a path that means more investments in the social services that people need. We’re increasing social assistance payments by $100 a month so that vulnerable British Columbians who need a hand can get the help they need. We’re also indexing disability rates to inflation to provide stability so that British Columbians living with disabilities know that the supports they need will be there. These are important initiatives that are realistic and possible because of our solid fiscal foundation.

This is the same framework that has allowed us to make significant investments in child care. This is an issue that I heard again and again on the doorsteps in West Vancouver–Sea to Sky — for, after all, it is a young riding. We can understand how difficult it can be for parents to find and afford child care. So we’re putting forward a plan that will not only increase capacity, helping to create an additional 70,000 spaces, but will help families afford these spaces. We’ll make child care free for any family earning less than $60,000 a year, and we’ll offer a subsidy to any family earning up to $100,000. This is important, because it will ensure access to child care services for those who do truly need it.

These supports will help make life more affordable for middle-class families and, just as importantly, will not increase taxes in doing so — increasing costs to the very families this program is designed to help. Because we’ve said yes to sustainable economic development, we’re in a position to afford this plan.

I also want to note that our government is on pace to eliminate British Columbia’s operating debt by 2020. While some might ask how that makes life more affordable for people, the fact is that by eliminating our operating debt, we have more money to invest in British Columbians — money that would otherwise be spent servicing our debt.

In fact, our successful financial management has led British Columbia to have a triple-A credit rating. What does that mean? Well, it means that we save billions of dollars a year on interest payments that can be invested in British Columbians rather than sent to financial institutions. That is why we can afford the services that make life more affordable for British Columbians.

As we take these steps, we’re also ensuring that families benefit from the communities that are increasingly livable. That’s why our government is looking at opportunities to expand the transit service in the Lower Mainland and remains committed to the creation of a regional transit service — in the case of West Vancouver–Sea to Sky, to connect Pemberton with Whistler, with Squamish and with Metro Vancouver.

In addition, we’ve committed to undertaking an assessment of a long-term vision that considers how expanding transit service to Maple Ridge, Mission, South Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, UBC and, importantly for my constituents, to the North Shore and up the Sea to Sky. We’re also willing to come to the table as an even partner with both the federal government and the local municipalities to get work on transit underway.

We’ve committed to matching funding in order to build rapid transit along Metro Vancouver’s Broadway corridor and in Surrey. We’ve committed to matching federal funding for the next phase of the mayors’ transit plan, and we also intend to repeal the referendum requirement for new transit revenue sources in Metro.

It’s not just in the Lower Mainland where we’re making investments in transportation. We’re also committed to providing more support to ferry-dependent communities by providing fare relief, while still modernizing the fleet and the terminals.

I have much more to say, but I recognize that my time is limited. So I just want to finish off by saying I’m proud of the work that we have done and that we intend to continue to do, and I certainly support this throne speech wholeheartedly.

[G. Kyllo in the chair.]

Hon. M. Morris: First off, I want to thank my staff, who are probably sitting in our offices in Mackenzie and Prince George, glued to the legislative channel, listening to these impactful speeches that my colleagues are giving, telling the people about the future that we can look forward to in British Columbia.

[11:00 a.m.]

To Willow McIntyre in my Mackenzie office and to Charlotte in my Prince George office — they’ve been doing a great job for me these past four years. And to my family, who have supported me in this new job that I took on four years ago where I’m seldom home…. My kids first joked when I got elected in 2013 that they’d probably have to make an appointment to see me. That prediction probably is pretty close to being the truth now with the life that we all lead in this House here.

So my heart goes out to my family. I appreciate the support from my wife, my sons, my daughters-in-law and my five grandchildren who can pick me out of a tiny little news clip even if I’m standing 100 yards from the camera. They’re pretty good at that.

We’ve got a lot of work to do ahead of us. Over my four years in the House here, I’ve been listening patiently to the members opposite, expecting them to reveal what their vision is for British Columbia and how they’re going to fulfil their vision, their strategies, their plans. I’ve never heard anything in relation to that. But I will say that, for our side, we have had a leader that has had a vision for British Columbia. Our party and our colleagues in the House here have supported that vision 100 percent, and we’ve achieved some great results.

The vision for a strong economy and a secure future for our grandchildren — that was one of the key reasons that I ran, to make sure that my grandchildren, when they become my age, have the opportunity to live the lifestyle that we all enjoy currently here in British Columbia and which, I might add, is probably significant in respect to the fact that we have the strongest economy in Canada.

The strategy that we have to get to that goal has been the jobs plan. It has been a significant part of the strong economy that we have in British Columbia. As my colleague spoke prior to me, 225,000 jobs have been created since the jobs plan was implemented — 225,000 jobs with people working across all sectors in the economy, contributing to our income tax, contributing to consumer spending and contributing to the products that we produce here in British Columbia.

I went on the Stats Canada website this morning here. I looked at it, and it said that labour income in British Columbia in 2015 was $100 billion. I’ve heard members opposite say time and time again that we do nothing for the province, nothing for the people of British Columbia, but $100 billion in income in 2015 is no small feat.

The good news for 2016 is that it was up 4.5 percent over 2015. I haven’t seen the stats for 2016 yet, but I’m sure they’ve increased even further, according to what we hear from our Finance Minister and the fact that we have greater surpluses today than we had expected in February just a few short months ago. I would say that those are indicative of us fulfilling and executing our strategy with respect to a strong economy and a secure future for our grandchildren.

British Columbia is a unique, beautiful province that offers a multitude of opportunities for everybody. It’s reliant, significantly, on the resource sector. The resource sector plays an impactful role on every single citizen in this province. It’s not just the people that live in the resource communities like mine, in Prince George — we have 80,000 people that have grown up in there and were reliant on the forest industry; we have an oil refinery there, and mining is close by — but the people in urban B.C. as well.

I’ll give you an example. We have a university professor who might live in a pretty nice community in a nice part of Victoria or Vancouver, and he or she gets up in the morning a little bit chilly, turns the thermostat up in their house and that nice heat starts coming through the heat registers. He then goes and turns the light switch on, and he’s got light. This is absolutely great in this society and this world that we live in today.

Let’s go back to that thermostat going on. That triggered an event.

[11:05 a.m.]

That triggered the gas to go into the furnace, to be lit, to burn and to heat the house or the apartment — whatever he or she may live in. But when you follow that through, that gas has come from northeast B.C. That starts in a drilled well where people were working, making a significant amount of money, where a company had bid on that particular site in order to drill.

The gas comes out of the ground, goes to a gas plant — again, employing more people at the gas plant where some of the impurities or the liquids are taken off that. Then it’s transported through pipes and through very many compressor stations between northeast B.C. and Vancouver or Victoria. But it’s transported in a steel pipe. These pipes are put underground. Many of them were put underground 50 years ago. But it’s transported in a steel pipe.

Where does that steel come from? Hmm. Steel comes from iron ore. We don’t have much of it here in British Columbia, but what we do have in British Columbia in abundance is coal, metallurgic coal. Metallurgic coal is the stuff that they’re using to make all these steel components that we see in the bridges, in the towers, in all the buildings that we build out of steel right across this great country and right around the world.

So here we have pipes, thousands of kilometres of steel pipe in the ground, made with metallurgic coal that we pull out of the ground in places like Tumbler Ridge, in places down in southwest British Columbia. British Columbia produces thousands of tonnes of metallurgic coal, putting all kinds of people to work.

Let’s go to the light switch that this individual turned on to provide light in his washroom while he’s shaving in the morning. That light switch goes on, and it starts a chain reaction. That power comes from, let’s say, W.A.C. Bennett dam out of the Williston reservoir, which is in my riding; or the Peace Canyon dam, which is Site B; and soon to say, it’ll be coming from Site C. This is power that powers everything down here.

I’ve heard the mayor of Vancouver say he wants to have 100 percent renewable energy. Everybody’s going to be driving electric cars. I can get more into that later.

That electricity comes from these sources, but how does it get down to Vancouver? Well, it comes down to Vancouver in these large cables, aluminum cables that are supported by these steel towers. Steel — there’s that word again. There’s that commodity again — steel made with metallurgic coal coming from Tumbler Ridge in southwest B.C.

The aluminum. We just happen to have an aluminum plant in Rio Tinto Alcan in Kitimat, where they produce aluminum. I drive a brand-new Ford pickup, which has an aluminum body, and they get all of their aluminum from Rio Tinto Alcan. So British Columbia is contributing in a significant way.

Let’s go back to these big aluminum wires — again, thousands of kilometres of the aluminum wire held high on these steel towers that’s providing all of the power for the people in British Columbia. Then the substations that B.C. Hydro so diligently maintains and upkeeps and builds across the province here to ensure that we have the capacity to address industry and commerce and the residential increases that we see in the Lower Mainland and across British Columbia.

Then the power that’s transformed from there that goes into our residential sector — again, that’s aluminum wire. It gets to the home, and it’s copper wires. Copper wires in the home, and there are lots of copper wires in the substations as well.

Copper. Hmm. I wonder where copper comes from. Well, just north of where I live, in Prince George, we have Mount Milligan, which just opened up here a few years ago. It employs 450 people. It produces all kinds of copper. We’ve got Highland Valley Copper out of Kamloops — between Kamloops and the Logan Lake area there — and they’ve been producing tonnes and tonnes of copper, in addition to other metals, for years, for decades, employing thousands of people in British Columbia. The mining industry employs thousands of people, all making in excess of $100,000 apiece. Pretty solid incomes from the resource sector that keep people happy and well in urban B.C.

So he turns his lights on, and he takes advantage of the beautiful light and the electricity that he gets in his nice, warm house from northeast B.C. gas. He turns the tap on to rinse his razor off. Hmm. How did that water get into that house in Vancouver?

[11:10 a.m.]

Let’s have a look at that. We go through that. The water is transported nowadays, a lot of it, through polypropylene pipe that is sitting in the ground and is connected up to a reservoir. That polypropylene pipe is made from petroleum products. It’s made from the liquids from natural gas. It’s made from some derivatives from the petroleum that we take out of the ground.

We have thousands and thousands upon thousands of kilometres of poly pipe in the ground, transporting water in a very safe and effective manner so that our people in urban B.C. and rural B.C. can drink fresh, safe drinking water in British Columbia. Flush the toilet. Where does the effluent go? The effluent goes, again, through poly pipes into a substantial wastewater treatment centre so that it can be safely discharged back into the environment again — again, poly pipes coming from the petroleum products that we have in British Columbia.

Once again, in northeast B.C., with the amount of natural gas we have up there, we have some great opportunities in the future to start looking at a petrochemical industry so we can produce more poly pipe to keep people safe.

What else is poly used for? All the vehicles that we drive nowadays have poly in them. All of the products that we have at home have plastics in them. What else comes from northeast B.C., from northwest B.C., from rural B.C., from the environment that keeps everybody happy in Vancouver and Victoria and throughout the province?

Well, let’s have a look at lithium — although we don’t mine lithium in British Columbia. The closest lithium mines are probably in the Prairies and a few of them in Quebec and Ontario. Most of it comes from South America. Electric cars all have lithium batteries. Our cell phones have lithium batteries. Our computers have lithium batteries. There’s a substantial amount of lithium in an automotive battery.

Lithium is loaded up onto these great transport ships that burn bunker fuel. They make their way up the coast, and they deliver the lithium to a plant, perhaps in the United States, where these batteries are made. They’re shipped into British Columbia so that people can drive their lithium electric vehicles with no vehicle emissions at all — which is a good thing. I think it’s a good thing.

As they drive around British Columbia…. I watched the member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head as he drove up to Government House a number of weeks ago to deliver some document there in his electric vehicle. It takes lithium. It takes a bunch of other things to make it go. What else is in that vehicle? It’s got tires. Information that I obtained again just recently: there’s approximately seven gallons of oil in every tire.

So all of our electric-powered vehicles have oil products that have helped produce the tires on them. They have poly in the vehicles as well. That needs to be taken into consideration. But it all comes from the ground. It all comes from the resource sector in British Columbia.

This individual, after he’s all shaved and coiffed, gets dressed and puts his cell phone — which contains 62 elements that come from the ground — in his pocket. He jumps into his electric-powered car, with the lithium batteries and the poly casings and everything in it, and he starts driving to work. He happens to drive over, let’s say, the Burrard Street Bridge.

Burrard Street Bridge has a lot of steel in the bridge. In addition to the steel, it’s got a lot of concrete. I had the stats here. I kind of looked up the thing this morning. For every 300 or 400 kilograms of cement used to make the concrete that’s in the bridge, they need 200 kilograms of coal to make that cement. Again, the cement comes from the ground, the lime, but it needs to be heated up to this astronomical heat in order to make the cement, and that’s done through coal.

[11:15 a.m.]

Once again, the infrastructure that we have in urban B.C. is steel and concrete, for the most part. It’s got copper wires, it’s got aluminum wires, it’s got lithium, it’s got poly. It’s got a number of things in there that all come from the ground. So urban B.C. has a significant connection to rural B.C.

There’s been a lot of discussion. I’ve heard from the opposition and members opposite their intention to shut down Kinder Morgan and no pipelines and banning tankers, affecting all kinds of jobs right across this great province of ours.

From the federal government website today: tankers have been moving on Canada’s west coast since 1930. In 2015, for the stats for that year, there were nearly 1,500 tankers that arrived or departed from either Vancouver, Rupert or Kitimat — most of them from the Vancouver area.

Do you know where they were going, the majority of those ships? They were going to Vancouver Island. They were delivering fuel to Vancouver Island so people could drive their cars on Vancouver Island. They were delivering fuel to Haida Gwaii. They were delivering fuel to a lot of the smaller islands that we have in the community here.

Fuel is vital for our citizens to get around and travel. If they didn’t have fuel, then we wouldn’t have the transportation infrastructure that we have on Vancouver Island, the Sea to Sky Highway on the Lower Mainland and a number of areas that we have in this beautiful province of ours that are reliant on the fuel that is transported by tankers.

B.C. produces a very little of the refined oil products that we need so we import about 50 to 60 percent of our fuel products from Alberta through Kinder’s Mountain — the existing one. That’s what’s sold in the Lower Mainland here to gas stations and whatnot. Chevron, the refinery that we have here in Vancouver, supplies a little bit more, but for the most part, we also have to import, by tanker, more refined oil products into the Lower Mainland so people can fuel their vehicles and the buses and the trucks that haul our groceries and our food and those kinds of things. So we have a significant reliance on the resource sector in B.C.

The mining industry, which I’ve referred to already, is flourishing. In the throne speech, we’ve committed to opening a number of new mines in the future. The Brucejack mine in northwest B.C. has just started producing. Brucejack mine has just over $1 billion of investment in that. It’s employing hundreds of people in that mine, and it will continue to employ hundreds of people in that mine for decades to come.

Another mining project that is within my riding is AuRico Gold — it’s north of Prince George, in northern Mackenzie area — or the Kemess North project. That is another project that should be underway fairly quickly, with an environmental review. The commitment, under the throne speech, is that we’re going to be putting millions of dollars and more resources into ensuring that the mining application processes are unimpeded as they go through the environmental review process.

Also what I took from the federal government’s stats website is…. It’s a point that I make. The opposition are saying that we don’t provide anything for the average B.C.’er in the province here. In addition to the $100 billion in income in 2015, B.C.’s median total family income rose $10,000 from 2010 to 2014. In 2010, it was $66,970, and in 2014, it was $76,770 — pretty significant income for an economy that we don’t seem to care about, according to some people.

We’re investing in jobs, we’re investing in a strong, secure future for our grandchildren, and I think this is all very indicative of what that future looks like and what that future will continue to look like if we keep paying attention to it and giving it the attention that it deserves.

[11:20 a.m.]

I’ve heard indications of, you know: “Fire everybody working at Site C.” I’ve heard that we shut down Kinder Morgan. I heard that the folks across the hall aren’t in favour of LNG. All of these are very, very necessary components to make B.C. flourish and make it safe and secure for the future generations in British Columbia, and B.C. can do it as well or better than anybody.

Over the years, I got involved in organizational effectiveness. I studied different ways how we can improve the way we did business within the RCMP and other organizations. One of the individuals that I read — lots of his material, and I really subscribed to a lot of his theories — was an individual by the name of Peter Drucker, an author and management consultant. He said if you want something new, you have to stop doing something old. And that’s what we’re paying attention to here.

Interjections.

Hon. M. Morris: I finally got somebody to listen over there. The members opposite have been very quiet for individuals who think that they’ve got what it takes to form a government. They’ve been very quiet, and nobody really knows exactly what they have to offer. Now they’re clapping at something I said, which is great. If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old. So we’ve listened. We’ve listened.

We got the plurality of seats in the province here, so voters have said: “We like what your government stood for. We like the fact that your government stands for a strong economy…

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members.

Hon. M. Morris: …and a secure future for everybody. We like that.”

But in addition to that, they’ve also said: “We think you need to pay attention to some of these other things here.” And we have. We had a look at that, and we said: “Yeah, okay. We’re going to have to adjust what we’re doing here.”

There was a quote from one of the instructors I had when I was taking some of these courses here years ago. He made a comment during a class. He said: “No organization has a right to exist.” At the time, I was a senior manager with the RCMP. The RCMP was probably 110 or 120 years old at the time, and I thought: “That’s ridiculous. Of course, we have the right to exist. We’re 120 years old.”

You don’t exist unless you offer the people the things that they want and the things that they need. The throne speech was all about that. We addressed all of those issues. We listened. And we felt that we are now…. The throne speech is concentrated on filling the void that we had omitted before. We make no bones about that.

The voters told us that we should be returning the dividends to British Columbians, and we’ve been promising that all along. We’ve said that for the last four years that I’ve been involved in government.

We said that as soon as the economy gets on its feet and we balance the budget — which we have the last five consecutive budgets — and as soon as we’ve got some money that’s coming in and we can rely on that amount of money coming in every year, we’re going to start reinvesting into some of these programs. That’s exactly what we’re doing. This is nothing new. We’ve been talking about this for a long time. Our economy is to the point where we’ve got significant surpluses in the economy that we can now reinvest in the people in British Columbia.

But they said they also want a stable government. I’ve heard members opposite talking about a stable government. They want a collaborative government. I’ve heard the members opposite talking about a collaborative government. We have an opportunity here now to have a stable, collaborative government.

We gave the members opposite yesterday an opportunity to support a couple of bills, one that perhaps would have recognized a third party and one that would have looked at campaign financing, which has been supported by the members opposite — you know, the GreenDPs. It was something that I think we all could have collaborated on and cooperated on in order to get to the goals that we all look forward to achieving.

[11:25 a.m.]

Unfortunately, they’ve been very quiet on that. They voted it down. They’ve been very, very quiet in this House. You can hear a pin drop in here most of the time. It seems like they’re disinterested in the future of British Columbia. We have given them the opportunity to prove that they would like to be collaborative and cooperative, and of course, we haven’t seen any evidence of that so far.

We’ve listened to the voters. It’s reflected in the throne speech. We’re going to be looking at child care and early childhood education — as an example, 60,000 child care spaces over the next four years. That’s near and dear. My children have young children. My grandkids, a couple of them, still need daycare and child care services, so they’re looking forward to that. We’re going to have 4,000 new childhood education positions.

One of the things I don’t think too many British Columbians knew is we provided child care subsidies — full subsidies for somebody up to $40,000 a year. We’re now going to increase that to $60,000 a year and partial subsidies up to $100,000 a year. So we’re really concentrating on helping the people that need it.

We’ve got affordable housing in our throne speech. We’ve got a number of things in the throne speech that I think are going appeal to all British Columbians, and we are committed to working collaboratively with the members opposite.

We’re going to collaborate with the public to ensure that we maintain a strong economy in British Columbia, a safe environment for our grandchildren to work in. This province of ours will flourish. We’ll continue to lead Canada economically. We’re going to continue to lead Canada in a number of other different areas here. We have a lot to contribute.

I support the throne speech 100 percent, and I think British Columbia will become an even greater place over the next four years.

J. Isaacs: Mr. Speaker, colleagues, I’m extremely honoured, humbled and grateful for the opportunity to speak with you today — my maiden speech for the Legislature as the representative of my riding, Coquitlam–Burke Mountain. My election night was one that I will always remember. I’m sure that many of my colleagues here shared in the excitement, watching the result from my riding.

There are many individuals I’d like to personally thank who helped me get to this role today and who helped serve as mentors, friends and guides. I will always be thankful to the numerous individuals who gave up their time to volunteer with me over the years, whether it was serving the community and local organizations or helping me through this election.

To my family and friends who gave up so much: thank you. I cannot express my sincere gratitude enough. The trust placed upon me by the people of Coquitlam–Burke Mountain is something that I take seriously, and I will do my utmost to repay that trust by going above and beyond to serve all constituents.

Coquitlam is a fun and active community with many family festivals throughout the year, such as the winter light display, Highland Games and Scottish festival, Teddy Bear Picnic and Canada Day fireworks, just to name a few. There are numerous sports tournaments held at the Percy Perry Stadium. The trees of the Town Centre Park and Lafarge Lake boast the beautiful spring blossoms as well as the beautiful fall colours of autumn.

Coquitlam has been home for me and my husband for over 30 years. We raised our two sons there, made many friends and have become part of a wonderful community. Let me reinforce that Coquitlam represents a mosaic of hard-working families, entrepreneurs, students, cutting-edge business start-ups, new immigrants, young families and seniors — all working together. Coquitlam is privileged to be represented by diverse cultures that enrich our community by sharing their special days of tradition and celebration.

[11:30 a.m.]

Coquitlam also has an incredible range of non-profit organizations. I have had the opportunity to be involved in homelessness, families and youth, mental health and restorative justice.

Non-profit organizations play an enormous and important role in delivering programs, services and support to our citizens. I want to recognize their contribution to our city and, further, recognize the many volunteers whose commitment and time do make the difference and benefit all of us.

A great example of our sterling volunteers is Coquitlam Search and Rescue. They demonstrate the kind of people that I am honoured to represent here today. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the amazing work that these volunteers do, sometimes on a moment’s notice. Just last week a woman was saved from drowning in the Coquitlam River. Individuals like Ian Cunnings, who recently received the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers for his work, are what make up my riding as such a great place to live.

I am further honoured by the trust placed in me to serve as the Parliamentary Secretary for Early Childhood Education. I have already had the privilege to visit and see some of the local preschools in Burke Mountain and connect with them.

As outlined in the throne speech, our government views this as our most important resource. That is why we are making significant investments, up to $1 billion over four years, into child care and early child care education. This investment will lead to the building of 60,000 new child care spaces, an increase of over 50 percent for the next four years, as well as exploring partnership programs with school districts to co-locate new child care spaces in elementary schools. Additionally, we have announced an investment of $10 million in grants and bursaries for people wishing to become early childhood educators.

Further, our government understands that the cost for child care has represented a financial burden for many families. As a working mother of two young sons, like many other people in my riding, I, too, remember the struggles our family faced in finding daycare.

In the early years, and only having one vehicle, it was always a challenge to catch the bus from downtown Vancouver and rush back to the daycare in Port Moody before they closed. There were many times when my son and I waited across the street in the bus stop for my husband to come across the Port Mann Bridge and pick us up. If you remember the Port Mann Bridge a few years ago, on a Friday afternoon in February on a rainy night, it took some time to get there. At that time, there was very limited bus service to where we lived.

I empathize with many families regarding their own experiences, and that is why I am pleased that our government is taking action to remove barriers. The announcement that families will receive subsidies for child care and that those families making under $60,000 will be eligible for full subsidies is a wonderful action that we can all support.

This commitment to child care is guided by our commitment to the three core principles of delivering the highest quality of care, reducing wait-lists by creating more spaces and making child care more affordable. This represents a sincere approach as we begin a dialogue with the federal government, members of the Legislature and families across the province to find innovative ways to increase support and make child care more affordable. But we cannot lose sight of the time-sensitive nature and urgency required in taking this action.

I also want to stress the importance of having positive role models and mentors in one’s life. StrongStart and the early-years strategy offer every family an opportunity to access programs which help build leadership skills and social skills so that all families experience the benefit of positive role models.

[11:35 a.m.]

Another key initiative announced in the throne speech that is close to my heart as well as many other members in the Legislature is that of mental health and addiction. New View Society is a 20-bed transitional house in the Tri-Cities that supports individuals suffering from mental health challenges and substance abuse. As part of my work with New View, I saw firsthand the personal struggles associated with mental health issues, the difficulties families often faced and the gaps in the systems trying to deal with the complexity of mental health.

The announcement by our government regarding the creation of a minister of state for mental health, addiction and recovery is a monumental approach in ensuring a new streamlined and comprehensive single point of entry for assistance. We have all heard too many examples of individuals becoming overburdened and overwhelmed by bureaucracy and paperwork in seeking assistance. That is why the emphasis on a single point of entry and accountability will be of universal benefit for those who are in need.

Further investments in mental health include the expansion of the successful program Foundry, which is an integrated youth centre which provides a one-stop shop to support youth who are struggling with mild to moderate mental health or substance use challenges. As well, our commitment to create an expert panel on mental health will assist in reviewing and ensure that services are being properly delivered and that any gaps in the system will be closed.

Additionally, our government is taking the important and notable measure to address mental health issues with students by ensuring that each school across the province will now have a designated person trained to identify mental health issues. We will also ensure that educators will have access to resources that they require to be able to refer those in need for additional assistance.

The measures announced in the throne speech represent a continuation of our government’s commitment to addressing the issue of mental health, addiction and also recovery. A noteworthy example is the announcement of the $75 million for an adolescent treatment centre at Riverview Hospital. This will greatly benefit those who are in need of treatment.

I am also pleased that our government has committed to dedicate every dollar from the sale of cannabis to drug education, prevention, enforcement and treatment. I believe that protecting our children and youth is paramount. Our government provides the right balance in taking these measures and will ensure that the appropriate safeguards are in place.

I am, as well, particularly proud of the commitments that our government has made in regards to increased investments for seniors. This is an issue that I am particularly passionate about, and I was proud to have been a part of a team that advocated for care for dementia patients. I can say from my own experience with elderly parents that I do understand the challenges that many families face.

We all know that seniors do better when they stay at home and they can stay at home as long as possible. That is why our government has previously committed to programs such as the Better at Home program. This program provides seniors with non-medical home support services which help them stay living independently and in their own homes for as long as possible. In partnership with the United Way since February 2012, the province has provided funding to assist in the operation of 67 program sites throughout B.C.

Our government’s throne speech also commits to providing greater supports for residential care facilities, with a promise to increase the number of residential care beds to 500. Additional residential care measures include the implementation of new monitoring and enforced measures in every institution across Canada. This will ensure that each residential care home is operating with clear, measurable daily care standards that will be in place.

Furthermore, our government recognized the increased financial costs that families encounter when caring for their loved ones with disabilities or aging. That is why we are pleased to provide some assistance in easing these financial burdens by announcing the doubling of the home-renovation tax credit and the introduction of a new respite tax credit for those families caring for individuals with disabilities.

[11:40 a.m.]

Prior to entering politics, I ran an investment firm, and I was also a business development consultant for for-profit business and non-profit organizations. This experience provided me with a fundamental understanding of what ensures economic success.

Whether it is a larger corporation, a small business or a not-for-profit organization, I can say with certainty, from my experience, that the key principles of economic success remain the same: ensuring that taxes are kept low — you simply cannot grow your business if your tax burden impedes or encroaches into your profit; paying down the debt; preventing overregulation, and, most important of all, stability in decision-making and implementation of policies. The reason for the success of my business and of our clients was because of the strong work ethic and strong balance sheets, as well as collaboration and partnerships that promoted the collection of ideas that ultimately led to a best-practices model.

When designing an investment strategy, there were always three things that were important to clients: they wanted their money to start working for them right away; they wanted to make sure there was enough money for when they retired; and they wanted to leave something for their kids. We delivered investment returns to our clients by working with investment managers who had a proven track record of demonstrated year-over-year results. The reason for the success of my investment managers stems from their ability to anticipate the shifting financial landscape and to understand the rise of new innovations and the impact of emerging technology which would be brought to the marketplace.

This is why I am particularly pleased that our government’s throne speech makes increased commitments to addressing the needs of the future technology-based economy today. The announcement about the creation of 2,000 more graduates in science, technology, engineering and math from institutions across the province will greatly assist in developing the skills of the future economy today.

Further, the announcement to double the funding for the B.C. Arts Council will ensure that our standing as a leader in digital technologies remains strong. Because of our government’s strong economic stewardship over the past 16 years, B.C.’s economy remains the best in Canada, and we have the only triple-A credit rating. Our commitments to maintaining one of the lowest-overall-tax-burden jurisdictions and the continuation of consecutive balanced budgets are well worth noting. They are achievements.

Further, the recent Statistics Canada job numbers for May confirmed once again that B.C.’s jobs plan is working, with 12,000 new jobs being added. This is in addition to B.C. having one of the lowest unemployment rates, at 5.6 percent, and youth unemployment rates, at 9.7 percent, in Canada. Since the launch of the jobs plan in 2011, a total of over 250 jobs have been created — with 93 percent being full-time positions and over 89 percent coming from the private sector. I can see examples of this success in my own riding, with many of my constituents working for such innovative companies as Finger Food Studios.

Another great example is from a constituent I met at a Teddy Bear Picnic, who runs his own company, selling seismic technology all over the world. According to Brad Sherwin from the Credit Counselling Society, our province is leading in another interesting and under-reported financial statistic — from Equifax, one of Canada’s leading credit bureaus, which measures personal financial health: British Columbia and Vancouver have one of the lowest 90-day delinquency rates on non-mortgage debt in the country.

As explained by Mr. Sherwin, this essentially means that the vast majority of people are paying their bills and providing for their families. Mr. Sherwin goes on to further elaborate, saying: “There are many other issues we deal with, but ultimately, isn’t this the key thing we want our governments to do? Provide the framework for us to provide for our families?” Because of the strength and stability of our economy and our low taxes, we are now in the enviable position to invest even more in British Columbians.

[11:45 a.m.]

We are now able to strengthen our cherished social programs and protect our environment. As mentioned in the throne speech, our government will now be in a position to expand our successful single-parent employment initiative. Since its launch, we have already had a record number of 5,045 participants, leading to nearly 1,140 individuals now having found meaningful employment. Because of our new investments, we will now be able to broaden supports for single parents who can only find part-time work or who are underemployed to better assist in finding their way to full-time employment.

Additionally, I, like many of my constituents, recognize the environmental beauty that is in our riding, such as the Coquitlam River, and across this great province. I was thrilled that my first community event as the new member for Coquitlam–Burke Mountain was to attend a round-table event hosted by the Coquitlam River Watershed. The Coquitlam River Watershed is a local organization which coordinates and implements activities to promote the long-term health and sustainability of the watershed.

As outlined in the throne speech, our government understands that more needs to be done to enhance our commitments to our environment and park system. This is why our government is moving forward with a new investment of $50 million over five years, earmarked to the B.C. Parks budget. These new funds will be used to create more campsites, raise the standard of our park facilities and create a youth ranger program, increasing staff in parks from May to September. Further, our government will ensure that direct payments received from the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion program will be dedicated to environmental protection and restoration.

As mentioned in the throne speech, the role of transit is a fundamental priority in helping to shape a sustainable and affordable future for communities, and our government has committed that more will be done on this file. In my riding of Coquitlam–Burke Mountain, I can personally see the benefits that have come from the completion of the Evergreen Line, which attracts more than 30,000 riders a day.

Our government has promised that, going forward, we will repeal the requirement for new transit revenue sources to be affirmed by a referendum in Metro Vancouver. As well, we have promised to match federal funding for the new phase of the mayors’ transit plan. These initiatives will help to improve the tools and accountability which the Metro Vancouver mayors have asked for in transit funding. Further, our government is committed to addressing the long-term transit priorities by immediately undertaking feasibility studies to extend rapid transit in B.C., as well as working with Washington state to connect communities across the border with a high-speed rail to Seattle.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

The issue of housing is one of the areas that I have had a keen interest in, and I am enthusiastic about our government’s proposed course of continued action. Our government was proud to have made a previous record investment in housing of over $900 million in funding for the building of 5,000 new affordable supportive housing projects across the province. This is in addition to our HOME partnership program, which provided assistance to roughly 42,000 British Columbian households entering the market for the first time.

Our government remains committed to ensuring that housing is affordable for all British Columbians, and that is why our throne speech has laid out positive and concrete measures that will help in taking direct action to immediately address the issue at hand. This includes working with local governments to increase the supply of family and starter housing, along with transit and transit lines and corridors. Additionally, our government will further work in cooperation to support local governments to remove obstacles and eliminate backlogs to speed up construction of new housing supply.

[11:50 a.m.]

As well, our government is making an historic investment to build 50,000 units across the province in the coming decade that will go into the newly announced rent-to-own program. This new program will help middle-class renters grow equity through their monthly rent payments until they are in a position to own their own home.

But as we all know, addressing housing affordability does not rest on one level or jurisdiction alone and will require mutual cooperation and collaboration between local, provincial and federal governments. That is why our government has promised to convene a housing summit this fall amongst all members, interested parties and stakeholders to bring forward their best ideas to help address the issue and with the end in mind — our goal of ensuring more affordable housing for British Columbians.

Finally, our government will introduce new regulations to better protect renters with new measures. For example, our throne speech highlights one example of prohibiting landlords from skirting rent control protections when term leases expire.

In conclusion, our government has listened to the voters of British Columbia, and we have laid out a sincere effort to represent the best interest of every British Columbian. We’ve done that by balancing the economic side, social side and environmental priorities, without raising taxes or driving our province and future into deficit.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to what the future may bring should we gain confidence of the House, and I stand here before you in support of the throne speech.

D. Ashton: Noting the hour, I might ask that people might like to listen to what I have to say about the throne speech on a full belly, so could I ask to reserve a place for early this afternoon?

Mr. Speaker: I would ask the member to move adjournment of debate.

D. Ashton: I would move adjournment of debate at this point in time.

D. Ashton moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: I move the House reconvene this afternoon to continue debate on the throne speech.

Hon. A. Wilkinson moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

Mr. Speaker: The House stands adjourned until 1:30 p.m. this afternoon.

The House adjourned at 11:52 a.m.