Orders of the Day

Hon. M. de Jong: Mr. Speaker, continued debate on the throne speech.

Throne Speech Debate

(continued)

Mr. Speaker: I recognize the member for Penticton. And if people can clear the House quietly and efficiently.

D. Ashton: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s always a bit disconcerting when you’re going to speak and everybody leaves the room. So it doesn’t start off on a….

It’s a pleasure to rise today and support the Speech from the Throne. On behalf of the citizens that I’m so proud to represent in Penticton, Summerland, Peachland, Naramata and the regional district, I really would like to thank them very much for exercising their democratic right in voting in the previous election.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

It’s a great privilege once again to represent the citizens of the Penticton and Peachland riding in this people’s house of democracy and to be able to respond to the Speech from the Throne.

I will continue to make sure that Interior British Columbians have a voice in this building and support the economic prosperity for the communities that I am so fortunate to represent.

[2:25 p.m.]

I would like to take just a brief moment to thank many of the people that allotted me and allowed me to be here. Having a young family and being away — first of all, in our family business and then being involved in municipal and regional and then provincial government — having to leave the spouse at home who took the onus and raised those kids — and did an awfully good job of doing it…. Many of us in this House have came up under the same circumstances that I have, and it’s difficult.

I’m incredibly proud to say that my son, Coleton, has just finished his third year at University of Victoria here, with some wonderful instructors and wonderful professors, and is doing exceptionally well. My daughter has just graduated and wants to take the honourable step towards, tentatively, becoming a police officer in the RCMP, much to the chagrin of her father, who has been nipping at his nails for the last month or so debating if that’s the direction for a young girl who you’ve watched go from ballet slippers into boots to be a proud member of Canada’s finest. I’m sure hoping that it’s the right direction for her, but it is her choice.

Also, we all, on both sides of this House, had the incredible privilege of working with people that allowed to us get here, the campaign teams that we had. Those people volunteer their time and make a huge difference, not only to help us get here but also in the community, because they’re continual community activists.

I would be very remiss in not mentioning a couple of the individuals — Dick and Derek and the staff they had assembled that is doing an absolutely phenomenal job. Also the legislative staff that we have the pleasure of working with here in Victoria, and the constituency staff. They’re really the backbone that allows us to perform our duties in here, for the citizens that we represent. It doesn’t matter what side of the House you’re on. They do an absolutely incredible job.

I would also once again like to thank the people of the riding that I represent for stepping forward and making sure that democracy prevailed. I run under the Liberal Party banner, but when we get elected, as for everybody in this House, we represent each and every one of the citizens in our riding. It doesn’t matter what political flag they fly. We’re there to offer assistance on a continual basis to ensure that the issues they need brought forward are addressed to the best of our ability.

I would just like, at this point in time, to thank a whole bunch of individuals that have made an exceptional difference in the Okanagan over the last month and a bit. Those are the people that make up our emergency services and the incredible volunteers that have stepped forward to help and give aid in our flood-affected communities.

The losses are going to be substantial. Thank God there were no lives involved in it — a terrific amount of property damage. I know that the government has heard and is listening, and I applaud those communities that have really stepped forward, along with some very good government assistance, to protect the homes that they could and to ensure that there wasn’t any more damage.

I’m also very determined to find out why this was caused and how to prevent it from happening in the future. I’ve asked the minister responsible for a review of the incident. And the incident isn’t to chastise anybody or the likes of that; it’s just to ensure that every effort possible is made in the future so that this never happens again.

Through several terms as a councillor and two terms as the mayor of Penticton, I’m now on my second term as an MLA. Previous, also, to that was as a chair for numerous years at the regional district of Okanagan-Similkameen. I’ve had an incredible privilege to serve British Columbians on a multitude of levels of government.

I’ve said this in the House before, and I’ll continue to say it. My dad always taught me that if you look after the pennies, the dollars will follow. But he also said to me that you cannot spend $1.05 when you’re only taking in $1 because that’s where troubles and issues will present themselves. I can say that this government has done an incredible job of ensuring that the fiscal and financial responsibilities they’ve been charged with have flowed down to the people of British Columbia. We worked incredibly hard to control government spending while growing the economy of the province of British Columbia to be No. 1 in Canada.

[2:30 p.m.]

We are in this position, at this point in time, having recorded five consecutive balanced budgets, something that very, very, very few provinces have ever accomplished — and especially during some of the uncertain economic times that have prevailed over the tenure of this government.

I can stand here all day and talk about this incredible fiscal track record and financial responsibility that this government has shown, but it’s also incredibly important that we reflect on how we care for the people of our province. Many people in this House and many people from the area that I represent know that I’m not a very strong political person. I have always had issues with politics. I am a strong believer in good governance, and I do my best at all times to practise good governance.

I’m very well known as a fiscal conservative. Through my parents, I and my two sisters were always brought up to have a very strong social conscience. I believe that we really have a duty to take care of those that are not as fortunate and those that we are charged to protect, whether it’s in municipal, regional, provincial and/or federal government.

By sticking to core values, we’re able to afford that. It was very well indicated in the throne speech. It shows that there are opportunities, when you have additional funds, to ensure that these vital programs that families need the most are able to be provided. As we all know, that makes a huge difference to many, many people unfortunately in those situations in this province. The Speech from the Throne puts forward a vision for our province that better balances supporting economic growth, strengthening our social programs and improving and protecting our environment.

British Columbia’s economy has grown more than expected. You’ve heard the numbers floating around here. As many know, I sit as a secretary to the Minister of Finance. Having a career in business all my life, literally, and trying to project future sales in our family business or future sales in the provincial business and future tax revenue is difficult, to say the least.

There’s a phenomenal team at Treasury Board and the Finance board in the province of British Columbia, but there are a lot of uncertainties. When you do a target and you’re able to go through because the economy keeps on growing…. People look at stability. They look at opportunities in a province like British Columbia — with so many aspects that people would really like to have in their lives — and what we are able to offer here. The migration coming into B.C. and how the economy is functioning so strongly in B.C. have made a substantial difference.

This opportunity presenting itself gives us an opportunity to spend more on social programs while living within our means and watching how all members in this House want to continue to ensure that the people of British Columbia have what we can provide.

However, you have to continue to have a balanced budget to do it, and there are a lot of external circumstances that can come into play when we don’t watch how we look after the treasury of the people of British Columbia. When that happens, one doesn’t need to look any further than our bordering province and see what’s transpiring.

Let’s take the politics out of it. When an economy has a tendency to roll over the top and start heading down in those logarithms and those signs, like the sign equations that you could see from physics, and when you’re down at the bottom of the bell curve, it doesn’t take much to see what can happen. The people of British Columbia can nay afford the opportunity of having to pay more in interest payments to those outside of not only our province but those outside of our country that hold a lot of the debt for the province.

It’s been said on numerous occasions…. I hope that people realize — some of my friends not only on this side of the House but on the opposite side of the House — that I really think there’s an opportunity for all of us to work together. To me, it’s imperative, and I think it’s something that the people of British Columbia want to see.

You know, the electorate, or the citizens of B.C., are actually pretty smart. They sent a message not only to the government; they sent a message to the two other parties represented in this House that they want to see more mutual cooperation and they want to see this province go ahead.

[2:35 p.m.]

So it’s not damn the torpedoes; it’s damn the politics. Let’s just get on with it and ensure that we can continue to have an incredibly strong province and have opportunities not only for ourselves but for our children and our children’s children.

Like most members in this House — or, I’ll have to say, all members in this House — I have listened over the years to families’ concerns with affordability in their communities. My constituents want to live and they want to work in their communities, and that goal is becoming less and less affordable as our economy grows and more people move into our beautiful province.

Our government has acted on housing affordability by investing almost a billion dollars in affordable housing. Just in Penticton and area, there are 179 new units that have been constructed, have been acquired or are under construction, and that’s going to make a huge difference to families that need that roof over their head. That’s one of the major things, when a child can come home to a roof over their head and come home to the security of having a place to “call their own.” It can make a huge difference in their lifestyle.

The single-largest investment, as we all know, has been affordable housing, within one calendar year, within Canadian history, in this province — and to protect consumers’ interests. We heard some questions today from the opposition about the regulation of the real estate industry and speculation and issues with people getting evicted because renovations are taking place. I know that this government will continue to introduce measures to not only fight real estate speculation but also ensure that it’s done properly.

As was pointed out, there are two sides to that equation. There are the people that actually own the properties, the landlords, and then the renters, and there has to be that balance. Both sides, again…. Maybe like in this House, what many of us are driving for is…. You have to try and work together on those situations.

But we also know that we can do more, and we have to do more, to ensure that housing prices are sustained so that people can have that roof over their head. You’ve heard that we’re prepared to build over 50,000 units of new housing across this province in ten years, which will go on a rent-to-own program. I think it was absolutely brilliant that the former Minister for Housing — and a Penticton boy and a graduate from Pen High — has brought it forward to make housing more affordable and more available to those that need that assistance.

This program will ensure that renters can grow their equity through monthly rent payments until they’re able to have that equity and that nest egg saved up so that they can put it towards either buying those premises or being able to take that money and be able to buy something.

Support from other levels of government is incredibly important, not only the federal side, but our peers here in the province, whether it be a regional district or a municipal one. We have to take a look at all that. Coming from municipal government, like many of my peers here in this House have come from, there are things that we have to continue to look at, and I challenge — I absolutely challenge — councils and regional districts these days to take a look. Are you doing everything possible to ensure that people have that opportunity? Are you standing in the way? Are there things that you can do differently to make things happen a lot quicker?

The last thing you want is an application coming in that sits on the corner of somebody’s desk for months because they’re too busy or they’re not available to get at it right away. That’s something that really should change, and it takes that cooperation that is spoken about in this House so often. But it has to protrude outside of our walls to include all levels of government.

I hope, and I’m sure, that we will continue to work with our municipal partners to eliminate that backlog of construction of new housing supply and to remove those obstacles that really strain the permitting process. You know, those good, hard-working people that work at these levels of local government are constrained sometimes with rules and regulations.

My analogy is maybe not the best one, but there is an advertisement for impaired driving here in British Columbia, where there’s one glass of beer and another glass, and pretty soon, when you’re looking through it, you can’t see where you’re going. Well, I use that analogy for regulations.

With the best of intentions, municipalities, regional districts, provincial governments and federal governments bring in regulations, but sometimes they don’t look at that layering effect that takes place, and pretty soon, those hard-working individuals that work for municipalities and regional districts or the province or the federal government are challenged by those regulations. I really think that we have to take a look at these things collectively.

[2:40 p.m.]

Housing affordability is a priority for all parties in this House. I really look forward to working with everybody in this House so that all the citizens that we represent will have an opportunity not only to work but also to live in their communities and to have that roof over their head.

While our province is leading the nation, it’s important we recognize how other provinces lead in the country. We know that more has to be done through political and democratic reform. As we’ve heard, there have been two pieces of legislation that were brought forward regarding comprehensive reforms. These included banning corporate, union and third-party donations, including donations in-kind to political parties; imposing maximum donation limits for individuals; banning donations of a foreign nature to political parties; restricting the role of money influencing elections through third parties; and banning loans to parties by an organization other than by a chartered bank or a credit union.

We want to continue to reform and ensure that our institutions, in the spirit of cooperation, will be acted on by all members of this Legislature. We want to ensure that…. We know that if there is a reform that takes place in the future on how people are able to govern out of this wonderful building…. There is a promise that has been put forward for electoral reform no later than November 30, 2018.

I hope we work together, through that extensive consultation that should take place, to develop a clear question that British Columbians can understand and can see that it is 100 percent in its meaning and depth and, also, that not only protects urban areas but also protects the rural areas of British Columbia. I think that’s really important because sometimes rural British Columbia is forgotten. Rural British Columbia is a phenomenal supplier to urban B.C. of many, many of the things that the people in larger municipalities hold so dear, but they forget where it comes from.

Health care is incredibly important to each and every one of us. Having a strong economy has given the opportunity to reduce the costs of MSP for families without moving that burden over to the income tax. It’s taking it away. There’s no transfer of costs. Do you know that more than two million British Columbians right now pay no payments to MSP?

Our plan is to cut the premiums by 50 percent for households making up to $120,000 a year. This plan is going to save families as much as $900 a year. It’s a direct saving — $900, my gosh, in your pocket. There’s so much that families can have that opportunity to do with that money. You know, again, raising two kids — it’s expensive. We all know it, and it’s only getting more expensive in today’s costing for children and for families.

Seniors. My mom is 92 years old, and she’s in a home. She gets incredibly wonderful care. I know that there are examples…. We heard of an example again today, and these things do happen. I think they’re a very, very small portion of what transpires. My mom, having gone through three seniors homes because of transfers to try and get her back closer to home and then as her abilities declined….

I have seen nothing but the most incredible care given by these people that work, whether they are in facilities that are government — i.e., hospitals, etc. — or in private care. I have seen nothing but the best of care for these people that are our parents. I look at these folks that work so hard during the days and at night for our parents and then go home and address their own issues.

But I can tell you, having somebody in the system and being able to see it is a heck of a lot of a difference than just talking about it. Those people helped build this province, and they built an incredible province for all of us to enjoy — each and every one of us in here. And with that, we need to give back.

Government has committed to providing an additional 500 care beds with strong and enforceable standards and doubling the home-renovation tax credit to help keep seniors in their homes as long as they can.

[2:45 p.m.]

We did that with my mom. Mom wanted to be home. She wanted to be close to the horses. She wanted to be close to the farm. She wanted to ensure the animals got fed first. As a kid growing up, we all worked really hard in the mornings and at night to ensure that the animals were fed first. If we didn’t get them fed, we didn’t get fed until they were fed, so it was quite an incentive.

Creating a new respite tax credit to help families care for elderly family members. All I can say is that it’s one thing to talk about it, but it’s another thing to go through it.

Accessibility. You know, as we pass into the 21st century, our efforts are here to ensure that communities are accessible for all British Columbians. B.C. is a real leader in barrier-free living, and we’re going further to make sure that we continue to be leaders. We’re going to increase the accessibility requirements on new construction and design for public spaces.

As I mentioned, I was in our family business. We owned a chain of stores in British Columbia. Our demographics were 39-plus in females. A lot of our customers were matronly and needed assistance, and we made sure that all of our fitting rooms were literally double the normal size, and some were triple the size to ensure that wheelchairs and walking mobility accessories could get people into the fitting rooms. I think it’s long overdue.

But coming back to the homes, we’re going to increase the minimum number of suites within multi-unit residential buildings designed with basic accessibility features. We have to ensure that these suites are distributed through the building and that they represent all types and all sizes so that people actually have a choice. These changes, along with continued investments in our community, really make B.C. much more of an accessible province.

MSP. As our economy continues to grow and we continue to balance our budgets, we are, as I said, going to be reducing the cost of MSP. We have to continue to find a way to do so as our health care budget grows with our population, which is aging, by committing to cutting MSP premiums by 50 percent for households making up to $120,000 a year, and saving that $900-plus a year. Members of this House all share the view that MSP should be eliminated. It’s just how we can eliminate it. Again, I think if there was more of a cooperation and collaboration…. We don’t need to roll it over into taxation. We need to get rid of it as quickly as possible and completely get rid of it.

Early education. Families are continuing to change in our province, with households requiring both parents to work. We have to listen to the families and the employers call for improvements to our child care and early childhood education in the system and to ensure that the growing demand they face on their finances and their time is addressed.

The budget is going to be amended for 2017 to make room for a $1 billion investment in child care and for early childhood education over the next four years. To make this investment, we are going to continue to fully expand the prosperity fund over the next four years for its intended purpose of an intergenerational transfer of wealth.

You know, children are our most important resource. We have to continue, on a continual basis, to invest more and more and more. I grew up in a family. As I said, both of my parents worked. I had caregivers. I know how difficult it was, even for somebody like our family, to ensure that, number one, there was somebody to look after myself and my sisters, but also to ensure that was the right person. I really think there’s an opportunity here.

While we do disagree in this House, investing in children’s education is a priority for this government. We’re going to continue to invest so our children and our students can continue to be global leaders in reading, science, math and every other curriculum in education, in K to 12, and further on if they go into post education facilities, and hiring of the teachers across this province to ensure that the students receive the quality of education they deserve.

We all know education is changing. My god, you know, when I was a kid growing up, we had a 19-inch, black-and-white portable. That’s all we had. We didn’t even have cable. We had those darned rabbit ears that, halfway through…. The channel would fade and get ziggly lines across it. Somebody had to run over. Dad would say: “A little bit this way. A little bit that way.” It’s changed.

[2:50 p.m.]

I watch my kids. The communication is instant, these days, between them. It’s a pain to me to watch my daughter and my son sit in the family room and talk to a bunch of different friends. But then I realize that they’re actually talking to numerous friends all at once. I’m a bit envious sometimes of how technology has actually made their lives a lot better and, in a lot of ways, a lot more efficient.

We’re also not going to forget the rural districts and the districts with declining enrolment. I was an example of that, as was my peer from the South Okanagan, as there are some people on the opposite side of the House that are also challenged with this. As the demographics of our province change, some of our schools are really challenged.

In my little neck of the woods, Trout Creek School, when I started going to school there in grade 3, had four rooms, no gym and no offices. It was just literally a little four-wall bungalow, to be honest with you. I’ve watched it grow and watched how much it means to the community. It means so much.

Schools are a lot more to smaller communities than just places of education. I think there needs to be a real realization of that, for everybody in this House, to ensure that we continue to put money into and support these smaller institutions of education — which, again, mean a lot more to these communities than just a place for their kids to go to school and get an education.

Collectively, we have to be able to work not only with the municipalities but also with the school boards. In my opinion, education is changing, and there need to be opportunities to work with that.

We’ve all heard that there’s a royal commission on education that we would like to convene, the first in three decades. To build on the success of the last commission, what has taken place, we would like to lay a foundation for the future. This commission will shape the future for the next generation of students and teachers as we prepare these kids for their next jobs that they’re going to take in the future.

I cannot say enough about teachers and about what they do for these kids. There were some trials and tribulations over the last period of time, but I cannot say enough about what those teachers do for getting our children prepared for the future.

Once they leave elementary school — or K to 12, as it’s known now — and post-secondary school, growing up in the opportunities that British Columbia can present to the rest of the world, we have to find ways to make sure that these young people have continued success. There’s a promise to create 2,000 STEM graduates from institutions across our province and to fully fund adult basic education and ESL — something that was brought forward, something that has been agreed to, and something that we can work collaboratively for, going forward — and also to expand the credit recognition for these students. These investments are going to make a huge difference.

Coming quickly to mental health and addictions, I, as many people in this House, hear about what happens in our communities. It’s absolutely terrible. We’ve just lost another individual as recently as last week. It’s something that we have to take a look at.

As a parent — and my kids will probably tell you that I go overboard — the dangers of these new drugs that are floating around this province and floating around North America keep me up at night, and I’m paranoid. Whenever I have the opportunity to speak to kids in a group, I’m always telling them: “Be damned careful. Be very, very careful when you’re in a situation, because you just never, never know what somebody can give you or slip you something.”

We have to address this, and we have to start talking, in my opinion, about stronger enforcement. We have to make sure that our RCMP officers have the opportunity to continue to address it.

I see I’ve run out of time. I would just like to say I’m in full support of the throne speech, and I would like to thank each and every one of you in the House for the hard work that you have done and that you’re going to do in the future.

J. Martin: I’d like to welcome back the returning members and especially welcome the new members in this House, on both sides of the House, and yourself, Mr. Speaker.

[2:55 p.m.]

On the way over here, when the session resumed, it kind of dawned on me that this is my second term. Despite the emotional roller-coaster that we go through, the hours and the different types of tasks we take on — some more personally appealing and pleasant than others — every time I sit in this room, I’m reminded what a special opportunity I’ve been given by the constituents in Chilliwack.

My understanding is there are about 940 or so people that have ever been elected to this House. That’s a pretty small group in history, since British Columbia became a province. For those of us who do have that opportunity to serve in government, in opposition — to debate in this House, to sit on the all-important committees and, above all, to represent the people that sent us here from our respective ridings — it’s a very special privilege. I think the saddest day for me would be to come in here and take it for granted and not realize and not cherish, every time I look up at the ceiling, what a privilege it is to be here. I am very, very happy to be back.

It’s an exciting time. It’s an historic time. It’s one that few people predicted, but that’s what we signed on for. At the end of the day, it’s all about respecting our constituents. It’s about serving the people of British Columbia and about doing the right thing for the province despite…. Obviously, there are going to be disagreements on the best route to go there.

Again, welcome back, and welcome, for the first time, the new members. I haven’t had a chance to shake hands or greet one-on-one. I hope that I’ll be able to do that very shortly.

Above all, I’m humbled and thrilled and ecstatic to be back in this House. I mean, I never had a trajectory, a path, to become an MLA. I was never someone that went into civic politics, municipal politics. I’ve spent most of my adult life in the University of the Fraser Valley in a teaching capacity. I had done some other things prior to that that really wouldn’t indicate any long-term route of ending up in this place.

We all have our different roads that we took to get here. Some people have been involved in public life for many years, many decades. Other people came about this through a variety of different scenarios. We each have our own story to tell, and over the course of a parliament, we’ll learn more about each other.

Just looking across, sir…. My colleague, who you defeated, told me: “You’ve to go and speak to this guy. He’s a great person. You’ll love him.” So, hopefully, we’ll have that opportunity soon enough.

I can get back to being myself here. Voting is the foundation in our democracy, and we take that for granted sometimes. There are so many jurisdictions where people don’t have the right to vote. It’s ecstatic to see people getting excited about elections and to work on elections or to volunteer for Elections B.C.

Above all, the people in each of our respective constituencies — the ones that did support us at the polls and sent us here to take on an enormous responsibility — are the people that I want to thank.

She doesn’t get a chance to come over here very often, but my wife, Margaret, is basically responsible for pretty well every good thing that’s happened to me over the last 30 years. Without her support and her carefully editing certain parts of my speeches, saying: “No, you can’t say that, John. You can’t say that. Take it out….” She used to do that for me for over ten years when I had a newspaper column in the Province newspaper and other Black Press papers. She, thankfully, took on the same responsibility when it came to putting stuff on the public record in Hansard. Thank you, Margaret, and I hope you get to come over with me shortly.

[3:00 p.m.]

As many of you know — or if you don’t, you soon will — I am the proud owner of the two most famous shelties associated with the Legislature, Blue and the Dude. I miss them terribly every time I’m over here. To be able to run back to Chilliwack to my wife and my pups — that’s why Thursday, at six o’clock, I’m kind of making a beeline to get out of that parking lot, to make sure I catch that 7 p.m. ferry.

Last Thursday the Lieutenant-Governor officially opened the first session of the 41st parliament, laying out the government’s priorities to continue to grow our economy and to create jobs for British Columbians, and that’s jobs for British Columbians in every part of the province.

Our economy, and I’ll never get tired of saying this, is number one in the country. We have the lowest youth unemployment in Canada. And just this past month we confirmed that the B.C. jobs plan has created a quarter-million jobs since its creation and has surpassed even the most optimistic expectations. We’ve done this while putting forward five consecutive balanced budgets. That is a feat that has only been accomplished a couple times since Confederation. One of the things I’m most proud of having been part of as government is the balanced budgets and the fiscal discipline that has allowed us to invest in British Columbia and British Columbians.

Our economic success is not by accident. It doesn’t just happen on its own. We fulfilled our commitment to control spending, we’ve ensured that we continue to balance those budgets, we make those hard decisions, we’ve been cutting red tape, and we’ve been doing so, all of the time putting British Columbians first.

Thanks to the province’s economic strength, thanks to having diversified our economy, diversified our trading partners, we expect a larger-than-projected budgetary surplus this year. This surplus, which will be quantified in the coming days, will mean we can spend more on the social programs that British Columbians need and deserve the most, regardless of where they might reside in the province.

Right here, right now in B.C., we are the strongest province in the country. We have the strongest economy. For the two previous years, we led the nation in economic growth for the first time in decades. And we performed much better than other provinces in 2016. As such, most forecasters predict that British Columbia experienced the strongest growth in real GDP among provinces last year.

This isn’t something that we’re just talking about ourselves among the government side. Recently RBC said that British Columbia will once again lead the country in economic growth for a third consecutive year, revising the forecasted growth rate for our province from 1.9 percent to 3 percent. That’s a revision of more than a full percentage point, and that is something that is very significant.

There’s a quote in that report that I think sums up the economic situation here in beautiful British Columbia quite nicely, and that is: “It has become repetitive but still nice to say. The majority of economic indicators in B.C. continue to paint a vibrant economy that carries a lot of momentum.” The report goes on further to add: “The labour market is on fire. Employment growth, at 3.6 percent, is spectacular — far, far stronger than any other province.” On fire — that’s a pretty nice summation of how well the labour market has been performing.

The Economic Forecast Council, an independent body, has adjusted their estimates as well. Like RBC, they forecast an entire percentage point in additional economic growth.

We are also the only province in Canada with a triple-A credit rating, and that makes us an anomaly in the country. That triple-A credit rating gives us, in British Columbia, lower borrowing costs than any other province.

[3:05 p.m.]

If we instead had the credit rating some of the other provinces, we would be paying more than $2 billion in annual debt-servicing costs — $2 billion you might as well set on fire and let the wind blow away. That’s $2 billion of money that would be used to just pay down the costs of borrowing, $2 billion that we here in British Columbia can instead put toward programs and services rather than debt costs — to schools, hospitals, infrastructure and social programs instead of debt costs. That is significant.

The thing that is most troubling sometimes when we have these discussions in the House is that I don’t know that everybody appreciates how important it is to have a stellar credit rating. We do see policies and platform pieces being pushed that would have a very negative effect on our credit rating.

Look next door. Our neighbours in Alberta, under their government, have seen five consecutive credit downgrades in two years — five in just two years. A similar thing happened in British Columbia when a different government was in charge of the economy. We had six or seven consecutive credit downgrades. There’s a price to pay for that. It’s the difference between having a credit card with a low interest of maybe 2.9 percent and having 22 percent interest on your credit card. At the end of the day, that is significant. That eats into the things that are most important for families, just as it limits a government’s ability to provide the programs and the services that its citizens deserve.

We don’t want to see billions of dollars flushed away to pay for debt rather than programs, so we need to be very responsible in what pieces of the platform a party wants to finance, what programs they want to finance, what projects they want to invest in. None of this can be taken for granted.

Despite new promises and new policies in our throne speech, we have not compromised on our core principles. We have not compromised on balanced budgets. Thanks to our prudence, future generations do not pay for the spending of today. We have not compromised on growing the economy. We still believe in having the strongest economy in Canada, and we still believe in supporting the industries and the communities that have brought us here. Regardless of where those communities or those industries may be located in British Columbia, we support them.

We have not compromised on creating jobs — good-paying, family-supporting jobs in all corners of the province. Not everybody gets a government job. Not everybody works in the public sector in the Lower Mainland or the capital region. There are other types of jobs in other parts of the province that matter. Those people matter, and those communities matter. They all matter. And we’re committed.

We committed in the throne speech to doubling the rural dividend from $25 million per year to $50 million. This is one of the pieces in the throne speech I was most happy about. The wealth of our province has always depended on the understanding that the future of urban and rural communities is linked. One cannot succeed without the other.

If anyone has had an opportunity to spend time in a rural part of British Columbia — maybe you’ve lived in one, or maybe you live in one now — one thing that becomes demonstrably clear very, very quickly is that rural communities punch above their weight in the contributions they make to the rest of the province. It’s critical that government helps to diversify their economies through changing economic times and shifting of the different sectors.

We’re providing funding through this program in four different categories: community capacity-building, workforce development, community and economic development, and business sector development. The government, through its throne speech and through other commitments and other investments, has made it very, very clear that rural northern British Columbia drives this province.

[3:10 p.m.]

It has always been the backbone, the resource economy. There are communities that have seen ebbs and flows, highs and lows, and those communities have always supported the rest of British Columbia. And when there’s an opportunity for other British Columbians to assist them, then it’s incumbent on us to do so.

By helping rural communities diversify, we help all British Columbia diversify, and we keep our economy from being dependent on just a few industries. I mean, this is something that you see not just within British Columbia but when you look at British Columbia vis-à-vis other parts of Canada. Because we diversified our economy so dramatically from where it might have been 20, 30, 40 years ago and because we diversified our trading partners, we were able to weather the storm much better than other jurisdictions.

When you had the housing crash south of the border, we felt it the least, even though we had a huge export market of investment in housing in the United States. Over the years, we had come to rely less and less on the big economy south of the border. We have opened up trade offices throughout Asia. We’re having a constant opportunity to help and assist growing companies in British Columbia to do their trade and to do business in other jurisdictions.

Unlike Ontario and Alberta, whose economies were literally welded at the hip to the Americans, when the housing crunch happened and the recession kicked in, in 2007-2008, their economy took a hit far, far in excess of what happened in British Columbia. We weathered that. We had tough times too; let’s not kid ourselves. We weathered that because we understand and this government has understood that communities and the province overall needs to diversify.

This is really the emphasis of the rural dividend program: to assist British Columbia rural communities to be able to diversify so that those economies are not dependent on the traditional limited industries that may, over time, not be as successful as they once were.

We also have had an opportunity to strengthen investment in our children. We will invest $1 billion in child care and early childhood education programs over the next four years. This is tantamount to the single largest investment and the single largest increase in British Columbia’s history. There has never been an announcement of a more significant investment in this area.

Our plan will, among other things, create 60,000 new child care spaces, and that is in addition to the 13,000 we have already committed to. Our plan will offer middle-class families full or partial subsidies to help pay for their children’s care. Our plan will assist families earning up to $60,000, who now will be eligible for full subsidies. And those who make up to $100,000 will be eligible for partial subsidies. It will also offer $10 million in grants and bursaries for people who wish to become early childhood educators. And we will work with school districts to co-locate new child care spaces at elementary schools.

These investments, among others, will make life more affordable for working British Columbian families. British Columbians have spoken, and they want affordable and accessible child care. It’s our obligation, it’s our duty, to provide that for them. That is specified in the throne speech as clear as can be.

Probably no single issue drives British Columbians’ concerns more than health care. I don’t think that’s going to be anywhere different in any part of the country. Now, we’re in a unique situation. British Columbians are among the healthiest people anywhere in the world. Our health is due, in part, to our lifestyle. People are active. People take more care of themselves here. The climate allows for more activities that get people out of the office.

[3:15 p.m.]

But it’s also in part due to our province’s increasing investments in one of the best health care systems in the world. Our strong economy, our diverse economy, means that we can continue to improve our world-leading health care system. Despite challenges within the health care system, let’s make no mistake about it. The health care system in this province is the best health care system in the world. Our strong economy means that we can continue to invest in that.

As our revenues increase, we can use government surpluses to invest more in the health care programs that British Columbians want, we can modernize the health care programs, we can expand, and we can innovate. We can do that because we have the revenue stream that allows us to do that. We can do that, or we can go down a road of reckless abandon. Instead of investing in innovation and expansion and modernization, we can cut the cheque to the banks to pay for increased credit costs for servicing of our debts.

We can ensure that British Columbians continue to have the best health care system in the world. We have the greatest life expectancy, the best survival rates for heart disease, the lowest incidence of cancer. Among those who do get cancer, we have far and away the very best survival rates in the country. There is no one that even comes second. We are so far ahead of the pack.

However, as our population continues to age…. And it is going to continue to age, not just from within our own demographics but we’re going to continue to see more and more retirees from all parts of the country relocating to British Columbia to spend their golden years in this province. It makes perfect sense. If I was living anywhere else in Canada and I hadn’t had a chance to relocate to British Columbia, I assure you that upon retirement, I would certainly make the move here. I might have wanted to buy my place a few years ago, but in any event, this is absolutely the place to be.

We see the influx of retirees continues in all parts of British Columbia, and that will put a strain on our health care system. We’ll be serving more people, and we’ll be servicing more elderly people. That lays out its own set of unique challenges.

So as our population continues to age, we must do more to reduce wait-lists for patients and for their families. We must do more to meet those challenges that are surely coming to British Columbia, and many are already here.

We are committed to improving our health care system through numerous undertakings. One is to increase the scope of practice for nurse practitioners and pharmacists. Another is to establish wait-time guarantees. Another is to speed up access to MRIs. Another is to decrease wait times for knee and hip operations. Another is to train 112 more GPs. Many communities will be very, very welcoming to that news.

Investing in our health care system today will help our province cope with an aging population and keep British Columbians the healthiest people in the world. Our health care system is predominantly important, of course, to the province’s senior citizens, an ever-growing demographic. This government remains committed to increasing the number of residential care beds by 500 and to ensuring measurable daily care, our standards, are enforced and monitored in every organization and institution.

We are doubling the home-renovation tax credit. This is to help families who care for their aging family members at home. This will enable seniors who want to live at home. This will enable seniors who want to stay at home for as long as they want and will be less of a financial undertaking for their families and loved ones that are supporting them.

We’re creating a respite tax credit for families who care for other family members with disabilities. Our parents, our grandparents — they worked hard to build British Columbia, and it’s our obligation to work just as hard to provide the services and the care they need most, when they need it.

[3:20 p.m.]

Boasting five straight balanced budgets and boasting Canada’s far-and-away leading economy…. That gives us some opportunities to do things that no other province is able to do. It’s time to reduce the cost of MSP for families in our province. We need to do this transparently and with careful forethought as to where the revenue will come from to replace MSP.

We’ve already taken action to reduce the number of people who pay this premium. Right now, before doing anything else, approximately 40 percent of British Columbians are paying reduced MSP premiums or no premiums at all. That’s an estimated two million British Columbians, including children. We’ve already taken action to eliminate MSP for almost half of the people in this province.

We’ve taken a further step in the process recently to eliminate MSP altogether. What we have pledged, what we have committed to and what we have reiterated in the throne speech is to cut MSP premiums by 50 percent for households making up to $120,000. This has the potential, has the capacity, to save a family of four as much as $900 per year. Every one in this Legislature can agree that MSP should be eliminated. We can work together to review how that should be done as soon as possible and to do it in a way that is not going to have adverse impact on other parts of the province.

Our province’s natural resources are the backbone of our economic growth. They help pay for these services and programs. Health care, education, mental health, seniors care, infrastructure — each of these are paid for by revenue from resource industries. The throne speech has reaffirmed and restated and reiterated our commitment to our province’s natural resource industries but, more importantly, to our natural resource workers.

Right now we are working toward opening eight new mines by 2022. And we’re working toward investing $18 million to improve mine permitting, oversight, compliance and enforcement. These mines will provide thousands of jobs. They will provide families across British Columbia with income and enable them to enjoy prosperity — for them to be able to enjoy time with their loved ones, with their families; to pursue their dreams; and to experience being a British Columbian to its fullest.

We will protect forestry workers from U.S. protectionism by continuing to promote the use of B.C. wood abroad. In the interim, B.C. will prepurchase wood for construction of public housing at home. Without forestry, without mining we wouldn’t be able to reduce wait-lists, we wouldn’t be able to build hospitals, we wouldn’t be able to build child care spaces, and we wouldn’t be able to pay for any of the other health care improvement our province needs.

When I think about things like that, I flash back to one of my first full-time jobs pulling veneer at the old Canfor mill in New Westminster. I never had any idea of the scope of what the natural resource sector was contributing. My family was always supported by a paycheque from the mill. That’s what I grew up with. I just thought it was us. I didn’t know that it went beyond a few other kids I knew whose dad or another family member might work in a mill.

It’s kind of ironic, years and years later, having that sense of: “Wow, being a part of the forestry sector, working in the mill — that’s something that all British Columbia benefits from.” We want to make sure that we’re able to continue doing so.

Agriculture. I hope that I have a bit of an opportunity here. I see the green light come on.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Member. The red light has come on.

J. Martin: I come from a riding rich in agriculture.

Respectfully, hon. Speaker, I see that I do not have the time. I know the Ag Minister is able to…. I think he’s speaking fairly shortly, so I hope that he picks up right from there.

[3:25 p.m.]

Hon. N. Letnick: Thank you to the member for Chilliwack for the segue to agriculture, but I think I’m about 20 minutes on other things first before I get into ag. And thank you, hon. Speaker, for the privilege of being here one more time to talk about important things — obviously the throne speech, but we do have some latitude to talk about our ridings and how we got here in the first place.

Let me make it very clear. I will be supporting the throne speech, and I ask all members to do the same.

First, I’d like to thank the constituents of Kelowna–Lake Country. It’s a wonderful place. If you haven’t seen it lately, you have to come. It keeps changing every year. Our lakes are very high this year, obviously. A lot of flooding happened, unfortunately, to many homes and to some of our streets. We look forward to the water continuing to recede and to people getting their properties fixed and back to normal, if we can get there sooner than later, so that we can enjoy the summer season and so that our tourists can come back to the Okanagan and spend more money, which drives the economy.

Again, my thoughts go out to all of those impacted through the floods.

The riding is amazing, from a true community of Rutland to wonderful places up in Dilworth, all through Glenmore and over to Quail Ridge and Ellison and Lake Country — just wonderful communities and wonderful people. I want to thank all of them for their trust in me to present to this Legislature their priorities.

I’d like to thank, of course, my friends and my family, without whom I could not do this work, for their support. In particular, Helene, my wife of 36 years this summer; my wonderful children, who are all living in Kelowna now. They are well established, working. My eldest daughter, Melanie, is a French immersion teacher, and that makes for interesting discussions sometimes. My son is a realtor, which makes for more interesting discussions, and he and his wife have given us our first and only grandchild so far. We just love Luna to bits. Thank you to Joanna and J.P. for that. And of course, Naomi is working in Kelowna as well, as a civil engineering technologist and making us really proud.

I’d also like to thank Katja Maurmann and Lesley Driscoll, who are my constituency assistants over in Kelowna–Lake Country. They are the first line of support for our constituents. Usually they handle the vast majority of issues and opportunities that constituents have when they come to the office. I could not do this job, obviously, without them. And of course, all of the volunteers who helped during the last election campaign, I would say locally as well as provincewide — all the volunteers that helped all the MLAs on both sides of the House get elected. In particular, those, of course, on the B.C. Liberal side, which allowed us to get more seats than any other party in this Legislature.

And the volunteers that helped in the campaign through the election that allowed us to come in with a 60 percent voter support, a 55 percent turnout. That’s the highest turnout that we have seen in my three terms. And we came out with the second-highest plurality of any riding in the province, second to the member for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant, who had the highest plurality in the province. So something to look forward to. I don’t know if she knew that, given the expression on her face. I thank all the volunteers who helped us get to that position.

Of course, congratulations to Mr. Speaker, my colleague and friend from Kelowna-Mission, who is now, of course, the Speaker of the House. He and the Premier and I form Team Okanagan, representing the Central Okanagan. I’m so proud of him and what he has achieved, with the support of all members of this House.

And of course, to our Premier, making history one more time on being the first woman Premier of British Columbia re-elected into office.

[G. Kyllo in the chair.]

Our riding crosses the urban and rural divide. We have all kinds of wonderful places, including very, very urban locations in the riding as well as very rural farming communities, which I’ll talk about in a little while. I have the pleasure of representing and working with two municipal governments, the Kelowna city council and the council for the district of Lake Country — wonderful people, very cooperative. We meet on a regular basis and share ideas as to how we can advance the needs of our joint constituencies further.

[3:30 p.m.]

I think that has gone a long way to answer the question as to why such a high plurality in our area — a high voter turnout, a high voter confidence — year after year, election after election. It’s the relationship that we’ve built between the local MLAs and the local governments, working together, collaboratively, with our federal government to deliver on priorities for people in our district.

We are a very multicultural community. Take for example, my family. My wife is French Canadian. My daughter is Filipino. My other daughter is a French teacher. My daughter-in-law is Chinese. And that seems to be typically what’s going on in Kelowna now. It is moving even further towards a multicultural community — lots of people from different ethnic backgrounds. It’s a privilege to be serving all of them throughout the community.

It’s fast-growing. I think the latest numbers show it’s the fastest-growing area in Canada. If it’s not this year, it was very recently. And of course, it’s very entrepreneurial. This attitude of let’s get down to work, let’s fix things and let’s look for new opportunities is very clearly demonstrated on the innovation side in the high-tech sector, which is booming in the Central Okanagan, thanks to many parts, many people, but in particular, I would say, to the forward-looking city councils in both Lake Country and Kelowna and, of course, our Okanagan College, UBC Okanagan, and all the people that work at the innovation centre and Accelerate Okanagan. They are looking forward to making sure that we continue to grow high tech in our area.

Lots of things have happened over the last few months. I’d like to talk about the throne speech, of course, and the benefits about the throne speech to British Columbia and my constituents in particular. I’m going to use that lens of my constituents because that’s who I’m here to represent. So I’m going to use that particular lens in this and show howthe government’s throne speech aligns with my local campaign platform that we recently placed in front of the people.

One of the first things that we saw in the throne speech is it accentuates our strong fiscal plan. Of course, full credit goes to our Premier and Finance Minister for getting us to this position, especially after we all experienced the 2009 recession after the sub-prime mortgage crisis. It took us a while to get ourselves out of that deficit situation, but compared to other jurisdictions in Canada and around the world, I must give them kudos for where we’re at today, with triple-A credit ratings and five consecutive balanced budgets. We are scheduled to pay off our operating debt — since 1976, the first time that it’s been paid off — in just a few years.

And of course, the focus on job growth and creation: I understand 88,000 new jobs last year — 109,000 if you include the year before. Hon. Speaker, you’re probably even more in tune with this than I am, given your role, but we also have to continue to increase that. And the key is: no increase in income tax. I think it’s really important to reinforce that message. You don’t attract people and organizations to a community or a province if you’re going to tell them: “Yes, come over. And by the way, when you come, we’re going to raise your taxes. We’re going to raise your taxes on property transfer, on carbon, on income, on PST. We’re going to even tax your homes if you sell them and you get a capital gain of over $750,000.”

These are the kinds of things that will scare businesses and people out of the province. But what you won’t see are those people and businesses who don’t come here in the first place. They’re not going to take ads out and say: “Hey, we’re not coming to British Columbia anymore because you’re raising taxes.” They’ll just go somewhere else, quietly, unfortunately. But over time, once someone has spent all the money and once the tax revenue starts to go down because of the increase in taxes, that will, of course, impact jobs and the future of our children.

So I’m really thankful that our Premier and Finance Minister, with the support of caucus, of course, continue to look forward to a throne speech that does not increase those income taxes.

Another thing that’s in the throne speech that I support is campaign funding reform. Our Premier committed to a committee of eminent people to review the whole issue of campaign funding reform and to have those recommendations brought back to government.

[3:35 p.m.]

With the throne speech, we have now clearly made a proposal to ban corporate, union and third-party donations, including donations in-kind to political parties, imposing a maximum donation limit for individuals to political parties comparable to other Canadian jurisdictions, and a number of other important measures.

Locally, during the election, I put forward the opinion that the issue of campaign funding reform should be resolved prior to the next election. I was pleased to hear that this is exactly what the throne speech supports, in the comprehensive set of reforms that have been proposed.

Thanks to our strong fiscal plan and good working relationship between all three levels of government in our area, we have been able to accomplish many things over the last few years. As examples, we have investments in Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan, money for tourism, replant money for the Okanagan tree fruit industry, money for the Okanagan innovation and high-tech sector.

There are billions of dollars in government construction, creating many jobs, construction of a new highway between Winfield and Oyama; concrete medians between Kelowna and Vernon, saving lives; thousands more handyDART and conventional bus service hours; money to help buy and prepare the CN rail for use; millions for critical local water infrastructure; millions for a new Kelowna General Hospital cardiac surgical centre and so many other important health care initiatives; Foundry, a new hub for youth and young adults with mental health and substance abuse challenges; a new integrated team approach to seniors health, located at Cottonwoods. The list goes on and on.

All these things have been accomplished thanks to a balanced-budget approach and growing the economy, which is evident in our throne speech, but we have more to do. That’s always my theme in any election: “Lots done; more to do.” Here are just a few of the areas where my platform commitments align with the government throne speech.

In the throne speech, the government has committed to continued investing in road infrastructure. This aligns well with my commitment to work with all levels of government to see the completion of the six-laning of Highway 97; intersection improvements through Kelowna; the completion of John Hindle Drive, connecting Glenmore with Highway 97 at UBC Okanagan, helping all commuters at Highway 97; continue to expand and improve our local public transit; fix the bottleneck at Beaver Lake Road, Glenmore Road and Highway 97; help Kelowna extend the Clement Avenue expressway from Glenmore Road to Highway 33, taking more traffic off Highway 97, with fewer intersections, helping all commuters, but especially residents of Rutland, Glenmore and Dilworth in particular.

The throne speech also commits to improving the delivery of health care services in the province. Of course, that aligns with my particular campaign in the Central Okanagan: accelerating access to hip and knee procedures, extremely important; establishing wait-time guarantees; speeding up access to MRIs; increasing the number of family doctors being trained; increasing the scope of practice for professionals, such as nurse practitioners and pharmacists; increasing support to health care teams delivering comprehensive service for patients; increasing the number of residential care beds by 500 and ensuring that clear and measurable daily care hour standards are in place, monitored and enforced; continuing to shift our system to more preventative care; doubling the home-renovation tax credit for seniors and providing a respite tax credit for our seniors.

These continue to align extremely well with the local priorities, including the nurse and practice program that will help deliver over 3,000 local people to family doctors in our area and helping to create a multidisciplinary health hub for residents of Lake Country.

One area of health care delivery that has garnered great public attention is that of mental health and addictions. Mental health challenges have impacted families everywhere since the beginning of humanity. We are making progress on tackling many of the challenges presented with mental health and addiction issues, but more must be done. That’s why I was pleased to see, in the throne speech, the government’s plan, including a plan to expand the successful provincewide Foundry program, a single point of entry for young people who are experiencing mental health issues. The Foundry program will soon be underway in Kelowna, and I look forward to it being expanded across the province.

Another area of commonality between the throne speech and our platform is affordable housing. In my local platform, I committed to use the experience gained as president of a non-profit housing corporation with our local governments and offer an increase to both rental and owner-occupied housing supply. I was very pleased to see that the throne speech contained new initiatives, in addition to the $900 million invested last year, into building new, affordable, supportive housing across the province, thanks to the leadership of our Deputy Premier. People will begin to move into these 5,000 units over the coming months.

[3:40 p.m.]

We will see new initiatives if the throne speech is passed, with government committing to work with the private sector to build 50,000 units of new housing across the province over ten years. Government also has further committed to bring together and welcome the ideas of all parties and participants at a housing summit.

Should the throne speech not pass, it’s still my intention to fulfil my local platform commitment and seek out willing partners to repeat the success in the Okanagan that we had with that non-profit housing corporation that I spoke of previously.

Another area that’s not economic directly but also fundamentally impacts communities and families is that of child care. And if I may, in a related matter, I would like to thank the Minister of Children and Families for her unwavering commitment to some of B.C.’s most vulnerable children, in her role as minister.

In my local platform, I committed to work hard to see a sizable number of the then-promised new 13,000 additional child care spaces located in our region. I was heartened to see the commitment expand in the throne speech to over 60,000 new child care spaces, a 50 percent increase over the last four years.

Education is another key sector that received attention in the throne speech and in my local platform. The throne speech calls for a review of the funding formula for school districts. The review will focus on supporting districts with declining enrolment, as well as ensuring fast-growing districts can keep up with growing demand — this at the time with the continuation of record investments in new school construction and seismic upgrades.

These commitments are important, as some in my school district believe the current formula disadvantages our area. Also, we have worked together on the capital side and are close to funding requests for the replacement of the middle school in Rutland and a new middle school in Lake Country.

Post-secondary education is also seeing major investments in the Central Okanagan. The throne speech calls for the creation of 2,000 more graduates in science, technology, engineering and math from institutions across the province. I know both Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan are ready to do their part to help the government achieve this target, should the throne speech pass.

While there may be other points of intersects between the throne speech and local priorities, my time is limited, and I would like to focus a little bit on agriculture, if I may. So I will move on. I understand that there are points of commonality with First Nations, environment, clean tech, high tech, poverty reduction, MSP, accessibility, forestry, LNG, climate change, welfare management, B.C. Parks and others. I would be happy to discuss those, perhaps after the opposition puts in their motion to amend. That would give me an opportunity to speak again, as it would be a new motion.

Firstly, I would like to thank the 350 or so staff in the Ministry of Agriculture, led by the very professional Deputy Minister Derek Sturko; the minister’s office, led by the very capable Karen Bill; all the members of both my agrifood advisory committee and the advisory committee on finfish aquaculture; and especially, all the farmers, producers, processors, sellers and everyone else involved in B.C.’s outstanding food industry. Our province’s food security is in great hands.

Agriculture is a vitally important sector of our province and my riding. Not only are the food and drink we grow, produce and sell important to our province’s security; the business of agriculture is also a great economic generator and a job creator. Both the throne speech and my local platform recognize and celebrate that.

In the throne speech, the government is committed to doubling the Grow Local program and making it permanent; bringing an additional 91,000 hectares of agricultural land into production by 2020; activating an all-party select standing committee to study how British Columbia’s agricultural land can be used and stewarded; and also ensuring that the high-quality farmland lost as a result of the Site C project is replaced with comparable land in other parts of the province.

I am proud to announce, on behalf of B.C.’s ag sector, that the sector has grown by more than $3.5 billion since 2010, reaching a record $14 billion in agrifood revenues since 2016. We have also seen a record growth in our agrifood seafood exports, reaching a record of $3.8 billion, setting a new record for the fourth year in a row.

Employment in the sector grew to nearly 63,000 British Columbians in 2016, from about 55,000 the year before. It has one of the largest manufacturing sectors in the province. There are currently more than 31,000 hectares in the land reserve than was the case in 2001, and the land commission has seen its funding more than double since I became minister just over four years ago.

[3:45 p.m.]

B.C. seafood is respected and desired worldwide as great-tasting, sustainably harvested food. It employs more than 3,400 British Columbians, many in rural and remote communities of British Columbia. Our seafood sector accounted for about $1.3 billion in exports, and Atlantic salmon has been the top food export for the past five years.

B.C. is committed to the socially and ecologically responsible management of our fisheries, including an environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture industry for the benefit of all British Columbians.

The 2015 B.C. Agrifood and Seafood Strategic Growth Plan identifies the next steps to achieve the goal to grow the B.C. agrifoods industry to a $15 billion industry by 2020. Since I just announced a record of $14 billion already in 2016, I would imagine that we should increase that goal of $15 billion by 2020 as soon as possible. The plan supports the building of domestic markets and maintaining a secure food supply.

The B.C. government has invested $8 million into the Buy Local program since 2012 to help B.C. companies find new customers locally. That $8 million has leveraged almost $30 billion in total investment — a great program. Starting in 2017-2018, the Buy Local program is receiving long-term, stable funding — a total of $6 million over the next three years. That is an increase in the ministry’s budget starting in 2017-2018.

To help build export markets for B.C. foods, the B.C. government released a number of new initiatives, including our new international market development strategy, hiring two B.C. agrifood and seafood trade and investment representatives — one in Hong Kong and one in South Korea — and an on-line, searchable, export-ready business catalogue that profiles about 100 ready-to-export B.C. products in many different languages.

B.C. producers continue to receive support through our Growing Forward 2 program, as the federal and provincial governments are investing about $420 million in B.C. through this program from 2013 to 2018. We’re currently negotiating — with our federal, provincial and territorial partners — the framework for the next program.

I really want to emphasize that we can’t take this growth for granted. This growth to $14 billion — a record year. This growth in exports — again, a record year. This growth in employment — again, a record year. The growth in profits for the agrifood sector. All this growth that we’ve been seeing over the last four years can easily be kiboshed if the wrong policies are put in place — policies that do not support growing trade, as we saw when the opposition voted against the Trans-Pacific Partnership right here in this House. Policies that would see our minimum wage increase quickly to $15 an hour.

I asked a farmer: “What would you do with a $15-an-hour minimum wage?” The answer was very quick: “I would fire a whole bunch of people and mechanize my crop-picking.” That scares me, that kind of reaction, but that is the reaction of the economics of farming. So I would caution any government to be very careful when they look at questions like supporting trade agreements with other countries — they should be supporting them — and caution them on how they deal with questions that have a direct impact on taxation, wages and other cost inputs for our agricultural sector.

It is frequently said that all politics is local. Over the past eight years, as the representative for the people of Kelowna–Lake Country, I’ve worked hard to deliver to my local constituents services and investments that they need and that taxpayers can afford, while at the same time making decisions at the cabinet table that serve all British Columbians, wherever they may live in this beautiful and diverse province.

There is no money tree in Victoria, and no government can be all things to all people. So the question remains: does this throne speech provide my constituents with the right balance of services and investments for the citizens of today without unduly limiting the choices that our children and grandchildren will need to make tomorrow?

I’m not a constitutional expert. There appear to be enough of them around these days anyway. I am but a former businessman, a former teacher and a lifetime community volunteer. But it seems to me that the government has met the test with the throne speech and proposed legislation to bridge that urban-rural divide and avoid the risk of the Lieutenant-Governor calling for another election.

We are certainly living through historic times for British Columbia. If the Lieutenant-Governor does send us all door-knocking on Thursday, I will remind voters of the lengths that this government went through to avoid that outcome and the actions of the members opposite, including the call by some members opposite to increase personal taxes with their MSP shift. To apply property transfer tax with the transfer of beneficial ownership. To introduce a new speculation property transfer tax. To introduce a new tax on lifetime capital gains in excess of $750,000 on personal residences. To add a surtax on the property transfer tax.

[3:50 p.m.]

To increase both personal and corporate taxes. To increase taxes all through their platforms. People just have to look it up.

In my nine years as a municipal councillor, eight years as the MLA for Kelowna–Lake Country and four years as the B.C. Minister of Agriculture, I’ve always tried to work with people, with both like and divergent minds on both sides of the aisle, with respect for the common good.

This throne speech is a good attempt to provide a stable option for governing British Columbia — not one that will see either a Speaker who is no longer impartial and the dangers that bestows on parliaments everywhere or one that will result in a parliament that is deadlocked from the start and can’t survive long.

Our House Leader has sent some important questions to the Speaker on voting. I have the same concerns on what the impact will be on our democracy. I also am concerned about the impact if the throne speech is defeated and the opposition forms government — the impact of moving from a party that allows free votes to a party that does not.

We’ve seen that over and over again over the last few years, where on this side of the House, people have been able to vote their conscience and vote against the government. I, indeed, am one of those people who, over the last eight years, has voted against my own party — stood up with the opposition on a motion of conscience and voted against the government.

However, on the other side of the House, their votes are whipped. If they choose to vote against their own party, they actually stay outside of the chamber, and that way they’re not recorded as voting against their own party. What will happen if they form government? They won’t have that option of voting or not voting. They will have to vote all in favour of the government — their own party — otherwise they will lose the vote.

How is that going to support democracy? How will that support an MLA speaking on behalf of their constituents? I don’t know the answer to that. Hopefully, they can answer that question if and when they become the government — pretty soon, it looks like.

Therefore, after studying both the throne speech and my local commitments and weighing the pros and cons of the different options on the provincial interest, I have concluded that it does meet the test of what is in the best interests of British Columbia. As such, I will be voting to support the throne speech and demonstrate that this government and this Premier have my full support.

Hon. E. Ross: Esteemed colleagues and members of the Legislature, I would like to start by paying tribute to those that came before me: men like Frank Calder, Larry Guno, and my uncle on my dad’s side, Guy Williams, who served as a Canadian senator — at that time of appointment, Canada’s only indigenous senator. As well, I’d like to congratulate and point out my fellow colleagues across the aisle: the members for Victoria–Beacon Hill, Vancouver–Mount Pleasant, and Saanich North and the Islands also deserve recognition.

I am deeply grateful for the trust placed in me by the Premier in naming me Minister of Natural Gas Development and Housing. Being chosen to help significantly chart the future of B.C.’s economy is an honour.

LNG is an industry that’s close to my heart. As a former First Nations chief councillor of the Haisla First Nation, I saw personally the benefits and prosperity that came from the LNG agreements that the Haisla Nation signed with both B.C. as well as the proponents.

These opportunities offer dignity and pride and also solutions to problems that couldn’t be fixed without economic development. Believe me, I tried. One story that always stands out with me and that I use as an example all the time is the story of Caroline Grant, one of my band members. As a struggling single mom, Caroline took a job working extended full-time hours, seven days a week, in the LNG industry.

With the money she earned, she was able to earn an income, purchase her own van and provide a life for her children that she was very proud of. In fact, her only complaint to me was her six-day work week. Her complaint was they reduced it from seven days a week to six. That astonished me.

[3:55 p.m.]

Her ambition was both humbling and inspiring to me and actually demonstrated to me that what my council was doing, in collaboration with industry and government, was the right solution. Caroline’s story represents many British Columbians who want and deserve the same opportunity.

These agreements that were signed in my territory benefit my riding to this day — Terrace, Kitimat — and people from all over B.C. who travel to Kitimat for those jobs in the LNG industry. The LNG industry, if allowed to flourish, will continue to provide the potential of good-paying jobs, the ability for members to get mortgages and allow people from across B.C. to provide for their families.

The LNG proposals provide hope and opportunity not only for my riding but across B.C. Members from across B.C. include Fort Nelson, where the gas comes from, including Fort St. John, and those opportunities will also extend from Prince Rupert to Kitimat and along the pipeline route itself.

We can also help other countries, especially China. Yesterday we heard the member for Richmond-Queensborough say that 2.5 million people die annually from pollution-related illnesses. B.C. has a duty to export the cleanest-burning fossil fuels so that countries like China can lower their emissions.

The LNG opportunity demonstrates the positive impact that can happen when government, business and First Nations work together in goodwill and agreement. For example, look at the recent agreements signed with the Lax Kw’alaams and Metlakatla First Nations, who are good friends of mine and neighbours. These agreements will provide for economic growth for these communities.

So far, our government has been able to reach 64 natural gas pipeline benefit agreements with 29 First Nations. This has resulted in more than 2,400 members from 45 different First Nations receiving skills training through the aboriginal skills-training development fund, which will support LNG-related jobs.

In my riding, I have the Haisla First Nation as well as the Nisga’a treaty and those members. Both communities have similar hopes of utilizing economic development to reverse historic unemployment, poverty and dependence.

You really have to experience these issues firsthand before understanding how committed First Nation leaders are to finding their own solutions to their own problems. In my opinion, “reconciliation” is not a political word. Reconciliation, in my view, has to affect the average person’s situation to be truly successful.

In terms of the rest of my riding, Terrace, B.C., has started the process to diversify their own economy. Their partnership with the Kitselas First Nation on land development for the purposes of manufacturing is an exciting and achievable goal. They are not ready for the partnership with B.C., but I am waiting for their call so that the B.C. government can assist their goals and their dreams to become a manufacturing community.

The district of Kitimat itself has had 60 years of experiencing the issues that come and the benefits that come with dealing with industry. As economies change, Kitimat welcomes oil and gas, along with port development ambitions. The cooperation on common goals with the Haisla Nation Council has made their chances for success that much more achievable.

The northwest has the opportunity to reinvent their economy so their children and their children’s children can build lives of their own in regions that we are proud to call home. Towns like Fort St. John and Fort Nelson now have shared destinies and bright futures if we as a government, in cooperation with industry, can support the dynamic natural gas and LNG initiative.

That’s why it causes me some concern to hear statements made by individuals who wish to tear up signed agreements by calling for an end to any LNG developments in this province. These types of rash decisions will have a detrimental impact for the people in all of rural and northern British Columbian communities.

[4:00 p.m.]

Our northern communities need to know that governments respect and value the well-being and future of northern residents and communities as well as their resources. For example, our government’s announcement regarding the investment we are making in the transition to LNG from dirty diesel for B.C. Ferries is something which will benefit all British Columbians.

If it were not for LNG, many individuals in the north would have had to leave their towns and homes in search of good-paying jobs in other parts of the province or this country. That is what’s happening in my riding right now. People are leaving the riding. They’re leaving the province and ending up in Manitoba and Yukon and Alberta because the jobs just aren’t in my riding. I do not want this to happen to all British Columbians.

Further to that, what kind of message are we sending to businesses or communities if any government decides that contracts can be broken on a whim after an election?

Housing. I’m equally proud of my role as Minister Responsible for Housing. The key initiatives that our government continues to take on in this important file are what really get me excited about my new role as Minister for Housing.

Our government has a strong track record of achievement assisting individuals, from our successful home ownership program to our historic $900 million investment in building new, affordable, supported housing across the province. As well, our careful oversight measures to rein in rampant speculation and price increases has ensured that consumer interests are put first, with the introduction of the foreign buyers tax and ending self-regulation in the real estate sector.

There is more work to be done. We realize that. But the objective is clear: we are trying to ensure affordability. That is why our government is committed to three core principles of building more supportive social housing, ensuring more middle-class housing is built and further measures to cool the market to combat speculation.

New measures our government will be undertaking, as announced in the throne speech, include a commitment to build 50,000 units of new housing across the province in the coming decade. This is part of our proposed rent-to-own home program that would be available to middle-class families to help renters grow equity through monthly rent payments until they can purchase their own home.

As we all know, addressing an issue of this magnitude requires cooperation and collaboration from all levels of government, especially at the municipal level. That is why we’ll be working alongside municipalities to remove obstacles and eliminate backlog to speed up construction of new housing supply, as well as work to increase supply along new transit lines and corridors.

Further, we know on issues of this importance that no one party has a monopoly on a good idea. That is why our government will be bringing together all interested parties and stakeholders to a housing summit to be convened this fall.

The key to improving housing affordability over the long term is to create new supply. To that end, the government is acting to help the market respond to increasing demand for homes. Six key principles on housing are: ensuring the dream of home ownership remains within the reach of the middle-class; increasing housing supply; smart transit expansion; supporting first-time homebuyers; ensuring consumer protection; and increasing rental supply.

In order to ensure that the dream of home ownership remains within the reach of the middle class, the government has taken firm action. Another measurement the government is taking includes bringing in a luxury tax of 3 percent on the portion of a home’s value over $2 million.

We are investing the revenue from that 3 percent into the newly built home exemption. This program can save purchasers up to $13,000 in property transfer tax when purchasing a newly constructed or a subdivided home worth up to $750,000. A partial exemption is also available for qualifying homes valued up to $800,000. This exemption will provide an estimated $75 million in property transfer tax relief for new construction in 2016-2017.

Between February 17 and December 31, 2016, because of the newly built home exemption, more than 9,100 families saved an average of $7,400 on their newly built homes. Total savings to families: $67.8 million.

[4:05 p.m.]

Like the first-time-homebuyers program, applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada. However this program is available to buyers regardless of how long they have lived in British Columbia. The exemption is available to first-time buyers and previous property owners alike. The newly built homes exemption will have a significant impact on creating a greater supply of the starter homes that young families are looking for.

Naturally, we are collecting new information from buyers to help assess the impact of the additional property transfer tax on Metro Vancouver’s real estate market. But we also realize that our efforts at the provincial level can be significantly enhanced by reaching out to other levels of government.

In particular, we are working with the federal government to identify strategies to strengthen information-sharing among various levels of government. Our purpose is to prevent tax evasion and money laundering in real estate.

In terms of the first-time-homebuyers program…. As I mentioned earlier, we have the first-time-homebuyers program. It reduces or eliminates the amount of property transfer tax residents pay when they purchase their first home. Currently the threshold for the first-time-homebuyers program is $475,000.

This exemption can save first-time buyers up to $7,500 when purchasing their first home. In addition, of course, a partial exemption applies to homes valued between $475,000 to $500,000. The first-time-homebuyers exemption helped more than 19,000 families buy their first home this year alone. In total, these families saved more than $79 million in property transfer tax.

Property tax deferment. Another existing measure that British Columbians can take advantage of is the property tax deferment program. This is a low-interest loan program that allows qualified B.C. homeowners to use the equity in their homes to defer all or a portion of the annual property taxes on their principal residence.

Deferment is available to B.C. homeowners who meet the program’s criteria and who are 55 years or older, a surviving spouse or eligible persons with disabilities. The program also allows homeowners who financially support a dependent child to defer their property taxes, helping families during the years when household costs are typically the highest. Taxes can be deferred for any year that the homeowner lives in the home and continues to qualify for the program. Accumulated deferred taxes and interest must be paid when the home is sold or transferred. On average, homeowners taking advantage of this program are deferring about $3,000 in property taxes per year.

We also want to increase our focus on consumer protection. To that end, we significantly strengthened consumer protection in B.C.’s real estate market through increased oversight and accountability of real estate licensees. The point of this regulation is to protect the public. This includes self-regulation of the industry and the practice now known as shadow flipping.

The real estate industry had the privilege of self-regulation for ten years but failed to demonstrate responsible action. In response, this government appointed an independent advisory group, which outlined 28 recommendations. The government accepted all 28 recommendations and has taken the following actions.

This government established a dedicated superintendent of real estate who has taken over the council’s regulation and rule-making authority to help restore consumer confidence; reconstituted the Real Estate Council with a majority of public interest, non-industry members; implemented the recommended penalties, as well as increased fines for unlicensed activity and other offences; allowed for commissions from licensees engaging in misconduct to be taken back to council; made the managing broker responsible for ensuring the owner of the brokerage does not engage in the business of the brokerage if the owner is not a licensee.

We are also analyzing the issue of dual-agency representation and determining the best path forward to balance consumer protection with ensuring that those living in remote areas still have access to representation. These actions are helping to restore fairness and transparency in the real estate sector.

Our overall goal is to protect British Columbians when they are making one of the most important family investments of their lives, which is purchasing a home.

[4:10 p.m.]

The home owner mortgage and equity partnership launch…. By the way, my daughter bought her own home at the age of 24, and there was no program to help her. The economic development that happened in my territory allowed her to purchase her first home. She could have used this program. But I’m sure there are a lot more young people in this province that would be happy to hear of this program, because it is one of the more innovative measures the government is taking.

Thanks, once again, to a balanced budget, we are in a position to help qualified buyers take that initial first step in the real estate market. The B.C. home owner mortgage and equity partnership program is designed to help British Columbians establish a nest egg and ensure the dream of home ownership remains in reach for families.

We know saving for a down payment can be hard for first-time buyers. That is why with the B.C. HOME program, the province is investing about $703 million over the next three years to help an estimated 42,000 B.C. households enter the market for the very first time. After the first five years, homebuyers begin making monthly payments at current interest rates. We are already seeing results.

Rural communities. Our government also realizes that the strength of our economic success is based on the strong links between both urban and rural communities and the ability to bridge the gap and ensure this partnership continues.

As mentioned in the throne speech, we will be pursuing innovative new policies to ensure food security remains a priority in this province. This includes doubling the Grow Local program and making it permanent; bringing in an additional 91,000 hectares of agricultural land into production by 2020; the creation of an all-party standing committee on agriculture, with a mandate to study how agricultural land can be used and stewarded; and finally, a commitment to ensure all high-quality farmland lost as a result of the Site C project is replaced with comparable land in other parts of the province.

Additionally, we have made a commitment to work to open eight new mines by 2022, while ensuring our world-leading responsible mining standards are safeguarded with an investment of over $18 million to improve mine permitting, oversight, compliance and enforcement.

Further, in terms of the north and rural communities, we are committed to doubling the rural economic development fund, which assists in returning more resource revenue to our rural communities. For the north, especially, in terms of forestry…. As I was walking into the Legislature, I noticed the mural in the rotunda demonstrating our province’s storied forestry history, and it reminds me of my own personal experience in forestry as a hand logger and a crew boat driver who drove forestry workers back and forth down the channel in my territory.

It is this rich history that represents one of the key drivers of our continued economic success in this province. That is why our government continues to take on strong leadership in fighting for the lumber industry against protectionist tendencies from around the world with direct action such as prepurchasing wood for construction of public housing from B.C. companies. This is in addition to our other previously announced measures, such as the appointment of David Emerson as a trade envoy to the United States and the ban on U.S. thermal coal being shipped through British Columbia’s port.

The environment. In relation to the B.C. oil and gas industry, I have tremendous experience in this field. I’ve participated in environmental assessments, both provincially and federally. I’ve participated in the permitting process underneath those certificates.

Our government has a strong record on protecting the environment and fighting climate change, leading to international recognition from the United Nations for our efforts. But we realize that more can and should be done in this crucial endeavour. That is why our government is taking further concrete measures, such as directing B.C. Hydro to immediately begin consultations with the private sector, First Nations and communities to support community wind, solar and geothermal power opportunities.

Like I said, my experience in participating in environmental assessments and permitting processes gives me the ability to say that B.C. does a good job in balancing both environmental and First Nations issues. Additionally, our government will also work with the Canadian and Alberta governments to strengthen the production of clean electricity between Alberta and British Columbia, in order to displace thermal coal with clean hydro power.

But the strength of the clean energy future for B.C. is established on the opportunities provided from the Site C dam, and we must continue this project.

Further, our government has shown a commitment to the protection of the delicate ecosystem in British Columbia with our agreement to protect 85 percent of the 6.4-million-hectare Great Bear Rainforest from industrial logging.

[4:15 p.m.]

As laid out in our throne speech, our government has announced a proposed increase of $50 million over five years to the parks budget, with the goal of creating more campsites, raising standards of the park facilities and creating a youth ranger program, which will increase staffing in parks from May to September.

In terms of health care, we know that our society continues to age. That will put a strain on our health care system. That is why our throne speech has laid out key initiatives which address the shifting priorities in our health care system and move towards preventive care. This will include more funding specified for the reduction of wait-lists for patients and their families. Additional measures include accelerated access to hip and knee procedures, established wait-time guarantees, sped up access to MRI services, training for more than 112 general practitioners, increasing the scope of professional practice for nursing and pharmacists, mental health and addiction.

Our throne speech also laid out strong measures to assist in dealing with mental health and addiction issues. Our government has made a positive and profound commitment to address this issue by creating a new ministry with a responsibility for mental health and addiction. This new ministry will have a strong mandate to ensure the creation of a single point of entry for those seeking help.

Additionally, we have heard from many educators about the challenges they have faced in schools with assisting students facing mental health challenges. That is why our government is proud to announce that all schools across the province will now have one person trained to identify mental health issues and refer those in need to resources. This is in conjunction with our aim to expand the successful provincewide Foundry program, a program which served as a single point of entry for youth facing mental health issues.

Further, we will reach out and consult with key individuals on this matter by creating an expert panel on mental health. They will be directed to provide recommendations on ways to close the gap in service delivery and provide analysis on how services are currently deployed.

Another issue that concerns all British Columbians is affordability and availability of child care. In addition to owning a home, young families find that both partners need to work and need access to affordable and quality child care.

To that end, the government will amend Budget 2017 to make a $1 billion investment in child care and early child education over the next four years. This will include building 60,000 new child care spaces, a 50 percent increase, over the next four years; covering an additional 150,000 children — a fivefold increase — with either full or partial child care subsidies; funding up to 4,000 new early childhood educators with $10 million in grants and bursaries; exploring partnerships with school districts to collocate new child care spaces in elementary schools.

In conclusion, I consider myself to be rather fortunate to be living in British Columbia, and I’ve mentioned that more than once. In this province, we have the leading economy in Canada. We have the lowest unemployment rate in the country. We enjoy a triple-A credit rating that is the envy of jurisdictions all over North America — indeed, all over the world.

We have a diversified provincial economy that is developing rapidly with industries and new customer bases that didn’t even exist a few years ago. And we have a growing population because more and more Canadians want to live, work and raise a family in British Columbia. Why? I’ll answer that: because we’re in a land of opportunity.

But we didn’t get here by accident or by mistake. It is because this government has taken a deliberate and conscious approach to governing with fiscal discipline.

I came from an organization that had to deal with an unmanageable deficit. It’s easy to create a deficit, but it is equally difficult to produce balanced budgets or even a surplus. Establishing a structural deficit will ensure that our future citizens and our future leaders will suffer the negative effects.

Naturally, it is fair to ask why it’s important to control the public purse and keep the budget balanced every year. It is a matter of our future. It affects our ability to choose what kind of future we want.

[4:20 p.m.]

Governments run into trouble when spending gets out of control and a greater share of the annual budget is required to pay down the debt. Deficits then become structural, and government then has no other option but to raise taxes just to keep up with the interest payments alone. That is unsustainable, and it’s the wrong way to run a government.

We don’t want to burden future generations with public debt simply because the government of the day lacks the ability to control spending. And we don’t want to burden today’s taxpayers with higher and higher taxes just because of a lack of fiscal discipline. We want to keep taxes low and let the middle class choose what to do with their hard-earned money, and we want to keep life affordable.

In conclusion, I am proud of the commitments laid out by our government in this throne speech. This represents a sincere effort to bridge the gap between urban and rural communities, all the while safeguarding our core principles of leadership and job growth, ensuring balanced budgets are maintained because of careful management and dedication to growing the B.C. economy and to make sure it remains the envy of Canada.

We will be able to protect this made-in-B.C. advantage through cooperation and goodwill amongst all parties as we share in the same commitment to help each other succeed. Especially in these times of international economic uncertainty and upheaval, our ability to provide stability and assurance will be the key to our continued economic success. That is why it is important to support our throne speech.

Hon. T. Stone: Well, thank you very much….

Interjection.

Hon. T. Stone: I’ll tee it up for him.

Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for recognizing me here today. It is a great honour to take my place and speak in support of our government’s throne speech. I do believe that this throne speech is a good-faith attempt to seek the confidence of this House.

Before I go into a tremendous amount of detail on the throne speech, I do want to first acknowledge the member who just spoke before me, the new member for Skeena, someone who I am very honoured to have as a member of our team, a man full of energy and passion and someone who certainly brings a unique perspective to the table as we all grapple with the challenges and the opportunities that face all of our communities and the people in all of our communities. It is refreshing, and it is a great privilege to work with the new MLA for Skeena. I certainly welcome him to this House and welcome him to our caucus and our government.

I also want to acknowledge my wife, Chantelle, and my three beautiful daughters, up in Kamloops — Hannah, Sydney and Caitlin — who put up with a heck of a lot. Most importantly, they deal with the fact that their dad is away for what can be quite significant lengths of time. It’s hard on our spouses, and it’s hard on our kids, to be away as much as we are.

Mr. Speaker, I know you have four daughters and a loving wife at home, as well, and I know it’s hard on you. It’s hard on all of us. But we couldn’t do what we do in this chamber if it wasn’t for those loved ones who keep the home fires burning on our behalf. And they’re always happy to see us, no matter what.

I also want to acknowledge my mom and dad, who might be two of the seven people watching my speech at this particular moment. I’m sure…. Mom, I got my hair cut. That has been a peeve of hers in the past. Often she will call me after a question period and tell me that the tie didn’t match the suit, and what was I thinking? So hopefully, the tie looks okay, Mom. My mom and dad are doing really well, and we are very fortunate to have them healthy, happy and engaged in our family in Kamloops as well. It’s a big part of the support system that we have in Kamloops.

I want to also acknowledge all of my friends and supporters and the people in Kamloops who worked so hard on my recent campaign. I couldn’t have done it without them.

[4:25 p.m.]

Last but not least, my constituency staff — Becky Blixrud, Pat Nagy and Leah Caldow — who work so tirelessly on my behalf and are really the face and the voice of the office, certainly for those long stretches of time when duty takes the MLA elsewhere. I really couldn’t do what I do without their support. The service that they provide the people of Kamloops–South Thompson is really truly exceptional.

To the people back home, the people who I’m so proud to represent in this chamber, I really want to say thank you for entrusting me to serve as your MLA for a second term, as the MLA for Kamloops–South Thompson, which is really a beautiful slice of our great province.

From Savona to Chase, Cherry Creek to Pritchard, Westwold to Monte Creek and Adams Lake, Knutsford to the south shore of Kamloops, it’s a true privilege to represent the hard-working men and women of Kamloops–South Thompson.

This constituency is as diverse as it is hard-working. It’s a true mix of rural and urban British Columbia. From being home to Canada’s most comprehensive university, at Thompson Rivers University, to the ranches that wrap the landscape around Kamloops–South Thompson.

During the recent MLA swearing-in ceremony, I was particularly proud to be here with the new member for Kamloops–North Thompson. I really want to congratulate him again on his victory and welcome him to this House. He was an outstanding mayor of Kamloops and councillor in the city of Kamloops. He will be an outstanding MLA.

I can say this to the people of Kamloops and the Thompson valleys. The member for Kamloops–North Thompson and I are going be a formidable duo ensuring that the issues, the concerns and the projects that are important to Kamloopsians and to the people of the Thompson valleys are heard loud and clear here in Victoria.

I was further honoured to be sworn in for the second time as British Columbia’s Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure and minister responsible for emergency management B.C.

As with all election campaigns, the recent election was a terrific time to connect with my constituents from all walks of life — at their doorsteps, in their places of work and at community events. Election campaigns do matter — not just as vehicles for electing people but also as critical opportunities to listen and to learn.

Through every election, the voters send a message and often multiple messages. In this election, the voters didn’t want a majority government. Despite electing the most MLAs and receiving the highest number of votes, our government fell one seat short of a majority. Despite coming a close second in the popular vote, the opposition New Democrats fell three seats short of a majority.

The people of British Columbia, however, expect the MLAs of this House to do their jobs. The MLAs of all parties represented here must work together. People of B.C. expect us all to collaborate. British Columbians don’t want a snap election. They don’t want political gamesmanship. And they don’t want hyper-partisanship. They want us and they expect us to try to make this place work.

Now, up in Kamloops during the recent election, I heard much about how British Columbia is the envy of the nation when it comes to job creation. I heard that folks are very proud that we’ve balanced our budget five years in a row. They’re proud that we respect their tax dollars and that we don’t spend more of their hard-earned money than we take in.

I heard how appreciative many are about B.C. having the most diverse and fastest-growing economy in the country, the best health outcomes in Canada and amongst the strongest performing K-to-12 students anywhere in the world.

I heard huge support for the transportation investments that we’ve built or that we will be building in every corner of British Columbia, like the Trans-Canada four-laning projects at Hoffman’s Bluff and east, through and to Chase. West of Salmon Arm as well. Projects east of Sicamous and east of Golden, at Kicking Horse Canyon.

With respect to the projects, the additional 12 kilometres from Hoffman’s to Jade Mountain…. When that work is done, our government will have invested over $300 million. That will have been invested, and it will have created hundreds of jobs.

[4:30 p.m.]

We will have created significant safety and efficiency improvements to over 28 kilometres of British Columbia’s most important connection with the rest of the country.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

I heard from my constituents just how pleased they were with the transit investments that our government has made across the province. In Kamloops, we certainly have seen significant expansion. HandyDART services — 2,000 additional hours last September. There are 3,000 more hours of conventional service that are coming this fall. People are very pleased with the fact that we’ve been aggressively replacing diesel-burning transit buses with much cleaner-burning CNG buses. There’s a high degree of satisfaction with the levels of investment that we’ve been making in community airports across the province, including in Kamloops, as well as local cycling infrastructure investments we’re making across British Columbia.

With respect to Thompson Rivers University…. I mentioned our great university moments ago. TRU really is the cornerstone in our community and, indeed, the region. It enables our children to get the training and the skills that they’re going to need for the jobs of today and the future and to get those skills right in their own backyard in Kamloops. With close to one million job openings over the next ten years, we all agree as to how important investing in post-secondary education is in preparing British Columbians to grow the economy of the future.

As a former student and a TRU board of governor myself, I’m very proud to have been on a team that has announced investments in support of the new industrial training and technology centre as well as the new nursing and population health building. Of course, these investments come on the heels of the capital projects we’ve built to date, such as the new House of Learning, the Open Learning building and the expansion of Old Main.

I’m very proud of the millions of dollars we’ve invested in new program offerings, like the TRU law school, additional program seats and new equipment as part of B.C.’s skills-for-jobs blueprint. Investments like these are made possible when you’re growing your economy, balancing your budget and creating jobs. Many of these jobs will be filled by graduates of our universities like TRU.

My constituents are generally pleased with the direction of our province. They’re very pleased that we’re the number one economy in the country. They’re very pleased that we’re leading all other provinces in economic growth. They’re very pleased that we balance our budgets and respect their tax dollars. But I didn’t just hear from the 56 percent of folks in Kamloops–South Thompson who voted for me. I didn’t just hear positives all campaign long either.

I believe that a measure of one’s character is the ability to acknowledge that no one individual and, certainly, no one political party has a monopoly on all the good ideas. Every party has taken positions that are sound and some that are not sound. No party is any different. We have to acknowledge that we have a bunch of good ideas. Some of our ideas, less so.

I heard from many folks up in Kamloops — some who voted for us and some who didn’t — that they want us to embrace change in some areas. They want us to moderate some of our positions. They want us to soften the edges a bit and change our tone. They want us to do a better job representing the interests of all British Columbians, from all economic and social circumstances and in every corner of our province. They want us to remain true to our core values but shed some of our positions, be prepared to moderate some and just generally be willing to be open to doing things differently.

I believe that this throne speech reflects that we are listening and that we are prepared to change. For example, we heard a strong desire for campaign finance reform. We have introduced legislation here in this chamber, certainly signalled loud and clear our intention to ban corporate and union donations and impose strict political donation limits. I strongly support this position.

On electoral reform. We know that there are two of the three parties in this House that support electoral reform, and that’s great — specifically, some form of proportional representation. Despite the fact that British Columbians voted against moving to a new political system in two referendums on electoral reform in 2005 and 2009, we are committed to enabling a third referendum with a clear question and absolute protection of rural representation.

[4:35 p.m.]

Now, we heard that British Columbians want us to share more of the dividends from a strong economy in the form of increased supports for those who need it the most. To that end, we have announced our intention to increase temporary assistance rates by $100 per month and to index increases to disability assistance at the CPI.

As well, we will expand the single-parent employment initiative — something I’m so incredibly proud of and which, at the latest count, had over 5,000 clients who have signed on and 1,140 who have completed their training and are now gainfully employed, earning an income, looking their kids in the eyes and saying: “This is what it looks like. This is how it feels when you actually lift yourself up, when you actually work hard and when you get a little bit of a break along the way.”

We’ve expanded the single-parent employment initiative by introducing the low-income families in transition pilot program, which will provide temporary assistance to low-income, single working parents who are underemployed. These measures, amongst several others, will ensure that more of those British Columbians who need a helping hand will have access to an even stronger system of targeted supports and comprehensive programs.

British Columbians expect their government to continue to lead on climate change. B.C. is a leader in the fight against climate change. We were the first jurisdiction in North America to put a price on carbon. The federal government has indicated that it will ensure all provinces implement a $50-per-tonne price on carbon by 2022, outlined in the pan-Canadian framework on clean growth and climate change. To accommodate this goal, we will be raising the carbon tax by $5 per tonne, starting in 2019, up to a total of $50 per tonne by 2022. In doing so, we will maintain our position that all increases in the carbon tax must be revenue-neutral. Moving forward, we will ensure that for all future carbon tax increases, the provincial sales tax will be reduced by a corresponding amount.

We heard from folks in Metro Vancouver that they don’t want to go through another referendum related to new sources of revenue for transit expansion. We’ve since announced that this requirement will be removed. While remaining committed to building a replacement for the George Massey Tunnel, we’ve also doubled down on our commitment to match, dollar for dollar, the federal government’s investment in light rail transit expansions in Vancouver and Surrey. Plus, we’ll move forward with planning for light rail from Squamish to Chilliwack. We’re also committed to getting on with the replacement of the Pattullo Bridge and to making record investments in electric-car-charging infrastructure in communities across British Columbia.

We have listened to the call of families and employers to provide better supports for child care and early childhood education, with a $1 billion commitment over four years that will create 73,000 new child care spaces and additional subsidies for those who need the support.

We will continue to move forward aggressively in building or expanding hospitals across British Columbia, including the over-$400-million new patient care tower at Royal Inland Hospital up in Kamloops. As well, we will take steps to provide faster access to MRIs and hip and knee procedures. We’re going to train 112 more family doctors every year. We’re committed to reducing MSP premiums by 50 percent and developing a plan for their eventual elimination. We will work with the private sector to build 50,000 units of new housing over the next ten years across the province that will go into a new rent-to-own program available to middle-class families.

Speaking of families, we know how important B.C.’s parks are to our families — places to develop lasting memories, connect with nature and discover the best outdoors that our province has to offer. I’m very proud of the fact that we will invest, over the next five years, an additional $50 million to the B.C. Parks budget. That will create 1,000 more campsites, upgrade parks facilities, enhance trails and hire more park rangers. As a dad with three kids in a public elementary school up in Kamloops, I was also thrilled that our government has decided to fully fund playground upgrades at schools so that parents no longer have to fundraise.

The items that I’ve talked about here today — and it’s just a sampling from the throne speech — represent some of the progressive initiatives that are contained in the throne speech. They represent the listening that we’ve done. They represent some of the changes that we’re prepared to make, moving forward.

[4:40 p.m.]

There are core values, free enterprise values, which are non-negotiable, in my mind, and which bear repeating here today. I remain as proud as ever of a vision for our province that is built on a strong fiscal foundation through balancing budgets, keeping taxes low and just generally getting government out of your way.

A strong, growing economy is the only way resources are available for what really matters. That’s why every member is here: to invest in people, to make investments in the services that people need — indeed, to look after our loved ones. And that is why I am so proud to get up every single day to go to work, to be part of a team that’s focused on doing everything it possibly can to create jobs and opportunities for British Columbians.

Now, where I come from up in the Interior, the economy is diverse. Kamloops is home to growing and emerging sectors, including technology, engineering, transportation logistics, tourism and wine.

There are many made-in-Kamloops success stories from these sectors, companies like Lightship, iTel, Hummingbird Drones, Streamline transport, Interior Plumbing and Heating and the Kamloops Wine Trail, just to name a few.

The Kamloops tech scene, in particular, is growing rapidly. To put this into perspective, I was a tech CEO up in Kamloops for 15 years before running for office in the 2013 election. At that time, there were around a dozen companies with anywhere close to 20 employees each.

Today, only four years later, it is estimated in Kamloops that there are now over 1,400 people employed in over 160 Kamloops tech companies — four years. And we’re only getting started. With our tech strategy in place, we’re focusing on helping tech companies beat the challenges of access to capital, talent and markets.

Particularly exciting for Kamloops is our government’s commitment to 80 new STEM graduates in software, hardware and electrical engineering, which means that TRU students will have the opportunity soon to complete a four-year bachelor of engineering degree right in Kamloops.

Now that, coupled with the new industrial training and technology facility we are building at TRU, means that the Kamloops tech scene is expected to grow by at least double over the next four years. That is a lot of paycheques.

While emerging sectors like tech are growing in Kamloops, our traditional industries of forestry, mining and ranching continue to represent the foundation on which Kamloops was built. And they will continue to be a vital part of our economy for years to come — if, that is, we embrace economic development, if we welcome investment and if we try to get to yes on large job-creating projects.

Construction of the Kinder Morgan pipeline is set to start in September. This is a project that will employ, it’s estimated, approximately 600 people from Kamloops and the surrounding Thompson valleys. It’s a project that the NDP and their Green partners have promised to fight tooth and nail to stop. That is devastating news for the hard-working folks throughout my constituency and all along the proposed pipeline.

Continuing on their job-killing intentions, the NDP and their Green coalition partners also want to slow down, if not kill, construction of Site C, a project that has been under construction for years, is already employing over 2,200 people, including many from Kamloops, and a project that represents the cleanest and the greenest source of energy in the world.

Now, on top of that, the aggressive expansion of electric vehicle usage in B.C. over the coming decade, which I know all of us in this chamber support, will result in the largest spike in energy demand that we’ve ever seen in our province. We can only hope to meet that demand with the 100 years of bountiful electricity that will be supplied by Site C. But the NDP and the Greens say no to this project.

On and on the list goes. On and on are the projects that the members opposite vow to kill or to not allow to happen. This is lunacy. These resource-based projects, and many like them, will be the difference between families having food on their tables or not, the difference between moms and dads being able to register their kids in soccer and hockey or not.

[4:45 p.m.]

Projects that create thousands of jobs for B.C.’s families hang in the balance if the NDP and their Green partners have their way. We can’t and we won’t let that happen. We will fight shoulder to shoulder with B.C.’s families so that they can continue to look after their loved ones. We will fight for their jobs. We will fight for their futures.

If the recent election implores us to focus on province-building, such a message is no more obvious than in the existing urban-rural divide in our province. Now, it has not gone unnoticed up in the Interior and the north, home to almost half of our population and a majority of B.C.’s wealth generation, that through the recent election campaign and notably since, the NDP and their Green partners have completely ignored the Interior and the north, only mentioning British Columbians on the other side of the Coast Mountains in the context of wanting to kill major energy and resource extraction projects so important to the constituents I represent.

Amidst all the glee and the euphoria during the signing of their coalition agreement, amidst all of their grand plans and ascending hyperbole, amidst all of the smiles and the backslapping, not one mention of the Interior and the north. No olive branches. No commitment to going up to the Interior and the north to look folks in the eyes. No statement of intent to govern, should they have that opportunity, for all British Columbians.

Now, I have spent much of my comments today detailing how we have been listening to British Columbians and how we get that folks, particularly in the Lower Mainland but elsewhere across B.C., want us to change and do some things differently. And I believe that the throne speech highlights the listening we are doing and the changes that we are prepared to make. But I would posit that it is equally important…. It’s incumbent, in fact, upon members opposite to embrace this call to change as well, for they do not understand, or maybe they choose not to understand, the sensibilities of the Interior and the north. It is incumbent upon all of us to do everything we can to bridge this urban-rural divide.

We must all recognize that while each of the regions has different economic realities and visions, our greatest strength as the province of British Columbia comes from knitting these economic realities and these visions together. This means embracing the innovation and the wealth-generation activities taking place in our cities and on the campuses of our urban-based universities. It means being in tune to rapidly growing urban populations that rightfully expect ease of mobility, quality of life and focus on affordability. It also means understanding that rural B.C. is rightfully expecting the same outcomes and the benefits for their families.

But all of our livelihoods, including people living in our smallest, most rural communities or our largest major cities, depend in some manner, either directly or indirectly, on ensuring continuous and reliable transportation infrastructure being available to export products from western Canada to the world and to import products produced in the world back into Canada. Yet rural B.C. so often feels under attack, often referred to as hewers of wood and drawers of water — always said with a hint of disdain. They hear phrases like “Leave it in the ground,” “Put a moratorium on it” and “It’s too risky, so best not approve it.” These words are currency for people making a career of misunderstanding and misrepresenting the value of resource industries to our core social fabric.

I will be as clear as possible in my unapologetic defence of our resource industries. We are hewers of wood and drawers of water, and we are very good at it in this province. We are so good at it that we’ve built entire engineering, finance, education, marketing, transportation, construction, environmental and accounting service industries across the province as a result of our resource industries.

That excellence is exported around the world because the world knows that here in B.C. we do this in a more environmentally sound and socially responsible manner than anywhere else in the world. We see this excellence highlighted through the widespread applied and technical research that is taking place at our urban-based universities to address the dynamic, innovative and ever-changing growth of new ideas taking place in B.C.’s resource sector.

There are thousands of jobs in Metro Vancouver and other urban centres across B.C. that are directly related to and, indeed, dependent on the evolving needs of resource companies that are innovating their extraction and sustainability practices. We see this excellence highlighted in the incredible work done by charities and foundations across B.C., in large part due to the gifts from workers and companies within resource sectors or dependent on resource sector companies.

[4:50 p.m.]

We see this excellence in the access to resorts, wilderness areas and places of recreation that have been made possible because forestry, mining and energy activity opened all areas of our province and because they built this initial transportation for the resource sector. We see this in the rising demand for public services — health, education, public safety — funded from resource revenues. The demand for these revenues will only continue to grow.

The social fabric of our communities in urban and rural B.C. is woven together inseparably with resource industries. It is why we need to move mountains and oceans to access new markets for our resources. It is why we must continue to support our resource sectors, the workers within them and the contributions of these industries to our communities, the province and the country. This is what is at stake in doing everything we can to bridge the urban-rural divide in B.C. Our children and our grandchildren are depending upon it.

To that end, I believe that the throne speech provides that vision for bringing British Columbians together, that vision for uniting urban and rural British Columbia, for ensuring that we’re investing in the services and supports that British Columbians need and ensuring that we continue the strong fiscal management which underpins the best job creation record and the strongest economic growth in our country that’s taking place right here in B.C.

On behalf of the people of Kamloops–South Thompson, it is my great privilege to say today that I support the government’s throne speech.

G. Kyllo: I rise today to talk about the heralding of a new era in British Columbia. The Speech from the Throne demonstrated our government’s commitment to reaching across party lines and committing to a new kind of politics in British Columbia. Before I speak on the speech itself, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my constituents in Shuswap for allowing me to continue to return to the Legislature as the MLA for Shuswap.

I’d also like to give a special thank-you to my campaign manager, Brian Cowan, and also Linda Hawes and Marie Kolenosky, who did a fantastic job, along with countless other volunteers, in helping to run a very successful campaign in Shuswap.

It’s a tremendous honour and duty to represent the wonderful communities that make up my constituency and the thousands of families that live there and to accept this responsibility with humility. The trust of my constituents has placed me in a truly great honour.

I’m also very proud that I’ve been appointed to the position of Deputy Speaker for this current session.

I’d like to thank my family. We in this chamber all know that without the never-ending support of our family, we wouldn’t be here. I’d like to thank them for continuing this journey along with me. My wife, Georgina, of near 29 years of marriage; my daughters, Sarah, Brittany, Angela and Samantha; and my six amazing grandchildren, who are truly my biggest source of motivation and support that have helped me to do the work that I do. Of course, without their love and understanding, I would not be here today.

I’d also like to thank Holly Cowan, my constituency assistant, and our assistant Cheryl Leite, who do a fantastic job of being that friendly face of the office in Salmon Arm, which is kind of the central hub of Shuswap. They do an amazing job, and I really do want to send my sincere gratitude and thanks for all of the great work that they do in supporting me in my work.

As I’m sure we all like to say, my riding of Shuswap is truly one of the most beautiful areas of British Columbia. Our lakes are pristine and warm, our beaches are gorgeous, and every kilometre has that postcard feel. My constituents are hard-working, honest, caring, kind and generous to their respective communities. My riding is the definition of a rural riding. We in Shuswap enjoy a thriving economy that is based on tourism, forestry and manufacturing.

Many rural areas of the province have been experiencing flooding this past summer. Communities have faced damages and issues. People have had their lives changed, and lives have been taken.

I’d like to pay tribute to a constituent of mine, Roy Sharp. Roy was a well-known and well-liked member of our community, a very helpful and caring soul, whose life was tragically taken in a landslide in Sunnybrae just a few short months ago. Roy was a lifetime member of the Larch Hills Ski Club. He enjoyed all types of skiing, whether it be water, cross-country, back-country or downhill. He worked as a heavy-duty mechanic and was known for his inventiveness and his willingness to help others.

[4:55 p.m.]

So giving was Roy to his community that his family is suggesting that those who wish to remember him in a special way make a donation to the Larch Hills Nordic Society or the Shuswap Volunteer Search and Rescue. I’d like to express my sympathy and to pass on my condolences to his daughter Barb and her fiancé, Etienne.

Emergency management B.C. has been a tremendous force in limiting the damages, ensuring that communities are prepared and helped in the brunt of drastic flooding. My own constituency has faced the threat of flooding this summer, and particularly, Darcy Mooney, the emergency program coordinator for the Columbia-Shuswap regional district, has shown exceptional leadership in the aftermath of flooding in the Shuswap.

Darcy has been with the Columbia-Shuswap regional district since 2004 and has been the manager of operations management since 2013. Darcy has been working day and night for months on end to ensure that the people of the CSRD are safe in light of rising lakes and rivers. His tireless efforts have ensured that the fallout from the flooding has been reduced and continues to support area residents who continue to recover from the impacts of this year’s significant flooding events.

Now, our throne speech contained many new elements, but it stayed true to our values — a strong economy, balanced budgets and job creation. While B.C. is the leading economy in Canada, we’re also aware that prosperity needs to reach all corners of the province and not just concentrate in the Lower Mainland.

B.C.’s rural economic development strategy outlines the province’s three-pronged approach to build, strengthen and diversify rural communities. These investments are expected to support up to 26,000 direct and indirect jobs with an overall impact of $2.8 billion to our provincial GDP. Our discipline in spending and our careful allocation of priorities have put B.C. in a unique and enviable position in Canada. We have built a sizeable surplus and now have been able to reallocate that surplus to the programs that matter most to British Columbians and to allow them to keep more money in their pockets.

We’ve maintained a clear vision, balancing five consecutive budgets and keeping spending within acceptable levels. We’re the only province with a triple-A credit rating, meaning we have lower borrowing costs than other provinces. With our triple-A credit rating…. If we instead had the credit rating of other provinces — like Ontario, for example — we’d be paying, on average, an additional $2.4 billion annually in debt-servicing costs.

In a time when our provinces are facing incredible budgetary pressures due to overwhelming debt, crushing program deficits and decreased revenue, B.C. is the absolute fiscal envy of the nation, from the federal government’s budgetary offices right down to the smallest municipalities. For two years in a row, B.C. has had the strongest economy in Canada, growing faster than any of the other provinces. The facts show that B.C. performed better than other provinces in 2016, and as such, most forecasters predict that B.C. will continue to experience the strongest growth in real GDP among provinces last year.

After five years of hard work, our jobs plan has led to the creation of 250,000 jobs since it was created back in 2011. I’ve been extremely proud, in the past session of parliament, to have been appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and for Labour. Work as a parliamentary secretary has been extremely rewarding and extremely successful. Over a quarter million jobs have been created in B.C. since the jobs plan began — over a quarter million people working, now able to provide for themselves and to support their families. More people are working today than ever before.

Further to our success in the past two years, RBC said that B.C. will once again lead the country in economic growth in 2017, revising the forecasted growth rate from 1.9 percent to 3 percent. To quote from that report: “It has become repetitive but still nice to say: the majority of economic indicators in B.C. continue to paint a vibrant economy that carries a lot of momentum.”

[5:00 p.m.]

It goes on further to say:”The labour market is on fire. Employment growth at 3.6 percent is spectacular — far stronger than any other province. Population growth is at a seven-year high thanks to a wave of migrants that are coming from abroad and from other provinces.”

That is the legacy of our government. We have built an economy that not only leads Canada but also leads Canada in job growth and has a record number of people moving to B.C. to take advantage of our growing job opportunities and to build new lives for their families.

The Economic Forecast Council, an independent body, has also adjusted their estimates. They forecast now an entire percentage point in additional economic growth in British Columbia. This better-than-expected performance shows the benefit of cautious planning, and it forecasts more revenue into government coffers, more than was projected back in February of this year. With these added revenues, we can make significant investments in the programs that British Columbians rely on. We can continue to make significant investments in health care, education and infrastructure.

Now, let me be clear. We have not forsaken our principles in this throne speech. Our government has always said that it would invest in social programs as the economy grew and additional revenues flowed to government. We still know that this works with an economic engine pulling the social cart — not the other way around. A strong economy truly enables investments in strong social programs.

Our government is still committed to the principles of a balanced budget, of a strong economy and in creating good-paying family-supporting jobs. Balancing the budget is important, because balanced budgets offer us a triple-A credit rating, which leads to the lowest borrowing rates in the country, reducing interest payments and freeing up funds for spending where it is needed most.

By the end of 2019, the direct operating debt, forecast at $1.1 billion, will be 90 percent lower than it was just four short years ago. This will reduce operating debt to its lowest point since 1982-83. In fact, we’re on course to fully eliminate our operating debt by 2020 — the first time in 45 years.

I’d like to take a moment to talk about the heartland of British Columbia. Rural communities, like those in my riding, are the backbone of our economy. The success of our province has always depended on the understanding that the future of urban and rural communities is inextricably linked. One cannot succeed without the other.

Rural communities make significant contributions to our province, and to help them to diversify their economies, we are doubling the rural economic dividend from $25 million per year to $50 million. Funding is now available in four categories — community capacity-building, workforce development, community and economic development, and business sector development. Doubling the rural dividend will ensure that communities around the province continue to grow at record rates. It will also help to diversify rural economies, ensuring that they’re not dependent on just one industry.

Of particular concern to my constituents are the challenges to the forest industry. We have a weak global economy, and we are facing a rising tide of protectionism in the United States and in Europe. There are real threats to our national economy and especially here in British Columbia. In B.C., our diversified economy thrives on fair and open trade. We must be prepared to defend it; 60,000 forest workers are depending on us.

In Shuswap, local mills like North Enderby Timber, Canoe Forest Products, and Tolko Industries in Spallumcheen provide significant employment in the Shuswap, all contributing greatly to the local economy and creating significant employment.

That is why on February 14, the same day as the last throne speech was delivered, the B.C. Government appointed David Emerson as the B.C. trade envoy to the United States. Mr. Emerson is the former federal Minister of International Trade and the former CEO of Canfor Forest Products. Mr. Emerson knows the rules of fair and open trade, and he knows the industry. He also knows that every time the matter is sent to an international trade tribunal, Canada has always successfully argued that lumber exports to the U.S. are not subsidized.

[5:05 p.m.]

Further to protecting the B.C. forest industry and forest workers from the protectionism of President Trump, we’re also committing, in the interim, to pre-purchase wood for construction of public housing here in B.C. This initiative will help to provide some temporary support for B.C.’s forest industry.

Agriculture is also another key industry in my riding. Our government knows that food security is vital to British Columbia. It is an issue that bridges the urban-rural divide.

We need to protect and preserve agricultural land. That is why, to grow our economy and protect food security, we will double the Grow Local program and make it permanent, bring an additional 91,000 hectares of agricultural land into production by 2020, activate an all-party select standing committee to study how B.C.’s agricultural land can be used and stewarded and ensure all high-quality farmland lost as a result of inter-generational opportunity represented by the Site C project is replaced with comparable land in other parts of B.C.

Regarding health care, we’re also taking significant action to improve our already world-leading health care system. I’m proud to recognize that B.C. has Canada’s best health care. In fact, according to the Canadian institute for health, B.C. spends $4,000 per person each year on health care and is the third most efficient of all provinces.

We will accelerate our efforts to even further improve health care, in addition to already record investments, including new and expanded hospitals in every region of the province. We’ll ensure faster access to MRIs and shorter wait times on hip and knee procedures. We’ll bring in 112 more family doctors, allowing more British Columbians to see a doctor and shortening wait times. In fact, we’ll introduce wait-time guarantees so that British Columbians know the maximum that they’ll have to wait.

I also know that we have a growing population and demographic shifts that also mean we have an aging population. Our population is aging, and we have to adapt our public health care system. All these factors mean increased pressures on our health care system, and we need to rise to the challenge to meet those pressures. To help our seniors, we will add 500 residential care beds with enforceable standards, giving more seniors the care that they need. Just this past January, Interior Health announced 60 new residential care beds in Salmon Arm for in-site housing and hospitality.

We’ll also double the home renovation tax credit for seniors and persons with disabilities, which assists eligible individuals 65 and over and persons with disabilities with the cost of certain permanent home renovations to improve accessibility or be more functional or mobile at home. This tax credit allows seniors to stay in their homes as long as possible.

On education. Just as we must take care of our seniors, we must also take care of our youngest generation. That starts with their education. Education is a key part of our plan to create a prosperous British Columbia. Governments must invest heavily in education if they wish to create a future that is prosperous for everyone. Our students are world-leading in reading, science and math, and the thousands of new teachers hired across the province will ensure their continued success.

We must also take action to help to support districts that may face new pressures. We will review the funding formula for school districts, with a focus on supporting districts with declining enrolment, as well as ensuring fast-growing districts can keep up with growing demand sooner than the current systems allow.

We will also convene a royal commission on education — the first in 30 years. The work of that commission, which was formed last in 1987, laid the foundation for the success that our students are largely experiencing today. A new royal commission will shape the future of a new generation of learners and educators as our society grows and changes. The royal commission will be responsible for providing advice on how to reduce conflict in the system and ensure student needs are always put first, how we train teachers, teaching methods, school funding mechanisms and, finally, testing and standards.

With all that said, we have also made a commitment in our throne speech to enhance some of the social programs that British Columbians feel are important. Primary among those investments was new spending on child care.

[5:10 p.m.]

With the confidence of the House, we’ll amend the 2017 budget to include a billion-dollar investment in child care and early childhood education over the next four years — the single largest boost in B.C.’s history. As a father of four daughters, child care was a struggle for me and my amazing wife, Georgina. We often relied on child care services as my daughters were growing and we worked to grow our businesses in Sicamous. Now, as a grandfather, my daughters rely on child care as well. And I must say they also rely on the grandparents once in a while, much to my appreciation.

Without available child care, Georgina and I would have struggled to meet the needs of our family. Many people in my constituency have trouble finding affordable care when they need it. Our investment will create 73,000 new spaces in the next four years, with 60,000 of them in addition to those that were promised in our platform — a 50 percent increase.

Additionally, families earning up to $60,000 a year will be eligible for full subsidies. Providing added supports to families with two working parents will allow them to contribute to the economy and to continue to provide for their families. Similarly, those families earning up to $100,000 will be eligible for partial subsidies. Altogether, these subsidies will provide coverage and assistance for up to 150,000 children in B.C.

Another important factor in strengthening our communities means how we can actually give back to British Columbians. We’re able to do this largely because we continue to create a positive environment for job growth. Because we’ve also recognized when B.C.’s economy is strong and governments have a surplus, it’s important for government to pay back British Columbians.

That’s why we’ve taken the first step of eliminating MSP premiums. Today, as a result of improvements made in last year’s budget, approximately 40 percent of B.C. families are paying reduced MSP premiums or no premiums at all. In fact, now that the MSP premiums no longer apply to children, an estimated two million British Columbians currently pay no premiums whatsoever, and we’ve already eliminated MSP for almost half of British Columbians.

Now, in a further step effective January 1, 2018, Medical Services Plan premiums will be cut in half for British Columbians with an annual family net income up to $120,000. A typical family of four paying full premiums will save $900 per year in 2018. A single parent earning up to $40,000 with two children will see their monthly premiums drop from $46 to $23.

Now, all parties in this House agree that MSP should be eliminated, but we have, at times, disagreed on how that should be done. We will support a review that considers how to fully eliminate MSP as soon as possible, meaning that British Columbia will no longer be the only province with health care premiums.

I would like to continue on that issue of affordability. As our economy and population grow, there are challenges that come with them, particularly housing affordability. We have taken real action on housing affordability that is having real impacts.

The province continues to act to address the challenges, housing supply and improve housing affordability for middle-class B.C. families. Government has committed $920 million to support the creation of almost 5,300 affordable housing units — the largest investment in affordable housing in our history.

The B.C. home partnership program will provide over $700 million in mortgage down payment assistance loans to an estimated 42,000 first-time homebuyers over the next three years. We will continue to work with local government and the private sector to increase family and starter housing for the middle class. We will also work with the private sector to build 50,000 units of new housing over ten years with the new rent-to-own program for middle-class families.

The B.C. home partnership program will help middle-class renters grow equity through their monthly rental payments until they’re in a position to own their own home. Furthermore, to better protect renters, our government will take action to prohibit landlords from skirting rent control protections when term leases expire and to make sure that tenants’ rights are protected, while still respecting a landlord’s ability to make improvements to their buildings.

[5:15 p.m.]

Before I conclude my speech, I’d like to reflect on a few more items. British Columbians have the rare and unique opportunity to electrify the economy of B.C.’s vast clean energy sources, such as hydro, wind and solar.

Generations before us had the vision to create hydroelectric dams, enabling the clean, renewable power that we use today. The Site C clean energy project is another generational opportunity to further electrify the economy and power the future. The Site C dam is extremely efficient, consuming only about 5 percent of the footprint of the W.A.C. Bennett dam but putting out 35 percent of the hydroelectric power — 700 percent more efficient from a size comparable.

Now, with a clearer vision, we can continue to ensure that British Columbians enjoy clean, renewable power for generations more. It was not that long ago that the world faced fiscal chaos and economic uncertainty. Across the world, governments needed bailouts from allies, and regional tensions reached heights not seen in decades.

B.C. has come a long way. We have managed to balance five consecutive budgets and become the economic and job-creation leader in all of Canada. Our fiscal prudence and economic strategy have created a situation where we can make record-new investments in all corners of our province.

The Speech from the Throne shows the results of our hard work. Our years of careful planning are now paying off. We can invest in new programs, expand old programs and improve the programs that we have.

We’re going to completely eliminate our operating debt and increase essential services in health care, education, infrastructure and affordability for all British Columbians. We are going to continue to create jobs, reduce taxes, eliminate MSP and invest in the projects that make British Columbia such a great place to live. We have a plan to enhance and continue diversifying and growing our economy to create good, family-supporting jobs.

Because B.C.’s economy is strong and because we’ve controlled spending, we’re now able to make investments in the priorities of British Columbians — like health care and education — and put significantly more money back in their pockets.

In the face of such rampant political uncertainty, it is important that we reach across party lines and work together. We can have stability, and we must work together to ensure that British Columbians’ future remains bright.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: It’s a pleasure to be here today to address the throne speech and all of the virtues it brought to this chamber, which appear to be headed for a decision point on Thursday afternoon. We remain optimistic that wisdom will prevail and that better sentiments will govern the future of British Columbia as the throne speech is brought to this House for a vote, but we will see.

Our approach to this, of course, is driven by the idea that British Columbia should be a society that is driven by opportunity. It’s a place that has been enormously successful for millions of people. We now have a population of about 4.7 million, and people continue to move here from all around the world.

A good number of people in this chamber have moved here from other places in the world, including me. I emigrated from Australia at the age of four and have never regretted it and have been treated very well in this country and in this province. I’m delighted to be here today as an elected member.

In terms of the election, I was gladly re-elected in Vancouver-Quilchena and was pleased to have the support of thousands of voters in the riding. It was once again a pleasure to represent such an attractive location in a great city, in the best province, in the best country in the world.

I have been very fortunate, and the people in my riding know that they are, indeed, fortunate to live in that riding and in this province and in this country, so they tend to take a longer view. They’ve been successful in life for the most part, and they’re glad to be living where they are in the circumstances they are, so they tend to hand on not complaints and grievances but ideas. They tend to come to my office with thoughts on how to make British Columbia an even better place than it is. Of course, that is a fortuitous thing to have happen.

Interjection.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: I see one of the members opposite is lamenting his fate, which is quite different from mine. Nonetheless, their goal, like mine, is to serve the interests of all British Columbians, not just their own.

The riding office is serviced by Allie Blades, who has been there for about a year now. She does an excellent job as the constituency assistant and manages to field all of the various complaints, some of which are properly directed at municipal or federal governments. She does that with great finesse and keeps everyone content and happy and prosperous. I see the member opposite also is shaking his head at that prospect.

[5:20 p.m.]

I also, of course, have to thank my family — my wife and three children — for putting up with this way of life and supporting this process and this experience that I am enjoying, being a member of this Legislative Assembly.

None of this is possible, of course, without the riding association, to which I’m eternally thankful — the riding president, in particular — and to the many volunteers who come out and show their good faith in election campaigns by supporting the party of their choice. Fortunately, in my riding, that tends to be heavily in support of the B.C. Liberal Party.

Now, coming back to that theme of being opportunity-based — certainly, it had been my thesis when I was Minister of Advanced Education, like my colleague to my right today, who has taken over that role — there was that enormous satisfaction of seeing British Columbians grow into the best persons that they can be through the opportunities in this province and the higher education opportunities that we provided through our 25 public institutions.

This is truly the promise of British Columbia — what keeps people living here, what keeps people coming here and what leads to our reputation around the world as a fine destination to visit. I was in the U.K. about two weeks ago and was with a group of young professional people who were finishing their education. They were from all over the world, and they were uniformly interested in knowing more about Canada and more about British Columbia and, particularly, more about Vancouver. They had heard that this is a place where people can get ahead, that the opportunities are there, that it’s a fair and just and kind society. They wanted to be part of it.

All of this, of course, is built upon the necessity for a strong economy, which spins off these opportunities in the dividends that we see reflected in this throne speech. This throne speech represents an opportunity for all of us to come together and to reflect upon the success of British Columbia and to make this an even better place than it is.

Our goal must be — and that’s why we’re here as elected member, all 87 of us — to make British Columbia a better place for everyone in the province, to provide a better life for the people who live here. This, of course, is premised on the basic tenet that’s in the national constitution that we rely upon peace, order and good government.

We cannot work in a fragile, transient government environment that’s subject to frequent defeats and uncertainty. Of course, that is what we face the prospect of with the current balance of seats in the House. It was open to the members opposite to rise to the occasion and to pursue good public policy yesterday, and they, of course, sadly chose to reject that opportunity.

We had, in the campaign financing bill, the opportunity to completely clear the deck. We could have banned corporate and union donations; we could have restricted individual donations to $2,500; we could have driven out the foreign financing of any election or political process in this province. We presented that opportunity to this House, and sadly…

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: …so sadly, the members opposite did not rise to the occasion. They instead completely dismissed the opportunity without even reading the bill.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members, the minister has the floor.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: It is rather a sad comment that the members opposite decided to dismiss an opportunity that appealed to all parties’ better sentiments, to their better instincts. Instead, without even having read it, they’ve tossed it out the window.

We’ve heard about these private members’ bills being brought up half a dozen times. Having dragged myself through the legislative review process and having witnessed the skill of the Attorney General Ministry’s staff in putting together legislation, it is patently obvious that a one-page private member’s bill on electoral financing reform would never be productive.

The 32-page document produced yesterday was a comprehensive reform that would have lasted for generations in this province, and sadly, the members opposite parroted their usual bumper-sticker slogans and decided to reject it without even reading it.

I see that some of the more thoughtful members opposite are keeping mum on this point because they’re embarrassed by their performance yesterday. Nonetheless, a few others insist on speaking up. But we know full well they have the opportunity to stand up for 30 minutes at a time and speak their minds, but somehow they have been whipped by their party seniors into keeping quiet and being mum on the other side of the House.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members. Members.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: Again, a lost opportunity, a dismissal of the democratic process.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Let the minister have the floor, please.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: I must say that it’s a real shame to look at some friends and colleagues on the other side of the House and see that they have fallen silent and given up the opportunity to pursue good public policy.

Now, more broadly, British Columbians in the election let it be known to all of us, all members of this House, that they want stable government that produces economic growth, investment in social programs and environmental protection. They would also be delighted to have members of the NDP stand up and speak, but somehow they’ve been cowed into silence. They’ve been tyrannized by their leadership into falling silent. It is truly incredible for the member for New Westminster to do anything but laugh in the room. She is far above this standard of silence, and I must say I feel her pain in not speaking out today.

[5:25 p.m.]

The premise we opened with here today is that having built the strongest economy in Canada…

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members. Members will come to order.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: …having 16 years of fine guidance from the B.C. Liberal Party, we now have the foundation on which to benefit from the dividends of this economic strength. That was the essence of this throne speech. It gave us the opportunity to simply say to British Columbians that it’s time to reap the benefits. It’s time to see the child care programs we seek, to expand our universities, to deal with bridge tolls, to find new ways to improve the lives of British Columbians.

Unfortunately, we find ourselves with an opposition who have decided to completely dismiss those goals and opportunities. There’s no limit to the wisdom that pours off the government desks into the middle of the room here and is then refuted by the limited perceptions and perhaps small goals of the members opposite.

In any case, the opportunity to reform electoral finance apparently has been lost for some time. We will see if there is a change on Thursday and if, perhaps, a different government forms in the weeks and months to come. Will they have the stomach to take on comprehensive electoral financing reform? I remain skeptical, given the shallow approach yesterday of simply dismissing the goal altogether.

Now we come back to more eloquent statements beyond single-word insults from the other side, and I have to talk about the need to invest in people here in British Columbia. We know that families today are under financial and time pressures that are very real and increasing. We have seen in our lifetime the massive increase in dual-income couples raising children. Certainly, when I was a youngster, most families had one parent staying at home. That is the rare exception now. Most families, of course, have both parents working, and that creates the child care crunch.

This government proposed in the throne speech a $1 billion investment in child care and early childhood education over the next four years, the single largest boost in British Columbia’s history. This, of course, represented an opportunity-building exercise for tens of thousands of British Columbians to get them into the workforce, safe in the knowledge that their children would be in high-quality daycare.

Those 60,000 new child care spaces are now the subject of taunts and insults from the member for Victoria–Swan Lake. That is a sad day for our democracy when, rather than and standing up for half an hour to address the merits of the option, they find themselves embarrassed into silence, unable to say anything about the throne speech because it is such a fine document that reveals the best sentiments of all members of the House.

[G. Kyllo in the chair.]

These 60,000 spaces, of course, will be in addition to the 13,000 spaces that are already in the pipeline because of this government’s investment in British Columbians. We also anticipated making use of all that fine elementary school space that goes quiet at about 3:30 every afternoon. In some schools, there are continuing daycare programs, like in the elementary school my children attended a couple blocks from my house, but that is an exception. We stood the opportunity to have that deployed all over the province so that we could have after-school care and daycare in those facilities. Sadly, the members opposite seem to think that’s not a good idea.

We also talk about having the opportunity to create jobs for British Columbians. And of course, we have been investing in people by reducing child poverty by 50 percent since 2001. This is a remarkable record of which we should be very proud as a House, because the members opposite do their duty. They keep the diligence and the focus and the surveillance on our efforts in terms of reducing child poverty. They have loud voices in this regard. That is what they get paid for, what the people in their ridings expect, and they should be perhaps complimented on the huge success of this government in reducing child poverty by 50 percent. We all share that success, and they should be complimented for supporting it consistently over the past 16 years.

Further steps to improve the lot of British Columbians. This throne speech proposed a $100-per-month increase in social assistance rates and indexing the disability assistance rates, which were increased in the past budget. That again represented an opportunity upon which the members opposite have fallen silent.

Their lust for power has driven their principles into the ditch, because they’re so hungry to take over the desks on this side of the House and perhaps move into a nicer office, although I wouldn’t know much about that. They are so focused on the goal that they cannot recognize good public policy when it’s put right under their nose.

[5:30 p.m.]

We’ve all seen the success of the single-parent employment initiative that my colleagues have referred to earlier today — more than 5,000 single parents enrolled, more than 1,100 gainfully employed as a result. This is a massive success story which we should be very proud of and is being studied in jurisdictions all over the world.

Instead, we hear nothing but insults thrown at the program, and when we propose, in the throne speech, the two-year LIFT pilot program to apply the same approach to people who are underemployed in part-time work, what do we hear from the opposition? Howls of derision. We hear the chants that they want to vote to move to a better office when, in fact, they should be supporting this fine public policy.

Interjections.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: The member for Surrey-Whalley seems to imply this is written. This is the wisdom of the ages that flows off the tongue so readily.

Of course, further dividends are available to address the societal issue that has become so prominent…

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: … and recognized in the last five years of widespread issues about mental health and addictions. This has now become an issue throughout the English-speaking world. There’s a new recognition that this is a dilemma that faces our society, that some of these are dreadful afflictions that happen to the best people amongst us and that we should no longer be judgmental or dismissive.

This throne speech was going to offer the opportunity to create a new minister of state for mental health and addictions to continue our large investments in mental health services so that we can provide better services for British Columbians and, hopefully, steer them toward a happier course in life at an early stage to avoid people getting into the grip of mental illness and addictions, from which they have a very difficult time extracting themselves. All of us know people who have found themselves in that lot. It is not a time to judge; it’s a time to assist. This throne speech offered that opportunity.

In health care — a field that I have a great deal of experience with after working as a physician in remote communities in British Columbia and then working as a lawyer for the medical profession — this is an opportunity where we could invest the dividends of our prosperity and expand the supply of family doctors.

It’s no secret, throughout Canada, that access to family physicians is not optimal; it needs to be improved. We have offered in the throne speech, and in the platform before that, the opportunity to expand the UBC medical school class up to a full 400 students with 112 more trainees, who would then flow into family practice and satisfy our needs for family doctors.

Again, this is the subject of ridicule from the members opposite. But they, of course, have their tracks to cover. Having shrunk the UBC medical school class in the 1990s from 160 to 128, they then became the embarrassment of the continent as we imported doctors from elsewhere.

But they went further and drove doctors out of British Columbia with their notorious niggling and squabbling with physicians so that they found it more attractive to go to the U.S.A. None of those doctors have come back from the U.S.A., and we are in the stage of filling in that deficit of physicians. More than 1,000 physicians were lost to British Columbia because of their poor planning about manpower needs and their poor attitude toward the medical profession. We have spent the last 16 years expanding the physician supplies so that we can catch up.

Interjections.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: The member opposite for Saanich South says that we still haven’t caught up. She’s right. We’re making up for a lost decade in health care in this province. Not a single hospital built, 1,000 doctors driven out of the province, and the NDP chortle and sneer from the other side of the House as if this is not an issue. In fact, it’s a major issue that we have to address in this throne speech, which the members opposite will decide on the merits of.

They haven’t got the gumption to stand up an speak to it. They haven’t got the backbone to address the issues. They sit in silence, chortle, sneer and laugh at us. Is that what people are elected for? Is that the goal of seeking public office?

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: Perhaps the members could speak louder so that their wisdom could appear in Hansard. But I haven’t actually heard any yet, so perhaps they’ll have to speak really loud. Perhaps it would help if I wrote down a few notes for them and send them over so they could read them out verbatim. That might help them.

We also have the opportunity, in this throne speech, of adding 500 residential care beds, with high standards for those beds, so that seniors will get better care in British Columbia. Once again, the members opposite dismiss this.

With our strong provincial balance sheet, we’ll be able to support the reduction of MSP premiums by 50 percent for families making up to $120,000 a year. This is a savings for families of up to $900 per year, a real transfer of the benefits of our economy for people who need it most. Yet this is not in keeping with the expectations of the members opposite so they smugly say they’ll vote against this.

[5:35 p.m.]

In terms of education — this has been an enormous success story in British Columbia. My own three children all went through the public education system, all the way through from 1999 to 2016…

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Powell River–Sunshine Coast.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: …and when I hear prattling from the other side about a lost decade, I sure didn’t see it. Our kids did fantastically well in the public system, with great teachers, motivated teachers who really cared about their students and did well, and the students did well. That’s why we continue to have thousands of people moving to British Columbia to get the benefits of our K-to-12 education system.

Somehow the members opposite seem to think it’s a good idea to denigrate it, insult it and say that it’s a defective system. It’s a superb system. It gets amongst the best results in the world. People vote with their feet. They always want the best for their children so they take their children where they will do best. In my corner of the world, in Vancouver, they vote with their feet by getting their kids into public schools as much as they possibly can because they’re great schools, and we’re proud to say that we have great teachers in those schools.

We also have the opportunity for a reboot and a renewal of education. I was delighted to see that we’re talking about having a royal commission on education. This is an opportunity to say: “What can we do even better? What can we do to make our children more successful in the world and lead to new, innovative teaching techniques, to learn from the teaching profession how to make teaching better?”

This is a huge opportunity. As the Premier has said, it would be the first one in 30 years, and it’s high time that we took a look at rebooting our education system to ensure that student needs are always put first, to focus on new teaching methods, the integration of technology, to talk about school funding mechanisms, possibly even school governance and, of course, the perennial bugbear of testing and standards. What is the modern view of testing and standards? What’s the world standard for this? We can benefit from learning from other jurisdictions, and a royal commission on education would be the ideal way to do it. But once again we see the opportunity for the members opposite to rise to the occasion, and they choose not to do so.

Transit is a subject near and dear to my heart. I must say that I had a disappointing experience during the election campaign. We were at an all-candidates meeting, and the enthusiastic NDP candidate accused me of never having ridden transit. I was able to politely correct her by pulling out my Compass card and saying: “Well, actually, I rode the Canada Line to work every day for five years.” I didn’t appreciate the gratuitous insult from her. Nonetheless, it’s a testament to the effectiveness of our transit system and the need to expand it.

Here again, reaping the dividends of the prosperous economy, it’s a chance to expand transit in the Lower Mainland, particularly in Surrey and Vancouver, and also to dispose of the need for the referendum on new funding sources and to look at feasibility studies on further expansion of transit. We all know where the opportunities are. We know where people are going. We also know that members opposite prefer to insult and shout and sneer rather than rise and talk about these opportunities.

We also talked about the elimination of tolls on the Port Mann Bridge. Now, surely, the members opposite can agree on that one since it was their idea in the election campaign. I hear one member applauding — from North Island — which seems ironic, given that there are no bridge tolls there, but none of the rest of them seem to acknowledge their own wisdom by saying that they, too, agree to the idea of eliminating Port Mann Bridge tolls.

In the post-secondary space — I already talked about this, and my colleague…. I’m joined by the Minister of Advanced Education to my right. This is an opportunity to put 2,000 new spaces into science, technology, engineering and math. This is an opportunity to expand the supply of those technically sophisticated graduates who will drive our economy into the future. This is an exciting opportunity and something that I certainly worked toward when I was minister in that role.

We also had, of course, a massive capital campaign of building new facilities all over the province of British Columbia to make sure our higher education system was certainly the best in the country — the fourth-lowest tuition, 430,000 students reaching whole new levels of life satisfaction and prosperity because they were beneficiaries of our public education system, where they paid less than a third of the tuition to attend those institutions.

Now I notice that the sneering and laughter has fallen off, because the members opposite would, hopefully, endorse such a noble goal as that. But they are also feeling tired, I hear, and perhaps they’re ready to go home. That would actually be a welcome development because then we could get on with the business of the House without being interrupted.

Housing affordability was also addressed in the throne speech — a real opportunity to hold a housing summit in the Lower Mainland to talk with all of the involved characters about the need to increase supply, the need to speed up regulatory processes and to harmonize those processes to make it faster, easier and cheaper to build housing.

[5:40 p.m.]

We all know that the population is not going down in British Columbia. When I arrived in 1962, it was 1.6 million; it’s now 4.7 million. We look around and say: “What will be the population be when we have retired from this room?” We don’t know, but it’s going to be higher. We’re going to have to house those people, and their expectations for housing have changed. The old three-storey walk-up apartment building in Kitsilano doesn’t cut it for many people anymore. They want that building replaced with much more satisfactory housing, and they want the government to be overseeing this phenomenon by making sure the regulatory process is appropriate. The private sector can build that housing.

Of course, this throne speech provided for the idea of rent-to-own, to put together 50,000 units of rent-to-own housing, which would solve a huge problem, not only in the Lower Mainland but around British Columbia, for young people entering the market and thinking that they can invest in their future by starting to get equity in real property. This is a huge opportunity, which we should not lose, yet sadly, this throne speech seems to be the subject of such great skepticism from the other side.

We also talked about the resource industries in the throne speech. This is something we must never forget, because, of course, British Columbia started off, in terms of the arrival of European settlers…. The First Nations people had established their cultures, economies and society here, but of course, the first wave of people were looking for valuable minerals.

They didn’t look for fish. They looked for trees to cut down. They looked to develop mines. Of course, forestry came along in about 1880 and became a very strong and successful industry here. Forestry, of course, is entirely renewable, because you can regrow the trees. You just have to carefully engage in silviculture. We do that in this province. We have aggressively replaced the trees lost by the pine beetle epidemic. So this is an opportunity, once again, to focus on the future of our industry.

We so often hear the members opposite crabbing on about 30,000 job losses in the forest industry, when the StatsCan data says that we’ve gained 10,000 jobs in the forest industry during the jobs plan.

This is actually a remarkable success story.

Interjection.

Deputy Speaker: Nanaimo–North Cowichan.

Hon. A. Wilkinson: One of the members opposite keeps trying to shout me down, Mr. Speaker. It would be attractive if you could encourage him to do it afterwards, or perhaps he’d like to stand up and speak immediately after me. Give him the full 30 minutes. He can take full advantage of it and give us his views.

We’ve also seen the remarkable success of our export development program. I was fortunate enough, as deputy minister, to be in Shanghai with the then Premier in 2003, when Dream Home China was put up. The idea was that we would be exporting lumber to China.

This was thought to be a pipe dream. We went down to the docks in Shanghai and saw large amounts of New Zealand lumber coming into Shanghai, but there was almost no British Columbia lumber hitting that market. They now form…. Roughly a third of our market is in China because we went out there and developed markets. We said: “This is a capitalist economy. We’ve got to go out there and find the customers.” So we went out there and developed the customers.

It’s something we are very proud of and that we have been very successful with. It has given our forest community so much more hope that they don’t have to depend entirely upon the American border for their profitability. There are other opportunities out there to pay their base costs and to keep their operations going.

That effort in the resource industries is one we should be very proud of. My colleagues have addressed the issues related to natural gas development and mining. I won’t belabour that, because they’ve done such a great job of presenting the story. Of course, this caucus, on this side of the House, has full representation throughout the Interior economy. There are people on this side of the House who are deeply knowledgable in these spaces, and we are forever glad to have them on our side of the House, because their depth of expertise in these fields gives us a whole higher level of dialogue in caucus and in cabinet so that we can address these issues in a meaningful way.

Another thing that the throne speech addressed, and this is again one of these fundamental functions of government that can’t be done anywhere else, is climate change. So the plan, of course, is to adjust our greenhouse gas production by addressing the carbon tax issue in tandem with what the federal government is doing, to move to the space where the federal government is going and to do that in an orderly fashion.

I see a couple of the Green members are starting to break into a grin down there at the far end of the room, but they are now souring their faces because they’ve decided to vote against this most progressive policy that they, of course, promoted during the election.

We also have something that is very close to my heart, B.C. Parks. This is a huge opportunity for British Columbians because with our fantastic landscape here, we have very wisely set aside components of it not only for preservation, but other components of it for recreational use.

[5:45 p.m.]

Campsites are something that almost everyone in this room thoroughly enjoyed when they were little. I can remember them clear as a bell, with those great big, heavy cedar tables in every B.C. provincial campsite I would go to. Yet if I went to a federal one or one in Alberta, they had these flimsy, crappy picnic tables that were just an embarrassment, compared to those B.C. Parks picnic tables.

In any case, we’re now looking at another 1,000 more campsites over the next five years. That is something that is dear to the hearts of so many British Columbians who now spend a lot of time in outdoor recreation and want to have that same experience that I did of having their kids grow up in that natural environment and seeing the different landscapes in British Columbia, whether it’s from the near-desert campsite at Skihist up near Lytton or it’s in the deep coastal rainforest ones down here at Goldstream.

This is a goal that is certainly laid out in the throne speech. It’s something that’s laudable and that I certainly support. It would also provide for 250 positions for youth rangers who would get out there and be ambassadors for our natural world and engage with the youngsters and teenagers out in our B.C. parks and help them enjoy the experience of being there.

This is a short survey of what is a comprehensive, thoughtful and very effective approach to governance of British Columbia laid out in the throne speech. And of course, it’s an opportunity for all of us to satisfy the obligation we have in this House to deliver a strong, affordable government with the benefits of prudent management being paid out in dividends to the people of British Columbia to continue our prosperity.

This is already a fantastically good place to live, and we intend to make it better. We have done that for the last 16 years, and we’d be proud to continue that record, with the blessing of this House. I’m sure that a couple of members opposite have been persuaded by my speech and will be coming over to vote with us. We shall see on Thursday afternoon.

I see one of the Green members is lauding the speech. Perhaps he’s starting to see the wisdom. In any case, these are the programs that so many of us would love to see put in place. Of course, it’s a great irony that most of these programs represent a composite of the three parties in the House and their vision for British Columbia, yet sadly, because of partisan politics, the members opposite have decided not to support this comprehensive joint vision which British Columbians would be proud to see in terms of the collaboration that is possible in this House.

It’s the opportunity for the Green Party, in particular, to say: “That’s a meritorious policy. I’ll agree with that. I’ll follow that. I’ll pursue that. I’ll vote for it. I’ll support it. I will get out there in public and say it’s a good thing.” Amongst the New Democratic Party, that would be more of a stretch because of their deeply partisan disregard for what we have in mind for the betterment of British Columbia.

The opportunity is now. That’s why we want to be here. That’s why we do this work. And that’s the path to a better British Columbia for every single British Columbian. We offer that to this House, and we hope to have the House’s support in spite of the niggling from the other side.

M. Hunt: I was waiting for a moment because I thought someone on the other side might wish to speak after the Minister of Justice had spoken.

I thank you for the opportunity to rise to speak to the throne speech. I must admit it is really tough following the Minister of Justice. It is a real tough spot to be in. I won’t be as good as he, but I will do my best. I’ve written, actually, a bunch of notes, because I want to make sure that I cover a number of things off as we go on and speak about this great speech.

But before I go on to speak about the great speech before us, I’d like to thank everyone who helped me out in my re-election campaign. I wouldn’t be here today in this House if it weren’t for them. First of all, of course, I have to thank my two constituency assistants, Shanda Millar and Kiran Sangha. They have been my face in the community while I’ve been here in the Legislature. Obviously, we’re over here in Victoria an awful lot. Some people say we’re not here enough, but by the same token, over the last four years, they have been attending all sorts of things in the community on my behalf in order to have my presence there, so I can get the input from those.

I would like to thank the countless volunteers who have generously given of their time and their effort as well as their other resources to be able to help me, to be able to work in our campaign and to see the victory in our campaign, but also working in other Surrey ridings as well. It certainly has been a team that has worked together for all of Surrey, and I’m certainly proud of each and every one of them.

[5:50 p.m.]

Then, of course, I have to ultimately thank the voters of Cloverdale for their confidence and their support that they have given to me. I am totally indebted to them and will be doing my best, however long this Legislature sits, to represent them and to do my best for them. Ultimately, as all of us know, we have our wives and our families who support us so tirelessly. I want to thank Ruth for all that she’s done, and all our kids — the great work that they’ve all done for us.

You know, Mr. Speaker, during the election, my wife and I together did almost 6,000 doors. We do a lot of door-knocking. This is just normal for us, I have to admit. During the municipal elections, we usually did between 4,000 and 5,000 doors each election. That’s a time for us to get input from our constituents, to actually be able to meet one-on-one with our people. They can say whatever they want to. I am there at their door. I am totally wide open and vulnerable, and they can let it rip.

That’s what we did in municipal elections for the 23 years that I was on municipal council. We would create our platform ahead of the election. We would go out. We would present our platform to the citizens. We would knock on the 4,000 to 5,000 doors, but ultimately, what is the purpose of knocking on those doors if you’re not listening to people, if you’re not actually taking that input and going to do something about that input?

Certainly, on municipal council, that’s what we did. We would take that input, and we would go off on a retreat at the beginning of our term. We would get together, and we would discuss not only what we said in our platform, but what happened during the election, the input that we got from our citizenry as we were knocking on doors, at the all-candidates meetings, all the rest of those things, and we would work together and lay out a plan for the coming term.

That would give the structure for staff to work on, the direction for us, and that’s exactly what we did municipally. And, quite frankly, that’s what I see we’re doing exactly here in this throne speech.

We went out to the public. We went out with a platform of our balanced budgets, building the economy, growing the economy, all of which was well-received. That’s why we have more seats on this side of the House than any of the other parties. Well, I guess I can’t call them parties, because there’s only one party, and then there are independents. But we went out. We listened, and we heard what the people had to say. And now we’ve come back, and we’ve put this throne speech before us.

This throne speech definitely charts a pathway, a very clear pathway, for British Columbia. British Columbians spoke clearly, and we have responded and listened. We want a stable government that balances both economic growth and investment in social programs, as well as environmental protection. Our B.C. Liberal government presented a renewed plan for British Columbia that makes record investments for families while maintaining a strong economy through job creation and balanced budgets.

The election result also exposed a growing gap between rural and urban B.C. Now, I experienced that gap, having been the president of the UBCM, which is the union of British Columbia Municipalities. At that time, it was 183 villages, hamlets, towns, cities, regional districts throughout this province, and you certainly got the tension between the large, the small, the rural, the urban and those dynamics that are this province. But we’ve really seen a stark result in the midst of this election.

We have an obligation to do everything we can to bridge that gap because we succeed as we work together in this province. It’s the small communities working together with the large communities, and we all get a better province out of that.

We’ve built the strongest economic foundation in Canada. We’ve created, thanks to the hard work of British Columbians and 16 years of solid fiscal management, a better economy. We’ve created an excellent surplus. We’ve created the resources for us to be able to do these things here in the midst of the province and, ultimately, a considerably better-than-expected surplus in our finances.

Now, the path that we are walking on…. We continue to build on B.C.’s strongest economy so that we continue to build this economy. We have Canada’s best balance sheet, and, quite frankly, we’re in a place where any province would rather be than the financial peril that most of them find themselves in currently.

[5:55 p.m.]

As the Minister of Finance said the other day, if B.C. was a car, the tank is full and the engine is firing on all cylinders. The benefits of our fiscal prudence and our steady management are tangible. So today, B.C. continues to retain its triple-A credit rating.

Now, there are those that sit there and say: “Ah, credit rating doesn’t mean anything.” Well, a credit rating that is lower than triple-A actually ends up in spending more government money on debt than on services. So instead of investing in the services that our citizens want, we’d actually be sending more money off to the banks — and I know nobody in this House wants to send more money off to the banks.

If we had Ontario’s credit rating, B.C. would likely be spending $2 billion more a year just on interest. There are no benefits for that for our citizens. So really, do we think that that is a change that we want to see in this province — where we start reducing that credit rating and having to spend more of our finances on the bank?

What’s more, that’s actually more than what we’re talking about investing in education — in addition, that we’re doing in education even in this throne speech. Actually, that’s almost the entire cost of Surrey’s LRT that we’re planning to build. It would be just going to the banks instead of seeing that LRT built in Surrey.

As a matter of fact, in just a few years, it would add up to the entire cost of the mayors’ plan at TransLink for expanded transit. These things grow and compound. That’s why, as someone who represents Surrey, I’d rather have that money spent on services for our people so we actually see the use. That’s why I think it’s important for this government to continue to be focused on balancing our budget while continuing to invest in the services that our citizens rely on.

The strong economy of this province allows us also to eliminate operating debt. Now, I know there are those that sit there and say debt is debt is debt is debt, but when you’re putting the groceries on a credit card, that’s operating debt. Capital debt is your house. Of course, we have a debt on our house, and we work with that.

We’ve had operating deficits, and that operating debt has been there since 1976. Through the ups and downs, previous governments have not got rid of that operating debt. We are wanting to do that, and we’re on course to be able to do that. That’s a feat that will continue to push down interest costs in the province of British Columbia and allow us to redirect those funds to the services that our citizens want.

This throne speech, yes, has lifted ideas from all political parties that were in the campaign. That’s because that’s what the people of B.C. are wanting us to do. We heard that loud and clear. They want a government that is willing to listen, a government that is willing to compromise and work together for the good of our citizens, willing to entertain debate on different ideas and not just shoot them down because of which side of the House they came from.

B.C. is full of diverse, open-minded citizens, and this House is full of an abundance of ideas. It would be a shame if we simply ignored those ideas.

Now, as has been mentioned previously…. This whole issue of campaign financing reform. I found it very interesting that just eight days ago, the leader of the independents said, “We are glad that the Premier was going to put that in her throne speech. Obviously, we were negotiating that, and this is no surprise to me. She may try to pass the bill before the throne speech is called for a vote. I just hope that, regardless, we all vote and support it. This is about getting good policy through.”

That was eight days ago, and I thought that was great. Well, we saw yesterday there was a change of mind just in one week. But that’s why we proposed comprehensive electoral reforms.

We put forward legislation on Monday that would have ended corporate and union donations. It would have banned in-kind donations. For example, a foreign union couldn’t hire staff and then lend them to a political party. Well, that actually keeps them very well tethered to the union, and you might say that they’re actually leashed, as in a dog, to that union, keeping that political party in line even more so than any donation would possibly do.

It was also planned to limit donations that can be made by individuals to a level similar to that which is seen in other jurisdictions.

[6:00 p.m.]

Foreign donations would also have been banned in these reforms. These comprehensive reforms would also have included banning donations for third parties that accept foreign donations so that we don’t get around the bill by working through third parties. This obviously is a process — well, we could basically call it money laundering — through third parties in an attempt to influence elections in B.C. by foreign entities. In addition, it would also restrict the role of money influencing elections through third parties.

Elections should be about the voice of the people and what they believe in and not who can get the biggest single political donation in British Columbia’s history.

The legislation would also not allow the transfer of money between provincial and federal political parties. Now, this was to ensure that each party receives their own funds by their own fundraiser. So in addition to maintaining a level playing field when it comes to loans, the political parties should take out loans that are limited to financial institutions such as the chartered banks and credit unions — again, not borrowing them from some good friend.

These same reforms, should we continue to be government, would also be proposed for the local government elections and their political parties, because they also asked for it during consultations that we had a couple of years ago. Their political parties would also be eliminating the potential for leverage over candidates at all political levels.

That legislation was voted down. Actually, it didn’t even make it into the House, but it was here, and it was voted down by the members opposite. I’m encouraged to think that, possibly, they might use it as a template, when it comes to dealing with whatever legislation comes forward in the near future, so that it might be there to be able to make amendments to and to see what at least our thoughts were on it. And we can work together on that.

Now, what about transit investment? Well, this government is committed to investing in B.C.’s transportation infrastructure as well. We have said that we will match the federal government to fund our share of the mayors plan for TransLink — which was $2.2 billion on ours, $2 2 billion on the feds, coming to $4.4 billion. That’s leaving just over $1 billion to be raised locally. That way, we will get the Surrey LRT built right here in B.C.

Our plan also looks towards the future. This throne speech also looked at plans to invest in several feasibility studies to look at building rapid transit in other areas around the Lower Mainland but also extending out from the Lower Mainland, as well as here on Vancouver Island. Surrey LRT and the Broadway subway would be just the beginning.

Also, on Monday, I talked about the whole electric car infrastructure and the expansion for the electric car infrastructure — the charging facilities and those sorts of things throughout the province. People like me, who also do a fair bit of travelling around the province…. I am concerned. I was planning to get a plug-in car. Then I discovered that there aren’t that many places and that it takes so long, so I decided to get a hybrid instead.

I note also that in the throne speech, not only are we working on the electric car infrastructure to be able to make that quicker and better and longer ranges for cars to be able to go, but also we had the proposal for dealing with zero emission personal vehicles for Metro Vancouver. We’re going to advance that. The plan was to advance that from 2050 to 2035 — again, cleaning up our air, being more environmentally sensitive and working on the challenges that we face, because we know one of the biggest pollutants and one of our biggest causes of greenhouse gases and all those good things is our vehicles and transportation. We want to deal with that as well.

What about education? Well, our government is also committed to address the education funding concerns. We’re building new schools in Surrey, and this is working to further reduce the number of portables that we have in Surrey. The priority areas for new schools, obviously, are in Grandview Heights, Clayton Heights and Sullivan Heights. All the seats in these new schools will support students at all grade levels. All together, there are nearly $155 million worth of projects that are underway, being constructed right now.

[6:05 p.m.]

We’re working on fast-tracking another 4,200 seats with the district project office. We have the province, the city and the school district working together so that we don’t spend between six months and a year sending plans back and forth between Surrey and the provincial government and the authorities here to be able to get on with it. This will definitely speed up the process of building the schools in Surrey.

Looking, for example, at where I used to serve in Surrey-Panorama, we have Sullivan Elementary, Woodward Hill and Panorama Elementary. All these three schools are receiving expansions, which will create 600 new seats. The new secondary school in the Grandview Heights area will create an additional 1,500 seats. Salish Secondary, which is being constructed right now, is expected to be open next year, in 2018, and will have a capacity for 1,800 students. Clayton North will be getting a new elementary school of 600 students, and the land has also been purchased for a future elementary school in Port Kells. We’re working on it and seeing it happen in my constituency in my area of Surrey.

While we know that having a proper classroom is great, it’s the quality of teaching that really matters. And it’s the quality teaching in B.C. that has really shown across the entire globe the great faculty — the great teachers we have, the great administrations — and the great curriculum that we’re working with. That is, ultimately, our tremendous teachers, and that is the B.C. difference.

I’m also pleased that included in the throne speech is a royal commission to look at the future of education. Now, the Sullivan Commission was 30 years old, and it really set the agenda for the system that we have today. But the reality is that our world is changing, and it’s changing rapidly. All you have to do is go to McDonald’s to see it. It used to be that high school students got the jobs at McDonald’s, and they were off and running. They had cash in their pockets. They started to learn business and management and all those good things. Now you go to McDonald’s, and there’s a kiosk. Punch in what you want.

I mean, I first experienced that two years ago in Barcelona. You got a little problem there, because I don’t speak Spanish, and many times they don’t speak English. Well, the kiosk is wonderful, because I just pushed the button with the British flag, and all of a sudden, English comes up. There’s no problem. We make our order; we get our order. Isn’t it wonderful, except all those entry level jobs are no longer there.

Same thing for persons with disabilities. We have a friend of ours who years ago used to work at Burger King flipping hamburgers. He was so proud. He was diligent in being at work on time. He was so proud of the fact that he had a cheque and that he was working. He was a productive citizen. Well, guess what’s happened? All the fast food places, they don’t have anybody flipping hamburgers anymore, because it’s all done by automation.

One of the challenges….Yes, we talk a lot about technology, and we love technology and all those things. But technology is also taking away jobs, and it’s taking away entry-level jobs. That’s the thing that we really need to be focused on, as well, in the educational system — to make sure that we are educating our students for the real work that is going to be there and the challenges that are going to be there and that, because of advanced technology, will continue to displace workers.

All we have to do is, again, look at the vehicle. The whole electric vehicle, the whole issue of the autonomous vehicle — which, depending on who you listen to, we may have in another five years. But I would guess that ten years from now, most of us won’t be driving cars. We’ll actually be hopping into them. Certainly, as we get ride-shares and those sorts of things, you can be almost be guaranteed that the ride-shares of the future will all be through autonomous cars. So it’s something that we need to look at, and I am proud that that is in the throne speech.

What about housing affordability? Our government’s number one goal is to ensure that housing is affordable for British Columbians, and that’s a challenge. If we look particularly at the Lower Mainland, we have mountains to the north, mountains to the east, an ocean to the west and the U.S. border to the south. We have a wonderful place to live, but I’m sorry, we can’t do what they do on the prairies and just keep growing out. We can’t. We have to grow up. We have to grow up as in density. We have to change how we’re doing things and how we’re working things, and that is a challenge.

So as B.C.’s economy continues to grow, the benefits of the economy also come with real challenges, especially affordability. You know, we had Expo 86, and we invited the world to come. Well, they came. Then we had the Olympics, and we invited the world to come. Now they’re really coming.

[6:10 p.m.]

These are the challenges. As B.C.’s economy continues to grow, the benefits that come from the economy also present these challenges of affordability. Despite actions that have been taken that have had a real impact, housing affordability remains a particular challenge for far too many people.

That is why, with the confidence of this House, the B.C. Liberal government will work with local governments and the private sector to increase the supply of family and starter housing for middle-income earners, especially along new transit lines and corridors. Now, the thing that we have to be concerned about here is that it’s easy for us…. As we heard in the election, one group was going to do 114,000 units. Well, how are we going to do that? Are we going to just do that as people warehouses, or are we going to do that in real homes that people can work with?

That’s why we’re planning to work with the private sector to build 50,000 units of new housing across the province over the next ten years that will go into a new rent-to-own program that will be available to regular families and regular folk. The program will help renters grow equity through their monthly rental payments until they are in a position to own their own home. Because really, it’s the down payment that for most people…. That is the biggest challenge for us.

The B.C. Liberal government will also work with and support municipalities to remove obstacles and eliminate backlogs to speed up the construction of new housing supply, especially for families. Those of us that come from a municipal background also know the challenges of this. There has to be a working together with those local governments — for the zoning and all the rest of the regulatory things and the official community plans and all the rest of that.

To better protect renters, our government will prohibit landowners from skirting rent control protections when the term lease expires. They’ll make sure that tenants’ rights are protected while respecting a landlord’s ability to be able to make improvements to their buildings.

Finally, we’ll bring together and welcome the ideas from all parties and participate in a housing summit to be convened in the fall. Real estate speculation will be one of the many challenges that needs to be brought forward before the participants as we all work together to come to solutions. Because this side of the House, that side of the House…. We don’t have all the wisdom. We need to be working together with those that are involved to find the solutions.

What about Site C? Well, today 2,252 people are working on Site C. That’s 2,250 people that could be laid off if some people get their way. This project is vital to the ongoing prosperity of this province. The power created by Site C would well keep our houses lit when we need it the most — at night. Thousands of families are relying on the opportunities and the work that this project provides. Without this project, those towns and communities face an uncertain future.

Now, what are the naysayers saying about this? Well, they say it’s not needed. But the reality is that’s simply not true. Site C is an opportunity for this great province to create clean, green, renewable energy that will help power B.C. for generations. The project is being built to meet future electricity demand in B.C. and elsewhere, which is projected to increase in B.C. by almost 40 percent over the next 20 years. Energy conservation alone won’t meet those needs. We’ve been working with Power Smart and all those conservation things for decades, and it hasn’t got us to where we need to be.

Once up and running, Site C will provide 1,100 megawatts of dependable capacity, generating about 5,100 gigawatt hours of energy each year, which is enough to power 4,500 homes each and every year. By providing a plethora of renewable clean energy, Site C will enable British Columbians to transition to a green economy as we work to combat climate change.

Site C is not only a generational opportunity for us here in British Columbia. We’re also committed to seeing it play an important role in helping Canada meet our climate obligations. As stated, we’re committed to working with the federal government and the province of Alberta to increase the electricity trade between British Columbia and Alberta.

[6:15 p.m.]

In 2014, Alberta’s electricity sector accounted for 16 percent of that province’s total greenhouse gas emissions. With Site C, we can help provide Alberta with green, clean power that will reduce the GHG emissions and help combat climate change. Right now Alberta is making most of their electricity from coal. I’m from Edmonton. You’ve got Lake Wabamun. Right beside Lake Wabamun is a massive power plant, all with coal. Coal is what is powering Alberta, and they are the ones that will benefit, as well, from Site C as they get off their dependence on coal.

What about LNG? Well, B.C. has some of the world’s richest reserves of natural gas and the opportunity to help displace coal and dirtier fossil fuels, not only here but around the world. LNG has included First Nations from the ground floor through bottom-up processes of consultation. LNG will be an unprecedented opportunity for First Nations communities across British Columbia, helping lift families out of poverty and strengthening their ability to shape their futures as they choose. By displacing coal with clean-burning natural gas, we’re able to transition this planet to a greener environment.

There are so many more things to talk about. I see my time is running out on me.

What about mental health and addictions? Well, B.C. is leading North America in our response to the opioid crisis, contrary to what you hear inside this House. This province is receiving national awards for what we’re doing on the opioid crisis, yet there are some that say we’re doing nothing. Yes, more can be done, and it will be done. We will embrace innovative treatments to help save lives, while ensuring that access to harm reduction services and recovery systems of care are readily available for those transitioning out of drugs.

We’ll work with Ottawa to increase the number of RCMP officers dedicated to drug enforcement by 30 percent and use every dollar from the sale — legalization of cannabis — for drug education, prevention and treatment. A minister of state for mental health and addictions and recovery will have the sole focus and a strong voice at the cabinet table. We’ll also commission an expert panel on mental health.

We’ll expand the Foundry program and fast-track a centre for mental health and addictions in Surrey so that family have access to the care that they need when they need it most. In addition, the new centre for mental health and addictions in Surrey will be fast-tracked to get it up and running as quickly as possible to provide better access to care for B.C. families.

Well, we could talk about health care. We can talk about the MRIs, and we can talk about what we’re doing at Surrey Memorial Hospital with the child and adolescent psychiatric stabilization unit that will be up and running shortly — all of these talked about in the throne speech.

Of course, we’ve got seniors as well and the good things that we’re wanting to do for seniors with the home-renovation tax credit and also being able to have a respite tax credit for those.

I see my time is up, so it’s really with regrets that I have to say: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker.” I want you to know that I support this throne speech.

Noting the hour, I would wonder if it would be appropriate at this time to move adjournment on the debate.

An Hon. Member: How about we have a confidence vote?

M. Hunt: Well, it’s not that yet. That’s a couple of days.

Would you like that, Mr. Speaker, or shall I just pass onto someone else?

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Member.

M. Hunt moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. T. Stone moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

Deputy Speaker: We stand adjourned until tomorrow afternoon.

The House adjourned at 6:19 p.m.