Orders of the Day

Hon. M. Farnworth: I call, for orders of the day, continued debate on the budget.

[2:40 p.m.]

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

Budget Debate

(continued)

R. Glumac: That is a hard act to follow.

I am thankful to rise in the House today to present my thoughts on the budget, a budget that presents a strong, responsible fiscal plan that puts people first while helping to ensure the long-term fiscal sustainability of our province.

I’d like to begin by thanking the people that made it possible for me to be here today, the people of my constituency and the volunteers that dedicated countless hours of their time because they believed in me and believed in the vision that this party was sharing — making life more affordable, improving the services that people count on, creating good jobs for people throughout B.C. Thank you to those volunteers. All your hard work is what got us here.

We will pass a budget that takes the first critical steps to fulfil our vision to build a better B.C., and I’d like to acknowledge some of the projects that are already underway in my own riding of Port Moody–Coquitlam.

I’m pleased that we’re continuing to move forward with the commitment to expand the emergency room at Eagle Ridge Hospital, adding 20 ER treatment spaces. I’m also very pleased that we are going forward with a $5 million capital funding investment for the development of 55 new affordable housing units for people with low and moderate income, in partnership with St. Andrews United Church in Port Moody.

Seismic replacement funding as well — for Banting Middle School, in Coquitlam, and Moody Middle School, in Port Moody, continuing to ensure our children’s safety and investment in the future, which I’m sure will continue with future budgets.

As the Parliamentary Secretary for Technology, I’ve been working with my colleague the Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology, and ministry staff, and meeting many key leaders in the tech sector. One consistent message has come out of these meetings: B.C. has an incredible potential to grow many jobs in the tech sector.

There are many great things I can talk about in this budget, but I’m going to start and focus my comments a little bit more on the opportunities that we have to grow this economy and how the tech sector can play an important role in that. It’s going to take focused effort to capitalize on this opportunity. We need to be well informed, well connected with industry and willing to act quickly to leverage emerging opportunities in an industry that changes quickly.

In this budget, in cooperation with the Greens, we’ll be creating the role of an innovation commissioner. The innovation commissioner will be the tech sector’s advocate in Ottawa and internationally. They will coordinate alignment with federal funding programs and level the playing field with other provinces. They will establish strong relationships with senior leaders in B.C.’s tech sector, not only in industry but also in universities and accelerators.

We know that technology is a major driver for B.C.’s economy, and there are many opportunities for innovation, even in existing industries. The innovation commissioner will play a key role in helping B.C. to become a preferred destination for new technologies.

In this budget, we will also be creating the emerging economy task force to enable B.C. to stay on the leading edge of global economic development. This task force will bring together key individuals who understand the global environment and the rapidly evolving technological landscape. They’ll provide a B.C.-centric perspective on these global changes and provide advice that is focused on the future.

Advancements in technology are changing the way we do things at an accelerating rate, spawning new companies and creating innovation in ways we never imagined in existing industries, including forestry, mining and other resource-based industries.

[2:45 p.m.]

To illustrate a point, I’ll give an example of a conversation I had with an entrepreneur recently, talking about a company in Germany that began using blockchain technology to collect payments. Prior to that, it could take several weeks to process payments, and they had a very large reconciliation department. But by using blockchain, the payments were collected almost instantaneously.

This could have had the effect of putting that entire department out of work. Instead, what it did was it allowed the company to retrain those people, in the skills that they had, in other areas of the company and create efficiencies in the company that saved even more money.

That’s the kind of thing that we need to do and promote here in B.C. The use of blockchain is rapidly evolving. What does it mean for B.C.’s tech sector and existing industries? The emerging economy task force can help answer that question.

One of the other concerns I’ve heard raised in the conversations I’ve had with the tech sector is the availability of talent. This budget recognizes that growing the tech sector also requires investment in post-secondary education. This budget includes $2.6 billion in capital spending in the next three years in post-secondary institutions across the province. This will develop highly skilled workers that will spur innovation and help B.C. companies to compete and grow internationally.

This budget continues to invest in ongoing innovative projects around the province, such as construction of a new sustainable energy and environmental engineering building at the Surrey campus of SFU, for 515 students. This will create jobs, expand research and foster innovation.

Construction of a new industrial training and technology centre at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, for 550 additional students, will accommodate a range of new and existing trades, technology and industrial programs that will prepare students for in-demand careers in the region.

There’s also a redevelopment of the life sciences teaching laboratories at UBC to provide an upgraded learning environment for almost 2,200 existing students and 450 new students. An expansion of the ICICS facilities in biomedical technologies, emergency design support and global communications systems at UBC. These are just a few examples. There are more to come in the future, I’m sure.

In addition, this budget continues to support investments with $7½ million toward the Prometheus project, a provincewide research and commercialization hub for materials science and engineering innovation; almost $12 million for cyberinfrastructure Compute Canada; and $5.7 million for genome approaches to personalizing cancer diagnoses treatment. There is lot in here to help grow the tech sector, and more to come.

There are many budget items that I could talk about that will assist not only those working in the tech sector but people in every area of the province. This budget includes investments in child care, investments in education, investments in health care, investments in affordable housing. But these investments are just the first step.

I’m so excited to be part of a team that is working for the people of this province and building opportunities for the tech sector. And believe me, there are many opportunities. I’ve heard a lot of negativity about the economy from this side of the House, but I’m looking at this from an extremely positive viewpoint. We have an amazing future ahead of us. We’re already seeing B.C.’s tech sector account for $24 billion in revenue, $14 billion in GDP — nearly 10,000 companies, over 150,000 employees.

Vancouver is ranked No. 1 in Canada and No. 15 globally for start-ups. We have a highly skilled workforce, and more than 60 percent of our workforce has a post-secondary education.

We have 36,000 new immigrants every year, and unlike our friendly neighbours to the south, we open our arms to skilled people from all over the world. B.C. has the distinct advantage of being in the same time zone as important markets in Washington, Oregon and California. Our business day also overlaps with Asia and Europe.

We are the gateway to Asia, with more trade than any other province in Canada. Thirty-three percent of our exports are to Asia, compared to just 8 percent in Canada. We have world-class universities and some of North America’s leading research programs, including UBC’s Data Sciences Institute, UVic’s institute for data science, SFU’s cybersecurity centre, UBC’s Quantum Matter Institute.

[2:50 p.m.]

We also have the Centre for Drug Research and Development, Genome B.C., TRIUMF and BCIT Centre for Energy Systems Applications. B.C. is credited with nine Nobel Prize winners, and B.C. universities account for more than 25 percent of U.S. patents derived from post-secondary research in Canada.

Over 200 companies have been formed from the research that has been conducted and commercialization of that research at UBC, and over 75 companies from SFU. Notable U.S. companies have already established themselves in B.C., including Microsoft, Amazon, Intel, Boeing, Sony Imageworks, Disney, and there is potential for so much more.

The minister and I met with senior leadership at Microsoft in Seattle recently and discussed the potential of the Cascadia innovation corridor, a partnership with Seattle that could create the fifth-biggest tech hub in the world through cross-border access to talent, access to capital and access to markets. Seattle and Vancouver combined represent a $22 billion start-up ecosystem, and that’s three times bigger than the Toronto-Waterloo corridor.

Seattle is ranked No. 1 for its tech talent base, an area where we need to grow — our talent base. This is higher than any other tech centre in North America. Seattle is also ranked the sixth-largest venture capital ecosystem in the world, attracting over $9 billion in venture capital funding over the last ten years. Participating in this corridor will give Vancouver access to talent and capital like we’ve never seen before. But make no mistake. The potential we have here is not something that only Vancouver can capitalize on.

There are several applications for federal funding for the supercluster initiative, $950 million that the federal government is giving out over five years, starting this year, in support of a small number of business-led innovation superclusters that have the greatest potential to accelerate economic growth. This is something that the innovation commissioner will be helping with.

These superclusters can spur incredible innovation in existing industries across the province and job growth throughout the province. To give you an example, Vancouver has a number of data visualization companies. There are some on the Island and in the Interior as well: video game companies, visual effects, mapping, augmented reality. These companies can help spur innovation in other industries, such as health, tech, natural resources, smart cities, transportation, construction.

Microsoft has created a HoloLens, and there’s a company in Port Coquitlam that has taken this platform and helped innovate a company that builds trucks for shipping. What they’ve done, instead of building clay models, which has been the norm, and running these models through wind tunnels and all that…. You can put on a HoloLens and go to the frame of a truck and view what the body of the truck will look like right in front of you. You can walk around it, and you can do the wind simulation as well. This innovation has saved millions of dollars for this company, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what’s possible in existing industries.

Mining companies are using augmented reality to view 3-D renderings of mine plans and resource models. Agrifood industries are using artificial intelligence to provide early-stage detection and prevention of crop stress. There are many other examples in forestry, oil and gas, clean tech and more. We’re in a good place, and there are incredible opportunities ahead of us.

The previous government may want to jump up and take credit for everything tech-related, but I can’t count the number of times that I’ve been told, in all the conversations I’ve had with tech professionals: “Thank you. Thank you. We finally have a government that’s willing to listen to us, a government that recognizes the amazing potential of the tech sector.”

The previous government decided to focus its efforts in other areas, such as LNG. They tried really hard, but they didn’t do a very good job. When they realized that LNG was going nowhere, someone came and tapped them on the shoulder and said: “Hey, look. There’s a tech sector, and it’s growing. Let’s take credit for that.” Well, this government is taking a different approach.

[2:55 p.m.]

We have restructured our ministry to put jobs, trade and technology together, recognizing that technology can be a major driver in job growth. With every tech job created, there are up to five other jobs created that support that job. This is how we create a diversified economy. This budget update takes critical first steps to build a better B.C. We’re going to be investing in people in this province and the services that have been neglected for 16 years.

At the same time, we’re going to be growing a strong and diversified economy. We have a lot of work to do, but we’re going do it. And we’re going to do it by listening to the people of this province. We’re going to walk forward with you, every step of the way. This budget is a budget that puts people first and makes life better for families across this beautiful province.

To wrap up, I want to talk about one consistent message that I’ve heard many, many times over the last few months. It’s that the government — the previous government — just wasn’t listening.

I’ll give you some examples. I talked to a gentleman who ran a local grocery store for decades. More and more today he’s seeing people come into the store with just a small amount of money. They’re walking up and down the aisles and being very careful of what they’re buying with that money because they know they only have that money to feed their family. The previous government was not listening to them.

I talked to a teacher who had an on-line learning tool that was on a trial basis that her students started using. Some of them really took to it and enjoyed it. When the trial ran out she couldn’t afford the $200 to actually buy the subscription to that for a year. The government wasn’t listening to her.

I talked to several nurses that have been challenged with the lack of resources in hospitals. There have been increasing incidents of violence, and the government was not listening to them.

There are many issues that we have to tackle — affordable housing, poverty reduction, child care availability, quality education, health care, tackling the opioid crisis and addictions, home and community care for seniors, addressing climate change. These are all issues that we are tackling in this budget.

We’re not going to solve every problem overnight, but we’re taking these issues seriously. We’re listening, and we’re going to build a better B.C.

D. Ashton: Just before I get into my comments on the budget, I’d like to start off and thank the incredible constituency staff that I’m so blessed to have in Penticton — Dick, Sue, Ali, Rudy — and the incredible citizens of Penticton, Naramata, Peachland and Summerland that have given me the opportunity to be here in the people’s House in British Columbia. It’s a terrific honour, and I would like to thank each and every one of you again.

Also, many of us have heard, on numerous occasions, about the incredible fires this summer at home, not only in the Okanagan Valley but throughout the entire province and, actually, in Washington State, which are now coming into our province. And I would really, really like to thank the forestry staff, the contractors and the volunteers. My heart goes out to each and every one of the individuals that have been challenged with these fires and that have had structural losses in these fires — thank goodness, no life losses in them. In the Okanagan, if it wasn’t for fires, we were having flooding this year. So it was one of those real bad years.

I rise today to speak on a budget that appears to me to be short on ideas and long on spending. It’s a real concern. Many of you know and hear that I’m a staunch fiscal conservative. I have a very, very tough financial…. My direction on finances is very sharp and very profound. I was brought up in a family where you couldn’t spend a $1.10 if you were only taking a dollar in. My dad said: “Look after the pennies; the dollars will follow.” I’ve done my best to pass that along to my kids.

[3:00 p.m.]

More importantly, what I’ve passed along to my kids is that we have to have a social conscience. It can go hand in hand, because unfortunately, someone has to pay for everything that is given or is utilized. There is, unfortunately, a value attached to that.

Unfortunately, the government, more and more, is having to step up. You know, our neighbours used to help neighbours, and that doesn’t seem to happen anymore. It’s a real shame. Unfortunately, all governments — whether it’s municipal, regional, provincial or federal — are really having to step forward these days. So what we have to do is have a whole change of heart in the direction, I think, that we should be going into the future.

As we all know, as I came back, the forestry…. People’s homes have been lost. I just read: 200-plus structures in the Thompson-Nicola regional district. It’s incredible, when you lose a home to these fires or lose a home to flooding, what goes with it — the history of your family, your friends, your spouse, parents and grandparents, etc. There’s an incredible, total and disruptive part to your lives. Your memories are literally gone.

I speak from a bit of experience. My mom was 15 years old, living in the Turner Valley in Alberta, had to ride a horse every day to school, and when she came home one day — her father was a school teacher at another school — the house was burned down. All they had was the barn. She said that’s the biggest thing. She was, like, 15, if I remember correctly, and every little piece of memory that she had — those real important years of where you meet friends and become friends with people and start gathering that memorabilia — was all gone.

So I would like to say that my heart, and I’m sure each and everybody’s heart in this institution, goes out to all these folks that have been suffering.

Coming back to the budget, I want to start in…. I come from a family business. I know what it’s like to own a business. I know what it’s like to deal with expenses, payroll, rent, utilities, inventory costs, plus much, much more that is always left to be considered. And there’s a risk. There’s the fear as you take the plunge of getting in business. I know what it’s like to feel that fear when you make very significant and intense investments of capital. You take the risk to hire people and to build a business in a community. On our behalf, there were businesses in many communities where we would try to do our best to be part of that community and continue to support whatever it took to be, again, part of those communities.

Unfortunately, right now, with the situation…. There should be no business in this province that’s pushed almost into receivership or having to close their doors because governments can’t step forward to pay bills on time. I heard yesterday, and I say this sincerely, that every effort is being made to ensure that this is going to be changed. I certainly hope, for the people that are challenged with cash flow situations these days, that this takes place.

On the First Nations side, we heard the minister speak earlier today — and myself, also — about what is transpiring in this province. But for the Nazko people to have to wait for the substantial amount of money that is still owed…. I really, really think it’s important that government steps up and ensures that their salaries are going to be able to be compensated for and that the rent on the equipment to the various suppliers is looked after. To me, it’s an absolute travesty, at this point in time, that this hasn’t been done. I really hope the situation improves immediately.

You’ve heard the Leader of the Opposition say that we’re going to hold this new government accountable for the way it intends to prepare for the next generation — the balance sheet that they plan to leave for them — and how they are treating the people of this generation who have actually stood up for British Columbia in their times of need.

Before the recent election campaign…. It was outlined in the throne speech, and then recaptured in the budget. We’ve seen that the government has a very, very aggressive spending plan. The list of expenditures is long and, undoubtedly, will continue as government endeavours to try and fulfil a long list of massive spending promises and, to be frank, IOUs that are going to be called upon in the future. I really don’t think the people of British Columbia endorsed an endless spending or a blank-cheque approach to government today.

[3:05 p.m.]

As a matter of fact, we know the seat distribution in here, but those things change. There is a government in place at this point in time with help from another party, and I hope that other party also realizes that the people of British Columbia….

The previous gentleman, from Port Moody–Coquitlam if I remember correctly, spoke about some of the challenges that he’s heard about in his constituency. I need to be frank. Those challenges are not just localized in his constituency. They go out through the province — and, I would hesitate to say, more so in rural British Columbia because of the challenges and the uncertainty that they’re facing at this point in time in their lives.

The budget contains billions in additional spending from what was laid out from the previous government. We had also committed to record spending on health care and education, but we were focused on our key fundamentals — ensuring that our province had a sustainable spending plan, a balanced budget. Keep taxes as low as they can, and keep a clear vision for the future generations.

This budget, to me and to many, is really relying on tax increases. We’ve heard about some of the manoeuvres that have been taking place. I really have to question if it’s the right direction that any government should be taking — to try and meet, and probably not succeed in meeting, these tremendous increases in spending.

When you look at business…. We all know that businesses in our community, small business, they are the economic generators. They are the employers and community, and now we see that they’re having to shoulder some additional tax over a period of time. A comment was made that it’ll only be to the levels of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. To be frank, who in this province wants B.C. to look like what Alberta has become? Alberta is incredibly challenged, not only with the fault of the downturn in the petroleum industry but also a government that didn’t listen to the people.

I’ve heard loud and clear from the good folks on the other side of this House who have said they’re going to listen to the people, but let me refer you back to what the member for Port Moody–Coquitlam said. The people he represents have some concerns right now. And I have some real concerns if this is a direction that the government is going to take that is similar to the similar government in Alberta. I think people need to take a second look at this.

We have a competitive advantage here in British Columbia that makes our province more attractive to investors. It was a key facet in our economic success and the creation of jobs. We’ve heard about the tech industry. Look at Microsoft coming to Vancouver. Or Amazon — we’re courting Amazon now. Those are the elephants in the room, but there are hundreds and hundreds of smaller firms around this province that are really worried about direction. I really do hope that the members of the government, in their pledge to listen to the people, do listen to what the people are saying right now.

We had some massive investments in this province — and proposed massive investments — because of, I personally think, our low taxes, our fiscal responsibility and our financial accountability. I really think the questionable spending that has been proposed and promised by government is really going to be a concern for the future.

The cancellation of the Pacific Northwest LNG project, to me, was a reminder of what damage can be done by the stroke of a pen. A letter being sent out by the now Minister of Environment and the now Premier, a letter demanding Ottawa not accept, or re-examine, what was proposed in all the environmental issues that had been put forward and apparently cleared by the federal government….

You know, when I take a look at some of my peers around this table and the hope…. You folks heard me say a little bit earlier that my dad always said: “Never walk behind somebody, never walk in front of them, but walk beside them for mutual future success.” There is a huge opportunity.

[3:10 p.m.]

I take a look at British Columbia and the time frame that it’s taken to get to where we are right now and the gas plants that have been created in the United States. If I remember correctly, they have three of them going down there. If we had been on the ball, just think what those plants would have done for many of the people that are challenged in the north and would have done for those taxation rolls that come down — to build those additional schools in Surrey that people have talked about in here and to build additional transportation infrastructure in the Lower Mainland.

I really think — and I say this with honesty, and I say this with respect — that the NDP-Green alliance is standing out right now against industry that thousands of people in British Columbia rely on to feed their families. And the snap of a finger and concentration on tech and new environmental opportunities are not going to happen overnight. People have to eat, and they have to eat every day, and they have to have a roof over their heads. I sure hope that the government takes heed of not only people in the Lower Mainland but people throughout this entire province.

We’ve heard that major money has been put on hold. We’ve heard it from the bankers. We’ve heard it from the investment people. Right now they’re sitting on the sidelines. They’re sitting on those sidelines purposely waiting to see the direction that the new government is going to take.

Small business confidence has really dropped in Canada. It’s gone from the top to almost near the bottom. As I said earlier, the backbone of an economy in a country like Canada, but specifically in a province like British Columbia, is small businesses and the people that they employ.

We have also seen that the government has a tendency to be reactionary and has a tendency and has shown that they’re going to reject those that have really worked hard on the engine that has really built B.C. Again, I really question the direction at this point in time that the government has shown.

The increased carbon tax — it was revenue-neutral. We got accolades from around the world but specifically from the United Nations, who we quoted earlier in a speech from one of the ministers in a follow-up to myself. This is something that really made B.C. stand out. And it just appears to be: “Okay, here’s some money that we can move over to here.” It appears to be a cash grab to pay for an agenda. I really think when they take a look at the repercussions that are going to happen with companies across British Columbia that are going to be hit with higher carbon-taxation bills, mark my words, investors are going to take a look at these increases and consider all of their options. I think that’s a real shame.

Kinder Morgan. The cancellation of the Pacific LNG plant. It’s really becoming clear that British Columbia appears to have a closing window. I think there’s going to be an awful lot of people caught in this.

The throne speech and the budget speech did their very best, in my opinion, to disregard what thousands of British Columbians in the best-performing economy in the country have known and seen and what was confirmed in the public accounts on August 22. Canada’s best performance in provinces did not come by a quirk of fate or by accident. It was arrived at by being very fiscally responsible.

Our previous Finance Minister — very financially accountable — was ensuring that we had the money in place to try and meet all of the demands. Not 100 percent. But we did our best to ensure that the demands were being met to the best of our ability while continuing to pay down debt. I speak not only of capital debt.

When you build a hospital, to me, it’s like a mortgage. I’m very fortunate there’s a brand-new hospital going up in Penticton to serve a region of about 80,000 people. I’m very glad to see that the government has carried on with that.

What I’m talking about is operational debt. We were so fortunate that we were taking a look into the future. If I remember correctly, in 2021, we would have been out of having an operational debt over our head at any one time — for the longest time, actually. I think, if I remember correctly, it goes back to the late ’70s, early ’80s.

I take a look at our exports in British Columbia, with forestry and the oil and gas sector. There was not a hint in the budget speech about these industries. Some of the comments have really posed some concern in the oil and gas sector.

[3:15 p.m.]

The Premier went to Washington to meet and have a discussion with a gentleman who was a large financer in the election. But many of these people that are here in B.C., that actually work for what that gentleman represented, are all scratching their heads and going: “What about our opportunities here?”

I really wonder about the continual direction that is taking place in turning down some of these large projects. We heard in question period today about some of the concerns around the Massey and the replacement and some of the concerns from the mayors.

I’m a former mayor. I was a mayor for 1½ terms. I was a chair of a regional district for 11 years. Yes, I’m glad when the province and the federal government listen to elected officials. But I’m way happier when the province and the federal government and municipalities and regional districts listen to the people that they represent. To me, the voice of 80,000-plus people drowned out more than a few handfuls of mayors.

B.C. has also been an incredible envy of not only Canada but also around the world, and specifically in the Pacific Northwest, for having five consecutive balanced budgets. There are not many countries or provinces that can state that that has been taking place. These balanced budgets — and balanced budgets over this term and continued to be projecting going forward — have really, really made a difference. I take a look at the flexibility that would be offered if we continue in that direction.

You heard me a little bit earlier say how I was raised as a kid with a family that, to be frank, didn’t have two cents to rub together when we came to Penticton. My dad and my mom and my sisters and myself worked incredibly hard to build up what we had. But we had to look after those pennies and make sure that they were always put to good use. You always ensured that the bank was paid. Quite often, after the staff and the bills were paid, you didn’t have a chance to take a lot of money home at the end of the month.

Fiscal discipline is something that the bond-rating agencies really look at. We’ve seen the warning shots that are being fired across the bow of British Columbia right now. This all comes back to the direction that the government seems to be taking in a budget that is, again, long on expenditures and very short on the ability to pay for some of those expenditures. A downgrading…. I was very fortunate to spend the last two years as the secretary to the Minister of Finance. One downgrading from our triple-A will cost us — to raise debt in British Columbia about $500 million more a year in interest. That’s an awful lot of money to go to social programs, where it probably should be going.

Unfortunately, if we had the debt ratios that many of the people in other provinces, specifically Ontario, have on a per-capita basis, that’s $2½ billion more in interest a year. That’s something that really has to be taken a look at, if we continue to spend where we don’t have the capacity to pay for it.

Again, when I come back to some of the expenditures and some of the cancellations down here, whether it’s right or wrong…. I think it’s wrong — eliminating the tolls on the Port Mann Bridge and the Golden Ears. I’m fortunate enough…. I look across the chamber fondly at the minister and the former MLA that sat on an organization that I got to sit on, PNWER. I got the opportunity to spend more time in Seattle on a personal basis and on a business basis. I take a look at the tolls that are taking place down there, because they’re user tolls. They’re tolls that are put into place to ensure that payment gets made in an accelerated form.

Growing up in the Okanagan when the Coquihalla opened up, it was great for us. It was a $10 cost. It cut the travel time down to Vancouver, to our operation here in Vancouver, substantially. It added a terrific amount of safety to those travels. We didn’t mind whatsoever. A government decided at that time that it was better to take those tolls off and to take a look at possibly putting them elsewhere.

[3:20 p.m.]

But by taking those off, now the whole province is paying for that debt. People have said: “Well, why isn’t the Okanagan Lake Bridge tolled?” With all due respect, if I remember correctly, you have four ways to get across the Fraser, where we have one way to get across Okanagan Lake.

Another thing that has come up…. I mentioned the hospital a little bit earlier. The people of the rural area above Hope have to pay 40 percent for the construction of their hospital facilities and a lot of the capital costs that go along with operating hospitals. There’s a real question that is being floated around in our area right now: why are we paying this when the Lower Mainland was supposed to be paying for transportation costs as part of an agreement that the province would pay for medical costs?

So it’s a bit of a shot across the bow to those on the other side of the House to ensure that they start listening to those people, because just in my area, it’s $140 million from less than 80,000 people for the construction of a new hospital.

What we’re seeing, too, is the debt-rating agencies are saying, “Hang on a minute,” because this has gone now from off-book supported debt right back into the debt of the province of British Columbia. That is something that people should be concerned about, the entire population should be concerned about.

We were a global leader in attracting jobs and growth, and companies around the world were flocking to B.C., and hopefully will continue to flock to B.C. to hire the local talent and to build the key industries. I really think that that’s missing in this budget.

One thing I didn’t hear in this budget, either, is the $10 daycare. I know it was a promise in the election. I sat with members from the opposite side, now four different years on the Finance Committee, and for four different years, we’ve had a nice young lady come forward. Her last name is Gregson, if I remember correctly, and she was a strong proponent of this.

One thing that was worrisome is that it was approximately $1.5 billion to set up. I’ve been told that the operating costs, from their estimates, were $350 million to $500 million a year. Others have said: “No, the costs are actually going to be substantially higher than that.” Approaching the initial setup cost, which is $1.5 billion…. That’s an awful lot of money.

Having kids and having the challenge of finding daycare when they were a lot younger, we were fortunate. I would really like to see some opportunities put forward, but it has to be brought forward in a very responsible way.

One thing else that’s not in the budget that I know a lot of people were interested in was an election promise — the $400-a-year rebate. We heard the Premier speak as recently as a week or so ago that it would be in the budget. Guess what. It’s not in there. It was nowhere to be found.

I often wonder if people are starting to worry about a promise for daycare, a promise for rental offsets. I would really think that…. The hon. member from the Green Party has said that he is part and parcel of these negotiations, but I sure hope that these negotiations carry on, and they carry on in a very fiscally responsible way so that others will be able to continue to afford not only to help out, but be able to afford their own costs and concerns that they have in their family.

Governing is an awful lot harder than what some people think. I think the opposition on this side, who had the opportunity of governing for a while, realizes that more than the current government in power has. It’s dangerous. It’s very dangerous to make promises to people, especially expensive promises, and having an issue of paying for them.

That issue, unfortunately, of payment, comes back to what appears to be tax, tax, tax and tax. I really think that that is something that has to be looked at. There is a limit. As Canadians, we’re fortunate, and as British Columbians, we’re fortunate to live not only in the best country but the best province, I would say, anywhere. People have to realize that taxation is unfortunately a straw that can break the back of good hard-working people. So I would just put that flag up. If you’re going to promise something, you better be able to pay for it.

[3:25 p.m.]

I don’t want my kids growing up…. One is 21, attending third-year university here at UVic, and another is 19. She is finding her way and would like to do something that drives from her heart, so she’s still stumbling around a little tiny bit.

You know what? I do not want to see my kids have to pay for illusions of political grandeur. I say that sincerely. We have to pay our way as we go through. One doesn’t need to look any further than across the border, which is 40 miles south of me, and see what is happening on that side of the border, where they are trillions and trillions of dollars in debt, and that day of reckoning is coming from somewhere.

Education. We know that education is important. There has been talk in previous years about not enough being spent, and we know how much was put into it. The government is saying that we’re going to be putting more in it, but it was noticeably lacking in the budget speech. I’m kind of curious about why that was not being put forward.

We did hear that there’s some additional housing coming forward. During the election, I heard from a candidate who was running against me that the government in place right now is going to build 114,000 homes for people over a ten-year period. Math’s not a bad subject for me. I was quickly trying to figure out the cost of acquiring land, of acquiring the people to build these places and of absorbing the cost of the building, and I was going: “It’s not possible.” Well, we’ve seen that quickly change. I really think there needs to be some sober second thought in here, when some of these things come forward, to make sure that, number one, for the people’s sake: if you do promise something, you deliver it.

I really, really hope that there will be some emphasis put on what appears to be this rural and urban divide. Deep down inside each and every one of us are all B.C.’ers. When we start eliminating carbon tax neutrality, life becomes very, very expensive for all British Columbians. Many British Columbians don’t have the opportunity to get on a bus or a train — which we’re fortunate here in the Lower Mainland and some places to have — to commute in to work. We don’t have those opportunities of mass transit, and it’s very expensive for people to drive, for lots of people.

I remember, on the Finance Committee, we talked to a lady who took 20 minutes to drive her child to a bus stop so that the child could go to school. Then the child was on a bus for 45 minutes further, just to get to the school. These are some of the things that we have to think about when we start pushing around some of these non-costed items.

Thank you for listening today.

Hon. L. Popham: I wanted to say how honoured I am to be speaking to you today on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen people, including the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations.

I can’t tell you how honoured I am to be speaking here, on this side of the House, responding to the budget speech as the Minister of Agriculture for British Columbia. I entered into politics because of my love for agriculture, and for the past eight years I’ve been the shadow critic for many Ministers of Agriculture. Many people have asked me what my goals are in politics, and I have always said that my dream would be to become the Minister of Agriculture for B.C. Just a couple of months ago, I was able to step out of the shadows.

My mom passed away a couple of weeks after I was sworn in as the Minister of Agriculture. I visited her. She was one of my biggest political cheerleaders, and I was able to tell her what had happened. Although I don’t think she could quite understand, she still gave me a smile, and that meant a lot to me. I will never forget that.

The Premier has given me an exciting mandate letter, and I’ll be working hard to accomplish several priorities.

[3:30 p.m.]

Our government came into power during an unprecedented wildfire season. This fire, which has consumed more than one million hectares of forest, has also forced people away from their homes and their livelihoods.

Since the beginning of the fire season, I’ve been in touch with ranchers and farmers throughout the Interior, the Cariboo-Chilcotin and the Okanagan and Kootenay regions. I’ve heard from them firsthand about the devastation they’ve witnessed to their lands and the painful decisions that they’ve had to make in order to give their livestock a chance at surviving. The number of livestock within the boundaries of the wildfire-affected areas is estimated to be about 30,000. I want to be clear that that’s a lot of animals, and this is a large-scale emergency response.

I want to thank the emergency responders and all British Columbians who have stepped up to support their neighbours throughout this horrendous ordeal. Whether you were directly fighting the fires, setting up cots for evacuees or organizing food bank hampers for people who had to flee their homes with barely a moment’s notice, thank you for all of your hard work.

As mentioned in last week’s throne speech, our government has been working diligently to provide an unprecedented response to the fire. This includes supports from our province’s agriculture community. The Ministry of Agriculture has been working closely with the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association and local governments to help ranchers relocate, locate, transport and feed their livestock.

[L. Reid in the chair.]

We have also provided $6 million in funding to repair fencing damaged by the wildfires. We have worked hard ensuring the safety of people driving B.C. roads and highways, while also preserving the safety of livestock that are running through those highways.

I have been working very hard to ensure that feed is available for ranchers and that there are supports in place to help ranchers gather, sort and identify their cattle. I have an amazing team of people at the Ministry of Agriculture that are working flat out, and I just want them to know how much I appreciate their work and that the people of B.C. appreciate it too. Some days have been extremely long for them. Even though we may be coming to the end of the fire season in the next month or so, the work for the people within the Ministry of Agriculture will continue on as we move into the recovery stages.

Last Tuesday I was able to announce, along with my federal colleague Minister MacAulay, $20 million in AgriRecovery funding, which will assist agricultural producers with the extraordinary costs incurred by this year’s historic wildfire. The program will support ranchers and farmers in categories such as costs relating to ensuring animal health and safety; feed, shelter and transportation costs; and costs to re-establish perennial crops and forage damaged by fire.

Recovery from an emergency of this magnitude is not going to be instant, and it is not going to be easy, but the governments of B.C. and Canada are working with producers, local officials and stakeholders to respond to this emergency as efficiently and collaboratively as possible and will keep working until the job is done. It will take energy, resources and partnership from all involved, and my commitment to the farmers and ranchers of British Columbia is that the Ministry of Agriculture will contribute all three.

We’ve learned a lot from this year’s historic wildfires. One thing we’ve learned, as seen firsthand, has been the value of our premises identification program. Premises identification, or premises ID as it’s called, is a way of linking livestock and poultry to geographic locations. In the past, it has been very useful to help respond to livestock diseases. This summer, though, we saw benefits that this program has for the ranchers and farmers affected by the evacuation orders throughout our province.

There are more than 3,200 producers registered with premises ID here in B.C. Typically, the ministry has seen, on average, about 30 new registrations per month. At the height of the wildfire evacuations, ministry staff completed 120 emergency registrations over the phone from people who called in from evacuation zones during July and August.

Premises ID was required to gain re-entry into the evacuation zones and was recognized by emergency responders when livestock operators were trying to access their land to check on their livestock and crops. Those who were registered with premises ID really could see firsthand the benefits that the registration provided, as it sped up the process of re-entry significantly.

[3:35 p.m.]

Premises ID is very easy to register for, it’s free, and it works. You can register on line, and you can register through a paper form. The details, if you’re interested, are available on the Ministry of Agriculture’s website. I strongly encourage all livestock operators to sign up for premises ID. I truly believe the benefits you can reap, especially in times of emergency like we saw this summer, will be far greater than the minimal time spent and required for you to sign up.

While the wildfires have been a major priority for our government this summer and for the people who are affected — it’s all been top of mind — the business of government has continued on. I’ve been working with ministry staff to fulfil the priorities of the mandate letter provided to me by Premier John Horgan. My goal is to create opportunities for B.C. farmers and food producers. That includes the export market, but it really focuses on a thoughtful, planned approach to growing the market here in British Columbia.

B.C. farmers, seafood and food processors deserve our support, not only for the fresh and healthy food that they provide us but because of the jobs, incomes and revenues that they create and the role they play economically and socially in so many of our communities across the province.

Our government will be taking a three-pronged approach to building opportunities and sales for B.C. farmers and food processors and those wishing to join the sector. We’re going to be supporting the full spectrum of B.C. food, seafood and value-added processing sectors by encouraging new entrants, increasing production and higher consumption of B.C. products. I’ve heard from B.C. farmers and food producers all around the province that are excited by the thoughtful, planned approach we are bringing, and I’m looking forward to seeing them get started.

The first pillar of our approach is Grow B.C. Grow B.C. will be centred on policies that support farmers and help B.C. producers expand local food production and include policies that support new entrants and young people getting into farming. British Columbians are so keen to grow local products, and we need to create opportunities to help people do just that. We need to support young people who are identifying farming as their chosen livelihood. We need to encourage them, and we to support them.

Two weeks ago I was able to meet some of our province’s future farmers at the Saanich fall fair, kids from around Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands who are learning the skills, responsibility and ethics necessary to become farmers. They are learning by doing through the 4-H program. Our government supports 4-H B.C., and we will continue to keep these future farmers in mind as we develop and implement Grow B.C. policies.

The part of our plan that will be the biggest game changer is Feed B.C. Feed B.C will increase the use of B.C. foods in hospitals and government facilities. The benefits are obvious. Not only will we be working to increase the sale of B.C. food products; we are working to increase the processing of B.C. foods as well. Creating a market demand for year-round B.C. food products in government facilities and communities around the province brings stability to our domestic market, and it supports opportunities to start to expand a farm or food business in communities right across the province.

Feed B.C. is a straightforward idea and plan, but it involves planning for and growing crops. Its implementation will take time, but it’s going to be worth it. Feed B.C. is going to be developed in terms and periods of time that make sense to farmers and food producers starting to expand operations. When the results of the program are seen, we know that it’s going to pay off.

Our government will take an innovative approach and will focus on working with B.C. food processors within our province. Previous governments have not done much to support the food processors within this province, even though food processors make up a large segment of the province’s manufacturing industry, creating good-paying, long-term jobs around the province.

Food processors will have a big role to play in our government’s Feed B.C. policy. We will work to ensure barriers for entry for small and medium-sized processors are minimized so we can eventually see B.C. foods in our hospitals, in our care homes and other public institutions.

[3:40 p.m.]

One way to support food processors is through the development of a food innovation centre, another mandate priority for the Ministry of Agriculture. The food innovation centre will be a model of collaboration with industry, colleges, universities and government colleagues, with the clear goal of creating opportunities for B.C.’s food sector. The centre will support agriculture technology in B.C. and the creation and adoption of products and practices that lead to innovation in the production, processing, packaging and marketing of B.C. food. It will also serve as a centre to build on B.C. agriculture, seafood and food exports and link local food producers with the marketing and access advice and support they need to reach and grow in world markets.

While it will take some time to develop the food innovation centre, we are taking small steps right now to support small and medium-sized food processors as they try and scale up their businesses. Helping them as they work towards increased revenues often correlates with increased employment, and we know that food processors can create their products and jobs throughout our entire province.

The third pillar includes an enhanced buy-B.C. marketing program to help local producers market their products and increase their sales in British Columbia. B.C. products are some of the best in the world, and we need to do more to help British Columbians understand the impact their choices to support local agriculture and seafood companies have in our province.

Buy B.C. offers the value of mass marketing and a brand that everyone can recognize and everyone can support. The Buy B.C. program was an incredible success in the 1990s, and even though it hasn’t been supported in 16 years, British Columbians still recognize it, and they still want it. That’s the power of a successful brand, and that’s the power of a good program. We are going to be bringing it back with some enhancements that fit in with modern life and technology.

Consumers buying B.C. products results in high-quality, great-tasting meals on our tables and healthy, diverse communities in our province, and that deserves our attention and our support. We believe that agriculture has the potential to unlock prosperity in every corner of the province.

Agriculture and food production contributes to so much in our society in terms of food supply, economic activity and community strength, and to encourage it, we need two things: secure farmland and secure farmers. Secure farmland is achievable by revitalizing our agricultural land reserve. In B.C., we only have 5 percent of our land base designated as an agricultural land reserve. That’s only about 47,000 square kilometres. It was put in place in 1973 to protect our food-growing lands for the future, and that future is right now.

I understand that B.C. farmers are excited about the changes to the ALR and the ALC that will make their lives and businesses better, and I’m excited by them, too. But policy and legislative changes will take some time, and we’re going to take that time to make sure we get it right. My expectation of the ALC is that they will uphold their mandate of protecting farmland and encouraging farming, and we will be looking at changes to make both parts of their mandate much easier.

This is not about the decision-making process of the commission. Their decision-making is independent of government, and I respect and support that completely. The revitalization will look more at ways we can make it easier and more efficient for the commission to fulfil their mandate of protecting farmland and encouraging farming.

Small businesses are the heart and soul of our rural communities. They create jobs, they support families, and they grow local economies. We believe that agriculture should have a starring role in renewing our rural communities, and our policies reflect that vision.

My commitment to B.C. farmers, seafood producers and food processors is clear. I am here to work for your success. And my commitment to British Columbians is clear. I am here as the Minister of Agriculture to work to build a better B.C. through growing economic, social and community benefits that agriculture and food production bring.

[3:45 p.m.]

Our government’s throne speech and subsequent budget update set out our vision and our plan for a better B.C. We’re getting to work on things that matter most to British Columbians: making life more affordable, fixing the services that people can count on, developing a strong, sustainable economy that works for everyone. It will take time to fix the problems that have been left behind, but our government is committed to getting it done.

Deputy Speaker: Minister, please be reminded that given names are not in use in the chamber.

J. Thornthwaite: On behalf of my constituents in North Vancouver–Seymour, it is with great pleasure that I rise in the House today to respond to the budget update this second session of the 41st parliament. I’d like to congratulate and welcome all the new MLAs on both sides of the House, as well as welcome back those MLAs for whom session is more familiar.

To begin, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my constituency assistants back in North Vancouver. Nick Hosseinzadeh and Stephanie Marshall-White. Nick and Stephanie both work tirelessly to help my constituents, day in and day out. I’m grateful to have such great staff back in my riding to represent me.

I’d also like to thank my new staff here at the Legislature: Steven Lee, my legislative assistant; Dion Weisner, my research officer; and Sean Roberts, my communications officer. All of these staffers are invaluable to the work we all do here as MLAs, and I’m very grateful for the work that they do on my behalf.

Of course, I’m always grateful for the patience and support that is shown to me by my family. My children are very understanding of my commitments that come with this position, and I’m grateful for their support, understanding and encouragement.

Last and perhaps most importantly, I’d like to acknowledge and thank the residents of North Vancouver–Seymour who, year after year, I am so privileged to represent. Our riding is one of the most beautiful places in the province, and it is an honour to have the opportunity to serve here as MLA for my third term.

There is no question that it’s been an unusually busy summer politically — a new coalition Green-NDP government, new leadership for our party and a leadership race announced for the new year. I, however, have been no less busy serving as MLA, engaging with my constituents throughout the riding. This is what being an MLA is all about. This has and always will remain constant.

Over the course of the summer, I’ve been grateful to have the opportunity to meet with hundreds of North Shore community leaders, capacity builders, regional and federal government officials, as well as everyday, hard-working constituents at various meetings and at the great many events that I attend throughout the North Shore.

Looking back, it was a pleasure to join colleagues, local organizations and the community at large at the opening ceremony for phase 2 of the Seymour River Rockslide Mitigation Project on July 6. Thank you to the Seymour Salmonid Society for all their work in helping get this project up and running. I was very happy to be able to provide assistance from our government on this vital project for salmon conservation.

We had a very informative Summer Social on the Sea, which was hosted by North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the port of Vancouver. It’s important to mention that the port of Metro Vancouver is Canada’s largest and most diversified port in North America, and North Vancouver is the second largest within Metro Vancouver. The port facilitates trade with more than 160 global trading economies and handles approximately 135 million tonnes of cargo worth $184 billion each year.

Those of you who know me know that I’ve long been a local supporter of our LGBTQ community. And certainly, I was involved with many leaders in my role as parliamentary secretary for child and youth mental health and anti-bullying. I marched with the Foundation of Hope in the Vancouver Pride Parade this summer, an organization that helps LGBTQ refugees fleeing from countries where people are persecuted for their sexual orientation. I also attended Prance on the Pier, which was the first annual pride event on the North Shore.

I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the Capilano University students union for hosting their annual government relations luncheon on Aug. 25. We had a wonderful meeting with the new executive members, talking about student housing and transportation.

September 1 was student move-in day at the Capilano University students’ brand new residence on Dollarton Highway. It was great to be able to greet people as they were moving into their dorms. I attended Cap U’s September 5 street party, where there were welcome booths, entertainment, activities and food trucks on campus, celebrating all that is great about Cap U. I would like to thank our new president, Paul Dangerfield, for making us all feel really, really good about Cap U.

[3:50 p.m.]

Finally, I’d also like to thank Patrick and Noah from the Capilano Students Union Association for coming in to watch the budget a couple of days ago. But they were disappointed, they mentioned, not to see any mention of student housing in the budget, nor the elimination of interest rates for student loans, something that was promised by the NDP in the election.

I’ve been a huge champion for B.C.’s film industry, and it’s been a busy summer for film on the North Shore. No project bigger than War for the Planet of the Apes, which spent over $81 million in the province, $45 million of which went to local cast, crew and extras. This is just another great B.C. film success story. But what else is going on in B.C. film? This morning on the news I heard a story about the production Elsewhere being filmed in Sooke, and, of course, my personal favourite, Riverdale, with Betty and Jughead, also in the news.

But there are others. There was the Rock, a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson, filming Skyscraper; Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn on Dragged Across Concrete, and our favourites Once Upon a Time and, again, Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow. Those are only a few that are currently getting filmed right now.

While I have become accustomed to providing a budget speech response, today’s response as a member of the official opposition is an obvious difference for me than my other responses. But what has not changed, despite responding to the budget update from the other side of the chamber, is the specialness of our province.

Here in British Columbia, we’re blessed with abundant natural resources that remain one of the key pillars of our provincial economy. We have evolved as a province into a highly advanced centre for technology, high tech, film and many other industries that drive the global economy.

A budget update speech provides an opportunity for government to lay out a framework and a vision. It also provides an opportunity to talk about how that vision will become a reality. After 16 years of strong fiscal management, we left this new government with B.C. leading the country in economic performance. We left this government with the lowest unemployment in the country and a diversified economy that offers opportunities for all.

After five years of balanced budgets, this newly aligned coalition government has inherited an economy that is the envy of the rest of the country. Just weeks ago, the Auditor General confirmed exactly that. But there is a caution. We just found recently, in the last day or so, from Moody’s, commenting on the eliminating of the tolls on the Port Mann and the Golden Ears: “The government’s plan, as an isolated action, is credit-negative, as it will increase taxpayer-supported debt and remove a dedicated line of revenue for debt repayment.”

Today we just heard DBRS: “At this time, British Columbia continues to have one of the strongest credit profiles of Canadian provinces, and it is not at immediate risk of a negative rating action. However, this fiscal policy direction reduces flexibility within the credit profile and suggests that social and programmatic considerations are likely to trump deficit reduction if the province’s fiscal plan is challenged by an economic correction.”

What we don’t want is this new NDP government to kill B.C.’s record on job creation and turn back time on years of historic economic growth. When it comes to creating wealth so it can be shared with British Columbians, the government is silent. They talk about an economy that works for everyone, but so far, all we have heard is to create an economy where no one is working or will be working.

Where is the plan to grow the economy and continue our strong record we created on jobs? Where is the plan to generate revenue, attract investment and expand our provincial export markets? Instead, we have a government that threatens Site C and cancels the Massey Tunnel bridge replacement, a government that is depending on taxes that will amount to nearly $1 billion over three years.

Let’s talk about affordability. Who’s going to pay for all of those promises? Obviously, it’ll be all of us, in the form of taxes. There is also a real fear, as I mentioned before, about our credit rating being reduced. The quotes that I mentioned before confirm that.

As many in this House know, I am passionate about mental health and wellness. It’s long been a priority for me, and it was a strong priority for our former government. We made record investments in mental health and substance use, increasing funding by 67 percent over 2000-2001 levels.

[3:55 p.m.]

We want that trend to continue. In 1998, the last NDP government announced a $125 million, seven-year health plan, but they failed to fund it. They also announced a new Thompson-Okanagan-Kootenay mental health facility four times — four times — but never followed through. So there are risks of economic slowdown and these have tangible effects on British Columbians.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members.

J. Thornthwaite: That’s why it’s so important to ensure that we have a plan to grow the economy, and that’s something missing from this budget speech — the other half of the equation.

While I join my colleagues throughout the House in hoping that we can continue to see expanded mental health services, I implore my colleagues on the other side to make sure B.C. has the finances in place to be able to support those promises. The work is too important not to.

This summer I was honoured to be appointed the official opposition critic for the new Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions by our new interim leader. I congratulate this new government on the appointment of this new ministry.

In both my roles, as Parliamentary Secretary for Child Mental Health and Anti-Bullying and Chair of the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth, I saw this issue firsthand, and it is very near and dear to my heart.

As Chair of the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth, I led a two-year special project on mental health, culminating in an interim report in November 2014 and a final report in January of 2016, titled Concrete Actions for Systemic Change. It was one of the most comprehensive reports on child and youth mental health in B.C., and I’m proud that many of the recommendations were subsequently adopted by our government. In fact, one of the key recommendations in this report, no doubt, led to the new Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions in this new government.

In my new critic role, I have been meeting with experts in the fields of health, addiction, recovery and mental health to better understand the opioid crisis and to find out what the best practices are in prevention, treatment and recovery of mental health and addictions.

I was fortunate, just at the beginning of this week, to have an update by Val Tregillus, who’s the project director of Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Collaborative. I’m so pleased with how their work has helped to show how adverse childhood experiences, ACEs, can influence physical and mental health across generations and that treatments are beginning to be implemented provincewide.

I also had a very informative meeting and facility tour with Marshall Smith from the Cedars Society and executive director for the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, talking about the state of addiction recovery services in British Columbia. It was great hearing from the experts and those with lived experience in the field about what more needs to be done to help those in recovery and how to better focus on recovery for all those who seek help now.

I attended Recovery Day last weekend with many others, including the minister, wishing to highlight the need to destigmatize addiction. No doubt our new Minister of Finance is very proud of her son for speaking out publicly about his struggles with addiction, with the goal of helping others. I also met with the new Canadian Mental Health Association North and West Vancouver branch executive director, Julia Kaisla. We talked about intervention and reaching youth with mental health challenges early and getting them the help when they needed it.

I’ll be looking forward to the improvement of not just access services or treatment but also preventable measures for young children in the schools. Our North Shore medical health officer Dr. Mark Lysyshyn and I also discussed the opioid crisis and mental health. Dr. Lysyshyn made an interesting connection about how many kids arrive at school ready to read and write, but they aren’t prepared for the social challenges that come with attending school for the first time. And, yes, even on the North Shore.

Remember the FRIENDS program I talked about when I was parliamentary secretary? This school-based resiliency and anti-anxiety program conducted by teachers in the classroom is delivered to all children in the classroom and is available provincewide in both public and independent schools, and it’s funded by MCFD. I hope this new government will continue to promote this valuable program to B.C. teachers.

I also had a very informative meeting with Abbotsford’s chief constable, Bob Rich. We spoke about his recent report, The Opioid Crisis: The Case for Prevention, and the importance of bringing preventative strategies into the school curriculum at an earlier age for children. We spoke about increasing services for treatment on demand and follow-up for those who have overdosed or who are addicted and want assistance.

[4:00 p.m.]

I had the chance to sit down with Janice Lilley and Nancy Ford from the North Shore Schizophrenia Society to talk about the wide variety of services they offer and how they are expanding around the Lower Mainland. We dove deep into discussing the current gaps in the system for those with mental illness and their families.

It is always a pleasure and was nice to catch up with a true trail-blazer, constituent and change-maker, Keli Anderson, president and CEO of FamilySmart. Their organization is leading the way in improving child and youth mental health in B.C. and Canada and helping families navigate complex programs and services at all levels. If you don’t know about them yet, check them out at familysmart.ca.

Tanis Evans and Shannon McCarthy from Vancouver Coastal Health came to visit me in my Lynn Valley office. Tanis is the manager for the Carlile Youth Concurrent Disorder Centre and the soon-to-be-officially-open Foundry North Shore. Shannon is the new director of mental health and substance use at the state-of-the-art HOpe Centre at Lions Gate Hospital. There was lots to discuss, highlighting that early intervention, assessment and treatment are key. I was very proud to be recognized by the chair of the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation as being an advocate for the third floor, which is dedicated to children and youth at the HOpe Centre, the Carlisle Centre.

Also near and dear to my heart is the work being done by Foundry. I met with Dr. Steve Mathias, the executive director of Foundry and co-department head of the department of psychiatry at St. Paul’s Hospital several years ago, when the idea of a one-stop shop dedicated to youth and families was just a dream. Foundry was there for one of the recommendations that our Select Standing Committee for Children and Youth project on mental health recommended to be adopted by government. I’m proud that our government did agree and expand to 11 sites provincewide.

Foundry North Shore is a new hub for integrated health and social supports for young people between the ages of 12 and 24, a critical time of transition for many young people. Foundry focuses on providing early intervention for mental health or substance use challenges, preventing those challenges from worsening and developing into a crisis. They are home to interdisciplinary teams of medical and social service providers offering a holistic approach to service delivery in one location. Foundry has an on-line platform for young people to share their stories and help each other.

As the local MLA and parliamentary secretary, I was proud to be able to help secure government funding for the North Shore centre in lower Lonsdale, close to the John Braithwaite Community Centre. I attended the soft opening a few months ago, and I look forward to getting a personal invitation from the minister of today on coming to the new opening in a week or so.

Before I leave the issue of mental health and addictions, I’d like to comment on the Recovery Capital Conference of Canada that I attended last week. I attended the minister’s speech which, minus the undeserved criticism of our government’s work on mental health, was a very good speech. But the keynote speaker who spoke afterwards, Dr. Goulão, the director general on addictive behaviors and dependencies under the Ministry of Health in Portugal, who discussed, during the conference, Portugal’s model to drug policy, said to the minister, “I hope you can put into practice what you said in your speech,” which, of course, is the point.

I congratulate this government’s appointment of the separate ministry for mental health and addictions and wish our new minister well, but I will be watching closely to ensure the seamless and integrated services on the ground are delivered to people when they need it.

Traffic, without a doubt, is the number one issue on the North Shore. Since 2015, our B.C. Liberal government, along with our federal and local counterparts, committed over $1.5 billion on transportation upgrades in the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley, investing in everything from highways and bridges to airports, cycling infrastructure and transit. We need the finances to do that, and we need to continue to support the jobs and projects that allow us to make these kinds of investments.

While this budget speech touches on the importance of transit, it’s vague on the details of what the new government actually intends to do differently, apart from saying no to projects that British Columbians are counting on.

I just wanted to put in a little plug for the last budget, the $198 million that we were able to secure, along with all levels of government — provincial, federal and the district of North Vancouver — to fix the number one traffic nightmare that those of us on the North Shore suffer from at the bottom of The Cut at the north end of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge. More often than not, it’s backed up past Lonsdale or Westview. There’s been frantic work going on right now on the much-needed Mountain Highway interchange at the bottom of The Cut, and we can all see that construction happening.

[4:05 p.m.]

This is not only going to make things better for all of us, as far as getting around, but it’s also putting all of those people to work building those new interchanges. While it is gratifying to hear the new member for North Vancouver–Lonsdale congratulate my work on getting this project on our government’s priority list and equally gratifying to see the construction today, you can be certain that, moving forward, I’ll be holding this current government to account to see that this four-phase project is not mothballed or cancelled, as they did with the Massey Tunnel replacement bridge.

Like the proposed Massey Tunnel replacement bridge, this four-phase project — and we’re only on the first phase — has overwhelming support of all the constituents of the North Shore. Like the proposed Massey Tunnel bridge replacement, this interchange is too important for those who are relying on its completion to ease their burdensome commutes and get home safely to their families. I implore this new government to fulfil the promises with this four-phase project.

But roads are not the long-term answer to getting rid of congestion. You can’t build yourself out of congestion.

Just this morning on the news, it was reported that because of paving on the highway near Lonsdale Avenue — I have no idea why they were doing that right during rush hour — traffic travelling west from Kensington was backed up. So the people that were going perhaps to the North Shore or maybe downtown were stuck all the way up to Kensington. How many of those people stuck in their cars going nowhere were headed to work on the North Shore?

We know that North Vancouver businesses are already struggling to find baristas, municipal workers. The school district is struggling to find teachers. Lions Gate Hospital is struggling to find nurses. Cap U is struggling to find professors. Because it’s a key issue with transporting workers to and from the North Shore. We need to do a better job of connecting transit to affordable housing.

It is my belief that we need to begin initiating a dialogue with municipal leaders, all of us — North Shore stakeholders, this government, other levels of government — to start a conversation about what the future of transit on the North Shore will look like.

I’d like to suggest that we start having serious discussions about bringing SkyTrain to the North Shore near the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge. In our government’s last throne speech, there was support for a feasibility study on major new expansion projects, including light rapid transit to the North Shore as well as up to Squamish. I don’t think it’s too early or too ambitious to start talking about connecting the North Shore to SkyTrain.

How about all those people today stuck on Highway No. 1, past Kensington, travelling west? How much better it would be if they had access via SkyTrain from that area to the North Shore. We need to continue enhancing our transit systems, ensuring people have transportation options that are efficient, reliable, safe and affordable. Speaking about affordable, it is time we started connecting, as I said, the issue of transit to the issue of affordability. It’s a serious issue on the North Shore and in urban British Columbia to begin with.

We recognize that affordability in Metro Vancouver and the Lower Mainland is a significant concern. While we are thankful that so many want to make B.C. their home, we need to ensure that we will help lessen the affordability stressors. That means we need to continue investing in our communities in a sustainable manner. Housing is another big part of ensuring we continue to do that. Many people of my generation worry about how their children will be able to afford their first home, close to them on the North Shore. They won’t, unless we start having grown-up conversations about the type of housing we will collectively allow in our communities.

In my opinion, the single most important action governments can take to make housing more affordable is to work with local governments and the private sector to increase the supply. I, along with my colleagues from the North Shore, have a strong track record of working with our North Vancouver mayors and our federal government counterparts.

In fact, when I was in government, I organized our first meeting with these groups — all levels of government, along with our Minister for TransLink and our Minister of Housing — recognizing the intricate relationship between affordable housing, housing affordability for all of our citizens, as well as the ability for people to get around on transit. Again, if people can’t afford to live on the North Shore, then they need to get back and forth to the North Shore to be able to work.

[4:10 p.m.]

Another issue I heard about at the doors was 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. While there was a firm commitment from this government to bring forth $10-a-day child care, that has now somehow disappeared and is being replaced by an ambiguous, less-specific universal child care. When will this happen, and how will it be paid for? Again, the devil is in the details. This is one of the most important issues that has been recognized by all levels in this House, but we need to come up with a plan that is affordable.

We need answers as to how the new government intends to pay for these improvements they have promised — whether or not they’ve promised those promises in the election platform — and how they will come to fruition.

In conclusion, to wrap up, there are many serious things missing in this budget that were promised in the platform. From campaign finance reform to specific commitments on child care to interest-free student loans to tangible relief for B.C. renters, the issues that the NDP have chosen not to address are glaring. The good news for British Columbians, though, is that our experienced B.C. Liberal team is ready to hold the new Green-NDP team to account.

I’m up for the new challenge, and I look forward to continuing this discussion and standing up for both my constituents and all British Columbians.

R. Singh: It is my honour to stand here in the House today and offer my thoughts on Budget 2017.

It is my first speech in the House, and first of all, I would like to thank the workers of Surrey–Green Timbers and all my volunteers who helped me get elected and come to this House. It is my honour to speak on their behalf. Also, I would like to thank my campaign team, who worked tirelessly over a number of days to help me get elected. Also, I would like to thank my family — my husband, Gurpreet; my children, Kautak and Shaista; and my parents, Sulekha and Raghbir, for their constant support.

Like many of my constituents, I came to Canada, in 2001, as a new immigrant. It was a very hard time. I remember how hard it was — settling down in a new country, finding jobs, finding child care for my child, finding housing — and the struggles that I went through. But over the last 16 years, I feel that life has become even harder for people. For too long, many people could not get the services they needed or afford to live here.

I’m glad that after 16 years, we have put out a budget that is putting people first and making life better for families all across B.C. Our budget is trying to bring people up by increasing the disability and income assistance rates by $100 per month and putting in funding to develop a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy.

I have talked to many families in my community of Surrey–Green Timbers, and affordability is a huge issue for them. Many families work long hours, and some of them work two or three jobs and still find it difficult to manage. I remember talking to a family who were living in a basement suite. They had come to Canada about eight years ago. They had a dream to buy a house, but they felt that dream was getting farther and farther away. They were, in fact, having issues in paying their rent as well.

Our government is getting started on a comprehensive plan to make housing more affordable for people, to close speculation loopholes and to reduce tax fraud and money laundering in B.C. real estate. In this budget, our government is taking the first critical steps by investing $208 million over four years to support the construction of more than 1,700 new units of affordable rental housing in communities across the province and providing $291 million to support the construction of 2,000 modular housing units for people who are homeless.

In the last few months, my constituency staff have heard many stories from renters who are being harassed by their landlords. They are mostly vulnerable people who have a number of barriers in getting their voices heard. I would like to thank my staff for advocating on their behalf.

[4:15 p.m.]

Our government is also addressing such issues by putting $7 million over three years for the residential tenancy branch to ensure that renters are treated fairly in this province and that the rights and responsibilities of both renters and landlords are clearly understood.

Our government will also be reducing the MSP premiums by half, starting January 2018, which is another step towards making life affordable. This will save couples up to $900 and an individual up to $450. Many people in my community are doing precarious, casual part-time jobs, and they don’t have benefit coverage from work. This announcement from our government will come as a relief to so many of them.

The elimination of tolls on the Port Mann Bridge and Golden Ears Bridge was effective September 1. In the last few weeks, I have talked to so many people who are so excited about this. Most of them felt that these tolls were not fair; they were affecting people living in just certain communities.

I remember talking to a woman who was working and taking the Port Mann Bridge. She had a young child that she was leaving in child care, and she was really frustrated with the money she had to pay on the tolls. She was wondering if it was even worth leaving her child behind and going and working and spending all that money on child care as well as on tolls. My friend Raman, a school teacher in Maple Ridge school district, is very happy about the government’s decision about eliminating tolls. Now she will have more money in her pocket to spend on her family.

We all know that children are our future. A kindergarten-to-grade-12 education system is a fundamental service that needs sustained investments to help our children succeed. As a mother of two children studying in the public school system, I — like many other parents — worry about my kids’ education, as the public education system was neglected by the previous government for far too long. I have heard from so many parents who were worried about the overcrowded classrooms as well as lack of funding in the school system.

In this budget, $681 million has been allocated over three years to help our kids get the education they deserve, with smaller class sizes, more resources and the supports they need to succeed, including hiring approximately 3,500 new teachers.

We have seen the human and social costs of the fentanyl crisis continue to grow as more lives are lost to a preventable opioid crisis. In Surrey, we lost 71 lives to this crisis last year. Every time somebody loses a life, it is somebody’s dear one who’s out there. This epidemic is taking its toll, not only on the families but also on the first responders as well.

Our government is making it a priority and investing $322 million to provide an immediate response to the fentanyl emergency, with prevention, early intervention, treatment and recovery efforts, along with a new Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions.

In my community of Surrey–Green Timbers, and I’m sure in many other communities across B.C., seniors greatly help in raising our kids. I can say that for myself, and I really want to acknowledge my mother, Sulekha, who takes care of my children while I come and work here. They teach them their language, heritage and human values, such as sharing, respect and dialogue. They are both protectors of our shared future and preservers of our shared culture.

Any investment to enhance services for our seniors is the right way of recognizing their contributions to the progress of our society. I’m so glad that our government is putting an investment of $189 million over three years to help our seniors with improved home and residential care.

[4:20 p.m.]

This budget is committed to creating a sustainable economy. We are putting $90 million into the restoration of adult basic education and English language learning so that the members of our community don’t have barriers to access these services and to help them get good jobs.

We are also committed to increasing the minimum wage to $15. Creating a fair wages commission is a step towards helping this province’s lowest-paid workers receive a fair wage. We’re working with businesses on how to transition in a way that benefits both employees and business.

Overall, I think this budget is all about fairness. For far too long, the people of British Columbia were left behind. The previous government was just taking care of the 2 percent population at the top, whereas the average British Columbian did not get what they deserved. With this budget, we are working with everybody together and taking them along to create a better B.C.

A. Weaver: It gives me great pleasure to rise to speak to this budget, Budget 2017.

Before I start, please let me acknowledge the years of service that the former Premier, Christy Clark, gave to the Legislature. It is not without great personal sacrifice that someone serves as Premier of our province. For that, I would suggest all British Columbia should be thankful and honoured that she served in such a way.

Now, I recognize that I’m sitting on the other side of this Legislature here, but I wish the Speaker to know that I do remain in opposition, although we have come to an agreement, through the confidence and supply agreement, with the B.C. NDP to support a B.C. NDP–led minority government. Please let me offer some highlights as to how we got there and why I’m speaking in strong support of this particular budget.

In the last election, the B.C. Green Party ran by offering British Columbians a vision on which to build a growing economy in the 21st century. We ran on ensuring that the health and well-being of British Columbians were put first and foremost in decision-making. We ran on building a sustainable economy, and we ran on strengthening trust in the government. In essence, we ran on the slogan of “Change you can count on.” I would argue it has turned into change you can count on for a better B.C.

The platform we presented this past spring articulated our philosophy, our vision and the actions that we believed could enrich the lives of all British Columbians. We were enthusiastic about an innovative and sustainable private sector, and we know that the health and well-being of British Columbians are inextricably linked to the economy. We believe that government should ensure that people are not just a factor of production, working for the economy, but rather, that the economy is working for people.

We recognize that life is getting harder for many British Columbians. We believe there is another way forward — one where people enjoy economic security in the new and emerging gig economy, one where our province’s resources are managed sustainably and one where equity is a fundamental value of government that operates in the best interests of this generation and future generations.

The B.C. Green platform set out a bold plan to achieve this vision. It was grounded in economic security and sustainability in the full and truest sense, we would argue. It provided clear steps, based on evidence, to move us towards greater well-being for all British Columbians.

If we’re going to make B.C. a more prosperous place for all people — not just those who it already is prosperous for but all people — we need to eliminate the fear of income insecurity, which has debilitating impacts on people’s health and well-being. We need to take our role as stewards of the environment seriously. We need to reset the relationship between people and government, and communities and government. And we need to embrace the new economy and take measures to ensure that we all share in the benefits and that no one is left behind.

This is what we ran on, but we didn’t form a majority government. The B.C. Liberals ran on a different platform. They did not form a majority government. The B.C. NDP ran on something different. They did not receive a majority government.

[4:25 p.m.]

All parties presented different ideas that resonated with some people — not all people but some people — and some communities — not all communities but some communities. None of us, clearly, had the right mixture to encapture a majority of British Columbians. That was indicated in the election results.

Instead, we have before us a minority government, one that I truly believe has the potential to be far more than the sum of its parts if parties choose to work together. We have something to offer on behalf of all British Columbians that voted for each of our visions for this province. We have a lot of shared priorities, and as the throne speech — the one that was produced in the summer — shows, there’s a lot of commonality in these shared priorities.

As we saw today through the introduction of legislation in a private member’s motion, we see an emergence and an agreement on the general principles of eliminating big money in B.C. politics. I think there are lots of commonalities there that we can build upon. No one party will have all the solutions, but together we might be able to represent our different constituencies and work towards good public policy if we truly want to put good public policy front and centre in our decision-making instead of partisanship.

I think this budget is actually a great example of starting that in the right direction. It includes initiatives from all three parties. It was built fundamentally on the foundation of the B.C. Liberals’ February budget, and it retains a number of the very positive aspects of that February budget, such as the $20 million in funding the Liberals had announced in February for 4,100 new child care spaces. It also includes some important NDP priorities, like the $291 million investment to build, and the $170 million additional investment to operate, 2,000 new modular housing units for the homeless. This is a good initiative.

It features, also, some B.C. Green–led initiatives, like the importance of the emerging economy, through the creation of an emerging economy task force and an innovation commission and through recognition that it’s important to get politics out of minimum-wage price-setting and to create a fair wages commission, much akin to what exists in Australia, to make recommendations to government on the path towards setting minimum wage. So $15 by 2021 was the B.C. NDP platform. The B.C. Green platform was to actually put it to the fair wages commission and, also, to actually move towards the concept of a basic income.

What we have in this confidence and supply agreement is a recognition that for the B.C. NDP, $15 is an important number. I understand that. We understand that. But why by 2021? Why not, perhaps, consider other alternatives?

Why would, perhaps, an independent commission not explore options after engagement with stakeholders about, perhaps, a system whereby the minimum wage might actually be different in Metro Vancouver relative to, say, the region of Port Hardy? Just making two states up. One might be more appropriate in Penticton — to have a minimum wage that’s slightly different from the minimum wage in Burnaby. This is something that we should let a fair wages commission explore, to make recommendations to government, the ultimate decision-maker. I think this is a bold step forward that only would happen as we brought together and came together to share ideas.

Working with the B.C. NDP over the past several months has been a meeting of these ideas, I would argue. Going forward, I hope that the B.C. Liberals also share this importance, too, particularly in light of the fact…. And I’ll come to that. I see the member for Prince George–Valemount look at me oddly. I would like to recognize that this did work as well. The Prince George–Valemount member knows full well that I thoroughly respected working with her, and continue to do so, on issues there. I think we have a lot of commonalities here.

But what we have to do…. We have an election coming up — sorry, not an election, a referendum. With respect to my colleagues on this side of the House, that was clearly a slip.

Interjections.

A. Weaver: Well, we do have a by-election coming up. The members opposite got very, very excited, hon. Speaker, over that slip-up.

[4:30 p.m.]

We have a referendum coming up on the issue of proportional representation. Now, I understand that there’s a diversity of views in this House. There’s a diversity of views in the general public. But wouldn’t it be fascinating to show this province that a minority government can work by building on the good ideas from all political parties in the lead-up to a referendum on proportional representation?

I’d like to look a little bit further at some of the budget highlights, just to bring a focus on some specifics that I would like to applaud and some that I will say we don’t agree with. The budget provisions for education, child care, affordable housing and essential services are long overdue.

Now, I recognize, in speaking with members opposite and in listening to the throne speech, that the B.C. Liberal caucus heard that message loud and clear and came to us in the summer with the revised version of what we had expected to hear in a throne speech. They heard that from the people of British Columbia, particularly the people of the Metro Vancouver region, which is hurting because of the affordability issue. Those on the government side have also heard that and need to pay heed to the concerns of those in Metro Vancouver suffering under the issue of affordability.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

I’m also delighted to see the implementation of a pathway towards the elimination of MSP. This has been an initiative we’ve been championing in the B.C. Green caucus — well, the caucus was really small up until now — for the last number of years. The first approach, using the B.C. Liberal budget of February, was to cut them by half this year. Something we can all get behind. It was in the B.C. Liberal budget. The B.C. NDP have agreed to it. We support it.

If we believe that we want to work on our commonalities and build upon that which we agree upon, the disagreements, of which there are some, are considered minor. I’ll continue with this to show how the CAS agreement came to be.

I’ll be straight up honest. After four years in opposition…. It was tough times going there, with the rest of the opposition. After an election campaign that I would describe as quite ugly and personal to me by the government now, I didn’t think it would be very easy for me to see a way that we could come together. I did not see that, but since the face-to-face meetings with the Finance Minister and the Premier, I’ve seen just how much we share in terms of our commonality, our vision and how we want to put good public policy and people first.

I will say that the working relationship that the small B.C. Green caucus has with the existing government has been nothing short of exceptional. For that, we are very, very grateful.

I’d like to go on and talk about a few more budget highlights that I think are important. I am a big fan of living within your means. I applaud the B.C. Liberals’ fiscal prudence in terms of producing balanced budgets. Now, I recognize that there’s some question as to how the budget was balanced in terms of priorities being made — increasing rate hikes versus personal tax rates, for example. But the fiscal prudence that was brought to British Columbia is something that I’m hoping — and we see in this budget — will be preserved under the present government, where a surplus budget to the tune of $246 million is projected for March 31, 2018, with a $300 million contingency built in as well.

The budget also plans to increase wealthy corporations and polluters, while providing more money for homelessness, rental housing and the overdose crisis. Now, I recognize the manifesto from the member for Chilliwack-Kent, the manifesto for the new leader of the B.C. Liberal Party, actually asks about a pathway to eliminate corporate income taxes. Frankly, I think this neo-liberal approach — if tax, then bad — has had its day. We saw that federally, where the federal Liberals won a strong majority, which no one expected, because they recognized that this neo-liberal approach — if corporation, then right; if tax, then wrong — has actually led to an income disparity between those who have and those who haven’t, which is not a healthy situation for any society to be in.

[4:35 p.m.]

We see in this budget steps taken to start to mitigate that. Moving from 11 to 12 percent in a corporate income tax rate is not something that’s going to create a big upset in corporate Canada. We heard some threats and fearmongering on the opposite side. I know many, many CEOs in many corporations in Canada, and to be quite frank, we’re one of the lowest — 11 percent to 12 percent.

They want to pay their share. If they pay their share…. They’re concerned that government uses their money in a manner that’s fiscally prudent. They want to have a stable environment. It’s not healthy for anybody when you have a homeless situation in Vancouver. It’s not helpful for anyone when there’s ongoing tension between Indigenous rights and title, local communities and corporations. Nothing gets done.

It’s critical that you start to value people, build from the bottom up to develop a society that, actually, corporations want to be part of, and we see that emerging in this budget through the creation of things like the innovation commission, the emerging economy task force and so forth.

One of the things in the budget that we are grateful to see is the commitment to develop a pilot project on basic income. This is critical as we move towards the gig economy, where the “one job, one life” idea of yesteryear becomes more and more precarious. People have more and more jobs in their lifetime with gaps in between, and the concept of basic income — one which would eliminate student debt, for example, one which eliminates the need for some programs down the road — is one that was experimented on in Dauphin, Manitoba, in the 1970s and one which was shown to eliminate poverty in Dauphin, Manitoba.

So we look to the poverty reduction plan being put forward during the coming months as a means and ways of identifying a pathway to the implementation of a basic income pilot project, and that’s a really exciting opportunity in British Columbia.

To the child care plan. The B.C. NDP campaigned on the $10-a-day child care plan. We campaigned on a zero-dollar-a day child care plan, with a change in the taxation system, together with 25 hours of early childhood education, which we know is the single most important, in terms of dollar-per-result, investment that you can make in a society for education — in those critical years, where the payback is being shown through research to be profound.

That doesn’t mean that these disagreements between the two platforms are anything other than semantics. Why $10 a day? Well, it was because an advocacy group that spent a lot of time doing a lot of research came up with a plan of $10 a day. But you could make…. The number ten — there’s nothing wedded to it. Zero a day, $10 a day, $15 a day. Why not means-test it? Would the CEO of a major corporation earning half a million dollars a year really need access to a child care system that’s free? I think their ability to pay should predetermine the amount that they actually get.

In our system, what we had approached is we had ensured that there was going to be no…. Money was not a barrier to access. Right now, if you access child care, you pay up front, and at the end of the year, you file your income tax return and you get a child care tax credit. That’s great. But that means you have to still pay up front, and for those struggling with affordability, that ability to pay up front is a barrier, which is why what we suggested is that you wouldn’t pay up front. It would be zero up front. At the end of the year, if you so choose to take advantage of this universal daycare program and you earned over $80,000 a year, it would be viewed as a taxable benefit. So if you could pay, you would pay, as opposed to not being able to access the system because of your inability to make your monthly rent.

Now, the economists involved in the development of the $10-a-day child care plan told us our plan was better. So why wouldn’t we actually want to sit and negotiate and talk with stakeholders and, in particular, the civil service, the civil service that this government has promised to reinvigorate, to listen to all of the ideas that are brought to the table to ensure that we build upon our shared values of the importance of universal daycare, universal child care, and that we find the most efficient, effective ways of doing that, where those who advocated on behalf of the $10-a-day program have their voice? But they’re not the only voice at the table. There are other voices as well. I’m excited that this will move forward.

As we move into these discussions, we know that the B.C. NDP will bring their $10-a-day child care program to the table. We’ll bring our refined zero dollars to the table. And we’ll discuss, hopefully with input from B.C. Liberals as well, as to how we can make this right, because we have the same shared value.

[4:40 p.m.]

That’s how good public policy is formulated. Good public policy is not taken from third-party advocacy groups and determined to be the policy. It’s by using and engaging and tasking the civil service to reflect upon the complex issues that are involved in the development of good public policy, and consulting with stakeholders and using their input to provide evidence and support for their development.

We see today a good example, in question period, where I pointed out that the minister now walking in was quite firm in electioneering that we would do this right away. But it’s much more complex than that, because there are jurisdictional issues. There are legal issues. There are time frame issues. It’s a lot more difficult to implement good public policy if you’ve promised the world out here. When you get in, it’s pretty important that you get it right.

That’s what we see our role here is, as a minority government. It’s that we have shared values that will ensure that the fundamental principles will be supported, but we’re there as a check, to work together to ensure that other views also get listened to. Frankly, it’s working very well so far. Here’s an example. It’s not no surprises, but…. We have in the agreement “no surprises and best practices.” If there was a surprise — it wasn’t really a surprise — it was a pleasant one.

In our election campaign, we campaigned on injecting $4 billion over four years into the public education system to ensure that those children in their early years had access to the services that they require in those critical formative years, those years where, over the last 16 years, cuts have been targeted — through the child psychologists, through the speech pathologists, for the in-class help for those children with special or alternate needs. That’s where the cuts have been.

We know that if we invest — what’s important is, I’m reiterating the word “invest” — in the support for our children in these critical years, we save. We get a return. We get a return when they age out and enter society, because we’re not having to pay for the social systems, the social crises, the things that we’re dealing with now, because we provided them services when they were young. It’s an investment with a rate of return that is difficult to quantify in me talking right now, but it is one that we know pays off based on cumulative evidence over many, many years.

Why I was pleased was that I saw, in the B.C. NDP platform, they had a little bit…. They had quite a lot, actually, for rebuilding schools but, apart from adult basic education, very little — something like $30 million for increased funding for the K-to-12 system — in the classroom, apart from that which was prescribed by the Supreme Court, which they agreed to implement — as, of course, we did.

To see this injection of new money into the education system precisely in the years when it’s needed is absolutely refreshing, in my view, and long overdue. We’re so grateful to see that there. Let’s take a look. It was $681 million, actually. In fact, $521 million of that — $521 million — was to provide for improved classroom supports for children, in addition to the capital funding which was there.

Interjection.

A. Weaver: The former Minister of Education claims that that was in his budget, that $681 million.

Interjection.

A. Weaver: If it was in your budget, I would like to give you credit for that, too, and I’d like to give the NDP credit for actually continuing forward with that. Our top priority has always been public education.

Interjections.

A. Weaver: They’re high-fiving across the floor. Isn’t this a wonderful Legislature that we have here today?

Interjection.

A. Weaver: We’re not in a coalition.

Let’s come to the fentanyl crisis. Now, the fentanyl crisis is another example of where we support the funding going in — $322 million dedicated to a comprehensive response, $265 million for the Ministry of Health, $32 million to increase police resources and address pressures at the B.C. Coroners Service and $25 million to establish a Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions.

Some of this, I recognize, was in the existing budget, but not the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions until we had the throne speech in the summer, where things changed with the B.C. Liberals. You know, dealing with the fentanyl crisis and this cost pressure here is something we’d like to see go to zero dollars.

[4:45 p.m.]

The reason why, over what we’re doing, is that we’re dealing with a crisis management point of view, but we haven’t been thinking, over recent years, about two aspects of mental health and addictions. One is the issue of prevention, and two is the issue of recovery. And within our negotiations and discussions, it was so very refreshing to see shared values and shared interest in actually supporting investment in prevention and recovery, with the hope that the investment in harm reduction is not needed down the road.

We’re dealing with harm reduction. I would argue we’re dealing with harm reduction costs today because of cuts to our K-to-12 system yesterday, where children did not have the resources they needed at critical junctures. Cuts to our social services and MCFD, because the children did not have the resources they needed when they were young. Cuts to first responders and others. Cuts to prevention. Cuts to recovery programs.

These cuts have created a crisis on our streets, which we’re now paying for in other means. So my dream would be to see this budget item of $322 million, through a comprehensive response, go to zero over the course of four years. We don’t want to be responding to a crisis. We want to be preventing it in the first place. And we want those in the crisis now to have a pathway to get out of that crisis. For that, I’m quite pleased with the discussions and the direction that this government is heading.

Housing. Again, another good example: $208 million over four years; 1,700 units of affordable rental housing; 291 over two years and over $170 million to operate the 2,000 lodging or housing units.

More importantly — well, maybe not more importantly. Also importantly is the $7 million for the residential tenancy branch to deal with the backlog of issues that are arising in that office. I don’t know how many constituents have come to my office with complaint after complaint after complaint about issues arising from either access to the residential tenancy branch or unfair decisions in terms of landlords who rent on yearly contracts and have outrageous requirements for taking those forward. This is another good investment that we strongly support.

As I said here, one of our goals, we believe, is coming back to the issue that nobody won a majority government. Therefore, we must we must build upon our shared values to find commonalities to move forward.

I was pleased not to see the $400-per-renter investment. And why I’d say that is there’s a shared value here. We share the values with government about the importance of affordability for renting. We would agree on an investment of $200 million, which is about what it would cost to do that. But I would argue, and the B.C. Green caucus would argue, that perhaps that is not the most effective way of dealing with the problem.

The problem is affordability. A $200 million distribution of cash with a bureaucratic overhead to administrate it, I would argue, is not effective. It’s akin to printing money, to the Bank of Canada saying: “We need people to have more money, so let’s print some more money.” The immediate response in economic terms is inflationary pressure, which causes inflation to go up, so you need to print more money.

It’s not too dissimilar from what would happen by just giving out money for rent. As landlords suddenly realize that renters have more access to capital to pay the rent…. In a zero percent rental rate market, all that happens is rents go up another $400. So we have to be very, very careful how we incentivize money distribution that way.

I was disappointed to not see the elimination of the encouragement that the B.C. Liberals gave for people to irresponsibly take on more debt than they were actually able to fund, through this outrageous loan program that allowed for a zero percent interest loan to encourage people to burden themselves with more debt than they could afford. But hopefully, down the road, this may or may not be removed.

Increasing the individual income tax rate for those earning $150,000, to 16.8 percent from 14.7 percent, while bemoaned by those opposite — and while certainly not consistent with the manifesto, the 65 items in the manifesto from the member for Chilliwack-Kent, for the next Liberal leader — it’s exactly what people want to pay. I have talked to person after person in my riding and across British Columbia. British Columbians don’t mind paying taxes.

[4:50 p.m.]

The neoliberal view of “no taxes is good” is dated. But they want to ensure that government uses their money wisely, which is why I found it very, very, very rich for this government to talk about their economic stewardship. They’ve been very, very good at branding the B.C. NDP as irresponsible fiscal managers. They’ve been saying the same thing, and people on the street think this. But when you look a little more carefully at their fiscal management, you’ve got to ask a few pointed questions.

The Site C dam. Why are you using taxpayer money to subsidize industry? Their view of good economic growth is using taxpayer money to subsidize corporate ventures. How is that free market? That’s picking winners and losers in the market.

Picking winners and losers — they picked the LNG. What a big mistake that was: 100,000 jobs, a $1 trillion increase to GDP, a $100 billion prosperity fund. That’s the winner they picked, and they went all in to do it. People were encouraged to build hotels in Terrace that are empty. They were encouraged to renovate their homes in Kitimat, because of this influx of new employees, that are empty.

With that, hon. Speaker, I do thank you. The only thing I wish in conclusion is that we had official party status already, because I could have talked for at least another hour and a half on this.

Hon. A. Dix: It’s a great honour for me to rise and speak in favour of the budget tabled by my colleague the Minister of Finance. It doesn’t get old or less enjoyable to say that: my colleague the Minister of Finance, the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill, who, I think, has done a remarkable job here of meeting both the enormous expectations of people who have waited for change for a very long time and delivering the kind of budget that will do exactly what the New Democratic Party campaigned on: to make life more affordable for people. This is important in these times.

No one in any constituency, of any political stripe, for all of the talk about the nature of the economy, fails to understand how difficult it is, whether you’re in Metro Vancouver or in Prince George, with rising costs, to make ends meet, to get the things for your children that you need, to be able to live in a living space that’s decent. These pressures are enormous on people, and the Minister of Finance has done, I think, a superb job in responding to those pressures.

We understand. I just want to put it in context, because I think that the big numbers sometimes — the huge cost, the huge effective tax cut in 2018 of the reduction in MSP premiums…. When we use the big numbers…. Even if you look and compare what the Liberal Party had proposed in an ill-conceived scheme that wasn’t going to work around MSP premiums in February, put together hastily before the election, $836 million more over the next three years is saved under the Minister of Finance’s plan.

In other words, for people, ordinary people, a family with children, two parents, we’re talking about a savings of $900 plus a savings, if they happen to use the Port Mann Bridge, of $1,500. These are real savings, savings they will be able to spend on their families to help to live their dreams and their aspirations. This is what making life more affordable is all about. It’s ensuring that people who are struggling with affordability, who are struggling in Metro Vancouver and across British Columbia, in every part of the province, with life that’s becoming more and more expensive on hydro rates and on ICBC rates, legacies of the previous government that affect B.C.’s balance sheet and its long-term fiscal and economic future on the one hand, and on the other hand, increasing costs….

[4:55 p.m.]

It took the Minister of Finance — I think she’s been Minister of Finance less than two months — to put together a plan to cut MSP premiums by 50 percent. People will know this. It took the previous government 16 years to double them. I go with our Minister of Finance over any other Minister of Finance we’ve had.

Of course, it means so much in my constituency of Vancouver-Kingsway, a constituency that is below average in terms of income but dramatically increasing in terms of costs, especially housing costs. When the Minister of Finance invests and creates jobs in this budget by investing in housing, housing that’s needed so that people can live near where they work…. They can spend more time with their kids. The housing plan in this budget, which is the first stage of the housing plan that this government intends to offer, will make a real difference to thousands and thousands of people, adults and children in British Columbia, and also address — in a fundamental way, in an important way — our commitment to end homelessness in British Columbia.

Both of those things in the budget are measures that invest in the economy, create jobs and ensure more affordable housing in our province. In this budget, capital investment that matters for people — that’s what’s in the budget. So on the broader issues of affordability, on housing, this is an excellent budget, and that matters in Vancouver-Kingsway.

On MSP premiums, this is an excellent budget — a vast improvement on the hastily put together budget before the last election. This is an excellent budget for small business people on Kingsway and every other main street in British Columbia. It means small businesses seeing a reduction in their taxes, over the next three years, of hundreds of millions of dollars as the result of measures in this budget introduced by the Minister of Finance. A job-creating measure that invests in our small business community — which, as everybody knows, creates jobs in every part of this province, family-supporting jobs everywhere — is in this budget.

So what we have is a budget that matters in my constituency. It matters with respect to public education. Because in this budget…. This is a long legacy. It’s a long legacy because it was a January weekend in 2002 when the previous government, as you know, fundamentally changed the nature of classroom education in British Columbia.

We talk about consultation. Bills were introduced on Friday. They were passed on Sunday. Eventually, that process led, years later…. By years later, I mean children who were not even in kindergarten when that decision was made in this place. If it was ever understood that the decisions and the debates we take in this place are important, think of that moment. Think of the implication for those children of those decisions.

What we have in this budget is a decision by a government to respect a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada that said what the previous government did was wrong. We need to reinvest money in classrooms in British Columbia to ensure — at a time when the children who go to Windermere and Gladstone and Graham Bruce and Renfrew and all of the schools in Vancouver-Kingsway and across British Columbia need their education more than ever before — that they will not be shortchanged. That’s what the Minister of Finance has put in this budget.

And those services, of course, extend into health care. I’m going to speak at greater length about health care shortly. But one of the most important measures that the Premier announced when he formed the new government was the creation of a new Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions. There’s always a debate about these things. This wasn’t the first time such a measure had taken place. In fact, the previous Premier to the last Premier, Mr. Campbell, had created a Minister of State for Mental Health, at one point, in 2001. And Dr. Cheema, a doctor from Surrey, was the minister responsible at the time.

But I would say that experiment, ultimately, was abandoned by the government. Our view and the Premier’s view was that this should not be a cosmetic change but a fundamental change, that we should create a Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions.

[5:00 p.m.]

I think what’s fair to say…. This is a societal question, not a partisan question. It’s a societal question, that we as a society, over the last decades, have not treated issues of mental health with the same response as issues of physical health. This is a fact.

This is all governments of all political stripes. So what the Premier has said here is this: “Lots of people talk about structural change. We will make the structural change work because there is good intention here.” I’ll be working very closely to support everything my colleague leads on in the new Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions because most of the services will be provided by the existing health authorities on the ground, as they should be.

You need to force change in a society. It is, of course, the issue of fentanyl and the deaths on our streets that is motivating, but it goes well beyond that. We know what impact it has on lives, on families and, indeed, on the economy when people who are suffering from mental illness see no way out. It harms all of us. It is an investment in all of our futures, however you measure progress.

Some people measure progress simply by economic growth. That’s one way to measure progress. But however you measure it — quality of life, response rate, participation in the community, lower infant mortality, lower rates of suicide, higher participation in the economy, all the ways that we might measure progress…. Whatever way you measure progress, we have to do better. It’s why the Premier made this of singular importance when he named the new government and why he named one of the most outstanding MLAs in this Legislature as Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. I’m proud to support that effort.

Important and significant in that effort, of course, is dealing with the immediate issues of the fentanyl crisis in our province. Just to understand it…. I mean, it is hard to understand it, I think, in individual terms. I met someone last week. We had a very significant meeting with First Nations across British Columbia. Members on both sides of the House were part of it. All three parties participated in that meeting. What we had were individual meetings with particular First Nations. The first meeting I had, the person told me that seven people in that First Nation, in that calendar year, had died from drug overdoses. That was their reality.

Across the province, we know it’s 125 deaths per month this year from drug overdoses. This requires of us a response, as citizens. As people in the province, we must reach out. We must care about this because these are our children, our parents, our brothers, our sisters, our friends and our fellow citizens. We must care about it, and we must respond.

I am so proud of the work the new minister has done working with the Minister of Finance to put together a package to respond to this. It’s $300 million, yes, over three years. We talk about those numbers. They matter. But it’s also help for people now who are suffering, help for people now who are being victimized by drugs on our streets that are effectively poison to them. It’s action that requires some police action, yes, but also treatment, support and making life safer. That’s what the Minister of Mental Health plans to do, and that’s what this budget is about. It’s why I am so proud to be voting in favour of these measures in this budget.

I want to say, because I think members on both sides of the House are working on this question, that the previous minister to me, who has gone on to other things, who retired from politics…. I make no judgment. He understood how important this issue was as well. I think he would support an additional investment of $300 million that’s found in this budget.

I know members opposite will look at that part of the budget, and I hope, regardless of how they vote on the overall budget, they will express their support for that money because we can’t have it as a society — we can’t have this happening to our children, to our fellow citizens — without a response.

That’s what this budget is about. It’s a key aspect to it, and we are going to continue to work to make life better in the area of mental health and addictions. I’m proud, as Minister of Health, to support my colleague in that effort.

[5:05 p.m.]

I think, on those grounds, we have a budget that has succeeded. It’s made life more affordable, it’s providing services that are fundamental for people, and it’s supporting a growing economy. It makes a difference in a growing economy when you reduce and eliminate tolls on the Port Mann Bridge. That matters to the economy, and anyone who understands the transportation economy and the impact of those tolls understands this.

It’s why, in spite of what they’re saying now about tolls on the Port Mann Bridge, the previous government rightly got rid of tolls on the Coquihalla before the 2009 election. They rightly did that.

Interjections.

Hon. A. Dix: Well, let’s just be clear. The tolls on the Coquihalla did not do that. But the decision was made to end that, and it was the right decision for the economy of communities like Kamloops. It was the right decision for the economy of communities like Merritt, just as this decision is the right decision for the economies of Surrey and Langley and Abbotsford.

Oh, I haven’t mentioned Maple Ridge and Coquitlam. But I am surprised that people representing those communities aren’t standing as one in favour of the proposal by the Minister of Transportation and the Minister of Finance to get rid of tolls on the Port Mann Bridge, because it makes the economy better. It makes life more affordable. It will create jobs in British Columbia. We, on this side of the House, are proud to make life more affordable.

There’s so much more to say on the economic side of this budget when you, as I’d noted earlier, are investing in the economy in the way that this budget invests in the economy, the way this budget focuses on jobs and on people’s ability to get the jobs they need.

I invite members on all sides of the House to come with me to Gladstone Secondary School, one of my favourite schools in all of British Columbia, in my constituency of Vancouver-Kingsway — 1,050 students. Somebody recently thought it might be a good idea to close that school, but they were wrong, and the community responded. There are 1,050 students, but also on site is adult basic education.

The decision of the previous government to impose costs on that system had reduced participation such that programs were closing — not because people didn’t need the education. Everybody knows that such education is an absolute requirement in today’s economy for businesses and for individuals — for businesses to get the workers they need and for workers to get the jobs they need that can support their families. But that program was being reduced.

I am so proud of a budget that makes life more affordable but invests in education in that way, that in fact says to people that it is important to upgrade your skills, that it’s important to get adult basic education. This government is going to invest and put its money where its mouth is. It’s good for the economy, it’s good for people, it’s good for our society, it brings us together, and I am proud that we are getting rid of those fees. It’s so important for the economy of British Columbia.

I want to talk a little bit now about issues around health care. I was named the Minister of Health by the new Premier, and I am very honoured by that. It is, of course, unbelievably important in our society to have a public health care system that works for people. If you compare our jurisdiction to other jurisdictions, if you look at reports such as Competitive Alternatives and other reports that have compared our jurisdiction and Seattle and Portland and San Francisco and Boise and other competing jurisdictions, what they say is that our economy is more efficient, more effective because we have public health care.

We have lower costs — lower insurance costs, lower transaction costs and lower real costs on business and on the economy — because we have public health care. More importantly, we have healthier people, who can, when the system works well, access the care that they need.

[5:10 p.m.]

The first thing I did when I became Minister of Health — this was an instruction from the Premier — was to see what we could do to assist people affected by wildfires in British Columbia. In the first days I was Minister of Health, I went to Prince George. I met with health care workers, and I met with evacuees, people who were mostly in Prince George from Williams Lake and surrounding communities — also a little bit from Quesnel, although lots of people had gone to Quesnel as well — and from communities around Williams Lake. People in 100 Mile, for the most part, had gone to Kamloops.

I had the occasion to meet with care aides and with community health workers, people who worked in the offices of Northern Health, of doctors and of nurses. It was extraordinary. Two things were extraordinary: the response of evacuees and their appreciation of what the public health care system had offered, and what the people who helped them had done.

Care aides evacuated their own homes and drove to meet the people that they cared for in Prince George. They left their homes under their own difficult circumstances to serve the people they cared for. Doctors left Williams Lake, went to Prince George, set up shop and treated some of their own patients — people who were obviously under the stress of an evacuation and obviously delighted to see someone they knew who could help them.

The opposition critic for Finance will know Gateway, a care home that she had a part in getting built. It was, I think, one of the most moving things I’ve ever seen: to meet with the people who worked in the laundry and in food services at Gateway, who stayed up all night to make sure that people had a hot meal when they arrived.

That care home serves 100 people, and it became a care home for 200 people in 24 hours. It is extraordinary what the people there did. I cannot tell you how moving it is — how they spoke about it, how humble they were about it and how they said: “That’s just part of what we do, you know. We care for people.” We talk in sometimes grandiose terms of what that is, but they didn’t.

I’ll tell you what. This is quiet heroism — those workers in Prince George and their colleagues in Williams Lake — and this is the public health care system. That was a publicly built centre, and it was built because people there cared and supported it and knew they had a need. We never envisioned what would happen when that care home was built. We never envisioned it. I’m telling you it is extraordinary.

It’s a gift of decisions made a long time ago to support public health care in our country and how they are realized in moments of crisis. I think parts of the United States have gone through very difficult circumstances in recent times, but it is the case that often in the United States when similar events happen, without that public health care infrastructure, people are lost, in ways that we know.

Then I went to Williams Lake, and I toured the hospital there. At the Cariboo regional hospital in Williams Lake, I met with workers there. I met with doctors and nurses who stayed until the last patient in the hospital was taken away by helicopter. They stayed then, and then they shut down their own houses and evacuated from the area. Heroism.

In 100 Mile, I met a doctor who was going to his dad’s funeral, a huge moment, in Metro Vancouver. He got a call about what was happening, and he came back to 100 Mile to be there for patients. Another doctor lost his own home but kept opening up clinics and kept having special clinics so that people who didn’t have the appropriate prescriptions, because they’d left them at home, or who didn’t have their drugs could get their drugs. Heroism.

In Kamloops, we know that at every point — and this was true in Prince George as well — businesses and community people and health care workers…. Ponderosa Lodge is about the opposite of Gateway in many ways. To meet the people who run — really run — Ponderosa Lodge…. They found out at four o’clock in the afternoon that patients would be coming, and they had a third floor, which wasn’t being used, ready at two that morning. They didn’t ask. They didn’t talk about what they needed. They served, and they did an extraordinary thing.

[5:15 p.m.]

That is heroism, and they treated people well. I met those people when they went back to 100 Mile — in quite a newer facility, it should be said. They didn’t speak ill of where they’d been in Kamloops, because they were treated by people from 100 Mile who went down and by people from Kamloops who treated them in extraordinary ways.

This is what the public health care system means to us. Sometimes I think, because we’ve had public health care for a long time, we’ve lost the metaphor of what it means.

My dad, who passed away, knew life in Canada before public health care. He passed away at Vancouver General Hospital, a sudden incident. People tried very hard to save him. We’re very grateful. He knew what life was before public health care, and he so supported it for that reason. It’s the reason why, even though he was a small business man, he voted NDP. He understood what life was like before and what life was like after for so many people — the choices they had to make before and the choices they had to make after.

Sometimes I think that in 2017, when most of us, a majority of voters and community members, have no memory of life before public health care…. Oh, maybe we hear about the American experience or other experiences, but no life without the public health care system that we know today. We tend to view, collectively, public health care as a bureaucracy and not as an idea that profoundly changed our society for the good.

So as we have worked to address issues of people who don’t have access to primary care…. I met some of those people in Kamloops. The previous minister worked on those problems, and I’m committed to working on those problems in that community and across British Columbia.

When we talk about the need for urgent care centres and multidisciplinary responses to primary care, what we’re really talking about is giving people the ability to live their lives to the fullest before they need the sometimes exceptional treatment of acute care.

Our obligation, and it is not easy…. The previous government had a plan for primary care. It was called GP for Me. More people needed GPs after the plan than before the plan started. That is the reality. It doesn’t mean it was all bad, by any means, but it means that they did not succeed in their goal, and that is a goal that we need to have. We need to ensure not just that people have access to urgent care or the best cancer care in the world but that they are able to provide themselves and seek access to primary care, as things like chronic disease grow as a factor in our society. It’s why it’s an important part of my mandate as Minister of Health to create more options for primary care and to allow people who work in health care to work to the full extent of their abilities.

This is true, as well, with respect to surgeries, where sometimes wait times are too long, and when people interrupt their lives — their lives as workers, as business people, as seniors, as students — because they’re waiting for care. We have an obligation, we have a plan, and we are working on efforts to reduce those times. Because when you are not healthy, that is the most important thing. It doesn’t allow you to do all of the things that you want.

We have an obligation to seniors in our province. This is reflected in the priorities of my mandate letter, in the work of my colleague the Parliamentary Secretary for Seniors, the member for Burnaby–Deer Lake. We have an obligation to seniors. It is a fact in British Columbia that we are not meeting appropriate standards of care. I’m not going to get into a debate about how we got here, but that number is 3.36 hours of care per patient per day, per resident per day, and we have to get there. That is an instruction I have from the Premier, and that’s an instruction I have from the Minister of Finance. It’s a high priority.

But it is more than that. There’s a really famous poem. You know, I prefer modern poets myself, but there’s a really famous poem….

Interjections.

[5:20 p.m.]

Hon. A. Dix: A really famous poem that isn’t written by a family member, but of course was written by Tennyson. It’s called Ulysses. It’s a famous poem many people would have studied in school. Tennyson writes…. There are lots of great lines in it. I won’t ruin it. People should go back and read it, because it’s worth the read. As they say in the poetry world, it’s classic rock. He writes: “How dull it is to pause, to make an end. To rust unburnished, not to shine in use. As though to breathe were life.”

My time is running out. Alas, the disappointment on the other side. I want to say this. Quality of life is important as well, and that is why it is, of course, important to meet standards in care homes; important to ensure that they’re secure and safe; important to ensure that there is adequate food; important to ensure that people are able to bathe, which they frequently aren’t able to in care homes today.

It’s also important to ensure that people of all ages can fully exercise their liberty. That means being able to stay at home as long as possible with home care and home support that allows them to do that. That means that when people are in care, they have access to activities and services.

The B.C. Care Providers are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year by providing 40 concerts in care homes in 40 days. We need more of that. It is not enough to keep people alive. We all have to live. Part of our goal, part of my goal as Minister of Health, is to see that that happens everywhere in our health care system. It’s not just a matter of statistics; it’s a matter of quality of life.

I want to, hon. Speaker, thank you and all members of the House. I want to say that I am very proud, as Minister of Health, to support this progressive budget that makes life more affordable for everybody.

M. Bernier: I want to thank everybody in the House who has availed themselves to stand up at this juncture to really talk about the budget. Following the new Minister of Health, there are a lot of things that I really want to compliment him and his government on — most importantly, making sure that when they put this budget forward, they kept in all of the announcements that we made in February that were going to make life more affordable for the people here in British Columbia.

There are a lot of things in this budget that I’m actually not going to criticize. Why? Because it’s a little bit of déjà vu. A lot of it was already in there. It’s what we put forward. But there are some changes in there, and I want to acknowledge some of those.

At the end of the day, I think we’re all in this House to try to make life better for the people of British Columbia. We’re trying to make life more affordable. We’re trying to make sure that we have opportunities for people here in British Columbia to invest. We want to make sure that our families are proud to be here in British Columbia and that they have opportunities for the next generations and they have opportunities for the seniors, for health care, and all of those things. There is no dispute, I would say, in this House that we’re all trying to do something similar to help the people of B.C. The difference is how we get there.

Now, we heard loud and clear, I would say, in the last election, by the results of the election. Albeit, I do have to remind the members who are now in government that we did win more seats, we did get more votes, and if it wasn’t for the coalition that was formed between the now Green-NDP, we might have a different situation here.

Interjection.

M. Bernier: Actually, the independent member who was on the ballot as a Green member says it’s not a coalition. I want to remind him…. The definition of a coalition, actually, in the dictionary is a denotation for a group or a single or political party that works together for a common goal. That’s the definition of a coalition, if you’d like to look at it, which is what we have here.

It’s really important, though, to recognize the situation that we’re in here, right now, in the province. We want to acknowledge there are some great things in this budget, because they’re things we helped put in there. The problem we have with this budget is the other side of the ledger sheet. It is great to come out and say that we’re going to have opportunities for families. Both sides are doing that. It’s great to say that we’re going to try to make life more affordable and have progress in the province of British Columbia. We’re all going to agree on that.

[5:25 p.m.]

The difference is making sure we have the economic means in the province of British Columbia to fund those promises and to fund the opportunities that people in British Columbia, for their families, want, deserve, desire and, really, what they need. It’s important that we look at that other side of the ledger sheet, that we make sure that we have the economic means in the province to move forward.

[L. Reid in the chair.]

When you look right now…. I’ve talked to businesses from across Canada, and I’ve talked to businesses from the States and even over in Asia since the election and since the change in government. Their concern is the uncertainty that’s now out there in the investment world in the province of British Columbia.

Under the B.C. Liberal government, one of the things that we will pride ourselves on is that people wanted to invest in British Columbia. People wanted to move to British Columbia. In fact, the Minister of Health kind of acknowledged what’s happening in the education system, in a school with 1,000 kids — and it’s growing, and that is a good thing — because people were moving to British Columbia and bringing their families back, after the 1990s — I have to say it to the member — when people were leaving.

Interjection.

M. Bernier: He says it’s not true, but we can debate that afterwards.

In fact, in the 1990s, when I grew up in Vancouver, a lot of my friends were leaving at that time. I stayed in B.C. I moved up north for a job, but most of my friends went to Alberta at that time and are still there. A lot of them are starting to move back, though, which is great.

One of the things, though, is, again, that uncertainty. It is the climate of uncertainty that we want to make sure doesn’t happen here in British Columbia, because we want to have those investments. We want to have companies coming here.

The problem with this budget is that when you look at the investments that we’re making in the spending — I will acknowledge, in areas that families and people want to see investment in; that’s a fair comment — the issue is that I don’t see any way of growing the economy to make that sustainable. When you look at…. Again, I’m going to pick on the Minister of Health only because he’s still in the room and sitting across from me. But we might have to arm wrestle later on who he figures is the best Minister of Finance that this province has seen.

When you look, under the B.C. Liberals, after the last four, five years — five consecutive balanced budgets; and when you look at the fact that we had a $2.7 billion surplus this spring that the now government gets to enjoy…. It brings me back, though, to making sure that we have a sustainable budget.

That surplus that we were very proud to work towards — and albeit could have been spending in other areas to help people of B.C…. We heard that during the election, and I’m not ashamed to say that. What I’m concerned about is: how do we make that sustainable? I see nothing in the B.C. NDP plan to make this sustainable.

In fact, we’ve all acknowledged in this House that we’ve got one of the worst fires in the history of British Columbia. We’ve seen the costs that that has incurred and are still waiting for some of those costs to be paid. That is why we have to make sure that you do not run a budget on a razor’s edge. You have to ensure that you have a surplus. But what concerns me, again, is that we left with a $2.7 billion surplus, and we now, under this budget, are going to have just a couple of hundred million dollars surplus. If we have another issue next year, under the situation we have with the forest fires and other things, we no longer have the opportunity to not go into a deficit. That’s what we’re concerned about.

We need to remember that building a strong economy…. Making sure that we have the economic means to have all those programs, yes. A strong economy is a tool to make sure that we can have the programs that people need in B.C. But it is an equally important tool that government needs to recognize and work on. If you don’t have the funds coming in, then you no longer have balanced budgets, you no longer have triple-A credit ratings, you no longer have an opportunity….

Under the B.C. Liberal government that we had, we actually — even though we know the NDP doesn’t talk about it — reduced the payments on our debt, operating debt, by almost $200 million last year. That, as a reminder, is a debt that we’re still trying to pay off, under the last NDP government, and we were very, very close.

[5:30 p.m.]

My comment to the now government is I hope that they recognize that they need to continue that path. We should not be running operating deficit budgets. My fear is that’s the trend that we’re going to get back to, which is not fair to the people of British Columbia. It’s not fair to my kids, my grandchildren and everybody else who’s going to be stuck paying that bill.

When you look at this budget, too, and you see over $1 billion in tax increases…. I’m not sure if people in British Columbia really thought when they were voting for the Green Party that they were voting for a $1 billion tax increase by the NDP. I guess the next election we’ll find that out, but most people I talk to say that’s not the case. Most people I talk to….

I’ll have to talk to the Minister of Health again later. He’s still trying to read the budget to understand it, it looks like.

We want to make sure that people understand what’s in front of them right now and what they truly voted for. When you look at the carbon tax going up by $5…. I think the discussion that needs to be, really, on that is that it’s no longer revenue-neutral. When you look at when carbon tax was brought in, under the then Gordon Campbell government, the NDP voted against it. Now they’re very proud to increase it and raise it.

What concerns me is the revenue neutrality component of it. We are the envy of the world with our carbon tax and a program that we had in place. Almost singularly, the comment was made: it’s because of the revenue neutrality. It gave certainty, and it gave opportunity to companies to know what was happening in the province.

In fact, last year I was fortunate enough to go and speak at Harvard University and talk about the carbon tax — talk about how it was created and talk about the successes that we actually had with that. The reason why that was important was because there was a lot of push-back at first. When it came in, it was about revenue neutrality. It gave certainty to investment climates around the globe that they could come to B.C., and they knew what was happening. Then to have corporations and businesses understand and actually support the carbon tax going forward….

What we heard when I was at Harvard, when I talked to the governors in the United States and when I spent time in Washington on this file — everybody said: “B.C. is on the right track, provided it’s revenue-neutral.” Unfortunately, we’re now losing that advantage. In fact, when you look at what’s happening under this budget, with corporate taxes going up, with personal income taxes for people over $150,000 going up, it sends a message to people around Canada of: “Why do I come to British Columbia?”

In fact, we’ve even heard the NDP government talk about: “Well, it’s okay. We’re the same as other provinces now.” Well, I’m sorry. We don’t want to be the same as other provinces. In fact, we are trying to be competitive. We want to be competitive. We want to have businesses coming here. My fear is….

We need to be really looking at how we’re going to be innovative in the province of British Columbia, but the only way we can be innovative is if we’re also competitive. We have to have that opportunity for people to come here and invest. When you look at the tech sector…. I’m very proud of the opportunities that we’ve created in the province of British Columbia in the tech sector. Reports are coming out that are going to show that we have almost 200,000 people directly and indirectly working in the tech sector in the province of British Columbia, about 9,000 companies. But don’t forget that they came here and moved here under a B.C. Liberal economic climate that invited that investment to British Columbia.

My fear is we’re going to lose that advantage again. We’re going to have those companies, like Microsoft and Hootsuite, that have come to British Columbia now going to say: “Should we expand? Maybe not. Should we go back to the United States? Maybe.” We don’t want to actually lose that advantage, and that’s what this budget really has me — and should have the people of B.C. — concerned about. Again, it’s all about that uncertainty.

You look at 9,000 jobs being lost with the cancellation of the George Massey bridge. We talked about that a little bit today. You look at 2,600 jobs at Site C. I can talk at length about how important that is for the people of British Columbia, being in my backyard. It comes back to, again, the uncertainty.

The NDP government is continuing to send a message of: “Don’t invest here. If you do, we’re going to maybe cancel your project. We’re probably not going to support the jobs that come here.” I guess what it brings to mind is I can see why they’re back-pedalling on their $10-a-day child care. If you don’t have a job, I guess you can stay at home with your kids. You don’t really need child care. That’s what’s happening right now.

[5:35 p.m.]

We need to ensure that we’re looking at all the opportunities, not just investing in the areas that people want us to but making sure that we have the economic means and the funds coming in to support those opportunities. That, I would say, is what the people of the province of British Columbia voted for this May. It’s that balance. That’s what they want. I don’t see that in this budget.

We have the member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head, who got up earlier and made some great points. I know he’s trying to also look at the fact that he’s now pushing and trying to prod his way to say he’s no longer part of the NDP coalition. Maybe that’s what he’s trying to do — to remind people that voted Green that…. I guess they could have voted NDP; they didn’t have to vote Green. The Green Party could be somewhat irrelevant now. But that’s really about sending a message politically, nothing else.

When you look at the fact that the now Premier had to set up a confidence and supply secretariat in his office — at a cost to taxpayers, I might add — to make sure that their coalition stays together sothat he can stay in government, I would say, that’s another misuse of taxpayer dollars that has to be addressed. When you look, again, in this budget, the NDP government is looking very closely at: how can we appease the members from the Greens so we can stay in government? So they’re starting to back away from a lot of their promises.

In fact, when you look at the $10-a-day child care, $400-a-year renters rebate, you look at all the money to restore provincial parks and hire more conservation officers…. That was no longer there. The money that was promised that’s no longer there for arts and culture funding that was promised. Freeze on hydro rates. Rollback on ferry fares. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of discussion at the cabinet table by the now Minister of Transportation, who campaigned heavily on that one, and now it’s been cut. So I’m not sure how, again, they’re able to keep their promises, going forward.

Actually, you know what it reminds me of, standing on this side of the House? He’s no longer here. It almost reminds me…. I feel obliged to say we have jiggery-pokery going on in the House. Our good friend from Cowichan — I hope he’s watching. I’ll call him later to remind him that I was thinking of him today.

In the budget, what we don’t see are the things that I also say are truly needed. It’s on the capital, and it’s on the investment side. We were making great progress on building schools, on building hospitals and making sure that we had that core infrastructure.

The problem we have now…. When we have the tolls being removed from the Port Mann Bridge and we have those funds being rolled back into supported debt by the taxpayers of B.C, the problem is that brings us really close to our debt-to-GDP. That might be why we’re not seeing all those investments in the budget being made by the now government, for the schools that they promised to build and the hospitals they promised to build leading into the election, that are now absent from the budget.

The people of B.C. deserve to have those things. That’s why we had a very good plan going forward to ensure all the schools were seismically upgraded. I hear the now Minister of Education saying they’re going to expedite that. I think it’s hollow words when you don’t have it in the budget and the money in the budget to actually do it. Those are the things that should be concerning the families of British Columbia.

We need to make sure that as we’re looking at these opportunities to help families…. Again, we heard, I think all of us, during the election that we have to make sure that it’s that balance that we bring forward. We have to have the jobs for families. I want to ensure that my children, my grandchildren, everybody in this House, have opportunities for their family. I would argue that’s why people love British Columbia more than anywhere else in Canada. It’s because we actually have those opportunities.

We need to make sure those opportunities continue, though, and that’s what this side of the House is always going to be doing, to hold government to account. Without the economic means to pay for the promises that were being made, without the economic means to have a strong investment climate to bring the money in for our schools and hospitals and all the things that the people of British Columbia deserve, what that does, at the end of the day, is it goes backwards.

[5:40 p.m.]

It takes us back where we don’t have the money to pay for it. In fact, then the families will have to scramble. Families are going to wonder if we’re going to go backwards to the time, maybe, when we didn’t have jobs.

People want to make sure they have those opportunities, when they wake up in the morning, to have a good family-supporting job in the province of B.C. for their families. I don’t want to see that go away. I want to see us make all these investments that are needed for the families of B.C. If they don’t have a job to go to just so they can be part of the economic climate that’s building B.C., then we have problems. Then people are going to be focusing on what’s really important. They’re not going to be able to feed their families. They’re not going to be able to have those opportunities to go to work in the morning, and we need to make sure that that’s taking place.

This budget is a spend, spend, spend budget. Taxes are going up. It’s sending the wrong message right now at the wrong time. The reason why I say that is…. When you look at the economic climate that we’ve left — the legacy we’ve left for making sure that we have strong investments, strong balanced budgets and a strong balance sheet in the economy here in the province and within the Ministry of Finance — where we then have money to invest in programs…. I’m very proud of where we got to with that.

Could we have done better on some of the investment side? Absolutely. I think all of us can agree that the people of B.C. sent a strong message that they want to see investments in the areas that are going to be helping them. If we don’t have the money to do that, that’s where the problem comes in.

We’ve left a great legacy, as I say, with the province and the state the province is in right now. We’ve seen other provinces who have been in the same situation, where there’s been a change in government, not because of poor economic times but for other reasons. We’ve seen the economy go down because of the change in government. Our job is to make sure that doesn’t happen. We’re going to make sure that we hold this government to account for the things that are lacking in this budget and for the poor decisions that are being made, which are not going to help the families in B.C.

When I look at the uncertainty issue, again, and the jobs and the concerns that we have here in B.C., I take it back to the resource sector. It’s something that’s really important. It’s really what founded a strong economy in British Columbia decades and decades ago.

If we don’t have those companies investing in resource extraction, if we don’t have a strong forestry sector, if we don’t have a strong agricultural sector, if we don’t have all of those means that are actually employing people, that are contributing to the budget that we have, contributing to the revenues of the province…. If we don’t have that, guess what happens. We either make cuts, which people don’t want to see, or we have to raise taxes, which people don’t want to see. That’s the scenario that we’re going to be in under this NDP government, if we’re not careful.

When I’m talking to companies in the resource sector, they’re very proud to be investing in B.C. They want to continue doing that, but they’ve got concerns right now. When I talk to families up in the Peace region…. I shouldn’t actually exclude just the Peace region. In fact, about 30 percent of the people working at Site C are from other parts of the province. I would probably argue that every single member in this House has somebody in their riding who’s working outside of their riding in rural British Columbia in the resource sector or at Site C.

I’d say it’s pretty hard to look yourself in the mirror, if you are coming to work in the Legislature, and say: “I don’t care about those jobs. I don’t care if people in my riding aren’t able to put food on the table anymore for their families.” In fact, we should be doing the exact opposite to that. We should be looking at every single opportunity to find jobs in the province of B.C.

I think the perfect world that we are trying to get to is having more jobs than there are people. That’s where we’re at. Why are people moving from other provinces to British Columbia? It’s because of the opportunities that we have here. We don’t need that to go backwards. We need to ensure that if we’re going to have a strong education system like we’re building, if we’re going to have a health system that’s the envy of Canada…. The only way that continues is if people continue moving to the province, if we continue enhancing the economic opportunities that we have here to be able to pay for that and to be able to grow.

[5:45 p.m.]

If you look at the resource sector, one sector alone contributes almost $2 billion a year to the revenues of the province. When we talk about needing to build schools or hospitals in the province of B.C…. When you look at how many schools $2 billion a year can build, now get rid of that money. You’re saying no to that investment. In essence, you’re saying no, also, to the capital growth and the opportunities for the same families that are now going to lose their jobs. It’s a spiral down that we can’t have, and we need to work on that.

This budget, again, has a lot of things in it that I compliment the government on. A lot of it is stuff that we agreed to. A lot of things that were put in there, in fact, they are taking credit for. I understand that’s what government does. They’re taking credit and trying to say how great this is to be able to have all this spending in health care or in education when, in fact, if you look — a few short months ago, prior to the election — at the budget in February that was put forward, the dollars almost are mirrored. But I understand that they want to try to take credit for, now, them implementing what we actually said was important and needed to be taking place. That’s fine. I understand that.

There are also some increases, as well, that I would acknowledge are important. They’re important for families in B.C., things that…. As the Minister of Health said earlier, there are a lot of things in the budget that we will all agree with, and there are parts of it that we won’t. So regardless of how the vote is on this side of the House for the budget, it’s not a reflection of the entire budget but portions of it that we can’t necessarily agree to.

I think I’ll just end by saying that on our side of the House, one of the things that we’re talking about all the time is making sure that we get it right for the people of B.C., making sure that we find that balance again of having a strong economy that can afford the opportunities and the investments for the people of B.C. That’s something that we are working on. It’s something that we know, I think collectively, we can do better on. But it’s something that this budget is lacking, and it’s something that we need to talk about. I want to make sure, at the end of the day, if we’re going to talk about B.C. being the best province in all of Canada, that it truly is, and we’ve got some work to do with this budget to make sure that we get there.

J. Brar: It’s good to be back. I know, Madame Speaker, that you know me. Maybe some new members here may not know me that well, but I was here for three terms. Last term I took a break. I am back, and it’s a real honour for me to stand up in this people’s House and respond to the budget update.

I will come to the budget update debate in a couple of minutes, but first I would like to convey my sincere thanks to many people who have been part of my political journey from the very beginning. I exist in this House because I have been elected by the people of Surrey-Fleetwood for the fourth time. That is a real honour for me, and that’s a real honour for any elected official, being elected for the fourth time in this people’s House.

Therefore, I would like to convey my sincere thanks to the people of Surrey-Fleetwood for giving me the opportunity and for putting their faith in me. Thank you, also, to all my friends, my campaign team, volunteers and supporters who came out to support me during my winning but tough campaign.

[5:50 p.m.]

I would also like to say thank you to Mr. Fassbender, the former Surrey-Fleetwood MLA, for his services to the people of Surrey-Fleetwood. He certainly did his best to serve the people of Surrey-Fleetwood, and I wish him well in his future endeavours.

Huge thanks to my two staff members, Ruby Bhandal in my Surrey-Fleetwood office and Gurbrinder Kang in my Victoria office. They are doing an excellent job serving the people of British Columbia and assisting me on a day-to-day basis to serve the people of this province.

Last but not least, thanks from the bottom of my heart to the love of my life, my friend, my adviser, my beautiful wife, Rajwant; to my daughter, Noor; and to my son, Fateh, for their unconditional support to me during my political journey.

Coming back to the budget. To begin with, let me make it very clear from the very beginning that I feel proud to support the budget update tabled by our government this week. I support this budget because it is very clear that our Premier and our NDP government are working for the people of British Columbia. We are making life more affordable, improving the services people can count on and creating good jobs for people throughout B.C.

After 16 long years of bad choices and neglect, I have finally seen a budget update that is dedicated to making life better for the people of British Columbia. This budget update takes a critical step, that first step to build a better B.C. For too long, too many people couldn’t get the services they needed. It is time to fix the problems by putting people first, and that’s what we are going to do, making life better for families everywhere in the province of British Columbia.

The budget update is the first important step to fix the 16 years of bad choices made by the outgoing B.C. Liberal government. We are putting people first by improving the services they need and making their lives more affordable. This budget will, for sure, make life better for people at all levels, not the top 2 percent of people, which was the case under the previous government.

I come from the city of Surrey. This budget is very good for the people of Surrey. I have received a number of phone calls from many people from the city of Surrey, and they’re all very happy with the budget. The city of Surrey is the fastest-growing community in the province of British Columbia. We welcome over 1,200 newcomers every month. Our great city has led the province in population growth and in building new homes. Clearly, we have been paying our dues to the provincial coffer. The B.C. Liberals made bad choices and completely ignored the needs of our fast-growing community for 16 long years. They were out of touch with our reality.

Let me give you the B.C. Liberals’ report card for the city of Surrey. Housing affordability, a rising crisis. Seven thousand children don’t have real classrooms. Patients suffer in pain over six long hours at Surrey Memorial Hospital, but the B.C. Liberals went ahead and sold the precious piece of land that was purchased to build the new hospital. People in the city of Surrey were being forced to pay unfair tolls on Port Mann Bridge and Golden Ears Bridge. People were paying more and getting less in my city. That’s what the people of Surrey got in the B.C. Liberals’ so-called “good economy” slogan era.

[5:55 p.m.]

The B.C. Liberals left our big city in a big ugly mess, and we need to fix that. The budget update is the first good step to start the process, and it will help make life more affordable, improving the services people count on, and creating good jobs for the people throughout the province of British Columbia. That’s why I’m really excited to support the budget update, because this budget is good for the people of Surrey.

Nothing is more important than our children’s education. A few seconds ago I heard the hon. member for Peace River South particularly making the point that we want a strong education system. I think we agree on that point. But today our young people will graduate into a global market, and we need to make sure that we have a public system that will help them compete in the global market.

Our education system used to be the second-best-funded system in the country. Under the B.C. Liberals, it went from the second-best-funded system to the second-worst-funded system in the country. That’s what happened, yet we hear from the hon. member that we need to improve the education system.

We have 7,000 students who don’t have real classrooms in the city of Surrey. We can certainly do better. The B.C. Liberals, when they were there, said no to new funding to build new schools for our children. They constantly refused to fix the class size and composition issue. They went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, fighting with the teachers, and the end result was they lost the case in the Supreme Court of Canada.

That did impact the education system in the whole province, and particularly in the city of Surrey. The classrooms were overcrowded to the extent that Surrey school district passed a motion to request the city council stop providing building permits to build new homes in certain areas because they had absolutely no room for new students. That’s what happened in the city of Surrey because of the Liberals’ bad choices.

This budget update is, of course, the hope and the first step to building a better education system. Under this budget update, we are going to provide $680 million over three years to help our kids get the education they deserve, with small class sizes, including hiring approximately 3,500 new teachers. We are providing capital funding of $50 million to ensure that the space requirements for kids going back to school are taken care of. That’s why this is good news for parents, good news for students and good news for teachers in the city of Surrey.

The other key pillar of this budget update is to make life more affordable for the people of British Columbia. We are taking steps to address the housing affordability crisis created by the B.C. Liberals because they failed to take appropriate actions in a timely manner. We are going to build a comprehensive plan to make housing more affordable to the people of British Columbia.

[6:00 p.m.]

We are going to close loopholes and reduce tax fraud and money laundering in the B.C. real estate industry. In this budget, we are taking the first step. We are going to invest $208 million over the next four years to support the construction of over 1,700 new units of affordable rental housing in communities across the province. We are providing $291 million for two years to build 2,000 modular supportive housing units for people who are homeless. That’s the step we are taking.

The good news in this budget update for the people of Surrey is the elimination of tolls. Our government has eliminated the tolls on the Port Mann Bridge and the Golden Ears Bridge. This budget update supports the elimination of tolls. As of September 1, it is free to cross the Port Mann and Golden Ears Bridges. We are making life more affordable for people who cross the Fraser every day.

We are putting money back into the pockets of commuters and families. It’s about fairness and keeping our commitment we made during the election. This is fantastic news for commuters and for commercial drivers who benefit from this change. A driver who commutes to and from work every day on the Port Mann Bridge will save approximately $1,500 a year. And a commercial truck driver who makes one round trip a day will save over $4,500 a year. So the people of Surrey-Fleetwood are extremely happy to know that unfair tolls are gone from these bridges.

Poverty is another important issue that requires action. This budget update is also a step in the right direction to address poverty, an issue that is very close to my heart. Madame Speaker, you probably know that on May 25, 2011, I received a letter from an organization known as Raise the Rates in Vancouver. The battle was an MLA welfare challenge. Raise the Rates is a coalition concerned about poverty, inequality and homelessness in British Columbia. They invited us — all the MLAs, including myself — to spend a month living on welfare.

After much consideration and support from my family, stakeholders and my colleagues, I decided to accept the welfare challenge to experience firsthand what life is like for 500,000 B.C. families and individuals living in poverty. As a father of two young children, it is very hard for me to believe and very hard for me to imagine that in this province, as wealthy as other provinces, we have 137,000 children living in poverty — at that time, on the B.C. Liberal’s watch. That’s 137,000 children.

It’s hard for me to imagine that about 70,000 people in British Columbia use a food bank every month, and about one-third of those people are children. That was the reality of the so-called good-economy era of the Liberal government.

It is hard for me to believe that the gap between the rich and the poor — or the rest of British Columbians — had widened to the point that the top 10 percent of B.C. families earned considerably more than the entire bottom half of the families in the province. We have a wealthy society. We have a rich province, and we can certainly do better. We can certainly do better, and I’m sure the people of British Columbia would want us to do a better job.

I accepted the welfare challenge. I lived on provincial income assistance for a month, beginning in January 2012. At that time, the rate for income assistance for a single individual was $625. Over the month, I met people living in poverty and on welfare and listened to their very painful stories, heartbreaking stories. Each story has a message for all of us, members from both sides of the House.

[6:05 p.m.]

The message for us is that we cannot afford not to take actions to address the growing gap between the rich and the poor. We must start addressing inequality with a pragmatic approach, clear targets and timelines. That is the path that the people of B.C. want us to pursue. I know that when the discussion goes on, I hear this whole dialogue about how we need more job creation, but we need to look at the reality.

The number of people on welfare or income assistance — under the B.C. Liberals for 16 years — remains at over 150,000 people. We have to accept the reality. We have to frame the policy, keeping in mind what the reality on the ground is. Almost half of the people on welfare are people with a disability. In every society, there will be people on disability, no matter how good the economy is going to be.

This budget update takes a very concrete step to make life better for the people living in poverty. We have committed to developing a comprehensive poverty reduction plan.

Under the B.C. Liberals, British Columbia was the only province in the country that did not have a poverty reduction plan. The members on the other side don’t agree with that concept even today — that they don’t need a poverty reduction plan. Even if you put every objective fact in front of them, they’re blindsided about this. They don’t want to listen to it, but we are going to take action, and we have taken action in this budget.

This budget provides an increase of $100 per month for both income and disability assistance, and that is a change that came, I think, after almost a decade. I can tell you from my own experience that $100 at that stage is a lot of money. It’s a lot of money that can change their lives in a significant way. I’ve seen that from very close, as to how it goes every day.

I remember a story. When I was walking downtown at that time, a senior person, close to the age of 60, walked up to me and stopped me on the street. He asked me: “Mr. Brar, can you tell my story?” I said: “What is your story?” He said: “My story is that I came to this city almost 20 years ago, when I was young. I was about 40. I applied for my first job, and I got the job. The job was in the construction industry.” He said: “I continued working in that job for almost 20 years.” Now, the economy had gone down, the real estate industry at that time was a bit down, and he lost his job. But he said: “I am 60 now.” And no construction industry wants to hire him back, because of his age. So he ended up on welfare.

He told me that he’s living in a building. He pointed to that building. He said he’s living on the third or fourth floor — I forgot the floor — and he said: “There are 50 rooms on that floor, and there’s only one washroom.” There is only one washroom — 50 rooms and only one washroom. “And nobody cleans that washroom. So if you go to that washroom, you have to line up, sometimes for hours, to get in.” He says: “I do that, and after, when I come out, then I have a requirement to find a job.”

Then he goes to find breakfast somewhere. When he goes there, there’s a lineup of people for breakfast. “Sometimes you stand in that lineup” — which I did too — “for two hours to access breakfast. By that time, it’s lunchtime, and you line up again. By the time it’s suppertime, you line up again,” he says. “So when and how can I find a job?” That was his story.

He also told me that there’s only one washroom. You go and check it, and you try to fix it, and you can’t fix it, because 50 people have access to it.

That’s the reality, my friends, in this province. The economy, of which we heard for the last 16 years — the good economy — was only benefiting the people who don’t need money anymore — the top 2 percent, people at the top. Those are the people who have benefited from the so-called good-economy era under the Liberal government.

[6:10 p.m.]

I will proudly support this budget, because this budget looks after the most vulnerable people of the province. That’s a bold step taken by the Minister of Finance and this government.

This budget update is also about what you call bringing fairness in our tax system, because that’s very important. The outgoing government raised rates for MSP, B.C. Hydro, ICBC, tuition fees for kids, and the list goes on. People were paying more, and people were getting less, way less and they were paying more. The only people who were getting from the other side were the people in the top 2 percent.

We are going to change that, and we’re going to make the system more fair for everyone. We’re asking people at the top, people at the very top, to pay a little more, because they got a tax break from the outgoing B.C. Liberal government. We are going to reverse that decision, and those earners will pay an additional 2.1 percent on income over $150,000. We are also increasing the corporate tax by a modest 1 percent, keeping us very competitive with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

We are also going to cut MSP premiums in half, and that will save families almost $900 per year. That’s a big change again, and that’s a promise kept.

We are also going to support the small business people. Of course, they need the support. As you know, 98 percent of the people in the province of British Columbia are defined as small business people. They create a majority of the jobs, and the jobs they create…. They actually live in B.C. They earn in B.C. They spend in B.C. And these are the businesses we would love to support, and we are doing that in the first budget update. We are going to give them a tax break, which is 20 percent. We’re going to bring the tax down from 2.5 percent to 2 percent for them.

I would like to conclude my comments by saying that I fully support the budget. This is the best budget I’ve seen in the last 16 years. This is the budget I fully support, because this budget is the right step after 16 years of bad choices. We are working for the people. We are making life more affordable and improving the services people count on and creating jobs for people throughout the province of British Columbia. In that light, I’m going to support the budget.

I just want to make a couple of comments. I heard from the other side…. Particularly, I’ve been hearing from the members: “How are you going to pay for your promises?” You know, I’ve been here for too long to learn the story, the political story, of making promises. But I know in 2013, the member on the other side, under the leadership of the Premier who is not here, Christy Clark….

They made significant promises to the people of British Columbia. The promise was that there will be seven mega-LNG projects in the province of British Columbia, and the province will be debt-free and there will be a prosperity fund of $100 billion.

The province will be debt-free. That was on the bus that went on the campaign trail. That was on that one. I know one of the members sitting here now was a reporter at that time. He must have seen that bus very closely.

What happened to those promises? Where is that $100 billion prosperity fund? Where are those LNG projects? At the same time… There was one time they made a promise they were not going to introduce the HST.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members, through the Chair.

J. Brar: That was another big promise which I heard, people of the British Columbia heard, big time, everywhere. But what happened? As soon as the election was over, they did bring in the HST.

[6:15 p.m.]

But what happened after? The people of British Columbia got mad. Of course, we have the recall system, and they initiated the recall system. They were successfully able to make the case and forced the government to take back the HST. That happened too.

They also promised, at one time, that the total debt would be $495 million, not a penny more. You can mark my words — $495 million, not a penny more. The actual debt after the election was over, I think, $2.5 billion. Yet I hear every day from almost every member on the other side: how are you going to meet the commitments you have made in your platform?

This is only the first two months, and we have taken significant steps. The tolls are gone, and 50 percent MSP is gone. We are funding education — $608 million. We have given funding to the most vulnerable people, which you have refused for the last ten years. We have given them $100. At both levels, we have done that. So we are taking steps. This is just the first two months.

Interjection.

J. Brar: Watch us when the next budget comes, which will be the real budget, in February. That will be in the budget. We are going to continue to make sure that we make life affordable for people. We will work for the people of British Columbia, not for the top 2 percent of people, who you have been working for. That’s the difference between you and us.

With that, I will take my seat.

P. Milobar: It’s my honour today to rise to respond to the budget update given by the Finance Minister on Monday. First, I want to take this opportunity to thank my constituents for giving me this opportunity to speak on their behalf in this House. It’s a great responsibility that we all share, and I will work tirelessly to make sure that their interests are represented here every day, in Victoria and at home in Kamloops–North Thompson.

Just recently in my riding, we rose again to the occasion — as it does time and time again, be it responding to the spring flooding or the current wildfire season — of hosting tens of thousands of evacuees in Kamloops, to the animal sheltering in Barriere, to events and help that Clearwater did, to Sun Peaks, to all of the people throughout the riding who opened their homes many times. To complete strangers, they were opening their homes and help. So today I stand here prouder than ever to say I live where I do in this beautiful province that we all live in.

I’m going to try something a little different, given that this is my first response to a budget speech. I’m going to try to actually focus from the writ period forward and not worry about the last 16 years and not reference the 1990s. I’m sure that will give the members opposite great joy, to know that they won’t have to listen to their track record from the ’90s.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

I think, and I generally do believe, that the people of this great province sent us here to be looking forward, looking into the future and trying to figure out how to provide for our kids and our grandkids, move forward and not dwell and finger-point on what’s happened over the last few years. So that’s what I endeavour to do over in my speech here.

Now, in that spirit, during the recent provincial election, this new government went to great lengths to assure that people all around the province that all of their campaign promises were costed, were affordable and were within a spending framework that would allow for a balanced budget — all of them. I heard this time and again, every time that I went to an election forum, from the NDP candidate running against me.

Now, what did I say in response to that every time? I said, “You know, generally speaking, governments have very similar thoughts around different public policy that we want to enact. How we pay for it, the scope and scale that we deliver those on and how we prioritize those will be the big differentiation point. Ask yourself, as you sit in that crowd,” I would say at these election forums, “does it pass the test that they can do all of this and more under the same fiscal framework that they say we were presenting?”

[6:20 p.m.]

Well, this recent budget update does present a surplus, and we are thankful for that. The spending plan itself, though, is very concerning to me and many others, as there does not seem to be any correlation at all between their campaign promises and what was announced in Monday’s budget.

After only two short months in government — as the member opposite, rightly, just pointed out — the credit-rating agencies are already starting to sound the alarm bells that, thanks to credit-negative policies that will only serve to increase taxpayer-supported debt, our enviable triple-A credit rating may be at risk. Much of the budget update relies on substantial tax hikes in order to support the planned spending. Like the recent throne speech, it is lacking plans on how to implement these promised programs and spending increases.

Housing is one example. I think we all can agree that we want to see affordable housing in this province. It was wonderful to see some housing units in this budget update. However, one does have to ask oneself, again: when you look at the number of units being proposed and the budget attached to it, how are these buildings going to be built and how are these units going to be built within that funding envelope, especially in jurisdictions around Metro Vancouver, especially if you’re planning on making sure the construction workers on those sites are being paid a living wage?

Another of the many concerning examples is the reliance on income tax increases that amount to the tune of almost $500 million over three years. In order for this tax increase to be a sustainable form of provincial income, we need to make sure that British Columbians are still able to earn the wages needed to pay these tax increases. This means continuing to support economic development in this province and to ensure that both local and global investors know that British Columbia is open for business, something I’m sure needs to be clarified after the past few weeks of anti-investment announcements.

With the recent cancellation and suspension of projects like the Site C dam and the Massey Tunnel replacement, expecting personal income taxes to still roll in at that sustainable level does not seem to take into account the job and investment loss at this rate. It looks to be continuing a trend for the coming years. With Site C alone, there were over 52 jobs in my riding directly impacted with people working up in the Site C dam project.

As B.C. Liberals and as taxpaying British Columbians, we know we can have a strong economy and a still-growing economy. I think that a lot of that can be attributed to our previous jobs plan initiative, combined with years of disciplined spending. However, this only happens if investment is not scared off.

Even the Finance Minister herself has rightly noted that B.C. is the top-performing market in Canada right now. One has to question, again, how this government is relying on an increase in personal income taxes when their projections for resource industry royalties are so bleak, to say the least.

This budget update recognizes a consistent downward trend in royalties over the next three years. This update shows a slowdown in drilling licences and leases, mining and minerals, forest revenue and natural resource revenues. To me, it seems like this government is budgeting for a slowdown in all of the industries they said they were going to support in the recent election, like mining and forestry.

Now, perhaps it’s a wicked twist of fate that the only industry slated to see revenue growth for this government is the natural gas sector — the one sector that they and their Green partners were insistent had little value to our economy. In fact, the member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head even went so far as to call the resource-based industries, like natural gas, dinosaurs. That’s very interesting, given that global forecasts and the professionals who administer them seem not to agree with him.

With the release of the public accounts, the Finance Minister mused that it would be wise not to budget a long-term strategy on property transfer taxes remaining at a high level. Now, although the budget accounts for a slight drop in property transfer taxes over the next three years, it is interesting that a government who has repeatedly said that housing affordability is their top concern is still anticipating high property transfer taxes.

[6:25 p.m.]

One would think that if the government was really intent on tackling affordability with success, they would not be looking for an additional $835 million in property transfer taxes over the next three years.

During the throne speech on September 8, we heard of a great working relationship that this government has with the federal government. The fact that the government is using taxpayer dollars to fight a legal battle against the federally approved Trans Mountain pipeline project, a project slated to bring in millions in investments and thousands of jobs for British Columbians, does not communicate to me that there is a desire to work collaboratively with our fellow Canadians.

In fact, when you look at the federal transfers slated over the next few years, in our worst fire season in history, during a recent budget update, which one would think would be reflecting the current situation going on in British Columbia…. Last year disaster financial assistance transfers from the federal government totalled $71 million. This year, in the middle of our worst disaster season in history, from flooding to fires, we stand with a budget update, the most current budget update, at $18 million for this year for disaster financial assistance from the federal government. That does not sound like a strong working relationship between two levels of government to me.

I’ve decided to wait a little bit later in my response to talk about the significant changes to the carbon tax, as this government waited so long in the budget update to bother to mention it. It’s a very important tax increase that I really do hope British Columbians understand.

One would think that a government propped up by three Green members would want to proudly announce that they are no longer keeping the carbon tax revenue-neutral instead of mentioning it at the very end of a half-hour-long update. One would think that the government and their Green partners would want to, once again, proudly announce that they’re increasing the cost of each litre of gas that British Columbians put into their vehicles to get to school and work each day.

Now, I wanted to make sure the members opposite know that if you live in the more rural areas of our province, vehicles are critical for transportation when public transit is not a feasible option. It is simply not good enough to not realize the distances we must travel in the Interior to move around in this province — for things like recreating, getting to work and making sure that you can get to the store. In my riding alone, even inside of Kamloops, just to do something as simple as going to the dump with a load of garbage is a 20-kilometre round trip — that alone.

This does not tie into affordable housing in the least. In our ridings, unlike Metro Vancouver, the vast majority of housing is still single-family dwellings, with yards and shrubs and trees that need pruning on a regular basis, especially as we’re encouraging people to grow their own foods and produce. That comes with loads to make sure you can get it to the recycling depots and to make sure that that happens — another added cost because you’re reliant on a vehicle to do that as well. Composting only goes so far when you have much larger yards.

You won’t be able to tell the people of Williams Lake or Terrace to ride their bikes to work at the mill in the middle of January. That is assuming the changes to the carbon tax don’t close that mill, I guess.

One would think that the government and their Green partners would want to proudly announce that they are adding an extra tax burden to British Columbians who keep their homes warm with natural gas. Again, I want to make sure that the members opposite know that many British Columbians don’t enjoy the temperate winters we see down in the Lower Mainland and on the Island. You won’t be able to tell the people in Dawson Creek or Fort St. John to put on a sweater when the temperature dips to minus 30 in the winter rather than turn the necessary heat up in their houses.

One would think that the government and their Green partners would want to proudly announce that they are adding an extra tax burden to industry — those same industries that, by the government’s own projections, are slated for a slowdown in royalty payments. This extra carbon tax will not help. One only needs to look at the NDP-ruled friends to the east, in Alberta, to see what happens.

[6:30 p.m.]

Now, I have a background in municipal government. Municipalities across this province have significant fuel costs, both for vehicles as well as all the public buildings that they provide. This carbon tax increase will impact municipal budgets directly. Most municipalities have been working very hard to bring in energy-efficient buildings and to make sure that their fleets are running as efficiently as possible, bringing in things like GPS technology to make sure that their fleet management is reducing fuel costs as much as possible.

What this carbon tax does to those municipalities out there — and there’s a great many of them who have already initiated all of these fuel-saving measures that they can to the fullest — is a direct hit, now, to their municipal budgets.

Why is that important? Because not only do people pay more carbon tax to heat their homes from the areas that many of us come from, they can now look forward to what will most likely become an increase in property taxes to cover the extra costs their cities and towns are going to incur on the exact same tax. That flies totally in the face of trying to provide affordable housing for people, when you’re adding in costs to property taxation, you’re adding costs when they go to the fuel pump, you’re adding costs every time they adjust their thermostat in their house. That is not providing an affordable way for people to maintain their homes.

But, oh, this government and their Green partners are content to bury a fundamental change to the long-standing carbon tax strategy of revenue neutrality by calling it a simple carbon tax increase, when what it really is, is a hidden tax on goods and services that all British Columbians will notice — a hidden tax, I would like to point out, that will generate $678 million over the next three years that will be used to fulfil grand campaign promises that wouldn’t be possible without increasing these taxes to everybody around the province.

I guess that explains why you would hide a hidden tax 30 minutes into a 35-minute speech. Now, this is what worries me the most. This is only a budget update, and we are already seeing significantly increased taxes and spending. I shudder to think what the full NDP budget will look like, and I’m confident that this isn’t the end of taxing British Columbians to pay for that activist agenda.

It’s important for British Columbians to be aware of how many campaign promises are missing from this budget, yet taxes are already going up. Tax increases may be starting at the $150,000-a-year incomes, but this government spending will impact all of us, regardless of one’s income levels. I can only imagine what tax increases are in store when this government starts to look to implement their more expensive promises.

Now I end with this: during the recent provincial election, this government repeatedly told people all of their promises were affordable and based on current budget numbers. However just yesterday, the leader of the Green Party declared that NDP election promises are irrelevant. Is this the future of proportional representation that we can expect — where people can’t put their faith in election platforms but wait to see what the backroom deals will be after an election?

Given that the new Finance Minister confirmed that our budget numbers during the election were accurate and, in fact, even better than stated, British Columbians deserve to know where the rest of the election promises are. Or does the NDP agree with the Green Party that after only two short months, their election promises are no longer relevant? It seems to me that the only election promise kept by the NDP in this budget update, the only election promise deemed by the Greens and the NDP to be relevant enough to keep, is to increase taxes.

Hon. H. Bains: Thank you, hon. Chair, and congratulations to you for accepting this very, very important duty and task. As you know, many times it’s challenging, but I know you’re up to the task, so I just want to say thank you very much and congratulate you on your decision to accept this.

[6:35 p.m.]

It is always an honour to stand here, for personal reasons and for historic reasons, to speak about issues that are important to my family, to my neighbourhood and to our community — and, for that matter, for the province. I just want to thank so many people out there who, for the fourth time, put their efforts, put their energy, put their resources behind me so that they elected me to be their representative for Surrey-Newton. I just want to say thank you to all of you — my constituents, all of you who came out to support, all of you who came out to vote and everyone else out there who, for whatever reason, could not come and vote.

Surrey-Newton is the place to live, is the place to be. I am so proud to be in that area, so proud to meet with so many different people. It is one of the most diverse communities. We see every day…. If I could offer, I invite all of these members: come to Surrey-Newton any given day of the week.

Interjection.

Hon. H. Bains: The member for Surrey-Whalley is always there. He would stand up and say: “Yes, I agree with the minister.”

Let me tell you this. We have all those banquet halls. You know, people go to those banquet halls for wedding ceremonies and for all kinds of other social events. I can tell you that every day, in any one of those banquet halls you go to, there’s something going on that will make you proud. They’re raising money for all good causes. They’re raising money for hospitals, for children’s hospitals, for diabetes. You name it, and they’re raising money there every day. This community is a very, very engaged community.

They’re playing their part to make this province, this country, the greatest that we have today. I want to say thank you to all of those volunteers that come out there every day. They play their part to make Surrey, especially Surrey-Newton, such an amazing place to live, raise your family and work.

I want to thank them once again for putting their faith once more in me to represent them in this great place. I said, historically and personally, that that is my satisfaction, because I see that the people have some faith in me. That’s why they elected me a fourth time. Historically, these doors were closed to people like me at one time — this house of democracy.

I always reflect back, when I stand up here, that there are people who came before us who had vision. They never gave up on Canada, never gave up on our society — to make sure we created a society, created a country and created this province that is inclusive, that’s respectful of each other’s differences, that stands out and stands up for each other and helps out each other. I think those are the people that always reflect back. That is the reason I’m here today.

There are many in this House who came before me as well, and I just want to say thank you for giving us the opportunity — the same chairs where the decisions were made at one time to keep people like me out of the country and to deny us the right to vote in this province, in this country. We are standing thanks to their effort, sitting in and occupying the same chairs now and making laws to make lives better for British Columbians. How great it can be. What more can you say about those people? I say thank you once more. Because of them, we are who we are.

I want to thank my campaign team — I would say, bar none, the best campaign team — led by Emily Zimmerman and her husband, Garnet; and this time, my son, Kal, and his wife, Parveen, my daughter-in-law; and other members of the family. If I start naming all of them, I know I will miss somebody. That is not the right thing to do, because each and every one of them — including my four-year-old grandson, Brayden, and Rhianna, my granddaughter — were out there every day.

[6:40 p.m.]

If you see some pictures…. Bob Turner, my old buddy, was there every day at seven o’clock in the morning, opening up those offices. When these little kids and their cousins showed up, they had small signs. They would be standing on 74th and King George and they would Burma Shave with Bob Turner, who is hitting about 80. I’ll tell you, it was such an amazing sight. So many people out there that were standing with me, day in and day out. I want to say to all of them: thank you very much.

To my wife, Raj, my confidante, my best friend and my rock…. I can tell you — and every one of you knows — that you couldn’t do the job that you are doing without having a very understanding and supportive partner. Raj, thank you very much for standing with me all those years, for elected time and before, when I was with the union, because I wasn’t there all the time when I should have been. She took on the task of raising the kids and helping me do my job, so I want to say thank you very much.

Kul and Jasmeen — my daughter, Dr. Jasmeen Bains, came all the way from Regina, at least for the last week. She couldn’t stay away. She said: “Dad, I want to be there.” I said: “Sure.” I want to say thank you very much to all of them and all of my family members. They were there every day. Like I said, I can’t name everybody.

I just want to say that this is different this year. I am so proud to stand here as Minister of Labour. Thank you to our Premier for putting his faith in me to take this very, very important file. This is something that I’ve had passion for all of my life. This is what I worked for. This is what I advocated for, having worked toward making the health and safety of the working people the number one priority.

Nothing moves, no economic gains can be made, if we don’t have those workers, their skills and their labour. If they don’t go to work every day, our economic wheels will stop. I say that we owe it to them and to their families that, when they go to work, they’re expected to come home in the same shape that they went in. Their health and safety is as important as ever, and I as Minister of Labour have made and am going to make that the number one priority — to make British Columbia the safest workplace regime in all of the country. Our workers deserve nothing less.

We’re going to do that by having very strong and effective preventative programs and a rigorous enforcement regime. Those who get injured or develop illness at their workplace must be treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve — that we provide them health care, that we provide them rehabilitation and prepare them to go back to their pre-injury job to become good, productive workers again. It has been lacking in the last little while. I’m going to work with WorkSafe to make sure that we deliver on that promise because that is what workers expect, and that is what society expects from us.

It is a shame that the workers felt that they were neglected, their rights were neglected and their health and safety were neglected. When I spoke to them in my last four to 12 years…. They have come to my office. I’m sure they’ve gone to each and every member’s office. They’ll tell you horror stories that they have with WorkSafe.

There are so many good, dedicated people at WorkSafe. I’m not diminishing their intention. I’m not diminishing the work they do. But I’m telling you, from the workers’ side, they felt that something was missing, that they were considered as numbers, not as people. That’s what they told us. They felt that WorkSafe has become an insurance company for employers. These are their words, not mine.

[6:45 p.m.]

We need to change that. People voted for change, and we are going to change that. This is going to be a government that cares about people, puts people in the front and centre of our policy development — front and centre — because that’s who we are. That’s what we believe in. That’s where our values are. That’s where my values are. So that’s what we are going to do.

The second thing. We have a unionized workforce. We need to make sure that the unionized workforce and the employer have confidence in the Labour Relations Board once again, and we’re going to do that.

Then we have non-union workplaces. Those workers also feel that they don’t have the protection that they need. I might add that there are always a few employers who do not play by the rules — always a few. Most employers do take care of their employees. They do play by the rules. But those few…. Then there have to be rules to make sure that the workers’ health and safety is protected, that workers’ rights are protected and that, when they have a complaint, they can go to employment standards, their complaint is investigated, and justice is served in a timely fashion. That is all they’re asking.

We have temporary foreign workers in this province, in this country. The idea of temporary foreign workers was different than what we have today. It used to be a highly skilled workforce that we couldn’t provide ourselves from within the country, or we didn’t have those skills here. You’d go out, reach out and bring those skills here, bring those workers here with those specialized skills for temporary work, to get us by so that we could train our own people.

Now we have many, many temporary foreign workers, starting from minimum wage to the skilled level. Again, they have no protection whatsoever. We’re going to fix that to make sure that those working people — the most vulnerable, in my view, because they cannot even complain to anybody — will enjoy the same rights, regardless of their immigration status, as every other worker in this country. That’s our job, that’s our duty as government, and we’re going to do that.

As my first task upon appointment as Minister of Labour, the first thing I did, was to raise the minimum wage by 50 cents an hour, effective September 15 of this year.

I might remind you that the minimum wage in British Columbia was frozen for ten years. Not only frozen. I might remind you that, for some groups, they actually reduced the minimum wage. Talk about a government completely uncaring towards the rights of the working people. No wonder the label over there is “the government for the top 2 to 5 percent,” and everyone else is ignored. That’s one example.

After the last election, we were seventh lowest in minimum wage. With this 50 cents, we’ll be third lowest, but at the same time, we are going to establish a fair wages commission. The fair wages commission, through consultation, through research, will be recommending to us, the government, our pathway to $15 an hour. So minimum wage in British Columbia will go to $15 an hour, and it’s the role of the fair wages commission to show us the road map of how we get there. Not only the workers deserve to have a few more dollars in their pockets…. The lowest-paid workers I’m talking about have a few more dollars in their pocket.

[6:50 p.m.]

When you give them any increase in wages, every penny that they receive they invest back into their communities, in their local businesses. Their local businesses benefit, and they have a little better life to live. That’s the role that this government took. That’s the promise this government made — that we want to make life more affordable for people. That is one small step, but it’s an important step: to make sure that the minimum wage is kept up with the times.

We’re living in some of the highest-cost areas in the country, if not in the world, but life has become harder and harder. You know what? It’s not just me standing here and saying that. Every MLA in office, every member in office has heard those stories from families — how hard their life for them and for their children is, how they’re struggling to put food on the table and to house their families.

We made a promise to the people of British Columbia that we will make life more affordable. We are, on the one hand, lowering their financial burden by eliminating tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges, by eliminating MSP premiums, by having affordable child care. On the other hand, we are raising their minimum wage so that they can have a few more dollars in their pocket and have a little better life.

The second thing we said is that we want to improve the services that people depend on. Whether their health care, their education, their seniors care or their post-secondary education, those are the services that we are going to improve.

Let me give you some highlights in this budget. I want to say thank you to our new Minister of Finance for being thoughtful, for being caring, for being on the side of the people. That’s what people waited for, for 16 years — 16 years of neglect, I might add. Finally, we have a Finance Minister who is taking the issues and making them important, taking them to heart and dealing with those issues on behalf of the people of British Columbia. So I want to say thank you to our new Finance Minister.

I think that this is just the beginning. As we said, this is just the beginning, as this is a budget update. It’s not the whole thing. It’s not the whole package. We have made some changes in the existing budget that was presented in February, but here they are. It just shows the priority and the direction that this government has — different than the other government. This is all about people, and previous governments were all about their friends at the top. That’s the change.

This is how we’re going to change it. Affordability being one of the biggest issues brought to our attention in the last few years, I would say. Almost $600 million…. So $208 million is going towards the construction of 1,700 new units of affordable and rental housing, and $291 million supports the construction of 2,000 modular homes for homeless people.

A 50 percent cut in the medical services premium for all British Columbians is the first step towards elimination of MSP. There’s $472 million to provide a $100-per-month increase for both income and disability assistance. Like I said, eliminating tolls on the Port Mann Bridge and the Golden Ears Bridge is another step towards providing for — and making life more affordable for — the people of British Columbia.

[6:55 p.m.]

On the crime side, my friend the Solicitor General came to Surrey, and we delivered on our promise to give $500,000 towards the Wraparound program that is used to help prevent those people who are moving in the wrong direction, to bring them back in the real direction. I want to say that the people of Surrey, Mr. Solicitor General, are thankful for that. Thank you so much for doing that. This is another example where people don’t just talk, but they are actually delivering.

Let’s look at another area: how are we improving services?

Interjections.

Hon. H. Bains: Mr. Speaker, can we extend that a little bit? Anyway, thank you.

Noting the hour, I reserve my place to speak again, and I move adjournment of the debate.

Hon. H. Bains moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. M. Farnworth moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

Mr. Speaker: This House stands adjourned until 10 a.m. Thursday morning.

The House adjourned at 6:56 p.m.