Orders of the Day

Hon. M. Farnworth: I call continued debate on the budget.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

Deputy Speaker: Members who are not on duty, please, maybe move out of the House so we can continue with the House business. Thank you so much.

Budget Debate

(continued)

Hon. K. Conroy: I am very honoured to be the new Minister of Children and Families, with so many opportunities, including child care. I’m going to start today where I left off yesterday with reiterating our support for the $10-a-day plan that is our commitment.

Every family deserves a stable foundation on which to build their lives. Access to safe, affordable, quality child care can help offer that stability. Investing in child care is the right thing to do for our kids, for working families and for the economy. Even the B.C. Chamber of Commerce and the Vancouver and Surrey boards of trade agree, as well as numerous municipalities across B.C.

[10:55 a.m.]

The B.C. Greens also want to make child care more affordable. In this minority government, British Columbians expect us to work across party lines to find a solution. We will work with Green MLAs to develop a plan to make child care more affordable, and our new government is working with parents, providers and early childhood educators on how we can implement this plan.

My colleague the Minister of State for Child Care has been extremely busy talking with parents, meeting with early childhood educators and advocates and hearing from Indigenous child care providers, all with the goal of finding the best way to implement the plan.

It’s not about if we can do it; it’s about how we can do it right. That means taking a careful look at questions of capacity, ensuring we not only have enough spaces but also enough early childhood educators who are properly trained, qualified and compensated to care for those who mean the most to B.C.’s children and families.

We’re also looking at where to prioritize investment. For example, we’ll be starting with where there is the greatest need: infant and toddler care. And we’re making sure we’re fast-tracking new licensed care spaces in the communities where they’re needed most.

Our long-term plan for child care represents one of the most substantial policy shifts in B.C.’s history. It won’t happen overnight. B.C. is far behind the rest of Canada on child care. We’ve had 16 years where other provinces were using federal dollars earmarked for child care to build stable child care systems and investing their own funds to make life better for young families. B.C. is very late to the game, but we now have a new government that is committed to child care and making it happen. For families who are struggling now with child care, choosing not to work or not to have a second child because of the child care crisis in B.C., we know this change can’t come fast enough.

For the family of baby Mac, who did everything they possibly could do to find safe child care for their son and now live with the grief of his death at an unlicensed child care provider, the change will never be in time. But what is remarkable is that baby Mac’s family have turned their grief into advocacy, working for quality, affordable child care for all children in this province.

They attended a forum just this weekend with my colleague the Minister of State for Child Care, and they, along with other parents and grandparents in that room, carried a powerful message that we heard loud and clear. B.C. families need safe child care for their children, and they want action. We’re working hard right now to ensure that. By February’s budget, our first full budget as the new government, we’re able to outline the details of our action plan.

Also, with this ministry, I’ve been handed an incredible responsibility. It is a vast portfolio, and we offer such a huge variety of services to children and families. Probably the most significant, and it’s one that’s most often in the public eye, is our function as parent to the 7,500 children and youth in government care. All kids deserve safety, and we know that kids do best in the security of a loving family home. This ministry’s primary mandate is to support families to be able to offer that love and security. We want to lift up struggling families, not break them apart.

While we always will have a role to step up and care for children who need our temporary or, sadly, our long-term protection, we know we can do more to keep children safely with their extended families, close to their friends and communities and connected with their culture.

In moving our child protection system forward, we’re taking into account the advice of experts and feedback from those who’ve been in the system themselves. The ministry’s strategic plan is shaped in no small part by recommendations from the Representative for Children and Youth, and I feel we are already establishing a closer working relationship with that office.

We are also deeply indebted to recommendations from Grand Chief Ed John. His report on Indigenous child welfare outlines how to shift our practice to one that embodies the principle of “nothing for us without us,” respecting the needs of Indigenous communities and acknowledging how our approach up to now has failed. Grand Chief Ed John’s report lays out the steps we can take to better support Indigenous families and communities, and this road map is a key priority for my ministry.

Another priority is to better support the social workers who are on the front lines, working directly with the vulnerable kids and families who need our help most. Investing in child protection means investing in them.

[11:00 a.m.]

In many ways, I’m sure there is no more challenging profession than social work. They come to families when things are at their worst, they witness hardships and conflict more than most of us, thankfully, will ever know in our own lives, and they give of themselves to resolve these conflicts, to make sure kids are safe and to keep families whole, functioning and on the road to success.

Where many of us would only see the difficulties, they see opportunity — an opportunity each and every day to make life better for someone else. We owe them a debt of gratitude, and we must find ways to continue attracting dedicated, qualified people to the field of social work.

I look forward to working with these tremendous women and men, getting to meet them in person. I have been given a clear mandate from the Premier to provide better support to our social workers, and I’ve already spoken with my deputy minister about the steps we can take. We want them to have caseloads that they can manage and the opportunity to really dedicate themselves to each and every family and child they work with. I know we will get there, working together.

For the kids who are coming into government care, our every focus is on connecting or reconnecting them with a safe, nurturing environment. Where that hasn’t happened by the age of 19, we can’t afford to turn our backs and leave those young adults to fend for themselves. Regardless of their family situation, very few young people today are ready at that age to proceed without some kind of support in their lives.

I have four amazing kids myself. They’re all adults now. I can tell you that at some point, every one of them has reached back to us for help. I’ve been proud that we’ve been there to be able to provide it. I can’t imagine anyone in this room that is a parent saying to their kids at 19, “See ya later; have a good life,” and never provide support again.

As a ministry, we need to ensure that kind of support is available for all of the young people in our care as well. That’s why one of our big announcements as a government was our expansion of the tuition waiver program. As of September 1, all 25 of B.C.’s public post-secondary institutions now grant tuition waivers to young people who spent two or more years in our care. This reduces a massive barrier for young people who may not have had the family stability and consistent support they need. Putting college and university in reach for the first time opens a world of opportunity for those people.

I can tell you there wasn’t a dry eye in the room when we announced it a few weeks ago at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo. I think everyone recognized the significance of a government stepping up and showing that we’ll be there for kids, even after they leave our care.

There’s still more to do on this, though. Every young adult takes a different path and faces different struggles. That’s why our services need to be tailored to a young person’s individual need, so we can help all the youth aging out of care who need it and not just a few.

Expanding the tuition waiver program for former youth in care was a small but heartfelt step in the right direction. It was explicitly called for in my mandate letter from the Premier, and we accomplished it within six weeks since taking office. Six weeks, and I’m very excited to soon share details with you about the further steps we’re taking to equip those young adults for success.

The overarching guiding principle of our work in this ministry is and always will be the best interests of the child. But a child doesn’t exist in isolation. They are born to and belong to families and to communities.

When an Indigenous child is removed from his or her home, that child can be uprooted from not only their family but their community and their culture. This was made very evident to me when I attended the Ignite Your Spirit healing circle in Cowichan Lake very soon after becoming minister.

The event was sponsored by the Representative for Children and Youth office, with help, as well, from within our own ministry. Fifty Indigenous youth from Vancouver Island, along with the equivalent number of adults — including councillors, social workers, RCY staff and the representative, Bernard Richard himself — spent three days at the lake, talking about how they, the youth, would like to see change, and what has worked for them and what hasn’t.

At the healing circle I attended, the groups made presentations on what they had shared during their time together, and then individual youth shared their own personal stories. These stories were heart-wrenching, emotional and the raw truth of what these young people had experienced. Yet they had the courage to stand in front of so many, including strangers, and tell their stories. They had the courage to ask for help to ensure things need to change and to make things better for their younger siblings.

After that, we all headed for the lake, because it was an incredibly hot day. We stood off to the side with the representative, watching these young people swimming, laughing and having fun in the lake, just getting to be kids, after sharing their difficult stories. It gave me a better understanding of what we need to do.

I left shaken but with resolve that we have to make things better. We do have to change the way we provide supports. We do need to ensure the supports are there to keep families together, and when that’s not possible, the supports for the children to get the love and nurturing they need in a culturally respectful way.

[11:05 a.m.]

As I have said before, this role as Minister of Child and Family Development is one that is as daunting as it is ripe with opportunity. I think Indigenous child welfare epitomizes these two sides of the child-protection and family-preservation coin.

We all know that Indigenous children represent well over half of the kids in our caseload, while only representing 10 percent of the province’s children and youth. We all know that has to change and the ministry has to change. For too long, there have been system-wide assumptions and practices that have failed our First Nations children and their families.

My mandate letter demands a fundamental shift, as guided by Grand Chief Ed John’s report. It makes reducing the number of Aboriginal kids in care a priority. It calls for delegated Aboriginal agencies to be supported to provide services at the same level offered to non-Aboriginal children. And it calls on us not only to make services we provide to Indigenous children and their families culturally sensitive but to take real action to change the system fundamentally.

I had the great honour of meeting with Indigenous leaders recently at the First Nations leadership gathering. We had over 40 meetings with representatives from communities across the province. I heard loud and clear that our current efforts of simply connecting Indigenous children with their communities is not enough. We want to support Indigenous communities with the solutions they have determined for their children.

We have also struck a custom adoption working group to explore how we can create legislation that allows the community, a band or a coalition of trusted elders to adopt an Indigenous child as a unit.

Our government is committed to implementing the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and also the principles of the United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples. Our Indigenous children and youth have waited too long.

There’s a lot of work to do, and I’m excited about getting started as a new government.

J. Martin: It’s always a pleasure to be able to rise in this House. Today I am happy to speak on behalf of the great people in Chilliwack — my constituents, family, friends, loved ones — and speak on the update to Budget 2017.

I would like to preface my remarks just noting, as I always like to do at the beginning of a session, that I consider it so important that none of us ever take this place for granted. There are little more than 900 of us that have ever had the honour and the privilege of serving in this House.

The day it becomes a rut or routine is not a good thing to happen. So every day I thank my blessings that I have this opportunity. I know my colleagues are all grateful for the experience and privilege as well. This is a privilege, indeed, and it’s a responsibility that I do not for a moment take lightly.

We recently had an update to the previous government’s balanced Budget 2017. I would like to thank the new government for maintaining, for the time being, a balanced budget. It’s something that is important for British Columbians today, tomorrow and in the future for the long term. It’s something that, more and more, we’re seeing governments at every level across this country…. They just do not understand. They do not get it.

While the new government has maintained the previously balanced budget, we do have a bit of a qualifier there. The only way that they were able to do so…. Again, I’m happy that they did so, but the only way they were able to accomplish this was with a fresh round of tax hikes.

Now, tax hikes are never a good idea. But to bring in almost $1 billion of fresh taxes when you have just inherited the strongest, most robust economy in the country…. No incoming government has ever been in the situation where they have such a powerful performing economy literally handed to them. That didn’t happen by accident. That was an awful lot of work.

[11:10 a.m.]

To see the new government — the first thing they do — bring in hikes to business and personal taxes is somewhat disturbing. Raising the corporate tax from 11 percent to 12 percent. Raising personal income tax for individuals earning over $150,000 a year, from 14.7 to 16.8 percent. Scrapping the revenue neutrality requirement of B.C.’s carbon tax, so it’s just simply another money grab by the new government.

All in all, what we’ve seen is basically $1 billion coming out of the pockets of British Columbians — and at the same time, cutting children’s arts and fitness tax credits.

Well, you know, the government likes to use the hashtag #betterbc, but I think what is more appropriate is #debtorbc, because that’s where we’re going. We are going to be a debtor province. We are going to go back to what the situation used to be. The forecast is crystal clear. This is so obvious.

We’re going to go into deficit financing. We’re going to lose our triple-A credit rating. We’ll be experiencing credit downgrades very, very shortly. And I think that it is very, very possible, within the realm of possibilities, within this current term, this current mandate, that once again British Columbia faces becoming a have-not province and once more receiving equalization payments, basically being on welfare — the entire province on welfare.

That’s very real. That is something that should be concerning every British Columbian, because right out of the gate, we have seen the new government hike taxes, blow a surplus that no other government has ever had handed to them coming in.

What else is going on? Well, we’re seeing some things that are a little bit familiar, such as reducing MSP premiums by 50 percent, cutting the small business tax rate from 2.5 percent to 2 percent, phasing out PST on electricity purchases and issuing a $3,000 non-refundable tax credit for search and rescue volunteers and volunteer firefighters.

The reason this might sound somewhat familiar is that these were all measures previously planned and introduced by the former government. I mean, it seems like the only bright spots in this budget update are the ones that they didn’t delete. Everything that is new and added to the budget has a detrimental effect on people’s pocketbooks — tax hikes. So basically, giving with one hand; taking away with the other.

I don’t think this comes as a surprise to any of us that have observed British Columbia politics over the years. It wasn’t that long ago that my colleague the member for Victoria–Swan Lake criticized the previous government for introducing what he called a fresh round of tax cuts which he and his party would have no choice but to fight. If you think about that statement, if you think about the motivation of that statement…. Tax cuts — we have to fight those. Tax hikes are okay, but tax cuts — we need to fight those. That’s a problem.

They did. They fought it outright, and what we’re seeing now is instead of those tax cuts, we have a fresh round of tax hikes, totalling nearly $1 billion over three years. And let’s keep in mind: this new government is just getting started. They’re just finishing the update to Budget 2017. The real one is coming in February. How many tax hikes are going to come in with that? How much fresh new spending with no plan to generate revenue to afford it is going to be coming?

I fail to see how, basically, charging British Columbians more to drive their cars or heat their homes and taking more money out of their pocket is creating a better B.C. Once again, I think that is the road to a debtor B.C.

This budget is also problematic in that it’s not a…. It does not represent what the NDP campaigned on. There’s no $10-a-day child care. That was one of the hallmarks. That was one of the underpinnings of the NDP’s campaign — their election. It’s not in there.

The $400 annual renters rebate. Where is it? It’s nowhere to be seen. It’s not in the budget update; it’s not in a mandate letter. A freeze on hydro rates — where’s that? The elimination of interest rates on student loans — I can’t find that.

None of these promises — costly promises, expensive promises and, certainly, enticing and appetizing promises for the electorate — see any new money in this budget. In some cases, we’ve learned, this may be a consequence of the collaboration with the three members of the Green Party, who may not want to see these particular initiatives, despite what the NDP promised British Columbians during the election.

[11:15 a.m.]

That is something that I guess taxpayers are on the hook for, through the secretariat, to work out. As my colleague from Vancouver-Quilchena noted very recently, it wasn’t that long ago that Stephen Harper ran two minority governments. Paul Martin had a minority government before him. They didn’t have a secretariat. It was the House Leader’s job to get support for their legislation.

I don’t see why this NDP government…. They have a more than competent, capable House Leader. Instead of taking questions for all of his colleagues, why doesn’t the House Leader take responsibility for getting enough support in this House to pass their election promises? That would be the promise.

Interjections.

J. Martin: The member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head…. We can have a chat over an ale at Spinnakers. That would be something I would look forward to.

At the end of the day, despite promises and promises, this budget update doesn’t speak to them. To be fair, the new government isn’t going to be in a position to put absolutely everything that they campaigned on into the election budget, but it’s disturbing that these didn’t show up in mandate letters either. It’s problematic that some of the most enticing pieces of legislation that were promised to voters are unlikely to ever see the light of day. The one thing we do have is increased taxes. That was not problematic whatsoever.

Again, this government inherited an economy that is the envy of every single government in the country. They inherited a fiscal house that was beyond being in order. It’s so traditional, it’s so predictable that when a new government comes in, they say: “Well, we’ve looked at the books, and I can tell you that things are a lot worse than the previous government let on. We’re in a lot of trouble, guys.”

To their credit, the new government looked at those books, and they said: “You know what? Things are even better than the former Finance Minister gave in his update.” When does that ever happen? When are the books better than promised? This government, they inherited a housewarming gift of $2.7 billion in surplus — $2.7 billion — and there’s probably not enough left of that to even take a trip to Disneyland.

If this new government is already relying on nearly a billion dollars in new taxes just to fund the promises that have come up in the budget update, how many rounds of tax hikes are on their way when we get to February? Despite the significant amount of money that they inherited, they’ve gone through it all already.

Like many, I’m very, very concerned about where we’re going to end up with this. Where is the NDP going to get the revenue to pay for their promises — the ones they’ve made, and the ones that, being true to their word…? I trust them. They’re going to bring in these other promises. How are they going to pay for those? There’s absolutely nothing whatsoever that has been said in this House about job creation, growing the economy and expanding trade. Do they really believe that somehow the most robust economy in the country is just going to simply continue by default? Because it isn’t.

We’re already seeing a decline in consumer confidence from first to worst. We’ve already been warned that credit downgrades are on the way. So it is not very forward-thinking for the new government to just assume that that revenue stream is going to continue and surpluses after surpluses will just happen by themselves. They don’t.

The track record doesn’t look good. In the first few weeks of power, the NDP effectively cancelled the George Massey Tunnel replacement project. This would have brought 9,000 construction jobs, 4,500 to 5,000 additional permanent jobs and, by 2045, thanks to increased economic growth, we would have seen even further increases in employment.

This, apparently, doesn’t matter to them, as all along they were looking to cancel this major infrastructure project. It would have made life easier for tens of thousands of British Columbians who spend so much of their time commuting and idling. That project, which meant so much to the province, was just simply cancelled, and there are no plans for any type of replacement whatsoever, despite some of the rhetoric.

[11:20 a.m.]

This was a little bit backwards, to me. Killing the Massey bridge will come in at an outright cost of $100 million. This doesn’t even take into account the missed economic job opportunities and quality-of-life enhancements that the project would have brought. It would have proceeded on time. It would have proceeded on or under budget. And it’s gone.

Similarly, the NDP have threatened the Site C clean energy project. This also threatens the livelihoods of more than 2,600 workers, 80 percent of whom are from British Columbia. It threatens the job creation, the skills training, the tax revenue and local economic benefits associated with that project, which was going to mean so much to communities that, during the election campaign, were written off by the NDP as places that don’t matter.

They also oppose the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, gaining intervener status through a sloppy filing of the Federal Court of Appeal, where the Minister of Justice was publicly chewed out for a very amateur application that followed none of the strict criteria. This cost British Columbians an additional $7,500 for late filing. It disregarded the thousands and thousands of direct and indirect jobs that the province would support.

Mere days into the transition of the government, we saw Petronas cancel the Pacific NorthWest LNG project. That didn’t take long. Nine days into a new government and the single biggest private-sector investment in Canadian history packs their bags and leaves town. This project would have led to an estimated 5,000 new construction jobs, 330 long-term jobs, 300 local spinoff jobs, and there’s thousands and thousands of additional long-term jobs associated with operation and supply of the project. It would have brought in $36 billion in new capital spending. That’s gone. This would have represented the single largest private investment, not just in British Columbia but in Canada’s history.

Now the new government has made it very clear — very clear — that, under the NDP, B.C. is closed for business. I think it’s very telling that back in 2012, the now Premier referred to investors, people who wanted to spend millions and billions, in some cases, of their own money creating jobs, building projects…. He called them suckers. That is not something that is going to encourage investment in British Columbia. It’s certainly not going to help us grow the economy.

It’s not just projects where the NDP have shown this lack of foresight over the years. Despite growing protectionism south of the border and an uncertain global economy, and despite our proximity and many social, cultural and economic ties to Asia, the budget contains absolutely no mention and no plan for expanding trade with that region. None.

I mean, one of the reasons British Columbia did so well during the recession in 2008, and we endured that better than any other part of the country, is because we had the foresight to diversify our economy and diversify our trading partners. We had less and less reliance on the United States. We forged relationships with the Asian countries, and that’s how we survived 2008-2009 with only a fraction of the casualty that could have happened if we had the same attitude as other provinces and relied strictly on the trading partner — on the United States. As soon as that housing market tanked, that was a killer for so many provinces.

We survived that for one and only reason — because of the strong relationships that we have in Asia. This new government has demonstrated they have absolutely no interest in continuing those relationships. That is going to be absolutely astronomical to our fortunes.

None of the circumstances that we’ve seen so far from this new government hint at anything even remotely resembling economic growth or provide any indication of how the NDP government plans to not only sustain their spending but budget for their future promises as well. There is absolutely no planning. There is no blueprint for this.

What’s going to happen very shortly — very shortly — is we return to deficit financing. We have multiple credit downgrades. Investors seek greener pastures in other parts of the country and elsewhere, and British Columbia returns to the sad, sad state that it endured during those dark and dismal days of the 1990s. We’ve seen this movie before, and reruns are never better the second time. This is going to be messy.

[11:25 a.m.]

If the government can’t fulfil their promises to voters with a nearly $3 billion surplus, how are they going to fulfil those promises that are going to be made in future budgets? Once that $3 billion is gone — and it almost is now — there is no B.C. Liberal government in position to leave them billions and billions of dollars in surplus. They have absolutely no plan how to replace that lost money. Where is it going to come from? A debtor B.C. — #debtorbc. That’s where it’s going.

More importantly, how will they pay for anything down the road if they can’t even afford, in these current conditions, to fulfil their promises without raising almost a billion dollars in taxes? How will they do that down the road?

I understand the NDP…. It’s a sore spot to bring up the last time that they were in government, but let’s remember what they did the last time they were in government. They left us a have-not province. It may be funny. It may be amusing. It wasn’t just a case of one in ten British Columbians being on welfare. British Columbia was on welfare.

We relied on handouts from the Maritimes and other provinces that had the good fortune not to be governed by the NDP. I fear that we’re going to return to those days very, very soon, where we rely on equalization payments from other provinces to keep the lights on.

You know, the now Premier once claimed that jobs and the economy were, in fact, a priority of the NDP. But there’s absolutely nothing in the budget update to suggest that jobs and the economy are even worth the most meagre token consideration. The budget update shows the same old tax-and-spend approach that characterizes the NDP whenever they stumble into power, usually for one dark, dismal term, and that’s the end of it. That’s certainly what British Columbians are looking forward to this time round.

There’s no plan for economic growth. They have dozens and dozens of costly expenditures up their sleeve, lots of pet projects, lots of debts to their supporters. And I have the good fortune of looking forward to being the opposition Labour critic.

Interjection.

Deputy Speaker: Member. Member.

From your own seat, please, if you want to make comments.

J. Martin: The NDP have promised improvements to the employment standards and laws, but there’s no money in the budget for these items. Where’s this improvement going come from? Where is the enhancement of those standards going to come from when there’s absolutely no budgetary allowance to do so?

One of the things that we saw very quickly coming out of the gate of the new government was they were going to strike a fair wage commission to look at hiking the minimum wage. It was interesting. They don’t need a fair tax hike commission — they’re pretty capable of doing that all on their own — but a fair wage commission. This was supposed to be farmed out to the bureaucracy.

They’re going to find a way to move our province to a $15 minimum wage by 2021. What do you need a fair wage commission for if you’ve already said we’re going to get to $15 an hour by 2021? What’s a fair wage commission supposed to do, other than rubber-stamp it and, basically, sign off on it?

Well, very, very quickly, the member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head scolded the Labour critic, took him out to the woodshed. Very, very humbly and solemnly, the Labour critic apologized for speaking out of turn. The member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head apparently was correct. We don’t have a timeline of 2020-21.

I’m wondering, in that role of the Labour critic, is the minister the person I should be addressing questions to, or should I have a hallway conversation with the member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head? Because he seems to be the one calling the shots on that particular ministry.

If the NDP already knows the outcome of the commission, it’s a little bit of a facade to go through the motions. They promised a $15-an-hour minimum wage. No one really has a clue, at this point, if that’s going to be sooner or later. But it’s something that needs to be considered very, very carefully. Small business owners have the right to know what they’re facing, what’s coming down the pike.

We just saw a small increase to the minimum wage. That was something the previous government had put into the budget, and it was something that the new government supported. But making the jump to $15 an hour — this is something a little bit different.

[11:30 a.m.]

I mean, small business has to be able to plan. In some cases, that is going to deter expansion. It’s going to deter new hirees. It will mean that the owners of small business are going to look at picking up even more shifts. Many of them are already working 80-hour weeks. Maybe they need to turn to automation, robotics. Maybe they need to look at layoffs. Maybe they need to shut down altogether.

Playing games by moving the goalposts of when the $15 an hour may or may not actually be imposed…. This is anxiety that no small business owner needs in this day and age. It’s a very reckless, careless, thoughtless gesture to put them through that mental torment for no good reason, other than there’s, obviously, some confusion between the Labour Minister and the Member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head.

British Columbians work hard for their money, and as legislators, it’s our job to keep them working. We don’t need to see any imposition of new laws, new policies that are going to shrink the workforce. To make an abrupt, sudden increase in the minimum wage…. There has not been the consulting that there was with the previous government. I mean, we spoke with the retail council, the hospitality and restaurant association. We consulted small business, and that’s not happening right now. There is no consultation. There’s none of that decency of taking the time to consult with small business on what this might mean for them. This is something that is incredibly troubling.

While the rollout remains to be seen — we don’t have the details on when it will happen — understand that this, potentially, is a hardship for many small businesses. Just because the minimum wage goes up, it doesn’t mean that, all of a sudden, small businesses have a larger revenue stream to pay those. In some cases, it’s going to mean lost jobs. It’s going to mean automation.

What about the ripple effect? The minimum wage becomes $15. Well, what about people that are currently making $15 and $16? They will need to be duly compensated with wage hikes as well. I had a letter from a restaurant owner in the Nanaimo area who has calculated well into a couple hundred thousand dollars what the ripple effect, the tax hikes, would actually mean. He’s already putting in 60, 70, 80 hours a week, and he assumes that he’s going to have to pick up more shifts, if this actually takes place.

If we’re going in that direction, and it’s inevitable, okay. But let’s have some consultation. Let’s have some planning. Let’s give small business owners the decency of a timeline that they can operate and function and restructure and move forward with, rather than tormenting them with no reason whatsoever.

What’s happening in other jurisdictions? Well, we see in San Francisco, which has moved to $15 an hour, just a massive, massive shutdown in hospitality — restaurant after restaurant closing. Just this spring, Ontario introduced legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2019. We’re seeing the potential effects of this move. We’ve been cautioned that tens of thousands of jobs could be at risk if the proposal is implemented.

Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office, an independent financial watchdog, has advised that they should expect a net loss of 50,000 jobs should the $15 minimum wage be implemented according to that timeline. Of course, this is going hurt teens and young people, who are trying to break into the workforce. It’s going hit them the most. How this is an effective strategy to reduce poverty is beyond me. It’s very possible that job losses will go beyond that.

Last month we had an independent economic impact analysis that was conducted by the Keep Ontario Working Coalition. That showed a much higher number, warning that as many as 185,000 jobs could be at immediate risk from this move.

Companies…. I mean, automation. They’re looking at robotics as a potential way to offset costs of wage increases in a number of Canadian provinces, particularly in the minimum-wage hospitality industry. You don’t have to have a young person taking your order and taking your money. That can all be done from a touch screen. That has to be very appealing to many small businesses and those in that particular sector, as opposed to going into a situation where they’re losing money.

[11:35 a.m.]

This is not helping workers. It’s not creating jobs. It’s actually harming workers, and it’s eliminating jobs. How are workers supposed to benefit from a higher wage if they aren’t working? How is a higher wage beneficial to employees when they’ve just been given a pink slip? Just south of the border, in Seattle — a wonderful city, go Seahawks — we saw the implementation of a $15 minimum wage actually resulting in fewer earnings for the workers that it was specifically designed to benefit.

Well, hard-working British Columbians deserve to share in this province’s economy. Up to now, that has been a sparkling, robust economy that is unequalled in the country. I just would ask the new government to be very, very careful of the timeline, to consult with those that are going to be impacted by such a move and as we move forward, if we’re going in that direction, to take every precaution to minimize the negative impact on employees, particularly young people, and to do everything so that it doesn’t result in job losses.

When the NDP was in government before, we saw a lot of job losses. In the last several years, we’ve had the best job-creation record in the country, and why do we want to reverse that? Why would we want to turn that around? That is not a good way to go.

I see that green light coming up. I’ve got my warning here.

Interjections.

J. Martin: More? Well, you know, noting the hour, I guess I can go a little bit more here.

Interjections.

J. Martin: Okay. That’s just sarcasm, right?

Every opportunity I’ve had with the members of the new government, particularly the ones that have been promoted, I’ve gone to congratulate them.

Like everyone else, I want British Columbia to succeed. Naturally, I want the new government to do everything to move British Columbia forward, not backward. I thank you for the time.

Hon. L. Beare: I rise to participate in this year’s budget speech. I want to first acknowledge that we are on the Songhees and Esquimalt territories of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples.

It is a tremendous honour, privilege and responsibility to be standing before you here today. Our government is working hard each day to achieve great things for the province of British Columbia and for the people living in my constituency of Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows.

I’d first like to pay tribute to the Lieutenant-Governor, the Hon. Judith Guichon; to our Premier, the Hon. John Horgan; and to all members of this House.

Deputy Speaker: Member, no names, please.

Hon. L. Beare: No names. I apologize.

I am honoured to be speaking in front of you all, representing my riding. This is the place I grew up, the place I call home and the place where my husband and I are raising our family.

I’d like to take a few moments to thank my family and everyone who worked so incredibly hard to get me here today.

To my husband, Hendrik, you are my rock. Thank you for encouraging me to make a difference in our community and for supporting me on this journey. I wouldn’t be here without your unwavering support.

To my beautiful daughter, Brinley, thank you for being such an amazing little person, for sharing me with others and for allowing me to spend so much time away. Your beautiful smile and truly happy disposition fills my heart each time we sneak in a FaceTime call between meetings. Thank you, and I love you.

To the Beare family, who have stepped up and supported me my entire life, you have all stepped up and wrapped Hendrik, Brinley and me in a wave of support and encouragement, and we couldn’t be doing this without you. Thank you. I love you.

To my campaign partner from Maple Ridge–Mission, Bob D’Eith, thank you so much for being on this journey with me. I’m so glad we’re here together, and we can continue to achieve great things for our communities. I promise that’s the last name I put in there.

I’d also like to thank a number of people who worked extremely hard to get me here today, in front of all of you. Korleen Carreras, you are a rock star. I would simply not be here today without you, and I cannot thank you enough. And thank you to your family for sharing you with me during the campaign.

[11:40 a.m.]

To Sophia Kreuzkamp, Ryan Chaput, Tania Jarzebiak, Sandra Paulsen, Chris McKee, Verity Howarth, Fiona Bradley, Lenfesty Tanya Patterson, Brian Mudge, Oosha Ramsoondar, Mario Santos, Bridgette Dalima, Amber Bramer, Nancy McCurrach, Steve Bajwa, Lisa Langan, Nicole Seguin and the hundreds of other volunteers who worked our campaign, thank you. This budget update reflects your hard work, your dedication and the values you have for our constituency.

To my constituency staff Kate Makarow and Thyra Gillese, thank you for serving the members of Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows each and every day. To the staff working with me in my ministry — Stepan, Kelly, James, Marina, Noreen and Korleen — it’s just the beginning, but I look forward to all that we can accomplish together.

Before I get further into my response, I’d like to speak to all those affected by the B.C. wildfires. On behalf of the government of British Columbia, I salute the remarkable work that our firefighters and emergency responders are doing. This year’s fire season has been unprecedented. Local, provincial and federal authorities have all been working hand in hand with emergency crews to help all the people impacted. Over the past few weeks, our priority has been ensuring that our visitors and our residents of B.C. are safe and that people know how to access the latest information.

In our ministry, we’ve been working very closely with our team at Destination B.C. to ensure that people and residents can travel safely across B.C. As everyone knows, it really has been an incredibly difficult summer for all those impacted.

During my visit to the Cariboo-Chilcotin region in August, I saw firsthand the devastating effects that these wildfires are having on families and the damage it’s causing to the land, livestock, businesses and homes. It was important for me to connect with the impacted tourism operators and business owners to better understand how their lives and livelihoods have been affected.

I met with the owners of the Chilcotin Lodge, who were under evacuation alert for weeks and who were finally evacuated but stayed behind to fight the wildfires, alongside others. They bravely fought and, when the order was finally lifted, everyone returned, only to realize how devastating the fires had been to their business.

I want to assure them that our government is implementing a strong recovery program so that we can move forward together. The people of the Chilcotin region, and particularly the new owners of the Chilcotin Lodge, told me they considered themselves lucky. They will persevere, and they will overcome. We heard the same message from every single person we met, “We will persevere, and we will overcome,” and our government will be there with you every step of the way.

When I think about my trip to the Cariboo-Chilcotin, I think about the hard work and resilience of the people up there, of the tourism operators and of the business owners. I will learn from their stories and incorporate their insights into my Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture. I want to reiterate the Premier’s message that our government is here to support all British Columbians affected by these catastrophic wildfires. That means support for the tourism industry in the affected areas.

In the first of many steps towards recovery, I am happy to report that up to $600,000 has been set aside for the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast, the Kootenay and the Thompson Okanagan tourism associations. This will help mitigate some of the related losses caused by the wildfires and will help support them in their tourism needs. This is just the first of many steps.

Lifting our communities and helping people live their best lives is at the heart of our government’s platform. Our budget update very much supports that vision. As I set to work in this House, I will have our government’s three commitments to British Columbia on my mind: our commitment to make life more affordable, our commitment to deliver services that people can count on and our commitment to build a strong, sustainable and innovative economy that works for everyone.

Affordability is a big concern for the people of my constituency. No matter how hard they work, too many people haven’t been making enough, and they’ve been falling behind. A few months ago I spoke with the father of three little girls who all came to the door to meet me and ask me questions. He uses the Golden Ears Bridge daily to get to work and also had a sick family member across on the other side of the river. His toll bill for one month was $1,200.

[11:45 a.m.]

This father of three had to make a decision between paying his mortgage or paying his toll bill. That is simply unfair. By removing the tolls, we’ve made life fairer and more affordable for the people in my community.

Just last weekend, while I was in my community, a woman stopped by at an event to let me know how much she appreciated the $100 increase to the disability rate and what a difference it has made in her life. After ten years of frozen rates by the B.C. Liberals, it means she can put food in her fridge. She can get the medication she needs. It’s a start. We are giving a pay raise to those who need it most.

This budget invests in supportive housing and affordable rental housing. These commitments will have a huge impact for the people in my community and for every other community around B.C.

As the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the minister responsible for sport and multiculturalism, I will be working for people in every corner of this province and delivering on several key priorities. My mandate outlines a strong vision for my ministry, a vision that will develop tourism, arts and culture all across the province, a vision that will attract skilled and innovative workers to our communities. It’s a vision that celebrates arts, culture, sport and the rich diversity of our province’s communities.

I will champion tourism throughout British Columbia, in every part of the region of our beautiful, diverse province, from the vibrant cities and the sparkling oceansides to the southern coast, to the powerful vistas of the north and to the interior and its terrific variety of food, culture and landscape. I am excited to be moving forward with my portfolio.

I have already had detailed discussions about how to grow B.C. tourism with the heads of the B.C. tourism association and Destination B.C. I have met with numerous First Nations leaders from across the province, for many of whom Aboriginal tourism is a priority. I will shortly be meeting with the representatives of the Aboriginal Tourism Association, as my government is committed to growing and promoting a sustainable, culturally rich Aboriginal tourism industry.

During my tenure as minister, I intend to have an open and welcoming relationship with tourism representatives and to ensure our government is an active partner as together we grow this vital sector. As I champion tourism as a job creator, I’ll work to expand the marketing efforts internationally.

We see an opportunity in British Columbia to make British Columbia the destination choice for all tourists. Last year B.C. welcomed 5.5 million international visitors to our province. That’s why I’ll be working closely with the Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology to ensure that British Columbia’s tourism sector is represented on trade missions.

I will ensure that communities affected by this summer’s fires get support to restore the tourism industries they so desperately count on. In addition to the $600,000 we’ve already announced, we’re working to expedite applications from the affected communities for the municipal and regional district tax program. This will bring additional dollars to our local tourism marketing programs and projects.

Arts and culture is a thriving sector in British Columbia, and our government is committed to supporting its success through investment in artists, arts organizations and infrastructure. Just this past Friday, I met with key representatives from all of the creative industries to find out more about how our government can better support them. I’m excited to be working together with them in partnership and collaboration to bring the world to our door.

Book publishing is part of B.C.’s vibrant creative industries, and our province is home to the second-largest English language book publishing sector in Canada. We produce over 1,200 titles a year and generate approximately $150 million in sales. Our government is extending the book publishing tax credit.

It is a fruitful time for the creative sector, and I will work with the Minister of Finance to expand B.C.’s film and labour tax credit to include B.C. writers.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Finally, sport matters to British Columbians and our government. We are keenly looking forward to be supporting community engagement in recreation and athletics.

[11:50 a.m.]

I have the absolute honour of working with a fantastic parliamentary secretary, the member for Delta North. Amateur sport has been important in both of our lives. I was actively involved in my high school, and I know exactly how important it is to youth, not only their physical well-being but their mental well-being as well. I’m excited to have the opportunity to encourage an active lifestyle for all of my fellow citizens, and I look forward to working with the member for Delta North to achieve those goals.

Our province is truly a great place to live and explore. I will work with great passion, knowing that we are going to bring forward exciting opportunities for our communities to grow and flourish. Our government will be ensuring that all people in B.C. have bright, creative and healthy futures.

I want the people in all communities of this province to know that I support this budget update, and I will be working every single day with them on my mind.

Hon. L. Beare moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. A. Dix moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

Mr. Speaker: This House stands adjourned until 1:30 this afternoon.

The House adjourned at 11:51 a.m.