Orders of the Day

Private Members’ Statements

ELIMINATION OF MSP

J. Brar: I rise in this House today to talk about the bold decision our government has made to eliminate MSP premiums to make life more affordable for the people of British Columbia. We have already cut MSP premiums in half, and people won’t have to pay anything as of January 1, 2020.

[10:05 a.m.]

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

Once upon a time, decisions were made in this chamber to help those at the top. Tax breaks were given to the top 2 percent — super-rich people — while making everyone else pay more through hiking hydro rates by 70 percent, higher ICBC rates and doubling MSP premiums. In 2000, the MSP premium for a single individual was $36 per month. By 2016, that amount had gone up to $75 per month — more than double.

The previous administration actually ignored the housing crisis as prices skyrocketed out of reach for people. They refused to do anything about the rising cost for child care that people were struggling with.

We live in a province rich in people, resources, natural beauty and opportunities. We can do better. People want us to do better. That’s why we have taken a different approach, a path to a more affordable, balanced and hopeful vision for British Columbia. People are at the centre of every choice, every decision we have made. Our government has taken some crucial steps to make life better for people.

We have established three key priorities to build a better B.C.: make life more affordable for people of British Columbia, improve the services that people count on, and build a strong, sustainable economy. Our government believes in shared prosperity with a good economy benefiting everyone — not only a selected few, which was the case under the previous administration.

I am really proud of the fact that we are fully eliminating MSP premiums….

Deputy Speaker: Member, let’s keep it non-partisan, please.

J. Brar: I’m really proud of the fact that we are fully eliminating MSP premiums, saving B.C. families as much as $1,800 per year and individuals up to $900 per year. Eliminating MSP premiums will save the people of British Columbia $2.7 billion. That is the biggest tax break for B.C. families in a generation.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members, Surrey-Fleetwood has the floor. Non-partisan.

J. Brar: I’m talking about policy here. We are doing it because MSP premiums are an regressive tax that makes someone earning $60,000 a year pay the same amount as someone making $600,000. That is not a fair system.

It is worth mentioning here that every other province eliminated programs like the MSP. The previous administration refused to do it for the people of British Columbia. In fact, they did the opposite. They doubled the MSP premiums. We have passed the legislation to deliver on our commitment. We have already cut MSP premiums in half, and people won’t pay anything as of January 1, 2020.

Our government is committed to making life more affordable for people. Working- and middle-class families in B.C. are paying lower taxes than they did under the previous government. In fact, under our government, taxes have gone significantly down for all British Columbians except the top 1 percent of people, and they don’t need a tax break.

Interjection.

J. Brar: That member said: “They need a tax break.” They can do it.

With Budget 2019, change is fully implemented. Compared to the opposition plan, a family of four earning $60,000 will see a 60 percent net reduction in taxes. A family of four earning $80,000 will see a 43 percent net reduction in taxes.

[10:10 a.m.]

In addition, we made a historic investment of $1 billion in child care to make it affordable for struggling families. We also made the largest investment in affordable housing in B.C.’s history — $7 billion over ten years.

The elimination of unfair MSP premiums…

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members. Members.

J. Brar: …is the biggest tax break ever given to B.C. families in the history of this province. Members of this side of the House are proud to do it here right now.

The payroll tax replaces MSP premiums. It comes into effect on January 1, 2019. To ensure funding for healthcare, we introduced the lowest payroll tax rate anywhere in Canada. Eighty-five percent of businesses will be entirely exempt from this payroll tax. Therefore, our approach is a more fair, more progressive system for people. This is good for people, for the economy and for job creation everywhere in this province. So we are proud to do it.

Deputy Speaker: Members, the statements are supposed to be non-partisan.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Hold it. Members, it’s Monday morning.

M. Morris: Thank you, Speaker. It will be a long day.

It was my impression that the member for Surrey-Fleetwood was going to talk about the elimination of the employer health tax. He chose to go in a different route. That’s probably one of the most partisan Monday morning speeches I’ve heard in a long time.

I have to say that reducing the financial load on British Columbians has always been the focus for us, when we were in government, and it’s a focus of our actions and our work today. I’m sure that the government side often thinks that they’re doing that as well.

The elimination of the MSP was a focus that we had. It was something that government chose to adopt. It was one of our ideas. But we were going to do it not on the backs of small businesses, not on the backs of the social services, of the agencies that reach out and help people, like the Salvation Army. We were going to do it by totally eliminating the MSP as the economy improved. We were going to do it through the economic advantage that we had here in British Columbia, not by just passing that burden on to the small businesses.

The impact that it’s had on small business across the province has been significant. I’ve talked to many small businesses where the impact of the employer health tax has been their margin. It’s been their margins to whether they will be a viable business or not. When we see things…. In the mining sector, when we see the commodity prices changing the way we have, that employer health tax margin could be what keeps that organization, what keeps that mining company, alive until the commodity prices go up.

The transition to the employer health tax with government…. They paid attention to universities, colleges, social service agencies, school districts and health authorities by providing them extra money within their provincial budgets to accommodate that increase in the employer health tax. I’m going to focus, for much of the rest of my presentation here, on what they didn’t do. That was to provide that margin for provincial policing across the province here.

Provincial policing agencies are responsible for combating organized crime and the fentanyl crisis that is so crucial and has had such a devastating effect on British Columbians provincewide. It’s the drug traffickers, organized crime, the gangs who recruit our youth in our communities, drive-by shootings, homicides in our cities and money laundering. All of these types of crimes are being actively investigated by provincial resources.

[10:15 a.m.]

There’s $100 million a year being paid into provincial resources in this province — CFSEU, the integrated teams that we have throughout the Lower Mainland investigating all these horrendous crimes. The employer health tax alone on this $100 million, of which most is salary dollars, is at least $1½ million, perhaps $2 million. That’s $2 million that’s taken out of the operational budgets of police agencies that are struggling to keep up with decisions like Jordan, which has had such a profound impact on police resources and getting cases before the courts in a timely fashion.

The minister, the other day in question period, stated that the $10 million deficit that the police agencies are currently facing is going to be faced by discretionary cuts to travel and to training. Well, when we have a province the size of British Columbia, where 90 percent of the geographical area of the province is policed by provincial policing, travel isn’t discretionary. Travel is an integral part of conducting investigations, an integral part of collecting the intelligence and the data that is so necessary in conducting effective investigations right across this country, right across this province.

There’s $400 million, roughly, spent every year in British Columbia on provincial policing. The budget is facing a deficit of about $10 million, but $6 million of that deficit is attributable to the employer health tax. That means that agencies are going to be subjected to a $6 million loss. In effect, it’s government redirecting money from the police budget to other higher-risk areas — or that they perceive to be higher-risk areas — or higher-priority areas in the province than public safety, than guns and gangs and organized crime, than money laundering.

J. Brar: Thanks to the member for Prince George–Mackenzie for his thoughtful response to the bold decision our government has made to eliminate MSP premiums to make life more affordable for the people of British Columbia. Clearly, the member on the other side of this House continues to have a different approach to MSP premiums. At this point in time, it seems that they’re lost. There is no clear position on whether they support MSP premiums….

Deputy Speaker: Member, let’s keep it non-partisan.

J. Brar: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Instead of making life more affordable, the approach offered by the other side seems to be asking the people of British Columbia to pay for MSP premiums again. It’s very clear that other provinces eliminated a program like the MSP, and it’s a fact that the previous administration did the opposite. They did not eliminate the MSP premiums; they actually doubled the MSP premiums. I am really proud of the fact that we are fully eliminating MSP premiums, saving B.C. families as much as $1,800.

The MSP has been replaced with the employer health tax, and it came into effect on January 1, 2019. The employer health tax in B.C. is the lowest payroll tax in Canada. The member said that it’s going to hurt small business people. The reality is that 85 percent of businesses will be entirely exempt from this payroll tax — 85 percent of businesses. Small businesses will not have to pay this payroll tax. The employer health tax does not apply to employers with a payroll under half a million dollars. It has to be a payroll under half a million dollars.

In addition, in July 2018, the Finance Minister released implementation details, including a higher threshold of $1.5 million for non-profits, based on each location rather than for the entire organization. The Finance Minister also announced that our government would cover net costs for public sector bodies like school districts, health authorities and post-secondary institutions, and these costs will be managed within existing budgets.

[10:20 a.m.]

I know the member is not clear about whether he supports MSP elimination or not, and he continues talking about that. I don’t know where the member stands. We all benefit from a well-funded public health care system.

Deputy Speaker: Members, the Monday morning statements are supposed to be absolutely non-partisan. They are your thoughts, not on what your government or opposition party has done. Let’s focus on that.

STEELHEAD

J. Tegart: I’m honoured today to rise and speak about the state of the nation regarding steelhead and to share with the House some of the work that’s being done.

As I stated in my two-minute statement last week, our steelhead population is in trouble. It appears there is a lot of talk, but not a lot of action to help save the species. Since Thursday last week, my two-minute statement on steelhead has had over 24,000 views, which tells me there’s a lot of interest and also a lot of concern.

The province of B.C. manages the steelhead fishery, which has been in decline for at least the last 15 years. Half of B.C.’s steelhead stocks in B.C. are considered by the federal government to be of extreme conservation concern or conservation concern. In the fall of 2017, only 177 steelhead returned to the Thompson River and 58 to the Chilcotin River, in comparison with thousands in the past.

The key factors driving the declines are bycatch mortality in commercial Pacific salmon fisheries and declines in marine and freshwater habitat quality. Furthermore, in drought years, the competition between fish and agriculture for water supply in the arid interior of our province is becoming severe.

In September of this year, our steelhead caucus organized a three-day tour, which included a visit to the Albion test fishery. I, personally, was very interested in finding out how the federal government actually counts fish. I had this vision that we had all this technology and that it was sonar or something wildly technical. But we went out on the boat at Albion. They do test fisheries for chum and chinook on alternating days. They do that from mid-April until mid-October. They count the fish that they catch — physically count them.

We had a presentation from Dr. Ken Ashley, the director of BCIT Rivers Institute, to talk about some of the issues that our steelhead are facing. Shaun Hollingsworth also shared his concerns as someone who has been a strong advocate for so many years around our fisheries and steelhead in particular.

We finished the afternoon in Hope, where we went out on the river with Kevin Estrada, who runs a fishing guide company. He talked to us about some of the things that they actually see out on the river. We also visited Othello Tunnels in the Coquihalla River and looked at some of the challenges when huge rocks fall into the river and some of the challenges that that puts in front of steelhead, who are trying to spawn up the river.

Day two started in Merritt, and we had a visit from a steelhead biologist in McGregor, who talked to us about the Coldwater and Nicola Rivers and some of the habitat issues around that. We went to the Spius Creek hatchery and talked about what hatcheries could do to help us, as we see our fish populations decline.

We went over the Tunkwa Lake Road to Kamloops Lake and visited with Skeetchestn, which is an Indian band in my riding. They were doing a food fishery on the lake that day. They were sharing that fish with the Bonaparte Band, because the Bonaparte were not able to fish this year because of the fish ladders on the Bonaparte River needing repair.

[10:25 a.m.]

We also went for lunch with the chief and council at Skeetchestn and heard from chief and council some of the challenges and some of the solutions that they are doing as a First Nations band. In particular, they have not fished steelhead on the Deadman Creek river for a number of years, many years. They also have done some cryopreserving of steelhead milt so that they can ensure that we don’t lose our steelhead.

We then went to Ashcroft and met with former chief of the Cook’s Ferry Indian Band, David Walkem, who has been on this file for many, many years. From there, the next day we went to the Bonaparte River fishway. This is one that’s being worked on in order to allow fish to come up the Bonaparte River and was damaged during floods after the wildfires. We met with Chief Randy Porter and his crew, and they talked about the work they were doing.

We then went to Lillooet and met with the Big Bar Slide command team and got a briefing on the work that they’re doing in the Fraser River and the effect that they think that will have on the runs for years in the future. Then the team went to Kwoiek Creek and met with Chief Patrick Michell from Kanaka Bar. Patrick shared some of the plans that they’re doing.

Lots of information. I would be the first to tell you that I am not an expert on steelhead, but I am passionate about the fact that we have lots of work to do.

On October 24, 2019, the Ministry of Forests released a document that said catches to date of steelhead in test fisheries suggest that Fraser River late-run summer steelhead stocks are at extremely low levels of abundance and an extreme conservation concern. The current spawning population forecast for the Thompson watershed is 86 fish, and the spawning population forecast for the Chilcotin watershed is 39.

These fish cannot afford any more years of talking about the issue. They need action, and they need it today. They need it from all of us. This is a non-partisan issue, and this is a perfect issue to discuss in this House, with all of us in attendance, because this is critical and needs action now.

D. Routley: Thank you to the member opposite for her thoughtful and impassioned speech and also concern for the issue. I very much appreciate that. I appreciate it in another role, other than as simply a private member.

The Premier had appointed me as co-chair of the Wild Salmon Advisory Council, along with the Chief of the Heiltsuk Nation, Marilyn Slett. This work was key in my experience with fish and salmon. As the member opposite…. I’m no expert but quickly coming to speed here. The Premier told us in the beginning: “Let’s not fight over the last fish. Let’s grow more.”

Our task was to consider solutions for restoration and enhancement of wild salmon populations, sustainable fisheries management and stewardship opportunities for communities — new economic development opportunities to assist viable and sustainable community-based fisheries.

The Indigenous peoples of B.C. have a particularly important relationship with salmon. They are inextricably connected to wild salmon. There are bonds for both social and coastal communities, in a social, economic and ceremonial way. They connect the people to the lands and to their histories.

The state of the wild salmon in B.C. cannot be underestimated. It is a mysterious situation, with many possible concerns and factors affecting it. On the north and central coast, sockeye are down by 33 percent. Pink are down by 28 percent. Chum, down by 45 percent. Chinook, down by 26 percent. Coho, down by 21 percent of historical averages. On the Pacific south coast, sockeye are down 43 percent. Pink salmon are up 24 percent. Chum are down 14. With chinook and coho, there’s just insufficient data.

[10:30 a.m.]

The commercial catch today is 25 percent of what it was in the 1980s. The recreational side of the sector provides 50 percent of its annual GDP, and that GDP totals $2 billion.

One alarming statistic, if those weren’t alarming enough, is that the landed volume of seafood in B.C. has only decreased by 1 percent but the landed value has decreased by 26 percent. The number of vessels has gone down by 30 percent, 18 percent of fishing jobs with them, and fish harvester income is down by 42 percent. These are alarming statistics that require immediate attention.

The success of this council, I think, can be measured in the fact that the B.C. salmon innovation and restoration fund was established based on the lobbying of the B.C. government to the federal government for investment in protection of salmon habitat.

So $142.85 million over five years will be invested — the federal government, 70 percent of that; the province, 30 percent or, I believe, $4.2 million. This will support B.C.’s fish and seafood sector and ensure sustainability of wild pacific salmon and other B.C. fish stocks.

This is meant to serve the protection and restoration activities and prioritize wild salmon stocks as well as other wild B.C. stocks. It’s always better to preserve than have to restore. So this is the number one goal.

Goal 1 of the council would be to increase the abundance of wild salmon in this province. Despite billions of dollars of public and private investment over the past 30 years to protect, enhance and manage our wild salmon, both statistics and stories indicate that many of B.C.’s wild salmon populations continue to weaken.

Goal 2: support and encourage greater community engagement with wild salmon. In 2011, an Angus Reid poll recorded that wild salmon are as culturally important to British Columbians as the French language is to the Quebecois. Fishing communities and Indigenous peoples in B.C. have depended on salmon not only for protein and income but also for social, cultural and ceremonial purposes.

Goal 3: protect and enhance the economic, social and cultural benefits that accrue to B.C. communities from wild salmon and other seafood sources. In North America, the value of wild seafood in the marketplace has been steadily increasing over the past two decades. Yet in B.C., average commercial fishing incomes have declined, as I pointed out.

The conclusion of this council was that wild salmon are an integral part of our ecosystem. They feed the trees, the bears, the whales and the people. They are a beacon of the overall health of our rivers, lakes and oceans.

Much work remains to be done, particularly in the management of resource industries. I thank the member for her contribution to the debate.

E. Ross: I seek leave to make an introduction.

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

E. Ross: In the House today, we have Dale Swampy, the president of the National Coalition of Chiefs. The NCC was formed by First Nation chiefs and Métis leaders in response to the poverty crisis and social despair that currently exist in our communities throughout Canada.

The NCC’s mandate and purpose were developed through comprehensive dialogue meetings and consideration of best practices with the intent of creating a national organization focused on creating mutually beneficial relationships among First Nations, Métis and industry leadership.

Would the members please join me in welcoming Dale Swampy, president of the National Chiefs Coalition to the House today.

Debate Continued

J. Tegart: Thank you to the member opposite for their words. I think, as we listen to the work that is being done, it’s indicative of what’s happening to our steelhead.

There are many groups doing much work individually and often in silos. I think that now is the time that we need to move beyond words. We need to discuss actions that are bold. What has been done in the past has not helped the steelhead stocks. We are managing them into extinction.

Solutions must be based on science, which is often a long-term commitment both in staff and funding. Partnerships are essential if we’re to be successful.

[10:35 a.m.]

First Nations who are willing to share their expertise on the stewardship of the land and water must be part of that solution. The federal and provincial governments must come together and provide clarity of responsibility and accountability.

When we have billions of dollars being spent and our fish are disappearing, something isn’t working. Interested groups within the sectors are concerned and committed to rebuilding stocks. The general public, who value the once abundance of our province, want to see it rebuilt.

This will take bold leadership in the midst of so many unknowns. If we keep our eyes on our common interest, the commitment to wild stock, I believe we can move forward. As I said in my statement last week, the mighty B.C. steelhead are being managed into extinction. I’m here to say: “Not on my watch.”

CELL PHONE BILLING AND
CONSUMER PROTECTIONS

B. D’Eith: Ninety-two percent of B.C. households have at least one cell phone. These devices are no longer a luxury; they’ve become a necessity.

On February 12, 2019, in the Speech from the Throne, the government committed to take action to strengthen consumer protections around cell phone contract billing and begin a public consultation and legislative review. And the province committed to encourage the federal government to deliver more affordable cell phone options. The Premier asked me to lead this public engagement.

A public survey was conducted over the summer of 2019, and participation was high, with over 15,000 people of all ages, from all over British Columbia, participating. I also conducted a series of stakeholder meetings, including meeting with telecommunication companies, consumer advocates, seniors advocates and other associations.

Now, the respondents to the survey expressed frustration, confusion and general unhappiness with the current cost of wireless services and the level of competition in the Canadian retail wireless services market. The survey results also reveal that there’s an imbalance between the needs of the consumers and what is being offered in the retail wireless service market.

The vast majority of respondents don’t think that the costs of cell phones are reasonable, and they don’t think they’re getting good value for their cell phone service. The top three suggestions from the survey were: more retail competition and innovation, government regulation and more choices for low-use and mid-use cell phone plans.

There was also a concerning number of problems at the retail level that were raised, such as misleading advertising, deceptive sales practices and non-disclosure of contract terms and conditions at point of sale. The most frequent reported issues of shopping for a cell phone were potential charges not being fully explained, contract terms not being fully explained, misleading information, not having enough opportunity to read the contract and aggressive sales practices.

Also, many survey respondents requested the government to impose advertising standards for wireless services providers to ensure that consumers have access to transparent, accurate and consistent information when shopping for cell phones. An example of this is the unlimited or infinite data plan. These are advertised right now. We can all see them. Many people see them. But it doesn’t say that after an allotted period of time, if the maximum data is used, the speed is drastically reduced. People don’t know about that, and quite frankly, that’s misleading.

Most survey respondents do not believe the Canadian retail wireless market is sufficiently competitive with other jurisdictions. People who travel to Europe or to the United States, for example, feel that there’s better value in those other territories.

Seniors are particularly susceptible to aggressive or deceptive sales practices. Seniors can be sold expensive, large data plans and the latest devices on a two-year fixed term, even though they may not need that data, they already have a device that meets their wireless needs, or they prefer a month-to-month plan. Another issue for seniors is that some carriers charge for paper bills. This might be a hardship for many seniors. While telecoms are required to provide paper bills, there’s nothing that says they can’t charge for it. This is about basic consumer fairness.

Now, the federal CRTC developed a wireless code to try and deal with contract and billing practices for telecoms. The CRTC also empowered the CCTS, or Complaints for Telecom-Television Services, complaint process to mediate cell phone billing disputes.

[10:40 a.m.]

The survey pointed out a number of problems with the effectiveness of the code and the CCTS. In fact, only 22 percent of respondents agreed their cell phone contract was easy to understand, and only one-third agreed that their cell phone bill was easy to understand. Only three in ten respondents agreed they have not had an issue with their monthly bill. Most had. Issues are unexpected charges for usage, a change in cost of the plan or an account services charge. The most common issues were things like overage charges, roaming fees outside of Canada, roaming fees within Canada and long-distance calling charge overage charges.

Roughly six in ten respondents said they disputed an issue with a cell phone. These methods include…. Most, 96 percent, went to their service provider. Only 2 percent filed complaints with the CCTS, and only 1 percent went to arbitration. Those who actually launched disputes were not satisfied overall with the results that they got.

Awareness is a big issue. Only 18 percent of respondents agreed that they know their rights and responsibilities. Fewer than one in ten indicated they even knew about the Wireless Code and the rights that it provides, and only 12 percent of the respondents even knew about the CCTS. Fewer than 2 percent of the respondents had ever filed a complaint with the CCTS.

The results of the B.C. survey indicate that these issues have a direct bearing on overall consumer perceptions of the state of the wireless services retail market, particularly with respect to cost and value.

Now, having said that, it’s also important that we look at the important role that telecoms play in British Columbia, particularly the investments they’re making in infrastructure and connectivity. Telecoms employ over 10,000 British Columbians, and three telecom companies — Telus, Rogers and Shaw — are investing in cellular networks. In fact, they’re investing in B.C., in many ways, in rural and Indigenous communities. For example, the province partnered with Rogers to bring cell services to the Witset First Nation, and Telus recently announced cellular services in Port Clements in Haida Gwaii, amongst others.

It’s important, then, that improved customer affordability and choice in the wireless market is seen as compatible with the continued industry growth and connectivity of initiatives in British Columbia, and I plan to do that as I move through this process.

S. Cadieux: Well, I got my first cell phone in 1991. It was a bit of a brick. I’m sure that my muscles got quite a workout just carrying that thing around. A few years later I got a new one. It was smaller, had more features. By 2002, I had a cell phone that I could email on. Now I think the phone I’m carrying around, or the two phones I’m carrying around for this job, has more power than the laptop I had at home in 2000.

I don’t think anybody would argue that cell phones have become a vastly important device that people rely on for all sorts of things, including safety. So many people have now moved away from a traditional land line altogether. I wouldn’t have one if it wasn’t for the fact that it was bundled with my TV and Internet package.

I am fascinated by this government’s move in the throne speech to talk about cell phones and cell phone rates and things that are clearly all within federal jurisdiction. I just think it’s interesting that a government would make a promise to do something that they have no control over. But that’s okay.

Let’s talk a little bit about what people don’t like about cell phones, about the current reality. The current reality in Canada is that we have a market that is limited, and because of that, we pay more than almost anywhere else in the world. You can live in Africa and get a cheaper cell phone plan.

Of course, that is what people don’t understand. That is what people want changed. But the only thing that’s going to change that is opening the market up to competition. That’s what the Competition Bureau says. In fact, the Competition Bureau this morning announced that it’s asking the Canadian Radio-television Commission to help small wireless carriers expand across the country. They had a press release this morning that said that wireless plans are cheaper all around in places where there are regional carriers like Freedom Mobile and Videotron.

[10:45 a.m.]

Why shouldn’t all Canadians have access to 40 percent lower prices? Competition in our marketplace can provide that. The federal government and the regulators are on that.

I read the entire report that government put out on this consultation that they’ve done. Many of the things that the member referenced about what people are upset about, that contracts are hard to understand…. Well, the only real fix there is a complete flat-fee contract with unlimited data. At this point in time, that’s the only real way to change or improve people’s understanding of contracts — that it’s complicated language.

These contracts have the least complicated language of most contracts that I’ve seen. Certainly, people have mortgages, and I’m sure the language in there is more complicated. So I’m not sure what government thinks it can do to change that. The CRTC put out its code of conduct and its Wireless Code, a simplified version, which provides clarity for people about what they can expect and what they can demand from their wireless provider.

The comment made by the member about…. One of the things people don’t like is that they feel they weren’t given enough time to read the contract. Well, people are given as much time to read the contract as they want. There’s no obligation to sign a contract at any time. You could go home. You could read it for a week. You could come back and sign. So I’m not sure, again, how government is planning or thinking that they can fix the problems that people feel exist.

The biggest and the real issue here is that people feel gouged by the prices we’re paying compared to other parts of the world. Competition is the opportunity there. So I’m thrilled to know that this government is in favour of opening the marketplace to competition and sees the value in capital marketplaces that can provide the best value to customers.

When we talk about things like advertising standards and that sort of thing, these are all things regulated by the federal government. When I read the member’s engagement letter from the Premier that says, “I expect you to make progress on these key actions,” notably “greater affordability and choice,” I question how the member is going to live up to the expectations of his boss. But I do think that the members of the public will be happy to see him succeed.

B. D’Eith: Just initially to discuss, one issue that the member brought up was contracts. Well, in fact, one of the key issues that we found out was that people don’t get a copy of their contract before they sign it. As a lawyer, I was shocked by that. In fact, they receive their contract after they sign it, which is one of the issues that we’re grappling with right now.

As I said, I led the cell phone public engagement. Last week I was appointed to represent the province in discussion at federal levels regarding cell phone transparency, affordability and consumer protection. While I do hear naysayers saying that we won’t be able to do anything, we are trying. This is something that we’ve heard loud and clear from the public. It’s the same thing that we’re doing on gas. We’re trying to do this with cell phones.

There are three things we can do: advocate, legislate and educate. Telecommunications is, as the member said, primarily a federal jurisdiction. However, there are a number of actions that we can take.

First action. Last week we submitted to the CRTC. We set out the results of the public survey of 15,000 B.C. residents of all ages and throughout the province. The recommendation said that the CRTC should consider regulatory actions that promote competition, affordability, consumer interest and innovation; address imbalances in order to provide families with greater affordability and choice; and that targeting actions are needed for vulnerable groups, such as seniors. Seniors have a unique need and need lower-cost plans, and these plans should be specifically designed.

Now, of course, this particular CRTC review didn’t expressly deal with the Wireless Code or the CCTS. So we submit that the federal government should review the Wireless Code and the CCTS as soon as possible.

[10:50 a.m.]

The next step is that I’ll be reaching out to the newly appointed federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains, to discuss the new government’s response to consumer concerns with cell phone rates and contract transparency. These issues involved election promises from all the major parties. I intend to ensure that these concerns are expressed by the people of British Columbia in regard to cell phone pricing, billing, advertising and contract practices.

In parallel with the public consultation, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General was also looking at potential provincial legislative responses to consumer protection and education in B.C. Like the member mentioned in regards to contracts, perhaps people should be able to read their contracts before they sign them.

Informed by the survey and stakeholder meetings, there are clearly a number of actions that the province could take to help bolster the efficacy of the federal wireless code and help build awareness in terms of education around the rights and remedies available to them, given the low amount of knowledge around their rights and remedies. I’m committed to doing everything I can for the people of British Columbia in regard to cell phones.

HOUSING

T. Stone: I’m pleased to rise in the House today to speak about the importance of housing here in British Columbia. Currently we are facing many challenges in the sector, challenges that are widespread and multifaceted. Affordability, lack of supply and projects that are behind schedule and underfunded are among the many challenges.

Recently I had the pleasure of attending the large Housing Central Conference on behalf of the official opposition. It’s now the largest affordable housing convention held annually anywhere in North America. I appreciated meeting folks from all over B.C. dedicated to engaging, sharing ideas and embracing innovation to deliver on affordable housing for the people of our province.

During my keynote address to the 1,600 folks in attendance, I told them that I have a dual role. On the one hand, as the official opposition critic for Housing, this means holding the current government accountable for their priorities, commitments and progress. That’s an important job that I have to do. On the other hand, I intend to engage, to listen, to learn and to ask questions, all in an effort to frame up what our approach to housing will be, what our priorities and commitments will be that we will put in front of British Columbians in the months ahead.

Now, since housing was added to my critic responsibilities only two months ago, I have already had the good fortune of crossing paths with many dynamic, passionate advocates for affordable housing from across B.C.

Organizations providing transition and safe homes for women at risk of violence or who have experienced violence and second-stage housing for women who have left abusive relationships. Manufacturers delivering modular solutions as part of the rapid response to homelessness. Builders actively engaged in doing all that they can to make the numbers work so that they can build more market rental product. Some — and I emphasize some — local governments that are embracing creative strategies to try and expedite local government approvals.

At the end of the day, the challenges we face in housing here in B.C. are widespread. So, too, is the required response. Solutions will require all hands on deck, all levels of government, the private sector as well as the non-profit sector. Affordable housing is a vital part of both caring for and investing in each other, because everyone deserves a safe, secure, affordable home.

As Sen. Murray Sinclair said in his keynote address at the Housing Central Conference last week:

“Housing is about building society. It’s about people. It’s about their future, opportunities for themselves and their families. Housing isn’t just four walls and a roof. It starts with belonging. A safe, secure affordable home enables so much more to be possible. It gives children a safe place to grow up, and it leads to better health outcomes and family stability. It enables individuals to pursue whatever opportunities they choose for themselves and their families. It truly transforms and nurtures communities.”

I would point out that while the emphasis is very often on Metro Vancouver when talking about affordable housing, a lot can be learned from the trail-blazing, the innovation and the experience of folks in other parts of B.C. — in Kamloops, in the Interior, on Vancouver Island, for example. Equally so, the challenge of housing affordability exists all over B.C., and it’s all relative.

Talk to folks in Kamloops, and they’ll tell you that in recent years, there’s been a surge in housing prices, largely driven by the inflow of people leaving the Lower Mainland. What’s a bargain in Kamloops for someone cashing out of the real estate market in Vancouver is actually an affordability challenge for someone who is already living in Kamloops. In Revelstoke, the rapid growth of the tourism sector there, coupled with challenges getting new housing product on the market fast enough, has created both housing affordability and access challenges.

[10:55 a.m.]

Talk to Tofino mayor Josie Osborne, and she’ll say that the housing affordability issues in her community are quite different than what’s going on in Burnaby, for example. No more or less important, just different. Yes, the challenge of housing affordability exists all over B.C. It’s relative, and that’s where perspective really matters.

Now, our former government recognized the importance of affordable housing, and during our time in government, we invested over $4.9 billion to provide over 26,000 affordable homes for low-income individuals, seniors and families. We developed and preserved over 6,900 housing units for the homeless or those at risk of homelessness. We developed and preserved over 3,000 units of housing in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, just to name a few of the details of our commitment to housing.

Moving forward, even with many examples of successful projects, both past and present, I think we all can agree that more needs to be done.

With British Columbia’s population growing by over 60,000 people every year — people coming from all corners of British Columbia and, indeed, the world to make a life here in God’s country, what we call “Beautiful British Columbia” — we need to make sure that there are homes for everyone and that we’re building the thousands and thousands of units of new housing to meet this demand.

We need to continue to innovate. We need to work together like never before to get more roofs over more heads quickly and efficiently. We need to continue to invest in the wide array of housing stock to meet the wide array of housing needs. The focus needs to be a relentless, dogged determination to focus on building more housing supply.

As an aside, let me highlight the importance of building more units in Vancouver, with over 60,000 more people coming to this province. The total number of units of new rental housing that was built, that’s projected to have been completed and opened in the city of Vancouver in 2019, is only 947 units. Now, that’s a 30 percent decline from the 1,364 units of rental housing that was built in Vancouver in 2018.

Across the Metro region, it’s projected that this year, 2019, about 3,960 units of rental housing will be opened. There’s also an expectation of about 20,000 units that are in the pipeline as of this moment. Of those, only 5,000 units are actually under construction and scheduled for occupancy over the next three years. That’s an average of 1,689 units per year.

The remaining balance of 15,000 are proposed or approved, and, if built, they would require two to three to five to seven years before completion and occupancy. That would be an average of approximately 2,163 units a year over the next seven years for the whole region.

That is not good enough. We need to ensure that we double down on our efforts to build more supply, that we engage communities early and often. We need more supportive housing projects that actually include the supports that the residents who live within them need. We need to ensure accountability for projects that fall behind. We need to make sure that we focus on housing being developed for everybody in British Columbia.

Deputy Speaker: Statements are supposed to be non-partisan. Another reminder for everybody.

M. Dean: Thank you to the member for Kamloops–South Thompson for bringing this important matter to the attention of the House.

A lack of affordable housing is one of the largest challenges in my community of Esquimalt-Metchosin and across the whole of the province. I’ve spoken about this matter in the House before and talked about how housing in my community became a commodity. It ended up far out of the reach of working families in neighbourhoods across my community.

It wasn’t an overnight development. It built up over years, and it went unchecked. It reached a crisis. Generations, across families, weren’t able to stay in the same community. Grandparents living on fixed incomes moved away, for example. Young people couldn’t stay in the neighbourhood of their childhood where their parents lived. Rental rates were spiralling out of reach, as well as the cost of buying homes.

Our government is tackling the housing crisis head-on by fighting speculation and using that money to build thousands of new, affordable rentals for people. We’re delivering the homes that people need, and we’re only two years into our ten-year plan. We’re working in partnership to build homes that cover the full spectrum of incomes for a total of 114,000 affordable homes.

[11:00 a.m.]

This is the largest investment in affordable housing in B.C.’s history, over $7 billion in ten years. Already we have more than 22,000 homes completed or underway in nearly 90 communities. We’re funding 4,900 units over three years of new, affordable rental housing through the community housing fund for seniors, families, low- and middle-income earners, the first phase of 14,000 homes over ten years.

I have a few new projects underway already in my community. Under the new funding streams introduced by our government, the community of Esquimalt-Metchosin will have two projects of affordable housing in Esquimalt. We’re going to have Indigenous housing in Colwood, and we have a mixed partnership development in Colwood as well.

[J. Isaacs in the chair.]

This morning we made an announcement of the next phase of transition housing. We’ve already announced 14 projects of transition and second-stage housing for women rebuilding their lives after partner violence. Today I was so pleased to announce that women and their children who are breaking away from violence will have access to new safe and secure housing as we get to work on 11 new projects throughout the province.

These projects mean 260 new transition beds, second-stage housing and affordable housing. More importantly, these projects mean safety and support in recovering from the effects of violence and the effects of having to leave their homes. These are beds where children will be able to sleep soundly at night, where women are safe from threats from firearms in their own homes.

This is just the beginning of our new Building B.C. women’s transition housing fund that will invest a total of $734 million over the next ten years to build and operate 1,500 new units in our province. This investment is going to increase the capacity of our transition houses across the province by over 60 percent. It has been decades since women and children experiencing violence in their homes or relationships have seen any significant investment in their needs.

I remember managing the program available to people, mostly women, living in the West Shore to support them in building safety when facing intimate partner violence and gender-based violence. Our community was the fastest-growing in B.C., and we saw no increases in services. We didn’t even have a transition house in our community, so people breaking away from violence had to leave their neighbourhoods. Their kids had to leave their schools.

Well, now we have funding for a transition house in the West Shore, a wonderful partnership between two non-profit organizations: B.C. Housing and the local municipality. This is an excellent example of the great work of local partnerships. I want to say thank you to all of the community organizations who help B.C. Housing with building affordable housing, including transition homes.

We have encouraged and we’ve supported partnerships like these across the province so that projects meet community needs and priorities are being developed. Our government is making different choices to make life better.

T. Stone: I thank the member for Esquimalt-Metchosin for her remarks on this important discussion around housing.

I believe it’s really important that the government is held accountable to British Columbians about where they’re actually at in delivering on their commitments to build 114,000 units of new housing over ten years. It appears that at the moment the government is not reaching the goals that it has set. The government needs to make sure that the projects they’ve promised actually become projects that are fully funded and completed, that building and development occur quickly and efficiently within the time frames promised.

Now, a large part of this accountability comes through this non-partisan document, this update that’s put out on a regular basis by B.C. Housing. This is their housing investment plan report.

Now, I….

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members will come to order. It is a non-partisan time for members.

T. Stone: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I note that a number of the details, the findings in B.C. Housing’s update are quite startling. While the government claims to have delivered 22,000 units of housing to date, B.C. Housing’s report says 2,279. The report indicates that 51 percent of units have been initiated. That’s 6,700 housing units have been announced, but no financial commitment has been made towards them. They have no funding attached. That’s on page 5 of this non-partisan B.C. Housing update.

[11:05 a.m.]

And 59 percent of units under construction are behind schedule. That’s on page 12 of this non-partisan B.C. Housing report. Only 79 affordable rental housing units have been opened provincewide, against a target of 1,598. On a target of 5,194 units, how many units have been opened as part of the government’s community housing fund? Well, this non-partisan B.C. Housing report suggests zero to this point. The Indigenous housing fund has a target of 1,171. How many have been opened to date? Again, zero.

In addition to this, of the 8,000 student housing units promised by the NDP, how many have been opened to this point? Zero. And 52 percent of total student housing funds allocated to date will deliver only 23 percent of total units promised. So there doesn’t appear to be enough funds to get anywhere close to delivering on the 8,000 units of student housing.

In addition to delays, many affordable housing projects the government has announced have also ballooned in cost, inexplicably, like the project announced in Okanagan Falls. It was announced by the former B.C. Liberal government. It was reannounced by this government but at a $1.2 million higher cost for nine fewer housing units.

This isn’t the only housing project that has been reannounced by the NDP. The projects announced by the former B.C. Liberal government in Prince George, Surrey, Maple Ridge, Penticton and elsewhere around the province have also been reannounced. We’re seeing a growing number of housing projects that don’t actually have the supports that are advertised.

These are all details that are contained in this non-partisan B.C. Housing report. The government needs to be held accountable for the progress or lack thereof on the housing file to this point.

Hon. C. James: I’d like to ask the House to consider proceeding with Motion 25, standing in the name of the member for North Vancouver–Lonsdale.

Deputy Speaker: Hon. Members, unanimous consent of the House is required to proceed with Motion 25 without disturbing the priorities of the motions preceding it on the order paper.

Leave granted.

Private Members’ Motions

MOTION 25 — RECONCILIATION AND
WORK WITH INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES

B. Ma: It is my pleasure to move today’s motion.

[Be it resolved that this House supports reconciliation and the ongoing process of working with Indigenous communities to end discrimination, uphold human rights and ensure greater justice and fairness for all.]

Underpinning everything that we have been doing as a government is a fundamental commitment to achieving true and lasting reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. This commitment is embedded in the daily work of our government, of our cabinet ministers and of every member on this side of this House and, I believe, as well, on all sides of this House. A fundamental and foundational commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Together with Indigenous peoples, we are taking concrete action to support healthy communities and build a better future for everyone in British Columbia.

The rights and needs of Indigenous peoples in British Columbia have been ignored for far too long — set aside for far too long — not just in British Columbia but across the country. Canada has a brutal, shameful history of racism when it comes to how Canada has dealt with Indigenous peoples in all sorts of ways.

For instance, just earlier this month, we gathered together to remember the fallen soldiers and the veterans of wars of years past. We’ve had thousands and thousands of people, Canadians, who have gone overseas to fight for Canada’s freedom and fight for what we believe is right and good. But oftentimes, we forget that among them were thousands and thousands of Indigenous people.

Unfortunately, though these Indigenous people sometimes came from towns…. There were sometimes towns in British Columbia and in Canada where nearly every single able-bodied Indigenous man between 25 and 35 would go overseas to fight for Canada. When they came back, they would be disrespected, ignored by their country and, basically, left on their own and then forgotten.

It’s really quite terrible and shameful. It’s taken far too long for governments to take action to ensure the principles of reconciliation — in particular, UNDRIP, the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples — are actually taken into account here.

[11:10 a.m.]

We want to make sure that there is an equal standard of life for all and that this is reflected in our laws and in our society. One of the ways that our government has been focussing on UNDRIP is to bring in UNDRIP legislation into B.C. law. I know that many of my fellow members will continue to talk about some of the aspects of the work that that takes on.

I really want to touch today on our work in regard to housing, because a lot of Indigenous people…. Well, Canada has a history of uprooting Indigenous people from the lands that they had lived on for thousands and thousands of years, putting them onto these tiny, little reserves and expecting them to provide housing and services for their people on a fraction of the land that they used to be able to use in their daily lives.

For so long, provincial governments felt that housing on reserve land was strictly a federal issue, and they would not get involved until this government, our NDP government, decided for the very first time in Canadian history to be the first province to actually fund on-reserve housing for Indigenous people. I’m really proud of that.

I think about some of the work that First Nations in the area that I represent, North Vancouver–Lonsdale, have done to try to bring people home into their communities. I think of the Squamish Nation, for instance. They actually started a new housing association, known as Hiy̓ám̓ ta Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Housing Society, where they’re looking to build over 1,000 units of Indigenous, on-reserve housing for their members on the North Shore.

Hiy̓ám̓ ta Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Housing Society. What it really means is “the Squamish are coming home.” What a beautiful concept. What a beautiful idea that is — that a First Nation might be empowered to be able to bring their people home into their communities so that they can live with their loved ones, live where there are support networks.

Thank you so much for letting me speak to this.

P. Milobar: I’m pleased to rise today to speak to the motion that works towards “reconciliation and the ongoing process of working with Indigenous communities to end discrimination, uphold human rights and ensure greater justice and fairness for all.” Together as elected officials, we commit ourselves to build a better community for all that fosters prosperity and a bright future for all.

Our caucus is dedicated to real and substantive reconciliation for First Nations throughout every corner of British Columbia. I believe, as everyone else in this chamber does, that we share this mutual goal. It is important to look forward towards the new legislation that builds on reconciliation. However, it has been a long path to get to this point.

The previous government also helped facilitate many important projects for First Nations communities to help toward equal opportunity for all. Previous actions laid the groundwork towards the future, which included more than 500 agreements with First Nations throughout the province.

The majority of these projects were revenue-sharing agreements, which were signed with 242 different First Nations. The revenue-sharing partnership provides the ability for a percentage of what the province receives from resource development on First Nations traditional territories to go directly back into communities to use where it is needed most.

I know that from my area of Kamloops–North Thompson when a mine was just coming on stream, being reinvigorated back as a mine, this process worked very well to see the mine be able to gainfully employ people in my area, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, as well as making sure that those revenue-share agreements were in place with the area First Nations.

British Columbia was the first province in Canada to implement revenue-sharing agreements, in fact. These agreements are designed so that communities can decide where to implement the revenue so that it has the greatest benefit. This ensures that the needs of each community are best met. Creating economic opportunity is a critical part of being able to empower First Nations communities and to create a bright future for the next generation.

[11:15 a.m.]

Between 2001 and 2015, the first citizens fund was able to provide 1,737 businesses with loans, totalling $51 million, to Aboriginal businesses. Skills training is also a vital part of building a stronger future for the next generation. In 2015, the Aboriginal skills-training development program was launched to invest up to $30 million over three years to fill training gaps for First Nations who wanted to participate in the LNG sector.

I think we can all agree, as we see today what’s happening with LNG, that pre-training was a success in making sure that First Nations communities in and around the LNG area can fully maximize the economic benefits. Access to skills training, good jobs, revenue-sharing, economic growth and environmental stewardship are all parts of the opportunity for First Nations in British Columbia.

The clean energy business fund has provided more than $8.2 million to support clean energy opportunities in over 110 Aboriginal communities. Through this fund, communities have been able to invest in clean energy infrastructure, which, in turn, helps advance climate change goals and also injects revenue into communities. Thanks to the hard work of the previous government, B.C. invested in 42 clean energy revenue-sharing agreements with 33 First Nations.

The emerging LNG sector in B.C. has also been able to present new opportunities for the provincial government and First Nations communities to partner and work together. The economic benefits from these revenue-sharing agreements are enormous for communities that grapple daily with socioeconomic issues, especially in the much more rural parts of the province.

Together, we can move forward and build on two decades’ worth of progress to help support Indigenous communities. By improving prosperity, we are able to provide true and lasting opportunity for everyone in B.C. to get ahead. At the end of the day, reconciliation is about building bridges between all communities, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, so that everyone is able to better understand each other. We continue to pledge to work together to build reconciliation in this province so everyone has the opportunity to prosper.

A. Kang: “Be it resolved that this House supports reconciliation and the ongoing process of working with Indigenous communities to end discrimination, uphold human rights and ensure greater justice and fairness for all.”

Many people talk about truth and reconciliation without truly understanding what it means. The word “truth” means discovering, recognizing, admitting and fixing past wrongdoings by the government in hope of resolving conflict left over from the past. The term “reconciliation,” by definition, means the restoration of friendly relations. So if we take this word and reflect on what it means to First Nations and the B.C. government, it means the healing of our two nations — coming together to find common ground; to move forward together with free, prior and informed consent; to restore any wrongdoings that happened in the past.

The truth is that governments of the past have robbed Indigenous peoples of their rights to education, language, land, culture, families, basic human rights and more. Our government is creating a path forward and working together in partnership with Indigenous peoples towards truth and reconciliation with our legislation to implement the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples. Education is part of that.

As a mother and as a teacher, I recognize the need to close the shameful educational gap between Indigenous students and other students. Education has been a gift and has lifted immigrants like me. But education has not granted the same opportunities to Indigenous children. When I came to Canada as a little girl, I was embraced by a supportive learning environment with kind and patient teachers. They helped lift me up and created opportunities for me to succeed.

The same opportunities were not there for Indigenous children. Education was used against Indigenous people to assimilate Indigenous children, rip them away from their families, destroy their culture and deny them of opportunity.

The consequences of residential schools left a shattering effect on the Indigenous communities across Canada, and for far too long, the B.C. curriculum failed to recognize the tragic experience and the suffering through multiple generations. Indigenous students in B.C. were held back by a school system that did not reflect their history, honour their communities or meet their needs.

[11:20 a.m.]

The best way to compensate for the painful legacy of residential schools is to make education policy right. Now more than ever our government is investing in education to provide pathways to success for Indigenous students. B.C. invests about $74 million annually in targeted funding to support Indigenous learners.

Our government has negotiated a B.C. Tripartite Education Agreement with Indigenous education rights holders that commits the federal government to provide an additional $100 million over five years and guarantees equal per-pupil funding of on-reserve Indigenous students with local district students. This is the first and only such agreement of its kind in Canada.

The Minister of Education provided a $50 million grant to the First Peoples Cultural Council to support the revitalization and preservation of Indigenous languages. For 2017-18, the Ministry of Education provided an extra $190,000 in one-time funding to support resource development for Indigenous language curricula for 17 Indigenous languages, and six more are in development.

The ministry is also working to recruit more Indigenous teachers by investing in more spaces at post-secondary institutions for Indigenous education and has invested $400,000 towards Indigenous teacher-training curriculum development.

It is inspiring to see how quickly Indigenous students respond when we begin to bring down barriers to their success. Their achievements are an important reminder of why we cannot rest until our schools support every student. The Indigenous student completion rate has steadily improved over the past four years, rising from 62 percent in 2014 to 70 percent in 2018, which is a historic high.

Our government is taking action, together with Indigenous people, to build a stronger B.C. that includes everyone. This is only the beginning, and there is so much more for us to do. Putting UNDRIP into action is an important step towards true and lasting reconciliation, and I’m sure all parties will be supporting this motion.

J. Rustad: I want to thank the member opposite for bringing forward this motion: “Be it resolved that this House supports reconciliation and the ongoing process of working with Indigenous communities to end discrimination, uphold human rights and ensure greater justice and fairness for all.”

This is an important issue and an issue that’s near and dear to my heart. I spent just over four years as the minister responsible for the file. I can tell you that so many things, so many transformational things, have happened with First Nations over that period of time, over the time before that and continuing on going forward.

I also want to make mention of another fact. Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This is a very important day, particularly in the context of working with First Nations and the work that needs to be done and that is being done to bring about an end to violence. When we’re talking about upholding rights and ensuring greater justice for all, this is an important issue that needs to be addressed.

I wear today the Moose Hide pin, as I do on many occasions. The Moose Hide Campaign is a campaign driven by Indigenous people to respect and honour women and children and for men to talk to men about ending that violence, about having that conversation and bringing about the break of the cycle. It’s very important work, and my hat is off to the Moose Hide Campaign, to the organizers, to Raven and her father, for the work that they’re doing — across Canada now.

This started out in my riding. It started out on a little hunting expedition that Paul did up in the Fraser Lake area. He brought together this idea and started having it grow and started expanding it. It soon became part of British Columbia and what we did here. Then he had this vision, this dream, of being able to have a million Moose Hide pins worn across Canada. I think they’ve achieved that and even more because it has gone national — right across.

Ending that violence and particularly respecting women is an important piece, I think, of bringing justice and supporting reconciliation. To that end, I was very pleased when we were in government that we held the first-ever family gathering — families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and children — that had happened in the province. We brought together families to share in the experience, to share in the healing and to talk about what a path forward needs to be — how we find that reconciliation, how we find the way to be able to end the violence.

[11:25 a.m.]

It was a very moving event. We were in Prince George. I spent the two days talking directly with family members, hearing their stories, hearing about the violence in communities and what has led to so many of the tragedies for so many families but, most importantly, how we heal, how we find a way to be able to work together and to move forward and how we can support those initiatives within communities. Like I say, it was a very moving event and a very moving experience.

I hope that that kind of work can carry on, because it is so critical. If we’re talking about reconciliation and supporting rights, ending discrimination, we need to be able to address these issues — the core pieces that led to these problems and how we work together and how we support one another in having this conversation.

I think about the work of Reconciliation Canada going into communities and trying to bridge the differences between First Nation communities and non–First Nation communities, with that goal of reconciliation — just tremendous work, tremendous work that is being done. Once again, it’s all about finding this path forward.

Tragically, in my riding, I remember a chief, who has since passed away, telling me about a number of suicide attempts that he attended to and talking about how we needed to end that despair and find a path forward of hope, find a path forward that’s based in economics and an opportunity for a bright future.

We did a lot of work along those lines when we were in government. I know more of that work has carried forward. But what it boils down to is this: to respect, to understanding, a willingness to be able to engage, to be able to find that path forward that can lead to success for people within nations, that can lead to the healing that needs to be done, bringing violence out into the open, having that conversation and bringing it to an end.

I can say…. Given that today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, I can’t think of a better opportunity than now to talk about that in the context of reconciliation for all of us in this province.

R. Leonard: It is a privilege to rise today in support of the motion of the member from North Vancouver–Lonsdale for this House to support reconciliation and the ongoing process of working with Indigenous communities to end discrimination, to uphold human rights and ensure greater justice and fairness for all.

Today begins 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. As a white woman of some privilege, I cannot pretend to fully appreciate my Indigenous sisters’ experiences of racist woman-hating, the generations of injustices they’ve suffered or of the violence to which they continue to be subjected.

I am eager to be part of the change that has been a long time coming, to make way for and attend to the hard work we all need to be a part of for true and lasting reconciliation, to acknowledge and face those past injustices, to help heal the hurt, to build understanding and to embrace each other as equals with the same human rights and the same access to the standard of living that all British Columbians should enjoy.

This is the path forward, which our government’s bill on the declaration of the rights of Indigenous peoples provides. Article 22.2 of the UN declaration reads: “States shall take measures, in conjunction with Indigenous peoples, to ensure that Indigenous women and children enjoy full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination.”

Call to action 41 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission focused on the need for an inquiry into the causes and remedies for the disproportionate victimization of Indigenous women and girls, investigating those missing and murdered and the links to the intergenerational legacy of residential schools.

In June 2019, the final report on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls was delivered with calls for justice to governments, institutions, social service providers, industries and all Canadians. Altogether, the commission and inquiry witnessed over 9,000 individuals and families who, with incredible courage and perseverance, shared their painful stories and their journeys to seek justice and healing.

[11:30 a.m.]

The missing and murdered inquiry reported the families and survivors’ voices and collectively revealed multigenerational and cross-intergenerational trauma and marginalization under the weight of poverty and barriers to a better life.

Work has now begun with the poverty reduction strategy, called TogetherBC. You’ve heard about housing and education. We’re increasing opportunities for Indigenous men, women and diverse-gendered people to get the skills training they need to take on a career path. We’re working to provide a supportive cultural context in all that government does. We’ve returned the Human Rights Commission to British Columbia. We know there is still so much more to do.

The missing and murdered inquiry also highlighted how non-Indigenous colonialist policies displaced Indigenous women from their traditional roles and took away the privilege of their status, leaving them vulnerable to violence. Here are the most disturbing statistics that show just how vulnerable to violence Indigenous women are. They are 3½ times more likely than non-Indigenous women to experience violence. The homicide rate is seven times higher.

In response, a missing and murdered inquiry recommendation was to increase safe transportation services on the deadly Highway of Tears. Check. Another recommendation was to raise greater public awareness of the violence. There have been a number of profoundly moving grassroots projects that have touched the hearts of people in my constituency.

Carla Voyageur and Jeannine Lindsay’s Lil’ Red Dress Project is the latest. They watched as a non-Indigenous family raised billboard signs for their missing daughter, a campaign not realizable by most Indigenous families. So volunteers bead little-red-dress pins and earrings to raise funds for them. Amanda Crocker expressed how she and her sister, Jenna, are grateful to be able to make those pins. It’s something they can do in the face of this monumental tragedy.

Reconciliation belongs to all of us. Working with Indigenous communities, we will end the discrimination, uphold human rights and ensure greater justice and fairness for all. Time marches forward, and so shall we.

M. Stilwell: Today I am pleased to rise to support the motion towards “reconciliation and the ongoing process of working with Indigenous communities to end discrimination, uphold human rights and ensure greater justice and fairness for all.”

As elected officials, we stand here today to represent all British Columbians, a variety of people and perspectives that enrich our diversity as a society. We all share the love of our communities and the connection to our roots. We each have that right to celebrate our heritage and our dreams about the future. I know this is a value that is shared by all members in this House.

Together, and throughout every community in British Columbia, we can all work towards moving this province forward, towards ending discrimination and ensuring fairness for all. These efforts are a part of a long journey of righting historical wrongs and ensuring equality for all those who call this land their home. There has been a long path to the point where we are today.

Our previous government had many initiatives that focused on reconciliation and the empowerment of First Nations. British Columbia has been and was the first province in Canada to share revenue from mining, forestry and other resources with First Nations.

These revenue-sharing partnerships provide First Nations with the ability to receive a percentage of revenue from the resource development on First Nations traditional territories. The revenue, then, in turn, goes directly back into those communities to use where they know it is needed most. Communities are then able to decide where to use that money so that it is spent effectively to address the key local issues in their area. Revenue-sharing helps stimulate investment. It creates jobs, and it helps to close the socioeconomic gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal British Columbians.

[11:35 a.m.]

Our previous government was able to close over 500 economic and reconciliation agreements, which include agreements in both the forestry and clean energy project sectors. Creating economic opportunities for all British Columbians in every corner of our province is a central part of the reconciliation with B.C. First Nations.

Our government also worked on supporting First Nations tourism. There are now more than 100 unique Indigenous tourism operators in British Columbia.

Indigenous Tourism B.C. aims to connect people with 203 Indigenous communities and more than 30 Indigenous languages to offer those authentic experiences. Connecting people with the language and the knowledge that have been passed through stories in B.C. for thousands of years is an important step in working towards meaningful reconciliation. By supporting such important initiatives, government is able to help continue to support the unique fabric of diversity that exists throughout British Columbia.

It’s those meaningful reconciliation means, including to work towards closing those gaps that remain…. Whether it’s around education or health care or employment, we all remain steadfast in our commitment towards reconciliation. This journey did not begin with the idea of the United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples, nor does it end in the passing of legislation that we will see in this House. We all must pledge to continue to work on the journey of reconciliation together and move forward for all of British Columbia.

S. Malcolmson: Two weeks ago the Snuneymuxw Longhouse was opened to community members in an extraordinary act of generosity to install the new president of Vancouver Island University.

This was the first time in Canada that a university president has been installed in a First Nations house like this. It was an extraordinary compliment to Dr. Deborah Saucier, our new president — a great compliment to all of us who were invited. I, among others, was called to witness — a particular honour. This was part of my responsibility to Chief Wyse and to the Snuneymuxw community: to tell the story of what happened on that day.

Also a particular threshold where Snuneymuxw First Nations…. Their speaker, Darren Good, at the beginning of the ceremony, made it very clear that in the first points of contact when non-native people were invited into the big houses, that was done with generosity. But that generosity was betrayed, and those places of power and of sacred Indigenous gathering were closed to people like me for centuries as a result. Thank you to Snuneymuxw for welcoming us in.

It was an extraordinary day. Our new president is an extraordinary woman. She’s a neuroscientist. She grew up on Vancouver Island, but part of her family roots are in the Métis in the Red River Valley on her dad’s side. She told us that story.

Those doors were opened, though, on that day, in large part because of the work of our previous president, Ralph Nilson, who was there in force. He spent all of his tenure reaching out and building relationships with all of the First Nations of Vancouver Island, not just Snuneymuxw. He was certainly honoured in that way. We all remarked on the many ways that reconciliation was moved forward by Vancouver Island University and Nanaimo, the community that I serve.

There’s evidence of that still. The gathering place called Shq’athut is a spot that First Nations students from across the country, who are studying at our university, can be together, be in comfort and be with Elders, be fed, build community. There’s also the Centre for Pre-Confederation Treaties and Reconciliation. That is led by my friend Doug White III, a former Snuneymuxw Chief. Kwul’a’sul’tun is his Coast Salish name. It’s changing the dialogue on reconciliation and rights across the country.

[11:40 a.m.]

There’s also a Vancouver Island Elders-in-residence program. An example would be my friend Geraldine Manson. These are faculty of the university, and these teachers are changing the way that students…. Whether they’re inside the Indigenous studies programs or not, they’re being affected by these leaders. That relationship will be strengthened again this coming summer when Snuneymuxw hosts Tribal Journeys, a huge gathering. First Nations from California to Alaska will all be landing right on Snuneymuxw’s waterfront, and Vancouver Island University staff and faculty will be helping in the colossal exercise of hosting that.

We have a lot of government examples as well. Vancouver Island University was the first one to do a tuition waiver for youth who had lived experience in the foster care system. I was so proud to have our Premier, in pretty much one of the first announcements of the government, say: “Those kids were taken from their families by the government, and the government is now the responsible parent. Who can get through college and university without the help of their parent? We’re going to waive their tuition.”

I was so proud when our Advanced Education Minister made that provincewide, and 1,100 youth have been affected by that already. It is changing lives. It’s what a responsible government does when they partner with others and when they walk their talk on reconciliation.

We’ve also had, at Vancouver Island University, new funding from our government to create 50 new Indigenous education teacher-training seats. There’s new funding that we’ve put in to support the Indigenous intern leadership program, again at Vancouver Island University.

In the words of speaker Darren Good, who presided over the ceremony to install our new president: “Language is at the core of everything.” As TRC and now senator Murray Sinclair said: “Education got us into this mess, and education will get us out.” I’m so proud of the university for leading the way.

S. Cadieux: Today this House joins together in recognition of the importance of reconciliation and the ongoing process of working with Indigenous communities to end discrimination, uphold human rights and ensure fairness for all. All members of this House are concerned with the welfare of all British Columbians, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, and securing a bright future for ourselves and for future generations.

B.C. is home to more than 200 Indigenous communities, each with their own history and traditions, including more than 30 different spoken languages and close to 60 different dialects. Across the country, the population of First Nations is growing four times faster than the rest of the country, meaning, as lawmakers, that we must ensure that we’re working towards reconciliation and opportunity for future generations.

As we continue to work together on the work that needs to be done, it’s vital to take note of the work that’s happened so far. Under the previous government, a remarkable 500 economic and reconciliation agreements with First Nations in British Columbia were concluded. Specifically, the previous government signed no less than 345 revenue-sharing agreements of various types with 242 First Nations. First Nations hiring is now a priority in most new resource projects, including LNG. Hope and prosperity are replacing helplessness and poverty.

Critical to this work, of course, is the assurance that everyone in this province has equal opportunity and feels a sense of hope for their future. That’s why, under the B.C. jobs plan, we created a new Aboriginal business and investment council to work more closely with First Nations in order to help foster wealth-creating partnerships. In addition, as a kick-start to grassroots initiatives, the first citizens fund provided nearly $51 million to 1,737 Aboriginal businesses as loans to help launch economic opportunities in local communities.

While it’s important to invest in organizations on the ground, we also need to make sure we’re investing in people. The Aboriginal skills-training development program invested $30 million over three years to help fill training gaps for First Nations who wanted to participate in the emerging LNG sector. The investment paid off. Just over a year ago, the final investment decision was made for LNG Canada, representing the largest private sector investment in Canadian history. It’s a project that will benefit all British Columbians, but it’s important to highlight that economic development should go hand in hand with social development.

[11:45 a.m.]

Education is one of the most important things that government does invest in to lift communities. Since 2000, and under our government, the six-year high school completion rate for Aboriginal students increased from 39 percent to 63 percent. I understand that that rate has now increased again, to 70 percent, among students of Aboriginal background. It’s encouraging to see it continue.

Additionally, under B.C.’s Aboriginal post-secondary education and training framework and action plan, the number of credentials awarded to Aboriginal students in the post-secondary system was increased by 27 percent between 2009 and 2014-15. I understand that this figure also continues to climb in recent statistics.

However, more still needs to be done. This remains a common goal, regardless of political stripe. By giving children and youth the best possible start in life, we’re able to not only set them up for success in the future but to also change the overall success of their communities. Working together so everyone in British Columbia feels a sense of hope and belonging is vital. This is a standard we owe every single person who calls the province of British Columbia home.

J. Sims: It’s my pleasure today to add my voice to support this motion on truth and reconciliation. It’s a rare moment in this House to have both sides speak so passionately about the importance of this. I think all of us realize that this is a journey, and it can no longer just be about talk. It has to be about taking action. Because to us, each and every one of us in this room, it is about basic human rights. It is about access to services. It is about people, people who deserve respect and who deserve inclusion and recognition.

I’m going to focus today a little bit on some of the foundational pieces that we need to have in place for truth and reconciliation, which has to be done in partnership with the First Nations. Let me say that I’m very proud of the work of this government and the work done by the previous government to move the needle towards truth and reconciliation. I would especially like to recognize the work that I first experienced in this area of truth and reconciliation with the B.C. Teachers Federation and the amazing work done by the Aboriginal advisory committee and others to move the needle forward as well.

Today I want to talk about some of the foundational pieces that we take so much for granted, especially those of us who live in cities — things like having cellular service or high-speed Internet. You know, in the olden days, when we talked about economic growth or communities being connected, we thought about roads. We thought about our waterways. We thought about railroads.

Today we know that having digital connectivity is absolutely foundational in order for economic growth. If we’re going to support the traditional industries, we need to make sure that we have connectivity. If we want to attract new industries and good-paying jobs, we’ve got to make sure that we have that digital connectivity.

When we formed government in 2017, it was a bit of a shock to me, I must say, that over 30 percent of our First Nations, Aboriginal, communities did not have the level of high-speed Internet that the rest of B.C. has. It also goes to speak that over 25 percent of the rural communities didn’t have the high-speed Internet that they needed. Because of that, there was a huge gap. I’m so pleased that, over the last few years, 479-plus communities have been digitally linked — out of those, 83 have been First Nations communities — with an additional investment this year of $50 million, which will add digital connectivity to 200 communities.

Why is this such a foundational piece for safety? Today I would like to also acknowledge that this is the first day of 16 days of action against violence for women. When you think of digital cell phones, etc., we all realize the importance of connectivity. In Witset, along the Highway of Tears, they were the last community along that highway to get cell phones. I can tell you that when I was there, there were tears shed. I heard some pretty horrific stories.

[11:50 a.m.]

Of course, I talked about the economic growth. There is also the need for that digital connectivity to get access to health care. Some of us have heard of telehealth — and I’ve had the experience of participating in some demonstrations — so people in the north, in the remote communities, can get access to specialists without having to travel those distances.

In education…. We’ve heard a lot about education from a couple of my other colleagues. But really, what digital connectivity does is it opens doors. It opens doors into that educational arena and provides that additional support, including for people in trades, because they no longer have to leave their communities. They can be in their communities, and they can be full participants in our educational system.

When we think of all that the government does digitally now, it becomes all the more critical that all citizens and First Nations in every corner of this province should have access to our digital government. We need it for tourism. There needs to be connectivity these days. But let me tell you, one of the most important things is for language and culture.

E. Ross: On behalf of Skeena, it’s my honour to speak to this motion regarding reconciliation and First Nations. It’s a topic close to my heart. It’s 14 years of my life being immersed in Indian Act rights and title. You name it.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

In fact, when you talk about the progress that we’ve had in Canada, that’s what makes Canada so unique amongst all countries around the world in terms of our progress with First Nations — constitutionally, case law as well as on-the-ground work. Section 35 of our constitution and landmark court decisions have been advancing the socioeconomic progress for First Nations in Canada for the last 37 years. With all the established case law in this country, Canada is amongst the leaders of the world in advancing Aboriginal rights and modern economic advantages that many First Nations now enjoy.

I agree with Jody Wilson-Raybould that distractions and public relations campaigns can take us away from the real work at hand in the future. Distractions can take away the incredible progress that has been made in B.C. for at least the last ten years in terms of First Nations self-determination and reconciliation, if we allow it.

In fact, we’ve got to the point where successful collaboration isn’t even a headline anymore in B.C., let alone Canada. In just the last ten years, over 400 agreements were signed between First Nations and the B.C. government that helped First Nations on the ground in addressing poverty. I know this, because I was one of those First Nations, in terms of forestry agreements, LNG agreements and environmental stewardship agreements.

We are not even including the many, many private agreements signed between industry and First Nations that probably doubles or triples the government-signed agreements that we’re talking about today. These industry-signed agreements have had the most impact in the fight against poverty and, I might say, discrimination. Yet there are not enough headlines or publicity about this.

The new dialogue with First Nations didn’t, and still doesn’t, require a declaration from an international organization to force collaboration on reconciliation. We don’t need it, based on our progress in the last 37 years, let alone the last 15 years. B.C. governments and First Nations just need to follow the same path established under case law and landmark decisions, such as Haida in 2004.

For example, Chief LeBourdais of Whispering Pines doesn’t need some international declaration to give him authority to stand up for his people and say land title records ought not be moved from his territory to Victoria. He doesn’t need that. Chief Shelly Loring of the Simpcw First Nation doesn’t need some authority, foreign or domestic, to make claim over Canfor’s Vavenby forestry tenures for the benefit of the region.

Governments also don’t need to be forced to listen to First Nations who support fish farms. In this case, we don’t even need case law. All we need is common courtesy in the context of what we’ve achieved in the last 15 years.

Instead, governments need to listen to advocacy people like Dale Swampy, who is here today, and the National Coalition of Chiefs. This is a group of First Nations chiefs and Métis leaders that advocate for oil and gas development and resource development to help defeat poverty in Aboriginal communities across Canada. These are the heroes of the day. These are the champions.

[11:55 a.m.]

These are the people government has to listen to, without a doubt. If government truly wants to reconcile and help First Nations in their efforts for self-determination, government can, without prejudice and without partisan politics, treat all First Nations equally. It doesn’t matter which side of politics a First Nation might be on, whether it be LNG, fish farms or the expansion of Trans Mountain. All First Nations face the same issues under the Indian Act, and all First Nations are looking for self-determination.

In this context, something like UNDRIP is at least 15 years too late, if not 37 years too late, in terms of precedent. My fear is that we have the potential to waste all the progress that we have fought over for the last 37 years as a province and as a country. We’ve got the potential to lose all this progress if government tries to start a new dialogue and set us back to square one.

J. Routledge: It’s my privilege to speak in favour of the motion: “Be it resolved that this House supports reconciliation and the ongoing process of working with Indigenous communities to end discrimination, uphold human rights and ensure greater justice and fairness for all.”

I would like to begin by acknowledging with respect that this legislative building sits on the traditional unceded territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋin̓əŋ-speaking peoples, now known as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations. I say these words not as a pro forma statement that must be gotten out of the way before we get down to the real business, but as a vital part of the real business of making life better for the people of British Columbia.

I also acknowledge that system-wide assumptions and practices have failed Indigenous children, families and communities. The disproportionate number of Indigenous children in care is a stark reminder of that fact. Government is taking action to correct past wrongs. We are working in partnership to transform the child welfare system to keep Indigenous children out of care, safe within their families and connected to their cultures.

To this end, we have changed child welfare legislation to allow for greater involvement by Indigenous communities in child welfare matters so that children and youth can stay connected to their families, communities and culture. We have ended the discriminatory practice of birth alerts. Instead, social service workers and health care providers will offer voluntary early supports and preventative services to help expectant parents plan safe care for their babies.

We have increased support payments for extended family care givers. Now grandparents and other relatives can receive the same monthly financial assistance as foster parents, thereby helping to keep kids connected to their families, communities and cultures.

Through the Tripartite First Nations Children and Families Working Group, we are working with individual First Nations and the federal government to sign agreements that will ultimately see nations exercise jurisdiction over child and family services. So far we’ve signed separate agreements with four nations, and many more are in discussion.

We are working with Indigenous communities to understand their unique needs so we can provide more culturally inclusive early care and learning. To this end, we are investing $3.6 million to support 11 early learning and child care planning and navigator positions. They will work with Indigenous communities and governments to help families access services and to plan and deliver culturally based early years programming like parent and tot drop-in playtime, new child care programs and parent education seminars.

In addition, Indigenous governments are eligible for up to $3 million through the childcare B.C. new spaces fund to create new licensed child care spaces in their communities. Indigenous non-profit organizations are eligible for up to $1.5 million.

We’re investing $30 million from our early learning and child care agreement with the government of Canada to create and expand the Aboriginal Head Start program, which offers culturally specific early learning child care and parenting programs, with services available at no cost to families. Indigenous families in over 30 communities throughout the province are benefitting from more than 600 new, free licensed child care spaces and expanded Aboriginal Head Start programs.

[12:00 p.m.]

We are shifting our policies and practices to be culturally safe and trauma-informed. This includes staff training to increase culturally aware sensitivity and abilities to provide culturally safe services, implementing strategies to hire more Indigenous social workers.

There are more things to mention.

I just will conclude by saying that these and other initiatives are starting to see results. Expanded government supports are helping to preserve families. Today there are 190 fewer Indigenous kids in care than there were last year, but there are another 4,000 who continue to be separated from their families, their communities and their culture. This is unacceptable. There’s so much more to do, but we’re working in the right direction.

J. Routledge moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. C. James moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

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

The House adjourned at 12:01 p.m.