Orders of the Day

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

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

Budget Debate

(continued)

J. Martin: It’s good to be able to provide some commentary, some feedback on Budget 2020. I would like to, first off, acknowledge the good people in Chilliwack, who have given me the honour, the distinction, to be their representative here in the people’s House, in the Legislature.

In particular, I would like to give a shout-out to my stellar staff back home in the constituency office. The first person that anyone sees when they come into my office is the cheery, smiling face of Montana Armstrong. We also have Hank Pilotte, and I have Matthew Hawkins, who looks after the bulk of my social media and, in particular, my videos on Facebook.

We always have so much fun putting those together. We did a recent one where we recognized a couple of the people employed by the business improvement association downtown, who keep the streets spic-and-span clean. I had the privilege of joining them with a vest on, doing my share, picking up a little bit of the rubbish from the night before. It’s just nice to be able to showcase something like that that usually doesn’t get onto the radar.

In addition, I also have to acknowledge my wonderful wife, Margaret, who supports me day in and day out, both here in Victoria and when I’m back in the riding, tending to business. My little guy, the Dude, who is just absolutely thrilled that it’s SPCA Treat Week. I hope everybody has an opportunity to support the BC SPCA in this wonderful endeavour that happens every year at this time.

I also want to thank all of my colleagues in the B.C. Liberal opposition caucus and every other member of the government and of the Third Party for their contributions here.

With Budget 2020, I have to say that for me, personally, it was somewhat underwhelming, because I had some expectations based on the previous week’s throne speech of what might be forthcoming.

[11:00 a.m.]

As we know, the throne speech is deliberately vague. That’s by design. The throne speech is more of a value statement or a mission statement. It tends to be aspirational, tends to be visionary, without providing any of the actual nuts and bolts or details that would be required to fulfil some of those ambitions.

One thing in the throne speech that particularly got me paying attention and certainly resonated back in Chilliwack was a statement regarding transportation in the Fraser Valley and transportation infrastructure. As we all know, the growth in the Fraser Valley has been off the charts in recent years. So when we heard the government’s throne speech…. I’ll specify.

“Government’s partnerships with local governments means that work is already underway on a long-term vision for transit and transportation in the Lower Mainland. British Columbians can look forward to more options like rapid transit, HOV lanes and commuter rail out to the Fraser Valley, and high-speed rail connections with our neighbours to the south.”

Commuter rail out to the Fraser Valley. Well, that’s something that I’ve heard in my office via email and other types of correspondence dozens and dozens and dozens of times over the last 6½ years. There is an active organization that has been lobbying and championing light rail in the Fraser Valley and has attempted to make the case that this might be the answer to a lot of the problems, the congestion, the amount of difficulties that one has making the commute from the eastern Fraser Valley into the Lower Mainland.

I can tell you that I’ve lost track of how many times I just simply send a quick note to my wife. I say: “Highway shut down.” I mean, it is so routine. It is so regular that there is an accident, an incident, some activity one way or another that causes Highway 1 eastbound, westbound, often multiple times a day, to be shut down, and commuters are delayed for 20 minutes, 45 minutes, sometimes going well beyond an hour and more than that.

I’ve been 2½ hours late sometimes getting into the Lower Mainland because of the goings-on on Highway 1. It’s long been an issue. So when I saw that in the throne speech — commuter rail out to the Fraser Valley and some vague commitments about improving transportation corridors — it was pretty exciting.

I did a little video when I got back, where I asked my constituents: “What do you think of commuter rail? Is this the answer to our difficulty in getting the ability to commute in and out of the eastern Fraser Valley, for goods to be trucked into the Lower Mainland? Would it be better to expand the highway, maybe go to three lanes, four lanes, in each direction?” I asked for some feedback, and I did get a considerable amount of response to that. I’ll be sharing some of those specifics shortly. Again, I’m glad I have the opportunity to bring this forward.

There was nothing in the budget that specified what might be happening with respect to Highway 1 out to the eastern Fraser Valley, even just as far as Abbotsford, never mind Chilliwack. There was nothing in there that was specific to light rail or commuter rail out to the Fraser Valley. That’s mainly what I’d like to pursue.

Now, the government, in the House, said that they’ll be directly engaged with TransLink Transport 2050 consultations and talked about a 30-year regional transportation strategy, working with municipal leaders in the Fraser Valley, B.C. Transit and elsewhere.

The reality is we’ve got about one million more people coming to the Lower Mainland, and the growth, particularly in the region including the Fraser Valley, is going to require an upgraded transportation system. We all know that.

[11:05 a.m.]

Otherwise, it’s congestion, delay, a hampered air quality. Those of us that have this on our radar are working with mayors, TransLink, stakeholders and others about our options. There’s commuter rail, more lanes, HOV lanes. What’s the actual answer to address the transportation needs of the eastern Fraser Valley? This is something that the budget, again, failed to notice, failed to make a statement about. I think it was a glaring oversight, because the need is not in 2030 or down the road. The need is right now.

I just would like to focus for the moment on that particular issue of transportation out to and from the Fraser Valley. Some of the arguments and the rationalizations and the justifications and the case being made in favour of commuter rail…. The advocates of commuter rail certainly felt somewhat of a boost and a wind in their sails when the throne speech spoke to it.

The Abbotsford mayor, Henry Braun, has been particularly vocal on this in recent times and notes that 300,000 people live east of the Langley border, and that’s expected to increase to 450,000 by 2041 — just a significant growth and strain on existing infrastructure.

The provincial priorities have not really focused on the eastern Fraser Valley. They’re more focused on rapid transit in the Lower Mainland, and Highway 1 widening has not been a priority, particularly extending out to Abbotsford and Chilliwack. Recall the previous government did have a commitment and a capital plan to get this done to bring additional lane capacity all the way out to Whatcom Road, which is just to the east of Abbotsford. It’s not quite all the way to Chilliwack, but you’ve got to get to Abbotsford before you can get to Chilliwack. Well, that’s been put on hold indefinitely, perhaps permanently. I certainly hope not.

The mayor of Abbotsford makes the note that the government has the ability to borrow money for a project of this nature and is encouraging the government to consider the low interest rates and what it would cost for such a project and that this might open up Lower Mainland access to more affordable housing. Like everywhere else, house prices in Chilliwack have skyrocketed, but they are still considerably more affordable than anywhere else in the Lower Mainland. You pretty well have to start moving east into the Interior to find a more preferred affordable housing market.

The mayor of Chilliwack, Ken Popove, is a great guy, and he’s made the case that this would enhance tourism in the area of Chilliwack and the eastern Fraser Valley. John Vissers of South Fraser Community Rail group says that highway widening may not entirely solve regional transportation issues such as gridlock, that the Fraser Valley provides many workers for Surrey, where a line would possibly connect to the Lower Mainland. So there’s a need far beyond the people who reside in Chilliwack for some type of enhancement of transportation to the Lower Mainland and beyond.

Now, not everyone is necessarily a big fan of commuter rail. There are some hesitations about it. This is why I initiated some consultation with constituents. I’ll be quite frank. Not everybody is on board with it. But it was something that was in the throne speech, so I am anxious that at some point, the government is going to provide some clarity and some substance to what exactly and when exactly something might be in the works.

[11:10 a.m.]

The past mayor of Chilliwack, Sharon Gaetz, wasn’t a huge fan of commuter rail, and she mentioned at one point that in 2014, only about 10 percent of trips by locals were outside of the Fraser Valley. She also said that depending on the structure — I mean, is it going to be a part of TransLink? — Fraser Valley municipalities may have a larger financial burden compared to the Lower Mainland and the enhancements to Vancouver, GVRD transportation system enhancement. What would the Fraser Valley, currently under B.C. Transit…? How would that be integrated with TransLink? So a lot of unknowns there.

Ken Popove also has made the case that the existing urban rail line may not be sufficient for commuter rail. It’s been there for a long time, and a lot of people have made the case that we can simply piggyback on that. Well, we’re not sure that that actually is something that is doable. So, again, I would ask the government — at some point, because it was left out of the budget — to make an effort to let my constituents know, let the rest of us know, exactly what their vision is for the future of transportation to the eastern Fraser Valley.

This clearly wasn’t a pre-election budget, so maybe it’s going to be in the next one. I’m certainly looking forward to what the intent of the government is with respect to transportation, highway widening, commuter rail or anything else that is going to impact, hopefully, in a positive way, the flow of individuals and goods back and forth.

You know, it’s not just about idling in a traffic jam on Highway 1 and being late for an appointment or missing a social activity somewhere west of Abbotsford. I know that we have a huge problem in Chilliwack with big rigs trying to complete their day’s work. It wasn’t that long ago that we could sometimes see, from Rogers Foods…. A truck could do three trips in a single day to and from the Lower Mainland from Chilliwack. Well, that doesn’t happen anymore. It’s down to two. And in some cases, it may only be one.

Anyone in the Lower Mainland…. Any time you put a bagel in the toaster and make yourself a sandwich, there’s a pretty good chance that that flour came from my neck of the woods. Without a predictable, efficient corridor to move goods back and forth to the Lower Mainland and other places, to the various ports for export…. Without the proper and efficient transportation systems, that hurts everybody. It hurts the local economy. It hurts jobs. And it certainly impacts the convenience and the expectation that something is going to arrive in time. So that, in particular, for me, is the biggest thing about the budget — what wasn’t in there.

I do look forward to the government providing some clarity sooner rather than later. It is an issue that my constituents are concerned about, as any time I go into Vancouver for meetings or anytime I’m going to Tsawwassen to catch a ferry, I’m always wary that I may or may not get there on time. It’s really up in the air. Anything can happen along that highway.

I’ve lost track of how many times, heading into the Lower Mainland, I’ve been stuck in traffic behind an accident or just congestion, and then the very same thing happens on the way back. I go scurrying for the side roads and the back roads to see if I can somehow get home before the clock clicks, and it’s a brand-new day. A source of frustration for those of us in the eastern Fraser Valley and much of the rest of the Fraser Valley that cannot count on our arrival at a particular time.

[11:15 a.m.]

I don’t have the luxury of knowing what the government might have in mind — if there is going to, at some point, be an expansion of the number of lanes heading out to Abbotsford and eventually beyond, if some type of commuter rail system is going to be in the cards at some point or whether HOV lanes are the answer. But I do expect the government to provide some clarity, some substance, in this regard — again, as I say, sooner rather than later. I look forward to it.

There is much more that can be spoken in the budget. I wanted to focus solely on that one particular issue because it seems to be the big one that resonated, following the throne speech, in my valley. I will turn it over to my colleagues to comment on other bits and pieces of Budget 2020. Thank you for the opportunity to raise this critical matter in the people’s House.

Hon. A. Kang: In my new role as Minister of Citizens’ Services and as MLA for Burnaby–Deer Lake, I’m honoured to rise in the House today to speak in support of the budget speech, a speech that outlines how this government is making life more affordable, enhancing the services people count on and building a strong, sustainable economy that works for everyone.

Before I get started, I want to say how honoured I am to be standing in this chamber and in the building which sits on the traditional territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋin̓əŋ-speaking peoples and the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations. I thank them for the ability for us to gather and work in this place. We are grateful for the stewardship of these lands for so many centuries.

I also want to begin by thanking my constituents, the people of Burnaby–Deer Lake, who have put their faith in me and elected me as their MLA. It’s their voice that I bring into this chamber with me every single day.

I am very grateful for the work of my constituency assistants and that volunteers do to support me in what I do in Victoria and, as well, back at home.

Of course, I want to thank my family, who have been my constant, best cheerleaders and bring lots and lots of sunshine into my life. I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude and love to my parents and my children for their unconditional love and support for me.

Last but not least, to all my friends, who have been there for me through thick and thin, through all the different elections, who stepped up to help me with child care solutions, to give me strength and courage and to offer honest, heart-to-heart chats with me without me having to debate my politics.

I also want to take this opportunity to appreciate all my colleagues in the House, whom I know work very, very hard. What a fantastic team of people I get to work with day in and day out. Working with such a fantastic team, just like a family, means that we are all part of something very special.

So to all my family and friends out there, I want to say thank you.

Today I have the pleasure to respond to government’s Budget 2020. Budget 2020 outlines investments in schools, hospitals, roads, transit and housing. These investments will benefit communities and families throughout the province and will support a sustainable economy for everyone.

Over the next three years, government is investing $22.9 billion to help with job creation, improving services like health care and education and supporting trades and business opportunities. I am proud that many of these investments will benefit the people and families who live and work in B.C., as well as in my community of Burnaby. These include nearly $547 million to upgrade the hospital so people can get the best care possible; a $73 million contribution to student housing at Simon Fraser University and a further $6.6 million for SFU’s Cedar supercomputer; $28.6 million for seismic upgrades at Parkcrest and Seaforth elementary schools so students will have a safer place to learn and grow.

I want to make a special mention to Seaforth Elementary School, a school where I taught for several years while I was a Burnaby school teacher.

In Burnaby alone, B.C. Housing is investing $15 million to redevelop 91 affordable housing units for low- to moderate-income families and seniors.

[11:20 a.m.]

Those are just new investments in my communities under Budget 2020. Government has delivered on key affordability promises to B.C. families. Significant progress has been made to give parents better access to affordable, quality child care throughout the province. So let’s take a look at the numbers.

Since 2017, this government has invested more than $630 million in child care. More than 27,000 kids are getting child care for $10 a day or less, and 10,000 early childhood educators are getting wage enhancements. Our investments have put $360 million back into the pockets of parents through child care reduction fees and the affordable child care benefit. When the new child opportunity benefit is introduced in October, thousands of parents, especially those who need it most, will see further savings.

Right in my community of Burnaby–Deer Lake, government has invested more than $6.6 million in child care, and nearly $4.5 million of that has gone right back to the pockets of parents in my community. Numbers don’t lie. The choices this government has made and continues to make are providing direct supports to people and families. They are making life more affordable.

As Eleanor Roosevelt said: “For our own success to be real, it must contribute to the success of others.” This is true for our government as a whole, and it is true for the Ministry of Citizens’ Services. My ministry often does a lot of work behind the scenes to help other ministries shine.

For example, Citizens’ Services is responsible for monitoring and keeping B.C. government systems safe 24-7. Our ministry houses the government digital experience team or GDX. They’re ultimately responsible for the government’s website, which hosts nearly 41 million visitors and more than 100 million page views last year. Government content also appeared in Google searches more than 171 million times just last year alone. The GDX team has also run more than 70 public engagements this year through govTogetherBC, including the one on daylight saving time with the Ministry of Attorney General. More than 220,000 people shared their opinions through this record-level engagement.

When mills and mines and other operations shut down, people face an unknown future. Resource-dependent communities often need to find ways to diver­sify their economies and revitalize their workforce. Internet connectivity and infrastructure falls under Citizens’ Services and can be a key economic driver for communities. Connecting people to high-speed Internet provides increased opportunities for health care, education, small business and tourism.

Our 65 Service B.C. centres, along with our provincial contact centre, play a key role in providing information and connecting people with services and support they can count on. Our motto at Service B.C. centres is “Service with heart.” These service centres are the face of government in many communities, especially those in rural and remote areas of the province. People can go there to renew their driver’s licence, apply for income assistance or get a fishing permit. Our staff can connect people to more than 300 government programs and services in 140 languages. The B.C. Services Card is making it easier for people and businesses to connect to the government service they need.

My ministry is also responsible for the B.C. procurement strategy, so we work with organizations of all sizes to make it easier to do business with government. Programs such as Code with Us and Sprint with Us are easier to navigate and are more transparent than traditional approaches. These programs have resulted in a nearly $12 million investment in the B.C. tech sector.

[11:25 a.m.]

Citizens’ Services owns a piece of the province’s CleanBC strategy as well. The CleanBC government building program launched in July 2019. It will help ensure that more than 1,000 facilities, in-province owns and leases become more sustainable and eco-friendly.

These are just some of the ways that my ministry contributes to the success of others. As you can see, there’s a lot happening, and you don’t need to look very far to see how interconnected my ministry is with other ministries.

I want to take some time to tell you a little bit about an area of my ministry that has got some budget increases for key projects such as the real property division. My ministry manages about 1,800 buildings throughout the province, including those assets we manage on behalf of our clients. These buildings are just one part of the province’s overarching strategy to deal with climate change.

The CleanBC government building programs are making existing buildings more energy-efficient. These programs will help reduce emissions and energy consumption while also saving public dollars. We are working to create net-zero-energy-ready facilities throughout the province. Our target is to make government buildings 80 percent more efficient by 2050 when compared to the standards of 2010. We will use smart technologies like Wi-Fi building sensors to regulate lighting, and we are working on a plan to replace the aging heating systems like the one here at the Legislature.

The province is offering rebates of up to $6,000 for purchases of electric vehicles, and Citizens’ Services has installed 45 electric vehicle charging stations. At least 50 more stations are going to be in­stalled in the coming fiscal year.

Through leading workplace strategies, we are creating flexible and modern work environments to support a growing mobile workforce. An example of this is the new government workplace that will open later this year in Langford. The space will enable government workers who work on the West Shore to spend more time with their families and less time idling in traffic.

The ministry is leading the construction of the new Abbotsford courthouse complex and has completed the expansion of the Surrey Courthouse and city hall, as well as the adolescent treatment centre in Coquitlam. Both facilities recently received gold certification for leadership in energy and environmental design.

My ministry is also working on the construction of the Nanaimo Correctional Centre and facility improvements for the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction service and delivery offices. Improvements are also underway for community corrections centres around the province. This includes improving segregation cells in our corrections centres. These will provide better services to some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

We will also continue to provide information management and information technology service to public servants across the province and to maintain government systems to keep information safe and secure.

I would like to repeat the earlier quote. “For our own success to be real, it must contribute to the success of others.” The public servants at Citizens’ Services do an amazing job, and I offer them my most sincere thanks — their success through the work they do to keep the engine of government running and to be the face of government throughout the province. In turn, we support other ministries to be successful, and that contributes to the success of government as a whole.

What does government success look like? Making life more affordable, creating good jobs that pay well, better supporting the people who need it most, improving the supports and services that all British Columbians count on and building a strong, vibrant economy in every corner of this province so people can harness opportunities and reach their full potential. That is what good government and successful government looks like. Our government is putting people first, and we will continue to work hard for British Columbians. I’m ready for the work ahead.

B. Stewart: It’s a pleasure to be here for both my constituents and the business owners who are counting on Budget 2020 and 2021 to help make life better, brighter for their families and their businesses.

[11:30 a.m.]

I’m proud to join the debate on the budget, and I have to say that it is along the lines of what the member for Chilliwack mentioned earlier — that it is a very kind of rosy picture about things in the throne speech that we thought we might be seeing in this, but when you dig down deep, it isn’t quite that. I’m going to talk a little bit more about that.

This is the third full budget from the NDP government. During the past 2½ years, we — and British Columbians — have heard many empty words about the NDP’s big promises. What we really got were more excuses than real actions — misleading numbers with no action.

Many members in this House will remember the previous NDP government’s notorious fudge-it budgets. There were some in the ’70s and some in the ’90s.

As you will remember, the government itself took many years to dig out and recover from overspending and high levels of taxation. The members that are here on the government side should remember the fact that we went from the best to the worst, basically, in terms of what we were doing, in terms of economic output and what….

Interjection.

B. Stewart: It was the ’90s, Member, just so you know. You weren’t even here, and you don’t know anything about the corporate capital tax, because you didn’t even have a business, and you wouldn’t know anything if it….

Anyway, my point is that this is a continued rerun of the same movie. I don’t want to take away from the aspirational goals of the government, the ministers and the members from that side of the House. It’s about promising everything and not being able to actually afford it. The situation is that we continue to have a tax-and-spend budget that does little to stimulate investment and employment.

That’s how the government creates the basis of revenue for this government. It essentially creates a strong, healthy, vibrant economy that does the right things to being able to help the people that have less, that need a hand up, or the areas we want to incentivize — whether it’s education or the people needing to have shelter or being able to help reduce addictions and the mental health issues that we all know are out there. We could spend the entire budget of the government and still not have all of the things, the solutions that we know we need to have on that. We have to take it in small bits and pieces.

This government is reaching a surplus by grabbing money from taxpayers and businesses. I think it’s fair to say that the messaging, as you see it on TV every day, is: “Everything is okay. We’re making life better. We’re making life more affordable.”

The fact is that when you look outside — just outside here, a few feet from where I’m standing today — we have protesters chained to the gates of the Legislature, trying to make a point about what it is they see that the government should be doing to make life better for them. How many of these protests and rallies do we have to see at the Legislature before we can actually deal with the business of government — getting on with the task of making certain that we debate the budget, that we get down to estimates and look at the real issues?

There’s no question that the government and the ministers are working hard on reconciliation in trying to do that. But the reality is, the rule of law, which the Premier mentioned was going to be followed in this particular case…. We’ve seen little example of that in British Columbia here to make that a reality.

What does that show you? It shows incompetence. It shows an indication of industries that are going downhill. It shows that this NDP government has no idea about the economy or fiscal management. To do proper fiscal planning, one must identify deficiencies in the economy, figure out which part of the social structure requires attention and then use available resources to achieve particular goals. It requires vision. Our society should be run in a cost-effective way. This NDP budget is anything but cost-effective.

[11:35 a.m.]

Since the NDP took office, we know, and you know, that there are 23 new or increased taxes. Taxes are up $5.7 billion. That’s over 10 percent of the budget that was presented in this House prior to the election in 2017. It’s going to go up to $8.8 billion. These are staggering numbers. Where is that money coming from? Is the economy growing so well that we can all see that there is increased tax revenue coming in?

How about the forest sector? I mean, we know that they’re not going to be pulling their weight of their contributions. The numbers I have seen in terms of employment numbers…. Forget about forestry, which has a staggering number of people that are out of work. But even the mining sector, which we had here in this House yesterday, has significant reductions in employment.

The fact is that these core industries, our natural resource industries…. Whether it’s opposition to Coastal GasLink, whether it’s the forest sector, whether it’s a downturn in terms of minerals and commodity prices, the bottom line is that we need to have a healthy economy on all fronts, and that includes technology and all the other clean sectors that we do want, but we’re not there yet.

The bottom line is that when you calculate out those costs, that means that every British Columbian household will have to pay $4,700 more per year by 2022 with this budget. They’ve also increased the tax bracket on high-income earners, which was a new super tax that was brought in last year. That increases from 16.8 up to 20.5 percent, and it’ll put the combined top marginal tax rate at close to 54 percent.

We must ask: how do these endless taxes put B.C. in the rank of a national and global market? And that’s important, because we have to be competitive. We have neighbouring provinces. We worked hard to attract businesses here. Many that the government speaks of today about why they’re locating here….

Why are the businesses, the technology companies, bringing their headquarters and the people here to lead a revolution in terms of technology and other things like that? It’s because we had a competitive environment. But all of a sudden, in three budgets, we’ve now gone backwards, where we’ve taken all of the advantages we had, and we said: “You can afford to pay more.” Of course they can, especially if it’s through the corporate income tax. If it’s through the other things, like where we’re trying to attract the best of the best, whether it’s from the United States or other countries around the world, we have to have a competitive income tax system so that we can compete.

We have a great lifestyle here. Don’t get me wrong. There are lots of natural advantages we have, but there is a balance, and we’ve got to make certain that we retain the balance between those. We’ve heard from multiple organizations arguing about how policy-makers in Victoria have to improve B.C.’s fraying competitive position in a fast-changing world.

Here’s what the B.C. Business Council said, specifically about the higher personal taxes on a small slice of the population. It “will generate less incremental revenue than the government is forecasting and undermine efforts to foster a more innovative and entrepreneurial economy.”

We hear that from the Minister of Advanced Education. In education, we want to be the most well educated. We want to have the best systems. Those are great aspirational goals. We on this side of the House support that, but the bottom line is we have to make certain that we can bring those things together so that we can help that develop here in British Columbia, and it’s a journey. It’s not one kind of adjustment that makes this all happen.

It’s hard to see how these taxes are going to help attract top companies, talents and retain headquarters of global companies in our province. Capital is very fluid. This morning we saw in the New York Times the reaction to what happened yesterday with a headquartered company here in British Columbia shelving a proposed energy project. Regardless of what it is, the bottom line is that capital is questioning whether British Columbia is the right place to invest. That’s what we’re looking for. We’re looking for certainty.

The bottom line is that the member who’s responsible for creating jobs, etc…. They’re going to be under threat because of the fact that capital moves around the globe. I’ve seen it. I’ve been there.

[11:40 a.m.]

I know, when we had the last financial crisis in 2008, we had lots of issues around our financial institutions in British Columbia. We stood firm on the fact that we were a responsible place to invest in, where there was certainty. If you had permitting, whether it’s around the environment and you were investing in forest products, pellet plants, energy products, etc., we provided stability with the certainty that we were not going to all of a sudden, once you had invested, be able to jack up the taxes that you had to pay here.

Over time, headquarters will leave, taking jobs away from B.C. I certainly hope that for the foregoing company that I just mentioned, that doesn’t happen, because they have a big base here. They have a lot of investment. They affect communities from Elkford to Logan Lake, Ashcroft, all across this province, and they are a super important company that is very responsible about what they do here in this province.

The NDP government is under the illusion that B.C.’s economy is doing great. They touted about the low unemployment and the strong economy. My colleague, who, as many of you know, is an economist by training, looked out at some of the numbers that are produced just by B.C. Stats. He’s pointed out to myself and my colleagues about just how the numbers really are. I know that we can look at the percentages, but the reality is that…. I mentioned mining and oil and gas. They’ve seen a decrease in employment over the last year — 3.4 percent in mining and oil and gas at the start of 2019. Here we are in January of 2020, and they’re down 9.4 percent.

Forestry. I mean, it’s a complete basket case, going down 8.5 percent last year and down 40.4 percent in terms of employment. We all know the stories about the people that are at home with no future prospects. What does this budget provide for families that are in the Cariboo, the Chilcotin or in the Robson Valley or maybe on Vancouver Island, where they’ve had the longest strike in recent memory, maybe the longest strike ever in British Columbia history? The bottom line: although it’s settled, think about all the families that are dependent on those workers working for Western Forest Products.

We have seen unemployment. It has gone up from 4.4 percent to 4.8 percent from just a year ago. We continue to lose full-time, private sector jobs, which is at about 32,800 in just the last eight months. We’ve seen 100 mill curtailments, ten permanent and indefinite shutdowns, including the one in Kelowna in my own riding. Tolko officially closed this January, which is following on the loss of the veneer plant which eliminated over 100 jobs a year or so ago, and now we have another 125.

It is about them, but it’s all of the other support industries that are so reliant on the fact that the repairs and maintenance and the supplies that go into running a mill…. All of those jobs have been cut back or curtailed because of that.

We proposed on this side of the House a five-point action plan to provide tax relief to the industry, but the NDP government has decided with this budget and the last budget that the way forward should be to cancel the rural dividend fund and reallocate portions of that into transition funds. We just don’t believe that that’s enough to help keep this industry alive, healthy and well.

What else is there for workers in the province? To add insult to injury, due to the union benefits agreement, 85 percent of B.C. construction workers cannot participate in B.C. projects unless they are part of the NDP’s handpicked unions. Workers in B.C. are suffering, and the NDP government is congratulating themselves on the wonderful job they’ve done. Isn’t that ironic?

Under this tax-and-spend governance, economic growth in B.C. is slowing down more rapidly than expected. Their speculation tax doesn’t address speculation. It only makes housing less affordable. I know in my own community, they collected over $1 million in West Kelowna and four times that in the city of Kelowna. Now, they were promised by the Finance Minister that that money would be used in their community and returned to them.

[11:45 a.m.]

Just yesterday the Finance Ministry confirmed that that money is not going to be returned. It is actually going to be allocated and distributed on projects within the communities, and that’s how the accounting is being done, whether it’s supportive housing or not. I don’t know how that’s making life more affordable for people that, as we heard in question period today, are faced with huge increases in insurance.

I would say that if this isn’t dealt with in a timely manner, we could see a correction or a total collapse of housing in the condo market, because the banks aren’t going to finance it. The insurers aren’t going to insure it. I realize that that’s a new problem, and it’s not one that you can find an overnight solution to. But the reality is that the speculation tax is having an impact in a negative way in making homes more affordable.

Take the employer health tax. So we heard all the rhetoric. The fact is that employees aren’t going to pay this anymore — MSP. The half that was left was paid last year by employers that were paying it, plus the employer health tax. So they double-dipped last year. This year they’re just going to pay that. Now the employers are starting to feel the real pinch of what’s happening with the employer health tax. The fact that…. It really is impacting. It’s impacting whether they can afford to hire new employees, whether their products are going up in price to make certain that they can maintain a reasonable margin to sustain their business.

These are the types of things that those types of taxes bring on to business and make…. They don’t make life more affordable. They make it more difficult to conduct and run a business. This is a concern of mine, because it just is incomprehensible that the government and the Finance Ministry could possibly think that this linear effect of adding taxes onto businesses is not going to have an impact. It has an impact.

In order to create a product and know how taxes affect the decision-making process, this is what small businesses…. Now, if we look at the small business sector in British Columbia, it’s a huge portion of the British Columbia economy. It’s not the big sawmills and the mines. They’re a part of it. It’s not the big tech companies that are here. It’s small businesses — mothers and fathers that are trying to eke out a living having a business, maybe with two or three employees, trying to get ahead. They’re the ones that are feeling this. The bottom line is that they are not in a position where they can sustain or increase growth. Where is the opportunity?

So we have small businesses that are, frankly, the backbone of local economies. We’ve seen them completely either wiped out or devastated in the forest-dependent communities, and the situation is that they’re providing important employment and providing goods and services to our communities. We should always be making certain that we measure the business climate by how our small businesses are doing.

However, we just saw the latest report of the small business confidence levels since the financial crisis. This last November, business investment growth slowed to 4.1 percent from 10.5 percent previously. The B.C. chamber survey found that 79 percent of its participants said the cost of doing business had worsened, and 49 percent said that their confidence in the B.C. economy had declined in the last year. You cannot tax and spend your way into all of the services that you want to provide. It has to be thoughtful, and it’s got to make certain that it is respective of the fact that we have to have that healthy tension.

Instead of the rosy picture that the NDP is trying to paint, I am seeing a very grim road ahead for our province, especially when the budget, for 16 of 22 of the government’s ministries, has been reduced in this budget.

What was the reason for that? I mean, the budget’s gone up. Taxes have gone up. And here we are. We’re stripping or cutting back, and we’re saying that these ministries can provide an increased level of service, or maybe a reduced level of service. I assume that we’ll find that out during the estimates process.

The situation is that over two-thirds of them have had their budgets cut, and the government has had a mandate to settle with its employees, the people that work in those ministries, on a 2, 2 and 2 settlement basis, let alone whatever happens with the B.C. teachers in terms of the mandate that’s there. The bottom line is: where is the money going to? A reduction in the budget means a reduction in the services of these ministries.

[11:50 a.m.]

I know that the Minister of Citizens’ Services just spoke. We do see a big issue. I had the opportunity, as she did, to be a participant at the recent privacy conference here in Victoria. Having been the minister at one point and watched successive changes in terms of the technology and how people are using that technology to undermine privacy within private business and government, many of these concerns have to be taken seriously by the minister and her ministry.

To have a reduction in citizens’ services…. She talked about increases where there is money to be allocated, but how are we going to work harder and smarter to make certain that protection of privacy is upheld? We recently saw an example, last fall, of a company here in British Columbia, a supplier to the Ministry of Health, LifeLabs, held hostage and having to pay a ransom for, basically, the information that they had gathered.

Now, at the privacy conference, they talked about how these companies infiltrate these companies. They spend half a year or more getting their position where they’re essentially going to make their demands. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it ends there. The numbers are staggering, what they’re asking for. Recently, there was a decision Deloitte mentioned during the conference that almost $1 million was paid out by a Canadian insurance company that had had its privacy compromised. So it concerns me greatly that at this time when the need is most to make certain we’re protecting privacy, we are reducing budgets in that area.

I can’t help but also talk about, as co-critic on Trade, how important growing the economy is. The fact is that we’ve seen declines in terms of our exports in the last year. There was a 6.4 percent decline in value of B.C. origin exports in 2019. As well, softwood lumber shipments are down by 25.7 percent, which is no surprise, but shipments of metallic minerals are down 9 percent.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Exports to most of B.C.’s major trading partners have declined, including down 2.8 percent to the U.S., 3.6 to mainland China — this is based on historical numbers — 12.9 percent to Japan and 11.8 to South Korea. B.C. exports are in decline. The blockade of the last few weeks meant that vessels have been sitting still, unable to move products to global customers. What has the NDP government done to solve the problem? Not much.

In addition, we have the looming threat of coronavirus that is going to impact. It already is impacting global markets, and it’s going to impact British Columbia. It’s going to impact demand for our products, whether it’s clean energy, minerals or whatever is needed to help do that. But the situation is: what has the government done to help mitigate moving and getting those goods to market?

Noting the hour, I move adjournment of debate, and I reserve my right to speak at the next sitting of this House.

B. Stewart moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. S. Robinson moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

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

The House adjourned at 11:54 a.m.