Orders of the Day

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

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

Budget Debate

(continued)

D. Clovechok: It’s great to be back. Yesterday I sat, having talked about some of the nonexistent revenue streams that this government was touting and all the taxes that British Columbians are paying today that they weren’t paying three years ago and reminded them they can’t tax people into prosperity.

What I’d like to do is to continue my talk focused on the people of Columbia River–Revelstoke and talk a little about the forestry industry. It’s a sector, as we all know, that is in crisis, with massive layoffs and shutdowns that have been announced consistently through the NDP term and their government. More than 100 mill curtailments and ten permanent and indefinite shutdowns in 2019.

The minister himself says: “It’s not a crisis.” The parliamentary secretary said that there are too many mills. The Premier said that the communities are spoiled children. People’s lives are falling apart, and they say this. That’s all they have to say about the forestry industry.

When the minister made his $69 million announcement to aid forestry workers in September, little did we know that instead of new money for the displaced workers, it was simply taking money away from other key projects, key projects that they call a slush fund.

The $25 million that was taken from the rural dividend fund was established by our government to help rural communities diversify their communities — moneys that those communities have come to depend upon, moneys that were applied for through extensive applications. A lot of work by volunteer organizations, and many of those organizations are dependent upon the forest industry.

[2:35 p.m.]

Well, that special fund was a hit all over British Columbia, with over 300 communities benefiting annually. They actually took away money from one and gave to another, under the guise of helping the forestry industry, while hurting other British Columbians — like the Community Futures group in Revelstoke, which spent an enormous amount of time putting an application together for naught. But it’s come to a stop, because the minister raised the fund to cover the costs of an inadequate forestry aid program — band-aids while the body is hemorrhaging.

The member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head in this very House said: “The forestry crisis should be non-partisan.” Well, guess what. We agree. We proposed a five-point action plan months and months and months ago that would have provided tax reliefs and assistance to the forestry workers throughout this province that are losing their jobs or have lost their jobs. But the NDP chose to ignore it. It’s hard to work with others when they refuse to work with anybody but themselves and believe in their own philosophy.

Then they talk about free trade. Well, free trade, specifically with the United States, requires participation. Just recently western Premiers and other Premiers and individuals went to the United States to work with the Americans, to meet with the Americans, to promote their economies, to promote the place that they live. Premier Jason Kenney, Premier Scott Moe, both Alberta and Saskatchewan, were part of that delegation. They went to the United States to fight for their people, to represent their people, to talk about their people’s story to the Americans, to understand that we are still good trading partners. That’s what they’re paid to do. That’s the job a leader does.

My question. Where was the Premier of the province of British Columbia? Why was he not there? Yet 2½ years ago he said he would be the champion for British Columbians to the Americans. Now he’s the invisible man.

They talk competition. They actually said the word “competition.” Yet they don’t understand that investors are running from this country. I used an example yesterday of a small, little village that I represent in my riding that has had a major developer come in, and investors, and said: “We want to do this, and it’s a great opportunity to grow and develop more area and attract more people into the region.” Those investors said: “We’re not going to do it. It’s too uncertain in this province. We don’t trust this government.” Guess what. That development is on hold right now. They’re running from it.

They talk competition, and in the next breath, they put out the collective benefits agreement. Yesterday I mentioned that on the Kicking Horse Canyon expansion itself, one of the most expensive road projects anywhere in the history of Canada on the Trans-Canada Highway — $30 million dedicated to the community benefits agreement.

I also mentioned yesterday the struggle. Not only my community, Columbia River–Revelstoke, but the two Peace ridings, the Kootenay East riding are struggling with medical care out in the hinterlands — denied in Alberta, non-access to treatments in Kelowna. Well, $30 million could go to building a radiation therapy facility in Cranbrook. Another one could go to one in Trail. Two therapy units could be built in the Kootenays. That could have been done so if the community benefits agreement wasn’t in effect.

My constituents and myself are struck by how many NDP promises have been left on the cutting-room floor at the expense of British Columbians. People around this province, specifically in my riding, are finding life not more affordable but more unaffordable. ICBC rates, hydro rates — everything has gone up. The price of gas continues to escalate, and the cracks are showing in their government and in their economic plan. They have no economic plan. There’s no job plan. There’s no plan except to tax, tax, tax and spend.

[2:40 p.m.]

How can you possibly run a province without a plan that generates revenue? How can you possibly do that? Life is not affordable here anymore. Investors are running, and they have the rhetoric over on the other side that it’s just kumbaya. People have had it in my constituency. They’re worried. They’re scared for their own jobs, and they want to know what they can do.

There’s going to be a reckoning. That reckoning is going to come in the next election, and it will be at the expense of those fine people across the aisle at the voter booths. There will be a reckoning, and as far as we’re concerned in my riding, it can’t come soon enough.

With that, I will take my seat and say without question that I will not support this budget.

Hon. M. Mungall: I’m very proud to rise and speak in support of Budget 2020. Before I get started, I do want to take a moment to just say a few thank-yous to some very important people in my life.

First, I want to say thank you, for all his wonderful support, to my husband Zak Matieschyn, who is just a fantas­tic rock in my life. I love him dearly.

With him, I have a wonderful son, Zavier. He’s 19 months now. People around here in the buildings, in the Legislature, get an opportunity to visit with him every evening when he comes to take books, take pens, take paper — whatever he can get his hands on — off people’s shelves. He lets everybody know that he’s been in the room once he’s left, because nothing is where it ought to be. It’s just wonderful to be his mother at this very curious stage in his life.

I have two amazing constituency assistants back in Nelson who serve the people of Nelson-Creston every single day. They are there to help whenever people call or email or stop in. That’s Laurie Langille and Tessa Bendig.

Here in Victoria, I have wonderful staff in my new ministry office. We just welcomed Danielle Monroe to the team as our senior MA. Maria Szabo is the junior MA. Danika Hammond is my executive assistant. We have Wolfgang, who greets everybody as they come in the door, and Lorna, from the deputy minister’s office, has been helping us as we seek to round out our team over the next little while.

I’m really fortunate to be supported by such wonderful, hard-working and dedicated people, people who are here to work for British Columbians, in service to them, every single day.

I represent some very, very amazing people in Nelson-Creston. I’m so grateful to them for giving me the opportunity to be here on their behalf and to share some of the things that are very important to them and some of the things that they see in this budget that are really helping them in their day-to-day lives.

One of the things that all of us living around Kootenay Lake are very happy to see in this budget is the funds to go to a new ferry on Kootenay Lake, to go from Balfour to the East Shore of Kootenay Lake. This ferry is going to be electric-ready. That means that once we get the infrastructure necessary on both sides — both terminals, both sides of the lake — to actually electrify our ferry, it will be ready to do so.

It’s very exciting, as we go electric in this province, that our new ferry, which is going to be complementing the MV Osprey and replacing the MV Balfour, is going to be electric. That’s very important to the people that I represent — not only that it’s going to be an electric-ready ferry but that we’re going to get a better ferry replacing a 55-year-old ferry. It’s going to be modern. It’s going to be faster. It’s going to be just better service overall for our communities throughout Kootenay Lake who rely on the ferry, as well as the many tourists who come and visit us throughout the year.

As I listen to some of the comments coming from the opposition benches, there’s a lot of doom and gloom. I don’t want to dismiss some of the comments about how people in their community face challenges and how we have to find solutions to those challenges. Absolutely, we do.

[2:45 p.m.]

That’s one of the things that we’ve been doing over the last 2½ years as government. I want to give some of the numbers to show that, and I’m going to do that throughout my comments on the budget.

When we talk about B.C.’s overall economy and where it is at right now, well, we are doing the best out of everybody else in Canada. We have one of the fastest-growing economies in Canada. We have the lowest unemployment rate, yet again. For 29 out of the last 30 months that we’ve been in government, we’ve had the lowest unemployment rate in the entire country. Since our government was elected, we have added 67,000 jobs in this province. More than half of those jobs have been good, family-supporting, full-time jobs.

That’s been our commitment to British Columbians. It’s to make sure that when we come up with a jobs plan, it’s not just a thin document with some targets but no actual plan to get us there. A lot of the jobs that were talked about in the jobs plan that we might remember from a few years ago from a past government were actually lower-wage jobs. We want to make sure that we have family-supporting jobs in this province. Ultimately, that’s what puts food on the table. That’s what gives people the good life that they are entitled to have.

That’s what makes sure that they can have their kids go to soccer. If their teenagers want to go to a movie, they can go to a movie. They can go to post-secondary education and have the dreams that they want to have. They can do for their children as they would like to. They can do for themselves as they would like to. Maybe have a date night every now and again for the parents. This is the type of middle-class life that people want to have, and we want to make sure that they have that. When we talk about job creation, we have to be talking about family-supporting jobs, and we are delivering on that front.

When we talk about family-supporting jobs, of course, we have to acknowledge wages, as I was saying. On that note, let’s just look at the numbers. Let’s look at the numbers of what’s happening right now, here, for British Columbia. After more than a decade of stagnation in wage growth, people are now seeing the benefits of what we’re delivering on, what this government is delivering on. Since July 2017, average wages are up. They are up. We are leading the country at an average wage of $28.83 an hour. Stagnation for years under the B.C. Liberals and wages going up under the B.C. NDP. That’s one of the ways that you make life more affordable.

We know that the global economic situation is a bit precarious right now, but B.C. exports have actually been remaining quite strong, reaching $43.4 billion in 2019. The Conference Board of Canada has predicted that B.C.’s GDP will grow well above the national average over the next two years. We’re doing quite well. We have a good story to tell here in British Columbia about our overall economic picture and how we are doing.

That’s not me just pulling that out of thin air, as sometimes we might see over on the other side. Those are the actual numbers that are coming out of B.C. Stats and Stats Canada. Those are predictions by the Conference Board of Canada. Those are third-party eyes looking at what we are doing and showing that it’s a good story and that it’s making a difference in people’s lives.

One of the lines that keeps coming up from the other side is tax and spend. Tax and spend, tax and spend. You often hear parties like the B.C. Liberals use that phrase as though it’s a negative thing. They like to go on and on about how horrible it is for a government to generate revenue and then turn around and spend it on people.

[2:50 p.m.]

How on earth…? Only the B.C. Liberals would think that spending on British Columbians is a bad thing. We saw it for 16 years while they were in government — a refusal to spend money. Their policy was to tax and hoard. That’s what they did. They took people’s hard-earned dollars through taxation. Rather than give it back in the form of health care, in the form of child care or in the form of education or post-secondary opportunities, a tax break to 1 percent is what they did. They gave more money back to their rich friends, over and over and over again.

Did they solve the affordable housing crisis? No. Did they even make an attempt to address it. No. In the 2½ years that the NDP has been in government, I have had the pleasure of announcing 105 new units of affordable housing being built in my riding alone. Do you know how many we got to announce in 16 years while the B.C. Liberals were in power? Not even half of that — not even half. That’s because they took British Columbians’ money and gave breaks to their rich friends, whether it was in the form of tax breaks or putting their head in the sand, just ignoring the fact that we had a housing crisis.

They cut child care spaces from the communities I represent back in 2001 and 2002. You know what we’re doing? We’re building child care spaces.

I am in this position, being a mom of a 19-month-old, where I am trying to find him child care. I’m calling a lot of the child care providers, both in Victoria and in Nelson, and what are they telling me? They’re saying: “Michelle, we’re going to have to let you know in September once we’ve actually been able to build out the child care spaces that we’ve gotten funding for. We’re in the process of building those out.” That is wonderful news for our communities. That is wonderful news, because all the parents that I know and that I talk to that struggle to find child care….

During the last election in Nelson and Creston, we had a stroller brigade — parents coming together. They’d put their kids in strollers, and they would walk up and down Baker Street letting people know how important child care was in that election.

Today they’re able to let people know that child care was important in that election, because child care is now being delivered. Cut under the B.C. Liberals in 2001 and 2002 and now being built under the New Democratic government in 2019, 2020 with this budget as well, as we continue to build child care for British Columbians right across this province, including in my communities in the riding of Nelson-Creston in the Kootenays.

The B.C. Liberals. They tax, and hoard for their rich friends. They don’t want to spend on British Columbians. We all know that. We lived through it for 16 years. But I think it’s really important to note that when they talk about tax increases, they’re failing to point out the facts of the largest tax cut in B.C. history to the middle class, which is the elimination of medical services premiums — the largest tax cut in history, delivered by a New Democrat government. That was us.

The seniors in my community, the people in my community, whether an individual or a family, they’re no longer seeing that tax levied on them every single year. Individuals are saving $900. Families are saving around $1,800. This is very good news.

[2:55 p.m.]

That’s more money in people’s pockets. Not only are wages going up, as I pointed out, but people have more money in their pockets from that tax cut.

Now, I know the B.C. Liberals also like to say that taxes are going up for businesses and so on. The thing is, though, they also want everybody to forget that it was actually the New Democrats, in their first budget update in 2017, that cut small business taxes. That was us, not them. That was us. So when they like to say “tax and spend,” they forget that, actually, the biggest tax cuts have been the responsibility of this government.

I am proud every single day to get up here and spend on the people that I represent, because they deserve a government that’s going to do that. They deserve a government that’s going to provide them with health care, that’s going to reduce wait-lists. That’s what this budget does. That’s what the last few budgets have done under this government. They deserve to have a government that’s going to make sure that they have child care. That’s what this budget does, and that’s what the last few budgets have done.

This budget also puts $339 million into the K-to-12 system. No longer are families facing cuts in the classroom for their kids. This government is investing in education.

With this budget, we’re announcing the child opportunity benefit. I’m very proud of this one: 300,000 families are going to be getting a tax-free benefit of $1,600 per year for one child and $2,600 per year for two children. And it goes up from there — the more children that the family would have. It’s not for the first six years of life, as the B.C. Liberals might have it. It’s for 18 years — 18 years, an entire child’s life. This is helping over 300,000 families in British Columbia, families in the communities that I represent in the Kootenays.

This is also contributing to the news that came out today about our child poverty stats. We have reduced child poverty from 2016 levels by 29.6 percent. Our target is 50 percent by 2024. I’d have to say that at 2020, when we are at nearly 30 percent, we are well on our way to achieving our target.

I want to give a little history behind this. For 16 years — you may have heard us use that number before just once or twice — we sat on the opposition benches calling on the B.C. Liberal government to do something about the rising rates of child poverty in this province. Every year the numbers went up, and B.C. was leading the country in child poverty. How embarrassing and how wrong. How wrong for a province as wealthy as ours to have the highest rate of child poverty in the country.

For years, we told them there were actions government could be taking to drive those number down, to be making sure that children were not going to school hungry, to make sure that children had access to a good life. For four years as the Social Development critic, I would hear over and over again how that was just not possible. My colleague the Minister for Social Development and Poverty Reduction heard it too, when he was on opposition benches. “It just wasn’t possible.”

Well, here we are 2½ years into government, and we have proven them wrong. We have proven that when you spend on people, you can reduce poverty substantially.

[3:00 p.m.]

You can help people lift up out of poverty and have opportunities in this life, have food in their bellies, have the ability to take on a sports program, an extracurricular activity, help single parents access child care so that they can get a job, so they can go back to school. These programs are possible. We are delivering them, and I’m very proud.

I want to thank the countless people who participated in our consultations on building this plan, because so many people participated in building this plan all around the province.

I know that dozens and dozens of people in my communities came out to give feedback to the provincial government in terms of what we can be doing to build a strong poverty reduction plan. I want to thank them. I want to thank them for continuing to hold us accountable. I want to thank them for continuing to help us implement this plan. This plan’s called TogetherBC for that very reason, and I’m very proud of the work that they have done and that we are doing with them.

I’d also like to mention that this is our third balanced budget. The reason I want to mention that is that a lot of people have said in the past: “Oh, these types of programs — reducing poverty, child care, health care, reducing wait-lists, building hospitals, building schools — are just too expensive. We can’t afford it. That would cause us to have a deficit.”

We’ve again proven them wrong. In fact, when you do spend on people, it can be done without adding to the debt. Now, I’m not going to get into a debate about whether debt and deficits are good or bad, because they have a function. But they are not an excuse, is my point, to not actually spend on people. They are not an excuse, and we are proving that day in and day out.

A couple of points about some of the increases I’ve heard from the opposition benches. One of the things that they talk about are ICBC rates. Well, we all know that they’re the ones responsible for the dumpster fire that we found at ICBC. They know that. They wanted to hide it from British Columbians. We uncovered it. We showed British Columbians what’s going on there. What we’ve been able to do is to find ways to reduce the rate increases that they were going to be putting on British Columbians as they were burying their heads in the sand and trying to pretend that their mismanagement of ICBC wasn’t a problem.

We uncovered the problem. We were honest about it with British Columbians, and we’ve been finding solutions ever since to bring down those costs at ICBC. We have been successful in doing that.

B.C. Hydro. There were a lot of questionable things going on there when I first started as the previous Minister for Energy. One of the things that we said we would do for British Columbians — which we weren’t able to do because we started to actually properly respect the independent regulatory regime that we have in this province — is we did promise to freeze hydro rates. We weren’t able to do that in the way that we wanted to at first because the independent regulator, who deserves respect that the B.C. Liberals never gave them, said: “No. That’s not the fiscally prudent thing to do right now at B.C. Hydro.” We said okay. We took a step back.

We delivered a lower rate of increases than would have happened under the B.C. Liberals. One of the things that they seem to have forgotten that happened this past August is that we applied to the B.C. Utilities Commission for the first time since probably the 1960s to decrease rates — not just freeze them but to decrease them. We did that in August.

We were successful because BCUC, the B.C. Utilities Commission, looked at how we have been managing our crown jewel, our Crown corp. of B.C. Hydro, that delivers the electricity to almost all of British Columbia. They said: “You’ve been doing a good job, and you’re right to come forward and apply for this decrease in rates.” So British Columbians are going to see some savings on their bills this year.

[3:05 p.m.]

The opposition might try to tell people about how everything’s going up, but what they don’t tell is the full story about how everything was going up way more under them and how we’ve come in to rein it in and make things more affordable for British Columbians. Those are the facts. The numbers are there. I know they don’t like them, but that is the fact of the matter.

I want to take some time to look at some of the things that we’re doing within my new ministry, because it’s really exciting. This ministry is responsible for the technology sector. A lot of people, when they think of technology, think of video games. They think of the really amazing special effects in a Star Wars or Star Trek movie. That’s often what I think of. They think of artificial intelligence — Data from Star Trek, perhaps. People might think of that.

Technology actually permeates our entire society, whether it be from cell phones, which are the obvious one on a day-to-day basis. But in terms of our foundational industries such as mining, innovation and technology play an extremely important role in making sure that these sectors are competitive.

I had agriculture as an example. I was visiting some tech companies last Friday in Vancouver. I had the chance to visit some tech companies in Nelson a few weeks ago. One of the companies I visited was Terramera. The things that they’re doing around agritech to reduce pesticides and to increase crop yields with better ways of treating pests and making plants healthy is really amazing — and the types of technologies that they’re using to do that. Those types of companies in British Columbia have the opportunity, have the possibility, of feeding into our existing sectors.

Technology isn’t just your iPhone and some really great, amazing special effects or futuristic thought concepts like Data from Star Trek and artificial intelligence. It’s how it’s applied, and it can be applied throughout our entire economic spectrum.

The things that we’re able to do within this ministry to support that is really fascinating. I’m really glad that I get to be a part of it. It’s not surprising that tech and innovation exists all throughout the economy and that it’s also one of the fastest-growing sectors in Canada and in B.C., and that actually B.C.’s tech sector is leading the nation in revenue growth and job creation. It’s moving at such a fast pace.

One of the companies I visited on Friday was MetaOptima. They started with three employees back in 2015, I think she said — three employees. Now they have 60 employees, building technology to test for skin cancer, to do dermatological diagnostics. They compile that information from these tests with their technology into a database so that doctors, without knowing patients’ personal or private information but just knowing about the diseases that they are experiencing, can get a better understanding of how skin cancer can evolve and affect people.

That type of technology that they’re doing is really amazing. The fact that they’re able to grow their company so large in such a short period of time is something that we as British Columbians should be very proud of.

I just saw the green light go, which means I only have a couple of minutes, and I have so much more that I would like to say. So I’ll say it very quickly. We are seeing some very significant investments right now from major tech companies like Rogers, Amazon, MasterCard, Shopify, bringing jobs here to British Columbia and making investments here in British Columbia. We are seeing that in other sectors.

In mining, for example, we are seeing Newcrest from Australia come into British Columbia. Of course, we can’t forget some of the very large investments that have been taking place with LNG, as an example.

[3:10 p.m.]

A lot of companies around the world have shown that they are very excited to invest in British Columbia. We’re looking forward to telling them more about what we offer here in B.C. We’re going to be doing that throughout the year in a variety of ways — conferences, summits, and so on.

I’m looking forward to that work. I’m looking forward to building British Columbia for British Columbians, and I’m looking very forward to spending a whole lot of money on British Columbians.

L. Throness: It’s a pleasure to rise and speak to the budget today. I want to begin by talking about an issue that overshadows the budget — not only our budget but every budget across Canada for governments — and that is the protests that are going on around our province and around our country, defying court injunctions and breaking the law.

On February 23, a resource development project that everyone knows about, Frontier, was withdrawn in Alberta, and the CEO of Teck said this in an open letter: “It is now evident that there is no constructive path forward for the project.” So there’s no constructive path forward for a project that’s undergone exhaustive environmental review for years. They’ve jumped every legal hoop. It has broad community and Indigenous support. But that wasn’t good enough for the protesters.

Yet the member for North Vancouver–Lonsdale applauded the demise of this project and called it a tipping point. A tipping point maybe against oil or gas or a tipping point against the rule of law? I think it may be a bit of both.

There’s enormous opposition to pretty well any project that will disturb the ground today, from a project like Frontier or a pipeline or to a building permit for a house that takes years to be approved in Vancouver, despite the fact that there’s a huge lack of supply that sends prices through the roof.

The debate has grown so rancorous that those who oppose any kind of resource development are ignoring the law. Not those who want to build the economy by developing our resources. They patiently follow the rules for years and bear huge costs of following the law. It’s those who oppose them who break the law.

Think of the following projects that have been cancelled or are under threat: northern gateway, Energy East, Teck’s Frontier project. Trans Mountain was stalled for years. Coastal GasLink is threatened. Keystone XL was vetoed. Woodfibre LNG in Squamish experiences a lot of opposition, even though it will all be run by electricity. And who knows how many LNG and other projects have been quietly shelved without us even knowing it, where business people say: “It’s just not worth the effort; it’s not worth the risk”? That’s going to continue in the future.

This is a serious budgetary issue. And it’s one that involves the rule of law. There are three members of this House who have expressed, in this House, sentiments for the protesters. I think of the member for Nanaimo who celebrated the illegal protests. I think of the member for North Vancouver–Lonsdale who expressed her support. Even the Minister of State for Child Care said we have to stand up against Trans Mountain pipeline, despite the fact that every court and every tribunal in the land has approved it.

We all have laws that we don’t like, and I get that. That’s fine. For example, I don’t like Medical Assistance in Dying. I disagree with it, philosophically. I don’t think it belongs in palliative care. It’ll have a harmful effect on our culture as we accept the principle of death as an antidote to pain. Why is that? We all suffer pain in our lives. There’s no logical stopping point between this pain or that pain or pain in this situation or pain in that situation.

The Supreme Court has ruled on this issue. I accept that because I respect the rule of law. You won’t find me blocking traffic in downtown Vancouver, laying over the railroad tracks or lighting a fire on the steps of this Legislature, as was done yesterday, to try and overturn by force what the courts have finally decided. If I can accept that, then the MLAs opposite can accept the rule of law as well.

MLAs need to decide where they stand on the rule of law. If their hearts are really with the protesters, they should have the courage to stand outside with them and defy the court injunction, instead of sitting in this chamber and enjoying all the benefits of the rule of law while quietly opposing its authority.

In particular, for a minister of the Crown to encourage her constituents to stand up against Trans Mountain, having been approved exhaustively by environmental bodies and the courts, I think is something of a disgrace. This Legislature is the seat of the law in this province, and ministers ought to be the first to support the rule of law. So I think the Premier should call her on the carpet and tell her: “If you want to be in cabinet, you have a decision to make. Whose side are you on? Do you side with the protesters outside? Or will you publicly stand on the side of all of us in this chamber, for whom the rule of law is a precious thing?”

[3:15 p.m.]

I think the minister should apologize and say: “Yes, I may disagree with the pipeline, but I accept what the courts have decided. I accept the rule of law. I love the law. It is what makes us a civilized society.”

I’m concerned about the young people outside the Legislature today. They’re building their own future. They’re building a society in which it’s okay not to have resource development to produce the billions we need to run health care and education, keep our roads paved and even run the environmental policy of the government. They are looking forward to a poorer society.

They’re also looking forward to a society in which it’s okay to disobey a law that they disagree with. Well, that’s fine when they do it. But it’s not so fine when somebody does it to them. Like, when somebody steals their stuff, that’s not okay. But it’s okay for protesters to steal somebody’s job by blocking a rail line or cost people hundreds of hours sitting in traffic, as they illegally block the roads, or steal someone’s health by blocking a bridge that an ambulance needs.

The activists who break the law are building a society for themselves. They’re making their own future. If they keep on doing it, it will not be a better society. Society and an economy are delicate things. We’ve learned, in the last few weeks, that it’s easy to destroy an economy. It doesn’t take long. It only takes a matter of months. The rule of law is also a delicate thing. It depends on the voluntary obedience of every citizen from the heart.

I will give an example. In Chilliwack, we have about a hundred police officers, and we have 100,000 people. If only a few hundred people decided to break the law in an organized way, it would be chaos in Chilliwack. In fact, we’re experiencing some of that now with crime in Chilliwack, as thieves on bikes towing little trailers ride around looking for other people’s stuff to steal. The peace and security of our communities depend on each one of us adhering voluntarily to the law and using the tools of the law to make change, rather than seeking change on the street.

I would encourage the youth, in particular, who are breaking the law today: just stop. Think about your future and the society that you are creating for yourself and your children.

Finally, the rule of law is about people in society caring about each other. I don’t think that the protesters care very much about other people in Canada. It’s a good way to destroy a wonderful country.

Now I want to go forward and talk about this budget, which I would characterize, if I could, as a top-heavy budget. It’s top-heavy with social spending, but as in anything that’s top-heavy, you need a foundation to support it. We need an economic foundation for all of that social spending. Somebody’s got to pay the bills. So in this budget, we have lots of announcements on the social side, but we have little to build a stronger economy to support those announcements.

In fact, the NDP has not given us a plan to grow the economy. There’s no plan to create well-paying jobs and help businesses, to lower taxes to attract investment, measures to increase productivity and competitiveness, no labour market measures to address what I hear from every employer — and that is a very tight supply of labour — and nothing to build support for the ever-increasing social spending. This is a weakness of all NDP governments. We’re seeing it again. It’s short-sighted at best. Every NDP government in the country eventually gets thrown out, because the taxpayers simply can’t afford them.

Taxes are up, as Tim Shoults, writing in Kamloops This Week, pointed out. I want to quote what he said: “The total tax burden borne by B.C. residents and businesses is set to climb from $28.2 billion in 2017-18 to a proposed $36.9 billion in 2021-22, according to the government’s own budget documents released Tuesday. That’s an increase of $8.7 billion or 31 percent in five years.”

Meanwhile, the economic indicators in the budget are threatening. Employment is down. Manufacturing shipments are down. Exports and retail sales are down. New car sales are down. Housing starts are down by a whopping 24 percent. In the Fraser Valley, home sales fell by 31 percent last year.

None of that’s good news, but that doesn’t seem to matter to the NDP. They continue to raise taxes and spending. They’re oblivious to the indicators. They love to crank out the good-news press releases that will one day come back to haunt us all.

[3:20 p.m.]

Allow me to quote from another editorial in the Times Colonist. This was on February 19: “Finance Minister Carole James put the surplus at a mere $227 million and $179 million for next year, representing a combined total of just $406 million. On an overall revenue basis of $60.6 billion, these are rock-bottom figures, signalling a serious deterioration in the province’s financial affairs. And James has no one to blame but herself.”

We have a balanced budget before us, but how did they do that? It’s only balanced by increasing the burden on taxpayers. In fact, if there were no new taxes in this budget, it would be a deficit budget.

Let me describe three new taxes that will be of interest to my constituents. First, there’s the Netflix tax. It applies to Netflix and any other digital service, like Spotify or Google music, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV, Crave TV, YouTube Premium and others. They’ll all have to collect PST from now on. So here the NDP have gone from the wallets of British Columbians to their change purses and their penny jars. They are reaching out in all directions to grab any tiny tax they can. This one will only raise $11 million this year, and I wonder if the cost of it will be more than the administration cost.

It’s the same with the sugary drink tax, which will charge PST on any carbonated beverage, including ones without any sugar at all, like artificially sweetened drinks. The NDP are going after every possible tax, no matter how small.

Then there’s their tax on high-income earners, which will apply to anyone making over $220,000 a year, as we further encourage professionals, like doctors, to flee our province. These three taxes alone will raise $216 million this year, and only these three new taxes will keep the government in the black.

All together, since becoming government, the NDP have introduced or raised 23 taxes in B.C. Well, that’s how they fuel the government, not through economic growth and not through raising general revenues through that growth. They raise the revenue both by broadening the base of taxation so the burden is laid on more people and businesses and groups and by increasing the weight of those specific taxes. That is a very unwise strategy.

On the other hand, the government is cutting back spending. But where is it cutting? Predictably, it’s on the ministries that create jobs in this province — cuts to Agriculture; Energy and Mines; Forests and Lands; the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness; and the Ministry of Tourism. They all received cuts. Many of the ministries which might possibly help to create some jobs are reduced in size.

To me, this doesn’t make a lot of sense. But that’s the pattern of the NDP — tax and spend, not grow the economy and allow that growth to fuel new spending. That, I think, is why the NDP are a boom-and-bust party. That’s why the NDP have only been in power for 15 years since 1952. It’s because they have this inbred sense of imbalance.

Once in a while, British Columbians become dissatisfied with the B.C. Liberals and their predecessor, the Social Credit Party, because we’re very fiscally responsible. I think of our $100 million platform in 2017 versus the B.C. NDP free-for-all of a $7 billion platform. The people bring in the NDP to loosen the purse strings for a bit. Then they have to get rid of them again, because they’re essentially unbalanced. They know how to spend the money. They don’t know how to raise the money and how to grow the economy. So the B.C. Liberals have to be brought in to keep the economy out of the ditch.

I can see that same story replaying itself once again. I look forward to British Columbians deciding to switch back to us again within 20 months from now or perhaps sooner.

Now, I want to turn to Chilliwack and think about what was in the budget for my riding. There’s disappointing news for my constituents, unfortunately. There’s no mention of Chilliwack at all in the budget, except when the Minister of Finance, in her budget speech, mentioned a school being built in our riding, which actually was provided for in the last budget, not this one. There’s nothing new specifically for Chilliwack in this budget.

Now, we thought there was a hopeful sign in the throne speech in a passing reference to a transit corridor in the valley. But my hopes were dashed when I saw the fine print in the budget. The government is going to begin a study that will formulate a multimodal transportation and development strategy for the Fraser Valley that will one day inform investments. We’re three long steps away from action, a study to build a strategy to inform investments.

My question is: in what year will that study begin? In what term of office will this strategy be formed, and in what decade will something actually start to get built? These questions are all unanswered. All we know is that we’re going to talk about it sometime, transit options for the Fraser Valley. I don’t think that’s a lot of political will demonstrated by this government. It’s a talking point. It’s a defensive manoeuvre for them to be able to answer questions in the House.

[3:25 p.m.]

The budget also mentioned the widening of the No. 1 Highway on the ten-kilometre stretch between 216 and 264 Streets. This, of course, was also announced previously. We’re hoping that construction will begin next year, but in the budget, it says that it may begin any time in the next five years. This is not very heartening to my constituents.

We came to Victoria last fall to ask the Minister of Public Safety for more funding for police officers in the rural Chilliwack area, because the crime rate in our area is the highest in the Fraser Valley. We don’t have an answer back on that yet. I see that there’s money in the budget designated for public safety, no specific mention of our request. I’m going to keep a close eye on that.

My constituents may be interested in buying an electric car or a charging station. The subsidy programs for those have been renewed.

The monthly earnings exemption for single people on social assistance will increase by $1,200 a year. People receiving a disability pension will be able to earn $15,000 a year without influencing their benefits. It’s my hope that this move will encourage more part-time work and not simply discourage full-time work, in which a person could get off disability altogether but doesn’t because they like the backstop of those payments, even if they don’t really need them. Time will tell.

My constituents may be interested in the B.C. child opportunity benefit also, which was announced, again, a year ago, in the 2019 budget. It won’t happen for another seven months. But it talks about giving $380 million a year to families with children under the age of 18. Of course, we support more benefits to families, but with the NDP, you always have to read the fine print. What does the fine print say on this benefit?

The government says that a family with one child will get $1,600 per year. That works out to about $100 a month per child, with subsequent children as well. But the fine print says that the maximum only goes to families that are making under $25,000. At any income above $25,000, the amount starts being clawed back as the family earns more, until you’re left, at $55,000 in income, with about $700 a year instead of the $1,600 that the government touts for the first child.

What’s the median income, according to StatsCan, for families in B.C.? The median income is $85,000. This means that only a few families are going to get the maximum. Most will get about half, probably about 50 bucks a month per child, $1,700 a year for a family with three kids. It will go down from there to nothing with any more income. It’s not a bad thing. We support more help for families. But let’s realize that it’s not what it’s billed to be. It’s not nearly as generous. It will not change the lifestyle of any family in any radical way.

My constituents are also interested in health care, and I want to talk about that for a moment. I receive constant requests for more health care spending — spending on rare drugs, medical devices — complaints about waiting lists for surgeries like deep brain stimulation for people with Parkinson’s disease. I find these to be wrenching visits from my constituents. They tear at my heart. I contact the minister’s office, but there is little action on these things.

Although we have 24,000 people without a family doctor in Chilliwack, there is no plan in this budget to improve access to doctors in our city. In fact, the budget for health care will rocket up over the next three years by $2½ billion. But all of it will go to higher wages for employees.

Nor will there be any hospital improvements in our hospital in Chilliwack, although I get complaints about it being run down and about its crowded nature. We have called for a new maternity ward. They had to close the maternity ward altogether last summer, and Fraser Health even refuses to meet about that.

This budget, particularly since most of us are going to be paying higher taxes, is a disappointment for my constituents.

I want to move on for a few moments to talk about my critic role with children and families and, particularly, about child care. The government has made much of its child care programs and has spent an enormous amount of money without delivering much more child care at all.

While the Premier had a great photo op last fall…. He announced a milestone in creating 10,400 new spaces through their programs. It quickly became apparent, through the minister of state’s office, that fewer than 2,000 of those spaces actually had children in them, were actually functioning spaces.

[S. Gibson in the chair.]

Why is the government having such a hard time creating spaces? It’s not at all hard to diagnose the problem. You just have to read the papers or the emails I get. I’m sure the minister knows as well. But it doesn’t seem like the NDP do read the papers, because they’re not doing anything about it. So let me read a few stories for the benefit of the members opposite.

I’m going to read some excerpts from a letter to the editor in the Chilliwack Progress just a few weeks ago, on January 24.

“Isn’t the provincial government advertising its success in creating more child care spaces and making child care more accessible to families? Yes, but there’s one glaring flaw in this plan. There are not enough qualified and trained early childhood staff to work at these centres….

[3:30 p.m.]

“A lot of ECEs have left the field. Although they may have a love for children and a passion for education, love doesn’t pay the bills. ECEs have left the field in droves over the past ten years….

“As well, working in the post-secondary education sector, I have noticed a huge decline in early childhood education students over the past decade…. The government needs to wake up.”

Those are not my words. That’s from a constituent of mine writing in the local paper.

Here’s another one from the Interior. It’s a story from Shuswap carried in the Surrey Now-Leader on February 1.

“Shuswap Daycare manager Karen Bubola says daycare in Salmon Arm is in crisis and getting worse. ‘We have lengthy wait-lists, well over two years….’ Shuswap Child Care Resource and Referral says there are only 42 licensed spots among three providers in Salmon Arm and one in Enderby. There is nothing in Sicamous and Sorrento. ‘In the entire Interior, no one is offering after-hours or weekend care for any child, regardless of the age.’”

How about this one from the Lower Mainland? I received this just a few months ago, last November.

“Hundreds of spaces are allegedly being rolled out and funding provided to build spaces, yet there is no staff to work them. The industry is in crisis. Every day I am hearing of centres closing down or desperately struggling, trying to keep their doors open because of the lack of qualified staff. Owners and staff are working ten- to 12-hour days for weeks and months at a time with no break because they can’t get staff.

“At my centre, we have increased wages by 20 percent over the past year. We have an amazing work environment and a great staff benefits package, including an employer-contributing RRSP program and medical-dental, yet we still have a great deal of difficulty finding qualified staff. I can’t even imagine what it must be like for smaller centres.”

This is in an urban centre in the Lower Mainland.

The NDP virtually ignored this issue when they launched their program in 2018. Instead they rushed big payments into the hands of parents, which created more demand for more spaces, but they did nothing of the work to staff those spaces that they were funding. They just wanted to get cheques out as fast as possible into the hands of parents.

In an email I received, this is what one provider said to me: “What has happened is that the cart has been put before the horse. Spaces create votes. There are more parents than workers, but spaces don’t fix the underlying problems.” The government created spaces for political reasons without raising up a qualified workforce to staff them first.

When it comes to this budget, I’m quite astonished, actually, that the government will be spending, this year, $88 million more on child care — in the next fiscal year — for a grand total of $675 million. How much will it spend on the supply of labour? You would think it would be significant, but just 4 percent of it. Just $26 million in wage supplements will go to alleviate the biggest problem: the dire shortage of workers.

I find it unbelievable that there is nothing extra for early childhood educators in this budget. It’s all about getting cash into the hands of parents who are also voters. This is a huge failure of public policy, and time will reveal it to be so.

I want to move on to talk about $10-a-day care for a moment, because the throne speech signalled an important change in direction in the government’s child care program. In fact, I regard it as a reversal, a turnaround. In its campaign promise of 2017, the NDP said this: “The $10-a-day plan will build a child care system that provides safe care for every child whose family wants or needs it.” They said it again in a ministry document: “Universal child care that is affordable and available for any family that wants or needs it.”

It wasn’t in those things only. It was also in the Canada-B.C. Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. I’ll quote that as well: “B.C. committed to implementing a ten-year universal child care plan that provides affordable, accessible and high-quality care and early learning to every child whose family wants or needs it.”

They committed it to the federal government in writing. But in the throne speech, they backed away from it. They reversed course. They abandoned the universal child care promise when they said this. I quote from their throne speech: “This government brought forward…a universal child care plan to provide affordable quality care to every family that needs it.”

It’s no longer about needing or wanting it for any family; it’s just about need. If it’s only about need, it’s no longer universal. Gone is the idea that any family that wants subsidized care should be able to get subsidized care. The government has backed away from one of its most important campaign promises.

Many thousands of families voted for this government because of its promise of universal care for all parents. That was even in the deal with the Greens. Now the NDP have broken faith with the Greens and with their own voters.

[3:35 p.m.]

I think they’ve found that it’ll cost too much and that, indeed, is reflected in the budget before us, because this year will be the last year of any significant change in the child care budget. The government will increase spending to $675 million this year, but after that, the budget flatlines for the next three years. And at that time, they’ll be halfway toward their ten-year plan for child care.

In 2015, the Coalition of Child Care Advocates, which conceived of the $10-a-day idea and which the NDP fully endorsed in their election platform, put out a paper. It was entitled Solving B.C.’s Affordability Crisis in Child Care: Financing the $10-a-Day Plan. The paper calculated the total cost of $10-a-day care at $1.5 billion per year, plus parental contributions of $400 million a year. And that figure is conservative. It’s dated. Wages and inflation and other costs have risen since. I’m sure it’s about $1 billion higher than that — maybe even closer to $3 billion for the full plan.

Yet the top level of financing provided by the NDP government halfway through the ten-year implementation period is less than a third of that. There is no possible way that they will be able to triple the amount in this budget nor in a future budget without going into a significant deficit. By its own spending priorities, demonstrated in the 2020 Budget, the government shows that it’s settling for a much more restricted, focused, narrowed program — not universal for all who want and need it, as the Premier promised in 2017. It’s now a strictly needs-based program like any other needs-based program of the government.

What does this new direction in the throne speech, in the budget, mean on the ground? In very practical terms, if it is based on need, then the government needs to follow through with that principle. I’m calling upon the government, once again, to immediately stop giving fee reduction initiative subsidies to millionaires, because right now fee reduction payments of up to $350 a month are universal for anyone who wants them, whether they need them or not. The NDP is spending $105 million on this program, and much of it — maybe $30 million, $40 million a year — is going to those with higher incomes and not available to those who really need them.

This is morally indefensible for a government that claims to focus on the most needy in our society. If the program is now based on need and some parents don’t need it, they shouldn’t get it. But there’s no mention of a change in this budget. The government needs to be consistent, even if it’s politically difficult. In doing so, I’ll bet the government could save $30 million or $40 million that then could be refocused to spend on other needy areas.

In the three budgets of this government…. It will spend nearly $1.7 billion on child care alone, and it can’t open more than 1,500 new incremental spaces or find enough workers to staff them. This really defies description to me. This is mismanagement on an epic scale. The government’s program, to me, is bogus. It’s not delivering for families. When they find out, they’re going to be really unhappy, and the people of B.C. will soon hold them accountable for it.

Well, there were other things in the budget related to my critic area. By that, there was about $50 million per year on other things. There was very little detail about what they were. There’s $8 million per year more for autism supports. I don’t have any quarrel with that, but I’d like to know more about it. Last spring the Standing Committee on Children and Youth visited a number of B.C. communities and heard from dozens of heroic parents who have children with special needs, as well as heroic providers who work with those children.

I want to bring to the government’s attention the final recommendation of the committee’s report, which recommended more funding for respite care and access to respite care across the province. The government devoted $3 million extra for adults with special needs in that regard, which isn’t much given the need. I realize that — this isn’t the MCFD portfolio; it’s CLBC — that’s not something for government to be very proud of. I was pleased to see the medical benefits program augmented, but it doesn’t say by how much. I don’t see in the budget any increase in respite funding for children, which is not a hugely costly item, but it’s hugely important for thousands of parents across B.C.

I wonder how the minister could miss this, given the standing committee’s unanimous recommendation in that regard, a committee on which four of their own MLAs sit. Those MLAs would be right to be disappointed in their own government.

[3:40 p.m.]

All in all, this is a tax-and-spend budget, a budget top-heavy with social spending and little in the way of economic development to support it. It shows a disappointing lack of foresight on the child care file, although it’s spending an enormous amount of money. Finally, there is very little for my constituents to be happy about. I hardly need to say that I’ll be voting against this budget.

Hon. H. Bains: It always is a pleasure — an honour, actually — to be here and speak on issues that are important to not only just my family but the families that I represent in Surrey-Newton and all across the province. I feel so proud to be part of a government that brings in budget after budget, programs and policies putting people in the centre and then develops policies around those that will be impacted by our policies.

I just want to, before I get into what’s in this budget, say thank you to the good people of Surrey-Newton who, for the fourth time, showed their confidence in me, gave me the respect, gave me the privilege to represent them in this great House. I am so humbled by the support that I get from my community. It is a community that I’m proud to live in. It’s a community that I’m proud to be part of. I can tell you that community is in much better shape today than it was ten years ago because of all the programs that we have done and brought in and that my colleagues in Surrey have fought for and all the different funding and other benefits that came along to help the people of Surrey.

I won’t be speaking too long. I have a meeting pretty soon, but I want to touch on a number of areas that affect Surrey.

I want to say that I’ve been following Surrey politics for a long time. I have lived in that community since 1978. My two children were born and raised there. They went to school there.

I just want to say there are a number of issues that emerged in Surrey during the time that I started to get involved actively in politics. One of them was the lack of health care. People were made to wait in the Surrey Memorial Hospital emergency ward for hours — six, seven, eight hours. It happened in 2004, when my colleague, now from Fleetwood — he ran in Panorama at that time — brought that issue to the forefront.

A number of us were elected in 2005. We raised that issue over and over. Yes, there was some progress made. An improved Surrey Memorial Hospital. The Jim Pattison facility was built. That is the work of good MLAs, and the government at that time realized that we needed to do something.

I also want to tell you that there was a demand for a second hospital all along. Surrey is the fastest-growing community in B.C., if not in all of Canada. Our city council has been saying that we get about 1,000 citizens moving to Surrey every month. But they were surprised when they looked at the numbers just recently. There were 1,400 to 1,500 coming to Surrey every month.

The services and infrastructure never stayed with the population growth. As a result, hospital lineups. Hallway medicine was commonplace in Surrey.

Schools. More and more portables continued to come instead of building schools. In fact, if you really look at the numbers…. If you talk to the Surrey school board, they’ll tell you that between 2006 and 2010, not a single dollar in capital was allocated to the Surrey school board for capital expansion — not a single dollar.

Then they came in, and they invested some money. But again, think about this. From 2006 to 2010, for four years, all those people moving in. They don’t just move in by themselves. They bring their children with them. As a result, we had portable after portable. We would have a new school built, and there would be portables attached to it. When we formed government, there were 7,000 students studying in portables at that time.

[3:45 p.m.]

We said that we would eliminate those portables, because those students deserve an education at the level of every other student all across the province. We see the experience of all the students in British Columbia, when the previous government took fight with the teachers in 2002 and 2003, when they ripped up their collective agreement. Then the fight with the teachers continued for 14 years, all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. Only the Supreme Court of Canada told them what they did was illegal.

Think about this. Now we have to fix that mess that was left behind and created by them. A whole generation of students came and left high school without the proper supports and the resources that they need. They came and left. They will never make up for that.

Now, since we formed government, we have hired 4,200 teachers and over 1,000 support staff, counsellors, librarians. They were not there. That caused another challenge and stress to the system. We had to deal with 7,000 students in portables, to begin with. But the Supreme Court of Canada, by having 4,200 new teachers come in…. That requires more classroom spaces.

We’re dealing with it. I’ll give you a list of what we’ve done so far.

On the hospital side. In 2005, the previous leader of the B.C. Liberal Party, Gordon Campbell, stood on a piece of land located near 152 and No. 10 Highway and said that they are going to build a second hospital in Surrey. The 2005 term came and ended. Nothing got done. In 2009, they were elected again. Nothing got done. In 2013, nothing got done.

Then the true intentions of that government became very clear. They were not going to build a hospital. You know why I say that? The current leader of the B.C. Liberal Party was the minister in charge at that time. He went and sold that land. Clearly, there was no intention to begin with. Then he came in and just gutted it and said: “Look. We’re not going to build it. Sell the land.” That’s what happened. Those are the facts. Then what?

We knew that the population was growing, just like the education system. We had to invest in and build more schools. I’ll get into the list. We knew that this second hospital was needed, so we announced that there will be a second hospital. We started working at it right away.

Again, you have to locate the land at the appropriate location, the appropriate size. Then what happened? We found the land within the government — 25 acres. I can tell you that I feel so proud that I was on the Kwantlen board in the 1990s when we bought that piece of land and when we moved that campus from a rental facility in Newton over to Cloverdale, and there was excess land there.

We have acquired that land. It’s within the government transfer. So that land is there. I can give you the address as well — 5500 and 5510 180 Street. That’s where Surrey’s second hospital will be built. The concept on that plan is approved, which means that Treasury Board also approved the budget. It’s already in the books, which means now we are moving into a business plan. A business plan normally takes 12 to 18 months. Well, we’re fast-tracking it, and we’re hoping to have it completed within 12 months.

What’s going to happen?

Interjections.

Hon. H. Bains: They’re chirping away over there, and they continue to misguide and mislead people out there. I was hoping that they could stand up and become adults and say: “We misled you, people of Surrey. We had no intention of building that hospital.”

At least they could stand up now. “We support government’s intention to build a second hospital.” None of them have said that. That just tells a story of where they stand and where we stand.

The business plan will be completed. Then it goes for bids. Then the precise dollars will be allocated. We’re told it’s going to take about $1 billion to $2 billion.

[3:50 p.m.]

It’s going to be a full-fledged hospital. I’m so proud that we are going to build it, because we need it. It’s not a political statement. It’s not a political position. It’s the need of the people of Surrey. We need a second hospital. We’re going to build it, come hell or B.C. Liberals. I can tell you that.

Let me say, just the other day the opposition leader went to Surrey, in my riding. He was asked point blank by the media: “Will you build a second hospital for Surrey?” He was asked that question. Here’s what he said. Their position hasn’t changed since 2005. He said this: “Whether that is a branch of Surrey Memorial Hospital or another hospital altogether is another question.” That was his answer. It clearly shows they’re consistently saying, since 2005, they will not build a second hospital in Surrey.

We are going to build it no matter what. The people of Surrey can count on us because every promise we made, we have delivered — every promise we made. Let me go over to the….

Interjections.

Hon. H. Bains: Okay. You know, you don’t want me to go back to your record on portables. Don’t encourage me.

Let me say what we’ve done and delivered to Surrey in 2½ years is multiple times more than what they delivered in 16 years. Here are some of the examples of what we’ve already done. As I said, a second Surrey hospital, at the cost of $1 billion to $2 billion. B.C. Housing is providing $29 million in capital funding through the supportive housing fund program to RainCity Housing and Support Society’s 130-unit transitional housing project. It’s located at 9810 Foxglove Drive. Come over to Surrey one day and just visit some of these facilities. That would be great.

George Greenaway Elementary seismic upgrade, $11 million. Holly Elementary seismic upgrade, $9 million. Sullivan Elementary school addition to provide up to 200 new student spaces, $13½ million. Grandview Heights Secondary school, a new secondary school to provide 1,500 student spaces, $85 million.

Maddaugh Road elementary school, a new elementary school to provide 605 student spaces. Regent Road Elementary School, a new elementary school to provide 655 student spaces. Edgewood Drive elementary school, a new elementary school, again to provide 655 student spaces. Pacific Heights Elementary, an addition to provide up to 300 more student spaces, $9.4 million. Mary Jane Shannon Elementary School seismic upgrade, $7 million. That’s this budget, 2020.

Let’s talk about what we have done since 2017, ’18 and ’19. Replacement of the Pattullo Bridge, at the cost of $1.3 billion. Panorama Park Elementary, eight-classroom addition to provide up to 200 student spaces. Coyote Creek Elementary School, four-classroom addition to provide up to 100 more student spaces, $6.1 million. Frost Road Elementary school, six-classroom addition to provide up to 150 more student spaces, $5.6 million.

Douglas area elementary school, a new elementary school to provide 605 student spaces plus two child care rooms. Sullivan Heights Secondary School, to provide up to 700 more student spaces and childhood learning. Simon Fraser University Surrey, sustainable energy and environmental engineering building, $126 million.

Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre MRI expansion and equipment procurement, $6.2 million. B.C. Housing is providing $29.6 million in capital funding from the supportive housing fund program for 100 transitional beds and 30 shelter beds for men and women who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. This facility is located at 14150 Green Timbers Way in Surrey.

[3:55 p.m.]

B.C. Housing also provided capital funding for a new Aboriginal housing development through the provincial investment in affordable housing program. The Elizabeth Fry Society, $7.3 million for a 20-unit project in Surrey. Kekinow Native Housing Society is seeing $9.4 million for a 103-unit project in Surrey.

Surrey Pretrial Services Centre, a routine capital project for $6 million to maintain the pretrial services centre by completing an upgrade to the water distribution system. The Fraser Valley Cancer Centre in Surrey, an expansion of the acute care unit, chemotherapy area, $8 million. Surrey Memorial Hospital in-patient psychiatric and seclusion room, $4.4 million.

On top of that, we have already opened an urgent care centre in Surrey. I and my colleagues in Surrey are pushing hard. They’re working together with the Minister of Health, and we are trying to convince the minister that we need a second urgent care centre in Surrey.

Interjection.

Hon. H. Bains: The member over there…. I would encourage you to come when that announcement comes. It’s coming.

I’m assured by the Minister of Health that we will get a second urgent care centre in Surrey. We are building and we are providing services. I know that they on the other side feel left out because they did nothing. They had the opportunity. For 16 years, they ignored and they neglected. We are going to, number one, fix some of the mess that they left behind, but we are also moving ahead and looking forward.

They were involved, just like today — all politics, all the time. That’s what they did in 16 years. Even with the Surrey Memorial Hospital announcement we made, what they are doing is playing politics. For once I say: “Go up there and at least tell the truth to the people.” These are your habits that put you on that side.

You know, the way I watched for the last 2½ years, I can guarantee you that the people of this province will keep you there for a long time because you have learned nothing. You learned nothing.

Let me say what more we have done when you talk about making life more affordable, life better, in this budget. Let’s take a look at what we have done. Let’s take a look. We are bringing in, in this budget, the B.C. child opportunity benefit. You know what that means? It will provide up to $1,600 a year for families with one child, up to $2,600 a year for families with two children, up to $3,400 a year for a family of three children, and it goes on. This money will be available until they turn 18.

So what does that all mean? Here is what it is. A family of four that is earning $70,000 and living in Metro Vancouver could save nearly $30,000. The book is very clear, and I have listed some of the areas where that money is. I am going to refer to page 128 of the budget book. It listed and it compared the personal income tax amongst provinces. Also, it will take you back to 2016 and what they were paying and what they pay today.

A family of four. Let me say it. An individual making $80,000…. They pay, in British Columbia, $4,314 in taxes. That is the lowest in the country. A person making $100,000 pays, in British Columbia, $6,393. That is, again, the lowest in the country. When you look at some of the neighboring provinces…. In Alberta, that same person will pay $7,688 compared to $6,393 here in B.C.

That’s how we’re making a difference in people’s lives. The ordinary, everyday citizens who get up in the morning and make their lunch, go to work and work hard all day, pay their taxes, obey the law are the people we are actually helping. Those numbers show clearly that it is helping them. I have said here that with all of the changes that we have brought in, a family of four earning $80,000 is paying 40 percent less in B.C. taxes today compared to what they paid before we came in.

[4:00 p.m.]

Those are the facts. That’s what happens. A family of four making $100,000 in B.C. is realizing 27 percent less tax in B.C. now than when we came to power.

Let’s compare some of the other areas. Net provincial taxes since Budget 2016. If you take a look at a family net income of $80,000, the total tax that they paid in 2016 was $5,637. Today they are paying $3,761. After all the policies are implemented, they will be paying $3,287.

A family of $100,000. Their net provincial tax in 2016 was $7,473, and today it’s $5,738. When all the policies are implemented, as the child benefit….

I would urge the member to stay behind. There is a lot of information, stuff that you are missing.

Anyway, they paid $7,473 in 2016. Now they will be paying $5,738. But after the policies are implemented, it will be $5,852. We’re making a difference in everyday people’s lives. You know what? I’m so proud that we are making and taking all these positions and making life better.

When I look to stand up here or engage in debates in this House or within our caucus about policy that will be impacting people, I want to relate to Christmas time.

My daughter, Jasmeen, and Darren, our son-in-law, were blessed with a beautiful girl. Anna was born on December 28. My wife, Raj, and I were there. When I held that child in my hand, and when I come back here…. Before that, I had grandchildren, and I did the same thing. When I come here…. When they grow up, when they have their own children or their grandchildren, at least when they reflect back, they can say that papa was part of the government that made their Canada, their lives, much better than what papa inherited from people before him.

That is the guiding principle. That is actually inspiration that I get from looking at them. I know everyone, most of us, come here to make sure that we engage in dialogue that is productive and that will be beneficial, but we have different ways of doing it.

I can tell you, by comparison, for ten years on the other side, when they were in government, they froze the wages of the lowest-paid workers in B.C. For ten years, they froze those wages. But they gave tax breaks to the highest-wage earners, the 1 percent in B.C. Something’s wrong with that picture.

Then let’s take a look at…. I heard so much about the economy and what they’ve done and what we’re doing. B.C. Business Council did a comparison. If you even look, if you want to go back into the history, the three decades of economic outcome, the B.C. Business Council did that.

They compared the 1980s under Social Credit, the 1990s under B.C. NDP and the first ten years of the B.C. Liberals. In every measure that they came up with — GDP growth, population growth, total migration into, export — in each and every of those areas, the NDP economic record was better than the other two decades. B.C. Business Council. It’s not my paper. They did the paper. You can google it today, and you’ll see it.

You know what? Take a look at now. For the last 2½ years, the economy is booming — one of the fastest-growing in the country. Lowest employment in the country. Everywhere you go out there…. I meet with small businesses and other business representatives. They are saying that the biggest problem they have is they cannot find workers. They cannot retain them. They cannot keep them. You know what? That is a challenge. It means that we are a victim of our own success.

[4:05 p.m.]

The economy is booming, and the independent economists, not the government, are saying that the B.C. economy will continue to lead the country, even looking forward to the next two or three years. That’s what the independent economists are saying. I’m proud of our record.

Let me talk a little bit about what fed my family and fed thousands of families in the province. Actually, it’s an industry that built this province for the last 150. That’s the forest industry. The forest industry is cyclical. We can stand here and blame one government or the other. But let me tell you this….

Interjection.

Hon. H. Bains: Well, don’t make me talk about 16 years, Member. I could. You know, I have so much. I have the material for two hours if you want to continue on with your talk about 16 years.

Anyway, I started in the forest industry in 1973. My family, actually, was raised on the forest industry, in a sawmill that I worked.

There are challenges that are beyond the government’s control, but then there are policies that were brought in by the previous government in those 16 years. In 2003, the so-called Forestry Revitalization Act was brought in. We used to have a social contract between the people of the public, through government, and the forest industry. That meant they would have access to our fibre, the logs, but their responsibility was that they would process them in B.C. in their own mills to create jobs here in British Columbia. But they delinked that social contract. That contract is gone. Now they can do whatever they want with those logs.

Now I’ll talk about the excess surplus test, the test they have to go through in order to export logs. As a result of that, the record amount of log export took place in 2013, 7.5 million cubic metres. At the same time, our local mills were not operating at full capacity or not operating at all because they could not find logs. There was something wrong with that picture. We need to fix that. They didn’t do it.

Then there is something called a surplus test. There is a timber export advisory committee appointed by the Minister of Forests. Their job is to look at every export application to see if they meet the excess or surplus test, which means whether those logs are needed for our local industry.

Mr. Speaker, 112 times that committee appointed by the Minister of Forests ruled that they did not meet the surplus test, and 112 times their friends in the industry got a hold of the minister, and 112 times they overruled his own committee. As a result, some of those members actually resigned publicly, saying: “What’s the point of us being on the committee when you don’t even agree with our decisions?” That’s what happened in the forest industry.

Then pine beetle in the Interior. It’s devastated our forest industry. Unprecedented fires devastated our forest industry, and fibre shortage. In 2015, that side, when they were government, recognized there would be 13 mills going down. They recognized that. It’s on record. But they did nothing to mitigate and bring a post–pine beetle economic plan. Nothing.

Now, when the mills are shutting down, we moved. And $69 million is allocated and dedicated so that we can help those workers in retraining, finding new jobs or pension bridging. You know what? We have boots on the ground. People are getting tangible supports.

Interjections.

Hon. H. Bains: They’re chirping away over there. They know their record sucks here for the last 16 years. They know that we have done more in 2½ years than they even dreamed about in 16 years. We are moving forward. I know they like to distract. I know they like to pull back, because they like to help their friends. We like to help the people of the province.

[4:10 p.m.]

Every citizen of this province must benefit from our growing economy. That’s what we are doing. Not the 1 percent and not the 2 percent that they always looked after. We are looking after middle-class, working people, who are ordinary people. They go to work, as I said earlier. They are good citizens, and they pay taxes. Those are the people that I listen to. Those are the people that we’re developing policies for.

You know what? We are doing it because it’s the right thing to do, because our population, our citizens in British Columbia expect their government to actually deal with their issues. We’re doing that. They can see it, and they can realize it every day. I gave you some numbers. Those are real numbers.

I see the light has turned red. Members on that side are so happy. They’re so happy. But anyway, the rules are rules. I say thank you very much for the opportunity.

J. Tegart: It seems rather ironic that I get up after the Minister of Labour, who represents Surrey and goes on for half an hour on all the things that he believes have been done in Surrey in the last two years. Quite honestly, if I was going to talk about all the support that my riding has received, I would be sitting down right now.

It’s an honour to stand in the Legislature today to deliver my response to Budget 2020 on behalf of the constituents of my riding of Fraser-Nicola. Before I begin my budget remarks, I think all of us like to acknowledge and thank the team that assists us in our work.

My constituency assistants — Lori Pilon, Marius Auer, Melisa Gauthier — and my legislative assistant, Wendy King, are the people who assist me in ways that only those of us who sit in these seats have an understanding of. I would also like to thank all the other staff members on our team who are there for us any time we ask.

Fraser-Nicola is a huge riding. It starts just south of Hope, goes north to 70 Mile, west to Gold Bridge and Bralorne, between Merritt and Princeton, to just outside of Kamloops, and includes Manning Park, going all the way down to the U.S. border. I have eight incorporated municipalities, three regional districts, three school districts and 10 percent of the province’s First Nations bands. Those people whom I represent and who live above Hope have seen very little support from this government. It’s like we don’t exist. I can tell you that it is affecting every one of my communities.

I’ll start my remarks by actually acknowledging the work done by the Finance Minister and her team and also thanking the Finance critics of the official opposition. We begin the process of reviewing, questioning and holding government to account for their promises to British Columbia.

To those out there who are watching today, I would like to say that this is just the beginning of the process. We have the opportunity to give a response to the budget overall. Then our critics have the opportunity, along with each of us as MLAs, to give input and ask questions, line by line, of the ministry budgets. So my remarks today are going to be pretty general, because I know that the concerns of my constituents will be much more specific and will be answered during the estimates debate.

When I look at Budget 2020, my first view is through the eyes of my constituents. I look for overall support for the issues that I know are of concern for people in my riding. I think of the community of Hope. I know they’ve long been advocating for infrastructure improvements in their community.

[4:15 p.m.]

Is there money in this budget to provide maintenance and improvements for water systems? Are there dollars for the desperately needed improvements on Othello Road, which is an incredible tourist attraction in the Hope community? Are there Health dollars in this budget to assist with infrastructure and staffing at the Hope hospital? Is there a plan and financial support for wraparound services for the most vulnerable — the addicted and the homeless?

Hope is one of our communities that is trying very desperately to deal with those vulnerable populations but is seeing very little support from the government in regards to wraparound services. I think so many of us know that it’s not just about housing; it is about providing wraparound services and recovery.

Are there programs and financial support to help develop and improve tourism assets, to support small businesses who are the backbone of our small communities and to plan for the future?

I think of the Fraser Canyon. That corridor has had challenges ever since the Coquihalla opened. Many of the constituents who live through that corridor live there because it’s affordable. Anyone who has driven the corridor in the last ten years has got to look and say: how are those communities sustainable? So when I look at this budget, I ask: is there support for transit in rural communities, for people who live here because it’s affordable but who don’t have personal cars? I’m disappointed to look in this budget and see cuts in transit funding.

Is there a vision to support and grow tourism opportunities throughout the Fraser Canyon? I am a strong advocate of the Fraser Canyon being a hidden jewel — that we need to wake up the Fraser Canyon. But the government needs to understand that there are roads heading out of Metro Vancouver that actually lead to people who generate taxes for this province.

Is there support for small businesses that are barely keeping their heads above water? They’re looking for less red tape. They’re looking for more support.

Is there a plan here to improve connectivity for people? I know it’s hard for people from the urban centres to understand, but many places in my riding have no cell phone availability. They have no Internet. When you look at what a detriment that is….

I’m looking for dollars in this budget that will ensure that we’re all on a level playing field. Health care, social services, seniors support are all difficult to access in the bigger centres, particularly if there’s no transit.

In the centre of my riding — Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Lillooet area — again, businesses are looking for support. We’re looking for ways to diversify our community. We are an area that was hit by floods and wildfires. We are still reeling from the last two years. Our businesses have barely survived, if they have. They’re looking for support from government that will take away red tape and help their bottom line.

Agriculture is very important in this area. It’s an incredible economic driver. What support in this budget is there for farmers and ranchers? In the aftermath of serious floods and unprecedented fire seasons, is there support for flood mitigation? When I talk about wildfires, I don’t think, unless you’ve been there, you understand the impact. As I’ve said many times in this House, putting out the fire was the easy part. It’s living in black that’s the challenge.

[4:20 p.m.]

When we talk about people with strata insurance rates that are going through the roof, I think about my ranchers who were burnt out. That’s their livelihood. That’s their lifestyle. That’s their second and third generation. Yeah, we saved their house, but they talk to me about living in black. We have so much more work to do to support those people. As they said to me, it’s not an option to sell. “Who would buy this? I’m stuck,” and “Where is government support?” Is there support in this budget for those people?

As I go north, I look at Clinton and the 70 Mile area. We lost the Chasm mill. Clinton is a small community. Every job counts. I talk to people in the Clinton area about: “What’s the support been like from government?” People are still angry. They feel abandoned. They feel little support. Somehow going to an office in 100 Mile and being told to go and write your resumé is not seen as the kind of support that will help them make their house payment. We’re seeing a community that is reeling from the closure of the Chasm mill.

Despite this government talking about support for the forest industry, what I’m hearing on the ground is: words are words, but there’s no action behind them.

Logan Lake and Merritt are in my riding. The continuity of the Highland Valley Copper mine is so critically important to all of my region. But a lot of my people who work at Highland Valley come from Merritt and from the Ashcroft–Cache Creek area and Logan Lake. Support for mining in that budget is so important.

What I’m hearing from the mining industry is that we need to expedite permitting. We need to not be waiting and waiting and waiting in order to get the permits that are needed. Merritt has had challenges with flooding and drought and has recently been successful in their application for funds to assist with this, but long-term planning is so critically important. Often a one-shot fund doesn’t do what needs to happen for the long term, so I look in this budget to see if there are dollars for long-term planning.

These are just a few of the local issues that are facing my people, certainly not all of them. When I look at this budget…. How is it going to help rural communities and areas with their challenges? Sadly, I don’t see any help. It’s one more tax-and-spend budget put forward by this government. Simple economics says you can’t just spend money. You must generate revenue in order to support the spending. People in my area understand that. They don’t ask for much. They’re stoic. They’re used to doing things on their own, but when they look at a budget, they understand that you can’t just spend, that you’ve got to work hard and you’ve got to find ways to generate the revenue.

I see no jobs plan reflected in this budget, which would generate income tax in the provincial coffers. I see no economic plan, which would encourage businesses and companies to set up shop in British Columbia. I can tell you that in my area, we’re challenged to have any businesses open. We are trying very hard to attract people to the area, but we are not playing from a level playing field. This government and this budget does nothing to help us.

[4:25 p.m.]

Instead, I see taxes. I see more red tape. I see disincentives to anyone looking to come to this province. There is an increase in annual spending and a declining surplus. Even with 23 new and increased taxes, this budget has a razor-thin surplus projected — razor-thin. Considering what is happening right now across Canada, with our railways unable to ship goods, with coronavirus shutting down so many airports and airlines and having an impact across the world, I would suggest that this budget has very little wiggle room for unforeseen world events.

When I look at Budget 2020, I’m reminded that there is only one taxpayer, and that taxpayer is you. The NDP promised affordability to the people of British Columbia. In order to have affordability, you need to have jobs. A review of this budget shows status quo or decreases in the natural resource ministries and tourism. Even if the ministry budget is status quo, we know that means less programs, because the cost of inflation has to come from somewhere. Often that means program cuts. These are the ministries that often generate the good, family-supporting jobs that are needed to sustain government spending. If people aren’t working, they aren’t paying income tax to government.

Forestry is a huge issue in my riding. In this budget, I see no reinstatement of the rural dividend fund. This was a fund that was distributed throughout the province to assist communities and regions to work towards diversifying their economies. The NDP promised to reinstate this fund, but I see nothing that reflects that in this budget — nada. Forestry is in a crisis across the province.

What with mountain pine beetle, wildfires, and annual allowable cuts being reduced, I would have thought the government would be considering ways to innovate, to support and to stabilize what is left of this industry. Perhaps I didn’t dig deep enough, or maybe I missed it. But I look forward to hearing from the minister in estimates what actions his government plans on taking to ensure that this industry not only survives but thrives. People and communities in my riding are counting on that.

I’ve spent many hours talking to forestry workers, mill owners and people who provide support services to this resource industry over the last year. When B.C. is the highest-cost producer in North America, government needs to recognize their role in those costs. When mills aren’t putting logs across their scales, it affects the revenue of the province significantly. No jobs, no taxes, no revenue. I’m not an economist, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the connection.

This is just one example of how government policy and taxation regimes impact an industry. This government has chosen to do nothing to alleviate that. They have left us hanging out to dry. Oh, and let’s not forget the impact of the softwood lumber agreement. The Premier promised it would be the first thing on his agenda as a Premier in 2017. Well, it’s 2020, and still we’re working on the softwood lumber agreement.

[4:30 p.m.]

Again, another broken promise by this Premier and his NDP government. This industry needs more than broken promises and a shrugging of the shoulders. It needs government commitment, leadership and support.

In the 2020 budget, what we see is a number of new taxes. A tax on streaming services like Netflix and Disney. So families who are looking for affordable entertainment, who choose to stay home and stream a movie and make popcorn…. This government is going to tax those services to the tune of $11 million in 2020. Is that making your life more affordable? I would suggest not.

A tax on carbonated sugary beverages. This has been discussed for many years. My question to the government is: is this a tax to help balance this budget, or is this the first step of a comprehensive plan towards healthy living? It is projected that this tax alone will generate $27 million for this budget.

The third tax is people earning above $220,000 a year. They will now be taxed at 20.5 percent, up from 16.8 percent. This tax will add $216 million in tax revenue for this NDP government.

It’s interesting to note that without these new taxes, Budget 2020 would not be balanced. It’s also interesting to note the impact that these new taxes have on families and on our economy. When we talk about people making $220,000 or more paying such a high tax, why would they stay in British Columbia? Why would a tech company which pays their people significant dollars for their skills come to British Columbia when our taxation regime is so out of whack?

Interjections.

J. Tegart: Thank you for your comments.

When we take a look at whether this has made British Columbia more affordable, I think not. We have increased ICBC premiums. We have a $400 rebate that has been withdrawn. We have no new money for $10-a-day daycare. We have no money to reduce traffic congestion. No money for the George Massey Tunnel. No money for commuter rail in the Fraser Valley. No new money for Surrey SkyTrain or SkyTrain to UBC. No new money for the opioid crisis. And they still claim that they’re making life more affordable. It’s unbelievable.

When I review a budget and a throne speech, I look for the vision that the government has for the province that it is governing. The throne speech had no vision, and the budget has no map on how we’re going to get there. But, of course, where is there?

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

When I think of the issues that are facing British Columbians and my constituents of Fraser-Nicola, I don’t see a lot of hope. People who live above Hope are feeling ignored. They feel unsupported. They feel like there is no respect for their contributions to this province.

This budget does not help the people who live in my riding get ahead. It is a spending plan with no plan to grow the economy and our economic base. Without that, the only pocket to pick is each and every taxpayer in British Columbia. For that reason alone, I find myself unable to support this budget.

[4:35 p.m.]

R. Glumac: Mr. Speaker, I’m happy to stand here today and speak to the budget. I’d like to talk about where we are today and where we’re going as a province. I’d like to also address certain myths that are out there and correct some of those myths in this speech.

This is our third budget, so we can see how we do things as a government and how that compares to how things were done before under the previous Liberal government. There are stark differences. A lot of what we’ve been working on in the last 2½ years is related to cleaning up the messes that that government left behind for us. I think I would not have enough time to talk about all of those messes, but I want to cover a few of the key ones and what we’re doing to fix it.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members. Members, one speaker at a time, please.

R. Glumac: One I’d like to talk about is getting money out of politics. The first mess, which we cleared up right away when we came into government, is getting money out of politics. We were on a dangerous trajectory under the B.C. Liberals, where only the wealthy had a voice in government. Today corporations and unions can’t make unprecedented donations to the parties anymore.

In their final year in government in 2016, the B.C. Liberals raised $13 million. More than half of that was from cash-for-access fundraisers. They held 143 cash-for-access fundraisers in 2016, bringing in $6.9 million, including $1 million at a single event on June 6 of that year. That’s not how you run government. We fixed that issue by banning corporate and union donations.

Interjection.

R. Glumac: That’s correct.

The next mess they left behind for us is that they took no action on money laundering. They left that for us to deal with. They allowed the problem to balloon out of control. It’s estimated that $1 billion was laundered through B.C. casinos and that $5 billion was laundered through the real estate market. That’s in one year alone.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members. Members, wait for your turn, please.

R. Glumac: There were many reports raising the alarm — and warnings from the gaming policy and enforcement branch — and nothing happened. Nothing happened. The problem just kept growing.

Under our government, we stepped in. We hired Peter German to investigate this and make recommendations. Since then, we’ve made substantial changes, which in­cludes passing legislation to force property buyers to disclose their true identities and to eliminate the loophole that allowed criminals to funnel their money through shell companies.

Now we are starting a public inquiry into money laundering, to determine who knew about all of this and who profited from this. Hearings are scheduled in the fall, and the final report will be coming out next year. The B.C. Liberals can help with this by releasing the cabinet documents that they are not….

Interjection.

R. Glumac: They want to be selective about what they’re releasing. They need to cooperate with the inquiry. We are addressing this mess that was left behind by the B.C. Liberals on money laundering, and we aren’t done yet. There’s a lot more that we need to do.

The next mess that they left behind for us was the out-of-control housing market. The B.C. Liberals helped to turn our housing market into a market for speculators, which caused prices to go up and up and out of control, until almost no one — except some of their friends, perhaps — could afford to buy a home anymore.

[4:40 p.m.]

I remember talking to a doctor who was working in the States and wanted to come back because his father was having some health issues. He came back and wanted to buy a home here in B.C. A doctor could not afford to buy a home here in B.C. because he kept getting outbid every time he put a bid on a home.

You need to remember that a conscious effort was made by the B.C. Liberal Party to run this market up, because if you look back, you remember that Premier Christy Clark went on a trade delegation to China with at least three Vancouver real estate firms. Two of those firms were involved, even, in agricultural land sales.

That’s what the previous government was doing when prices were starting to balloon out of control. They were trying to make it go even higher. They would not listen to experts that were warning…. Again, just like with the money laundering issue, there were people coming out warning the government: “There’s a problem here.” The same thing with real estate. They were not listening to the experts that there was a problem. This is escalating out of control.

I remember knocking on a door — again, during the election — and I talked to a guy who was a retired developer. He had been in round tables with the B.C. Liberal government, and he told me that they did not want to listen. They did not want to hear any advice on this. That’s what happened. The prices ballooned out of control.

Over the term of the B.C. Liberal government, the average price of a home rose from less than $400,000 in 2001 to more than $1.8 million in 2017. That’s an increase of over 350 percent. Housing prices in B.C., in Vancouver in particular, rose 200 percent faster than New York City. That’s the legacy they left behind for us to deal with — to put the cost of a home out of reach for most people in this province. At the same time, rental vacancy rates were near zero.

The B.C. NDP government has worked to directly address this issue. One way we’ve done this is to tax foreign speculation with the introduction of the speculation and vacancy tax. Home prices have already started to level off. With this tax, 99.8 percent of B.C. residents are exempt.

So $115 million has been raised for affordable housing projects, and 90 percent of this money is coming from foreign owners, satellite families and Canadians living outside of the province. Not only this, but we are investing in affordable housing, which I’ll talk about a little bit more a little bit later in my speech.

There are many messes that we can talk about when we talk about what the Liberals have left behind for us. But we are getting work done to address these issues.

I want to talk a little bit now about balanced budgets. We talk a lot about balanced budgets. It’s a very important goal to have as a government. It’s a goal that this government has achieved for three straight budgets now. But there’s a difference between an NDP balanced budget and a B.C. Liberal balanced budget, a big difference. The B.C. Liberal balanced budgets cut social services. They cut health care spending. They cut education spending.

During the B.C. Liberals’ 16 years in government, while the consumer price index rose by 30.4 percent per capita, spending on social services rose only by 3.8 percent. That’s nearly 27 percent less than inflation. Why did they do this? Why did they cut spending to social services? They did it because that’s the only way they knew how to balance the books. They couldn’t do it any other way. They’re not good at it, so they cut where they felt it wasn’t important to them — social services.

[4:45 p.m.]

Well, we’re taking a different approach. The B.C. NDP government is balancing the budget while investing in social services. Again, I’ll give some examples that we’re talking about in this budget in a moment.

It wasn’t just reducing spending in social services that the B.C. Liberals relied on to balance the budget. They also had to siphon money out of Crown corporations. They needed to do that to balance the budget. Over $1.1 billion they took out of ICBC. Now, I didn’t talk about this mess. This mess, this ICBC mess, is one of the biggest messes they left for us to clean up.

This is very much how we differentiate ourselves from the previous government. Under the B.C. Liberals, it was a disaster. A $1 billion deficit in 2017. The financial mess at ICBC is now finally being resolved by the reforms that our government is bringing into place to save ratepayers an average of 20 percent on their next year in their ICBC bills.

Let’s talk about some of the things that we’re investing in right now. Now, these are some examples in our budget that I can talk about. No. 1 is the B.C. access grant. We value post-secondary education. We know that there are many people in British Columbia that are seeking to get a diploma or a degree. This B.C. access grant now allows people seeking a diploma to get up to $4,000 a year towards that goal.

We are also introducing the B.C. child opportunity benefit. This is something that applies to children under 18 years of age and gives families up to $1,600 a year if they have one child, up to $2,600 a year if they have two children and up to $3,400 a year if they have three children.

Of course, we’re investing in child care — some major investments that we’re making in our child care system. Over 10,400 new spaces we have right now, and 28,000 children have already benefited from the $10-a-day child care. Rates have been reduced at 55,000 spaces. There’s a wage lift for more than 11,000 early childhood educators and 5,400 bursaries for early childhood educators.

Now, we mentioned earlier our investment in affordable housing. We hear a lot on that side about this. In the pipeline right now are 23,000 homes. Included in that are 5,500 student housing units. We know that affordable housing is a real challenge. That is the legacy, again, that we’ve been left behind, that we have to deal with.

Services that we’re investing in right now in British Columbia. We are investing $6.4 billion in health care. This means more hospitals, more MRIs, less wait times for surgeries. Just to give you a little bit of an idea of some of the things we’re investing in here, we are doing a major redevelopment of Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, new patient care towers at the Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops and Penticton Regional Hospital, replacing Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace and building a new St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. Those are just some of the investments that we’re making.

[4:50 p.m.]

We’re also investing in primary care centres across the province. We’ve already opened primary care centres in Surrey, Kamloops, Quesnel, Vancouver, Nanaimo, Langford, Kelowna, Prince George, Burnaby, North Vancouver, Vernon, Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge, and there are two more planned for Victoria and East Vancouver right now. There are more in the works as well.

We are also investing in education. Unlike the previous government cutting funding to education, we are committing $2.8 billion to maintain, replace, renovate and expand K-to-12 facilities. Some of the regions where we’re doing that right now are North Vancouver, Sooke, Quesnel, Coquitlam, Victoria, Vancouver, Abbotsford — and an addition to Valley View Secondary in Kamloops. There are investments in playgrounds across the province as well. There’s so much here that we could get into.

I want to talk a little bit about taxes, because I keep hearing chirping over there about taxes. They can’t seem to wrap their heads around it. They’re only familiar with how they do taxes, which is regressive taxation. They don’t know how progressive taxation works, so I’m going to take some time to explain that.

Regressive taxation. We have had the largest tax cut in B.C. history with the removal of the MSP premiums here in B.C., the last province in this country to have MSP premiums. It’s a $2.7 billion tax cut in our province, from a regressive tax.

It’s interesting that the Leader of the Opposition has been quoted on Twitter saying that all people in B.C. are paying more tax. It is absolutely not true. It is absolutely not true that all people in B.C. are paying more tax. You only need to look at our budget document. I don’t know if you’ve actually looked at it or if you’re just getting speaking notes over there, but if you look on page 129, you will see an analysis of the current tax situation here in British Columbia.

Just to give you an example here, we’re talking about, let’s say, a family that’s making $100,000 of net income. If we look at all of the taxes that this family is paying…. Now, that includes MSP premiums. That includes the provincial income tax. That includes the early childhood tax benefit. That includes the B.C. child opportunity benefit. That includes the carbon tax. That includes sales tax. That includes fuel tax.

If you add all of these things up and you look at how much tax they paid — this family making $100,000 — in 2016, it adds up to $7,473, all of those taxes. Today that family is paying $5,738. Well, look at that. That’s a 23 percent decrease in the amount of taxes that they’re paying. So don’t tell me that they’re paying more taxes. It’s absolutely not true. The situation gets even better when the income levels come down.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members. Members.

R. Glumac: A family making $80,000. Let’s look at their situation. A family making $100,000 is paying 23 percent less tax today than under the previous government. A family making $80,000 in 2016 was paying $5,637 in taxes. With all the taxes added up, today they’re paying $3,781. That’s a decrease of 33 percent. If we look even further, we’ve got a family of $100,000 saving 23 percent in provincial taxes and a family making $80,000 saving 33 percent in taxes. Now let’s look at a family making $60,000 and see how much they’re paying today versus 2016. In 2016, it was $4,238; today, $2,212. That is a savings of 48 percent. That is significant.

[4:55 p.m.]

When you look at the way that we’re doing taxes today — it’s unfamiliar to the B.C. Liberals, but it is a new way of doing taxes that is saving money — it is bringing affordability to people across this province. Across most of the province, most income brackets will be saving money in this budget. That is the difference between how we’re doing things versus how the B.C. Liberal government balanced the books.

They were trying to balance the books by cutting social services, cutting government services. They were pulling money out of Crown corporations, and they did everything they could to try to make it look rosy and good, but the reality is that people in this province were suffering. Things were harder because those government services were cut.

The other issue that I keep hearing about is around how all of this is working with the economy. I hear it from the opposition, in their speeches. I think it’s important to look at that as well, because as Parliamentary Secretary for Technology, I get the opportunity to talk to a lot of people in the tech sector.

Look at what’s happened recently — like just recently, within the last few months, we have an investment from MasterCard setting up a $560 million cybersecurity centre here in our province. That is one of six global technology centres for this company. They chose to be here in Vancouver, in B.C. They chose to be here. That’s 380 jobs. It’s 100 co-op jobs. They chose to be here.

Shopify is hiring 1,000 new people and setting up a new, permanent office here in this province. Amazon is increasing its space from 300,000 square feet to 1.1 million square feet. Some 5,000 people are going to be working there. Vancouver has been rated as the number one city for high-tech job growth in the last two years — higher than San Francisco, higher than Toronto, higher than Seattle. That’s the direction we’re going.

That’s why companies are looking to B.C. as the place they want to be. They’re looking to this province because the future is bright in this province. They see that there’s a government that’s finally running things the right way, investing in the people of this province and in a strong, sustainable economy. If you look at all of the indicators that are out there, they’re all positive right now.

Let’s look. For example, 2.72 million British Columbians are working in British Columbia today. That is a record high. Household income is $279 billion. That is a record high. You can talk about numbers on the other side. They’re trying to spin it like everything is going really badly: “Oh, everything’s horrible. The sky is falling.” That is not the case. Things are going well. This economy is going better than anywhere else in Canada.

Corporate profits are at $31 billion right now. The unemployment rate is the lowest in Canada. That’s British Columbia. That’s why companies are coming here. That’s why companies are coming to this province: because they understand that the future is bright. Our budget supports the people of this province. That’s why it’s a good budget. That’s why we do things differently. It’s a balanced budget. Our budget supports a strong and sustainable economy, and I support this budget.

G. Kyllo: I’m very proud to rise in the House today to respond to the budget brought down just a week ago by the current government.

I’d like to start by just taking a few moments to thank some folks back home. My lovely wife, Georgina. We’ve been married nearly 32 years this coming year.

Thank you very much, sweetheart, for providing me the opportunity to actually be here.

I think, when we talk about our spouses back home and the work that they do to provide the support for us and allow us to be away, it’s certainly a time to also acknowledge why we are here.

[5:00 p.m.]

Why do we actually take on public office? For me, it’s certainly about not just my family and my kids but also the grandchildren. I think that there are lots of us that come to this House for all of the right reasons, trying to actually do better, to provide voice for our residents back home.

I certainly just want to acknowledge my four beautiful daughters — Sarah, Brittany, Angela and Samantha — and my amazing eight grandchildren. None of the girls are pregnant, so I think we’re going to stay with a total of eight at the moment. We’ve got six beautiful granddaughters and two grandsons, and they certainly inspire me. When I get home and spend time with them, it certainly provides a bit more reason for why we actually do this job. It’s certainly not about us so much as it is about our kids and our grandkids and the future generations that are going to actually lead this province in the future.

Budget 2020. I’d like to go through just a little bit of an overview and kind of provide a bit of context for viewers back home about the magnitude of the budget of the province of British Columbia. We’re a little over five million people in this province. It was mentioned by the speaker previous — about 2.7 million people working. I believe it’s around 54 or 55 percent of British Columbians that are actually actively employed.

If you think about that and you have a look at the services that are provided, with only about 54 percent of British Columbians working, it does put a lot of financial pressure on those that are actually actively employed and active in the workforce. When you have a look at growing the economy and creating the necessary tax revenues to provide all the necessary services to run our province, it’s really important to have a look at what we can do and make every effort to try and grow the pie, to create a larger economy, to have more people working and more people contributing.

I think that’s one of the fundamental differences between members on this side of the House versus those in the current NDP government. It is certainly our focus to support economic growth, to support businesses, to provide them the opportunities to grow and to flourish and to be competitive in an increasing global market, to employ more people. With more people employed, we’ll have more people contributing the necessary taxation so that we can provide those many social services and health care and education that so many of us actually rely on in this province.

Unfortunately — it’s quite obvious, and this budget speaks to it directly — the focus of this government is not to actually support the business sector, not to support economic growth but to take a bigger piece, a bigger chunk out of the dollars in your wallet. That’s a fundamental difference between that of the NDP government from those of us on this side of the House.

I believe the budget this year is getting upwards of close to $60 billion. Taxation is up $5.7 billion since 2016-17. Now, this number amounts to an additional $1,536 per family in British Columbia. It’s interesting. The members opposite in the NDP, in the run-up to the 2017 election, spoke lots in platitudes about the need for affordability.

What’s interesting…. Back in 2001, when the B.C. Liberals decimated the NDP, winning, I believe, 77 of 79 seats…. There’s a pretty strong message to those members on the opposite side of the House. When you had a look at the change, it was from out-of-control taxation. The B.C. Liberals ran on a platform of affordability. The taxation increases through the 1990s under the previous administration came to the point that people were at a breaking point.

We saw capital flee this province. We saw job losses. It was on a platform of affordability that the B.C. Liberals took control and actually won the support broadly — winning, again, 77 of 79 seats — and formed the government and had the challenging task of trying to provide that competitive advantage and get taxation back to something that was actually palatable for British Columbians.

[5:05 p.m.]

It’s interesting that by 2022, based on the budget documents of this government, taxation will actually rise to an additional $8.8 billion. Doing the math, that’s an extra $2,362 per family in this province. The members opposite will make lots of commentary about affordability where the numbers speak for themselves. We are not seeing taxation that’s actually increasing the affordability for families in British Columbia.

Spending is up — $11.4 billion per year since 2016-17. Despite efforts of clawing back spending, government expenses are still over budget by $550 million. There’s over $1 billion in infrastructure promises that were supposed to have moved forward in 2019 that have now been delayed. The NDP have introduced three new taxes just in this budget alone, bringing their total number of new or increased taxes to 22.

Now, it’s interesting. When you talk about taxation and regressive taxation, I’m sure that there’s not a whole lot of concern or compassion or sympathy for folks that are making over $220,000 a year. But let’s think about that. There are some folks that provide some very essential and important services for British Columbians — doctors, dentists, corporate executives.

This is what the current administration has decided to do. They have actually raised the tax bracket for those earning above $220,000 a year. In their 2017 budget, they raised it from 14.8 percent to 16.8 percent. So they raised the tax bracket by 2 percent for those individuals. But in this year’s budget, they’ve raised it an additional 4.7 percent, bringing that total increase to 20.5 percent. From the tax rate for those earning above $220,000, that’s a 38½ percent increase — a 38½ percent increase in just a short 2½ years.

At a time when we are always looking at trying to attract corporate and business investment to British Columbia to provide those family-sustaining jobs, it’s important that we have and take serious consideration to the tax rates that are available here in British Columbia — from a competitive standpoint. We have the neighbouring jurisdiction of Alberta; we have tax rates actually going down under the current administration. You have tax rates south of the border also reducing. My understanding is that in Washington state, there’s actually no personal income tax.

When we’re looking to try to attract capital to British Columbia — corporate head offices — we can’t do it in isolation. We are not an island, and it’s very important that we take strong and serious consideration to what we’re doing to the competitiveness of the businesses here in British Columbia.

I also want to just take a moment to give some thanks to my constituency assistant, Holly Cowan, back home in Shuswap. She does an absolutely amazing job. She’s been with me going on seven years now. She had about 12 years of tenure with the former MLA for Shuswap, George Abbott, a guy who’s still very well respected in the Shuswap riding.

Holly, thank you for very much for all you do. Also, Bonnie Gavin has provided some assistance to our office, so thank you, Bonnie, for helping us out when we need that extra helping hand.

I’d like to also thank my riding executive and president, Brian Cowan, and the executive for all the work that they have done to support me in the election back in 2013 when I was brand-new to this world and again through 2017. Thank you, Brian and the executive, for all the work you do to help to support me in my role here.

When we talk about the current budget, I would also like…. When you look at just the budget unto itself, I think it’s important to give proper context — relate it to what happened in previous years and under previous administrations.

In the Shuswap region that I represent, the hard-working men and women of Shuswap who I’m very proud to represent, we’re kind of at the pinnacle of the intersection of two major highways, the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 97A, which heads south down towards Vernon and Kelowna and the U.S. border. It’s my understanding that we actually have the longest section of two-lane highway on the Trans-Canada Highway in all of Canada. Under the previous government, we actually worked hard to try to move forward with very important safety improvement projects — obviously to improve safety but also the movement of goods and services and vehicle traffic through our riding.

[5:10 p.m.]

There were a number of projects that I was very happy to have move forward in Shuswap. There were four projects that were conceived, developed, designed and fully constructed from 2013 to ’17.

These projects included a new bridge and a safety turning lane at Hummingbird Creek on Highway 97A. There was the Eagle River Bridge and four-laning project at Malakwa. That was about 2.2 kilometres of four-laning. Another project was just east of Malakwa, the Perry River Bridge, again replacing a two-lane bridge with two two-lane bridges and another 2.2 kilometres of four-laning.

A significant highway interchange upgrade for the junction of Highway 1 and 97A. Previously this intersection had about five roads all converging together. It was the site of many accidents over the years. Again, very happy and proud of the fact that we were able to bring forward significant safety improvements to that particular interchange.

Now, one of the other projects that has been talked about and is of significant concern to the community of Salmon Arm is the Salmon River Bridge. It’s a very tight bridge on a very tight corner — again, the site of many accidents and, I believe, even a few fatalities over the years.

I worked very hard, along with the Ministry of Transportation, with my colleague from Kamloops–South Thompson, in order to advance that project. That was about a $162.7 million project that was partnered by the federal government. It was back in 2016 that we actually made the announcement. The project was designed. There were a lot of property acquisitions undertaken. That project was actually ready to go for the preloading in 2017.

Unfortunately, there was a change in administration, and that project was stalled out. Through a lot of work and advocacy, we were able to put a bit of pressure, I believe, on the Transportation Minister to see that preloading contract for the first phase of that construction of that project actually put in place in 2018.

I was provided assurances by the minister and the ministry in writing that the contract tender for the first major construction piece of that bridge, for the actual bridge construction of the new four-lane Salmon River Bridge, would be out in 2019. Unfortunately, that has not happened. We still have not received word that that contract has gone to tender. I’m very concerned that we’re going to see this project stalled out yet again.

We kind of wonder. When the project is fully funded…. It was announced in 2016. Some work was underway in 2018 with the preloading, maybe not at the time schedule that I think residents of Salmon Arm and the Shuswap would have liked to have seen. But to see this project floundering is a significant concern.

I always wonder why. My dad told me years ago: “If you can’t quite understand what’s happening, follow the money.” You start to have a look…. Well, there are some significant problems that the current government has. That is to do with their community benefits agreement. They like to call them community benefits. I’ve yet to see any benefit coming back to communities.

They’re the CBA projects. These are the projects where the NDP have identified that…. Rather than letting all private corporations, all union entities have the opportunity to actually bid on these projects, they made the decision to limit it. It’s not to all unions but to only 19 of their handpicked, friendly union organizations. Only those unions are actually allowed to be participating on highway construction projects.

Back in 2015, I was fortunate enough to actually make an announcement on behalf of the Minister of Transportation in Revelstoke. One of the projects was Illecillewaet. This is a difficult, challenging piece of highway about 46 kilometres east of Revelstoke. The project initially was scoped at 2.2 kilometres and doubling the size of the brake check. At the time, that project was budgeted at $35 million. For various reasons of design and consultation, that project did not get advanced.

The current administration did have the foresight to finally move forward. You know what they did last year? They reannounced that same project. This is a $35 million project that had $15.5 million in funding attached to it from the federal government, $19.5 million provincially. They reannounced the same project with a reduced scope from 2.2 kilometres to two kilometres, but they increased the budget to $62.9 million.

[5:15 p.m.]

The project went to tender, and guess what. Because it was a CBA, they had limited interest in the project. Only four valid bidders actually bid on the project. The project came in at $84.9 million. That $35 million project that was budgeted back in 2015 suddenly increased to $84.9 million.

Now, here’s a really challenging point. The provincial government did not actually renegotiate with the federal government and get them on board for contributing. The feds said: “We don’t want any part of it.” So the entire cost overrun, the additional $49.9 million, is now going to be borne 100 percent by B.C. taxpayers. That’s disrespectful to taxpayers. That is not providing good value for money.

When we wonder why some of these other construction projects are delayed, I can only think that…. Without any new or additional increased capital money in the budget, the only way they can fund some of these projects that are now grossly over budget is by stalling out other construction projects that were on the books. So if you don’t have the cash flow….

Let’s just take that Salmon Arm west project, and let’s kick it down the road another two or three years. That’ll free up some cash that otherwise would have gone into the Salmon River project, and we’ll move it out to the Illecillewaet.

These are the types of things that are reprehensible and very disrespectful to taxpayers. It’s all about value for money. When you have an administration that has seemed more concerned about pleasing their union friends that provided significant funding to them prior to the last election, it’s a little bit concerning. You wonder: “Is this government actually working for me? Are they working for us? Are they working for the average taxpayer, or are they taking direction from a select few of these big union organizations that seem to be able to direct the policy of this government?”

Moving on, another sector that has a significant impact in my riding of Shuswap is forestry. We’ve got a number of mills. Gorman run a very high-class, quality plywood manufacturing facility in Canoe. One of my sons-in-law has the privilege of working there. There’s North Enderby Timber, largely a cedar producer. They’re a value-added manufacturer in the community of Enderby. A small mill in my riding called Hyde Sawmill provides a lot of custom cut timbers.

There’s also, again on this value-added side, another company that hails from Enderby — Canadian Pride log homes. Peter and Margaret Sperlich, a family-owned company, build high-quality, world-class homes for sale and distribution, not just in Canada and the United States but literally around the world. Then there’s another firm that I’ve been to visit a few times called Woodtone manufacturing. They’re in the community of Spallumcheen.

These are value-added manufacturers that provide a significant number of jobs in our local community. In meeting with them…. We have a forest sector that is struggling. As I mentioned at the outset, I think that when we have a look at the provincial budget and funding dollars, it’s important to put it into context and have a look at the current government’s focus on trying to assist forestry workers and how that actually correlates to work that they’re doing with other sectors.

It’s interesting that with the forest sector being in what I understand to be the worst crisis in over 40 years — the worst forestry crisis — that, in 2019, the current administration chose to address that by not putting additional resources and additional new dollars into the sector but by actually cannibalizing and taking funding away from rural communities that was put in place to actually help these same communities diversify their local economies. I’m speaking to the rural dividend fund.

[5:20 p.m.]

This was a $100 million program that was launched by the previous B.C. Liberal government. It was $25-million-a-year funding. It was made available to communi­ties with populations of 25,000 persons or less. It was intended specifically to focus on providing supports for communities to help them diversify their local economies, so not unlike forest-based economies and communities. These funds were available for them to have a look at making their own path forward. They had a fairly wide array of different programs they could actually make the applications for.

In my community of Salmon Arm, as an example, they were successful in applying for $100,000 from the rural dividend fund in order to create an innovation centre and makerspace to provide those necessary supports for those small home-based businesses or those folks who might be living in the community that have an idea on how they can actually get a new business up and running and off the ground — hugely successful program.

How did this administration address the biggest crisis for the forest sector in 40 years? Not with any new money or new resources. They cancelled the rural dividend fund. Last year they kicked that can down the road and said: “Well, just hang on to those applications, folks. You can submit them next year.”

Well, guess what. In Budget 2020, still no new dollars. So here we have $50 million being pulled and sucked away from rural communities in this province and largely in order to fund their new forest revitalization program.

The piece that I think is really offensive is if we just go back a couple years when the clean energy vehicle program…. I certainly don’t have any concern with providing incentives and funding for folks to purchase electric vehicles. But when the fund was fully subscribed, the Energy Minister went back to Treasury Board and was able to get an extra 30 million bucks out of contingencies.

When it’s convenient for the current government, they could pull $30 million from contingencies to help top up and provide additional incentives and subsidies for people to buy an electric vehicle. Yet in a year when we have the worst forest crisis for the forest sector in recent memory, no new dollars. Now, that speaks volumes. I can’t for the life of me understand why this administration would be so punitive towards rural communities and communities that are really struggling.

As we look at some of the challenges with the forest sector, we all realize and we all saw that there was going to have to be a rationalization of the forest sector, with the onset of the pine beetle wood largely being all harvested. But we’ve quickly become the highest-cost producer in North America. We aren’t seeing job losses in Alberta or in Saskatchewan or south of the border. It’s only here in B.C. It’s largely because of all of the increased taxes — increased corporate taxes, increased carbon taxes and the employer health tax, which I could speak at great length about how damaging that is to the competitiveness of B.C. businesses.

It’s not just the fact that there are high rates of taxation that this administration is ignoring. You also have to have a look at what happened on Vancouver Island with Western Forest Products. Now, I certainly appreciate and respect the right of workers who may not be happy with their current collective agreement to have the ability to strike. But there comes a point in time where a strike of any magnitude has a significant impact on the broader community.

The strike, unfortunately, with Western Forest Products did not only affect just the workers at the mill. Just think about this for a second. Back in December, there was a fairly large contingency of forest workers that came down to Victoria and were on the steps of the Legislature, very concerned, looking for the government to take action to try and legislate or regulate and get back to work.

What they shared with me is that because they were on strike, they weren’t eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. So here you have families that are on strike…. Although they might have voted for the strike, what they told me is they were told that this strike would not last more than three or four weeks. But after three and four and five and six and seven months with no pay, no opportunity to have EI benefits, folks told me stories of their vehicles getting repossessed, having to go and remortgage their homes because they were so far behind on payments that banks were looking at foreclosing.

[5:25 p.m.]

It’s not just the workers that had a significant amount of strain and stress associated with this strike. All of the other logging contractors were out of work. And then the impact on the broader communities.

I can’t for the life of me understand why, in an instance where there are 3,000 workers out of work, you have two parties that don’t seem to be coming together. There certainly did not appear to be any movement on either side. It was well within the rights and, I think, the obligation of the Labour Minister to have a conversation and actually say, “Look, there’s no resolution that’s forthcoming. Let’s just get back to work,” and, over time, continue to negotiate. But the negative impact on the communities and the logging contractors is really disheartening to hear.

I had a gentlemen come to see me about three weeks ago, lives in my riding. His son is a logging contractor on the coast. He contacted his dad towards the end of summer and said: “Dad, I haven’t been able to work for the last two months on account of the strike. My logging trucks are sitting, and my equipment payments keep coming in.” He said: “Can you help me out?” Being a good father, he said: “You know what? I don’t have a lot, but I’ve got a little bit of retirement savings. Yeah, as long as you can pay me back.” “No problem, Dad. Once we’re back to work — hopefully, the strike’s over soon — I’ll absolutely pay you back.”

Well, unfortunately, the strike went on for over eight months. It got to the point, unfortunately, where this gentleman’s son lost everything — lost all of the equipment, lost his company, lost his home, put a lot of stress on his family. With losing his company, now his ability to repay his dad is diminished. So this didn’t just impact forest workers on the Island; it affected the broader family. Now there’s a constituent, a dad who I think did the right thing to help to support his son, who is now worried that his son won’t have the ability to pay him back.

Why would this government not intervene? I think that we only have to look at the financial contribution that the Steelworkers provided to the NDP government. It was our current Premier who actually made a trip to Washington to pick up a cheque for, I believe, $672,000 back in 2017.

It’s interesting. There was a quote. This is the Vancouver Sun’s Rob Shaw. I’ll quote an article he put out on January 20 in speaking about this Western Forest Products strike and some of the reasons why the administration may not have intervened: “But the Steelworkers’ union, which donated $3.2 million to the NDP in recent years and was the single largest backer of the party’s 2017 election campaign, has demanded the governing New Democrats stay out of what its local leader called ‘economic warfare’ against Western Forest Products.”

Do we have an administration that’s doing the right thing for British Columbians, that’s actually supporting British Columbians and moving things forward? Or do we have a government that seems to be catering to the select few union bosses? Are they the ones that are directing what’s actually happening in this province?

As we go on to jobs…. I spoke briefly about jobs. From 2013 to ’17, I was very privileged and honoured to serve with the then Minister of Jobs, Tourism, Skills Training and Labour. I had the responsibility, largely, for B.C.’s jobs plan. We had a very robust strategic plan on how we were going to grow the economy and actually create family-supporting jobs across B.C.

Under this administration, there is no jobs plan. There are no milestones. There are no targets. I guess you just kind of figure it out as we go. What we have seen is a continual erosion of the competitiveness of B.C. businesses and B.C. companies. This is going to have a very significant impact on the ability for corporations and businesses in this province to compete in an ever-increasing global economy. If this is what good times are supposed to look like now….

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Member.

[5:30 p.m.]

J. Rice: Thank you for the opportunity to present my thoughts on Budget 2020. I’d like to start off my remarks by saying thank you.

[S. Gibson in the chair.]

Thank you to the people of North Coast for allowing me to be here. Your trust in me is a true honour, and it’s my privilege to be in service to you, the people of North Coast. Thank you to the people who support me. I couldn’t do the work without the two guys managing my office in Prince Rupert. Joey and Josh are known as the two big heads who bring an entertaining sense of humour to the front-line work of being a constituency assistant serving the residents of North Coast.

Thanks, also, to the legislative staff — there are so many — who do their best to keep me in line and make sure I show up to the right meeting on time. I’d like to acknowledge my outgoing legislative assistant, Angela Giuliano, who has worked in various capacities supporting MLAs and ministers, cumulatively, for over 20 years. I will miss her. I welcome working with and getting to know my new legislative assistant, Paige Falkins.

I am grateful to my outgoing ministerial assistant, Crystal Smith, who has helped me succeed as Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Preparedness. She is a real team player and will, no doubt, be an asset to the new Minister of Citizens’ Services. I welcome working with and getting to know my new ministerial assistant, Andrew Douglas. I appreciate all the people who help me manage so many diverse files, issues, meetings and my life as a politician.

I’d also like to acknowledge and thank my wife, Andrea. Without her, I couldn’t do this job, which I feel so passionately about. She puts up with a lot. I’m often away from our home in Prince Rupert and here in Victoria or somewhere in the remote corners of my riding or elsewhere in the province in my role as Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Preparedness. I will forever feel guilty for not being home when the hot water tank blew up at 11:30 at night or the time that a very large rat got into the house, scurried up the curtains and down into our bed. While I was managing emergencies in other parts of B.C. as the parliamentary secretary, she was managing a lot of emergencies at home alone.

She is the best sounding board and editor of speeches. She celebrates my accomplishments and holds me up when defeated. She’s done all the heavy lifting of carrying our gorgeous son, Lu̓á, and continues on as a doting mother to him. For all of that, I am grateful.

We’ve made a lot of progress in 2½ years of being in government, and Budget 2020 is our plan to keep B.C. moving forward. We’re putting people first and making different choices than the former government. We’re repairing the damage their choices created and fixing the problems facing families today. Things can’t be fixed overnight, but by continuously building upon the work we do, we’re making positive changes.

Budget 2020 is about making life more affordable, improving the services people count on and creating good jobs and opportunities in every corner of British Columbia. We can’t afford to turn back. There is much more to do, but by focusing on people, life in B.C. is getting better every day.

Across all ministries, we’re continuing the work we started 2½ years ago. I’d like to talk about the work we’re doing at emergency management B.C. People know the difference when a government puts them first, and this work has only just begun. I can tell you that it has not always been easy, especially in the worlds of emergency preparedness, response and recovery.

I’ve been privileged, as Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Preparedness, to have a front-row seat to the growth of emergency management in this province. The first day our government took office, we were in the middle of the largest evacuation in B.C.’s history. More than 65,000 people were forced from their homes, and 1.2 million hectares of land burned. And 2018’s fire season saw fewer evacuees, around 6,000 people, but also broke the record for area burned, over 1.3 million hectares. Then there were the many floods, the devastation in Grand Forks top of mind among them.

[5:35 p.m.]

While the growth of emergency management B.C. has been a constant over the years, reflecting the influence of climate change, we’ve really moved the needle since 2017. This year’s budget includes an additional $32.7 million for emergency management, including amounts for regional capacity emergency events and minor response actions.

Among the many ways this is reflected is a $2.7 million increase to address resourcing needs at EMBC. This will help ensure we can meet the increasing demand from communities across the province for support in preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies. But the truth is that it’s going to take all of us, all of society working together to build the resilience we need to protect British Columbia. The truth is that this government is building something that is truly special, and we have a lot to lose.

From affordability to services and a strong, sustainable economy, we’re finding solutions and making headway on the things that matter most. The throne speech presented a vision for a strong, sustainable economy that provides good jobs and quality public services for people and provides businesses with the opportunities they need to compete and thrive in the global marketplace.

While it’s been a rough few years for economies across the country, British Columbia has been the exception. Our economy has been moving and continues to grow. We need to work to protect it because there is so much at stake. We’ve learned a lot in the last few years about the impacts a major emergency has on an economy: the loss of forest land, the dip in tourism, the health impacts of smoke and the mental health impacts of stress.

While we’re doing that, we can prepare and expect the unexpected. We must remember that an event like a major earthquake could happen at any time. The impact on both B.C. communities and workplaces could be severe in terms of life, property and economic loss, and we have to remember to protect that which is most important to us.

After years of underfunding, our government is making record investments in education, with more support and safer learning environments for students. We have funded more than 80 school capital projects, including seismic upgrades, school replacements and land purchases for future and safer schools.

I’m happy to say that work is underway right now in replacing the Prince Rupert Middle School in my riding. This is a school that has had so many devastating impacts: a leaking roof, a broken boiler, asbestos in the walls, lead in the drinking water. And of course, it’s not seismically safe. I’m really happy that a new school will be built in the coming days and months and weeks ahead.

While we’ve worked hard to build resilience across our province, there’s always more we can all do. Business owners, managers, supervisors — everyone, really — should be aware of not only the physical and emotional impact an emergency could have on their lives but also the economic impact of lost productivity in the workforce. By planning and making emergency preparedness a priority, businesses can be protected. Failure to plan will ultimately ensure confusion, duplication and risk, but having a plan will improve our chance for success and resilience.

Speaking of resilience and the continual threat of emergencies this province faces, I want to take this opportunity to highlight an impressive example of a community pulling together. Just a few weeks ago, British Columbia experienced a weather event that led to landslides and flooding on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. One of the many impassable roads was Hemlock Valley Road, which leads to Sasquatch Mountain Resort north of Chilliwack.

On Friday, January 31, when the road washed out, the resort was preparing for a weekend ski event and was hosting hundreds of people. Immediately the staff and administration at Sasquatch Mountain Resort jumped into action to ensure the safety of guests until the road could be reopened. Everyone at Sasquatch Mountain Resort went above and beyond to ensure the safety and comfort of guests and opened their doors to nearby residents. I understand that power was provided by a generator, that there was ample food and water for everyone impacted and that activities were even arranged for the guests.

[5:40 p.m.]

On top of all of this, the resort worked to make reasonable arrangements for any guests who wished to immediately leave. They worked with a company, TRK Helicopters, to provide the opportunity for people to leave the resort even before the road could be restored. I also understand that TRK Helicopters did not seek to profit from this service but only to recapture their base costs.

As we continue to improve our processes at emergency management B.C., we become more aware that emergency management requires an all-of-society approach to dealing with disasters and recovery. Sasquatch Mountain Resort and TRK Helicopters exemplified this approach with their excellent response.

During emergency situations, it is critical that public safety remains the top priority. When a weather event causes such widespread impacts, it’s important for people to work together and look out for one another. Sasquatch Mountain Resort and TRK Helicopters provided exceptional examples of this for the tourism industry and for British Columbian businesses in general.

Again, risk reduction takes all of us. That’s the key, really. It takes the work of responders from all walks of life, bringing their unique expertise and tools. It takes governments of all levels, all communities and all First Nations coming to the table with their concerns and ideas. It takes the participation of individuals and families, because we need to get more people personally preparing by creating a plan and having an emergency kit.

Another story I’d like to highlight from the recent weather event is from here on the Island, in Nanaimo. This was a textbook example of different levels of government and a lot of hard-working volunteers coming together to ensure the safety of a community.

Early on February 1, the Nanaimo River overflowed its banks and flooded some residents. Nanaimo Search and Rescue answered the call, as our SAR groups often do, to knock on doors, to notify residents of rising waters and to tactically evacuate those in danger. Another set of volunteers from emergency support services answered their own call to ensure that those forced from their homes had adequate shelter, food and other supports.

While this was underway, the North Cedar Fire Department requested B.C. Hydro to deactivate electrical power to flood-affected areas for the safety of both responders and residents. The regional district of Nanaimo activated their emergency operations centre to support all involved. By Sunday, the floodwaters had receded, and B.C. Hydro worked to repair damage to the electrical grid, while residents were permitted to return. By Monday, after a door-to-door assessment from Technical Safety B.C., power was restored, and the community began the road to recovery. I’m grateful to all involved who worked so diligently in partnership to ensure that everyone remained safe and comfortable.

Emergencies in B.C. happen frequently. Search and rescue groups are often called on for support. Given the beautiful and rugged terrain of our province, SAR volunteers are pulled away from work, family gatherings and the dinner table more than any of us would like. Given the skill and dedication of these volunteers, it’s clear that ground search and rescue volunteers in British Columbia are among the best in the world. The province is committed to supporting their invaluable work.

We understand the ground search and rescue community’s concerns about reliable funding support. The province provided a one-time grant of $18.6 million in spring 2019 to support operations, training and expanded equipment and activities over the following three years. This funding has been very well received by GSAR groups and has provided funding certainty while we work towards a more sustainable funding model.

Emergency management B.C., in collaboration with the B.C. Search and Rescue Association, has worked to enhance governance and refine the long-term approach to funding these groups across the province. Recognizing this progress, and to provide sustainable funding, our government has budgeted for an ongoing contribution to support GSAR groups starting in 2022 and 2023, because we recognize the important services these volunteers provide.

In B.C. and around the world, we’re seeing more extreme weather due to climate change. People are already feeling the effects of record wildfires, increased drought and more frequent flooding. For example, the catastrophic wildfires in Australia have burned millions of acres of land, destroyed hundreds of homes and displaced countless animals and people.

[5:45 p.m.]

This government has taken action through the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and CleanBC to reduce emissions across sectors and support a cleaner, more resilient future. B.C. is leading by example and showing the way forward in Canada.

The climate crisis is real and urgent, but we still have an opportunity to act now. Our government is committed to working together with First Nations and all levels of government to help people in communities prepare for climate change so that we can reduce risks and build a better future.

Our CleanBC climate plan is helping us grow a sustainable economy with good jobs and opportunities for people. It’s already working. More people have cleaner options for getting around, heating our homes and fuelling industry. More communities are investing in clean energy and green building projects.

This budget outlined government’s commitment to continuing to protect B.C.’s air, land and water. Our provincial government is actively engaged in identifying the impacts of climate change on our people and our economy. This increased awareness will be built into all our planning, particularly in the area of community and public safety, disaster risk management and emergency management. B.C. will continue to fight pollution, reduce emissions and build a prosperous economy for everyone.

We know that new legislation is needed to address these modern realities. That’s why we’re modernizing B.C.’s Emergency Program Act, our emergency management legislation that hasn’t been updated in several decades. We want to improve outcomes for people in disaster-impacted communities.

We’re doing this by ensuring that this legislation and our practices reflect the UN Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction, the province’s interim disaster recovery framework and lessons learned during the unprecedented 2017-2018 wildfire and flood seasons. Legislation is currently targeted for introduction in the Legislative Assembly this fall, with phased implementation potentially beginning in spring of 2021. Our government is also proud to have adopted the Sendai disaster risk reduction framework in 2017. Sendai is a comprehensive approach to disaster reduction and mitigation, which aims to reduce the socioeconomic impacts of natural disasters and human-caused hazards.

We’re working toward more resilient communities and industries and a more resilient B.C. To get there, we need to understand and mitigate risk better and support increasingly resilient communities. We need to build back better, we need to improve communication and integration between all levels of government, other agencies and the public, and we need to evolve towards emergency management–based true partnerships and shared respon­sibility. I want to commend everyone involved in this work to create a safer, more resilient future for people in British Columbia.

I also want to take a moment to touch on something that is near and dear to a lot of us in this House. For 2½ years, this government has worked in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to make progress on reconciliation. Last fall we made history when we enshrined the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act into law.

Our government has also taken important steps to develop a new relationship in regards to emergency preparedness response and recovery with First Nations Indigenous Peoples. It is often their communities that bear the greatest impact from disasters, such as wildfires and flooding. Indigenous leaders and emergency management practitioners have told us that First Nations must have a strong, self-determined role in emergency management. We must forge new and stronger relationships that are collaborative and that better respect the unique perspectives and needs of Indigenous Peoples.

In 2019, EMBC held 12 regional partnership tables in First Nations communities. This is part of EMBC’s commitment to meet, share and receive knowledge on the implementation of emergency management services. These forums are also aligned with EMBC, fulfilling the tripartite emergency management memorandum of understanding between the First Nations Leadership Council, B.C. and Canada, and the Sendai framework whole-​of-society approach to emergency management.

[5:50 p.m.]

The partnership tables are a regional forum for First Nations emergency management practitioners to meet, share knowledge and provide guidance to government and agencies on the implementation of emergency management services. This all coincides with our ongoing work to recognize First Nations as partners in emergency management, with the intent to expand the definition of “emergency” to include actions to protect community well-being, significant Indigenous cultural sites and environment, and require local authorities to consult with First Nations in the development of their emergency management plans.

In closing, our government is making different choices — choices that put people first. We have come a long way in 2½ years, but our job isn’t done. We will continue to work to make life more affordable, to deliver better services that people count on and to build a strong, sustainable economy for everyone.

C. Oakes: I’m incredibly proud to have this opportunity to rise and provide comments on Budget 2020.

I just received a message from back home. Dahooja. Grandma Julie of Lhtako First Nation, a great, very much loved grandmother in our community, has passed away. To the family and to the Lhtako community, my heart and thoughts are with you. We know how much of an impact that she certainly made. So my thoughts are with you.

First, I would, of course, like to thank the constituents of Cariboo North. I’m so incredibly proud and humbled to here in the Legislature representing the hard-working men and women that represent my community. I still share the story. I still pinch myself when I have the good fortune to come into this House and to represent my constituents. It truly is humbling for every single one of us to have that opportunity to come here.

Like so many, I just really want to send strong messages back home to my incredible CAs, Jackie, Sheila and Kristine. You do such incredible work every single day. You bring exceptional skill and dedication to assist our constituents who are trying to navigate often incredibly tricky and sometimes bureaucratic systems. Every single day you come to the office and you lead with your heart. I want you to know how important that is, because it is difficult for us as MLAs.

For so many of us, we make the decision to run because we are deeply passionate about our communities. Sometimes this piece where we come down to the people’s House, to the Legislature…. We sometimes feel that we have to put enormous trust into our constituency assistants to be our voice and to do incredible work, and I’m incredibly blessed. So thank you to our team.

I also want to thank the incredible work that’s being done in our office. Over this past year, together, we’ve embarked on a journey to listen to, to meet with and to identify gaps in our community around women’s services in our community.

I’ve spoken before in this House that in our community, we have 28 to 33, depending on what number, and people will always…. The number is extraordinarily high of missing and murdered women in our community, and it’s not good at all. As leaders and as representatives, it is our job to come to this House and to make sure that that voice is heard.

I have this incredible group of staff that have spent this past year working with community groups, stakeholder groups, families and loved ones to identify the gaps and services of what we require in our community. It truly has been a labour of love.

[5:55 p.m.]

I want to thank Rhonda Yager, a mom who bravely spoke up to us in our office and shared the story of her beautiful daughter Jessica. And to all the families and organizations that have come to share your stories with us, I know it’s incredibly difficult, but that is how we make a difference in our communities.

We are talking about the budget today, and of course, it’s always tricky, being at the back end of multiple days of budget debate and conversations, to bring something new to the conversation. But to our staff back home, thank you very much. I want you to know the gaps that we identify, we’ll continue to advocate for here.

To our Victoria staff of Nick, Doug and Parveen, thank you very much. A very different job down here in Victoria, keeping so many moving parts going. You do a fantastic job, and British Columbia truly benefits from your very, very skilled abilities.

I was joking earlier to our legislative staff. You are like our family. I was joking a little bit earlier that they take such incredible care of us. You know how difficult sometimes it is for us to be here, and you take really good care of us. I think you have a very difficult job. Could you imagine having to listen to all of these speeches all day long and to do so with so much respect and graciousness? We are very, very grateful for that. Your kind words and smiles really do matter. I want each of you to know that.

Speaking of family, thank you to my incredible family. One of the things that people don’t realize is that when we’re down in Victoria, sometimes people tend to reach out to our family members. We all know this. Whether our family is at a coffee shop or a grocery store, they say: “Hey, can you tell so and so that this is what is happening. Can you share this story?”

For all of our loved ones, they never signed up for this job, but it’s certainly something that impacts them. I say this on behalf of my…. I thank my family, but I want to thank all of the families of members in this House because I certainly understand what happens when we are here and you are back home. So thank you very much to the families.

To our public servants. Often, you know, as politicians or elected officials, we get a lot of credit. I’ve been on both sides of this House and certainly recognize the policy and the hard work and the legislation that come forward here in this Legislature. It’s the elected officials that are front and centre, but we know that it’s thousands and thousands of public servants that are working tirelessly behind the scenes.

Whether it’s, as the member previous talked about, emergency management B.C. and that incredible team of individuals or Forests, Lands and Natural Resources or you name it, our public servants work really incredibly hard on behalf of British Columbians every single day.

I just, again, want to say thank you for the work that you’re doing. In our constituencies, you field a lot of calls from us as MLAs, whether it’s roads or permits. In our resource-based communities, it’s probably maybe a little different than some of the urban MLAs. But to our incredible public servants, thank you for doing an exceptional job with so much integrity. You have my incredible respect for the work that you do, and I thank you for what you are doing.

In my role as opposition critic advocating on behalf of small businesses in the province, I’ve had the opportunity to travel across this province. What has been one of the reoccurring themes, whether it be in Maple Ridge, Langley, Comox or Prince George to Terrace and the Kootenays, is a growing concern that small businesses have been raising with me around the economic and social impact on small businesses from property crime. I have hundreds of letters from my own community concerned about public safety resources, crime and, quite frankly, accountability.

Aggressive panhandling, brazen vandalism and theft and overall feelings of not being safe are really having an impact that we are seeing in our communities. The conversations from business owners and their employees about extreme safety concerns…. Really, the message has been clear that they want that message raised here in the Legislature.

[6:00 p.m.]

They want us to try and find solutions to work collaboratively together to find ways so that small businesses have some solutions moving forward.

The severity of this criminal behaviour is growing across the province. One of the things I was hoping to see in the budget — and certainly during the estimates process, we’ll have an opportunity to explore it further — is how we are going to address this increased element of criminal behaviour and activity that we are seeing impacting not just small business, quite frankly, but communities across British Columbia.

I certainly understand that the problem is complex, and it is multifaceted. I was hoping to see in the budget…. When you get the budget numbers, it’s really hard to filter through them and identify what is, in fact, in the budget or not in the budget and where we, in our role as opposition critics, need to be advocating and raising and ensuring that the voices that we’ve been listening to get brought forward in this House.

I’ve spoken on the growing crisis impacting our downtowns and communities in this House before. To be clear, this isn’t political grandstanding. I know often, in the back-and-forth of this House, we see that. This is me doing my elected duty and bringing forward concerns that I’ve heard across this province. We need to be breaking down the silos that exist in government ministries, and we need to be looking at a more forward-thinking approach to the budget and funding solutions.

First, let me make it clear, as legislators…. Small businesses and, in fact, every individual in the province of British Columbia should feel safe, should have access to justice. People who are repeatedly stealing or embarking on illegal behaviour need to be held accountable.

Second, analysis has demonstrated that often criminal behaviour, theft and damage in our communities is perpetrated by a few prolific offenders. I have met such individuals, who have often bragged that they’re responsible for as many as 200 B and Es in a community. Quite simply, they’re the first to say there are no consequences. This is not acceptable. We have found ourselves in the province where there appears to be limited regard for the rule of law and no consequences, and we need to change this.

Third, we will continue to see this revolving door of prolific offenders if we do not change our approach. RCMP, the courts, health authorities, Mental Health and Addictions need to come to the table and work with local governments. I hope within this budget we will see that, as we explore it through estimates.

Fourth, there is an increased level of organized criminal behaviour in both our urban and rural communities that is having a significant impact on people’s public safety. If they have been charged with multiple offences, this should be brought forward. If there are issues with the changes on the federal front, then the provincial minister needs to work with their federal counterparts to address this.

Fifth, there is a significant need for increased resources for mental health services and recovery beds across the province. I have worked personally with families who have tried to access mental health services in central and northern British Columbia. The services are few and far between. Reviewing the budget of 2020 does not provide me with a strong level of confidence that we will be seeing the increased investments in our people any time soon.

If I speak specifically about my own communities in Cariboo North, we have RCMP members that have caseloads of up to 90, and sometimes more, severe case files per member. You have that matched with very few Crown resources.

[6:05 p.m.]

We have seven detox beds in all of central and northern British Columbia. We only have one youth detox bed in the north. It’s incredibly hard to access mental health services. We do not have the professionals in the numbers that we need to address concerns in the north. It is hard to access recovery beds. We need a women’s recovery facility in the north.

We have this revolving door where we often have people pointing fingers: “Well, it’s this level or this ministry, or it’s this ministry that’s letting this group of individuals down.” Quite frankly, it’s all of our responsibility to figure this out, because far too many people are falling through the cracks. Far too many people in our communities are being impacted and victimized by crime.

Then there is the third element of individuals in our community that we should have compassion for — people that are suffering from mental health and addictions and may have criminal behaviour, who do not belong in the court system but also do not belong out on the streets alone. We have to wrap our minds around this, and we have to find solutions in our communities.

We also have to recognize that we have programs in our communities that have operated for many years that are having significant impacts. I speak about a program in Quesnel around ending domestic violence. It’s geared to offenders and individuals who self-identify challenges that they have with anger management and trauma.

We have to make sure that we’re continuing the funding for these important programs. The fact that this is a $25,000 program that has helped over 100 people a year in our community, and we see those funds get cut from our community, has significant impacts on a community our size. I will make sure that we continue to advocate, as we discuss the budget, to make sure these types of programs are in our community.

Listening to small businesses across the province and having reviewed what the government’s own hand-picked Small Business Task Force said last year, they identify that the cumulative effects of taxes are having a real impact on small businesses in the province. Based on the fact that the government set up a task force to really look at how we could help small businesses, recognizing that last year there was an increase in taxes, I was really hopeful that this year we would see small businesses recognized, respected in this budget.

How did the government respond? Well, we now have 22 new and/or increased taxes. I get that governing is difficult, and you have to make priorities. You have to make choices. I would just offer this: that small businesses really are the backbone of our communities. As the job creators, they’re often…. That small business is the one that is the first job for your son or your daughter, or maybe they’re the ones that hire that senior who just needs a little bit of extra income.

Small businesses are the first person you turn to when you have a sports team that needs to get funded in your community, or maybe it’s the performing arts festival in your community. Small businesses are always the ones to step up, time after time after time, to make sure that each of our neighbourhoods and our communities are such a vibrant and important place for our families and our loved ones to live.

I was listening earlier to the Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness, and she provided some statistics. So I went back through my…. The statistics sounded a little bit odd. I get that there are things one can do with numbers and analysis and bringing forward to make sure you’re highlighting what may certainly be putting government forward in the best light.

I went back, and I re-read the Small Business Profile from the last five years just to try and understand where some of the statistics that were being brought forward…. I’ll certainly enjoy the opportunity to investigate more thoroughly during estimates. What I did find interesting in the 2019 Small Business Profile — and I think sometimes that’s where statistics are being brought from — is that for the first time in many, many years, they’ve taken an analysis and gathered statistics back from either 2014 to 2018, if the stats made them look good, or they’d even go back as far as 2013 to 2018 to make sure the numbers look good.

[6:10 p.m.]

I looked at…. For example, from 2014 to 2017, small business growth led the country. We saw 7.7 percent growth, because we had a real laser-focused strategy, when the B.C. Liberals were in government, to look at how we can make sure that British Columbia is the most competitive jurisdiction in North America. We started with Canada and said: “Let’s look broader.”

Since then, of course, the United States has made some significant changes on competitiveness that make it really hard for our businesses. So then you look at where 2017-2018, that growth rate, is for small businesses, and it’s down to 3.2 percent. This is alarming, because we’re seeing a significant downward trend with where small businesses are feeling their competitiveness exist. In the words of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, four out of five B.C. businesses say the cost of doing business in British Columbia has worsened in this past year. These kinds of statistics have consequences in each of our neighbourhoods and our communities.

I would also remind government and the minister that the government has signed a small business accord. With this piece of legislation, policies need to have a small business lens. Again, when I review these budgets and I see new taxes or increased taxes get brought forward, I always apply that small business lens to it and wonder.

There is an actual check-the-box system that used to go through every single ministry on every piece of legislation and policy that got brought forward on: how will this impact small business? What is the analysis? And actually, the government gets measured on this. Part of the records that, for example, CFIB B.C. does on red-tape reduction really is that analysis of where that small business lens applies.

I was wondering, and I asked this question last year when the employer health tax was brought forward: what was the work that was done? What was the analysis that was done on the impact of the employer health tax on small businesses? And really, how did it meet that threshold to check the boxes with a small business lens? I really struggled with that.

You have small businesses that are still trying to figure out how to recover from last year’s increased hits and additional cost burdens. For example, the employer health tax cost employers $1.85 billion in 2019-20. Now you have increased minimum wages and a lack of initiatives to address skyrocketing property taxes. In the words of CFIB B.C., there are some significant concerns about how small businesses in the province of British Columbia are going to adjust with that. With the exception of a few niche tax incentives, Budget 2020 offers no new initiatives that would bring financial relief for the majority of small businesses in British Columbia. That is a challenge.

The minister earlier also was celebrating about how great everything is going. I think, at one point, she even talked about the increase in exports. Again, I’ll have to go back and review what the minister said. But in fact, the outlook for business growth…. We have weakened consumer spending. We have slowing exports — they’re actually down 6.4 percent, I believe, just to correct the minister on what she said earlier — and plateaued retail sales.

Now, these were statistics that were identified before we had increased troubling impacts of railway blockades, which, of course, are having significant impacts on small businesses across British Columbia, as well as COVID-19. I was visiting small businesses last week in Richmond, and they have been greatly impacted by what is happening.

At a time when you have these multiplier effects…. I recognize some are global and some are issues that are difficult to plan for. But the reality is when you are in government, you still need to respond.

The reality is when you are in government, you still have to recognize that things emerge, and you have to make sure that you are stepping up and supporting those that are impacted. What I would say to the government is that small businesses across British Columbia are deeply impacted right now. There are troubling signs that will affect every single neighbourhood, every single community, in the province of British Columbia, and we need to be doing something.

[6:15 p.m.]

I would remind people that…. I don’t know how many of you grew up and had small businesses or your family owned a small business. For many people, as kids, you grow up and you know that your parents, or the small business owners, are often working seven days a week. They’re putting in 12- or 14-hours days, and often they’re lucky to make minimum wage. It’s a joke. It takes many years, often, for small businesses to have that. They invest their money in their business. They invest their money in their employees. They invest their money in their community, and that’s just who small business owners are.

Again, we have to recognize the critical impact that small businesses have in the province of British Columbia, because when you lose that small business from your neighbourhood, quite frankly, your neighbourhood will change forever.

I also heard, when I was out in Langley and Surrey, that small businesses are greatly troubled by the lack of transportation opportunities, and a lot of that is around B-line. We’ve heard from manufacturers that they’re having to cancel what could be additional shifts because they can’t get their workers to and from their businesses. That is something where we need to make sure that those investments are happening.

I want to thank the parliamentary secretary who is responsible for emergency preparedness. I will say and I want to acknowledge the fact that there has been an increase in emergency preparedness, and I think that’s critically important. I also want to recognize the words that the member said, because having lived through the fire seasons in 2017 and 2018, and now the floods that we see reoccurring in our communities, we very much feel like we are ground zero for climate change.

Often my constituents will share with me their concerns — that it’s hard sometimes, in CleanBC or initiatives that we are taking to address climate change, to find out where we fit in. I think it’s critically important…. I heard a really interesting presentation by a UBC professor after the fires that talked about the fact that we need to be looking at investing in the Cariboo the same way as we invest in Lower Mainland around earthquake preparedness. That’s billions of dollars. It’s a huge investment in how we prepare.

After the fires, I received incredible support from individuals from Slave Lake and other communities that have greatly been impacted by fires. They said: “Hey, one of the things that will really have a significant impact are your roads and your infrastructure networks.” If you look at an area like the Cariboo, we have 40,000 culverts. One of the things that I certainly did not expect or prepare for…. We’ve certainly seen the consequences on the ground now. Many of those culverts are wood and plastic.

When you have the largest fire in B.C.’s history, or you see year after year of these significant hot fires, they have damaged the culvert system. In fact, a lot of our roads are collapsing. We’re having challenges with our bridges, and we just have a real struggle on the land base with soil erosion, our watersheds. We’re seeing an impact.

While work is being done on wildfire mitigation…. It’s important work, and I want to thank the teams right through the multiple ministries who are doing that work. It’s incredibly important work, and I want to thank them. Much more needs to be done. I think we need to be broadening our approach when we look at climate action to how we’ll address it on the ground in our communities.

I also want to acknowledge the government and thank them for the investments that were made and the renewed investments and commitments that were kept around the new middle school and the new ER acute care centre in Quesnel. We are grateful for this, and we really want to acknowledge and thank the government for that.

[6:20 p.m.]

I receive messages, still regularly, in my office, and they want me to bring this message forward. Small businesses like guide-outfitters, trappers, tourism operators and ranchers continue to be deeply impacted by the wildfires and, now, floods due to the soil erosion and watershed. Their voices are just not getting heard here. We certainly don’t see that in the budgets.

We need greater investment in wildlife management and aquatic recovery in our communities. That’s an investment that we deeply need in our areas. Our logging contractors, our truck drivers — many who’ve worked in the bush for generations — need more than a password on a computer to help them write a resumé or get training as a logging truck driver when they’ve done that their entire life. They need tools and finances to help them retool for new economic opportunities. They are resilient individuals. We just need a few pieces put into place to help them to be successful.

Finally, I want to discuss the need for a cardiac centre in the north. In short, we’re the only health authority without a cardiac centre, which leaves our sickest patients with little treatment options apart from waiting, frequently in a hallway bed, to be transported to the Lower Mainland.

We deserve to have the same level of care as other health authorities in British Columbia. There is a vast disparity in the basic care which we’re able to provide patients in our region. This is from a doctor. I’m just saying that the north deserves a surgery tower. The north needs a cardiac centre. I hope that all members of the House will see that an equal-access cardiac unit is greatly needed in the north.

Hon. J. Darcy: I am pleased to rise in my place today to support Budget 2020, both as the MLA for New Westminster and the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. I’m very proud to be part of a government that puts people first, that continues to make life more affordable and that continues to improve the services that people count on. That is what Budget 2020 is all about — building on the progress that we’ve already made. We can’t afford to turn back now.

I want to begin by thanking very, very sincerely my constituents in New Westminster. It is an incredible honour to serve what is a very, very special community. Like the member opposite who just spoke, I also pinch myself every single day that I have the honour to represent the good people of New Westminster in this Legislature. I’m grateful for the support and kindness that they show me every single day, whether it’s at the grocery store, on the street, in my constituency office, in London Drugs. They approach me. They share their ideas. They tell us what they like. They give us their ideas. It’s a great honour.

I’m also blessed to work with some incredible staff. In my constituency office, Keefer Pelech and Jessica Lar-Son. In my minister’s office, Nicole Reid, Yvette Marquis, Matt Djonlic, Karin Heimlich and Kelly Newhook and, until very recently, Anna Lindsay-Baugh. I want to thank the staff in the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, a small but mighty and passionate team led by Deputy Minister Neilane Mayhew.

I also want to give a very special shout-out to all the people out there on the front lines pouring their hearts and their souls into the very difficult work of mental health and addictions every day, whether that is first responders, health care providers, community workers, peers, families, volunteers. They give so much of themselves every day, often at great personal cost.

I also want to give a special thanks to the men in my life. By that, I mean my husband, Gary, my partner of 44 years — yes, we were children when we first got together — my son and my grandson, who is the joy of my life and who reminds me every time I see him what’s really important about what we do in this place.

[6:25 p.m.]

I am very excited about so many things in Budget 2020, it’s hard to know where to start. Budget 2020 has record levels of capital investments — almost $23 billion over three years in schools, hospitals, roads, transit, housing — that will not only help to create well-paying jobs in communities across British Columbia but will also ensure the services that people count on.

I want to touch on some of the new investments in my community of New Westminster: $35 million for the replacement of Richard McBride Elementary, adding 65 new student seats and a neighbourhood learning centre in a new, seismically safe school; $6.1 million in seismic upgrades for Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary School; and finally, finally, after years of waiting, the new, New Westminster Secondary School is finally rising, and completion is in sight. Parents and students in my community never believed, after decades of waiting, that they would see the day, but it is happening.

In New Westminster — well, not just New Westminster but connected to Surrey and the whole Lower Mainland — we’ve just announced the successful contractor for the replacement of the Pattullo Bridge, which is at the end of its service life. With four new vehicle lanes, two pedestrian and cycling lanes, expandable to six vehicle lanes in the future if needed, plus pedestrian and cycling lanes…. Total cost — $1.377 billion, with a community benefits agreement that will be good for the local economy, local jobs, local contractors.

Royal Columbian Hospital, phase 1, the new 75-bed mental health and substance use centre will have a net increase of 45 new beds. That includes more outpatient services, a new psychiatric high acuity unit, new inpatient beds, a new older-adult mental health unit and much, much more. The opening begins this spring. Budget 2020 also allocates funding for phase 2 and phase 3 of the rebuild of Royal Columbian Hospital, with $1.236 billion. When that is completed, we will see an increased inpatient capacity of over 50 percent, for a total capacity of 675 beds.

Speaking of health care, Budget 2020 has over $1 billion in additional funding over the next three years to make sure that people can get the health care they need where they need it and when they need it. That includes investing in home support so that seniors are able to live independently for as long as possible. It includes investing in long-term care, seniors care, so that finally, finally, after many years of neglect in this field, seniors will be able to get the dignified care they deserve.

People are getting surgeries and diagnostic procedures that they need faster than before. Wait times for hip and knee surgeries are falling, and the number of MRIs that are being done each year has increased by over 23 percent.

We’ve also improved access to PharmaCare by reducing or eliminating deductibles for 240,000 families with net incomes under $45,000. And 2020 marks the first year that B.C. families will no longer have to pay MSP premiums. This is monumental for so many families in my community and across B.C. It means that individuals will save $900 per year and families $1,800 per year, money that they can put back into their wallets and spend in a way that works best for them.

No matter where you live in B.C., housing affordability is one of our biggest challenges, and it remains a key priority for our government. We’re working very hard to tackle the housing crisis by addressing speculation, by closing loopholes, by cracking down on fraud, by making renting more secure and by building more affordable homes for people across B.C. with a historic investment of $7 billion over ten years.

We’re seeing the difference that’s already making in my community of New Westminster. A partnership with the Performing Arts Lodge just broke ground a few months ago, 66 new units. Five townhomes for women and children fleeing domestic violence, a partnership with Baptist Housing. Forty-four units of modular housing with the Elizabeth Fry Society. Six units open for people with disabilities, a partnership with Community Living B.C.

Those partnerships are absolutely critical. I want to pay tribute to the mayor and council of New Westminster, who have stepped up to the plate repeatedly to help make sure that we have more affordable housing, more supportive housing and to protect renters’ rights.

Speaking of renters, our government has limited the yearly allowable rent increase to the rate of inflation, 2.6 percent for 2020. We’re giving more support to families and seniors through the rental assistance program and SAFER, Shelter Aid For Elderly Renters. We’re strengthening renter rights. The rent bank that we started in New Westminster…. We now have provincial funding and seed money for rent banks across the province to prevent homelessness.

[6:30 p.m.]

Hon. Speaker, the housing crisis was not created overnight, and it won’t be fixed overnight. But our government is determined to fix those problems and make housing more affordable for people in my community and across B.C.

High-quality K-to-12 education has been a priority for this government from the very beginning. We’re improving our schools to give all of our kids a better start in life, and Budget 2020 will support our students with more teachers, more special education teachers, more psychologists and counsellors to ensure that all students have the best possible chance to not just survive but to thrive. We’re reducing class sizes and increasing classroom resources.

When it comes to post-secondary education, I am so incredibly proud of the actions that our government has taken. Within 100 days of forming government, we eliminated tuition fees for adult basic education and English language learning, and we made tuition free for former youth in care.

Last year we eliminated the interest from all new and existing B.C. student loans. And in Budget 2020 — an enormous step forward in making post-secondary education more affordable for Douglas College students in New Westminster and students across B.C. with a new needs-based, upfront B.C. access grant that will benefit more than 40,000 students in B.C. attending public colleges and universities. It will expand eligibility for students pursuing certificate and diploma programs, like early childhood educators, like health care assistants and trades workers, all of which our society and our economy badly need.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Together, complementing the Canada access grant, students will receive up to $4,000 a year to help with the cost of programs that lead to a degree, a diploma or a certifi­cate. And I have to tell you, hon. Speaker, there were many students from Douglas College here on budget day, and they were alternating between tears flowing and jumping up and down for joy. Some of them had worked on this issue for many, many years.

Child care. In 2018, we embarked on a bold plan to bring affordable, accessible and quality child care to families across B.C., the first new social program in British Columbia in a generation. In less than two years, our government has funded more than 10,400 new licensed child care spaces, and we’ve helped parents save thousands of dollars through the affordable child care benefit and the child care fee reduction initiative.

Child care investments will reach a record high of $2 billion over the next three years. I can tell you that in my community of New Westminster, I have people approach me on this issue all the time. Stories. One young mom told me that her family, with two kids now in child care, will save $1,500 a month — a $1,500-a-month difference in their budget. Another family told me that because of the reduced fees, they now are able to start a new business. All told, in New Westminster, the total amount of child care investments is over $12 million, with over 120 new child care spaces.

Speaking of children and families, this fall our government will implement the new child opportunity benefit, which will provide supports until your child turns 18, with families receiving up to seven times more over their child’s lifetime — up to $28,000 for one child, up to $40,000 for two kids. Whether it’s the ability to put healthy meals on the dinner table or being able to buy your child a new winter coat or enrolling them in activities like soccer or dance or art, that kind of support will really make an incredible difference.

Our government has also made reconciliation with Indigenous peoples a cross-government priority from day one. In partnership with Indigenous peoples, we are working to build a more prosperous future for everyone, with revenue-sharing from gaming, $3 billion over 25 years, delivering affordable housing on and off reserve, supporting language revitalization and having the care of Indigenous communities where it belongs.

With collaboration between the province and the First Nations Leadership Council, we became the first province to pass legislation to implement the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples, and we are working now very closely in partnership with the First Nations on an action plan to implement this law.

Budget 2020 provides additional funding to improve cultural inclusion within our social and justice systems. We all know that reconciliation is hard work, but it’s a shared journey that we are on together.

[6:35 p.m.]

Turning to my ministry, I’m very, very proud of the investments that our government has made from day one to respond to the overdose crisis and to begin building a true system of mental health and addictions care in British Columbia. Since the budget update of September 2017, a total of $608 million over five years has been allocated to the overdose crisis. People in British Columbia expect an urgent and a comprehensive response to this crisis — a response that includes prevention, enforcement, harm reduction and treatment and recovery. That’s exactly what we’re doing, and our efforts are beginning to make a difference.

Let me begin with the fentanyl poisoning crisis. The coroner released her report earlier this week, which showed that in 2019, 981 people tragically died of overdose. But she also pointed out that in 2018, 1,543 lives were lost, so that’s a 36 percent decrease in the number of people dying. Having said that, we mourn every life lost. These are not numbers. They’re not statistics. They are people whose lives matter. While we are very encouraged to see the number of overdose deaths beginning to go down for the first time since this crisis began, we have a long way to go. The crisis is far from over, and we are not slowing down.

I want to pay tribute to the people who work on the front lines every single day, who pour their hearts and their souls into saving lives and connecting people to social supports and to treatment and recovery. This province owes them an enormous debt of gratitude.

Indigenous people continue to be disproportionately affected by this crisis, up to three to four times. The deaths are three to four times higher than in the population at large. But we do know that access to life-saving supports like naloxone, overdose prevention services and also medication-assisted treatments does make a difference.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control estimates that as a result of three specific measures alone — and there are other measures — over 5,000 deaths have been prevented. That’s as a result of harm reduction like naloxone and overdose prevention sites, but it’s also as a direct result of more people now being on medication-assisted treatment — 3,500 more since our government took office.

There are no simple answers. There are no magic bullets that are going to solve this crisis. We need to keep adding tools to our toolbox. We need to keep escalating our response, saving lives and connecting people to treatment and recovery. At the same time that we have been firing on all cylinders in response to the fentanyl poisoning crisis, we’ve also embarked on fixing the mental health and addictions system of care, which has been ignored for so, so many years by the old government.

Last June Premier Horgan and I announced a ten-year plan called the Pathway to Hope. We consulted very widely across the province — a wide, wide variety of peoples and organizations, tremendous diversity. But with all of this diversity of opinion and background, there was absolutely no question that our approach needs to begin with improving mental health and wellness for children, youth and young adults. This is our cornerstone.

That’s why we’re putting an initial three-year priority on transforming mental health and addictions care for young people and bringing services into our homes, into our communities and into our schools. We’re already getting started. We’ve invested $12 million to assist school districts with enhanced mental health and wellness supports and programs. We have eight Foundry centres now open and 11 more on the way, for a total of 19 across the province, in all corners of the province.

We’ve also announced funding for new integrated child and youth mental health teams starting in five school districts, beginning with Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows and Comox Valley. The Minister of Advanced Education just announced a new 24-7 mental health support line that will be available to all post-secondary students across the province. A small project but one that inspires me and warms my heart. This was with end-of-year funding from last year, but it’s work that will continue.

[6:40 p.m.]

The South Asian youth mental health ambassadors group came to me and said, “We want to train 100 young people in mental health first aid, in preventing overdoses and in combatting stigma in the South Asian community,” as it exists in all of our communities around mental health and addictions. They are already making waves. There have been two groups of 25 already; the third group is coming up soon. They really are going to make a difference in their community, and projects like that are so, so inspiring.

We also have more programs for parents and families to support children’s early-years development. More specialized family care and day treatment programs for young people are coming, and there’s a new youth treatment centre in Chilliwack that we’ll be opening this year. We’ve invested $10 million to improve access to community-based mental health and addictions counselling, with a focus on improving access to care for people who are presently underserved in vulnerable communities and in rural and remote communities.

Access to health care. We’re so proud as Canadians and British Columbians. We say access to care should not depend on the size of your bank account, but for too long, it has when it comes to mental health and addictions care. That’s going to begin to change, and these community counselling grants are an important step forward.

Another crucial focus of the Pathway to Hope is supporting Indigenous solutions to mental health and wellness. We are moving full steam ahead in full partnership. We are investing, together with the First Nations Health Authority, $40 million to build two new urban treatment centres and to rebuild and revitalize six Indigenous treatment centres in rural communities across British Columbia.

We also have signed a $30-million tripartite agreement to support nation-based approaches to the planning, design and delivery of mental health and wellness services, which is absolutely about self-determination for Indigenous people when it comes to mental health and wellness.

Over three years, we’re investing $23 million for First Nations–based programs that are about land-based healing and reconnecting to land and culture, language and community. Through our partnerships, we are ensuring that First Nations will be in the driver’s seat in the design and delivery of mental health and addictions services in their community, with the province listening, learning and supporting along the way. We know that action, not words, is the measure by which true reconciliation will be judged.

There are many other areas that we’re working on in our ministry and that we’re moving forward on to improve the continuum of care for mental health and addictions. We brought in regulations last year for supportive recovery homes, which have been a source of scandal, controversy and deaths over a number of years. Really, it’s been the wild, wild west when it comes to mental health and addictions care. But we have tough new regulations and more resources for enforcement and for training of staff, and we’re increasing the per diem for the first time in a decade.

We now have Rapid Access Addiction Clinics or services in place in every region of the province. We’re integrating mental health and substance use care into primary care as well. That is so important. You don’t have to go to some other door and maybe feel stigmatized at a barrier to reaching out. Increasingly, you’ll be able to go to your family practitioner and be able to connect it.

Just to give one example, the Fraser Northwest Division of Family Practice was announced a year ago. In the first year, these patient care networks have attached over 1,000 patients to either a doctor or a nurse practitioner, and they’ve referred nearly 900 patients directly to mental health and addictions counselling. That’s making a difference. That’s changing lives.

Same with urgent and primary care centres. We’re integrating mental health and substance use services in many of those. We’ve opened more treatment beds, and there are more to come. We’ve provided grants to local governments, announced at UBCM last year, for community safety and wellness.

We inherited an enormous deficit when it came to mental health and addictions care. When I say we’re working to build an integrated system of mental health and addictions care, it’s because, in all honesty, we didn’t have a system. Now we are starting to build an integrated and coordinated system. Having said that, I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished, but we also recognize that there is much, much more to do.

[6:45 p.m.]

Many more things I could say about other aspects of Budget 2020 — on a cleaner, better future that we’re building through CleanBC, where we will see an in­creased investment of $400 million in this year’s budget; on investments in our technology and our crea­tive industry; and on creating new job opportunities in every region of the province.

I suspect that my time is up or that our time for debate is nearly up. I’m very, very proud, as the MLA for New Westminster and Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, to support this budget — a budget that builds on our people-first approach, an approach that has been unwavering since the very beginning. This budget is about affordability. This budget is about making life better for British Columbians. This budget is about improving the services that British Columbians count on.

I’m very proud to stand in my place and support Budget 2020.

J. Rustad: It’s my pleasure to take a few moments to stand and talk about Budget 2020. I don’t share quite the same enthusiasm as the last speaker, and I’ll give a few reasons why in the short time that I have to say a few words.

I want to start, of course, saying that it’s always an honour and a privilege to be able to stand up and speak for my constituents of Nechako Lakes. When I look at a budget, when I look at a throne speech, I always look at it from the lens of my riding, what it means to my riding.

I want to start with a number. This is directly out of the budget document. It’s curious, in that the estimates from last year for stumpage revenues were $1.15 billion. Let’s not get the numbers confused — $1 billion. That has now been downgraded to an estimate update of only $1 billion or just under $1 billion. That’s about, you know, a $50 million reduction in stumpage.

The question is this: is that a legitimate number? When you talk to the forest companies in the Interior, for example, their production is down 15 to 25 percent, year over year. We’ve seen more than 20 percent, already, of exports of forest products being reduced. On the coast, we had a strike that went on for eight months, affecting a third of the activities of the forest industry on the coast. In addition to that, other companies that had to go down because of that, and components…. About two-thirds of the forest industry on the coast was down for a significant period of time.

There is absolutely no way that the number could be true. Even the Minister of Forests is crowing about the reduction in stumpage rates. These numbers can’t be true. That one number alone, if that number is off, has a chance to put their budget in deficit. How do you support a budget where, quite frankly, the numbers on the surface are in question? It seems to me to be quite unfathomable that that type of number would actually even be included in the budget.

Going forward, you see a projection of $867 million for the next year coming up. I’m not sure quite how that number matches, given what the Minister of Forests says — that the stumpage is being reduced by a significant 17 percent in the Interior and 37 percent on the coast. We know the harvesting is going to be down, but somehow the stumpage revenue is not reflecting that? It makes you wonder.

I also look across at the Forests budget, and there are things that are missing from that budget. In particular, we’ve had a crisis in our forest industry that is still going on. There are communities that are hurting. The communities on the coast are in a catastrophic state, just trying now to get back up to work as the strike has ended. And what do we see from the Forests budget to be able to help those communities and be able to help those forest sectors? Zero, nada, zilch.

As a matter of fact, it’s even worse than that. They took away the $25 million last year from the rural dividend fund. Guess what. It’s not there in this budget. Not only did they not provide support for these communities; they actually took away the one support that the communities did have.

On top of that, when you look at the Forests budget across the numbers, with the exception of a little bit of a bump-up on its ability to be able to respond to wildfires, there’s a cut to the Forests budget by between 4 and 6 percent, depending on the thing you look at, including permitting. It’s already taking forever to get permitting, and the budget is being cut? That doesn’t make any sense. This is a critical component to how our forest industry operates and how, quite frankly, industry operates in this province, yet we’re seeing a cut in this budget.

[6:50 p.m.]

It just goes to show that this government not only has completely ignored the crisis in the forest industry and the people and the suffering, but they’re compounding it in terms of their budget going forward and not being able to provide any sort of help or support.

When you look across, as well…. We had two fire years — the 2017-2018 and the 2018-19 fire years — that burnt over two million hectares of land. That’s a significant hit to our forestry land base. What did we see for a response from this province so that we could get that land rehabilitated and planted and get this thing moving? Nada. Zero. Zilch. Nothing in this budget whatsoever to be able to actually do that rehabilitation work that’s needed.

Furthermore, and what’s even worse, we set up the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C., an organization that was out there to try to do rehabilitation, try to do some really innovative things on the land base. We put over $230 million into it. They’ve drained it. There’s $2 million or $3 million left in the budget now. Less than 10 percent of that land that is being impacted by those wildfires is being able to be replanted.

Do you know what? There is no new money for it. They’re in the process of shutting down the one vehicle that we had to be able to do that kind of rehabilitation work on the land base and to do planting.

When I stand up and talk and respond to a budget…. How do I get excited about a budget that guts the core of what my riding is? No support or funding for forestry. No recognition of the cost structure and all the additional bureaucracy and problems or issues that have been downloaded onto the forest sector by this government. No support for the areas that have been burnt in terms of rehabilitation.

To top it all off, the one big issue that the Premier promised would be his number one thing that he would do once elected and once in there as premier was to solve the softwood lumber dispute. He went down to Washington, collected a cheque for $165,000 and then has had crickets since. Nothing. Zero. No talk about how to solve the softwood lumber problem. That is not leadership. That is certainly not what my riding looks for.

When I also look across at the forestry budget and the process going forward…. We’ve been criticized, in terms of preparation, for what happened from the pine beetle epidemic. Let’s take a little trip down memory lane. The pine beetle epidemic started in the 1990s, and it was allowed to fester and grow because of NDP policies and failure. I was working in the industry, and I know what they did.

Interjection.

Mr. Speaker: Member.

J. Rustad: The member for Powell River–Sunshine Coast, if he even knew a second of forestry, would agree with me. He doesn’t, and that’s okay. He can chirp all he likes.

The reality is that steps that industry wanted to take, steps that even the ministry wanted to take…

Interjection.

Mr. Speaker: Member.

J. Rustad: …were denied by this government when they were in power in the 1990s. So now we’ve got the pine beetle fallout.

Do you know what we did to prepare for these challenges in the downturn? We funded beetle action coalitions. We put money, millions and millions of dollars, into these beetle action coalitions — one in the north, one in the Caribou, one in the south.

These beetle action coalitions had the mayors that came forward with strategies and plans around diversification. We then went forward and started implementing some of those diversification strategies.

We expanded mining. We had a program specifically for expansions and creating of new mines. We had the LNG industry, which was off the ground, to be able to create new jobs in a whole new sector.

In the forest sector, we did we do? We expanded the pellet industry. We significantly grew that sector so we could use more of the fibre that wasn’t being used and create jobs. We did bioenergy projects, creating electricity and other things right through the province to help with that diversification.

Those things that this side of the government…. The government voted against doing that type of thing. All of those were diversification strategies to be able to help mitigate the pine beetle epidemic challenges.

On top of that, we put another $30 million on top of — I think it was — $150 million or so that went into the Northern Development Initiative Trust with a specific target to help with diversification and make those investments. They have invested and reinvested well over $200 million throughout the area to be able to help with that kind of work. We did tremendous amounts of effort in terms of diversifying and getting strategy.

We had a strategy set and ready to go after the last election, to get into communities, to talk to the communities about what was coming and how we’re going to be able to help in the transition. You know what these guys did? Zero. Nada. Zilch. Same thing as what they’ve done with the budget and their approach.

[6:55 p.m.]

It is shameful to think that these guys got in power and instead of doing the right thing and getting out in 2017 and actually engaging with the communities and talking about the transition, they just let it go. They did exactly the same policy they did with the pine beetle in the 1990s. They just let it go because it wasn’t convenient for them to deal with it from a political perspective.

Interjection.

Mr. Speaker: Member.

J. Rustad: They should be ashamed, quite frankly, of what they’ve been doing to this forest sector. When you look at the policies they’ve done on the coast and how they’ve approached expanding the cost structure, driving away investment, destroying the confidence of the sector, it is shameful to think about what these guys have done to that sector.

Now they’re talking about doing the same thing to the Interior. We have 65 million hectares of forested land in the province. About 22½ million of that the forestry operates, and even that has tremendous amounts of constraints on it. This government is trying to find every single way to erode that land base, to erode the ability for us to be able to have a vibrant, healthy forest community.

I can tell you, when I look, whether it’s the agriculture sector or whether it’s any of the communities across my riding or across virtually most of the province…. A healthy forest sector is critical to being able to support the communities and to being able to support all the other activities that are going on.

This government has ignored it. The budget ignores that challenge. And quite frankly, I can’t think of any reason at all why I would want to support a budget like this when it undermines the very fundamental well-being of the people of my riding of Nechako Lakes.

With that, I’ll reserve my right to continue. I move adjournment of the debate.

Mr. Speaker: Member for Nechako Lakes, if you wish, you could take a few more minutes, because you were inappropriately interrupted during your speech.

J. Rustad: Mr. Speaker, there is a lot more that I would like to go to, but noting the hour…. I know that it is getting to be close to seven o’clock, and people would like to leave.

I do reserve my right, but I thank you for that opportunity.

J. Rustad moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. L. Beare moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

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

The House adjourned at 6:57 p.m.