Orders of the Day

Hon. M. Farnworth: I call continued address and de­bate on the Speech from the Throne.

[N. Letnick in the chair.]

Throne Speech Debate

(continued)

Deputy Speaker: I recognize the Leader of the Third Party.

S. Furstenau: Thank you, hon. Speaker, and congratulations on your new role. I’m delighted to see you there.

Congratulations to all the newly elected members of the House. I wish everybody good health and good luck in the work that lies ahead of us.

Clearly, a lot has changed both in the chamber and in the province since this House was last in session. Here we are with our second throne speech of 2020. Both throne speeches have been remarkable in very different ways.

The first throne speech of this year marked a time when it was difficult for all of us to actually get into the building because there were so many people on the outside standing up for the important work that needs to be done in this province around reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and action on climate change. Here we are in our second throne speech of 2020, and there are hardly any of us in the building at all.

We’ve just come through a snap election. Government has earned its coveted majority. The pandemic has raged into an unrelenting second wave, infecting 38,000 British Columbians, and 527 have lost their lives. The vast majority of those have been in the last few months. Between September 21, when the election was called, and yesterday, when the Legislature reconvened, 30,000 British Columbians tested positive for COVID-19 and 300 people passed away.

[1:35 p.m.]

The question is not whether the election caused infections. It did not. We know that Elections B.C. did an incredible job of ensuring that everybody could vote safely in this province. But the question is whether British Columbians deserved more than a caretaker mode from their government during a state of emergency.

Prior to the election, every member of the Legislative Assembly was entirely focused on effectively and urgently responding to the evolving emergency at hand, putting partisanship aside to unite behind the recommendations from experts, voting unanimously to get funding approved and out the door. It was the right thing to do, and it was recognized as such by many, including the Lieutenant-Governor.

In fact, most of the Speech from the Throne that we heard yesterday, the first of the NDP’s new government, was spent recycling actions taken with the support of all three parties. By working together with and for our communities, 87 MLAs were able to support the provincial health officer’s guidance to flatten the curve and prevent transmission in areas where, sadly, other provinces did not have the same outcomes.

As highlighted in yesterday’s speech, during the last administration, B.C. worked urgently to address outbreaks in long-term care by limiting workers to one facility; providing appropriate care in Indigenous, rural and re­mote communities; postponing non-urgent surgeries to prepare for the initial surge of hospitalizations; securing large amounts of personal protective equipment for front-line workers; hiring thousands of new front-line health care workers, including health care aides; and hiring an additional 1,000 contact tracers to help stop further spread to the community.

I’m heartened that this good work will continue with this new administration, but it’s not enough. I was expecting more information about what British Columbians can expect as an economic recovery plan from this new government. We went through an election during the worst phase of a pandemic. For what? To fall behind and then continue the work that was already underway with all-party support?

In September, it was only days after introducing the recovery strategy that the NDP triggered the snap election, delaying the much-needed social and financial support that it was supposed to be implementing this fall.

I’ve reflected a lot about this election, obviously. I think that what we have to wrestle with is the impacts on the loss of trust of the public at a time when we need trust in government more than probably any time that any of us can think of in our lives. We need the public to believe what government is saying, what they’re asking, to continue with the sacrifices that people are making right now, which are enormous. Yet when partisanship becomes too dominant, cynicism in the public also rises, and that trust is lost.

The work now in front of this new majority government is to earn back the trust. We all have to actually do this together. It’s important for us on the opposition sides of the benches here to have empathy for the role and the position that government is in right now. The burden on the Premier and the burden on the ministers is enormous. I think if we stop and reflect for a few minutes, we can really feel that burden.

It is also incumbent on us to rise above, to work for a common purpose, to set aside our own anger and disappointment and to recognize that at a time like this, what the people of B.C. need from all of us — all 87 of us — in this moment is that we put service to them first and foremost.

[1:40 p.m.]

To the government, I say this is a time to recognize that the ways that we typically do things in here, the way that government typically responds, might not be the right thing to do right now. We had a question period in this House earlier today where the questions were thoughtful, insightful, respectful. The responses were the same. It was a discussion about issues that are very urgent and very serious to the people of British Columbia. We need that in a moment like this. We need to see that.

We also need to see from government a recognition that we’ve never been in a time like this before; that there’s no playbook for governing in a pandemic; that mistakes will be made, have been made; and that the effort and the willingness and the desire to always do better…. I heard that this morning from the Minister of Health and from the Premier, a desire to want to do better. That means recognizing, accepting fallibility, accepting that you’ve made mistakes and being open to trying different things, being open to hearing what people are asking of their government right now and recognizing that people are feeling a level of anxiety and fear and worry and uncertainty that is hard for us to even imagine.

In this moment, we can set aside some of the partisan and old ways of doing things in here, and we can, on our side, open that door to allowing a level of humanness and fallibility from government, acknowledging that this is a time unlike any other, and on that side of the House, recognizing not perfect. There’s always room to improve, and listening, right now, is the most important action that government can take.

Government needs to deliver programs quickly to those who are struggling from the impacts of this pandemic. The small business supports in place are lacking and have let far too many businesses fall through the cracks. The government needs to provide more support for teachers in their classrooms and take more decisive action to protect British Columbians’ mental health.

I’m gravely concerned about British Columbians who won’t be here to see 2021 and brighter days ahead. It’s not just the tens of thousands who have become sick with COVID, though that alone is heartbreaking. It’s the thousands and thousands of people at risk of opioid poisoning and overdose deaths. It’s the seniors nearing end of life, isolated and unable to gather with family during their final days. It’s the countless others who are struggling with mental health conditions, made infinitely worse by the cruelty of this pandemic and the isolation that it has brought. It’s the women and children trapped in unsafe homes, facing the threat of infection if they leave, the threat of violence if they stay.

Politicians like to talk about how we’re all in this together, and I’ve been saying this quite a bit: we are not all in this together. Yes, it is affecting all of us, but it is not affecting all of us the same ways. Some are making minimum wage on the front lines, and others, like many of us, have spent the pandemic working from home with our salaries unaffected. Health care providers, teachers, principals, education assistants, custodial and cleaning staff, people working in retail, food service, transportation, the grocery sector — none of them are able to stay home and continue to earn a salary.

The Premier said a couple of weeks ago that the response to this pandemic is “a question of leadership.” He’s right. If his government can lead with humility and honesty, accountability and transparency, we may begin to see solutions that tackle the structural problems that increase the risk of contracting this virus. To do that, we need better data. It wasn’t mentioned in the Speech from the Throne, and when I asked the Premier and the Minister of Health about it this morning, they indicated it’s not a priority. But I still hope that this government will change course. We should have started collecting data, disaggregated data, in the spring, but better late than never. We can start now.

[1:45 p.m.]

As has been proven critical in many other jurisdictions around the world, collection of disaggregated data can help identify the communities and regions hid hardest by COVID-19. We can analyze the trends within the disaggregated data to identify what demographics are disproportionately impacted so that government can make deliberate investments to ensure that those who are struggling the most receive the support that they need. In order for targeted relief to be effective, we need this data to bring to light the full impacts of this pandemic. As B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner has stated, we cannot act on what we do not know.

This terrible year can be the catalyst to addressing problems that have long plagued our province. Pandemics throughout human history have preceded profound societal change. The year 2020 can be the same. It has to be. There are so many things we need to change: inequality, climate change, systemic racism. But to achieve the kinds of changes we need, we have to be deliberate and informed by evidence and data. We know that COVID-19 has increased the inequality gap, and we need to hear from government how they intend to turn that around.

Governments like to deal with one problem at a time, but in reality, we know that everything is connected. The COVID-19 pandemic is connected to humans’ encroachment on nature. It is unfolding while the climate crisis continues to advance at a fatal rate and the web of life collapses around us.

But these outcomes are not inevitable. Far from it. We can centre reconciliation and convert our energy systems to run on renewable energy, such as solar, wind, geothermal and tidal. We can leave fossil fuels in the ground. We can follow regenerative farming and land use practices back to a healthier planet. We can create countless jobs in the process. The appetite for building back better exists in abundance. What we need is political will.

I know COVID-19 can feel all-consuming, but government also needs to prepare for the future. That’s the job. We expect the NDP to outline a far more ambitious plan for an equitable COVID recovery that is built upon climate action and reconciliation. We need an action plan and timeline so that British Columbians can know when to expect concrete steps. We need to see that we’re actually moving and gaining successes in the right direction.

For my part, I commit to moving forward with an unwavering dedication to working in good faith to serve the people of British Columbia. I’ll continue to cooperate across party lines, because it remains the right thing to do.

Before I close today, I’d like to acknowledge and thank the staff who work here in the Legislative Assembly, those who are required to be here in person during session, over Hanukkah and within two weeks of Christmas. It’s wonderful that so many elected members are able to call in virtually this week and next, but it’s not lost on me that we rely on many others to put themselves at risk in order for us to be here and do the work that we’re doing. For all the good that comes out of this abridged December sitting, British Columbians will have you to thank as well.

J. Sims: Mr. Speaker, congratulations on being back in the Speaker’s chair. I’m looking forward to this new session.

I would like to start off by saying that I am speaking today via Zoom from the unceded territory of the Kwantlen, the Katzie and the Semiahmoo, and I’m thankful every single day for these First Nations for sharing this beautiful land with us.

[1:50 p.m.]

Like every other member, this is a historic sitting during very, very challenging times. I know my colleague Raj Chouhan isn’t in the Speaker’s chair, but I do want to congratulate him because he made history being the first Punjabi Sikh to be elected as the Speaker outside of the Indian subcontinent.

This means a lot to people right across Canada and right around the world but specifically, I would say, to the children who go to school here, who see themselves. I’ve always said our governments, our institutions, need to reflect the diversity of our population, not just at entry-level jobs but at every level of government and in all our institutions. This was a huge step forward, and I want to thank the Premier and everybody in the House for making this happen, because we all voted for him unanimously.

So here we are. When we left the session last — the actual session, not our virtual sessions — I think we thought COVID-19 might disrupt our lives for a month or two. We even thought that was a long time, but we’ve been here now, in this context, since last March. People right across British Columbia, in every corner of British Columbia, have had their lives fundamentally changed.

During this very, very difficult time, we went through an election, and I’m so proud of the work done by Elections B.C. and everyone who made sure that this was a safe and COVID-19 protocol election, so to speak.

I want to do a special shout-out to my family. Those of you with young kids, a special shout-out to you. None of us sitting in the chamber would be able to do our jobs without the support of our families, our partners and our friends.

I want to do a special shout-out to my husband, Steve. It’s been a long time. I realized that we have been married almost half a century. A shout-out to him for his unconditional support with whatever venture I take on. A shout-out to my daughter, Keeran Sims, and Michael Sims, my son, and my beautiful grandchildren. And I couldn’t possibly forget Alliya, my great-granddaughter.

There were days, and there are days, in our lives when we think: “Okay, why are we doing this?” For me, it always goes back to my constituents and to my children and the kids I taught. They are a constant reminder of why all of us work so hard in the Legislature and in our communities to build a more just and inclusive world.

I also want to do a shout-out to my incredible election team. Every one of us is going to say we had the best election team in the world. We all did, for our own ridings. I want to do a special shout-out to mine, both my local team and my campaign manager, who flew in and then flew out — thank you for all the work that you did — and the amazing volunteers.

I know this time there were very few volunteers in the campaign. We have a limit of five at any time. But really for me it was all the people who worked from home virtually and who did door-drops and everything else. A big, big thank-you. Because of you, we are all able to participate and make our democracy as strong as it is. And it’s because of you that our democratic institutions are able to continue and we’re able to do the work we do.

So here we are in the current context of months and months later, and COVID-19 is still with us. One thing we have learned over the year is that COVID-19 knows no gender. It knows no race. It knows no ethnicity. It knows no social class. Any one of us can get COVID.

But we do know that those who are socially disadvantaged, economically disadvantaged, often don’t have the privilege to take many of the precautions that many other people do. So it has been a horrendous, I would say, challenge around the world, not just in British Columbia, for each and every one of us to come to terms with this virus.

Yes, we all celebrated. I can remember April-May, May-June especially, when we were feeling so good because our numbers were down to the digit level and it looked as if we were the world leaders, almost, in handling or flattening the curve — thanks, in large due, I would say, to our amazing health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, and also to our Health Minister.

[1:55 p.m.]

The fact that we decided to listen to science and take our guidance from the data that we collect — that led us the right way. But it also made us a little bit complacent, maybe. That complacency made us believe, and I’ve talked to many people…. It made us think that maybe COVID-19 had gone away. Well, little did we know that COVID-19 had not gone away. It’s just that we have learned how to live with COVID-19.

Here we are in the second wave now with our curve going up. I know it’s kind of stabilized right now, but the numbers are still very high, and every one of us is being pushed to the limit to dig as deep as we can, to bring out everything that’s in us to make sure we carry on doing the work that we need to do to flatten the curve.

Once again, a huge thank-you to our health officer, all the health regions and our front-line workers for the absolutely amazing job they’ve done. Is it perfect in every sector? No. I think it would be very foolish of us to expect perfection when we are facing a health pandemic. I think, under the circumstances, we are facing challenges, and I think everyone is doing their best.

I would say, colleagues, this is not the time to point fingers — “You should be doing this; you should be doing this; you should be doing this” — in our own communities. This is the time for each and every one of us to do what we can do and urge others to do what they can do, understanding that different people have different challenges. There are those who already had mental health issues, and the pandemic has made it far worse for them.

What kind of supports can we provide for them, and what kind of support do they need? What kind of support do our young people need? I think that’s what this session is all about. How do we, during this COVID-19, sit down and work together in the Legislature and back in our communities to make sure that people are getting the supports they need and that we are managing to flatten the curve?

Now, I know there is good news, and the good news is there is a vaccine. I was watching on TV this morning while the first person in England, a 90-plus-year-old, took the vaccine. I must admit it gave me kind of the shivers — good shivers, I’ll have you know — because we have been waiting for this vaccine for a long time. But even though we have a vaccine, as Dr. Bonnie Henry says, we still have a way to go. So during this time, it is really, really important that we follow the protocols.

We’ve faced many challenges this year. We’ve celebrated Vaisakhi, Holi, Diwali, Eid, Easter — all the different celebrations — weddings, births. We’ve celebrated them so, so differently. And now, as we go into the Christmas period and into the period of Hanukkah and celebrating Guru Gobind Singh ji’s birthday, we are once again being asked to do this differently, to do it at home.

I know this is going to be a huge challenge mentally for us, and emotionally. I found myself struggling. As you know, my grandchildren live in Nanaimo. Beautiful Alliya, who I was so looking forward to spending Christmas with, is in Nanaimo, but this year I’ll be doing Christmas via Zoom with them. I will not be travelling to Nanaimo. Now, there are many other people who may not even be able to do Zoom, so we need to think about them, because they may not have the connectivity that is needed in order to use some of the media, so they may just have to do by phone. So many things we’ve had to learn to do differently.

[2:00 p.m.]

I want to focus on one thing specifically today, as we look into the future and we think about our current situation. I want each and every one of us to reflect on all those who have lost loved ones to COVID right here in B.C. and around the world and what a difficult time this has been for them, and then I want us to reflect on everyone who has lost a loved one, a parent, a child, a sibling, a grandchild, an aunt, an uncle, a grandfather, a friend.

Everyone who has lost a loved one, over the last eight, nine months, has had to learn how to grieve differently. Every culture, every society, every family has a different way of grieving. But we’re going through a period now where families cannot even get together for funerals.

We are going through a time when people have had to say goodbye to their loved ones with maybe only nine people there, when children who lived in another province or another country could not come and see their loved one for the last time, their parent, and say their goodbyes. They had to do it through the technology that we have. I want us to think about the people who have had people pass away, either in a nursing home or in a hospital, and they could not be by their side.

I want us to reflect on how challenging that has been for those families right across this province. I always remind myself of that. We, as MLAs, are not immune to those losses. I lost my mother on April 6. Only nine of us could go to the service. We had to tell our sisters-in-law…. Some of the siblings couldn’t get here, only one grandchild from the four families that live here. And family members couldn’t come to visit, as they do in my first culture, in the South Asian culture. They couldn’t come home and sit with us to grieve. We all had to do it in isolation, through phone and through Zoom.

That always is what I go back to when people say to me: “This is so challenging. There is Christmas on the way. How will we manage?” Well, over the last year, we’ve learned to manage so many different challenges, whether it’s been celebrations or deaths or other kinds of challenges. I think I’m going to urge each and every person who is watching. Let us draw on our strength to make sure that we can carry on following the protocols and make sure that the curve remains flat.

I want to do a shout-out at this time to all the front-line workers. Back in the spring and the summer, we were all gathering at seven o’clock with our pots and pans. We were ringing and ringing the bells. We were saying: “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” All of it was from the bottom of our heart.

But remember, those first front-line workers are still out there working. A number of them that I’ve talked to haven’t really had any time off. They are just stretched to the limit. They tell me. Some of them go 15 days without a day off. Some of them are telling me that they cancelled their holidays — not even to stay home and recuperate — because they knew they were needed in the jobs that they were doing.

I want to thank all of the health front-line workers, who are facing these challenges every day, but also health care workers who are working in our long-term care facilities, plus everybody else who works in them. A special shout-out to all the people who serve us in the grocery stores and in the restaurants and all of the other areas, the truck drivers, the taxi drivers, who make sure that we have a semblance of the new normal as we face the challenges that COVID presents before us.

I want to take a moment now to do a special shout-out to schools and the child care centres that are open under incredibly difficult and challenging times. Very emotional. Lots of concerns, both from parents, but from teachers, from support staff, from principals and vice-principals. But all of them working collaboratively, working together, to keep our daycares open and to keep our schools open so kids can get some education and can go to school.

I know that in Surrey our superintendent, Jordan Tinney, has set up a really great collaborative model, where he is working with all the partners, with CUPE, with the Surrey Teachers Association, with the parents, with the principals and vice-principals.

[2:05 p.m.]

He is working with them to make sure that there is a model that works, that is based on the provincial framework, but that is specialized and tailored for Surrey, where we have some students studying at home because they chose the online model for now. Others are going to school, and they are cohorts.

Now, is this perfect? No. Is there anybody out there who is going to say that the models we have right now for getting our economy going and everything else is perfection itself? No. It’s a work in progress. It’s a work in progress because we learn so much as we go along. We learn more about the virus. We learn more about the spread. We learn more about how best to protect ourselves.

I can remember when masks were pushed to the side, and now we’re urging everybody to wear a mask in common areas, when you go shopping, when you’re inside and even when you go into a restaurant, except when you’re sitting at your table. And when you’re in condominiums, if you’re in a common area, wear a mask. We are learning more as we are going along. But all of this requires incredible teamwork, not just teamwork at the health services and at the ministry level. I would say this is going to take each and every one of us, living in every corner of this province.

So this Christmas, my appeal to everybody, including my children and grandchildren, is to ask for their patience and say: “Yes, we can do this for a little longer. We can do this for a little longer, if not for ourselves, for those we love.”

I know that, for example, my niece…. She goes to teach in a school. But when she comes home, she’s living in a household where her father-in-law has had open-heart surgery. So very, very challenging, complex situations that she has to navigate. But you know what? She doesn’t complain. She doesn’t complain because, for her, it is about how to make things better for her kids in her classroom. She always tells me: “You know what? Yes, it’s challenging. Yes, there are many issues. But you know what? I’m glad to be at school.”

There are others who have concerns, who have health care concerns, and we need to accommodate those. You know what? As we’re doing a shout-out to all of the front-line workers, I think I want to do a special shout-out to all the seniors who are shut in, who are in nursing homes, who are not enjoying the visits they used to get. I remember, when my mom was alive, she had visitors every single day. The whole day, somebody was with her. But once COVID hit, nobody could visit. We could do FaceTime once a week.

There are so many people in nursing homes now who have to do with FaceTime, with Zoom. I know how challenging it must be for them, and I want you to know that the minister is working night and day to make sure that we improve the situation. So are our health authorities, so that we can get back to the new normal. But we have a way to go yet. So let’s not give up.

But let’s take a look at some of the things we’ve got to look forward to. Yes, Christmas is coming. Hanukkah is coming. Other celebrations are coming. A new year is coming. I’m certainly hoping 2021 has many more highs than 2020 had and not as many lows.

As we’re looking into the new year, we know that around the holiday season, many people are going to be facing challenges. I’m so proud that the new minister, the new Finance Minister, is working very, very hard to make sure that the $1,000 that will help many middle-class and all families, working-class families — will help them. Will help them to get through some of the difficult times, some of the financial challenges they are having. We’re working very, very hard — and the minister is — to make sure that gets out to people. An announcement was made today where you can go in and apply and all of that.

So many amazing steps, changes have happened in the health care system. I’m always in awe when the minister…. I was going to say his name. Our Health Minister puts out the numbers for how many surgeries have taken place. And you know what? Kudos to every single British Columbian. It’s because you flattened the curve, you brought the numbers down, that those surgeries could restart, and we’ve had thousands upon thousands of surgeries done. We’re almost back to the pre-COVID days.

[2:10 p.m.]

If we now follow the protocols, and we manage to keep flattening the curve and bring that down, we will be able to continue those elective but so necessary surgeries that so many people have been waiting for.

My appeal to everybody…. I’m really happy this year that the throne speech was short, the reason being because it is on COVID. That’s where all our focus needs to be. That’s where every single MLA…. Whether in the Legislature or whether in the riding, we are going to have to put out that extra energy and extra time to connect with people to make sure that, as they go into the holiday season, they know the support systems that they have and we find a different way of making connections.

Connections become more important during this time. I’m finding myself writing far more cards by hand rather than sending them by Zoom or electronically, because this year I thought actually receiving a card or a letter and opening it is another form of connection.

I’m also going to urge every single one of us to think of those who are more needy in our communities. For those of you who are listening, if you can donate, this is a good time to be donating to the food banks or to your local churches or gurdwaras or masjids where they are doing food drives as well.

You know what? I’m always impressed with the generosity of folks. And I am so impressed by our faith community. Whether it’s been the synagogue, whether it’s been the church, whether it’s been our gurdwara, whether it’s been a masjid, whatever kind of a religious place it has been, the religious community, the faith community has stepped forward to help and to support. So thank you to each and every one of you.

As I finish off this speech, and as I look into the next few weeks, I know that, like many of you, I’m going to be going through some emotional challenges as well. It is very, very difficult to think I’m not going to be holding and hugging my little Alliya. I’m not going to be there when she opens up her Christmas present. I’m not going to be there to see the joy in her face, in person, that she will have when she comes down and sees her Christmas stocking.

But you know something? This is the new normal. This is for this year. So what I’m going to be doing is, I’m going to be up extra early. I’m going to be connected to my Zoom. And guess what. I’m going to make sure that I get to enjoy every single moment of time with Alliya, even though it is distant.

So once again, thank you to my constituents in Surrey-Panorama, for those who voted for me. And for those who did not, they need to know that I am everybody’s MLA. My office is at 144 Street and 64 Avenue. We are here, and we are here to support you. So please have a safe and happy holiday.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Member. Just a reminder that we don’t use proper names in the House, just the person’s title or their riding.

Member for Prince George–Mackenzie, please.

M. Morris: Thank you, Speaker. Congratulations on your appointment as Deputy Speaker.

Just before I start with my reply to the throne speech, I’d just like to thank the Clerk and all your staff for the hard work that you’ve done this year. The Third Party Leader summed it up quite well when she spoke about the earlier throne speech and the building under siege at the time, and then a multitude of issues, including COVID this past while. So my hat’s off to you and your staff and everybody else that works in the building here. You’ve done an outstanding job.

You know, the throne speech lays the track work for the future of British Columbia. This one is only the future as far as you can throw a stone down the road, in hopes that we will get through the COVID era that we’re in right now.

I go back to a comment that I saw. There were several comments, actually, in the opening segment of the throne speech, but one comment in particular that caught my attention is that they say: “We did not choose the challenge of COVID-19, but we are meeting it.”

[2:15 p.m.]

I have to ask. How? How is it being met? Is it being met by abandoning British Columbians at a time of their greatest need? We haven’t had any other crisis like this descend upon the world since the great wars of the past.

It was at a time when government, prior to this unwarranted snap election, enjoyed the support and cooperation of all parties in this House, as was referenced by the Leader of the Third Party when she was making her address here a short while ago.

I think it was an opportunity, perhaps, to take advantage of every single British Columbian who was focused on the tragedies around COVID and the issues from the worldwide pandemic. They didn’t want an election. They weren’t focused on an election. They were focused on the welfare of their family. They were focused on trying to work. They were focused on trying to avoid getting COVID. They were focused on their loved ones that were sequestered in seniors homes and long-term-care homes throughout the province here, throughout the country.

I think they also took advantage of the outstanding leadership provided by our provincial health officer, who, with the great suggestions, the work of her staff, was able to bend that curve at the outset of COVID and have some of the best COVID-related statistics, if you want to put it that way, in the country. All eyes were on British Columbia at that particular time, due to the outstanding leadership exhibited by the provincial health officer. I want to thank her and her staff for the outstanding work that they’ve done throughout this very trying period.

Had government not abandoned their post, had government stayed and done the work that British Columbians expected them to provide during this turbid time, British Columbians would already have received their $1,000 COVID relief cheque and the other supports that this government spoke about after the first throne speech. There wouldn’t have been this two-month period of no government — nobody at the helm, nobody steering the ship for two months during one of the worst crises this province has seen, this country has seen, this world has seen in decades.

During this period of time, since the election, COVID cases have multiplied exponentially and stress levels multiplied exponentially amongst all the citizens of British Columbia. COVID-related death rates climbed at an alarming rate. Women and men lost their jobs. More women and men will be losing their jobs. Stress on how they’re going to make that next mortgage payment, how they’re going to feed their families, how they’re going to look after their families. Parents are stressed as their children attend schools, overtaken with this rapid rise in COVID cases throughout our communities. And as I mentioned, families have been torn apart by loved ones sequestered in our seniors care facilities.

Now, I have to say that government sets the example. When government says it’s okay to take this drug, then the people know that it’s safe. When government says it’s okay to drive on our highways at a certain speed, then people know that it’s safe to drive at that certain speed.

So how can government, on one hand, ask everyone to stay isolated over Christmas time — not to see their grandchildren, not to see their children, not to see their loved ones who are sequestered in the seniors care homes — when they themselves went ahead during this crisis, forced everybody to participate in an unnecessary election, forced Elections B.C. employees and volunteers to put themselves out there in the public to risk contracting COVID during this escalating time?

[2:20 p.m.]

It is a poor example of modelling leadership in this pro­vince. It’s something that the public is very much aware of. I think our colleague from the Green Party was right when she said this government has a tremendous job ahead of it to re-instill the trust of the people of this province, to re-instill the fact that people can count on this government to be there when they’re most needed at a specific crisis.

COVID, because it spreads so exponentially throughout the province, has had a devastating effect on our public institutions. Our health care institutions are at capacity and have been at capacity for a long time now. Our front-end nurses are stressed. Many of them have contacted COVID over the past nine months. Our social services, our people that deal with children and families, the folks that deal with the down-and-outers, the people that deal with the people that live on the street…. They have no idea that they may have COVID or they won’t have COVID, and these people are coming and going into their offices on a regular basis.

An example I have in my area in Prince George. There was a number — I believe it was 12 or 16 — of individuals that lived on the street that were tested positive for COVID. They were placed into a B.C. Housing complex. There’s another agency that has gone above and beyond to help house British Columbians, and they’re put right in the front line of this pandemic by doing that.

Nobody was looking after these individuals, and they came and went at will. They travelled to outlying communities. Some of them went to a local pharmacy to pick up their opiate prescription that had been provided them free of charge by the province. Who knows the contact that they may have encountered during these little side trips they had?

Police. I’ve got two sons in the RCMP who deal with the downtown element, who deal with these individuals that couldn’t care less about COVID, that don’t wear a mask, that don’t quarantine, that don’t pay attention to social distancing. Yet the police are the ones that have to respond to them, along with social services, along with B.C. Housing and along with our paramedics.

Our paramedics are already stressed and overworked when we look at the opiate crisis that we’ve been en­coun­tering this last number of years. Now we add this on top of that, and government chose to abandon ship for two months while they went through this unnecessary election.

There is confusion over roles and responsibilities when it comes to some of our public institutions as to who’s responsible for what. That needs to be clarified.

The other issue that just had scant mention in the opening comments of the throne speech is the opiate crisis that we’ve been in now for quite some time. It was our government that declared a health emergency back in 2016 to deal with that, and it’s exploded since that particular time. Recent statistics indicate that the death rate has climbed. The death rate far surpasses the death rate from COVID.

Eighty percent of non-prescribed opiate overdose deaths in B.C. are due to fentanyl or fentanyl analogue. Fentanyl, contrary to what many people in British Columbia think, has become the drug of choice. It is so highly addictive, it’s what the drug addicts — those who are addicted to it — look for on a regular basis.

[2:25 p.m.]

I bring up a story of a longtime family friend, a couple that stood up with my wife and I when we got married 42 years ago. They had sons, and I had sons, and our children associated with each other over the years. Their youngest son passed away from a fentanyl overdose a couple of years ago. But he had overdosed before that as well.

I met with him. He’d spent several weeks in hospital recuperating from that first fentanyl overdose. I asked him: “Why do you chance taking fentanyl-laced drugs? Don’t you know that it may kill you?” Then he said…. A very polite young man. Well, he was in his early thirties. He worked in a mining camp. He reflected the statistical data that the coroner has collected on the young men and that age group who have passed away from fentanyl overdoses.

“Mr. Morris,” he said, “there’s no high like it.” He said: “It is the best feeling that I’ve ever had and can ever have.” He was thoroughly addicted to that. We tried to talk with him. His parents talked to him. He had professional help. At the end of the day, he passed away from a fentanyl overdose.

Many are going through that same situation, yet this government abandoned ship on that issue as well. We have fentanyl deaths. We have opiate overdoses taking place right across this country but more so in British Columbia. We have the highest rate of death, in British Columbia, in all of Canada, yet the government abandoned their post and decided to have an election.

As we enter this era, this very short two-week session of parliament, as thousands upon thousands of people are losing their jobs, losing their incomes, losing their homes and can’t pay their mortgages, as thousands of businesses are on the verge of insolvency, all we can do is spend two weeks talking about a short bill? The bill is innocuous. I’ve got to study it some more to really understand what it says, but I didn’t really see too much in there. When people are deprived of their Christmas this year because government abandoned their post in October and November, this is the best we can do? I think we can do a heck of a lot better.

I will conclude my remarks with my frustration and displeasure over the shortness of the session and the limited types of things that we’re discussing during this session.

[S. Chandra Herbert in the chair.]

I look forward to another throne speech in 2021 where I’ll get a chance to talk about the things that are important for British Columbia. I look forward to the vision that the Premier and this government might be able to show British Columbians on what we’re going to do about biodiversity management, what we’re going to do about the opiate crisis and what we’re going to do about the overstressed institutions that we have in British Columbia and that our citizens rely on so much. With that, I’ll conclude my remarks.

J. Rice: I’m speaking today from the territory of the Tsimshian First Nations.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to the throne speech. The throne speech is an opportunity to outline the direction a government intends to take, and the focus of this B.C. NDP government is about making life better for people by supporting them through this global pandemic.

Right now, more than ever, I want to acknowledge the extraordinary times we’re in, the hardship that the pandemic has placed on people and, sadly, those that we have lost to COVID-19. I also want to acknowledge the commitment and courage of health care and other front-line workers that have helped to keep us safe. To the pharmacists, pharmacy clerks and grocery store clerks, and to the truck drivers, warehouse and delivery workers, and to the farmers, retailers, teachers and teachers assistants, a heartfelt and an immense thank-you.

[2:30 p.m.]

I also want to acknowledge another pandemic that has played out alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, often with less media attention. This is the overdose crisis. The overdose crisis in British Columbia and throughout other jurisdictions has taken way too many lives. A toxic drug supply is further exacerbated by this pandemic. We have made significant investments to help those using drugs to access a safer drug supply, and I encourage people to reach out and seek help if they need it.

I want to take a moment to also thank the people of North Coast for once again choosing me as their representative in the B.C. Legislature. It is my pleasure and my challenge to bring the issues of those in Prince Rupert, Haida Gwaii and all of the communities in between to the Central Coast to Victoria. Each and every day I endeavour to be a voice for rural, remote and Indigenous communities.

Thank you to my election campaign team of volunteers, led by my campaign manager, Ella Champion. Thank you to my constituency assistants Joshua McLeod, who is currently on parental leave with his third child, and Ben Tassell, who is carrying the load right now.

Of course, thank to my wife, Andrea Wilmot, who supports me in the work I do and who is home raising our child, who turned one year old yesterday. Also, thank you to Andrea for taking Lu̓á to get his immunizations a few moments ago so I don’t have to see him cry.

I recognize the unique challenges currently faced by many of my constituents. The challenge of being a ferry-dependent community — such as those on Haida Gwaii, in Klemtu, Bella Bella, Bella Coola and others — further compounds the effects of COVID-19. The challenge of being a First Nations community that is culturally based on being together in groups in birth and in death and in many other celebrations — I acknowledge how hard it is to be together by being apart right now.

To the small and tourism businesses in Prince Rupert, Haida Gwaii and the Bella Coola Valley who are struggling to stay afloat, I commend you for your creativity and innovation to get through this global pandemic.

When COVID first arrived in B.C., our government took swift action to protect people, including addressing risks in long-term-care facilities by limiting workers to one facility. We accomplished that by levelling up the pay rate of care workers so that they weren’t forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. We secured large amounts of personal protective equipment for our front-line workers. We worked with public health officials to implement a strategy for strategic testing and contact tracing. Since then, we’ve hired thousands of new health care workers and contact tracers.

Right now we are preparing for how to distribute a vaccine quickly and safely, beginning with those most at risk.

We’ve also supported people financially during the pandemic with a $1,000 emergency benefit, temporary rent relief, protection from the threat of eviction and crisis supplements to people on disability and income assistance, to name a few.

To protect jobs, we helped businesses through property tax cuts, deferred tax payments and the B.C. Hydro rate relief.

The best economic recovery strategy is a healthy people strategy. We are focusing on keeping people safe now so that we can work on a recovery as a province. This fall we released our economic recovery plan, which is already supporting eligible businesses. Our recovery will be guided by this government’s core principles, including climate action and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

We will move ahead with a new health care plan based on three main goals: faster care, care closer to home and more personalized care. This will include adding more MRI machines in high-demand areas; training, recruiting [audio interrupted] more skilled health care professionals; delivering ten more community-based urgent primary care centres in more communities; and building and modernizing hospitals.

We will expand primary care networks, refocus on rural health care and work to hire a workforce that better represents the communities it serves. We will continue to make investments to deliver better care for seniors and work towards improved stability and safety for long-term-care workers.

We will continue to expand child care and early learning to create jobs, stimulate the economy and make sure children can have the best possible start in life. We have and we will be providing millions to child care providers, school boards and health authorities to help them deliver COVID-safe care and renovations to create more spaces.

[2:35 p.m.]

Our government will be there to support British Columbians for the long haul. We will continue to listen to the public health officials, help our front-line workers, and support families and businesses. We’re looking out for people through this pandemic. We’re investing in health care and seniors care to protect people and fight COVID-19. We’re building a recovery that includes everyone and not just those at the top.

We’ve come a long, long ways together, but there’s so much more to do. Together, we will get through this.

R. Merrifield: It’s a great honour to be recognized in this chamber for the first time as the member for Kelowna-Mission. I didn’t know exactly what I would feel being in this House, but it’s definitely humbling, and I definitely feel very, very honoured to represent my incredible community.

When I first came to the Okanagan, I fell in love with its beauty, the incredible spirit of the people, the richness of its heritage and culture and the work ethic of the community to become more, to get ahead, but also to contribute back. Today I commit to every member of my community to be worthy of the incredible spirit that they are and the incredible trust that they have placed in me. I also wish to extend congratulations to all of those elected, especially to the newbies just like me. May we work together to do great things for the people of B.C.

I also want to acknowledge one of the hardest-working predecessors one could ask for: the Hon. Steve Thomson. His dedication, years of service and exceptional character have given me an extraordinary example to live up to. In fact, he was one of the first ones to text me after QP this morning.

I would also like to thank the many volunteers, my riding association and especially my campaign manager, Rob Murphy, who supported me during my campaign.

But I wouldn’t be here without my family. My partner in life, Carlos — your support means the world to me.

To my kids — Mikhail, Zovya and Damek — you have taught me so much about life and made my heart burst with love.

And to my stepkids: thank you, Austin and Connor, for letting me into your hearts.

I love you all more than life itself.

And to my almost in-laws, who are watching today, Jack and Olinda, in your 80s, I wish we could see you this Christmas.

To my siblings and parents, you have been my greatest allies, my constructive critics and my teachers every step of the way. I am forever grateful. You are each incredible powerhouses, and I thank you for showing me entrepreneurial spirit coupled with extreme generosity. Mom and Dad, you were the ones who taught us to do that. A pastor and a teacher, you had passion for learning, becoming and giving away. If only each MLA in this House were lucky enough to have you as parents. I count myself nothing less than blessed to have been chosen to be your daughter.

I also want to thank the strong women who have been my examples, who have championed me, encouraged me and given me shoes to fill and shoulders to stand on. You have blazed a path that I am honoured to follow. Thank you for all of those firsts and for making it easier to follow behind. An exceptional and extraordinary thank-you to the interim Leader of the Opposition for being an incredible inspiration, leader and champion for us all. I hope to make you proud and honour your path.

I ran for election to make a difference, as I’m sure that we all did. I believe in people, in our ability to change, grow and evolve. I believe that we are able to create and innovate. This great chamber is the cumulative effect of who we are together, and the changes we make are relative to how well we work together with that possibility. I believe in this assembly, and I hear the echoes of every vote. I believe that our core responsibility as government is to positively affect the people of B.C., and we have work to do.

[2:40 p.m.]

Take farming. The farmers in my constituency are frustrated. Confounded by a layering effect, they are subject to rules and regulations from three different layers of government. One of the farmers I met with recently told me of 12 different, separate inspections that occurred relative to their workers. When I asked other farmers about this, he was not exceptional.

One of the inspections, actually, from one provincial office started as the previous one had not yet finished. When I asked why they could not be done together, he said: “Oh, I asked them that, and they responded, ‘That would be a good idea, but we don’t do that.’” When we add complexity, time and cost to an already burdened industry, without affecting the outcome, that is nothing more than bureaucracy. Where were the farmers in the throne speech?

Also at issue is the lack of housing affordability. Prices have continued to escalate and are the highest in history. Despite the construction of new, purpose-built rentals in my riding, the vacancy rate remains at just under 1.5 percent, with the highest rental rates ever. Housing has never cost more than it does today.

Recently I got together with a group of university students. I asked questions about what they experienced and about how we as government could make it better. Their response to me? “I don’t care what party you are from. Nobody understands what we’re going through and how expensive it is for us to just live today. Own homes? We’ll never own our own homes.”

But when you discuss this price escalation with developers and builders, their own margins are being squeezed by the increasing costs of supplies and labour, in addition to increased taxation, municipal fees. Then there are time frames that are absolutely elongated, just to name a few.

In the throne speech, a reference was made to protection from the threat of eviction. Well, how is this being followed up or not abused? Have we considered what effect this might have on rentals in the long term or what effect this might have on landlords who have everything they own in mortgages trying to make ends meet?

As I was door-knocking, one of the constituents added that he had sold all of his purpose-built rental buildings as he no longer felt he had rights as a landlord and was going to go bankrupt as he wasn’t able to pay his mortgages under COVID-19. Government needs to take these concerns seriously. We need to find a solution for the next generation. Housing isn’t just for the next generation. Housing is for all. Housing is for seniors, for families, for singles, for young adults. It should be available for every British Columbian.

How can we make housing more affordable? How can we get more creative? How can we make sure that we have housing options for all? What we’re doing isn’t working. We need to do more, and we need to do it differently.

Another issue relates to our seniors. I have a higher number of seniors in my riding than some others. They’re lonely. They’re scared. Seniors want to live in their homes. They want to be close to those they love. Studies have shown that the best health outcomes in life are found in the context of relationships rather than simply care. We need to increase the amount of seniors community care to make sure that seniors can live in their homes for longer. Great community care allows seniors to be closer to their loved ones. They want to be healthy and active, living long and meaningful lives. Holistic treatment coupled with quarterbacked community care allows them this dignity.

Then there’s Ellie. I first met Ellie with her mom at a vegetable market. She came up and asked if she could ask me a few questions about what I thought on certain issues. She went on to ask me what I planned to do about the people downtown that don’t have anywhere to go but that make her feel afraid sometimes. She told me about how she knows that they need love, but how hard it is.

Ellie is ten years old, but Ellie’s not alone. Many in our community are wondering how to deal with homelessness that is no longer in isolated areas in the city but much more prolific. What we are doing isn’t working. We need greater wraparound services to truly treat those with systemic and perpetual issues.

[2:45 p.m.]

Then there’s COVID. Frustration, confusion, fear, depression, anger — those are but a few of the emotions that are swirling. There seems to be a lack of information and a lack of transparency. Parents want to be able to make good decisions for the safety of their children, but without data, we are not able to make good decisions.

We need to be thinking about the ways that this pandemic is affecting everyone in our province — the family that hasn’t seen their loved one in hospice since May, the parent who is taking time off work because their child has to isolate after exposure at school, the exhausted first responders and front-line workers who are having to use absolutely extraneous PPE to do their jobs, the people lonely, isolated and alone through the holiday season when suicide rates and depression are at an all-time high, the business owner who doesn’t know if they can keep going, the businesses that are working to react and adapt to changing guidelines weekly, if not daily.

Our already burdened communities are desperate for answers. They are adjusting and readjusting to make sure that they’re following the current public health orders. Where is the help for all of them?

The throne speech falls short in how it supports those that have lives and livelihoods depending on them. We don’t have an economic plan forward. Where is the help for the business owners? I have businesses in my riding that will go bankrupt. They won’t be here next month or next quarter, and hundreds of employees will lose their jobs. What do we do then? What is our relief plan for those that supply important and valuable jobs in our communities and ridings?

When I first started my business, things went really well, probably too well. But then the great recession hit. Immediately, I was thrown into a tailspin. When my daughter, who was only seven at the time, asked me what my job was, I answered her: “Every day I go to work, and I feed a hundred families.” That was the burden I felt. That was the responsibility I wore. I knew that if I went bankrupt, it would set into motion others that would not be able to pay their staff, ones that wouldn’t be able to survive themselves, causing a rippling effect of disaster. Where are they being heard today?

In the Okanagan, 65 percent of those employed are employed by small business. How are we going to support 65 percent of the employees in the Kelowna-Mission riding? It’s not about a one-time handout. It’s about an economic plan forward. How do we prevent an avalanche of bankruptcies and businesses simply closing their doors?

When I read the throne speech, I read it again. What are we going to do? We’re going to ask businesses to invest more dollars just to get the PST off? That’s akin to buying something you don’t have money for. How is that going to help? Have businesses hire more people when they don’t know how to make the next payroll cheques?

We need an economic plan now, not in four months, not in a year, and it needs to be real and make sense. Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind. In the absence of effective communication, anxiety grows.

We know that we have rapid tests, but we have not been told how or when they’re going to be used, yet the seniors care facilities are begging for them. The tourism industry is asking for them. The schools are asking for them. If this is how we’re communicating with respect to COVID, what is it going to look like once we actually have the vaccine?

I want to talk about all of the amazing aspects of my Kelowna-Mission riding, but right now COVID dominates my conversations with people. It dominates their thoughts. It dominates their fears right now. When looking at our response to COVID-19, I’m prompted to ask the question: why aren’t we more focused on supporting those that are the hardest hit by this pandemic?

[2:50 p.m.]

The economists have shown us that this pandemic, more than the great recession, has created a far greater positive effect on some industries — think Amazon, Shopify, Netflix, Google, Walmart, Costco, Loblaws, high-wage earners, salaried personnel — and a vastly negative effect on others. Think boutiques, small shops, small enterprises, services, lower-earners, women, Indigenous, mi­nor­ities. Why are the dollars in the throne speech not more targeted to those that need it most?

What COVID has shown us is true about health care universally. It affects everything, and it is all interconnected. The mental health of our teens, the way we care for our seniors, how our children are taught and cared for, the disease that we are able to prevent with great family care — the outcomes of all of these aspects are simply better when we put patients — but, moreover, people — first in our health care system.

People before costs. People before bureaucracy. People before unions. People before profits. People before…. Well, before they have to become patients. Preventative medicine for the whole person. Spending precious dollars where they can be of most use and before acute care is necessary.

What we are learning is that health is not just about doctors and nurses and hospitals, but the preventative work that can be done by psychologists, physiotherapists, exercise, etc., in schools, clinics, gyms, workshops, wellness centres and campuses of care. Add nurses — great. But where is the whole patient in the plan? How are we, as government, supporting people? Where is preventative medicine?

I don’t want an MRI. I don’t want to need a new MRI machine. I want a health care plan that prevents me from ever requiring an MRI. We need a completely new approach to how health is delivered and to what outcomes we measure.

We need technological advances to give us better data and information so we can treat patients to a higher level. We need fully integrated care with care quarterbacks to make sure that things are not missed — that we have advocates.

We need campuses of care, where the whole person is seen, the whole person is treated, where cultural differences can be recognized. Not just for some, but for all. Where preventative is valued as highly as treatment, and the work done on mental and emotional care is as important as the physical. We need more health care professionals that can advocate for patients and deliver the absolute best care possible, not just more nurses.

If we want to be the best in health care and deliver the best outcomes, we need to make sure that every dollar is spent wisely and going where it should be. We also need to be figuring out the business of health care. How can we make our dollars go farther or capture dollars for the residents of B.C.? Our outcomes are slipping, and we are not creating a system where the absolute best care is possible. We need to breathe sustainability into our health care system and make sure that it is properly utilizing the public resources in meeting every patient’s needs.

McKinsey and Co. just released a report on how governments can build more resilient societies coming out of COVID-19. The top of the list was health care. It did not say: “Do more of the same.” Rather, it stated that in order to build a more resilient society, health must be delivered differently. We must deliver it through technology and reimagine our health care system. “The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all stakeholders in the health care system. Examples of effective responses to this crisis abound, such as using digital technology…to meet the surge in demand and navigate the road to recovery. Governments can unlock the potential in the digital and telehealth sector to make sure these services are the first choice for patients and globally accessible.”

We need to reimagine what health care can look like and how to deliver more efficient services in a timelier fashion. We can do better. We can do better together. Together, we can achieve great things.

[2:55 p.m.]

Some would say that I’m a dreamer, Pollyanna, idealistic. I would say a resounding yes to all of those things. I am a woman who believes wholeheartedly in the Okanagan Valley, in the entrepreneurial spirit that exists there and in the collaborative nature of who we are. I believe that we are innovative together and capable of altering the trajectory of future generations positively.

I believe the Okanagan is a somewhat living laboratory for innovation and progress, for collaboration and for the pursuit of solutions to problems. I don’t believe for one minute that there isn’t enough for everyone, or that if someone wins, then someone else has to lose. I don’t believe that in order for one industry to thrive, another must suffer.

In fact, I believe — and it’s been proven — that a rising tide lifts all boats. It’s time to do away with either-or conversations, and it’s time to let the tide come in. It’s time to start finding the interrelatedness, the interconnectedness and the absolute interdependence of this House and our worlds.

I believe in who each of you are and why you have been elected. I believe that we can do great things in positive ways for this session together. For the sake of the next generation, for my constituents and for the future of B.C., I will work in this constructive manner on all issues with everyone in this chamber.

I see my role as Health critic as imperative to achieving the best outcomes for all British Columbians. You see, the opposition has a vital role to play in formulating policy. All British Columbians deserve a voice. The late Rt. Hon. John Diefenbaker once described the role of opposition as the detergent of democracy. The people of B.C. deserve openness and transparency, as only when you have that can you truly have accountability. I plan on being the best detergent for government possible.

In concluding my remarks today, hon. Speaker, I thank you for allowing me this time and consideration.

Deputy Speaker: Recognizing the member for Vancouver-Hastings.

N. Sharma: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I just want to congratulate you on your election. It’s nice to see you up there.

As this is my first time addressing the House, I wanted to start by first of all acknowledging that I’m on the unceded lands of the Skwxwú7mesh, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam people, and I pay my respects.

I’d also like to thank the people of Vancouver-Hastings for putting their trust in me. I’m so grateful, and I promise to work hard on your behalf.

I want to thank, in particular, Ali Hassam, Yogi Omar and Ann Vavrick from my campaign team; the members of my EPC; and the sign crew. All of you put so much of your effort into my campaign, and I wouldn’t be here without you.

I’d like to thank my family for their support throughout — my partner, Franck, and my two children, Shyam and Mira. I’m so grateful for your love and support. To my parents, Dharm pal and Saroj Sharma, who raised four girls in Sparwood, B.C. and taught us countless lessons on how to be good people and give back to your community: I’m so grateful for you.

In reply in support of the throne speech, I offer the following comments. I’d like to start by saying that the throne speech was focused on what is top of mind to every British Columbian today, and that’s COVID-19 — where we are in the world, where we are in the country and where we are in the province. This year has been unprecedented. It’s a word that we have used far too often to express the actions that we’ve had to take as British Columbians, and our government has had to take, to protect each other and to save lives.

I want to acknowledge the hard work of Minister Dix, Dr. Henry and all of the front-line workers and the sacrifices that so many have made to fight COVID-19, to keep us fed, to keep us safe and to keep us healthy.

[3:00 p.m.]

We also mourn the loss of over 500 people who’ve been lost due to this terrible virus and who have lost their lives due to the poisoned drug supply in the opioid crisis.

Over the last few months, our government has taken swift and decisive action to respond to the health crisis that we find ourselves in. It hasn’t been easy, and I know that it’s taken a toll on a lot of people out there in our province. As we are in the midst of the second wave, we will remain focused on meeting the challenges faced by this pandemic. This includes investing in health care systems and the workers that make up the front line of our efforts, making investments in hiring people that are needed, like contact tracers and front-line workers and all those people out there that keep us safe.

I hear from many people who are in a situation like I’m in who worry about the health care needs of their parents, especially parents like my own, who live in a small community in the province. I’m proud of the commitment of our investment in achieving three things in the health care system — faster care, care that is closer to home and focusing on rural health. I couldn’t be more grateful for my parents and all the people that I know that come from the small town that I do.

Our elders are beloved members of our families, and we all hold them dear, and addressing the urgent needs of seniors has been so welcome for many. I know that there’s still so much to do and work to keep them safe as we hit our second wave of the pandemic and we move towards delivering the vaccine.

I’ve heard from so many people about how challenging these times are, especially during the holiday season. I know that many are disappointed that the public health restrictions will mean that we cannot meet in person with the loved ones that we have and want to hug and spend the holidays with and that many businesses, especially small businesses, are worried about what the next month will bring.

I want to say that I’m proud of my community of Vancouver-Hastings, who stood together over this year and helped each other, just like we always do. We do our best to support our local small businesses that are so vital to our community. We help support our neighbours in need, like the student council at Templeton School that started a virtual food drive and has raised close to $8,000 already for the greater Vancouver food bank. And I know that even though we’ll be socially distanced this holiday season, the lights on Trinity Street will be shining brighter this year.

Our government has taken action to support people and businesses throughout this pandemic, and it was clear from the throne speech that our focus will remain on the side of people throughout this pandemic with the recovery benefit, which will provide direct financial support to so many British Columbians. I know that will help families with that extra support that they need during this challenging time. We will work to deliver further supports to help businesses, like support for new hires and helping thousands to upscale or rescale to find in-demand jobs in a post-COVID economy.

In my riding, there’s a high number of renters, and I hear from them about the need for support, especially during these times. The ban on evictions during the pandemic made a real difference, and I know the rent freeze will continue to make a real difference for them in the monthly challenges that they face, not only during this pandemic but just to be a renter in a very expensive city.

We can all have hope that as we move towards the distribution of the vaccine and see the end of this pandemic, that a brighter future is on the way, one that will include being able to hug our loved ones. As we work hard to lift ourselves out of the pandemic, this government, I know, will be focused on helping all of us get there and being on the side of all the people in British Columbia.

I have the privilege of being appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development and Non-Profits. By my appointment, Premier Horgan has acknowledged the importance of the non-profit sector to B.C., and I have been hearing directly from non-profits across the province, since the news of the appointment, about how glad they are to see this role in government.

In my mandate letter, the Premier has asked that I work to ensure that charitable organizations and the non-profit sector are engaged and supported through the pandemic and its recovery and to support the sector by acting as an advocate and a key point of contact within government. The non-profit sector has played such a large role in my life. I’ve managed programs, worked and volunteered with non-profits since I was a teenager.

[3:05 p.m.]

In this province, there are over 86,000 people who are employed in the non-profit sector. This sector has risen to the challenge to meet the needs of the community during the pandemic. They are made up of community leaders who contribute greatly to our economy and our communities. Their work helps us meet the challenges our society faces today and build resilient communities.

Over the next little while, as we work to develop the work plan of this new role, I look forward to connecting with community leaders and organizations across this province. I will work hard to build, to strengthen, the relationship between the non-profit sector and this government and advocate for the needs of government.

As we enter the holiday season, I just wanted to encourage all the people that can to give what you can to your local non-profit. Whether it’s time through social distance volunteering, of course, or financial donations. I know, and I’ve heard from so many, that they need it now more than ever.

The throne speech also talked about child care. The Lieutenant-Governor said the following about child care: “Expanding child care and early learning is another strong economic development policy. By creating jobs and allowing more parents to go to work, it counts as strategic economic infrastructure, every bit as important as roads and highways.” I just want to reiterate that phrase about strategic economic infrastructure in child care. I think this is so key to understanding the impact that a universal child care system will have on families across B.C.

Over the past few years, our government has invested in building a universal child care system, and this is under the leadership of Minister Katrina Chen. I was so happy to see in the throne speech our further commitment to investing in child care as a vital thing for all British Columbian families. We will commit to investing in school boards and health authorities to provide the type of child care that exists in public buildings that will help to grow our system.

I know firsthand having two kids, one of whom is in child care, the toll that child care has on families when you can’t find it, when you can’t afford it and when it’s not in your community. I know there’s more work to do. I’m very proud of that commitment in government to build a new social program for B.C. families.

Our government has also highlighted, not only in its core principles but also in the throne speech, that everything that we do and every action that we take has to include climate action and reconciliation with Indigenous people. This government has recognized that we are in a climate crisis, and the actions that we take today will ensure that our children will have a stable future. Just as we listened to the science to respond to COVID, we know that we need to respond to the science on climate change.

I am grateful for the strong leadership of Minister Heyman, and I look forward to the government’s commitment to climate action in all that we do. I am proud that it was in every mandate letter that the Premier wrote to all of cabinet.

Also reconciliation with Indigenous people. All the work we do and everything that we do to show up in this House has to recognize the terrible history of colonization to Indigenous people of our communities. Lasting and meaningful reconciliation is a core value of this government and a core commitment. But it’s also an ongoing process and a shared responsibility for all of us.

Although there has been some work that we’ve done in the past government, I know that we have a lot more work to do. I know that our government has a commitment — not only individually but across every ministry — to remain focused on creating opportunities for Indigenous people to be full partners in our economy and providing a clear and sustainable path for everybody towards lasting reconciliation. This is a commitment that I am proud to do my best to uphold in all the work that I do and all the work that we do as members of this House.

With the appointment of Parliamentary Secretary Rachna Singh, with the portfolio of….

Deputy Speaker: Sorry, Member.

If I might just remind members, please, to not use members’ names. The member can use the title or the riding name in its place. Thank you.

N. Sharma: Okay. Sorry about that. With the appointment of Parliamentary Secretary Singh — is that okay?

Deputy Speaker: The Member for Surrey–Green Timbers would be more appropriate, I believe.

[3:10 p.m.]

N. Sharma: Okay. With the appointment of the Member for Surrey–Green Timbers, with a portfolio of anti-racism initiatives, and the inclusion of the goal of equity and anti-racism across government, we have shown our commitment to do real work to be anti-racist by clearly showing that our government has a moral and ethical responsibility to tackle systemic discrimination in all of its forms and that every ministry has a role in this work.

This is something that I am very proud to contribute to in any way that I can in my role representing Vancouver-Hastings. I know that delivering on this commitment will mean that we all need to do the work in the decisions that we make as government. I’m looking forward to working with everybody to do that.

In closing, I would like to say that I am so fortunate to have a great team in my constituency office, with Amelia Hill and Yogi Omar hard at work. I’m grateful for their energy and commitment to the community that we serve. We’ll be working hard to represent Vancouver-Hastings and help an already strong and resilient community to make it through these challenging times.

I appreciate the ability to make these comments, and I thank you for your time.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you very much, Member. Sorry for interrupting.

Just to clarify for all members that the practice in this House is that we use the title of the constituency, as opposed to first names, or the title of the ministry or parliamentary secretary in this case. Thank you very much.

B. Banman: It is indeed an honour to have the opportunity to respond to the Speech from the Throne. Like many of my colleagues, this is a first for me. As a new MLA, it is endlessly exciting to take part in the goings on of the legislative precinct — albeit not, of course, in person, but via Zoom. We do live in interesting times.

I would like to formally introduce myself to you all. I am Bruce Banman, MLA for Abbotsford South, and I would be remiss if I did not mention that it includes Aldergrove.

Today I would like to take this time to not only respond to the plan that government has laid out in this mini-session but to share with you all some of what makes my riding and the city of Abbotsford the gem of the Fraser Valley.

I would like to thank the people in my riding for their votes and their confidence in my taking on this role. I would also like to thank my family, extended family, friends and supporters who have all helped me get to where I am now. I will not forget where I came from.

I have lived in the Fraser Valley my entire life. I grew up just up the street in Chilliwack. I moved to Abbotsford in 1982, and I have served this city in many capacities. I’m proud to say that I served as a waiter while I worked my way through university. I worked my way through university and came back to this city to become and serve as a chiropractor for many years.

Politically, I served as the mayor of Abbotsford, as well as on city council, and I am incredibly honoured to complete that trinity of community representation by now being an MLA. This is a city that is near and dear to me, and it deserves to be celebrated and have its splendour acknowledged.

Before I touch on what makes my riding so great, I want to respond to what was laid out yesterday in the throne speech. Though I am new to this, one thing was abundantly clear: there was not much to report from the throne speech yesterday. It read like a pat on the back for the NDP, a self-congratulatory note on what they did over the last nine months and, with that, an acknowledgment of an election promise that the NDP made, doling out millions and millions in taxpayer dollars this holiday season.

[3:15 p.m.]

What I failed to hear was any talk of stimulating the economy or business in any form. Where is the plan for hundreds and hundreds of businesses that have been pleading for some more support for months? They’ve been pleading for it for months on end, with no clear timeline for support. I heard a lot of “this is what the government has done,” but no outline of what the government will be doing.

As for my role as critic of Citizens’ Services, there was not a single mention of some of the crucial issues that this ministry touches on. There was no mention of increasing connectivity or broadband throughout the province. This issue is incredibly relevant, and it’s important now more than ever. Employees and students are doing their best work to learn and work from home throughout this pandemic, and ensuring that every single British Columbian has access to high-speed Internet is paramount.

This is not an issue that should be or can be delayed. Frankly, it should have been part of the focus of supports, over the last nine months, to think that there are in fact people in this province that are being left out in the cold in the dark of winter, unconnected, as people are forced to work from home. They need to be able to connect to vital health care meetings, order and gather supplies, continue their education and work from home. This needs to be a focus. It needs to be a priority.

I was surprised and disheartened to see that there was no mention of FOI or freedom-of-information reform in the minister’s mandate letter. This shows a lack of follow-through and is another example of this government saying one thing and acting in another way.

The Premier himself has recently said that political-party freedom-of-information requests are not important. Let me read that again. The Premier himself has recently said that political-party FOI requests are not important. This is, of course, inherently hypocritical, given his time in opposition, but worrisome to the operations of our very parliamentary system.

Our role in opposition is to ask the tough questions on behalf of the public, and also asking for and disseminating that said information. The public has a right. If we are stopped from digging into the critical issues and working to support the needs of the public, then, quite frankly, this government is out of line.

I hope that in the coming months and as we near the spring session — which by all accounts shall be far later in the year than is normally customary — the government will have time to reflect, realize they are out of step and out of line, and create some movement on this. I know that in my job as critic I will continue to canvass these issues.

I also, of course, want to send my heartfelt sympathy to all British Columbians that have lost loved ones and face severe challenges due to COVID-19.

[3:20 p.m.]

I know that the news of yesterday, the restrictions running through the holidays, was hard to stomach for many of us. I think back, as I explained to my wife yesterday, to how our grandchildren and family could not share Christmas with us, even though they live minutes away. It did not go over well. There was no joy in Mudville in my house, but as hard as it is, I know that we will all get through this.

I refuse to believe and accept that this is our new normal. I choose to think — to the words of Dr. Henry — that this is not forever. It’s just for now. We will get through this. As hard and as painful as this may be right now, it’s what we need to do. I would encourage everyone in British Columbia to take heed to those words. We will get through this. We are all facing this pandemic in our own way, and what is most important is keeping the holiday spirit and cheer in place, even though this year it may be difficult to do and it will be very, very different than in years gone by.

As this is my first time taking part in this process and virtually standing here in the Legislature, I would like to take some time to speak about Abbotsford and what makes it so incredibly special. First and foremost, as many of you may know or have personally experienced via gridlock, Abbotsford is home to one of the most badly needed highway upgrades in the province. Highway No. 1 is a vital part of the food-and-supply chain of not only the region but our country.

From the Port of Vancouver and Point Roberts, goods from across the Pacific are brought in and then shipped east to the rest of the country. As it stands, the most widely used transportation line for many of these goods is Highway No. 1. I would challenge you to get through the valley without using it. And one of the most congested portions of this particular Highway No. 1 is the very stretch that runs through Abbotsford. We have badly needed a sizeable upgrade to this highway for years, and I hope that this will be part of this government’s transportation infrastructure plan. We have reached the tipping point. Something needs to be done.

I know that this shortened winter session will not touch on much, aside from this one piece of legislation, which is, frankly, disheartening, given all of the work that is needed through this province. The expansion of the No. 1 freeway needs to be looked at and expanded. Transportation through this corridor is vital.

On the topic of transportation, it is a dire need for a rail or rapid transit system to connect Metro Vancouver to the Fraser Valley. The Fraser Valley is not that large. It is only 160 kilometres long and approximately 50 kilometres wide, and it extends from Hope to Vancouver. Yet transit options only cover a measly portion of that.

Rapid transit options in the valley should be readily examined as a feasible option. This will help the issues I just mentioned along Highway No. 1, by reducing congestion and, of course, vehicle traffic and pollution levels. It doesn’t make any sense. If you want people to get out of their cars, we need to provide them with a viable option. Currently that does not exist.

[3:25 p.m.]

Having options for residents to live in more affordable areas, thus supporting those communities, and having options for their commutes would not only be welcomed, it would be celebrated. Imagine transit from Hope to Agassiz, through Chilliwack and Abbotsford onward connecting to other public transportation lines. To me, this is how we support a growing population that fulfils the need for transportation options and access to housing options in more affordable communities.

I would now be remiss if I did not spend some of my time allotted to me in my first throne speech response to share what makes Abbotsford — and, more specifically, what is captured in Abbotsford South — the special place that it is.

Firstly, it may come as a surprise that we’re the largest mining town in British Columbia and the backbone of the Metro Vancouver construction market. No, we’re not digging for gold or diamonds, but we do produce more aggregate than anywhere else, and it is used throughout the region. It’s not exciting, but try and build a road, a bridge, a highrise without it.

We have three international border crossings. These include the Huntingdon-Sumas crossing, by land; the Aldergrove-Lynden crossing, by land; and the Abbotsford International Airport. So you can imagine how COVID has affected us in such a huge way. It is a stark reduction in cross-border travel and economic stimulus, as well as arrivals to our airport.

We have a great hospital, with a state-of-the-art cancer centre. We also have the University of the Fraser Valley, of which I am an alum. I am almost embarrassed to say it was a college when I first attended it. The University of the Fraser Valley helps us provide some of the airline pilots that we need. We also have huge aerospace technology and resources here, and it helps supply some of the technicians required for that. We also have and are home to a helicopter and fixed-wing training school, one of the best in the country. And of course, we are the home of the famous Abbotsford International Air Show.

We are the hub of the Fraser Valley. We are connected to many sectors not only in British Columbia but throughout North America, but by far, the backbone of our economy is agriculture. We are home to the largest farm-gate receipts in Canada, doing nearly two-thirds more than the nearest and closest, which happens to be the Niagara region.

We produce a massive portion of the dairy that’s consumed, 90 percent of the province’s eggs and 65 percent of the poultry. This, of course, is alongside berry farming, which has been an integral part of our agriculture for decades. We are now the world leaders in production of blueberries, and we’re very concerned about the sanctions that may be placed against them with regard to the United States.

We also have raspberries, cranberries, apples and cold crops such as Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, pumpkins, carrots, potatoes, corn and, for those of you that enjoy a cold beverage, hops that go into beer. Those are just a few. The point is that Abbotsford’s farming community is an integral part of this province’s food supply chain and food security. When it comes to agriculture, we know what we’re doing out here. But sadly, as you’ve heard from one of my colleagues, farmers here feel left out. They don’t feel as if they’re being consulted.

I would point out that land in this region is approximately $100,000 to $150,000 an acre. Very similar land can be brought across the United States border for approximately 20. We have to be better at what we do, and we are.

[N. Letnick in the chair.]

Now, if you were to come to visit Abbotsford on a clear day, you would see Mount Baker. You would see the glorious mountains to the north and the horizon and the splendour in the valley in front of you. In my humble opinion, there is nowhere more beautiful in the province, but I might have a bias.

The richness of this soil produces products second to none. Our farming community is incredibly diverse, but almost not quite as diverse as our people. We are the fifth most diverse metro area in Canada. A third of our people are first-generation Canadians, and we’re home to an incredibly assorted mix of backgrounds. Over 50 languages are spoken.

[3:30 p.m.]

There are people from all over the world that choose Abbotsford to be home. We have a strong Mennonite and Dutch and English heritage, as well as a very large portion that is from South Asia — predominantly Sikh, but also Hindu and Muslim.

Currently my heart goes out to the protesters in India. We have family ties from this region that go back to India, and my heart goes out to those protesters fighting for their rights. I admire their strength, their courage and those exercising their right to a peaceful protest. I hope that a peaceful solution comes soon.

I would also like to acknowledge that Abbotsford is on the traditional territory of the Stó:lō Nation, and we are home to the Matsqui and Sema:th First Nations.

Abbotsford is a city in the country. It is rural and an urban city, and it has the big-city problems that go along with it. As with other cities, we struggle. We struggle with the challenges around mental health and addiction. As with the concerns of this government, this is something that we are eager to work towards solutions on. Every municipality needs solutions and needs actions. As mayor, I introduced harm reduction and a needle exchange here in Abbotsford at a time when it was highly controversial, and it saved lives. Affordability around housing is also, of course, another major factor that affects Abbotsford like other cities.

Abbotsford is a growing and expanding city that faces all the challenges that other municipalities face. I look forward to doing my part to ensure that the needs and issues of my beloved city are respected and honoured.

I will close by saying thank-you — thank-you to those of you in Abbotsford, thank you to my colleagues and thank you to all British Columbians — and by saying I know that the coming weeks and holiday season will be challenging for many of you, as they will be for my family. So as I have said before, take a moment to reach out and let those you know, that you love and care about deeply…. Phone them. Call them. Let them know on social media that you’re thinking of them and that you love them and that safely, we will get through this together.

Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for allowing me the pleasure to address the House on this, my first response to the throne. Thank you, and happy holidays to everyone.

S. Chant: I appreciate this opportunity. I, too, am a newbie MLA and am so looking forward to working with everybody in this House on the things that we share as a common goal towards supporting the people of British Columbia during this time and throughout the time that we are in office.

I would like to start out in my response to the throne speech by acknowledging the words of the Lieutenant-Governor as wise and well put as a broad-strokes outline of what the government has done up till now and what the government will be doing going forward. It is always difficult to encapsulate the many things that everybody wants to get done, wants to achieve, wants to do as their best for the people they represent.

[3:35 p.m.]

I would like to also acknowledge that I speak to you from the territorial lands of the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. I am thankful to be able to live and work and play in those lands as a part of my life.

I have been a part of the North Shore. I was born in Lions Gate Hospital. I grew up on the North Shore, and I’ve been part of North Vancouver–Seymour for most of my adult life. I have raised my two adult daughters here. My husband works as a small business man out of our house — my husband who, I will acknowledge, is my anchor and has been so supportive.

The folks in this riding have been incredibly supportive of my journey to come to this point, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. As one of my other members indicated, I so appreciate the trust and the confidence that they have in me to be an able representative for the constituency and for their needs.

I also want to say a very big thank-you to my campaign team, in particular my campaign manager, Michael Charrois. My social media manager, who got me from barely being on Facebook to being on all the other social media platforms, which I find challenging, has also been working with me subsequent to the campaign and is now one of my constituency assistants. That is Eli, and I say thank you very much to him.

A shout-out, also, to my brother Bill Robinson, who dropped everything when he heard that I was campaigning. Now, I will remind you, he’s 17 years my senior. Dropped everything and came and was working diligently 24 hours a day, it seemed, on my campaign, for which I was very, very grateful.

Additionally, I want to do a shout-out to my brother Ken Robinson, who, this day, was supposed to be celebrating his retirement from the B.C. Coast Pilots, where he’s been working for many, many years as a senior pilot. Sadly, his retirement drive-by honk was supposed to happen this afternoon, but he’s on a job on one of the big boats up our coastline, making sure that the boats are travelling safely and our coastline is well preserved. So another acknowledgment of pilots in general and my brother in particular.

As always, everything we do is overlaid with COVID. As a nurse, I’ve been working in the health care environment for many, many years in the community. When COVID hit, we scrambled. We scrambled very, very hard. My teams worked very hard to get to a point where they could understand what was needed to support our clients, understand what was needed to keep themselves safe so that they could keep working, understand all the changes that we needed to go through in order to make sure that the COVID situation was managed to the best of our abilities for everybody that it impacted.

I say a great thank-you to our health care workers for all the work that they have been doing and they continue to do. I know people are tired. I was one of those tired people answering calls seven days a week, dealing with a variety of concerns. How do we do this? What do we do here? Who do we call? Who has the answers?

These things have all been part of the health care scenario for so long, it seems, yet I also recognize that we will continue to work on it, and we will get through it. In time, we’ll be able to look back and say, “Gee, do you remember when?” and know that we have successfully, to some degree, as successful as you can call it, managed our way through a global exercise that has been profoundly impactful on everybody.

The government has got a lot of forward motion and traction in dealing with COVID, in looking at all aspects of it, in preparing us as best as can be with ever-changing information. I think we all have a role to play. We have a role as leaders in our community to show people that we believe and that we trust and that we’re prepared to work to have people who are frightened and concerned and angry and let them speak to us and show them the compassion and the respect and the understanding that is due to every person that we work with. I think we have that capacity, but we have to dig deep for it sometimes.

[3:40 p.m.]

We have to make sure that we protect each other in whatever ways are appropriate. Certainly, personal protection equipment is critical. Everybody is getting so that they are completely familiar with seeing people in masks, seeing people with gloves on, seeing… If you are a worker that goes into somebody’s house to provide personal care, you’re wearing a gown. You’re wearing a face mask. Your eyes are protected. Your hands are protected. Everything is protected. You the worker are protected. The person you’re working with is protected.

But boy, is it hard work. It’s twice as hard to work in that gear as it is just when you go in and help somebody. Sometimes you have to strip off and start again because the gear got wet. It is so much, yet our folks right at the front line, right in people’s homes, are working that hard and harder to keep people going, to keep them as safe as humanly possible.

The recovery benefit. So many people have said to me: “Geez, that’s going to make such a difference to me. That piece of cash may be able to tide me over, may be able to help me to do something that I’ve been thinking about doing but I can’t do right now. Looking forward to that. Thank you for making that available.”

The vaccine rollout. Oh, my goodness. Will there be jubilation when that starts, yet we’re going to have to be so careful in how we do it. Who do we prioritize? Who do we make it available to if it comes forward in limited amounts? How do we make these decisions? These things are all very, very important to every person we speak to. They’re very, very important to us. We need to be able to help and support people in working our way through the vaccination and working and believing and getting that vaccination so that we can achieve herd immunity, which is what we need to seek.

There are so many things to do with COVID. Yet here we are. We’re the government. We have to focus on all those other things as well. I’ve heard all the other members talking about how many things are important to their constituents. Those things are important to all of us, to all of our constituents.

I have young people in my community who are saying, “Gee, I grew up here. I can’t afford to live here and, certainly, I can’t afford to bring up a family here,” or: “Here I am. I’ve got my family here, but guess what. I’m living with mom and dad, and my family is in the downstairs of the house. This wasn’t actually what we wanted to do, neither mom and dad nor us, but we’re doing it because we can’t afford to live in the community we grew up in. But we want to live here.”

I have nurses who work in the community who live in Squamish. They live on Bowen Island. They live on the Sunshine Coast. They live in Maple Ridge. They live in Surrey. They live many places, and they travel a long way to get to our community. Why is that? It’s because on a nursing salary or a two-person salary, they can’t afford to live in our community. They’re having a hard time staying in the communities they’re in, too, because affordable housing is tough.

I had a person who was speaking to me the other day. He’s been waiting seven years for housing from B.C. Housing. He went onto disability when he was in his early 30s. When his seven-year-old son was just being born, he was disabled in a workplace incident and has been on disability ever since. His wife was recently laid off because of COVID. Seven years he’s been waiting. Four houses he has been what he calls demovicted out of. They were houses that he and his wife could afford. However, they were also subject to demolishing.

These all are things that impact every one of us somehow. We need to work together. We will work together. I look forward so much to collaborating with the inspiring and wondrous people that I work with here. This has really been an honour to me to just meet everybody and hear about everybody.

A little bit about myself. I have been a naval reservist for 40 years who is involved in serving Canada. I wore and wear the uniform of the Canadian Armed Forces as a representative of the navy, and I am honoured to have been part of that service.

[3:45 p.m.]

I have been in nursing for 35 years. The navy got me through university quite nicely, thank you very much, at UBC. I have been a foster parent, so I understand the Ministry of Children and Families to a degree. I’ve been a parent of adult children. My kids have come through school, sports, all those things. As a parent, I have gone and been thrilled by some of the things that they’re involved with and not too impressed by some of the other things that have happened, sometimes from their engagement, sometimes through external forces.

I worry so much about the opioid crisis. I worry so much about the things that have impact on all the people we live with and work for. I say as a joke that as a nurse and as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces and now as a member of the Legislature, I’m paid to worry, and I do my job really, really well.

I hope that we can all work together to look at the things that are tough for our constituents, to look at the things that are tough for the people of British Columbia and to make things a little bit better, or maybe a lot better, by working together and by looking at things and hearing from people how to make a difference and how to impact their lives.

I so appreciate the opportunity to be able to speak to the House, and I am so honoured to be a member of this House.

Thank you very much.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Member.

I now recognize the member for West Vancouver–Sea to Sky.

K. Kirkpatrick: Is it West Vancouver–Capilano, Mr. Speaker?

Deputy Speaker: I have West Vancouver–Sea to Sky on the list, but I can go to Capilano, if you like.

Go ahead.

K. Kirkpatrick: Yes, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for your flexibility.

It is my pleasure to Zoom into the House today to respond to the Speech from the Throne. This is my first response to a Speech from the Throne and, in fact, the first I have spoken in the House. It is done at an unprecedented time in B.C.’s history and the history of this Legislature. It is my pleasure to have the opportunity to do so and a privilege to represent the people of West Vancouver–Capilano.

Hon. Speaker, if I may give a few remarks about my community of West Vancouver–Capilano before I add my commentary to the Speech from the Throne. I am proud to be addressing you here today on behalf of the people of West Vancouver–Capilano.

I acknowledge that we are on the traditional and un­ceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples represented by the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.

I would like to thank the people of my riding for supporting me and thank my family members for their en­couragement. My husband, Murray; my mother, Audrey; sister, Nancy; brother, Ian; and of course, my amazing and talented 17-year-old daughter, Kaelan, who is navigating her way through her final year of high school; and my two wonderful stepsons, Will and Ollie.

I would like to also thank those volunteers that jumped in and helped very quickly in the campaign and my campaign manager, Jack Welsh, who took a leave from his day job with a moment’s notice, which is all the time we had.

I want to send, also, a special thank-you to the former member for West Vancouver–Capilano, Ralph Sultan, who as a gifted orator has set a very high bar for me. Ralph believed in my ability to represent this community that he cared so much about, but he hesitated to give me any advice because he believed it was my journey and I had to figure out how to do this my own way. Now, he did actually provide one piece of advice to me, and that was to not fall asleep during question period when the cameras are on.

I ran for office because I value public service, and I have always been so grateful to live in this wonderful democracy of ours. I want to help effect good and positive change in our province. I believe that a healthy community and a healthy economy are one and the same thing. I believe we need to innovate in the way that we’re providing housing. We need to work cooperatively with the private sector and with community groups.

[3:50 p.m.]

I believe we can do better with our young people in care and support them as they move through their lives. And I believe that we can build sustainable communities through sound planning, green technologies and proper transit planning. For me, in West Vancouver–Capilano, that means a fixed-link rapid transit system to the North Shore.

To change the tone for a moment and to follow up on what the Minister of Finance said during her introductions, I too would like to acknowledge the passing of Katherine McParland and acknowledge her as an example that young people in care, with support and kindness, can accomplish great things. I know her loss is devastating to those who work with her in fighting youth homelessness.

Now, it may be surprising to many that in my riding of West Vancouver–Capilano, almost 20 percent of residents are deemed low income. Sixty percent of the residents in my riding rent their housing and are still waiting for their promised $400 rent rebate from government. Of those, 14 percent rely on social housing. A disproportionate number of these residents are seniors living at or below the poverty line.

The Christmas Bureau, run by Family Services of the North Shore, this year received 7,771 calls for support. I know that’s quite specific, but I just checked with them this morning, and I know that’s the number from yesterday. Through its 150 volunteers, it has already delivered food hampers, gifts and grocery cards to over 2,500 people, and there are more waiting. They’ve delivered 1,000 bags of groceries and 1,704 meals as of yesterday. They are just one of the committed and hard-working non-profits supporting this community.

My riding, though enjoying a reputation for high incomes, has social issues that match many of those in other communities in British Columbia. This government says it has addressed outbreaks in long-term care homes, yet, in the past few weeks, at least five seniors have died and more than 45 have become sick in an outbreak at West Vancouver’s Capilano Care Centre across the street from my office.

Yet West Vancouver–Capilano is a vibrant community. It has beautiful beaches and parks and the shopping districts of Ambleside, Dundarave, Pemberton and Edgemont village, and any of these things are destinations on their own. Small business is the backbone of this community. We need to support it, and we need to put programs in place that will incentivize growth. Small-dollar benefits are not enough.

The riding is host to some of British Columbia’s finest tourism destinations. Down the street from my home is the Capilano Suspension Bridge. I live at the foot of Grouse Mountain, and outside my door are some of the best hiking and bike trails in the world. I am so lucky to be living here, and I know that every day.

When I first drove across the Lions Gate Bridge…. I moved here from Edmonton when I was 19, and I just had this amazing sense of awe when I saw the mountains and the snow, and it was just breathtaking. I have to say that even today, many years later, I still have that same sense of awe when I come into my own community. That is such a special thing to be able to say.

Locals and tourists have trekked to the North Shore since the late 1800s to see and walk the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Until this pandemic hit us, it was one of British Columbia’s most visited tourist attractions and an employer of over 600 people.

Let me share a real example of some of the frustration that businesses here are feeling. We all believe in the necessity of the public health orders and are so appreciative of the work done by Dr. Bonnie Henry and her team, but while shopping malls are filled with shoppers, the Capilano Suspension Bridge is unable to run its Canyon Lights display in its 20 outdoor acres with easy ability to socially distance. Now, we can’t afford to lose iconic tourist attractions in our riding and in British Columbia.

The Speech from the Throne should set out a vision for British Columbians and a plan for getting there. Make no mistake, government’s commitments in this speech should be around the pandemic and the impact that it’s had on the lives of British Columbians.

[3:55 p.m.]

It should recognize the devastating effect of this disease to seniors in long-term care and to the front-line workers who care for us all, putting themselves at risk. Government says: “We can see the signs of better days ahead, as science and research lead the way with new treatments and vaccines.” But we can’t wait until those better days ahead. We need an economic recovery plan for all British Columbians, and we need it now. Platitudes are not a plan. This government says: “…putting our shoulders to the wheel and working together to make those better days a reality.”

The Speech from the Throne left a lot of uncertainty, to say the least. British Columbians have been waiting for a bold agenda, and never in the history of this province have they needed a bolder agenda and a government that is willing to be innovative in the work that it’s doing. But this NDP government has failed to provide an economic recovery plan or introduce anything other than a one-time benefit payment.

They called the Legislature back for only one piece of legislation. This shows you a lack of ideas. This is a government that is now starting its second term in office. They will not have kept their election promises from 2017, and I’m not confident that this time is going to be much different. The government needs to take responsibility and real action to help our province come out of the pandemic stronger than before.

The NDP could have developed an economic plan months ago. In fact, business groups were begging and pleading for this. But they did not, and they left families and businesses struggling. Unfortunately, this throne speech did not provide support for small business, seniors, youth in care. It did not mention its commitment to $10-per-day daycare. In fact, the speech was light on any commitment to the care of B.C.’s most vulnerable youth and families.

When this pandemic began, I was the CEO of a large social services organization that was providing essential services on behalf of government across the Lower Mainland. I saw 500 employees pivot to do whatever they could to continue to support their clients and their communities. They did it with no complaints, just a concern for those around them.

I note now that many non-profits running critical services during this pandemic have not yet received their promised pandemic pay for their employees. This was promised months ago. The most recent communication from MCFD last week, I believe, was that it’s coming soon. It’s been crickets from MPSSG for those workers supporting victims of violence and trauma during this pandemic.

Also, while this government decided to provide differential pay to union and non-union social services providers two years ago, it came to an agreement recently to provide some additional funds to help close that gap for the non-unionized employers. This recruitment and retention funding, which was promised months ago, has still not come to these agencies. So once again, front-line workers risking their own health during this pandemic are not receiving the pay that this government promised them.

What have we heard from the throne speech? Not much. We did not hear any plans to address families’ concerns about seniors in care homes. We did not hear how they will enhance safety for children. There were no details to help small businesses get back on their feet. What’s worse is that after missing the deadline of the second quarterly update, the new Finance Minister recently said she was considering delaying her first provincial budget by weeks. British Columbians can’t afford to wait any longer.

As the critic for Children and Family Development and Child Care, I have responsibility to hold the government accountable for putting forward policies with increased supports for children in care and delivering more affordable daycare.

Just earlier this week the Representative for Children and Youth released a report on children and youth with special needs and the impact on them and their families from this pandemic. Services and supports were stopped for these families overnight. Communication between MCFD and families was close to nonexistent, leaving these already stressed families and young people panicking for supports.

[4:00 p.m.]

To make matters worse, the call of an election during a pandemic meant that for those families, there was no recourse for months and no services when supports ex­pired in September.

This is why government needs to act quickly now to provide the support that evaporated for these families earlier this year. Delaying Budget 2021 is definitely not the way to achieve this. The Premier promised $10-a-day daycare, but it’s just an empty slogan. They promised to have 24,000 spaces, at this point in their mandate, for daycare. As of May 2020, there were only 3,490 new spaces out of the 16,500 they said were funded. In comparison, from 2005 to 2017, the B.C. Liberals created 39,959 daycare spaces, or 3,033 per year.

So much more work needs to be done. First of all, the QT fiscal update should have been delivered last week. The number of daily COVID cases remains high. Long-term-care and assisted-living facilities need more tools now. As my colleagues implored you earlier, we have to deploy rapid tests as soon as possible, if we can just save one life in seniors care. Struggling restaurants need the help of the Legislature to cap food-delivery fees. We will also hold the NDP accountable for their promise to introduce accessibility legislation in the first session.

This NDP government is not new. For the past three years, we saw more consultation and consultation and no real action. The Premier called a snap election during a pandemic, to grab more power. Now that the election is over, he must deliver on his promises, after delaying giving families and businesses the support they need for months.

British Columbians want to see an integrated response that deals with the health crisis, the mental health crisis and the economic crisis together. As the official opposition, we will hold the government to full account on the pandemic. We will also ensure that government keeps its word and delivers on the promises that it made, particularly around supporting families and child care services — issues dear to my heart.

As I end my response, I would ask all the members of this House to consider supporting their local non-profits and charities during these very difficult times.

Thank you, hon. Speaker. Xièxie.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you to the member for West Vancouver–Capilano.

I now recognize the member for Nanaimo–North Cowichan.

D. Routley: Mr. Speaker, congratulations on your election to the post. It’s nice to see you in the chair. All best wishes to your family as well.

I thank the House for this opportunity to speak.

I am coming to the House from the traditional territories of Hul’q’umi’num’-speaking peoples. I mention it in that frame, because I represent a constituency that in fact has the territories of six First Nations — the Lyackson, the Penelakut, the Halalt, the Snaw-Naw-As, the Snuneymuxw and the Cowichan. It’s with a huge amount of honour that I am able to speak from these territories and to have their support over the years to be able to do this on their behalf. That’s all about confidence, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to thank, of course, my partner, Leanne — such a lovely, wonderful person — who is so supportive and very involved in politics as well, being a constituency assistant to a federal MP and very much involved in NDP politics in the Cowichan region. On CAs, I can tell the members who don’t know — newer members and anybody who’s watching this and who doesn’t know this: constituency assistants are the backbone of the service that MLAs and MPs provide to their communities.

[4:05 p.m.]

I once saw a cartoon of a person in a blindfold holding a dart, and on the wall in front of them was an array of sticky notes that said “education,” “forestry,” “health care,” “transportation,” “environment” — just hundreds of topics. The caption for this person with a blindfold and a dart said: “Today I’m an expert in….”

That is indeed what constituency assistants are. They’re experts across the board with policy. They build relationships in government that serve our constituents. I can tell new members that it will become a common occurrence for people to walk up to you and say: “It’s amazing what you did for my daughter” or “It’s amazing what you did for our park.” You won’t, perhaps, even know that you’ve done that, because they’re so good at what they do.

I’m blessed, also, that I had very decent opponents in the past election, particularly my friend Duck Paterson, the Liberal opponent. I have to tell you another story. During a debate, something quite incorrect was said by one of the candidates. I wanted to respond, but of course, I’d given up all my rebuttals. So Duck Paterson, the B.C. Liberal candidate, asked the moderator if he could give me one of his rebuttals, and they allowed it. I thought it was one of the nicest gestures I’ve ever seen in politics. Not surprising, knowing Duck. He’s behind the Light Up in Ladysmith and a lot of other things.

It shows that, underneath it all, we’re all British Columbians. We’re all working for our constituents. We’re all engaged in community, and we all have the same aspirations for the people we represent. We have a different road map to get there. The party we choose is the bus that gets us the closest to the place we think we should be. For me, that is the NDP. I’m very proud to represent the NDP and its values and principles and to have the endorsement of the communities I represent now for a fifth election.

The constituency is beautiful. It has double the provincial average of First Nations population. I feel a real obligation to honour that with a commitment to reconciliation, with a commitment to a renewal of the relationship and with great satisfaction watching what has happened over the past term with our government.

This, again, is a confidence that’s earned. It’s a confidence that comes from relationships that have been built over a very long period of time. It comes from a confidence in principles. Principles like the social determinants of housing and equality and income all contribute to a good environment and contribute to a thriving economy.

It’s our understanding of those things that makes our party different to me and makes the performance of our government a real validation of those principles in action.

I have confidence, and apparently the people of B.C. have confidence. Last term the government survived with the confidence of the House in an arrangement that lasted longer than I think anybody predicted it would. Certainly, many of those who criticized its end didn’t predict it going past six months, but it was a productive partnership for the people of B.C. It did what we promised to do during the previous election. Primarily, that was to reduce costs to family, increase services and make a fairer and more just, sustainable British Columbia.

We did that. I know my family and other families have struggled through this pandemic, but they struggled before as well. What they saw in that time before the pandemic was a government that was making investments in people, making investments in communities, making investments that corrected so much of the inequalities that had developed over the previous 16 years of bad governance and inattention to these fundamental issues of fairness.

Now we’ve had a chance to show British Columbians that the principles we believe in, we will govern with, and that those principles will deliver a sustainable and thriving community and province. I think that’s a wonderful balance. It’s what originally attracted me to the NDP, in fact — having run a small business before and been a union rep and having been in a number of different positions, realizing that it’s only through good, balanced governance that we achieve what we want to achieve.

[4:10 p.m.]

I think it was us delivering that to British Columbians that not only gave people the confidence in our government but now shows that those are the foundational investments that set us up to better weather this storm and to come out of it on the other side as whole and as strongly as we possibly can. That’s what we’re attempting to do. We’re rebuilding with those same principles.

What people have seen over this last little while, just in my own constituency — parents have kept $9 million in their pockets because of child care subsidies that have been paid to them, as well as the $980 savings that families gained from the MSP premium being eliminated. That was the largest middle-class tax break in the history of British Columbia, another element that has helped set this province, and the families of the province, up to better survive this current terrible challenge that we all face together.

In my own constituency, we’ve seen over 1,100 new subsidized and rental low-cost housing projects either completed or begun construction. There have been millions of dollars invested in VIU, particularly in its trades programs.

The constituency I represent has six ferry terminals. One of the terminals to part of my constituency is actually in the neighbouring constituency. So in a way, I guess I’ve got seven. But we restored 1,700 sailings with B.C. Ferries. We restored the seniors’ discount that had been cut, which I will take great care in enjoying in a few short years. We made a 10 percent reduction in fares on the runs that I represent, the minor runs.

But in the bigger picture, what this government did before the pandemic ever started was significant elements that have changed our province for the better. One of the first was to get big money out of politics. Corporate and union donations — ban those and limit individual donations. That has changed the landscape politically in British Columbia, and it instantly made things more fair.

We re-established the human rights commission so that people can seek justice and that we can have confidence — again, that word “confidence” — that there’s a fair arbiter of the problems that we face and the disagreements that people find themselves in.

We introduced CleanBC, working alongside Andrew Weaver, the former leader of the Green Party. CleanBC represents the most aggressive climate change program in North America. So we’re all very proud of that, and we all look to see that continue to deliver benefits not only to British Columbia but to the planet.

I think probably the most foundational piece when it comes to justice was the introduction of the legislation with the principles of the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples. That was followed up by a $3 billion sharing of gaming revenue, which is really but a small repayment of the many billions of dollars that have been taken from the land without benefit to First Nations in the past. We are the first province in Canada to have invested in housing on First Nations reserves.

We took ICBC, as the Attorney General described, from a dumpster fire financially, losing more than a $1 billion a year, in three short years to a point of being able to deliver a balance and, hopefully, more benefit in the form of rebates to British Columbians.

These are significant changes, and they build on changes early on. The cut in student loan interest makes education more accessible to those of lower income in the province. We cut tuition to any student who had been in care of the province. That was such a moving piece done very early in the mandate, where, at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, the Premier and ministers involved delivered that news to a roomful of tears. I’m sorry to the RCMP detail here, but even the Premier’s RCMP detail had tears running down their cheeks. These are foundational, elemental changes in peoples’ lives.

[4:15 p.m.]

We also established, in B.C., the first Mental Health and Addictions Ministry, which is now so ably ministered by my neighbouring MLA, the MLA for Nanaimo.

These are all very hopeful investments. They are investments that set us up to be in a better position at the beginning of this pandemic and also at a better position coming out of it.

It’s coming out of it now that I’d like to talk about. Coming out of this, we will offer the same principles and values that I spoke of earlier. We will deliver fairness and equity, and that will set up British Columbia to better build from this terrible challenge that we all face together.

Finally, I’d like to say that from my own perspective, the principles and values that we are fighting for and trying to action through policy are represented very well by a friend by the name of Rick Doman, who told me once, in trying to describe his view of it, that if he ran a railroad — I love railways — and he wanted his passenger car to run as quickly as it could, he wouldn’t invest all his money and resources in the rich posh parlour car. He would look for the car with the squeakiest wheels that needed the most help and fix it so that the whole train could run better.

I think that sort of encapsulates what I believe our party is trying to deliver through government to British Columbia. That is to address the challenges for the betterment of all of us. It is the contrast between us and the previous government, the B.C. Liberal government, that indeed did direct all of its resources to the posh parlour car at the expense of all of us.

So it’s with great pride and with extreme confidence and undying hope that I support this throne speech and look forward to the anticipated throne speech in the spring and the rebuilding effort so that British Columbia can regain the strength and stability that we had delivered before the pandemic.

With that, thank you to the members. Thank you to the Speaker. Thank you to all the people of Nanaimo–North Cowichan who have given me their confidence for these many years. I hope to earn and justify that.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you to the member for Nanaimo–North Cowichan.

I now recognize the member for Cariboo-Chilcotin.

L. Doerkson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and congratulations on your appointment.

Just weeks ago, on October 24, 2020, the people of the Cariboo-Chilcotin placed their confidence in me and made me their elected representative in Victoria to represent the most beautiful riding in the province. As this is my first response to the Speech from the Throne since being elected, I must begin by thanking all of the voters, regardless of who they supported. Voters took part in our democratic process during a very difficult time, especially in the face of the pandemic. The people of Cariboo-Chilcotin had a choice among a broad range of highly talented candidates, and I therefore want to thank each one of those candidates.

I quickly discovered that running for public office would involve making a lot of unexpected choices and certainly more than a few personal sacrifices. That is why I especially want to thank my family for supporting me on this journey. I know this job will take a lot of time away from home, so I want to thank my wife, Shelley Weise, for her unwavering support and her enthusiasm, plus helping me to become an effective representative.

I also want to thank my beautiful daughters, Shelby and Miranda.

Your support, ladies, will never be forgotten.

I, too, would like to thank both of my constituency assistants who have been absolutely invaluable during these challenging times.

Thank you very much, Beverly Marks, and thank you, Jenny Huffman, for your help through these times.

I also would like to take a second to offer up thanks to a few very important people in my campaign. Thank you very much to my campaign manager, Bryan Withage; Bill Carruthers; Gunter Weckerle; Anita Crosina, to name just a few of them.

One of the reasons I actually decided to enter public life is because of the good that can be achieved if you have the backing of people behind you. Fortunately, I had a role model who has made a significant difference in peoples’ lives, especially in the wake of recent floods, wildfires and mill closures in the forest industry that have interrupted the lives of hard-working people. I’m talking about somebody who has spent their life in elected office and who has a passion for helping all of those who need help, and has supported our local economy.

[4:20 p.m.]

If many of you haven’t guessed already, I’m referring to the Hon. Donna Barnett, who served as our MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin since 2009 and before that served 16 years as mayor of 100 Mile House. We’re talking about someone who dedicated their entire life to elected office and helping the hard-working people of the Cariboo-Chilcotin.

What most people may not know, however, is that Donna was the first minister responsible for rural economic development in British Columbia. The creation of this ministry was largely due to the work of Donna Barnett to raise rural issues in Victoria and to finally give rural people in British Columbia a voice. Unfortunately, the current government eliminated the Ministry of Rural Development, and I will be speaking on that in greater detail at a later date.

Suffice it to say, if I accomplish only half of what Donna Barnett did for the people of the Cariboo-Chilcotin, I will be deeply proud and satisfied. I will, therefore, endeavour to do my best in assisting individual constituents in need of help, many with not very many places to go in the midst of this terrible pandemic.

COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on our region. It has left small business owners at their wit’s end. Many others are simply out of work because the local economy is simply suffering that much. Further still, many others are in desperate need of medical assistance, and one issue that came up quite often during the campaign was the ongoing shortage of doctors and nurses in our rural communities throughout British Columbia. In one instance last month, we had 15 people desperately waiting for lodging with 36 empty beds in our community because we didn’t have the nurses to open it up.

Think about this. If we don’t have enough doctors and nurses to staff relatively small health facilities in our region, you can be certain that many people are in the same situation throughout our province. Unfortunately, our situation in the Cariboo-Chilcotin is something you’ll find in small communities throughout the province.

Yet we’ve had no indication from this government that health care is going to be a priority in rural B.C. As a matter of fact, prior to the last election we barely saw a visit from our Premier or a visit from any of his cabinet to rural British Columbia. We have heard the Premier say that he has had only a minority in the Legislature and that meant he couldn’t necessarily travel as much. That may be the case when the House is in session, but the Legislature doesn’t sit the whole year.

In the middle of this global pandemic, the first priority of this government was to call an election — never mind that there was more than a full year left in the mandate, never mind that we could have had this economic benefit payment out the door months ago. But now we know the priorities of this government, and they certainly aren’t rural British Columbia.

Having been named the official critic for Rural Development, I would like to put the government on notice that because Donna Barnett has retired, rural issues are not going to simply go away. It is my intention during this term to address rural health care; the use of agricultural land reserves; the struggling forest industry; land use issues and tourism, especially in the West Chilcotin. Connectivity, both Internet and telephone, are massive issues in rural British Columbia. Cuts to distance education have definitely affected rural B.C. Another important issue that had come up during the election, over and over, was the government’s plan to increase the cull of moose calves and their mothers.

I can assure you that I will be making these issues a priority for this government and the hard-working people of B.C. The fact is, in my mind, the throne speech didn’t contain much. Instead, the only response is to issue a one-time payment with no comprehensive strategy to get people in this province back to work. Small business is desperate for a light at the end of the tunnel, and all of this could have been addressed if the government had more on its mind than an election campaign.

[4:25 p.m.]

In my opinion, it’s not just the throne speech that was short yesterday. This government is short on ideas. British Columbians are frustrated and they, for sure, want answers from their government. I think yesterday they, along with me, expected real solutions. None of that came through in this speech, not even a hint of it. There were only vague suggestions of what the future might hold. This government is now starting its second term in office, and they need to take some responsibility for that.

The Premier has called back the Legislature to debate exactly one bill. Now, I understand that that might be two now, but the bill that we came back to debate and, ultimately, to pass is a one-time payment benefit, and that is not economic recovery. I’ll acknowledge it will help families in our province through December and perhaps into January, but that is very shortsighted and not an economic plan.

The province needs to come out of this pandemic with an economic recovery plan to address the immediate concerns of British Columbians, and we all share those concerns. Small businesses are struggling to keep the doors open, and there was nothing in this speech for them. In our community, there are several businesses at the edge of insolvency, and some have already closed their doors.

Families are worried about seniors in care homes. That has not been seriously addressed. Parents are concerned about the safety of their children, but nothing was in the speech for them.

We could’ve been doing many other things during this time. We could’ve started with the fiscal update that should have been delivered this week. We could’ve addressed the lack of rapid testing in care homes. Some of that was discussed earlier. We don’t seem to like it in this province. It has proven successful and been quoted as a game-changer in Ontario.

Restaurants and tourism, all of that industry, in both cases, are struggling right to the edge of insolvency. We could’ve been coming up with solutions for those two industries to help them get through this next trying business cycle.

Our government has made a clear promise to introduce accessibility legislation in the first session, a very clear promise that we will be holding them to.

This isn’t a new government. There isn’t need for more consultation. There is need for action right now to help the people of this province. The Premier said he wanted to get the election behind him to deal with these issues. People would have been getting all of the supports if we hadn’t called this election during the middle of a pandemic. We would’ve already wrapped up a five-week session, and we would’ve already delivered on some of those promises.

[S. Chandra Herbert in the chair.]

British Columbians want to see an integrated response that deals with the health aspects, the mental health component and the short-term economic impact. I am proud to be part of the official opposition, and I intend to hold the government to full account on this pandemic. We also detailed the government’s commitment to keeping its word and delivering on the promises made during the election, particularly around issues of child care, mental health, addiction and long-term economic recovery.

I would like to close with some appreciation to all of the front-line workers, including our doctors, nurses, care aides, and of course all of those people that work in our food supply system and retail operations throughout our province, those people who put their lives at risk every single day to service us all.

It is an understatement of a lifetime to say we are in trying, challenging times. I want to offer my sincere condolences to all of our residents who have lost loved ones through this pandemic.

It was a proud moment for me to have an opportunity to speak here today.

T. Halford: It is indeed an honour to rise here in the House today for the first time, representing the constituents of Surrey–White Rock.

[4:30 p.m.]

I did want to take this opportunity to kind of tell the story of how I got here, which is maybe very similar to some new members and maybe not so much. But I think for me, this has been a very reflective time. It’s a time where I have been able to, as I came into Victoria on Sunday, really reflect on the individuals that contributed to get me here.

I want to start with the fact that I had the distinct privilege of working in the buildings before elected office. I started in 2006. I started off as an assistant legislative assistant. So I had the word assistant twice in my title. You can imagine what my job duties consisted of.

Through it all, and through the six years that I was here, I was able to gain just an appreciation for this House and the work that was done on both sides, whether it was government or whether it was opposition. I really did find that value in what the members were able to achieve not only for their respective ministries or their critic roles but, more importantly, what they were able to achieve for their constituents and the people that really got them there.

I took that away, and I took it back to the riding, Surrey–White Rock, where I was born and raised and where I’m raising my family today. But I took away something else, and it’s one of the main reasons why I got here. I took away the love of my life. I actually met my wife, Holly Unwin, here while she was working in the buildings. For me, I can say that we all have supports around us, people that push us to go more than we think we can go, and Holly has always been that person in my life. She will always be that person in my life.

Through that, we were able to grow our family when we moved back. We’ve got three wonderful kids: Ben, Nicholas and Alexandra. I think probably for the first time and only time, they’re watching Dad on Hansard right now. I’ll take this as a gift. I’m not sure this is going to be a nightly occurrence in the Halford house, but I do thank them for watching their dad. I thank them for being able to be there without me. I sometimes think that may be a little bit easier, but I do understand that all members of this House have families that make those sacrifices when we’re not there.

I want to really, at this time, acknowledge the sacrifices that our families and friends make while we’re able to be here and do the important work of our constituents.

I also want to take the time to thank those who worked with me in the campaign and before the campaign. I had a great support team, led by my campaign manager, Aaron Gill, who now I call a very close friend.

I had somebody else with me as well, on a daily basis, who, over the last number of years, has grown to be a very close friend and confidant and mentor. That is Dianne Watts. I know those who know Dianne and know the work she’s done not only for the city of Surrey but for the entire province. We’re all grateful for her service, and I’m encouraged that she’s helping us, some of us, in this House and giving advice as we go forward. But I did want to take this time to thank Dianne.

Also the people that held this seat before I did. I will say that it is pretty humbling when you look at the names that have come before me.

I’ll start with Tracy Redies. I think that everybody in this House who had the opportunity to work with Tracy when she came in, in 2017 understood the value that she brought forward through her past work as CEO of Coast Capital, through her understanding of the financial sector and the fact that she’s just, genuinely, a good, decent person. We’re all grateful that Tracy was able to make the sacrifice into public life. I know she’s doing outstanding work right now as a CEO of Science World. We continue to wish Tracy quite well.

[4:35 p.m.]

Before Tracy was somebody that a lot of us are very familiar with, and I have been familiar with since I can remember, and that is the one and only Gordie Hogg. I think that any time you mention my riding — but, more importantly, the city of White Rock — you must also think of Gord Hogg.

I had the privilege of growing up with Gord. Gord was the mayor of White Rock for a number of years. Before that, he was a city councillor. Then he came in and served in opposition as an MLA and then in government in various ministries. But I think the lesson that I learned from Gord was: you always remember how you got here. For Gord, that was always based in the support and loyalty of his constituents, and that’s something I’ll never forget.

I remember it was… I think it was about 1998. I told this story in my campaign, and I didn’t think it would get as much traction as it did. I was in high school, and I was struggling with a few issues. I think my parents were at their wits’ end, and they said, “We’ve got to do something here.” They brought me in to see Gord Hogg, who we knew through the family. So my parents went in, and I went in, and we talked. We talked for about half an hour, and then Gord said: “Do you mind if I just talk to Trevor on his own?” My parents said, “Okay,” so they walked out.

Gord and I spent the next 45 minutes just talking and just getting to the root of what the issue was. For him and, more importantly, for me, it was the first time that anybody had communicated to me on a direct level and said: “What’s not working here, and how can we fix it?”

For a young guy that was struggling in the education system in grade 11 at the time, I was lost. I didn’t have a lot of direction, and I needed somebody to actually believe in me — besides my parents, who did. But it was really that community role that Gord played that let me leave that office with a better sense of purpose and able to go out there and have a champion. I remember Gord would phone the school once a week. He would phone me once a week. He would phone my parents once a week until we finally got to a better place.

It doesn’t matter what side of the House you’re on. We can all do that role. You don’t even have to be elected, and you can still do that role. I think that we are all inspired by stories like that. I think a lot of us do have stories like that. But I will say it’s those types of stories and experiences that drive me every day to be an MLA for the constituents of Surrey–White Rock. I think all of us in this House have that capacity to do that, and I’m sure that all of us in this House do that. But that really is the focus of what community is.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t talk about a couple of other special people in my life, and that is my grandparents. My grandparents really got the political bug in me. It’s something that I didn’t really see as a young kid growing up until they started taking me to these political barbecues that they would hold in their backyard in Surrey. I don’t know why I was there. I think it was probably more child care than anything, but it was something that.…

I saw that sense of community, and I saw that sense of a desire for change. It was something that I really gravitated towards, and I found a sense of purpose and direction with this. So I joined a couple of young political clubs. Nothing screams more popularity than being a young political party member. And that was something that I quite enjoyed.

It was through that I actually had this common bond with my grandparents that really fostered over the years. I think one of the greatest gifts kids can have in their childhood is grandparents. That is something that was really important in my childhood, and it’s really important in my children’s childhood, just good grandparents. I know some members in the House are grandparents and I know are fitting that role quite nicely. But it’s something that was really, really an important part of my development.

[4:40 p.m.]

I remember when I served in the buildings how special it was at the time for my grandparents to come and have lunch in the Legislative Dining Room, something I kind of at the time took for granted. But they would come here, and it was just such a special moment for them to do that. I can’t think that…. They would appreciate the special moment that’s occurring now with my first speech to the throne.

I did one debate in this election campaign. At the time, my grandmother had already passed. Then my grandfather was struggling in the month of October. My sister went up there, and they were watching the debate. It was in the middle of the debate that my grandfather left us. I remember getting out of it and coming through and my mom giving me the phone call, letting me know that Baba had gone. It was sad, but it felt okay, right? It felt okay. I think it was something that really spoke to me about what I was doing, what I was standing for, who I was standing with and that this was the right thing to do at the right time.

I did really want to thank again my family for supporting me in that journey. It was not an easy one on anybody, most specifically my parents and my siblings and my cousins. But we all banded together like a lot of families that are experiencing this in COVID right now, to go through grief. And we weren’t the only families going through it.

I know that there are a number of families that have gone through this. It’s a very difficult time because you’re not able to be around the ones you love so much and share in that grief and express your grief. It is something that a lot of us have never really considered that we’d have to go through.

I know that members of this House have had to do that as well. It’s a bond I wish some of us did not share, but it is something that we’ve had to come to terms with. On that, I will say that this year has marked an unprecedented moment in British Columbia’s history as our communities come together through the virus. I talked about families coming together, and it is so important to see how our respective communities have come together.

The impact of COVID-19 has been felt across the province. Firsthand, I’ve seen that. I know for our kids who have seen that, whether they’re in the school system or whether they’re in child care, we’ve all seen the impacts that COVID-19 has on us individually. You know, it is something that…. I know we use the term that we’re in this together, but we really need to make sure that we focus on that term because it is so vitally important. When you look at things right now going into the holiday season, I do believe in that term that we’re in this together.

I look at the fact that right now we see the small businesses struggling the way they are, whether it’s the restaurant sector or whether it’s the tourism sector or whether it’s the local bookshop. They’re all places right now that were there for us yesterday. We need to step up and make sure that they’re there for us tomorrow.

The one thing that I’ve kind of pointed out to everybody, and I think that we all share this sentiment, is that…. You know, I grew up and I played hockey. I wasn’t very good, but I played hockey. I remember the sponsors of all my hockey teams. They were all local businesses. They were the meat shop. They were the deli. They were the secondhand sporting goods store. Those were the ones that sponsored our local rec teams. They sponsored our local amateur teams. They sponsored our local events.

It wasn’t the big-box stores that we see now that are so busy. It was the little mom-and-pop shops that are absolutely on life support right now. I will say this: if we can’t be there for them today, then how do we expect them to be there for us tomorrow?

I think we all have to take the importance of that message because it really does strike to the core of who we are and who we support. For our family, we’ve made a conscious effort that we will be supporting local businesses during this holiday season. I encourage anybody that does have the means that they take that up as well.

[4:45 p.m.]

I did have the privilege of being appointed the critic for Mental Health and Addictions. This is a very complicated file. It’s a very important file, and it’s a file that I think a lot of us have background on, whether that’s through family and friends who have struggled or through work experiences. But I think as we go into this…. We’re in the middle of the second wave. We have to really take note of the fact that British Columbians continue to struggle on issues, substantially, of mental health and addictions.

I really want to encourage us over the holiday season to make sure that we’re reaching out to those that we’re close with, family and friends. Holidays tend to be a struggle for a lot of people anyways. They really are going to be a struggle this year for people that are really suffering.

I encourage us all to reach out to our family and friends when we can and make sure…. We can’t do it in person, but obviously, we’re all doing a lot of Zoom right now and we’re doing a lot of phone calls. So I encourage us to maybe add an extra couple of Zoom meetings and a couple of phone calls to those that we haven’t talked to often and just do a check-in.

I do also want to talk about the fact that we are really needing a solid economic recovery plan. The throne speech that was put forward yesterday…. It was a throne speech that didn’t really speak to anything that British Columbians need us to be speaking about. I really think that we need to focus on where we’re going here and where we’re trying to drive our economy, because we will get through this.

With the vaccines we’re seeing and how those are rolling out outside of Canada right now and how they’re starting…. There is light at the end of the tunnel. But when we make sure that we get to the end of the tunnel, the sectors that have been so vital to this province are there for us…. I really do think we need to focus on that.

In closing, I want to thank everybody that was a part of getting me here today. I would like to thank…. Yes, to my son, Nicholas…. I will call him after I’m done this, and we will do his math homework and make sure that’s done.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you for the opportunity to respond to the Speech from the Throne.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Member.

Recognizing the member for Surrey-Cloverdale.

M. Starchuk: Thank you, hon. Speaker, and congratulations on your new role.

I would like to make thanks and acknowledge the lands on which I am sitting right now, which are the traditional lands of the Kwantlen, Katzie and Semiahmoo First Nations.

The election could not have been done, and I could have not been in the place where I am today, if it was not for my family, both extended and local, and their support and their encouragement that I had during the entire cycle that was going through.

I want to also acknowledge my campaign manager, Veronica Harrison, and the role that she played. I now know what it feels like to be a prizefighter and having a trainer push you and push you every day to get you across that line.

I also want to thank the team that was there: Kirat, Tonya and especially Denise, my CA. They helped me out an awful lot throughout that course of action and, hopefully, in the future moving forward.

During the time when we were campaigning here in Surrey-Cloverdale, I got to meet an awful lot of people. I got to talk about the issues that were specific to Surrey-Cloverdale. While we were talking with all of the people that were there, we got the lay of the land.

Just for everyone, Surrey-Cloverdale has an awful lot of agricultural land right in the middle of the belt, so it goes from a small city to agriculture to a small city. It has a demographic that fills in young family to seniors, all the way across.

While we were going through the campaign, there were an awful lot of comments about how they wanted to see me elected and how they were wishing me luck. Now I can say that I am the first NDP member for Surrey-Cloverdale, and I can also say with pride that I am the first professional firefighter, retired, that’s a member of the Legislature.

I want to thank my volunteers, because like every other campaign that’s out there, we could not have done it without volunteers and specifically the volunteers that come from my fire department, my fire local, the members of Surrey firefighters who were there to help me out on a daily basis with some of the things that just needed to be done.

[4:50 p.m.]

I want to thank you all for what you’ve done and what you continue to do for the community that’s here. It’s a very special thing to have a front-line worker who puts in their work day and then comes out on their day off to provide their help on my campaign to get me elected, and I will not forget those roots that I have there, moving forward, for those heroes that we have in our community.

The lay of the land…. As I said, it’s a very vast area, and I’m very happy about what’s coming to the constituents that are in the area, where they’re going to have a hospital that’s right there so it’ll take off the strain on Surrey Memorial Hospital. I’m looking forward to the transportation that will be coming to the area, with SkyTrain running right through.

Earlier on, there was a comment that was made by the MLA from North Vancouver–Seymour about worrying, and it reminded me about my father, 20 years ago, when he was on his deathbed. Two days before he passed away, we were talking about life stories, and he said to me: “Mike, 90 percent of what you worry about, you can’t change. Just worry about the 15 you can.” My dad wasn’t very good at math, but he made me understand where I am today — that comment made over 20 years ago.

I sit here today inside of the Legislature with all of you, and we are looking at the decisions that we can make that other people are worrying about right now. They can’t make that go away. That is a dad story that will never, ever leave me, and I’m so happy to be here in the House, virtually, sharing that story.

I think, now, the Lieutenant-Governor had talked about focusing on the pandemic and the virus that’s there and how we have to solve those problems with regards to COVID-19 and how it’s going to come across from an economic point of view. I’m really glad that the Minister of Health and Dr. Henry are taking the science-based approach and the evidence-based approach, and they’re making those decision-making models on those two things that are there. We’re not making political decisions. We’re making scientific and evidence-based decisions to get us out of where we are today.

We’re hearing personal stories from our constituents on a regular basis as to how it affects them, how their jobs are, when they go to work, or more importantly, the child care issues that are there that we’re going to be discussing moving forward. Because there are plenty of times in this day and age….

I have to say that I am one of those proud grandfathers that has a three-year-old grandson. During this time when there are issues around child care, and when your grandson has a sniffle, you can no longer use the child care that’s there. It’s important that we have that for jobs, important for the people that are out there to be part of the workforce and not have to worry about that. So child care — I’m glad to see that it’s in the throne speech, talks about creating jobs and allowing more people that are out there to join the workforce.

We talked about, inside of the changes that are coming forward, the different parts of what’s changed with regards to the orders that are there. How many people are permitted to be at a funeral? How many people are provided to be at a wedding? Those types of things are affecting our constituents on a regular basis.

I know how it feels. I know that it’s a short period of time before the vaccine gets here, but we have to listen to what we’re talking about when it comes to the health care and what solutions are going to be there so that we can push down that curve. I know many of us have made sacrifices when it comes to that.

We heard one of the other MLAs for Surrey-Panorama talk about the passing of her mother and that there wasn’t the ability to be there. I can tell that you that earlier on this year, there was a firefighter in the Interior that passed away from a work-related disease. There was no line-of-duty death ceremony that was done for that person that was there. The family was not afforded that ability. We know the pain that the widow had to go through on the sudden passing of her husband.

We’ve seen how many things can take place at a time when the COVID part of things is absolutely grinding us to a halt. But the throne speech has some hope and has some plans that are coming forward in all of that. That COVID benefit will be there to assist the people that need it the most. That COVID benefit will be there for the family that will determine for them what’s the best way to take that money and spend it for their family that they have there.

[4:55 p.m.]

When we talk about the COVID procedures that are there, I also want to talk about, just briefly…. When we talk about pushing the curve down and what it’s going to do for our health care and our personal stories that are there, I can tell you that my future daughter-in-law works in the ER, and if we don’t do our part, if we don’t listen to what’s being said by the government, if we don’t listen to what’s being said by the minister or Dr. Bonnie Henry, my future daughter-in-law is going to be working all the way through Christmas like nobody else’s business.

This is the time, as leaders, where we have to come forward to let everybody know that this is the normal that we have today. The normal that’s going to be coming around the corner will be there, but we have to stick to the plan. The throne speech has a plan. The throne speech will deal with the economics of what’s there. The throne speech has the ideas as to how to get health care to the areas that we live in. Our constituents are looking forward to what comes out of the throne speech and the business that will come out of this session inside the House.

Right now it’s a tremendous honour and a privilege for me to represent the people of my constituency of Surrey-Cloverdale. My constituents are reaching out at a time when there is no equipment, no office, no other ways for people to get hold of me short of through Facebook Messenger, websites and other things like that. I look forward to the day when there is an actual phone number, an office location, where the constituents can see where their plans are and see what their MLA is doing for them.

I want to leave this with the last thought. Dr. Bonnie Henry talks about being kind and talks about being wise in what we do. We talk about how, over the Christmastime, to stay inside of your households. That is the best advice that we can, as MLAs, give our constituents if we want to get through this thing, if we want to be in it together.

I’m asking everyone in the House to give that same message to their constituents so that we can all have a safe and healthy Christmas. As some of the other colleagues have also said, this is the time to reach out. This is the time to donate to those charities that are hurting the very most. This is the time that we should be reaching out to our friends and family to give them their check-in call just to make sure they’re doing okay.

Thank you very much for the time that I’ve had to address the response to the throne speech.

Deputy Speaker: Recognizing the member for Richmond North Centre.

T. Wat: Thank you, hon. Speaker, and congratulations on your new role.

I would also like to offer a very sincere congratulations to Mr. Speaker for his recent appointment. As an immigrant myself, I have always been honoured to share the House with members from both sides who bring similar experience and share the same goal of promoting diversity, openness and equal opportunity for all, both here in the Legislature and in all communities across British Columbia.

Although we may not have always seen eye to eye on politics and policy in the past, it is truly an honour to have a pioneer such as the Speaker, who has done so much to forward our shared goal of diversity and inclusion and oversee the business of the House.

I would also like to thank the Clerk of this Legislature and all the staff for their hard work to ensure that our 87 MLAs continue to do our work in this peoples’ House and to serve British Columbians.

As the first session since the election and our only session before the new year, I would like to take a brief moment to thank my staff and volunteers who have supported me and continue to support me as I continue to serve in my role as an MLA, both in Richmond and in Victoria — Trix Chan, David Shum and William Tu, my constituency assistants, as well as Hannah Levett, David Decolongon and Sam Arno Burgess, my staff here in Victoria.

Of course, I would like to thank the people of Richmond North Centre who have supported me since 2013 and have once again put their faith in me to serve as their voice in Victoria.

[5:00 p.m.]

My special gratitude to our team of many volunteers who worked very hard during the election campaign; finally, to my 96-year-old mother, who lost her life partner of more than six decades [audio interrupted] early this year, my daughter, Tin, my son-in-law, Terry, and my two grandsons, Andre and Ashton, as well as my in-law John Chung, for their support and encouragement for me to continue to serve my constituents and British Columbians.

I am proud of my beautiful riding of Richmond North Centre. It is a place of rich cultural and culinary destinations, a place where you can discover the raw beauty of nature and unique adventures. It is where tourists first land by air in British Columbia as it is home to the world-class Vancouver International Airport. Richmond is often the first part of Vancouver and British Columbia that many people get to experience, and it has served us well, as no other community better embodies the spirit of diversity, openness and inclusion that we pride ourselves in as a province.

Hovering around 80 percent prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Richmond’s hotel occupancy rate is among the highest in Canada. Diverse year-round multicultural attractions, including Richmond Night Market and Highway to Heaven, a collection of 20 houses of worship…. Richmond’s tourism and hospitality sectors are major economic drivers, having contributed more than $1.5 billion in economic output and employing tens of thousands of full-time employees and equivalents in the city.

Tourism is one of our major economic drivers, not just as a city but as a province — a $20 billion industry that employs hundreds of thousands of workers in communities from all corners of B.C. While all industry sectors have been affected by COVID-19 to some degree, few industries have been more impacted than the tourism and hospitality sector. That’s because tourism is the only industry almost entirely based on the discretionary movement of people and, therefore, was among the hardest hit by COVID-19 due to business closure orders and restrictions on personal and business travel, as well as the closure of international borders.

Virtually the entire sector has endured closures and extensive layoffs, with many businesses having already foreclosed due to lack of cash flow, while thousands more are desperately trying to maintain solvency.

With the uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, seasonal businesses such as the Richmond Night Market had to postpone their events to 2021, and they don’t know whether they can host an event next year. They are now relying on funding from the Ministry of Tourism to remain afloat. Many seasonal businesses are at risk of not making it to 2021, and until we have a vaccine and our borders are once again able to reopen, these businesses will continue to struggle.

Not only are the tourism and hospitality sectors hard hit by the pandemic, non-profit organizations are also suffering. They have lost much of the support they depend on to carry out their invaluable work. Many can no longer host events to raise funds for their basic operations or to meet the demands of those in need and are struggling to find ways to connect with their supporters.

It is during these times of struggle that people need the support of our non-profit organizations the most. One organization that reached out to me in my own community was Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives. RCRG has been a staple of the Richmond community for more than 40 years and has carried forward the Richmond Christmas fund, a holiday charity program that was first started by Ethel Tibbits back in the 1930s.

[5:05 p.m.]

The money they raise puts food on the table and gifts under the trees for countless Richmond families during the holiday season. In a year that has sometimes felt hopeless, they give people a reason to smile. Fortunately, this year they found a way for people to drive through with toys and cash donations in the parking lot of Lansdowne Centre. I was excited and honoured to join and be part of this tradition.

The toy drive is another example of how non-profits are thinking outside the box to bring vital support to those in need. This government could learn a thing or two from them. While so many small businesses are struggling to stay afloat, these non-profits are as well, and are looking to this government to deliver much of the support promised to them.

Well, unfortunately, while we know this government will offer short-term relief, we don’t see much evidence of any long-term plans to help British Columbians and our economy to recover. This plan certainly could not be found in the government’s underwhelming throne speech. Amidst the Premier’s promises that the government will always put British Columbians first and that they have supported British Columbians every step of the way, we see some evidence to the contrary.

Is this not the same government that delayed its economic recovery plan for months, only to roll it out as a pre-emptive election platform days before triggering a snap election? Is this not the same government that called for cooperation and collaboration among all parties, then went back on their written agreement and dissolved parliament?

Now, in this brief sitting before the new year, this government has also made it known that it intends to once again fall short on so many of the supports promised to British Columbians. They have brought just one bill forward for debate this session, which will deal with a one-time relief payment for eligible British Columbians. Where are the promised supports and stimulus for our ailing tourism and hospitality sector and for small business owners? Many of them are in my riding of Richmond North Centre. They are struggling — struggling — to stay afloat.

There has been no indication that this government has any long-term economic recovery plan, and this worrying trend of overpromising and underdelivering is no more apparent than in our tourism industry. Back in July, the Tourism Industry Association of B.C., TIABC, and its dozens of sectoral association partners presented the provincial government with a tourism and hospitality sector recovery stimulus proposal that asked the government to allocate $680 million in order for the tourism and hospitality sector to make a full and effective recovery.

Instead, this government created a tourism task force to distribute a mere $15 million down the road, and the money hasn’t been given out yet. B.C.’s most recent job numbers show 37,400 fewer British Columbians were working last month, compared to pre-pandemic levels in February, many of which are directly connected to tourism and hospitality.

I’m incredibly honoured to take on the role as opposition critic for Tourism, Arts and Culture. Our tourism and hospitality industries are facing more challenges than ever before and are looking for a strong voice in Victoria to bring forward their concerns at a time when they feel ignored and alienated by their government. I will continue to do everything I can to connect with these industry leaders and stakeholders and to ensure that they continue to have a strong voice in this House.

[5:10 p.m.]

Not only are we seeing the promises for greater supports failing to come to fruition; the promises of greater transparency and accountability are too. The government has yet to deliver its second quarterly update, and now the new Finance Minister may delay delivering the 2021 provincial budget by weeks.

Even as British Columbians call for greater transparency in our COVID data, this continues to fall on deaf ears, as our province continues to fall behind the rest of Canada in delivering and presenting our regional COVID-19 data. For a government that claims to prize transparency and openness, all we are seeing are more and more information gaps.

What is clear is that the Premier put our legislative progress on hold to trigger his snap election and now shows little interest in doing any actual governing. If this throne speech is any indication of the mandate this government intends to carry out, I fear that this trend of less promises kept, less transparency and less support for those who need it will continue throughout the pandemic and beyond.

I’m just hoping that this government will take a deep reflection, put politics aside and take the trust of British Columbians seriously to come up with a comprehensive and well-thought-out health and economic recovery plan for the benefit of British Columbians.

M. Dykeman: It is an honour to take my place in this House and to rise to speak in support of the Speech from the Throne. As is customary in this House after an election, I would like to begin by thanking the constituents of Langley East for giving me the privilege to serve them in this House and to share a bit about the community I am so very proud to represent.

As I’m sure anyone who has been elected will attest, the real heroes of our stories are the people who put us here. I am truly humbled and grateful for the trust that the people of Langley East have put in me, and I recognize the weight of the responsibility that comes with that trust.

Langley East, which is located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded lands of the Matsqui, Kwantlen, Katzie and Semiahmoo First Nations, is an amazing community with a deeply rooted, innovative, inspiring and strong agricultural history and a fast-growing urban core. Its citizens — my constituents — embody the entrepreneurial spirit and are deeply committed to service and volunteerism.

When something needs to be done in our community, you can be sure that the community will take on that task with full commitment and enthusiasm. The motto of Langley Township is “Nothing without effort.” As did their forebears, when our community is in need, the people of Langley Township step forward and dedicate the time and hard work necessary to accomplish the task.

I would like to thank my family for their love and support and, of course, all the volunteers who have worked tirelessly during the campaign.

To my daughter, Mac, and my son, A.J., I’m so very grateful for your support, enthusiasm and help.

To my father, Ron, who has been my rock since I was very young: your guidance, advice and support has and continues to mean the world to me.

I cannot possibly thank all of those who deserve to be acknowledged for all of their support. Each one of you equally deserves recognition for all that you have done. But there are two people I need to acknowledge who have been so important to me through the campaign and beyond. I would like to thank Candy Ashdown and Rachelle Cashato for being the powerhouse ladies that they are. I am fortunate to have them to keep me on track and organized. It is a privilege to work with them both and to be able to call them friends.

I would also like to thank the Langley board of education and the district leadership team for their support as I transitioned out of my role as chair of the Langley board of education after the election. I wish the board and the new chair, trustee Rod Ross, my very best.

To end where I began today, it is indeed an honour to sit in this House and to be part of such monumental events, such as the well-deserved acclamation of the first Punjabi person outside of India as Speaker of the House.

[5:15 p.m.]

It is also a privilege to take my seat in this House and to have the opportunity to work alongside each and every one of my colleagues. We are so fortunate in this country to enjoy the robust democratic process which each of us, as elected representatives, have been entrusted to uphold. It truly is an honour to represent the people of Langley East, and I’m grateful for the opportunity.

As I reflect on the Speech from the Throne, many of the commitments made resonate with the concerns that my constituents shared with me during the election, including overcoming the challenges of COVID-19, support for small and medium-sized businesses and support for families. I am grateful for the government’s leadership in these areas and for recognizing how challenging these times have been for so many.

In conclusion, thank you for this opportunity to speak today in response to the Speech from the Throne.

R. Russell: I’m thrilled to be here and have an opportunity to speak in support of the throne speech.

But first, I must acknowledge and pay respect to those who came before me on these lands where I now sit. I’m honoured to live and play on the converging traditional unceded lands of the Syilx, Sinixt and Secwépemc people. Thank you, all.

I would also like to pay tribute to the Métis people that currently make up such a significant part of our community and these communities in this part of B.C., many of which are very good friends.

Yesterday Elder Butch Dick spoke words that resonated deeply with me. First, he asked the Creator to give us more light at the end of the trail to create hope. I’d like to speak a little more about this. As the Leader of the Third Party said this morning also, there is no playbook about how to govern during a pandemic, yet I think that’s a central task ahead of us to create a map that would give us options to get to that light that Butch spoke of and to help British Columbians see that path and, in turn, reach that light at the end of the trail.

Part of that trail involves recognizing the key roles played by essential workers, who are working to keep us safe, healthy and happy. Core to that is expressing our gratitude to those who deliver education to our children and adult learners, expressing our gratitude to those who get food all the way from the fields through the sometimes convoluted path to our plates. Gratitude to those who tirelessly work to support our health care system and gratitude for so many more. We have heard repeated references to that gratitude by speakers throughout the course of the day on both sides of the House, and the clock is ticking on, so I won’t reiterate any more of that.

Yesterday we heard the hon. Lieutenant-Governor speak about those we’ve lost. I have my own list of the same, and they help guide me ahead with what they have taught me. I’ll name only three today. I think of the bright lights extinguished in brilliant youth from my hometown, like Jacob. I think about Nick, a soul whose story I didn’t know until two months ago. Heartbreaking to hear of a life lost to a poisoned drug supply after dedicating his own self to serving our country. And again, new friends from a few years ago, like Virgil.

These all serve as a reminder of where my current responsibility lies and, I would say, our responsibility lies for helping us address issues, such as a toxic drug supply, moving on climate action, Indigenous advocacy and mental health. This is my personal responsibility, and for my own, I need to feel that I have helped deliver at least part of the solution on these topics in the years ahead.

I will take the liberty to also reply to a throne speech three years and a few months ago in this same House. In that speech, the hon. Lieutenant-Governor said: “This fall your government will put people at the heart of our politics.” I had a slightly more extreme version of the same statement that I had hoped to use as my campaign slogan, but my friend John suggested it may be a little too much. But regardless, I find myself here many seasons later because I believe we need to and that we will continue to put people at the heart of our politics.

I’m thrilled to be moving forward with the 86 colleagues around this room, around this House and around this province who have the same ultimate goal in mind — to restore more beauty to the people of B.C.

[5:20 p.m.]

People really are the heart of what we do. I want to take this opportunity to run through some gratitude to many of those people that stepped forward to help endow me with the privilege and responsibility that I now carry.

Originally, I didn’t want to come forward to serve on behalf of these people in my riding because of my children, and then I realized that I must put my name forward for the same reason. I must put my name forward for this privilege because of my children. While their enthusiasm for politics is intermittent, I’m thrilled to have their support and love through this process.

My mother and father inspired my passion for science and, probably more importantly, my spirit of compassion, both of which have served me well through my time in politics. I would like to share a poem that adorned my mother’s fridge for years and that captures, in my mind, part of the responsibility that the hon. Lieutenant-Governor spoke of yesterday in the throne speech.

Mr. Speaker, I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to read a poem.

Deputy Speaker: Absolutely.

R. Russell: Thank you. It is by a poet called Mary Oliver, called “The Summer Day.”

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean —
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

On that note, I would also like to acknowledge and express my gratitude overflowing to my partner, Chris­tine. As most of us know, campaigning and politics can be all-encompassing. During all those times, Christine carried the weight of our family and filled a void that was left by having me be absent, physically or mentally. Without complaint, she kept us afloat. For that and so much more, I thank her.

Also, I need to voice my deep thanks to my financial agent, who also happens to be both a good friend and my brother. My foray into provincial politics tested his tolerance on any number of levels, but at the end of the day, he tirelessly proposed creative paths to move us forward and fought to ensure that our campaign had the support it needed when we needed it. After the dust settled, this brought us even closer together, and I don’t believe I would be here today if it were not for him.

Now, beyond my immediate family, and in no particular order, I want to acknowledge and thank a significant number of those who dedicated themselves to support our Boundary-Similkameen voice here in this House.

Ian, for his boundless enthusiasm for all things political.

Veronica, for providing a sanctuary during campaigning, with an explicit restriction that there was to be no political talk, which I needed more than I knew.

Kim, for her remarkable and seemingly undying enthusiasm and energy, for an ability to connect us to the issues and the people in her communities.

Doug, likewise, served as critical matchmaker for people and issues and did so in a position that he, like me, I think felt a little underinformed at times. He did a stellar job with the new tools and the tasks that he was saddled with.

Another champion that emerged to support the team was Heather, who managed the tangled web of media wrangling so successfully.

Likewise, I had remarkable support navigating the nuances and deluge of social media by another new face to me who I still haven’t yet met, though I owe enormous gratitude to you. So thank you, Matt.

More locally, I had the dedicated support from a champion of information distribution. Thank you, Christopher.

I thank Dirk for his creative and constructive energy and Katy for being an expert at data management and the creator of what feels like thousands of lists of all sorts.

Those of you close to me know that my fashion choices are sometimes questionable, so among many other things, thanks to Edie for being willing to help keep me on the right path in the world of both COVID and fashion protocols.

My dear friend Keith needs to be applauded for helping to keep me grounded through the process, although he sometimes felt like he wasn’t doing enough. Most of us know how, really, it is often the intangibles that matter most for our well-being.

I must also name my friend and sometimes mentor Ange for both helping me craft elevator pitches and knowing when I needed to not hear elevator pitches, even if I didn’t know it.

[5:25 p.m.]

Aimee, for being willing to step forward and take the potentially unwelcome and challenging task of trying to manage someone like myself.

We had some good titles in our campaign. I need to thank Kristy for her stellar work in her role as the chief protector of feelings. Further thanks to another Kristy, who held the honour of wrangling a small army of other names, generally with constantly shifting goalposts. While I wish I had the time to thank all of those people, I’ll have to save that for another day.

There is a long list of such volunteers like Kim, Amy, Charlotte, Nancy, Kurt, Tamara, Glen, Eliza, Robert, Linda and Stella that all deserve individual thanks in their own right, but unfortunately, tonight isn’t the time for this gratitude.

Finally, my dear friend and more of a mentor than he may know, Clint. I can’t say enough about how much I appreciated his ability to set aside his life to help me through this. I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to get to know him better and to have built our friendship so much stronger.

As the member for Prince George–Mackenzie mentioned earlier, I need to acknowledge and thank the Clerk and the enormous support the staff have provided already in this process of trying to get up to speed of drinking from however many fire hoses I now feel like I have pointed at me. Your support is appreciated and necessary.

Thank you for your patience for that last long list of gratitude, fellow members. Gratitude is vital, so thank you for indulging me. I will recognize now that it is invariably incomplete, and I apologize to those that I couldn’t mention today.

Earlier today I also heard from a few members highlighting their discomfort with the election call. I would like to address that. I, too, was challenged by the election call, and I, too, had to contemplate what I felt at that decision with children in school, with a sister who is doctor, with so many friends in education and with my parent in care facilities. Was this actually an unnecessary election? I wasn’t sure.

But in this part of the world, two years ago, we also navigated a regional disaster — a flood that taught me a great deal about community capacity for disasters. It particularly taught me how vital, how essential — and how fundamental and foundational — building a good recovery team and a good recovery plan is. This process occupied much of my life for weeks and weeks on end and, indeed, for two years.

The realization that I came to was the recognition that, as a colleague in this House said some months ago, we need a stable government that has the time to build and use a runway to get us out of COVID. My experience as the policy lead to create that runway, on a smaller scale, for a regional disaster makes it clear to me that a protracted and consuming election period later in the pandemic could be devastating for our province. So respectfully, I think the right decisions have been made here.

[N. Letnick in the chair.]

An essential pillar of pandemic recovery is our trail through the economic recovery. Economic recovery is equally critical in rural B.C. just as it is elsewhere in the province. The throne speech made it clear that this government will take significant steps to assist small and medium-sized businesses in weathering the economic storm caused by COVID-19. New tax measures will reward businesses for hiring and help them grow and become more productive by making it easier for them to invest in equipment and machinery.

Focusing now on beating the virus will allow British Columbians to move as quickly as possible to address the economic recovery and its broader priorities — investing in people, strengthening communities and supporting jobs and growth in a clean energy future. I’m pleased to be part of that process, especially for the needs of resource-based communities that are built on the backs of forestry, agriculture and mining.

Likewise, alongside economic recovery, health care is clearly fundamental to how we map this trail for to the light of recovery. Indeed, the nature of how we deliver health care is vastly different in rural B.C. than it is elsewhere, but the three tenets of what we heard from the Speech from the Throne earlier around health care matter the same wherever you reside: delivering faster care, care closer to home and care that is more personalized and tailored to our own individual needs.

Thank you to my constituents. They put their trust in me, gave me a mandate to be their advocate and their representative. I hope I can demonstrate that their choice was wise, and I welcome that challenge ahead.

I want to also support and echo a comment made recently by the member for Surrey–White Rock and some others. He spoke to the importance of adding just a little more Zoom into our lives or picking up that phone one more time and reaching out to people in our lives that could benefit from a little more human contact in these trying times. I think that is essentially important, and I encourage all of us to put a little more energy into reaching out to help those that need it.

[5:30 p.m.]

Butch Dick also mentioned yesterday the concept of Na’tsa’maht — “one heart, one mind.” In his translation, he said that it seems like the world is calling for collaboration in a big way. I agree, and I hope we embrace this collaboration across this beautiful province and across this House. I look forward to working with the 86 other members around this House and this province to help add light to the path ahead.

As the Member for Nanaimo–North Cowichan already mentioned, we’re here with a shared vision at our core, and I’m thrilled to be here with all of you, regardless of where you sit. Given all this, I’m honoured to speak in favour of the hon. Lieutenant-Governor’s Speech from the Throne.

Way’ limləmt. Thank you.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you to the member for Boundary-Similkameen.

I now recognize the Minister of Education.

Hon. J. Whiteside: Hon. Speaker, congratulations on your election as Deputy Speaker in this House. Let me just say that I am humbled to stand before you in this House today as the Minister of Education and the MLA for New Westminster, as a member of this government and a representative of British Columbians to speak to the throne speech.

I would like to begin by acknowledging the territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋin̓əŋ-speaking people and the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, where we’re gathered at today. I would also just like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the Qayqayt First Nation, on whose traditional territory my home city of New Westminster is built.

I think I can say a few words of gratitude to those who have provided really incredible support for me on my journey to this House. I have been so fortunate in that regard.

First, I’d like to start by acknowledging and thanking the people of New Westminster, who live in our beautiful, resilient community on the banks of the Fraser River in what was the traditional territory of the Qayqayt Nation and also the first capital of our wonderful province.

I want to say a word about the amazing support that I’ve had from my mother, Shirley Whiteside, who at 91 and in her frail state has been so supportive and excited to see one of her four daughters run for elected office. My mom comes from working-class roots. She left school when she was 16 to go to work to support her parents. It was many years before she would be able to go back to school to complete high school.

After she married, she worked in the home raising four kids before returning to the workforce as a secretary in the public service in our government. She worked for many years in that capacity and was in fact a BCGEU member.

She retired at 65 and pursued her lifelong dream, which was studying at university. She achieved a bachelor of arts degree at the age of 75 from SFU, which is also my alma mater. She really instilled in me a love of language and a deep appreciation of the value and the importance of education. Those are lessons that I’m going to hold with me in my journey in this House, in the work that I will do here.

I also really want to thank my sisters, Nancy White­side and Hillary Aulando, who have always been enthusiastic co-conspirators for all of my endeavours, including this latest one. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their love and support — and, of course, my extended family. But really not least at all is my partner, François, whose wisdom, good advice and solid support I couldn’t do without.

[5:35 p.m.]

I want to acknowledge, as well, my deep gratitude for a really remarkable campaign team: Brynn Bourke, Cheryl Greenhalgh, Michael Olson, Raunaq Singh, Steve Beasley, Delaney Sullivan, Sydney Sullivan, Jenelle Davies and many others, really. I want to say that our community is so much richer for your engagement in very many aspects of the work of our community.

I’ve been reflecting a lot. I want to say that I feel very fortunate to live in the community in which I was born, in which I went to school, where I went to college. I have, of course, in particular, been reflecting on our government’s commitment to education and also the importance of our commitment to reconciliation. I think that was very well evidenced through the adoption in law of the principles of the United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples.

I just want to return for a moment to the Qayqayt First Nation in my home community, which is one of the smallest Indigenous communities in Canada and the only First Nation without a registered land base. The Qayqayt play a very important role in the fabric of New Westminster. I have been inspired, very much provoked and, I would say assisted, on sort of a personal reflection and journey around reconciliation with regard to and in my communication with Rhonda Larrabee, the Chief of the Qayqayt Nation.

I want to say that I think our collaborative communication with all B.C.’s Indigenous communities, particularly in my new role as we work together on reconciliation, is so important in creating a better future for Indigenous children in our province.

I’ve been reflecting on what I learned when I was in school about Indigenous peoples. We didn’t have the word or the concept of “reconciliation” there at that time. I can’t help but think about and be excited for the prospect of a future in which children are educated with a thorough knowledge and understanding built into their very foundational knowledge about our province, our country, our world, with respect to the important role of Indigenous people in our society.

In the context of this unprecedented period that we’re living in, I want to recognize Indigenous communities and the particular difficulties they have faced in this pandemic. I just want to comment on the importance, then, of why we have directed school districts to prioritize Indigenous communities and ensure their children are supported with remote learning, should they choose, and the importance of supporting more people in rural, remote and Indigenous communities with enhanced Internet services — for example, the importance of the commitment, the $50 million investment, around connectivity.

Our commitment, again, as I’ve mentioned, is to true and lasting reconciliation, to substantive work with Indigenous peoples to implement the UN declaration, to align our legislation to co-create an action plan and to look for ways to increase shared decision-making.

We know, of course, that although progress is being made, more work is needed to be done to tear down systemic colonial barriers in B.C. schools and, indeed, in many parts of our society. True reconciliation requires all of us to acknowledge the history and pain of this dark and shameful period in our history. I can’t underestimate how important reconciliation is in building a fair and just province and how vital the role of education is in doing just that.

Our government and I will listen to Indigenous communities and leaders. We are committed to working with our community partners to strengthen curriculum, to strengthen diversity and to add to our global and collective effort to end systemic racism. There are many efforts that are being undertaken in this regard, but I want to just speak specifically to the Community Roundtable on Anti-Racism in education, which has been created to support the development of an anti-racism action plan and strengthen the K-to-12 curriculum.

[5:40 p.m.]

This will help ensure that the culture, beliefs and ancestry of all students and staff are accepted, celebrated and understood. As we move forward, we will continue to work through our tripartite agreement to ensure equitable outcomes for all First Nations learners through the pandemic.

I want to note, as well, that issues with respect to reconciliation will, of course, inform everything that we do going forward and how we rebuild from this unprecedented time that we are experiencing. I think there’s no question that this past year has been a year like no other. The pandemic has turned the lives of British Columbians upside down. We’ve been challenged in ways that we never anticipated being challenged.

I can tell you that I think we all…. I certainly have witnessed incredible acts of social solidarity as our communities respond to the COVID-19 crisis. I think, indeed, that those remarkable acts of social solidarity are…. We saw the result of that in our efforts to flatten the curve during the first wave.

The B.C. government understands what people are going through, and we’re working collaboratively to make life easier for families through the pandemic. That’s why, as a key pillar of our commitment to British Columbians through the throne speech, government has now introduced legislation to get the B.C. recovery benefit to approximately 3.7 million individuals and families in the province.

For my constituents in New Westminster and for people throughout this province, this means a one-time benefit of up to $1,000 for families and up to $500 for individuals, and that will provide much-needed financial relief for people. It will make a difference to people. It is people-focused investments, like the B.C. recovery benefit, that support those who need it most, not just those at the top.

One of the areas that I am very excited to have the opportunity to work on is the area of child care, which, again, is another area where we can invest in people to make a difference. Throughout the pandemic, child care centres have been operating safely by following public health guidance, which includes requirements around supporting contact tracing. But the pandemic really has only deepened many of the problems that our government was working on before the pandemic, including the need for more licensed child care spaces in B.C.

Safe, affordable licensed care gives parents the peace of mind they need and the quality of care they can rely on. As the throne speech states, investments in child care give children a good start in life while creating jobs and allowing more people to join the workforce.

Our government recognizes the need to find new solutions to ensure more parents have access to affordable child care in their communities. We are committed to investing in child care and early childhood education to improve quality, expand spaces, increase affordability and ensure child care is accessible for all families. I have to say that it is an incredible honour to be part of a government launching the first new major social program, really, in a generation.

We are working closely with the Ministry of Children and Family Development to create new child care spaces on school grounds. In the majority of the new and replacement schools that this government has announced, space has been included for neighbourhood learning centres where child care is the top priority. I just will say that school districts are encouraged to apply for provincial grant funding for child care spaces through MCFD’s childcare B.C. new spaces fund.

Since 2017, our ministries have approved over 2,600 new spaces in addition to over 32,000 spaces that already exist on school grounds. In addition, this government recently revised the B.C. early learning framework to align with our redesigned curriculum and to focus on supporting younger children. This framework integrates Indigenous perspectives and world views, principles of inclusion to support children with special needs, as well as theory and practice.

[5:45 p.m.]

The new framework is allowing us to support professional learning for early learning professionals and expand support for families of young children. In addition, by consulting with our district partners, we’re looking for ways to expand early learning and child care opportunities in underutilized spaces on school grounds.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that in my home constituency of New Westminster, through the work of many, many people over many, many years, we are very excited to be opening the brand-new New Westminster Secondary School in New West in early January. I can’t tell you how excited my community is at the prospect that high school kids in New West are going to be attending a new state-of-the-art school.

As our government renews its commitment to the safety and well-being of all British Columbians, this throne speech is the blueprint for our economic recovery and its broader priorities of investing in people, strengthening communities and supporting jobs and job growth in a clean energy future.

The steps taken so far to address the threat of COVID-19 have saved lives. I know this to be true. In the months ahead, our government will build on the measures already in place to ensure we have a just recovery that works for everyone, not just those at the top.

As I stand before you in the role of Minister of Education, I promise to British Columbians to lead a sector that is a driver of equity of opportunity for every child in this province through a world-class education. I am proud to stand in support of the Speech from the Throne, and I urge all members to come together and do the same.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you to the hon. Minister of Education.

I now recognize the member for Kelowna West.

B. Stewart: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It’s a pleasure to be here, even virtually, in the chamber today.

And congratulations on your new role, Member.

It’s an opportunity for myself to respond to the Speech from the Throne. First, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the constituents and the fine people in Kelowna West for trusting me to be their representative here in the Legislature.

I just couldn’t have done it, though, without the help of my campaign team or leadership team — Peter Wannop, Margaret White, Cheryl Doll, Chris Foreman, as well as Richard Soneff and Karen Bulmer, who were all instrumental in helping take on the pandemic election, as it’s often called, in just terms of the suddenness of it and the fact that we had our signs out early. We were door-knocking, socially distant, during the campaign, and we were out there and aggressively prosecuting, I think, the reasons why I wanted to be elected again, this being the fourth election that I’ve been successful in.

I do want to respond to this throne speech. This usually is the opportunity for the government, the Premier, to lay out their vision of what they see in the future. We heard an awful lot during the throne speech about increased investment in health care, which…. I mean, we know that that is very helpful. I think there’s no doubt that there is a shocking number of people that have been impacted and people that have lost loved ones, with the severity of COVID-19. It’s been a shocking challenge for all of us as we enter the final weeks of a year that’s currently not letting up.

This holiday season will be especially difficult with the extended restrictions. I don’t think of a business that is not impacted, or a family or one of our seniors that are either at home, either alone or in care. What I really fear is the mental health of many British Columbians, especially the seniors, who have been faced with months and months and months of lockdown, lacking any human interaction.

[5:50 p.m.]

I can speak firsthand, as my father was in a care facility and passed on in May. It was sad, because he celebrated his 94th birthday in the facility, and we never really had a chance to even have any contact until the very last couple of days. More importantly, the children are facing a very different Christmas this year, without all the magic that they’re accustomed to.

For those of us that are lucky enough to still have our health, are employed and are able to connect in novel ways — this doesn’t work for everyone — I think the most important thing to focus in on is the gratitude that we should have for all of us that are celebrating still having a job or a business or the opportunity to look further ahead.

The throne speech. I hate to be critical, but as I said, this is an opportunity for the government to articulate a vision. What do they see going ahead? I know it’s difficult, but the challenge, no less, for the government is to articulate some sort of hope operation. What I see is only a small amount of issues that have been addressed.

I know they say that there is going to be a subsequent throne speech, and I guess that raises the question: why all the expense of calling everybody back to have a throne speech that really has no substance and, frankly, spending that could have been done through different means if the government really was concerned about the restrictions put out by the provincial health officer.

But no. They decided that from a political point of view, they wanted to grandstand by having everybody either come to Victoria or through the hybrid situation and bypass the rules of the House — typical of this government and its past record, in terms of suggesting that they were a government of balanced budgets. When we forget about the 23 new or increased taxes that it took to get us to balanced budgets — and the fact is that this year we’re looking at supplemental estimates just south of a $15 billion deficit — that’s a far cry from balanced budgets that we all talk about.

The strongest economy in the country. Frankly, I know that that came from a lot of hard work by members from this side of the House. I know that there are members on your side that are working equally as hard, but I think that the throne speech was an opportunity to provide certainty — to give people that element of hope, not just to children about Christmas and the fact that they’re going to be all right.

The bottom line is that people that have businesses are faced every day with either the threat of losing their business or the fact that they have to work through complicated programs. Frankly, this throne speech doesn’t lay out anything on that. I think that in the business community, there is a considerable gap between what businesses expect from a government that’s supposed to provide leadership…. They talk about individuals, they talk about people that are renting, and they talk about that, but what about the people that are the employers, the job creators? Is that going to be something that we’re going to just forgo during these challenging times?

There’s nothing talked about in terms of the budget bill that was introduced today, the supplementary estimates. This is all money that was promised during a pandemic election. How can we honestly and consciously know that this is a thoughtful investment in British Columbia for the five million people that are not all just working for somebody else but that actually create the jobs?

Simply put, more needs to be done now, not later, and this government just gave themselves the green light to basically be unaccountable further. We did this last session, in the 41st parliament. We extended the lack of accountability so that we could pull off this election and not have to put out the financial accountability under the financial Transparency Act. The reason that those rules are there is to make certain that we don’t drift back to where we were with fast ferries in the 1990s and the fudge-it budget.

[5:55 p.m.]

We want to make certain that British Columbians know exactly what they’re going to be getting when it comes to the results. That’s part of what the throne speech is about. It’s to lay out the groundwork so that people can know that your budget, which now is being deferred for some five or six months, in terms of…. It’s at least optional, and it’s certainly not going to be under the current term. So I do see that that is a particular concern. It’s just more deferrals and delays and not about accountability.

This is not how you govern, amending legislation just so that you can do it again and again. This will continue to work against taxpayers. It’ll lower our credit rating, because the fact is that there’s so much uncertainty, let alone the deficit. In times of uncertainty, businesses need certainty, and what we’re looking at is taxpayer-increased cost by this deferral and delay. What is being proposed, really, in this throne speech is spending on the public sector and giving money to people that were promised this during the election.

It’s a little bit like the renters’ grant that was promised in 2017 — I don’t think it ever materialized, but maybe this is a way of getting back to it — or free tolls on the Port Mann, which cost the government and taxpayers over $400 million a year. At the end of the day, there’s only one taxpayer.

To learn that the relief next week is going to be passed on to only people that had a pre-pandemic income, based on 2019, that allows them to qualify…. Well, what about all the people that lost jobs that actually are currently unemployed, whether they’re in the grocery business, the restaurant business or manufacturing? Highly impacted.

I know that in the special events, tourism and hospitality business, there have been tens of thousands of people impacted by the fact that we have not been able to come up with anything to try to provide an option for these businesses to be able to survive and provide opportunities. So those people are going to be exempt. We heard that from the Finance Minister today in her remarks, that it was going to be based on that. That’s unfortunate, because the application process has already been determined.

So where’s the economic plan? I think everybody expects that a throne speech is going to be partially about how we’re going to have a sound economic plan, how we’re going to get through this. It’s not just about the fact that we’re going to listen to the provincial health officer about the restrictions and all the barriers to that. How are we going to get through this?

We know that there are vaccines being delivered. A trial run is being delivered today in Canada. The fact is that we could be seeing vaccines as early as a week from now in British Columbia for the most vulnerable, but what about after that?

We know that there is a plan on vaccinations coming out based on best-available information, but what about the economic plan? We’ve got a health plan. We know that that’s being worked on, and that’s job one for this government, but what about the economic plan for the rest of British Columbia?

Where is the tourism industry and the small business relief plan? I don’t hear anything in that throne speech that said anything about that. Where is any sort of direction to industry to say: “Hey, we’re going to make sure that you can bounce back from this.” Now, I know that health support is key at the moment, but this shortened session and the lack of scope is really disheartening.

I’d like to take this time to touch on some of the issues that I am now responsible for as the opposition Housing critic. Firstly, there’s been no movement on affordability prices, and prices are still out of reach.

I happened to pick up a report a few days ago. It talks about…. The British Columbia Real Estate Association reports that a total increase in British Columbia, October 2020 over the same period in 2019, is up 44 percent. Well, that’s significant, and that’s great if you’re selling homes or moving, downsizing, whatever it might be. But on top of that, the average residential price set a record at $812,960, which is a 12½ percent increase from the $722,000 of the previous year. How is that helping affordability?

[6:00 p.m.]

What is the government’s investment in B.C. Housing? All of the promises that we listened to for the last three years. “We’re going to build 114,000 new homes or places for people to live.” What we have seen is we’ve seen…. Literally, the government’s own record shows that they have only completed under 3,000 units in terms of the past year. That’s less than what the previous government had done in its final year of being in government.

So I think that they’re a long ways off the mark. I know that there are lots and lots of promises that are approved in principle, but they’re not under construction. They may not have the funding in place. There’s nothing about helping people with the increased cost in housing. This government ran in 2017 on: “We are going to make life more affordable. We’re going to make housing more affordable.” I just don’t really believe that that’s proving to be the point.

I don’t think that units are being approved in a faster manner at local government levels. The criteria of meeting the objectives that the government laid out in its own plan and they talk about in the minister’s mandate letter…. The fact is that they’re going to have to work with local government in a much more proactive manner in order to get the supply increased. Frankly, that has not been happening, by those numbers that I just read out to you.

Recently there was an article reported in Business in Vancouver that was talking about major landlords in the Lower Mainland disposing of hundreds and hundreds of rental units. They’re putting whole portfolios up for sale and disposing of them. Now why would they be doing that? Does that mean that they don’t think that the return on the investment that they have in British Columbia is going to yield a reasonable investment so that there is going to be continued growth in that area?

What we’re doing is we’re taking away an incentive for outside capital to invest here. It can’t all be funded by the government. It needs outside attraction so that we build a strong province that has the diversity from social and government-supported housing to private. What we’ve told landlords is: “You know what? We’re putting in a rent freeze, and it’s going to last until the end of December 2021 while COVID is on.” Now it’s on until July, and it may even go on to the end of 2021.

What about the added costs of insurance for those landlords or the strata insurance or the taxes? We saw taxes last year in the city of Vancouver reduced to about an 8 percent increase. This year they’re talking about another huge increase. It’s not sustainable. Landlords cannot continue to dip into what capital that they may have. Landlords aren’t all big property developers. Some of these are mom-and-pops that are basically putting their life savings into a piece of property so that they can see a steady return and know that it’s not at risk. The bottom line is it’s now being attacked by the government’s own actions.

The government has lots…. I’m looking forward to tackling this with the new minister responsible. I know he was the critic for a number of years. I’m sure he said many things. We’ll look forward to debating whether his government and himself have been able to deliver on that.

The other thing that I think I want to kind of touch on when it comes to what’s happened in the last three years…. We didn’t hear anything in the throne speech about commitment to affordability or housing, but what we do know is the previous throne speech continued to commit to this.

Now, in my riding, Kelowna West, we have lots of supportive housing. We have things that we did when I was originally elected in 2009 and subsequent years. We added Pleasantvale for seniors. We added a project that’s going ahead with Pathways, for disabled people. We have the supportive shelter for people that have addictions, run by the John Howard Society, called Cornerstone; Willowbridge, run by Canadian Mental Health; and many more, such as the Gospel Mission.

We have these temporary shelters, such as Cornerstone. We have emergency shelters that have been put up all over the city, all over Kelowna West and in ridings throughout this province, and they’re not with the wraparound services.

[6:05 p.m.]

I’ve had mayors come to me time and time again, and they can’t understand. They have made a commitment in the city of Kelowna on what they call Journey Home, and they provided property in the neighbouring ridings on Agassiz Court and out in Rutland, in the Deputy Speaker’s riding, as well as new ones in Kelowna West. Frankly, there is a gap.

We talk about health care. The minister’s announcement about 7,000 new health care workers. How many of those health care workers are for the issues around mental health and addictions? I didn’t hear anything about that. I heard about 1,000 new for contact tracing, and I give kudos to getting on top of that. We hear more about MRIs and all of the things. We locally had a primary and urgent care facility open up in Kelowna West. I am very grateful that that has happened. I know that the one at Capri Centre in Kelowna-Mission has been a great asset.

But the reality is that mental health and addictions are filling up our floor for mental health at Kelowna General Hospital. Frankly, there needs to be attention in health care. I know you have a ministry for it, but they have no budget. That’s why we see no results there.

I do expect that we’re going to invest more money in those areas, because frankly, there isn’t a community, whether it’s UBCM or municipalities that I am a part of and other municipalities that I visited in the last few years that doesn’t talk about the fact that they need more wraparound supports. We heard it from the member for Cariboo-Chilcotin today. They just don’t have the facilities, and they don’t have the wraparound services.

What are people going to do when it’s minus 30 or minus 40 out in the northern parts? I know that in the Lower Mainland, seeing below zero temperatures is a very rare occurrence, but I think that we have to make certain we’re addressing this on a provincial basis. We cannot afford to leave rural British Columbia out on this.

So I’m looking forward to seeing what comes of their housing plan and how the new minister handles this file. His mandate letter is a fulsome ask, and I hope we can see some of it come to fruition. Kelowna, as I mentioned, has some real challenges around mental health, homelessness and affordability.

But you know, what is really concerning, besides the pandemic, is all of the issues that we face in terms of the crisis for the business community. We have a COVID crisis, but we have a business crisis as well. We’ve got businesses in Kelowna West, downtown Kelowna, and now it’s actually spreading out to all of the other areas. But in downtown Kelowna, we have hotels all along the pristine Kelowna City Park, where people will have fond memories of the Kelowna International Regatta, swimming events, diving and all those things.

Now we have TripAdvisor telling people: “Don’t come and stay in downtown Kelowna. It’s not safe.” There are all sorts of reasons. How is it that we can’t do anything? The city has been working on this for decades. The bottom line is that we’ve got to make certain that we have better supportive housing with wraparound supports, and we’ve got to make certain we get to the root of the problem. Frankly, businesses like Prestige Inns and Hotel Zed and other ones cannot afford…. Their properties are completely paralyzed by this other issue that faces British Columbians in almost every city.

The local business community, in my mind, has been left behind by the government. Businesses are exiting out of the downtown core. They’re being boarded up. They cannot find a place where it’s safe for their staff to work because they’re confronted constantly by people that are dealing with mental health or addictions.

They’re not homeless. They have opportunities for shelter. They may choose to not use it, but the situation is they do need to have help.

I think that like so many other cities, the small business owners are facing not only financial ruin from COVID but also the difficulty related to inadequate supports for those in need. What is needed is a fulsome restart plan for the business sector, something that incentivizes increasing housing supply, a collaborative approach from all levels of government.

[6:10 p.m.]

As far as supports for mental health and addiction, where is the increase in the funding to get communities what they need? I hear that we’re talking about Hospital at Home — all of these treatments that are being mentioned in the throne speech. It’s talking about faster care, closer to home, personalized care. But it isn’t addressing the elephant in the room. People in British Columbia want to know that from this government: when are you going to address this health issue?

The point being is that this new government, quick to tout themselves as the only possible stewards for this province, has their work cut out for them. With this mini session barely tackling the myriad of challenges at our province’s doorstep, I do worry about this province and how we will make it through. For the sake of the economy, small businesses and all British Columbians, I hope that 2021 is a far better showing from this government.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Mr. Speaker: The member for Chilliwack-Kent.

K. Paddon: Thank you, hon. Speaker, and congratulations.

I would like to begin by showing my gratitude to be speaking from Chilliwack-Kent, which is part of the Coast Salish community where I live and serve on the traditional territories of the Stó:lō Nation, Sts’ailes Nation, Pil’alt and Ts’elxwéyeqw tribes.

As the MLA for Chilliwack-Kent, I am honoured to rise virtually today to speak on and support the throne speech. I would like to take a few moments to thank the people of Chilliwack-Kent for putting their trust and confidence in me to serve our beautiful, vast and diverse community. The passion, dedication and commitment to community in this constituency is inspiring, and I am so grateful to the members of local executive and the volunteers who dedicated their time and energy to the campaign and the election.

For some, this was one of several campaigns they have worked on over the years, although not like any campaign they have ever worked on before. I appreciate their flexibility and creativity. It was evident every day and made such a huge difference in our efforts.

For others, this was their first experience and proved to be a challenging and unique effort. I want to say thank you for your passion and willingness to go outside of your comfort zone to help us win this election. I know some of you stepped up because you were moved to serve your community and get the message out, while others were called up as a personal favour, uncertain and a bit intimidated by the process, I’m sure. The fact that so many supported our work to reach out in non-traditional ways to our neighbours and communities made all the difference.

I would specifically like to thank Mark Jackson, Fredelle Copeland, Nicole Katerberg, Shawn Baginiski and Christina Ditty for the generous and patient support of a new candidate. The hours and effort you committed to the campaign were invaluable.

I would also like to thank all the youth who came out and supported us. Now, there will not be names here because I’ve been informed that it is not cool and some have asked not to be named, but I do want to acknowledge that stepping up to support what you believe in is cool. Supporting your community and working to make it better is a big deal, and I hope you feel proud that your efforts have made a difference even if you are not yet old enough to vote. Your passion and willingness to get involved and work for what you believe in inspires me, so I thank you.

My thank-yous would not be complete without acknowledging the biggest source of my strength and support: my family. Thank you to my fierce mother, Lynn Easton, who raised me to be brave, to always speak up, to trust myself and to lead with the heart of a servant.

Thank you to my amazing partner, Drew, who has spent the last 20 years encouraging me, applauding me and, at times, holding me up. I see the sacrifices he makes without complaint that allow me to serve my community, and even more than all the cheers, those quiet sacrifices have taught me so much about what it means to be loved completely and unconditionally.

To my children, my amazing teenagers, thank you for the clarity and purpose you offer. You have reminded me throughout how important it is to speak up and amplify the voices of those who may not have the audience they need in order to be heard. You also keep me humble — very, very humble — as we discuss issues and ideas in the community, as you remind me that Facebook is only for moms and as you share your realities and struggles with me. Thank you for your love and support for being amazing humans. I hope to make you as proud as I am of both of you.

[6:15 p.m.]

There are so many people in Chilliwack-Kent and across British Columbia who stepped up and supported our message that they can’t be named individually. But I offer my sincere thanks to everyone who supported us, everyone who put their name forward to represent and serve their community, everyone who voted, and to the Premier and my colleagues here in this House.

As I listened to the throne speech, I was filled with gratitude. Our lives have been turned upside down by the pandemic, and people are worried. In this throne speech, I heard the work of hope. This work that we are all charged to do will respond to what I hear from parents and teachers who are worried about schools and their family’s health. It will respond to what I hear from families who have loved ones in long-term care and who are worried and missing their parents, what I hear from community members who are frustrated or upset about not being able to gather. It will respond to what I hear from those who live alone about how isolated they’re feeling.

Our work will continue to respond to the business owners who are not sure how the next days, weeks or months will impact their business, because people are the economy. As we invest in people, we’re investing in our economic recovery. It will also support the work about what I hear directly from paramedics, nurses, educational staff, janitorial staff, support staff, cashiers, clerks and so many other front-line workers about how strained they are, how low on resources they are and how tired. Thank you for your service. We see you and appreciate your sacrifices and dedication.

The issues that were important to the people of Chilliwack-Kent before the pandemic have not ceased to be important, despite the focus on the priority of keeping people safe. There are critical issues here in so many areas. There is the emergency of the opioid crisis, which continues to take too many lives. We know that here, significant work is needed in the areas of infrastructure, education, child care, mental health, affordability, agriculture and climate action. Many of these issues have intensified during the pandemic, and there is much work to be done as we work towards our economic recovery to address the needs of Chilliwack-Kent.

We continue to operate under the public health orders designed to keep British Columbians safe and to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. There is no doubt that not being able to gather in person for holidays is some bitter-tasting medicine. Even though it is clear that it is necessary in order to ensure that no one is missing when we come back together, it is not easy. The pandemic has demanded sacrifices from all of us, and people are tired. I know that my mother wants to hug her grandchildren, teams want to play, families need to be reunited, and our faith communities are working hard to conduct worship services and praise virtually to support their congregations.

All of these sacrifices are to protect our health care system and schools. There are so many great examples of people who recognize their responsibility and are finding ways to connect safely.

In reflecting on the throne speech, I could not help but think of a constituent in Chilliwack-Kent who embodies the spirit and message of the speech: listen to the experts, support health care workers and take care of each other. Inez Louis is a registered nurse who works as the strategic operations planner for the Stó:lô Service Agency, which is a First Nations Health Authority–funded health provider to affiliated bands and the local Indigenous community. Ms. Lewis is of Stó:lô, Anishinaabe and Métis ancestry and has previously worked as a nursing supervisor, community nurse and home care nurse to the nation.

Over the past months, Ms. Louis has been doing Facebook live conversations with the Stó:lô Nation through the Stó:lô Nation Facebook to speak directly with her community about COVID-19. This initially included daily updates to share information from public health as well as to counter the misinformation she was seeing on social media. Over the months, updates have been weekly or biweekly, and most recently, the presentations have followed the reports from Dr. Henry.

Ms. Louis is focused on explaining the information in a culturally safe way and to answer specific culturally relevant questions directly from the community. Ms. Louis describes her work as follows. “I am a huge advocate for culturally relevant and culturally safe care. Our people need to feel safe in order to access services to improve health. It is my career commitment to build that bridge of trust and high quality of health services while upholding our culture and highest teachings brought forward by our elders.” Ms. Louis’s open and generous sharing with her community was already a shining light on how each of us can support each other. However, recently, her gifts to the community were expanded through unfortunate circumstance.

[6:20 p.m.]

I share, with permission, that last week Ms. Louis fell ill and received a positive COVID-19 test result. This was despite all of her careful adherence to the orders and precautions. Although struggling with symptoms and while resting at home, Ms. Louis reached out to her community through Facebook Live to share the information and experience with her community, to demystify and generously offer up her experience to demonstrate that the virus does not discriminate, there is no shame, and it can happen to anyone.

Later in the week, Ms. Louis also shared that her household had received confirmation of diagnosis as well. This included her partner and three children: Zara, Zane and Natuasis. Ms. Louis’s generosity with information was echoed by her two children, Zane and Zara Jasper. Although Natuasis is too young to participate, Zane and Zara shared their experiences of symptoms, testing and emotions as they moved through COVID-19 and answered important questions from community with the same transparency as their mother in service to their community.

Unfortunately, Ms. Louis experienced a bout of respiratory distress later in the week that resulted in an emergency room visit by ambulance. This was a scary experience for her and her family, something she acknowledged in a Facebook update with her community.

Ms. Louis also described in detail the care she received, which she described as high quality, educational, coming from the ambulance and emergency room staff, and wanted to share her thanks to the kind and respectful providers. In her comments to me, as she continues to experience symptoms, Ms. Louis continues by saying: “This reflects in our approach to align ourselves with the public health orders. We must find a way forward together to get past this pandemic in a good way and walk together with respect and kindness.”

For me, this echoed the sentiments delivered in the throne speech, which called on all of us to show resilience and support for each other and to be united in our efforts to keep people safe. This example of extraordinary effort and generosity reflects the teaching of Na’tsa’maht — “one mind, one heart” — as pronounced in the local dialect.

My thoughts and prayers are with Ms. Louis and her family as they heal from this illness, and I extend my sincere gratitude for her service and personal generosity to the community.

I ask that my colleagues support the throne speech and, by extension, recognize that the work that has been done and the work that has yet to be done requires our collective commitment as we work towards health and economic recovery, reconciliation and climate action. We can take inspiration and courage from so many examples in our communities across British Columbia of how when we come together, when we share and are generous and when we take personal responsibility, we are mighty and we can meet the challenges we are facing.

Let us not forget the lessons of how interconnected we are, how interdependent we are and how able we are as a society to accommodate each other.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. The throne speech represents the priorities of British Columbians, and I wholeheartedly support this pathway to moving us forward safely together.

Hon. M. Farnworth moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. M. Farnworth moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

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

The House adjourned at 6:24 p.m.