Orders of the Day

Private Members’ Statements

NURSING WEEK

A. Walker: It is an absolute pleasure to recognize and to celebrate National Nursing Week this week here in Canada and in many other countries around the world.

It hasn’t been that long that we all used to celebrate and recognize nurses and our front-line workers. Every night at 7 p.m., we would go into our backyards, our driveways, our balconies or just lean out of the windows of our homes to bang pots and pans so loudly that we thought the whole world could hear us. And they could.

During the pandemic, especially early on, when there was so much uncertainty, many of us pivoted to working from home. Our health care professionals bravely stood by, stood strong and kept us all safe. While the rest of us learned to use Zoom, took up solitary hobbies, and some of us even expanded our waistlines, nurses and other health care professionals rose to the challenge.

[10:05 a.m.]

In my hometown of Qualicum Beach, Marcia Kent was one of the many nurses who, to keep her family, her patients, her co-workers and her whole community safe, went into self-isolation. An ER nurse with two young twins, she stayed in a cabin away from her husband and her boys while she worked in one of Vancouver Island’s two front-line hospitals.

Living near her family but painfully distant, she was unable to share in the daily rituals that bring family together. During a time when all of our children were struggling with the new reality, she would return from work unable to be with them. Marcia was just one of the countless other nurses who made the incredible sacrifice to continue in her calling, dramatically adjusting to the ever-changing workplace challenges but also dramatically adjusting her personal life.

In 1971, the International Council of Nurses recognized May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, as International Nurses Day. For 28 years now, we have recognized this week as National Nursing Week, an opportunity to celebrate the history, the work and the achievements of nurses here and abroad.

Ms. Nightingale was born in 1820 to a wealthy family who, at the time, were touring Europe. She was born in Florence, the city for which she was named. She was raised in England, where she was highly educated, and unlike most women of her stature, she felt compelled to go to work. She heard a calling from God “to do something toward lifting the load of suffering from the helpless and miserable.” She heard her calling to be a nurse, and she answered it.

What is truly remarkable about this story is that the profession of nursing at this time was not one of terribly high repute, if it existed at all. While the intentions of nurses of the day were pure and noble, it was not a formal trade. It lacked structure and was generally practised by those with little education.

In the fall of 1854, during the depths of the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale travelled to Scutari, in the Ottoman Empire, to lead a team of 38 volunteer nurses at a field hospital. When she arrived, the smells and the sights would have been overwhelming.

During her first winter, 4,077 soldiers died at the hospital, with ten times more dying from illness than from the wounds of battle. She saw to it that the horrid conditions within the hospital were to be improved. The defective sewers, the lack of ventilation and the poor nutrition were tackled, and practices such as regular handwashing were implemented. Using not only her instinct but her strong will and her experience as a statistician, she and her team were able to reduce the mortality rate from 44 percent to 2 percent, but she never took credit.

When she returned to England, there was a nursing school established in her honour, and she wrote notes on nursing. It became the cornerstone of the nursing curriculum in that school as well as others abroad. She helped establish what today is known as nursing and fostered generations of nurses who continue to build on this great work.

When we reflect on what makes a nurse, it’s not only the hard skills but the critical thinking that makes them who they are. Nurses will often tell you that anyone can learn to administer drugs or an IV but that the connections they have with their patients, their advocacy and their ability to quickly solve complex problems are skills which they continue to hone throughout their nursing careers.

We all have so much to learn from nurses. Nursing is known as the most trusted of professions, and we as politicians especially have much to learn from them. To act as though our patients are family, to trust our instincts, to never underestimate the power of listening, to let our patients know that they are our priority, to never make assumptions and to always ask questions — these are not just adages.

Our nurses, doing long shifts around the clock, away from their families, work tirelessly to safeguard the health and well-being of our loved ones. In a system that is under the incredible pressure of two pandemics, nurses are going above and beyond to maintain a level of patient care that we often take for granted.

[10:10 a.m.]

They’re there day and night by their patients’ sides, watching for any change, to make sure patients get the best care that they need and deserve — their patients, our families, our loved ones. Let us rise this week to celebrate the incredible contributions that nurses make for us all in our community and in our caucus.

R. Merrifield: Thank you to the member opposite for your heartfelt words recognizing Nurses Week. It’s an incredibly important topic and one that I’m very glad was brought forward in the House today.

Nurses always have been and always will be the backbone of our province’s health care system. They tirelessly work to help keep British Columbians healthy. They staff our hospitals, our clinics, our nursing homes and so many other venues, providing care that we depend on. Yet this morning it almost feels trite for me to reduce their impact to words like “work tirelessly,” “providing care,” or even “heroic efforts” during COVID-19. None of those words seem to do justice to who they are, all that they do and how they serve our community.

They are the smile and the welcome when you come through the doors of the hospital, long-term-care facility or clinic. They are the ones that hold the hand of your loved one while your parent is lonely, separated from you in a long-term-care facility or a hospital, possibly even taking their last breath. They are the faces that we see when we come to, out of anaesthesia, and they probably hear some of our very funny secrets.

They are the supports to surgeons and specialists that enable smooth procedures. They are the calming force in a labour and delivery room for the first-time or fourth-time mamas and the panic-stricken partners as well. They’re the hand on the shoulder of a crying partner when bad news is delivered. They are the ones that intuitively know when something is wrong or when things just are not as they should be — whether it’s the colour of the skin, the depth of a breath or the look on a face.

For me to say that they are the backbone is simply an understatement. They are the lifeblood. They are the empaths of the system and have taken on the stress, angst, pace and health issues of our society. They carry the stories of each of their patients in the ward. They get to know the families of those that reside in their care. They have risen to the challenge of COVID-19, but this is not sustainable. This pace, this stress, this anxiety cannot and should not be made permanent, because as their numbers have dwindled, the ones left behind have desperately tried to continue on but with less people and less resources.

This last year has brought greater recognition of the role of health care staff, for good reason. They have arisen to face an overwhelming challenge with determination, humility and no shortage of bravery and self-sacrifice. Over the past year, nurses have made sacrifices and faced greater risks in going to work, yet they’ve continued to serve the people of B.C. The theme of National Nursing Week this year is “We answer the call.” It recognizes the many different roles that nurses play in the health care journey of their patients and focuses on recognizing the contributions that nurses have made during this pandemic.

We know that being a nurse is never easy, but right now their work is more difficult than ever. We know that the pandemic is taking a toll on our health care workers and leading to heightened stress, anxiety and other challenges to their own mental health. This pandemic has revealed gaps in the system, and we need to fix them.

As we celebrate them, we also commit to fixing the system. We need to ensure that we are supporting our health care workers and that they have access to the services they need to look after themselves and their own health while they spend so much of their time looking after others. We need reinforcements, supports and to shore up these gaps.

[10:15 a.m.]

This Nurses Week we recognize all of those who have made sacrifices to help keep us safe and healthy, those who worked long hours, at increased risk, because they knew that they had a job to do and were committed to looking after their patients. I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for your work, your sacrifice and your dedication. You are true examples of public service, and you are the heroes of this pandemic.

A. Walker: Thank you to the member for Kelowna-Mission. Her thanks, as we celebrate Nursing Week, are heard loud and clear. I appreciate those kind words.

My wife, Karli, is a registered nurse, and she has taught me so much in life that only a nurse could, from subtle things to never responding to someone with “I understand” — we can never truly understand someone, their situation or their circumstances, but we can hear what they’re saying — and, more broadly, how to effectively communicate and advocate for someone. No matter who we are, it’s important to remember that what we say on behalf of someone else holds tremendous responsibility. We need to preserve trust, show compassion, exemplify fortitude and stand up for those we love.

As I prepared these comments, I was repeatedly reminded by my partner of what it means to her to be a nurse. “Dealing with people that could be on the worst days of their lives,” she said, “but I can make it their best day.” That’s what keeps nurses doing what they’re doing.

They don’t do it for recognition. They do it for those moments and for those small miracles when, halfway through your night shift — it could be two or three in the morning — you feel an instinct. You check on a patient because you’ve trained for this, and you know exactly what to do. You risk waking the on-call doctor. You take immediate actions, and you save a patient’s life for the first time. And then another patient, and another, and it gives you the fortitude to go on.

Nurses here in B.C., like all of us, have not been immune to this virus. Over 1,200 nurses and close to 8,000 health care workers have, at home or in the community, contracted COVID-19. Of course, our hearts weep for Sydney and Alexander, the two beautiful children of Diana Law, who lost their mother to the struggle with this disease — the first nurse in B.C. to die of COVID-19.

This pandemic has been hard on us all. While so many of us have helped us weather this storm, I urge everyone to take a moment to personally thank a nurse. Write a thank-you card to recognize the incredible difference that nurses make to their patients — their care, their compassion, their strength and their sacrifice. These heartfelt gestures are increasingly rare in today’s world and can make a profound difference in the lives of those who receive them. Let us recognize the nurses who have given so much for those of us and for all of those that we love.

BENEFITS OF SITE C

D. Davies: I rise in the House today to speak about the benefits of the Site C clean energy project.

It was only a few weeks ago that we all stood in this House, and we honoured Earth Day and renewed our commitment to building a greener province for our children and our children’s children. I spoke briefly about my own community of Fort St. John and the Peace country and about how economically diverse all of our communities are. Fort St. John is widely known as the Energy Capital of British Columbia — our role in B.C.’s oil and gas industry, hydroelectricity, forestry, agriculture and a myriad of other sectors that are also fundamental parts to our economy and our identity.

Because our rural communities play such a crucial role in our province’s energy production and many families in my community rely on maintaining our energy industry to put food on the tables, they are often branded as anti-environment, which is absolutely not the case. The Peace region, like all of B.C., recognizes the immediate need for our province and our country to address climate change, to reduce greenhouse gases and to transition our economy away from fossil fuels and into greener alternatives. B.C. has an opportunity to lead Canada in this initiative, and rural areas like the Peace region have the opportunity to lead British Columbia.

[10:20 a.m.]

For the Peace River region and all of B.C., Site C embodies the hope that we have for the future of our province’s energy sector, a future where we can bring clean energy alternatives to our province while also continuing to provide jobs and economic opportunities for rural British Columbia.

British Columbia’s population recently surpassed five million people, and our energy needs are only going to increase for the decades ahead. Site C will help meet this growing demand. When complete, it will produce about 5,100 gigawatt hours of electricity annually, which is enough to power about 450,000 homes per year.

Site C will also have some of the lowest greenhouse gas emissions compared to other resources in the energy production options and will provide clean energy for at least 100 years.

Not only is Site C a step forward in clean energy alternatives, but it also builds on previous hydro dams in our province that will allow us to produce more power with less reservoir area. As the third project on the Peace River, with the others being the W.A.C. Bennett and the Peace Canyon dams, Site C will rely on the existing Williston reservoir for water storage. This means that Site C will generate approximately 35 percent of the energy produced by the W.A.C. Bennett dam with only 5 percent of the reservoir area needed.

Site C makes sense not only from an environmental perspective but from an economic perspective as well. Site C has already begun to bring jobs into our communities in the Peace region and will create approximately 13,000 person years of direct employment during construction. I’ve seen personally how this has positively impacted the region while other sectors have slowed.

Now, at a time when small businesses are struggling across the province, these jobs are directly and indirectly supporting local shops, restaurants and businesses of all sizes. The construction of Site C will contribute roughly $130 million to our regional GDP and will contribute $3.2 billion provincially. The benefits to our regional economies will continue after Site C is completed.

A regional legacy benefits agreement between B.C. Hydro and the Peace River regional district will provide $2.4 million annually for a period of 70 years. Site C will bring more than just jobs. It will bring much-needed investment to our infrastructure, such as improvements to Highway 97 through Taylor and the public road improvements on the Old Fort Road as well as the 240, 269 and 271 roads. It will also bring investment and supports to our struggling tourism and recreational sectors, including providing $200,000 to the district of Chetwynd to support recreation projects on the south bank.

The benefits go beyond this. They include investments in skills and trades training, $184,000 to Northern Opportunities for the creation of a school district career counsellor position that will help students transition into trades and career training, $100,000 to the North East Native Advancing Society in support of trades under its North East Aboriginal trades training program, $175,000 over five years to the Northern Opportunities for its preapprenticeship programs and $1 million to the Northern Lights College Foundation, again to support trades and skills training.

These investments related to Site C also mean greater tax revenues for local governments and communities so that they can continue to provide supports to those that need it. With projects like Site C, British Columbians can depend on their energy coming at less cost to the environment. Initially, for the first 50 years, Site C would have saved B.C. ratepayers more than $600 million total each year.

Site C and clean energy investments like these in the north and all of British Columbia bring more opportunity and hope for all British Columbians. They show Fort St. John and communities like it that there is still a future for us, that we can still be leaders in our province and still lead in energy production in a cleaner British Columbia. It shows my kids and their kids that there will be jobs waiting for them, that we can still call our rural communities home and put food on our tables and feed our families and that Fort St. John will still be the energy capital of British Columbia for years to come.

[10:25 a.m.]

A. Mercier: It’s an honour to rise in this House and to talk about the benefits of the Site C clean energy project.

I’d just like to take a moment, before I begin, to thank my union brother the member for Peace River North for that very eloquent statement on the benefits of Site C. Many people might not know this about the member for Peace River North, but in addition to being a member of this House, he’s also a member of the house of labour and a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 213, which is my old stomping ground.

Site C and the Site C clean energy project are not just a benefit to the Peace region and Fort St. John — and it is, Mr. Speaker. It’s a benefit to all of British Columbia and to working British Columbians. This project is providing over 4,500 family-supporting jobs to folks all across B.C. Over the course of my life and career and since the start of the project and the buildup in 2016, I’ve had the opportunity to speak to many folks working on the project. I reached out to some of them just this past week.

I spoke with Trish Cavers, who’s working on the main spillways contract, who is a medic from Grand Forks. She’s working on the project with her husband, which means that the two of them, when they’re on rotation, get to spend time together off rotation in Grand Forks, contributing to that community and being a positive part of that community. They even managed to get their daughter a job up on the project, where she’s training and learning to be a medic. Because of the wages, she’s able to save funds so that she can look at what she wants to do with her life and have the ability to do so — to go get an education or a trade and to better herself.

I spoke with Ralf Pare, a union brother, a member of Teamsters Local 213 — you know, of the member for Peace River North. Ralf is a front desk clerk at ATCO Two Rivers Lodge. He’s told me the same thing that I think everyone I’ve spoken to on that project or anyone who has seen that camp will say. It’s that the ATCO Two Rivers Lodge is one of the most comfortable work camps in this country and stands heads and tails above almost any other project. Ralf was able to come back from Saskatchewan — he’s a Vancouver Island native — and live in B.C., work on the project. That allows him to spend more time with his grandson, which has been a huge benefit to himself.

In addition, there are all the tradespeople and apprentices who are getting more than just a job on this project. They’re getting a trade, a career, a vocation. I’m thinking of members of Operating Engineers Local 115 — Irene Elliott, a 37-year-old single mother of two from Duncan, who’s a first-year crane apprentice, who’s working alongside Samantha Glasco-Connolly, a 30-year-old journey­person friction crane operator from Port Alberni.

There’s a whole plethora of millwright apprentices there, working on the turbines and generators as well as the gates and guides. I’m thinking of Cedric McDonald, Cullen Leighton, Chantelle Parlee, Vanessa Soupidis, Kyle Glea­son, Steve Hackson, Shanya Stonehouse — the women and men who are building this province, who are getting their certifications and who are going to continue building this province for generations and decades to come. This is especially important in light of the skilled trades shortage that is looming in this province.

I just want to say a word — this was really something that came to mind with me in many of my discussions with folks on the projects and speaking to Ms. Cavers — which is that the culture of safety that B.C. Hydro and the contractors on the project have built is second to none. They’ve been able to administer a vaccination program up there that’s been rolling out quite well. They have been so transparent.

Hydro, as a client owner, has been so transparent with their partners throughout COVID-19 in terms of bringing everyone to the table, working with them and making sure that there’s buy-in to follow the safety protocols. They’ve really been a leader in terms of these types of projects across Canada. That’s worth noting, and that’s a credit to Hydro. That’s a credit to the contractors, to the workers and to all the labour unions involved.

This project is not just creating jobs for crane apprentices and millwrights and all types of folks. It’s carpenters. It’s electrical workers. It’s heavy-equipment operators. This project is helping so many families in this province put food on the table and put their heads on the pillow at night knowing that they can go to bed and their family’s future is secure.

[10:30 a.m.]

D. Davies: I’d like to thank the member for Langley for his comments. I had the opportunity, of course, to work on Site C in its early stages as a ready-mix operator for Inland Concrete, which gives me a neat perspective to speak on this incredible project in our province.

The member is absolutely right on the ATCO camp that is there. It is almost like the Fairmont across the street here. It is an unbelievable camp facility, much better than when I was working in the energy field, where the ATCO trailers were much, much different.

We have highlighted Site C and how it represents a historical milestone in our province. It is the first of many steps of our transition to cleaner energy and the reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions in our province. But unfortunately, Site C has seen another crucial turning point in our province’s history.

Just in 2017, this government inherited this project and the responsibility of overseeing this project that was on time and on budget at the time. Since that time, a concerning lack of transparency, we have seen, has arisen, with the reports revealing there has been a failure to act when the geotechnical concerns were first raised, as well as a myriad of other challenges and setbacks in the recent couple of years.

Since 2017, we have seen the costs, though, of this project balloon from $8 billion to a whopping $16 billion, while being delayed by an extra year. This means that the amazing benefits of Site C will be coming to British Columbians, unfortunately, at a higher cost, as well as at a later date. It’s a shame, really, because Site C has the opportunity to show British Columbians the endless benefits of what clean energy can bring to our province.

Government has a responsibility to move forward with openness and transparency so that British Columbians will understand the state of the project’s construction. It’s also important that government handle such projects with the utmost fiscal responsibility, so that we can demonstrate to British Columbians that investment in hydro and clean energy will save us money, not cost us money.

With Site C scheduled to be completed in 2025, we have many years to go. I hope the government will move forward with the transparency and openness and accountability for British Columbians that we expect, so that we can see this project be completed under budget and in a timeline that has now been promised to British Columbians.

I cannot wait for the day when I will see that this project is complete, another great project for the Peace River region that will help to power our homes, our cars and our economy for decades to come.

MENTAL HEALTH WEEK

B. D’Eith: I rise today to talk about Mental Health Week. Last week was Mental Health Week, between May 3 and May 9. Of course, the Legislature was on a break week, so this is really the first opportunity that we’ve had to really talk about Mental Health Week and really dig into how important it is, especially during the pandemic.

I think as all MLAs…. We’re all motivated to run for different reasons. I know, for me, what sparked my interest, of course, was my passion for creative industries and arts and culture and education. I have five children. But one of the other big areas that motivated me to run was mental health. That’s partially because I have a brother who’s been struggling with severe mental health issues for the last 35 years.

As a family, we’ve had to navigate a very dysfunctional, fractured system that’s very difficult to navigate. My folks now are in their 80s. It puts a lot of pressure on the family, because the system is difficult to navigate. I think of so many of the families and people that we’ve come across over the years in mental health, where their kids haven’t, or their young adults or their adults haven’t, been able to access the system. They haven’t had that advocacy, so they fall between the cracks, and often they’ll end up on the street. There really is a need for an integrated, coordinated system of care for mental health.

What I’ve experienced with my family is right across every family. In fact, every Canadian family is somehow affected by mental health, whether it’s a family member, a friend or a colleague. In fact, if you look at the statistics from the Canadian Mental Health Association, one in five people in Canada will personally experience a mental health problem or illness.

[10:35 a.m.]

It affects everybody. It affects all ages, education, income levels, cultures. It doesn’t matter. Mental health goes right across society. In fact, approximately 8 percent of adults will experience a major depression in their life, and 1 percent — that’s actually a pretty big number — will experience bipolar disorder, and 1 percent will be affected by schizophrenia.

If you look over a person’s life, by the age of 40, about 50 percent of the population will have some kind of mental illness. Anxiety disorders affect 5 percent of the household population. Of course, we have to look at the suicide statistics, which really do affect young people in a great way.

The pandemic has had a huge impact on increased stress and anxiety caused by fear about the pandemic, especially amongst older people, caregivers and people with underlying conditions. Of course, the quarantine has affected people’s life — their livelihoods and their routines — and it has caused levels of loneliness. It’s also leading to harmful alcohol and drug use and, in some cases, self-harm.

That’s why it is so, so important for all of us, all members, to really embrace the spirit of what Mental Health Week was about last week. That’s why I’m so proud that we actually have a Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions and a plan, a ten-year plan called the Pathway to Hope that’s really about creating a system of care and making sure that mental health supports — that everybody can reach them when they need them.

That’s why it’s so important that there has been, with this latest budget, the largest investment in mental health and addictions care support — $500 million in British Columbia. This is to try to create a real system, an integrated system, that will help young people, will help adults and so many people across our society.

The investments are really important, because it’s across ministries. This isn’t going to be something that is one ministry. This is about all the ministries working together, to come together, to create this comprehensive system. So having this support will allow integrated mental health amongst children, youth and young adults. It will mean psychosis intervention programs. It will mean funding for the First Nations Health Authority. It will mean money for eating disorders and suicide prevention services.

It will also mean a very big investment, a $133 million investment, in adult substance use and treatment and, of course, $45 million in overdose emergency funding and $152 million in access to treatment of mental health services. As I mentioned, this will be across the Ministries of Health, Children and Family Development, Education and Advanced Education and Skills Training.

People have been waiting too long for some mental health services, and that’s why the opening of 23 urgent and primary care centres around the province is so im­portant.

Finally, a lot of work needs to be done in regards to complex care. We’ve seen that especially in relation to housing. That’s why a lot of work is going to be done over the coming months and years to create a framework that will allow for the ability to get those supports for complex care, especially integrated within housing supports.

That’s so, so important, to make sure that we deal with those complex situations, because we have found that some people may have an addiction issue but also a mental health issue and also physical, medical issues. There’s not just one-size-fits-all. It’s very complex. Many people suffering from mental health and addictions issues have these complex needs.

Again, it’s so, so important for us to have a system — a system. That’s why I’m so excited about the future of the plans that the government has made in regards to mental health and addictions with the Pathway to Hope and the significant funding that’s being put into developing that over the next ten years.

T. Halford: I am pleased to rise in the House today to reiterate the importance of taking care of our mental health.

[10:40 a.m.]

I want to thank the member opposite, the member for Maple Ridge–Mission, for his remarks and for personalizing his remarks. I do agree that the issue of mental health touches every family. It touches every Canadian. It has touched my family. I lost a member of my family, who struggled mightily with mental health through her adult life in terms of schizophrenia. She’s somebody who I think about every day. I’m sure my stories aren’t unique to people across British Columbia and to people in this House.

For so many of us in British Columbia, this past year has been the most difficult, challenging and life-altering in our collective memories. Every corner of our province has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our communities, our neighbourhoods and our households have all changed drastically since last March. This pandemic has created an already exasperated situation when it comes to our mental health.

When the pandemic was first declared almost 14 months ago, none of us could envision the future of our province or the day-to-day challenges we would face. Now, more than a year later, social distancing, masks, case numbers and public health orders have all become the norm. British Columbians have stepped up to this challenge and taken the pandemic head-on. We should be proud of every one of those British Columbians who have met that task. But it is coming at a very severe price. It is coming at the cost of a lot of our mental health, when we look at the isolation we’re seeing from our friends and our families and our loved ones.

We talked just recently, very eloquently, about the nur­ses and our other front-line workers and the challenges that they are seeing through COVID-19 — the work that they are taking on and the hours that they are putting in. That all compounds on one individual’s mental health. Now, last week was Canadian Mental Health Week. We must remember that no one is alone in feeling stress, anxiety or depression right now. We also must remember that this pandemic will, one day, pass, and we all hope that is one day soon.

The issue of mental health will not pass. That is one that we have to take very seriously in this House and that I believe we do take very seriously in this House, but we need serious solutions. Now, I want to compliment the member for laying out his vision for mental health and the investments that his government has put in. I will say, with all respect, that we are a little bit late in the game on this. When we look at the investments that this government is making towards mental health, I’ll say that they are encouraging, but I will also say that they continuously come up short.

When we look at the struggles that our youth are fa­cing…. We’ve seen some very dramatic cases and some beyond-tragic situations that have unfolded in our province over the last days, weeks and months. I think we can all be reminded that we all have to come to this House and do more. We have to make sure that our youth have access to mental health resources in real time.

Head health, mental health, is the most important health. We look at our youth and the struggles that they face: the isolation, the lack of participation in sports teams, not seeing their grandparents and sometimes, if they are in single families, not being able to see their other parent. We must realize that this is taking a massive toll on our youth.

We must realize that this is taking a massive toll on our elderly, who don’t have access to Zoom and who can’t access their family doctor right now, who can’t make their counselling appointments. In some cases, they can’t afford their counselling or their psychiatric costs.

I think we need to realize that it’s one thing to talk about the importance of mental health, but it’s another to put that talk into action. I call on this government to ensure that as we emerge forward from this pandemic, we are making the issue of mental health an absolute go-forward priority.

B. D’Eith: I wanted to thank the member for Surrey–White Rock for his comments. I also wanted to send out my heartfelt thoughts for him and his family in regards to the people in his life that were affected by mental health. It does impact all of us.

[10:45 a.m.]

I’d also like to recognize, during this week, the importance of nurses and psychiatric nurses in all of this. I know that, for my family, they’ve been so important — and, of course, the doctors and support workers that work with people with mental health every day. That’s why it’s so important, I think, to have this Pathway to Hope, this plan to move forward, to create this system of care.

I did want to talk a little bit, as the member opposite brought up, about youth. May 7 was Child and Youth Mental Health Day. It’s very important to recognize the importance of prevention and the importance of early intervention with mental health. So much can be avoided, as adults, if we act quickly when children are young, particularly now with COVID.

Again, the member brought this up. I have a daughter who was graduating last year. You could just see the angst and the anxiety and the guilt. I mean, the fact that children, our young people, were feeling guilty that they were feeling bad in the middle of a pandemic…. It was just a very, very difficult time.

It’s also really great to see youth come together. In my riding, Maple Ridge Secondary held a mental health and wellness week. This was organized by Maria Trudeau and a handful of students. They had Manifest Monday, Tidy Tuesday, Wednesday Workout, Thoughtful Thursday and Focus Friday. They had chair yoga and breathing exercises and all sorts of great things to help with their own mental health. It’s nice to see young people stand up and really recognize the importance of it, because part of it is actually talking about it and dealing with the stigma of mental health. It’s so important.

That’s why I was very pleased on Friday that there was an announcement that the Foundry will be having an online portal. Of course, for people who don’t know, Foundry is really one of the cornerstone projects in terms of youth mental health. I’m very, very fortunate to have a Foundry in Maple Ridge, and there’s also one in Abbotsford. These provide very, very important wraparound services for youth between the ages of 12 and 24. This app will actually allow user-friendly access for young people throughout British Columbia to really get the help that they need with mental health.

Of course, this is just the beginning. I agree with members opposite that there is so much work to do. I’m so proud of the work that we’re doing. I’m so proud of the work that we will do over the next year.

RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE

L. Doerkson: Thank you for allowing me to bring this very serious topic to the House this morning. I rise today on behalf of not only the constituents of Cariboo-Chilcotin but also for all of those British Columbians in central and northern parts of the province, on the topic of rural infrastructure.

Honestly, it’s hard to know where to begin. When it comes to the crumbling road infrastructure in our rural part of the province, I can assure you that it is one thing to look at the level of destruction through photographs, but it is quite another to see it in person and witness firsthand how people’s lives are being impacted right on their own property. Just in the past three years, we’ve seen how wildfires devastate the landscape in the summer. By spring, we see how this contributes to the extreme freshets and all of the damage that’s left in their wake.

I’d like you to hear some of the conversations I’ve had with constituents hit hard by flooding in my riding.

“Lorne, it’s Alex. You have to do something. I spent nearly $1,000 last week pumping my septic out. I have to set my alarm to awaken me multiple times throughout the night to suck up the water that is entering in my basement. We can no longer use the water in our home, as it has nowhere to go.

“I’m borrowing a friend’s place to do laundry, baths and showers for my children. I would have called you a few weeks ago, but I’m absolutely exhausted. You have to do something. Please help us. It’s not just our house but so many others in our neighbourhood.”

That’s Alex B. from Williams Lake at Gibbon Road.

[10:50 a.m.]

These are difficult calls to take from our constituents — very difficult. The damage that they explain and the situations that they’ve been put in are absolutely heartbreaking.

Here’s another tragic example.

“We’ve now had to move from our house. We had hoped that the water would stop. We had hoped that our house would stop shifting, but it won’t.

“We can’t live in the house anymore. It’s unsafe. We can’t risk it anymore. The cracks are becoming large enough that it is too concerning.

“We’ve not been able to find a place to rent, and we have been using a friend’s house. They have gone away for the summer. After that, we have no idea what we’ll do.

“I’m scared, and I don’t know what to do. The kids are afraid too.”

That’s Lacey Kuttnick of Dog Creek Road in Williams Lake.

This family has just recently built this home. What I mean by recently is over the past two years. They’re a young family. What was to be their dream home has literally turned into the worst nightmare, and no one will listen — not governments, not insurers, no one.

“For two years we’ve been flooded. Our neighbours have been unable to use their water. We’re having to pump it out of our yard.

“The water source is a culvert. It flows into our yard. We have no idea why anyone would drain a culvert into private property.

“It’s ruining our home and the homes of our neighbours also. We’ve talked to everyone.

“You’re our last hope, Lorne. Please do something.”

Residents from Green Lake.

“For years, my home has been flooding. I’ve complained and yelled, and no one will help. I’ve begged for help from every level of government, and nothing — just finger-pointing and the blame game.

“This is not a new problem. It has been going on for years, but since the fires, it’s getting worse, and now it never stops.

“Please help me. I can’t do anything here because my home continues to flood multiple times per year. I can’t fix my house, sell my house or insure my house.”

That’s Betty McClennan from Bann Road in Williams Lake.

Betty is a single senior. She’s been doing her best, with the help of family and friends, to sandbag and try to protect her home. She’s encouraged the community to get active in drawing attention to this issue after all of these years.

Here is another couple. “Please help us. I just called the road contractor and told them that we can’t get past our road. We told them we would fix it, and they said: ‘Absolutely not. Do not do that. That will become a liability for you.’ But we can’t get out.” Desous Mountain.

“The road is washed out. We can’t get feed to our ranch or to our herd.” Big Creek.

“I am fearful that when COVID is over, people may not be able to get to our resort at Nimpo Lake. The road is bad enough near the resort that they may not be able to pass, which we might be able to fix ourselves, but Highway 20 is so bad that they might just turn around and go home.” Nimpo Lake.

These are only a few examples of what I hear on a daily basis. People are suffering property loss. They are suffering from extreme stress and anxiety. Families are in very bad situations in many places throughout rural B.C. I think, in many cases, our local governments simply need extra help, and because of the change in the topography throughout many ridings, there must be a new approach to maintenance.

As I mentioned earlier, it is hard to experience this firsthand. I’m therefore looking forward to hearing the government’s response, because people need help, and they need it right now. Since first elected in 2017, this government and the Premier have ignored rural British Columbia, and it can’t go on any longer.

Deputy Speaker: Member, this is a time for private members’ remarks, not partisan government versus opposition remarks. Thank you.

L. Doerkson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What we need is a restoration of a ministry whose sole responsibility is rural British Columbia, not just lumped in with Forests, Lands and Natural Resources. We also need the province to establish a rural infrastructure renewal fund. Local governments in rural B.C. can’t keep up to the need right now.

R. Russell: I have the honour of joining you all today from here in Grand Forks, on the traditional territory of the Nsyilxcen-speaking people.

[10:55 a.m.]

First, I would thank the member for Cariboo-Chilcotin for his comments and concerns. The issues he raises certainly hit close to home for myself as well as many of the constituents of my riding. The challenges of extreme weather on our infrastructure, especially in the midst of disaster, takes an enormous toll on all of us, I know. I can personally certainly sympathize with the stress and anxiety of the residents in the quotes that he shared.

I know all too well the challenges of residents that have to live with uncertainty about the future of their transportation routes. Certainly, when reading in the Quesnel Cariboo Observer about the situation of Jessica and Trampus Goodman and their kids living near Quesnel, it feels like many of the conversations that I’ve had with residents after our floods in this part of the world. That article ended with these lines: “‘We need a clear-cut answer, versus being in limbo,’ said Jessica…. ‘Just tell me real quick,’ agreed Trampus. ‘I don’t care what answer they come to, but they have got to come up with an answer quick. Because how do we live this life?’”

Indeed, people want some certainty about what the future holds. Navigating the uncertainty and trying to help be a part of the solution — how we manage these extreme weather events — are key reasons why I felt that it was important to run for this office and join you all in this House, helping build better solutions to these historic problems.

Part of the challenge, as I see it, is to set our sights on more than band-aids and election-cycle-length fixes. Delivering short-term certainty can’t come at the expense of long-term safety and resilience. To deliver that long-term certainty means that we have some complex work ahead. It means that we need to break down some of the artificial barriers we’ve lived with in the past. It means to fully appreciate that disaster risk reduction is a shared responsibility right from the federal level down to the individual. It means that we need to engage in forward-thinking planning that appreciates the climate uncertainty and unpredictability that’s ahead to deliver what our residents need: safety and resilience.

As our Transportation Minister put it last week: “We need…to proactively look at the changes to hydrology in the area and how we build more resilient infrastructure in the Cariboo so that we can withstand a changing climate and the impact it has on our infrastructure.”

How we manage and plan for robust and effective transportation systems for decades ahead is substantially different from where we’ve come from. We’d need long-term planning for climate change in our infrastructure, something that certainly wasn’t occupying the minds of the road builders that did the great work of building these routes decades or a century ago.

While the ministry is working hard to quickly fix the acute problem of damaged roadways — for example, of the over 200 roadways damaged by freshet landslides and debris flow in 2020, 175 have already been repaired, and planning or engineering is underway in all the rest — the government is also making sure that we do end in a place where we, as the saying goes, “build back better.”

I should recognize some specifics about what the government is doing for the residents of the Cariboo and provincially, though, before getting into a broader view. Specifically, to address the situation there would highlight examples such as the planning and engineering underway in areas such as McLeese Lake, Milburn Lake and Norwood Road to help inform drainage upgrade works. Or that the ministry is undertaking geotech engineering work at several major sites to assess options, including Quesnel-Hydraulic Road, Kersley-Dale Landing Road, Highway 97, Cottonwood River and Knickerbocker slide on Blackwater Road. And that reconstruction work is underway to rebuild 5 kilometres of West Fraser Road.

Likewise, provincially, I’m proud to see that Budget 2021 includes funding, such as $837 million for the Highway 1 to the Alberta border four-laning program, $819 million for highway corridor rehabilitation, $395 million for side-road improvements across the province, $101 million for safety improvements, $1.1 billion for highway improvements throughout the province, $749 million on transit infrastructure or $57 million for community and other projects. So clearly the government is awake and attentive to the needs of our transportation infrastructure, not just in the Cariboo but across the province.

However, for me, I think that even more noteworthy is the work that is going on in the full paradigm shift in how we reduce risk from disasters provincially — the work that we’re all familiar with — in terms of the work going on around the Emergency Program Act and the shift proposed there to ensure that we really do recognize cross-ministry responsibilities that help give us all the mandate to help reduce the risk of future disasters.

This is an enormous departure from where we were even a decade ago. This shift helps us imagine and then create a future for the province where we are avoiding more of these issues in the first place. That’s the long game. That’s the work that I’m happy to help be a part of. To do it well, we need the support from all members of this House.

I look forward to helping be a part of the solution for all of those residents impacted in the Cariboo and across the province.

[11:00 a.m.]

L. Doerkson: I appreciate the member opposite’s comments. I did refer to some specific areas that have had multiple issues over the last number of years, and I didn’t hear those in his comments.

[N. Letnick in the chair.]

I’m afraid there’s little comfort to the constituents of Cariboo-Chilcotin that will come from empty promises, because they’ve heard them all before. I could give so many more examples. I hope that you see the point and that the House understands the issues. I will continue to bring these examples to this place until they are heard, until the province recognizes the issue and brings resolve to these problems.

In the case of Dog Creek Road, the damage is almost unbelievable. It’s an ancient slide area, but what has happened since the fires is absolutely unreal. The water is astounding. In any other situation — a river flooding or a lake or a forest fire or any other disaster — there would be a response to it by this province. An emergency response would occur for all of those situations, and this is an emergency. This is an emergency that has been going on for a very long time, and the province owes it to the constituents of this riding to work with the CRD and the city of Williams Lake to finally bring a solution to this problem. It can no longer be ignored, and the residents of this area won’t allow it to be.

I firmly believe that the province has to get involved. It has to commit to the Cariboo-Chilcotin and the rest of rural B.C. It’s not just the ability to navigate the road system here and in other places to get to town, but we need to be sure that these rural roads are maintained well enough to get emergency vehicles past these roads as well. Industries like ranching, forestry, tourism and mining all need these roads. School buses need to be able to pass. We just had one stuck at Frost Creek a few weeks ago on a paved road. Ambulances, search and rescue and, of course, fire — these road systems need to be better maintained.

Culverts need to be reassessed. Proper ditching maintenance needs to be reassessed. The entire system needs to be re-evaluated. There are communities now that have been completely cut off. Dog Creek is badly damaged at Williams Lake and is now single-lane south of Alkali. Highway 20 is almost impassable in areas. Highway 97 north of Quesnel is now single-lane.

We’re not just talking about rural roads but highways that service the north. This is serious. It requires an emergency response and resources from this province.

Hon. J. Osborne: I ask that the House consider proceeding with Motion 7 standing in the name of the member for Coquitlam–Burke Mountain.

Deputy Speaker: Members, unanimous consent of the House is required to proceed to Motion 7 without disturbing the priorities of the motions preceding it on the order paper.

Leave granted.

Private Members’ Motions

MOTION 7 — WILD SALMON CONSERVATION

F. Donnelly: I’m happy to move the following motion:

[Be it resolved that this House unanimously agree that climate change, habitat loss, and pollution are negatively impacting wild salmon survival and that this House reaffirm its commitment to investments in wild salmon conservation solutions.]

May 16 is Wild Salmon Day. What better time to celebrate wild Pacific salmon, an iconic species that means so much to British Columbians? What better time to recommit to ensuring that they not only survive but thrive into the future?

Wild salmon are culturally significant to B.C.’s Indigenous People. They provide good jobs and contribute economically to coastal communities. They provide food, as they have done for thousands of years, contributing to our province’s food security. And they provide critical nutrients to endangered southern resident killer whales and many other animals like bears and eagles in much of B.C.’s inland forests and watersheds.

[11:05 a.m.]

Over the past several years, we’ve seen a dramatic downturn in wild salmon returns, to the point of many being threatened or endangered. Climate change is having a dramatic impact on the ocean they live in and the watersheds they’re born in, causing low summer flows and flash floods and erosion from forest fires. Compounding the problem are habitat fragmentation in rural areas and habitat loss in urban areas as well as an increase in pollution entering creeks, rivers, lakes and the ocean.

I’m truly honoured to fight for wild salmon as B.C.’s Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Aquaculture. For the sake of all those who depend on wild salmon, we must focus our efforts on restoring salmon habitat and increasing the abundance and long-term sustainability of the fisheries.

The province is committed and I am committed, in my new role, to working with all partners to help restore wild salmon populations while developing sustainable wild fisheries and supporting communities around B.C. and on our coast. We all want a healthy wild fishery as well as the employment and economic activity the B.C. seafood sector contributes to our province.

The B.C. government jointly established the $143 million B.C. salmon restoration and innovation fund with the federal government to help restore wild salmon habitat. The fund supports innovation, infrastructure and science partnerships to help protect and restore priority wild B.C. fish populations, including Pacific salmon and steelhead. To date, BCSRIF has supported 42 projects with over $71 million of funding, with more projects soon to be announced.

For example, in Squamish, the Elaho River chinook salmon restoration project is working to restore fish passage and increase chinook productivity in the lower Elaho River. This project is a collaboration between the Squamish River Watershed Society and the Squamish Nation. The Elaho is one of the largest tributaries of the Squamish River. This project will remove barriers to fish in the Elaho caused by logging road construction in the early 1970s, and it will restore fish passage into the upper watershed.

Prior to logging road construction, which cast large boulders into the river below, Squamish Nation members would set up summer camps in the upper Elaho watershed to harvest chinook salmon. This important project is reducing obstructions and unlocking over 40 kilometres of ideal fish habitat in the upper section of the watershed.

This is the kind of success story we’re hoping to see more of, and with our commitment to double BCSRIF, I believe we will. With increased funding, we can support innovative watershed restoration techniques like enhanced riparian stream planting, thinning, shade inducement, boulder placement, side channel development, large woody debris placement, headwater storage, fish waste, fish passage barrier removal, fish-friendly tidal gates and pump stations, lake aeration, lake and stream enrichment and flow control devices. We can also work with the federal government and First Nations to innovate community fish hatchery production and ensure more B.C. processing of B.C.-caught fish.

Last summer our government updated our wild salmon strategy, which included measures to strengthen the legal protection of fish habitat and obligate project proponents to minimize or avoid destruction, harm or alteration of fish habitat. More recently the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy announced $27 million to help restore watersheds and wetlands throughout British Columbia. This will help communities adapt to climate change by restoring threatened watersheds, wetlands and estuaries so they are healthier and more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

I will continue to work hard with federal, local, community and Indigenous partners to ensure this iconic species not only survives but thrives into the future. We will continue to build a wild salmon recovery strategy we can all be proud of. Like the mighty wild salmon fighting to swim upstream each fall during spawning season, I look forward to continuing to fight for the protection of this iconic species.

J. Sturdy: On behalf of the constituents of West Vancouver–Sea to Sky, I’m pleased for this opportunity to speak on the matter of wild salmon conservation. The communities that I represent and those around the province recognize the crucial role our coast plays in the lives of British Columbians and Canadians and share a recognition that sustainability is of paramount concern.

I’m sure we all concur with the premise of the motion that this House agree that climate change, habitat loss and pollution are negatively impacting wild salmon survival and that we should reaffirm our commitment to investments in wild salmon conservation solutions. It is crucial that we implement change that supports the natural world around us.

[11:10 a.m.]

Our responsibility is to steward these lands and waters and to recognize the importance of lightening our footprint. Healthy and natural systems are important not only for ourselves and future generations but also to support the rich biodiversity that we are blessed with here in British Columbia. It’s important that we recognize and value this very biodiversity and its complexity and work to ensure its splendour is not further diminished — in fact, maintained and supported to recover from our collective, cumulative impacts.

When we think about the many things that could and do symbolize British Columbia, many icons come to mind, but for me, like the previous speaker, nothing more so than the Pacific salmon. Salmon are literally the source of lifeblood for our forests and all that rely on forests to sustain themselves, and it seems as though that lifeblood is seeping away.

Both global and local issues and impacts are eroding the health of many B.C. salmon stocks. Some solutions demand international cooperation to effectively address, while others are local in nature. Rising temperatures and the acidification of the oceans require concerted international efforts to remedy. While we must do our part, B.C. is but a small actor on a large stage, which requires collaboration and cooperation with national and international counterparts as the only way to effect meaningful change.

We all should and do recognize that habitat must be protected as well as re-established. However, habitat de­gradation, while an ongoing and real concern, is not the dominant factor driving Pacific salmon declines. For example, the habitat of the aforementioned Squamish River valley and the Elaho Valley could support many more spawners, but the salmon just do not make it back to Squamish to spawn.

Salmon must survive years in open oceans of the Pacific, battling with an increasing number of threats. For one, ocean ranching of jurisdictions such as Alaska, Japan and Russia, which introduced billions and billions and billions of farm-raised salmon, which imprint where introduced and overgraze the ocean’s biomass, reducing wild salmon’s food supply and cause all returning salmon to become smaller, less robust and more susceptible to predation and disease. Again, international cooperation is imperative to avoid the looming tragedy of the commons.

While salmon ranching, climate change, habitat loss and pollution all negatively impact wild salmon survival, there’s a local factor which studies point to as having a very real impact on B.C. salmon populations. Research is increasingly recognizing that predators are a significant cause of south coast salmon stock depletion. Current numbers of pinnipeds much larger than historical populations wreak havoc on both outgoing smolts and inbound spawners. Growing evidence supports the contention that seals and sea lions are consuming half of all juvenile coho and a third of all juvenile chinook entering into Georgia Strait.

All options need to be on the table, including the difficult or unpopular ones. While I get it’s a prickly conversation, nobody should think that governing is easy. Tough decisions do need to be made.

In this area, the province could and should have more influence and take more action. Government must be open-minded enough to listen to its own FLNR fish stock biologists, scientists and First Nations, amongst others. The Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance are advocating for a rebalancing of pinniped populations before we manage south coast Pacific salmon down to zero.

It’s great to reaffirm a commitment to wild salmon populations, but government also needs to do more to act, to bring real solutions to the table. What we are looking for out of this government is more than words, but multiple and effective actions that, most importantly, make a difference. It’s never been more critical to do more than study and talk and reaffirm but to coordinate with First Nations and federal partners and to act to make a real difference to the future of B.C. Pacific salmon today.

M. Babchuk: I’d like to start by recognizing that I’m standing on the traditional territory of the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations, and also recognize that I am from the traditional territory of the Laich-Kwil-Tach-speaking people.

Salmon is, perhaps, the most iconic species on our coast. It’s certainly critical for the north Island. Although a couple of my government colleagues may disagree, the north Island does house Campbell River, the true salmon capital of the world.

Salmon have been critical to First Nations culture and survival for thousands of years. They continue today to be critical to all our coastal communities. Cultural and ceremonial traditions continue to be prominent with First Nations and communities.

[11:15 a.m.]

Commercial salmon fishing, while not what it used to be on the coast, continues to be an important economic driver. Recreational angling continues to have an enormous impact on our communities and tourism sectors.

We have seen, over the past decade, a decline in the salmon stocks. This is not because of just one reason, this decline, but a combination of a lot of reasons. It has led to a reduction in our returns. Overfishing and habitat destruction are two contributing factors, and of course, we know that climate change has had significant impacts. Although it’s still not clear to what extent climate change has affected stocks, I am confident that as we address this climate crisis, we will improve the changes of increasing salmon runs.

This government is committed to the restoration of salmon stocks. Whether it is indirectly through the government taking actions on the environment or direct support of habitat restoration and salmon enhancement, we are committed to seeing salmon stocks return to the vibrant levels that they used to be.

Like my colleague has already said, we have jointly, with the federal government, established the $143 million salmon restoration and initiative fund so B.C. wild fisheries are environmentally and economically sustainable. This fund supports innovation, infrastructure and scientific partnerships that will help protect and restore priorities for our B.C. fish stocks, including all species of Pacific salmon and steelhead.

To date, BCSRIF has supported 42 projects with more than $71 million of funding. Approximately one-third of those dollars are being distributed through North Island projects. To date, the North Island riding has received grants totalling over $24 million for projects, including the independent B.C. First Nations genomic lab project, an initiative of the ’Na̠mgis First Nation; a partnership for a novel framework for assessing and managing Pacific herring fisheries on the west coast of Vancouver Island, led by the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations; estuary-enhancing resiliency, an innovative approach to sustaining fish and fish habitat in changing climates; optimizing recirculating aquaculture systems for sustainable salmon production; the Broughton wild salmon restoration project; and the implementation of the Broughton First Nations Indigenous monitoring and inspection plan.

All of these projects that I’ve just mentioned are very diverse in scale, but all contributing and protecting to restoring wild fisheries and creating a more sustainable future for local communities and workers. But there is still more that needs to be done.

Currently there are two federal government salmon hatcheries located in North Island: the Quinsam River Hatchery in Campbell River and the Conuma River Hatchery, located in between Gold River and Tahsis. There is also a myriad of community hatcheries in the northern portion of Vancouver Island.

These community hatcheries are often volunteer-led or run on very little overhead and have been stewards of all salmon species and watersheds for many years — Nimpkish River Hatchery, Quatse River Hatchery, Marble River Hatchery, Cordy Creek and Kokish River Hatchery. These, among numerous watershed and streamkeeper groups, are contributing to the efforts to revitalize B.C. salmon stocks in the north end of the Island.

We are currently working to double the size of the restoration and innovation fund, supporting the innovation of fish hatchery and ensuring B.C. processing for B.C.-caught fish. On the north end of Vancouver Island, wild salmon are integrated in how we live, work and play. The economic and cultural importance of salmon to all of the people of the North Island riding has been evident for thousands of years.

I’m happy to stand here today in support of the parliamentary secretary’s motion, and I’m looking forward to future projects and initiatives in the coming days to help revitalize this vital resource for the North Island.

J. Tegart: It is a pleasure to rise in the House today to speak about a subject that is near and dear to my heart and is of great interest to my constituents.

I had the pleasure for many years to co-chair our caucus steelhead committee. Whether talking about steelhead or salmon, the issues are very similar. Climate change, habitat loss and pollution are impacting our fish stocks. But I would suggest that jurisdictional confusion, politics and lack of leadership are just as important.

Our committee, during our time, spent three days in the Interior doing site visits, talking to experts, listening to First Nations and learning as much as we could about the challenges we face as we discuss how to save our fish.

[11:20 a.m.]

We started in Mission, where we went out on a DFO boat to experience exactly how the fish are counted. We then went to Hope and had a presentation from a biologist whose life work is fish. We went out on the Fraser River with the Sturgeon Slayers, a fishing business that also does research on the health of sturgeon in the Fraser River. We saw the impact of abandoned nets, garbage, and deterioration of habitat along our riverbanks.

From Hope, we continued up to Merritt and met with a provincial government biologist to talk about the health of the Nicola watershed and its impact on spawning grounds and fish numbers. We also visited the Spius Creek Fish Hatchery and were educated on hatchery fish versus wild fish. We had lunch with chief and council at Skeetchestn Indian Band to talk about the work being done by their people. They bought land and ranches at the headwaters of the Deadman Creek to protect the fish, and they have not fished that creek for a number of decades in order to bring back the stock.

We then headed over to Ashcroft where we met with the former Chief of the Cook’s Ferry Indian Band, who’s been advocating for action on fish for probably the last 25 years. He talked to us about fishery as a food source and how it fits into the cultural heritage of their band.

We visited the site of the Bonaparte fish ladders, which had been damaged by floods and were being repaired by the Bonaparte Indian Band and DFO. We met with the Chief of the Bonaparte Band, and talked about the importance of the work they were doing.

We also visited Lillooet and had a briefing from the team that was doing the work on the big slide in the Fraser River. Lots of concern about the impact of this slide and what its impact on fish stocks will be for years to come. Everyone we talked to expressed their commitment to ensure that we do not lose our salmon or steelhead.

Many are doing incredible work, bringing back habitat and spawning grounds, tracking fish, using science to base decisions on, but what we heard over and over is how we need to deal with the jurisdictional squabbles. We need to put long-term plans in place. We need to commit to habitat restoration. We need to base decisions on science, not political expediency. We need to all be at the table. We need the political will to make tough decisions, or we will be too late.

As I’ve said in this House previously, as we continue to dither, we will have nothing to save if we don’t take action. As I hear from members opposite on the number of dollars that are being spent, my hope is that it fits into a bigger picture. My hope is that we think about every dollar that we spend: how many salmon have we saved? Because we have a lot of reports. We have a lot of people who are talking about fish, but our fishers are saying to us, as we count them every year: “Talk is cheap. We need action.”

As I’ve said in this House many times before, we are the people who can make a difference. We are at a critical stage for our fish. Quite honestly, I hope everyone commits to the fact that we do not want to lose these iconic species. Not on our watch.

Thank you for the opportunity to address this incredible issue, and I’m looking forward to seeing action on all sides of the House.

J. Rice: The commercial fishery remains a mainstay of rural coastal communities, many of which are First Na­tions communities who have lived and fished the B.C. coast for millennia. Commercial fishing in the north coast contributes hundreds of millions of dollars in economic output, but besides the economic worth of landed and wholesale value of commercial fish, the sector contributes in many other ways.

[11:25 a.m.]

A study by the T. Buck Suzuki Foundation and Ecotrust Canada found that although these non-monetary values are less apparent or measurable than the formal economy, they contribute significantly to social capital, well-being and resilience of coastal communities and, therefore, economies.

Commercial fishermen have unique skills and experience, and valuable access to boats and gear which can be beneficial to their communities. Among their study interviews, a majority of respondents explained how their commercial fishing supports their community in terms of being able to gift and trade fish to friends, family and acquaintances. As stated by a fisherman: “One of the appeals for me getting into fishing was that I’d have fish to give to friends. It made a kind of food community. It lent itself to the kind of community that developed in this area. Being a fisherman was an easy way to contribute to the community.” Another stated that: “Even if you’re not friends with someone, bringing people fish creates a strong bond.”

Gifting and trading of seafood occurs among commercial fishermen in various ways, from sharing fish there is no market for to being paid by their First Nations band to catch food, social and ceremonial fish for their whole community. One fisherman stated: “Fishing connects families and communities. Your reputation as a fisherman lets other people know where you stand in the community.”

The B.C. government knows that recent salmon closures have impacted Indigenous, commercial and recreational fishers and the communities that depend on them. We share the disappointment of the successive years of low productivity and poor returns that have led us to this point. For the sake of all of those who depend on wild salmon, we must focus our efforts on restoring salmon habitat, increasing abundance and long-term sustainability of the fisheries.

We want to continue to build on positive news like the recommendations from the federal House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, where members provided 20 unanimously supported recommendations to DFO, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, to change its current management of commercial fisheries in B.C. These recommendations will ensure that the benefits from B.C. fish support B.C. fishers, First Nations and coastal communities.

We are continuing to work with the federal minister, DFO, First Nations and the B.C. seafood industry to support the further discussion of the recommendations. The province is committed to working with all partners to help restore wild salmon stocks while developing sustainable wild fisheries and supporting communities around B.C. and on our coast. We all want to support the health of wild fisheries, as well as the employment and economic activity the B.C. seafood sector contributes to our province.

We jointly established the $143 million B.C. salmon restoration and innovation fund so B.C.’s wild fisheries are environmentally and economically sustainable. The fund supports innovation, infrastructure and science partnerships that will help protect and restore priority wild B.C. fish stocks, including Pacific salmon and steelhead. To date, the funds have supported 42 projects with more than $71 million of funding. The projects are very diverse in location, scale and proponent, but all contribute to protecting and restoring wild fisheries and creating a more sustainable future for local communities and workers.

More projects are on the way, and we are working to double the size of the salmon restoration and innovation fund, supporting innovation in fish hatcheries and ensuring B.C. processing of B.C.-caught fish. Meanwhile, we’re going to keep working to support both wild fisheries and the British Columbians who make their living from them. Last summer our government posted an update on the development of a wild salmon strategy that includes measures to strengthen the legal protection of fish habitat and to oblige project proponents to minimize or avoid destruction, harm or alteration of fish habitat.

Coastal communities in B.C. want to retain their connection to the ocean and the commercial fishing industry, not just for livelihoods but for culture, food security, employment and stewardship. As the MLA for North Coast, I will continue to advocate for protecting wild salmon, commercial fishermen and the First Nations and communities that the industry supports.

[11:30 a.m.]

E. Ross: Salmon conservation. It’s not a new topic, regardless of what has been said here today.

Back in 2003, when I joined the chief and council, my council had already been fighting for it for the better part of 20 years. It was part of our treaty negotiations. It was part of our relationship with DFO and related agencies. In that fight, we understood how complicated this issue is. It’s not a simple issue, and the answers are not simple, when you look at how many levels of jurisdictional issues have to be resolved even just to get a handle on what’s happening locally, let alone worldwide.

The advocacy we initiated and that we still initiate today is mainly around habitat restoration and protection, both historic and proposed — “historic” meaning the many streams and rivers that were either diked or backfilled, for either commercial or residential use, when our ancestors were building B.C. It would be really interesting to find out how many salmon-bearing streams were actually redirected or filled in for our ever-growing population. As a matter of fact, it’s how we built B.C.

You know, diking a stream or river may have legitimate reasons, but it does have downstream impacts. We’ve seen entire spawning beds dry up completely, and the newly scoured side deposits, silt and sand on remaining beds. The old maps show streams all over B.C., in all our settled areas, that were backfilled or redirected with no habitat compensation like we do today. Instead, we as a society created hatcheries, fish farms and ocean ranching to kind of compensate for our part in destroying the habitat.

Even my own band backfilled a spring that we called Xwenis, and we did it because our land base was so small. We had no place to expand. It was just the way things were done back then, when we were [audio interrupted].

We can mitigate future impacts, but we should also be looking for remediation of our habitat, because overfishing is a global exercise, with countries like Japan, Russia, Canada and the United States fishing the open waters as well as within our respective borders. It is such an important initiative that the United States and Canada signed a salmon treaty in 1985 for the purposes of cooperating on overfishing, management, research and enhancement of salmon.

As with endangered caribou populations, there is also the issue of predator control. I understand this has been a controversial topic when it comes to caribou, but this is also a topic when it comes to salmon. Roy Jones, Jr. is the president of Pacific Balance Marine Management, a First Nations–led group pushing for predator control with regard to salmon. There is a commercial component to their proposal, but the goal is to lessen the predator pressure on salmon, similar to the caribou recovery plan.

The list is long when we’re talking about salmon conservation. As humans, as we try to restock salmon supplies through worldwide hatcheries and ocean ranching, we may be causing salmon to come back in smaller sizes. It’s just a case of not enough food. That’s why I’m always on the look for solutions to our worldwide salmon problem.

In 2012, the Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation was widely criticized for releasing 100 tonnes of iron sulphate into Canadian waters in the Pacific Ocean. The theory was this would stimulate the growth of plankton, which would be eaten by large ocean dwellers and begin a feeding frenzy by the juvenile fish heading into the ocean, and it might ultimately lead to higher survival rates and better fishing results when the fish came back to the island streams to spawn.

Like I said, the Haida were heartily criticized for this, but it was an idea that I supported as chief councillor, mainly because it was a bold attempt to try something new based on what I thought was logical thinking. It still makes me wonder today what the results were.

There are more proposed solutions — like selective fishing with no bycatch, inland fish farms for sockeye and trout — but one thing is clear: the demand for seafood will only grow. So the pressures on wild salmon will also grow, and [audio interrupted.] I think about it in a holistic manner, in terms of what this means to the commercial industry, the sport fishing industry as well as native food fishing and sustenance, but overall as what an incredible asset this is for the country of Canada.

[11:35 a.m.]

D. Routley: Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity.

I’m actually joining the proceedings from Malahat First Nations territory.

For the members and for the people of B.C, we in fact do have a made-in-B.C. wild salmon plan. It was the Premier who, I’m very grateful to say, appointed me, as co-chair of that council, with the simple task of grow more salmon. In a very complex set of circumstances, how to answer that question was our task. We did not ever want to be arguing over the last fish.

The overarching issue, the overarching solutions, are so many, and so many layers, with jurisdiction and governance layered in the same way. To have one person responsible for everything to do with wild salmon, that person would have to be the minister of everything. But what we do have is a circumstance that is ripe for a solution. We have a circumstance where forces that have been at odds with each other are suddenly finding a common and mutual set of facts and goals, and that was the work that this council tried to address.

I’d like to talk about the members of the council. Marilyn Slett, Chief of the Heiltsuk First Nation, president of Coastal First Nations. The member for Saanich North and the Islands, a member of the Tsartlip band and a former Central Saanich councillor who dealt with planning and development around water and wastewater. Joy Thorkelson, spoken of just the other day by one of our members, spent 40 years representing and working for people who rely on fishing for a living as the president of the Fishermen and Allied Workers Union.

Ray Harris, the First Nations Summit co-chair, a dear friend of mine from Stz’uminus and a commercial fisherman. Dawn Machin, a member of Okanagan Indian Band, a regional fishery biologist. Thomas Alexis from the Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance and a member of the Tl’azt’en First Nation. Ian Bruce, the executive director of Peninsula Streams Society. Martin Paish, the director of Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia. James Lawson, a commercial fisherman. Cailyn Siider, a commercial fisherman from Sointula. Tasha Sutcliffe from Ecotrust Canada, as well as Ward Bond, a longtime Pacific Salmon Foundation member.

These were various forces that had usually been characterized as colliding when it came to the issue, but they did have those shared goals, a mutual commitment. We had the difficult conversations. We had an inclusive approach that brought people together. Generous gestures were made on all sides and a shared commitment to the recommendations that we made, which were practical and on the immediate, short-term and mid-term basis.

Our first goal was to increase abundance. Our second goal was to protect and enhance economic, social and cultural benefits. Our third, to develop mechanisms, processes, practices and structures to engage citizens. All of the recommendations that came from the council are directed to restoration and innovation. This led to B.C. being able to negotiate, with the federal government, the BCSRIF — the restoration and innovation fund that members have spoken of, a $143 million investment. So real things are being done.

What I want to close with is that a theme ran through all of it. It was bringing people together and trusting local people — local authority and First Nations, community-based organizations that already exist — and empowering them to complete and expand on the work they were already doing.

This theme that ran through the work we did, I see running through the pandemic response. What we need to do to get out of that is indeed bringing together people around a shared set of facts with aspirational goals, but practical goals, and then trusting local people to do that work. As we recover as communities, it will be the job, I believe, of governments at all levels to empower local people, already pre-existing organizations and efforts that are already underway, fuel those and let them be the engines of recovery for the fish and for our province.

[11:40 a.m.]

I have a firm belief that this province can grow more fish, as the Premier suggested.

K. Kirkpatrick: Thank you to the member for the mo­tion.

Salmon have been under pressure for years from human activities and infrastructure. Climate change has exacerbated this and made the problem much worse. Pacific salmon are crucial to British Columbians’ ecosystem, economy and culture. Many people don’t appreciate the impact that salmon have on our everyday lives outside of our environment, and not just the impact to our oceans and our streams.

Now, although salmon live most of their lives in the ocean, they miraculously search out their home stream, and against all odds, will go far upstream to spawn. If you’ve ever seen this or seen them go up some of the ladders that have been put in, it’s almost like you take a personal investment in a particular salmon and are so proud when they get to the top of it. It really is quite extraordinary. It also should give us, if we’re having a bad day and we want to give up on something…. When you watch the energy and commitment that a salmon has to get up a stream, it will inspire you.

Wild salmon transport nutrients from the river to the ocean and back, fertilizing much of B.C.’s ecosystems. They serve an important role in our food chain, and that’s including for bears and whales.

We can’t talk about salmon without talking about the importance of salmon to First Nations communities up and down the west coast and the Interior. Since time immemorial, salmon have played a vital role in First Nations culture. With respect, I will mention the Salmon People.

Some people of the west coast believe that salmon were immortal humans living in villages under the ocean. In the springtime, these immortal beings put on salmon disguises to offer themselves up as food to the people. After the salmon were eaten, the people would put the full fish skeleton back into the water in the belief that their spirits would rise again and turn back into salmon people, thus creating the cycle of life. This makes the threat to our salmon stocks even sadder and our obligation to act even more urgent.

When we talk about investments in wild salmon conservation, we should be looking at those things that directly contribute to climate change, that destroy habitat and that pollute our waters. To spawn successfully, salmon need the right combination of stream flows and temperatures at exactly the right time of year. Warmer temperatures have been changing the timing of the snowpack melt and runoff from the mountains as well as causing glaciers to retreat. This means that rivers and streams have less water, and this makes it more difficult for salmon to travel.

Changing weather patterns have led to more severe storms and floods, which wash away salmon eggs and destroy spawning territory and habitat. These salmon populations will need help to survive the warmer waters, the more acidic oceans that we have and the changed stream flows caused by global warming and climate change.

We know that B.C. steelhead stocks have been listed as endangered or as a conservation concern largely due to bycatch mortality and habitat destruction and degradation. A number of groups, including the Wildlife Federation of B.C. and the Steelhead Society of B.C., have called on government to work with the DFO to implement an action plan to prevent this loss immediately.

Salmon need access to historic spawning grounds in B.C.’s watersheds. However, this has been impeded by man-made structures such as culverts, floodgates and dams. Every time we build or develop land, we risk the loss of streams and wetlands. In Vancouver, dozens of streams, once home to a thriving population of salmon, were covered up or filled in since the city’s industrialization. We need to ensure that the extraction and use of natural resources is done in way that keeps salmon habitats safe and that we have sound and sustainable forest management practices to that same end.

Locally, in my community of West Vancouver–Capilano, the West Vancouver Streamkeeper Society helps develop, promote and maintain best practices for the protection of wild salmon stock and stream habitat. Today they’re the largest of all volunteer salmon stewardship programs in British Columbia, with an active membership of 260. They monitor 22 creeks and tributaries, ten of which are salmon-bearing, between the Capilano River and Horseshoe Bay.

[11:45 a.m.]

They focus on habitat restoration, education, care of streams and ensuring that these streams are kept clean and clear. Educating people at a young age will help develop understanding of the importance of fish stocks as they grow into adults. Recently at the volunteer hatchery on Nelson Creek, volunteers released 100,000 chum fry, and in late May, volunteers will release their coho salmon.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure to support this motion for this House to reaffirm its commitment and investments in wild salmon conservation solutions.

B. Bailey: Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak to this motion, which I strongly support.

The endangered southern resident whales are on the brink of extinction. As of March 2021, only 76 whales are left. One of the greatest threats to their survival is the lack of abundant chinook salmon, which make up 90 percent of their diet. For reasons not yet fully understood by scientists, the southern residents have shown that they will rarely switch their primary food source from chinook to other species and, therefore, face starvation in the wake of dismal chinook salmon returns for the past several years along the entire coast of British Columbia.

In the past few years, the population has experienced the death of several individuals, and many pregnancies during this time have resulted in preterm miscarriages, stillborn calves or deaths shortly after birth. Research conducted between 2008 and 2014 revealed that up to 69 percent of all detectable southern resident pregnancies were unsuccessful. Research has shown that the low abundance and availability of chinook salmon is an important factor in late pregnancy failure.

No one who witnessed it can ever forget the image of a young orca mother carrying her dead calf on her snout as she clearly mourned its death. For 17 days, J35 toured her lost calf for all to see, as if imploring us to look at the harm our activities are causing.

Studies of the orcas’ physical condition, using drones, have shown that the majority of the southern residents appear thin and are suffering from malnutrition. Their pods are fragmenting because there’s not enough chinook salmon to eat.

Orcas have been a symbol of the west coast for many thousands of years. They’re an important part of the culture of many Indigenous Peoples, of their belief systems, symbolism, art and storytelling. The orca is a symbol often centred around luck, compassion and family. Orcas are known to some Indigenous communities as the guardians of the sea. To some people, orcas represent the strength of love and the bonds of family because of their strong group behaviour.

Indigenous Peoples and orcas have lived in harmony in the Pacific Northwest since time immemorial, and it’s important to look to Indigenous communities for knowledge and understanding of the history, the location and the behaviours of the region’s orca population, as well as to their leadership when developing protection and recovery actions.

The recovery of chinook salmon stocks is a vital — in fact, the vital — piece of the ecological puzzle leading to the demise of these treasured cohabitants of our wonderful province. The ongoing decline of the southern resident killer whale population over the last 20 years is due not only to the decline in chinook stock but also the presence of persistent organic pollutants and disturbances from vessel presence and noise. At all levels of government, we must continue to reduce impediments to salmon recovery, decrease inputs of pollutants to the marine system and manage vessel activity in their preferred habitat.

One of my most treasured memories is on a June morning about 20 years ago, sleeping on a tent on Discovery Island, just off of Victoria. We’d just woken to the sound of a loud exhalation of air and opened the tent zipper. Sure enough, there was a whale blow floating in the air at the entrance to the little bay where we had pulled our kayaks up. We raced to our boats and watched the first group of three beautiful orca whales go by in the distance.

We anchored our kayaks in the current by holding onto bull kelp in the little bay. A group of three passed. The third group, though, turned in our direction and, instead of passing in the distance, turned into the little bay where we were anchored and came through the kelp forest.

As they approached, a mixture of fear and excitement ran through my body, and sure enough, they came within a couple of feet of my kayak and then dove under me. As they emerged on the other side of my kayak, droplets from the bull’s large dorsal fin rained down on my face.

[11:50 a.m.]

It was magical, and they were clearly careful with us. We, too, must be careful with them, far more careful than we’ve been in the past.

Our actions today determine the future of these iconic, intelligent beings, and protection of their food source is nothing less than an emergency. We’ve heard much of the challenge of overlapping jurisdictions, and I don’t underestimate this. But I am confident that an inclusive ap­proach determined to change this tide will prevail.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Member. Thank you for that story.

D. Clovechok: It’s my absolute pleasure to rise today to speak to this very important issue.

I would like to share a teaching that I was given. I believe it has bearing on this discussion.

If all the green things that grow were taken from this earth, there could be no life.
If all the four-legged creatures were taken from this earth, there could be no life.
If all the winged creatures were taken from this earth, there could be no life.
If all our relatives who crawl and swim and live within the earth were taken away, there could be no life.
But if all the human beings were taken away, life on earth would flourish.
This is how insignificant we are.

In this context, yes, we are insignificant, but unfortunately, our actions have been and continue to be very significant, negatively, on the salmon population. The headwaters of the Columbia River start in the Columbia Valley in the village of Canal Flats and flow out of Canada into the United States. This once salmon-rich highway starts in my riding and travels about 1,200 kilometres to the Pacific Ocean, through Astoria, Oregon.

I reference this because the chinook salmon have taken this route since time immemorial, finally making it home to a place that they were born — a journey that took them four to five months. Yet on arrival, I’m told, most were up to 50 pounds and were a staple food for the Indigenous people whose home I respectfully share.

It has been our actions, both then and today, that beg the question: where are the salmon now? They are not in the Columbia River in my riding — I can tell you that — where they used to be abundant. That is a tragedy. We have to do better. Massive dams on both sides of the Canadian-U.S. border were built on the Columbia River, blocking the salmon’s return to their ancestral spawning waters — now for over eight decades. Yet in spite of their absence, they are still celebrated and revered.

In the late summer and early fall of each year in my riding, the Columbia Salmon Festival is held on the traditional territories of the Shuswap Indian Band, the Secwépemc and the ʔakisq̓nuk First Nation, the Ktunaxa. At this festival, there are dancers, artists and storytellers from across the basin, where everyone is invited to join in for an all-day festival. Many come to learn about the traditions of the local First Nations culture and, of course, about the chinook salmon that once inhabited these waters, and the relationship that they had with the Indigenous peoples.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

I have been honoured to participate in this celebration for many years — along with the Shuswap and ʔakisq̓nuk band members, RCMP members, conservation officers, local government elected officials, community members and Elders — in a traditional canoe voyage across Lake Windermere. Our canoe brigade paddles together in the sun, wind and rain. We take the weather the way it comes. We paddle to James Chabot beach in Invermere, where we celebrate the day with ceremonies and songs and, eventually, end the day with a huge salmon feast.

The purpose of this festival is to honour the salmon and give residents and visitors an understanding of what these waters used to hold: precious and strong chinook salmon. It is events like this festival and so many others that demonstrate how critical it is that we continue to do the work that is being done to bring back the salmon — such things as the Columbia River treaty and the negotiations with the Americans. I’m thrilled to say, Mr. Speaker, that the Indigenous people have a seat at that table, through the work of many people to get them there.

Also, the Columbia River Salmon Reintroduction Initiative will help bring them home once again. This initiative starts today, and it’s driven by Indigenous people. That’s the important piece of this, I think, that needs to be highlighted.

I conclude with a Kwakiutl prayer. My prayer is that it will help the salmon find their way home.

Come, swimmer. I’m glad to be alive now that you have come to this good place where we can play together. Take this sweet food. Hold it tight.

[11:55 a.m.]

J. Routledge: I’m pleased to rise to speak in favour of the motion: “Be it resolved that this House unanimously agree that climate change, habitat loss, and pollution are negatively impacting wild salmon survival and that this House reaffirm its commitment to investments in wild salmon conservation solutions.”

I represent Burnaby North. While it’s located on the unceded traditional territory of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, it is also part of the third-largest city in British Columbia and a densely populated urban area. You might be asking yourself: what could she possible know about salmon conservation? Well, my answer is: not much.

I do have a constituent who is a world-renowned expert in the field. I asked him for some guidance. Mark Angelo is a river conservationist. He founded B.C. Rivers Day and World Rivers Day and has been awarded the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada for his work. Thanks to his leadership, after 80 years, salmon have returned to spawn in Widgeon Creek and Still Creek, which run through the industrial heart of Burnaby. As the head of the fish, wildlife and recreation program at BCIT and the inaugural chair of the Rivers Institute, Mark has mentored generations of river conservationists.

Here’s what Mark Angelo told me when I asked him how this House should reaffirm its commitment to investments in wild salmon conservation solutions. He said that the heart of the Fraser between Hope and Mission is one of the most productive stretches of river on earth. It supports our biggest single spawning run of salmon, is a migration corridor for millions of other salmon, supports almost 30 species of fish and includes our finest white sturgeon habitat. But it’s also an area that is threatened by an array of impacts, including urbanization, industrial development, agricultural expansion and excessive land-clearing.

We need a collaborative plan — a conservation strategy for the heart of the Fraser. To address this, the province could look at options such as convening a planning table in conjunction with DFO. It can consider establishing additional wildlife management areas within the reach, or it could actively support efforts to acquire key habitats for conservation purposes.

Mark also praised B.C.’s healthy watersheds initiative. To refresh our memories, I would remind us that the B.C. watersheds initiative was introduced last year as part of our economic recovery plan. Our government has provided $27 million in stimulus funding to more than 60 watershed conservation and restoration projects. This investment creates jobs, protects fresh water ecosystems, and helps communities adapt to climate change.

Mark sees this as an important initiative and hopes we can turn it into an ongoing watershed security fund with matching funds from the federal government. He points out that many of the projects currently being funded by the initial $27 million that the province contributed in 2020 are focused on the very things this motion speaks to.

Mark Angelo, founder of World Rivers Day, has a lot of other ideas for tangible actions that could benefit salmon greatly. I urge the members opposite to join us in supporting this motion and working with us to invest in wild salmon conservation solutions.

J. Routledge moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. J. Osborne moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

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

The House adjourned at 12 noon.