Orders of the Day

Private Members’ Statements

PRIDE

S. Chandra Herbert: I want to take just a quick moment to also wish a very happy birthday to the Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole, the member for Courtenay-Comox.

Happy birthday.

[R. Leonard in the chair.]

I rise today to talk about Pride. It’s something I have spoken about in this House before — not just pride in general, but Pride in terms of lesbian, gay, bi, trans, questioning, two-spirit folks in this province.

I’ve heard many folks in this chamber already celebrate Pride Month, wish each other happy Pride, and what’s been kind of cool is the folks doing it have not, at least to my knowledge, been out, as I am — some would say they were straight — and are here as allies. I just want to honour that and thank them for speaking so strongly about the need to value diversity, the need to stand up for human rights.

This is a topic that’s not new to me in this chamber, I think partly because of my community, partly because of who I am and where I’ve come from and how I’ve grown up. It’s Vancouver’s West End and Coal Harbour communities. The West End in particular has been the home of Pride and the home of the fight for human rights for LGBTQ2S+ folks for a long time.

[10:05 a.m.]

Now, before I move on, I’ve used some acronyms. Lesbian, gay, bi, trans, questioning, two-spirit, plus. I remember not too long ago I was sitting on a stage with some politicians there to celebrate Pride in their community. One of the politicians up there, a strong ally, leaned over to me and said: “What does that LGBLT stand for?” I said: “Well, it’s not lesbian, gay, bacon, lettuce and tomato.”

It’s lesbian, gay, bi, trans, two-spirit, plus. Some folks add more acronyms. Some have others to acknowledge asexual folks, intersex folks. Really, the aim here…. “Q” for queer. Some folks say it’s in, and some folks say it’s out, because they find it’s insulting.

The idea is inclusion, that folks that don’t fit into the traditional binary, straight, two-picket-fence world…. Well, maybe they have two picket fences. I certainly know some folks who do, who fit into that world now. They need inclusion, and they want to be part of society. In order to be included, you have to be visible. You have to be seen.

So why Pride? Why that word? Well, I think to my own origins. How folks that I was attracted to…. I was taught that that was a shameful thing. I shouldn’t be attracted to men. I shouldn’t have those feelings. So I didn’t. I pretended I didn’t. I thought through how to talk about all of the hot models that I saw in the local magazines — and they are hot. I guess I would say…. I’ll out myself here. I’m bisexual. Whoa. I think most folks would say that I was a gay politician. I’ve not corrected them, because I’m in a loving gay relationship with an incredible husband, Romi, and with an incredible son.

In high school, of course, it was hard to understand that you could have feelings for multiple people, that you could love folks from both genders or folks who were of no genders or in a third place or in a different place, because we were taught there was one way to be. Slowly, over time, I saw that that was not the case. Yes, you could love outside. You could love in a bigger sense than I’d been taught was allowed.

I think that was in high school, the end of high school. I remember telling a counsellor who I was and who I had attractions to. She had a great idea. She said: “Well, I’m going to call a school assembly. You can get up there on the stage, Spencer, and you can tell everyone.” I don’t know about you, hon. Speaker, but that sounded like about the most horrifying thing ever.

I said, “I actually want to finish high school. I don’t want to be chased out of the school. I don’t want people beating me up. I don’t want to be so depressed because of the hatred that I’d feel. I actually want to finish high school. So no thank you, counsellor. I’m not doing that,” even though it probably would have helped some kids. I think that’s where this visibility thing comes from — this idea that you need to be visible, so folks can see themselves and see that there is no shame to be who you are.

I was lucky. I met my husband not too long after graduating high school. We met not even a year later. It was the best thing that could have happened for somebody in my place, because he already knew who he was. He started the first gay-straight alliance in B.C., out in Maple Ridge, as a young man. That led to people chasing him home. That led to him having to leave school, transfer schools, because of the amount of hatred that was directed his way.

It wasn’t just young people trying to find a better life. I speak about these origin stories because there are so many people who stood up against that violence and that hatred to find that better path. Teachers at the time…. Believe it or not, some politicians at the time, in the ’90s, started pushing.

First I’ll go back. Before I was alive, before we all were sitting in this place, governments had criminalized homosexuality in a big way. In 1869, long before these buildings existed, of course, you could be locked up for life. They thought it was a good change, because before that, you could be condemned to death. They changed it to you could be locked up for life. Of course, it took many, many more years, until 1969, when the practices were decriminalized by the federal government.

[10:10 a.m.]

Then, from that, we jump forward. Of course, there were protests during that period. One of my constituents, the late ted northe, told me about how he would stand on the stairs of the courthouse in Vancouver, dressed in full drag, to protest so that we could have better equality.

At the time, you could be arrested for wearing the clothing of another gender. As long as you had three items of the appropriate gendered clothing, you’d be okay. So he had, as he put it, one pair of men’s jockey shorts and two men’s rolled up crew socks as his breasts, and that was enough that he wouldn’t get arrested. He would get harassed. That’s for sure. He sure had stories about that.

You jump forward to the ’70s, Gay Liberation Front, GATE, onwards into the ’80s. We’ll cover that off in the next section. I just want to say it’s a long story, but it’s an important one. We’ve got to remember that it took power and action to get to where we are today.

M. Bernier: I want to thank the hon. member for bringing this forward today and for their remarks. As was mentioned, the month of June is and marks Pride Month around the world and here in British Columbia. We join all the other communities to celebrate Pride Month.

I think it’s important, though, and I think I’ll continue on with the member’s train of thought around the history, because we have to remember this didn’t start because of celebration. Pride Month really started as a protest, as the member mentioned. If you think back in my time — shortly after I was born, 1969, just over 50 years ago — in Stonewall, rebellion took place in New York. It was quite common at that time for the police to raid popular gay bars that were in New York.

But in 1969, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two transgender women of colour, decided enough is enough, and they fought back. There, in a lot of ways, started the protests and the fight for equality that needed to take place. It really did a lot in the United States, but that quickly spread into Canada and around the world — fighting for equality. Really, at that time in a lot of ways, Pride was born in that month of June.

It took until 1999 for the Supreme Court of Canada, though, to rule it unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples equality. Then, on top of that, it took almost another decade to July of 2005 for the federal Civil Marriage Act to come into place, as the member well knows, making same-sex marriage legal across Canada.

I think it’s important, though, that we need to address in this House that legal equality is not the same thing as social equity or acceptance. Unfortunately, members of the LGBTQ2S+ community still face homophobia, transphobia and biphobia. I think we all, and I know we all, need to fight against this discrimination and intolerance in our communities.

It’s my belief and I know it’s the belief shared by everyone in this House that, regardless of someone’s gender identity, sexual orientation, they should have equal rights and be treated equal in our society. We can do a lot, still, in this House and in our society to ensure that that happens.

Sorry.

Look, everyone deserves to love. Everyone deserves to be loved. Thankfully, there’s supports out there for people who are feeling marginalized and discriminated against. I’m here today also to say there are supports out there for those that don’t understand.

As a father of a non-binary child, I’ll tell you I had questions. What came out of that was healthy discussion, and you need that healthy discussion to have understanding. Out of that comes acceptance and love. I could not imagine anyone going through life not being loved or not being able to love someone else.

[10:15 a.m.]

With that, I congratulate and acknowledge and celebrate the member for Vancouver–West End for their love that he shares with their husband, for being so open and for being an advocate for equality.

I think what we’ve learned over the last couple of weeks, too, is we have to learn from history. Horrible things happened in the past. But we need to learn from that. We can’t deny the past. We can learn from it, and we can do better as a society.

Acceptance and inclusion is something we should all be striving for and we need to do a better job at. But I do acknowledge and I believe, as the member might say as well, that we have come a long way. But we have a lot further to go.

With that — my apologies for getting emotional — I do want to, on behalf of everyone in this House as well, congratulate and celebrate everyone who’s partaking, which I hope is everyone, for Pride Month.

S. Chandra Herbert: I want to thank my colleague for Peace River South for his leadership within his caucus, as well, around these issues and in his community. There’s no need to apologize for being emotional, because it is emotional. It goes to the heart of who we are as human beings and who he is as a father and as a community representative as well.

It’s a beautiful thing to be able to have that emotion and to be open to those feelings, because for so long, so many of us have closed off those feelings, have ratcheted down to try and be able to be safe. To be able to be open enough that you can share those feelings means that there is a level of safety and acceptance together, and that’s how we grow.

Pride Month — June. There is some controversy. Should we call it Pride Month June in B.C., in Canada? Of course, in B.C., a lot of our big Pride events have happened in August. In my community, that’s when Pride is. That’s when some of the first gay unity weeks happened — 1979, 1973, 1980.

Some of the big first marches happened in August. But, of course, Stonewall and the leadership shown by transwomen of colour, I don’t think can ever be forgotten, because they put their necks on the line when other people weren’t willing to. They stood out as marginalized individuals in their community with great bravery, because they knew the cost it would have on them more so than on somebody that looks like myself.

When we make these statements, I think one thing that’s important to remember is many times that does lead to an increased level of targeting. When folks speak out against racism they faced or sexism or homophobia or transphobia, often they, themselves, then become the target of those attacks again.

I thank my staff back at my office. You’ll probably be hearing from some of the usual suspects that we’ve had to deal with. Apologies. But even though most of us are moving together in a better way, there are still those, including constituents of mine, who very much want us to go back into a darkened path of violence and hatred.

We’ve come a long way. I agree. I think of how far in my lifetime. In 1992, the government of B.C. added sexual orientation to B.C.’s human rights code. It took four more years before the federal government did that.

In 1995, same-sex adoption was added to our laws in B.C. Then in 1996, our first out MLA, Tim Stevenson, was elected and, I think, Ted Nebbeling not too long after; in 1998, pension rights extended to same-sex couples.

In 2003, of course, same-sex marriage. The Court of Appeal ruled that it was okay.

In 2008, Jenn McGinn, our first lesbian, was elected to this Legislature; 2008, the push for sexual orientation, gender identity and education in schools began. Took another eight to ten years or so before we fully got it implemented, but it was a start.

In 2010, I started pushing for gender identity and expression to be added to the human rights code. Got it put in.

In 2016, the Human Rights Commission, top surgery, changing gender markers — on and on the list goes. There does need to be more change. The culture needs to change, not just the law.

I thank everyone for doing their part to lead to that cultural change so we have the true love and equality everyone deserves.

HELPING WOMEN SUCCEED

K. Kirkpatrick: I rise today in recognition of the many challenges facing B.C. women — challenges and inequities that have been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

[10:20 a.m.]

Our province, our country and our world have changed greatly since the pandemic was announced almost 16 months ago. However, something that hasn’t changed is the gender-based discrimination experienced by women, especially women of colour and low-income women. Not only has this discrimination remained; it has been amplified as a result of the pandemic.

Gender-based discrimination takes many forms in British Columbia. Although women have full legal equity under the law, deep-seated misogyny remains within our institutions and society. The devaluing of women’s labour, a lack of equitable political representation, an ever-growing gender pay gap and disproportionate job loss among women are just some of the key issues facing women in our province.

Most mothers and families, but especially single mothers and working mothers, face the agonizing task of finding available child care for their children. I say the task is agonizing because of the sheer difficulty of finding an open spot, an affordable option and a child care arrangement that suits the needs for their child. It’s too difficult to find proper child care in this province, and this is a sentiment that I’m sure is shared by all members of this House.

Since 1988 women have either outnumbered or had enrolment parity when entering UBC’s law school. How­ever, attrition in law firms for women is significantly greater. Today women account for only about one-third in the legal profession.

Why the discrepancy, then, between high law enrolment figures and comparatively low post-employment figures? The Canadian Bar Association reports that women have left the profession at double the rate of men. Women are still more likely to be the primary caregiver for children and are more likely to need time off for flexibility for child care or looking after seniors. They’re more likely to be the one to care for aging and ailing family members.

The concern that a woman, not a man, will leave to have children is still in the back of the mind of many who are hiring. This is not just in the law profession. This is pervasive in every profession, in every job. Organizations are changing their cultures to accommodate the different needs of women, but it’s too slow.

By last summer, women’s participation in Canada’s workforce was at a three-decade low. Men are being hired back more quickly than women. Fifty-one years ago the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada recommended a national daycare act. But it’s taken a global pandemic for governments to finally act with urgency and recognize that access to affordable and high-quality daycare is essential for women, families and the economy.

The families and women of this province were promised 24,000 daycare spaces, but only 6,000 have opened to date. I urge this government to make good on its $10-a-day daycare promise and act with similar urgency, as it did with the supports for the pandemic, to ensure that this province does not experience a massive women-centred recession from women exiting the workforce, willingly or unwillingly, also termed as the she-cession.

This leads me to the second large issue facing B.C. women today — the gender pay gap that is also persisting. As of 2019, British Columbia had the worst gender pay gap in hourly wages, according to Statistics Canada, and women earned, on average, 20 percent less an hour than men. Women also tend not to negotiate for higher annual wages, resulting in a lower salary than their male counterparts year over year.

This is partly a gender culture issue. It isn’t a trait or characteristic that was encouraged in women for many years. In fact, to negotiate and to ask for more, as a woman, was often discouraged. As a result, British Columbia has the worst gender pay gap in Canada at 18.6 percent. Countrywide, full-time women working in Canada make 76.8 cents on average for every dollar men make.

[10:25 a.m.]

The gap is wider for women who are Indigenous, living with a disability, racialized or newcomers. The gender pay gap is completely unacceptable, and the issue will continue to persist unless lawmakers address these inequities.

B.C. remains one of the three provinces that have not enacted pay equity laws, despite the continued efforts by my colleague on this side of the House, the member for Surrey South. It’s clear that the steps that have been taken in British Columbia are not enough, especially as we face a post-pandemic world with COVID-19 having unequally impacted women. The pandemic has shone a light on the deep inequities in our society and economic institutions, especially as women face disproportionate job losses. Women lost 17,300 jobs in May 2021, and 14,300 of those belonged to young women.

It is clear that women, especially young women, are bearing the brunt of the pandemic and paying the very high cost of underemployment. It’s essential that we fight for the women deeply affected by this pandemic and for all women in our province as we look towards building a more equal society for the future. I look forward to hearing the remarks from the member opposite.

Point of Order

Deputy Speaker: Members, I understand a point of order has been raised by the member for Maple Ridge–​Mission.

B. D’Eith: Yes, thanks, hon. Speaker. I just would like to remind the members, please, that it’s supposed to be non-partisan. That’s my point of order.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Member. Yes, it’s a re­minder that this private members’ time is non-partisan.

Debate Continued

K. Paddon: Thank you so much to the member opposite for bringing up this important topic. When I heard the topic being discussed today, “Helping Women Succeed,” I will admit that a flood of thoughts, facts, frustrations and personal experiences came to mind.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously said: “I ask no favour for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” But we’ve moved past this, right? We know better now, and when we know better, we do better. In many ways, we move towards a more equitable and inclusive society every day — first, as we face the systemic barriers, then as we institute the policies that would support social justice.

But what about the shift in thinking? What is the foot on the neck? This is a critical key to helping women succeed in British Columbia. So let’s get to a place where we no longer subscribe to the idea that there is only so much room at the top for women, which pits us against each other and perpetuates a myth. Look at the makeup of this House. There is room.

Let’s grow beyond identifying female value based on dismissive and reductionist categories of virgin, mother, vixen, caregiver and crone. And while we’re at it, let’s stop casually using words to describe women that we would not want to hear come out of our child’s mouth. Let’s dismiss the idea that women are tied to a biological imperative that conflicts with being active, productive, successful employees and leaders.

[S. Chandra Herbert in the chair.]

Let’s recognize that leadership has many faces, strength has many images and that there are ways of leading and being strong that look different than the popular hyper-aggressive posturing, yelling, puffing up that has worked so well for so many for so long. Let’s move past the culture of disbelieving, blaming, disregarding and shaming survivors of gender-based violence. Let’s stop treating women’s health like a special interest category that is somehow sidelined as if it’s not going to impact the success of our society.

And let us please, once and for all, stop pretending that any debate or vote should be able to determine the rights of an autonomous human being to their own body. Let’s stop pretending there’s a civilized or reasonable way to justly discuss stripping someone of power over their own self or to even question whether a woman can choose. Let’s stop discussing who can be or who is a woman as though this is a referendum topic. Let’s not ignore that this continues to happen every day.

[10:30 a.m.]

For those few examples of how we could, together, take their feet off our necks, I would be remiss if I did not also acknowledge that women who are racialized, differently abled or otherwise marginalized are at even great risk of experiencing the barriers and violence that can impede success.

This is why I’m so proud that we’re part of a team that’s getting work done. That the government understands and is committed to the principles that everyone has the right to feel safe, respected and included in their home and community. That we’re taking action. That British Columbians are seeing a historic investment in B.C.’s child care plan, seeing investments in housing for women who are creating a life after violence. That B.C.’s minimum wage and liquor server wage have been raised. The majority of these employees are women. That we’re giving extra support to women through employment and skills training so women can stand to benefit from good-paying jobs.

Only by espousing the fact that gender equity means people of all genders and gender expressions are treated fairly can we move forward. This government is committed to helping people achieve what they need to be successful.

A rising tide lifts all boats. We are in this together. There is a lot of work that has been done and is already underway. I am proud of the progress being made, but we know that there’s so much more to do.

One of the biggest barriers is attitudes. Engrained, perhaps unconscious, these interfere with the basic building blocks of need and recognition — the recognition that a woman’s success requires her to be safe, which she often is not; to have access to participate, which, depending on age, race, orientation or even presentation, she may not have; and inclusion as an autonomous, competent human being.

That starts with women being respected and valued as equals, all of us, everywhere. We’re doing the work to bring everyone forward together. I would ask that each of us individually also do the work in recognizing how we contribute to the barriers to women’s success. I would ask on behalf of the fierce and fabulous girls and women across B.C.: help if you can. If you can’t, get out of the way.

K. Kirkpatrick: I want to begin by thanking the member opposite for her remarks. I’m comforted that women’s issues are a non-partisan topic and that all members of this House agree that we must fight to ensure women have full social, political and economic equality in British Columbia.

On reflection of the remarks, I think it’s important that we all realize, and all members of both sides of the House agree, that we must and can do more than we’re actually are doing in order to address the growing gap in pay for women, the job loss, the inadequate child care system and the treatment of women in the workforce.

I remember, and many of the women in this House probably recall, being in a meeting where it was primarily men. You know, you always need somebody to take the notes in a meeting. Wouldn’t everyone look at you, as the woman, to be the one that would take the notes? It took me many years to figure out, as a young person who was always a bit nervous about being in these meetings, that that was not okay and that a man was just as capable of taking notes as a woman was. We do have to call these things out when we’re being treated that way in our workplace.

These systemic issues and economic inequities in British Columbia remain vitally important to address if women are going to continue to thrive in our province, especially as the pandemic continues and we enter a post-pandemic world.

So many women that came before me had faced barriers and made sacrifices. So many were asked to stay home and care for their families or told that they couldn’t be any more than mothers and wives. Slowly, this began to change in British Columbia as women entered the workforce. We saw women become elected officials who brought gender representation to this very House. But change is slow, and many of those barriers experienced by the women before me persist today.

Now, being a mother is a fabulous thing. Being married can be wonderful. Having a spouse can be wonderful. These decisions are made by choice. We must ensure that women are not limited only to that singular path in our modern societies. There are many options that we’re all open to.

[10:35 a.m.]

What is frustrating is that despite our many advancements, women are still facing too many barriers. I’m incredibly afraid that without us working together, those will continue.

I’ve also been fortunate to have two male employers over the course of my working life who were both willing to give me a chance to succeed and to provide me with tools and opportunities. I have a great group of women friends who support me and support other women in the community to have opportunities that they may not otherwise have. So we should all work together to find solutions that work and make women’s equality not a partisan issue.

IN HONOUR OF THE AFZAAL FAMILY

B. Bailey: Like many of us during this long pandemic, the Afzaal family had taken up daily walking. Talat Afzaal, the grandma of the family, enjoyed walking in the evening, right around sunset. A week ago Sunday the two children, Yumna, age 15, and Fayez, age nine; their mother and father, Salman and Madiha; and their 74-year-old grand­mother, Talat, set out for an evening stroll. They couldn’t possibly have known that they would be targeted in a horrific hate crime and that only Fayez, the nine-year-old boy, would survive.

Madiha was working on her PhD in environmental engineering at Western University. She’s described by friends as enthusiastic, intelligent and generous of spirit. Salman was a registered physiotherapist who worked with seniors. He’s described as just a beautiful person — always smiling, always willing to help, very kind-hearted and highly respected. Yumna Afzaal, the 15-year-old girl, was described by her teachers as a dedicated honour roll student who loved learning. Teachers also shared that she was interested in owning her own business one day to give back to her community later in life.

But none of this is to be. A 20-year-old boy, a young man, radicalized into neo-Naziism, took their lives with his pickup truck and ended their hopes, their dreams and left nine-year-old Fayez orphaned.

“This is not our Canada,” some say. “I can’t believe this happened here,” we hear. But Muslims and people of colour and those who wear religious items other than crosses are not saying: “How did this happen here?” They’re not saying it, because they live with Islamophobia day in and day out.

When we say, “This is not our Canada,” we’re saying: “We don’t see the way that you’re treated differently than I am — that when I shop at the same store as you, the cashier greets me cheerily, but doesn’t have eye contact with you.” When we say, “I can’t believe this happened here,” it’s like we don’t remember the horrific attack at the mosque in Quebec or the attack on Muslim women in Alberta last year. This can and does happen here with sickening regularity. Islamophobia is a plague in our society, and denying it does nothing but dismiss the lived experience of many of our neighbours.

Instead, let’s say this: this is not the Canada we want. This is not the pluralistic society we value. We’re lost between the vision of what we want to believe Canada is and what it really is. And for those of us who can live our lives without experiencing the racism that many of our country people face, it’s all too easy to downplay that reality. Just yesterday on the radio, I heard these murders described as an accident. These words lighten the reality of this crime, and we need words that reflect the poisonous and disturbing reality of Islamophobia, hatred and racism.

We can’t continue like this. We can’t continue to deny that our country, notwithstanding the so many wonderful things about Canada, is deeply racist.

The Muslim community in Canada is grieving. They are frightened, and they’re angry. I’ve been told that many are sick of hearing empty words from politicians and leaders that don’t bring change. I’m trying not to do that. Instead, I’d like to use the rest of my time to share the voices of Muslim leaders across our country and to amplify them. Please listen to their words.

Dr. Ahmed Hegazy, a friend of the family, says this:

[10:40 a.m.]

“This, to me, was a personal loss, but this issue of hate crimes that perpetuate and happen over and over again is something that needs to be dealt with. I think it’s important that legislators and community leaders and, obviously, our Canadian leaders at large look at how to define hate speech and how to actually look at hate speech proactively, to seek it out and hold whoever brings that view forward accountable.

“Yes, freedom of speech is absolutely important, but when it comes to the point where you’re adding fuel to a dangerous fire, it should no longer be allowed. When you have a 20-year-old who is so filled with hate that he takes away the lives of people just based on how they look, that tells me there’s something fundamentally wrong about how Muslims are being portrayed in the media.”

For Imam Zia Khan, the targeted attack was not a shock. He said he’s seen this kind of violence against Muslims in Canada many times. “We’ve been scared for a very, very long time,” Khan says. “It’s especially painful to talk to children and other young community members about hate-motivated acts like this,” he says.

Nadia Hasan, the chief operating officer of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said that terrorism charges should be pursued. “We need to be able to send a message to the Muslim community that these types of incidents — and unfortunately, I have to use the plural there — are taken seriously and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Mustafa Farooq, CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, says this: “A man allegedly got in his car, saw a Muslim family walking down the street and made the decision that they do not deserve to live. He did not know them. This is a terrorist attack on Canadian soil and should be treated as such.”

Nusaiba Al-Azem, second vice-chair at the London Muslim Mosque: “At the end of the day, this event hap­pened because of pervasive and structural Islamophobia, which is perpetrated in a systemic manner.”

Firaaz Azeez, executive director of Humaniti: “The time has come for us to have a national conversation about how to break down these barriers, not just Islamophobia but hatred, racism, anti-Semitism.”

Ena Chadha, chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission: “Incidents like this are a tragic re­minder that Islamophobia and xenophobia are real, deadly and persist.”

Shahina Siddiqui, executive director of the Islamic Social Services Association, says: “I think, over two decades, Islamophobia has penetrated so deep it is literally getting into the DNA of our nation, and we are a nation who are known for what we did to the Indigenous population. We were still grieving…for the 215 Indigenous children whose remains were found — and now this. How much of this, as a nation, are we going to take? How long are we going to let this continue?”

Nawaz Tahir, a London lawyer and spokesperson for London’s Muslim community: “These were innocent human beings who were killed simply because they were Muslim. We must confront and stamp out Islamophobia and Islamophobic violence — not tomorrow, today — for the sake of our children, our families and our communities.”

T. Wat: Thank you to the member opposite for their moving words on this topic. It is with a heavy heart that I speak on this topic, as British Columbians join the residents of London, Ontario. Indeed, all Canadians are mourning our loss after the horrific attack that killed three generations of a Muslim-Canadian family.

The actions of an individual last Saturday led to the destruction of a family and sent shock waves through a community and a nation. A man drove a truck into a family enjoying an evening walk, and we now understand that he did so because they were Muslims.

Salman Afzaal, his wife, Madiha Salman, their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna Afzaal, and Afzaal’s 74-year-old mother, Talat Afzaal, were killed. Nine-year-old Fayez Afzaal suffered serious injuries but survived. He is now an orphan, left without his family, because of the actions of an intolerant racist.

[10:45 a.m.]

It takes a remarkable amount of hatred for someone to undertake an act like this. We must all take a moment to recognize that the rising rates of hate crimes in Canada pose a significant risk to the well-being of marginalized people, especially visible minorities and people of colour. When discussing a tragedy such as this, I believe it is important to discuss the rising hate that leads to this violence but also to remember the victims. So I ask that in this chamber we all take a moment to remember the family lost and speak about how their colleagues, friends and community remember them.

Salman’s mother was fond of evening walks with her family. One can imagine the civility of a walk at dusk with one’s child and grandchildren. Madiha, a wife and mother, was described as “a sparkling, generous, loving person that treasured education, female advancement, equality and research.”

Jeff Renaud, CEO of Ritz Lutheran Villa, who employed Salman Afzaal at the care home, described him as “kind and caring, loving and deeply, deeply committed.” He said that Salman was “a great guy. He always had a smile.” Yumna Afzaal, the 15-year-old youth taken in this senseless act, and her younger brother Fayez, were described by their family as “gems of our school community” and “very talented in their academics.”

Fighting against the rise in racism that we have witnessed in B.C. and Canada must be a mission that every British Columbian must commit to today, not only by standing up against and calling out racism whenever it occurs, but by celebrating the incredible contributions that Muslims and other religious and cultural groups have made to our province and to all of Canada. During the pandemic, I’ve come to learn firsthand the incredible strength, dedication and generosity of our Muslim communities and the incredible work they have done for those in need throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and even before it.

Throughout the pandemic, organizations like the MTO Shahmaghsoudi have played an integral role in our global response, including in my home community of Richmond. As MLA for Richmond North Centre, I have had the pleasure of working with MTO Shahmaghsoudi when we delivered 45 meals to residents of modular housing in Richmond, as well as care packages to the pediatric unit at Richmond Hospital. The organization offers many in need more than just essentials. It delivers hope amidst one of the greatest challenges in our recent history.

This is just one example of the kindness initiated by Muslim communities and organizations, whose spirit of giving and being there for one another has made our province proud in more ways than we can describe. Today, as we affirm that we all stand against racism in all its forms, let’s remember the remarkable Afzaal family, to whom my heart and the hearts of all British Columbians go out. Let’s stand with our Muslim British Columbians, who have done so much and continue to do so much every day to make our province a better place.

B. Bailey: Thank you to the member opposite. A speaker at a recent rally in Vancouver described that Muslim women take the brunt of Islamophobia, because of the prominence of wearing a headscarf. Muslim women spoke of being randomly attacked, having their hijab pulled off in public, of being punched and kicked. That was all here in B.C.

Ignorance and dangerous stereotypes are at the root of this abhorrent behaviour and have to be countered through their opposites: education, and getting to know those who look differently than you. White bystanders can learn how to safely interject and de-escalate racist situations. We can all make the effort to learn about other cultures and get to know someone who is outside of your normal circle. A simple gesture such as smiling and saying good morning to a Muslim woman wearing a hijab offers that you are not seeing them as other, but as your neighbour.

[10:50 a.m.]

This government is serious about anti-racism. We need everyone in B.C. to stand together in this fight and to show that discrimination in any form will not be tolerated.

Some of our work has been completed. Much more is to be done. We have reinstated the human rights commission. We’ve worked with communities to redesign anti-racism programming, the new Resilience B.C. Anti-Racism Network. We’ve almost doubled funding for the program to provide even more support for communities that are working to prevent and respond to racism. We’re supporting new and expanded projects in 40 communities across British Columbia.

In response to the rise of hate during COVID-19, we’ve provided $1.9 million in new recovery money to support more anti-racism work, including an anti-racism public education campaign.

B.C. is actually the only province in Canada with a dedicated, integrated hate crimes policing unit. This team provides advice and guidance to police throughout the province investigating hate crimes.

And there’s ongoing work. We’re working to reform the old Police Act, which is 45 years old. We’re moving ahead on the collection of disaggregated race data. The Ministry of Education is developing a K-to-12 anti-racism action plan. Importantly, we’ll be introducing an anti-racism act that will commit all future governments to anti-racism work and to bringing an anti-racist lens to decisions.

There is much to do, and while this government holds a large part of this work, so do we all. It’s not easy work, but we’re talking about nothing less than nation-building — building a Canada we can all be proud of, a Canada that is safe for all of us.

MINE PERMITTING

T. Shypitka: British Columbia is blessed to have an abundance of natural resources. Over the course of our history, we have benefited from four primary industries: agriculture, forestry, fisheries and mining. The signing of the Oregon treaty in 1846, which brought around the end of the boundary dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States, meant that the mining industry could be opened right up in our province. This included two major gold rushes, one on the Fraser River in 1858 and the other, in 1862, in the Cariboo district.

Today you can find mining operations in every corner of the province — past and present. That’s because we have rich mineral deposits of copper, coal, zinc, gold, lead and molybdenum, not to mention our abundance of oil and gas reserves. It is also well recognized that B.C. is Canada’s largest producer of copper and steelmaking coal. We are the second-largest producer of silver in Canada, and our aggregate sector are the stone, sand and gravel mines that help build our roads, buildings, wind towers and critical infrastructure across the province.

B.C. is also home to nearly 50 percent of Canada’s 31 critical minerals. Molybdenum is one of these critical minerals, and B.C. is the only producer of moly anywhere in Canada. These critical minerals will assist the world in moving to a low-carbon economy and protect our national security, as well as our allies’.

Also, the province is home to the world’s largest concentration of exploration companies and mining professionals. More than 700 mining and mineral firms choose Vancouver as their base of global operations, making Vancouver the largest mining community in B.C.

The B.C. mining industry is capital-intensive, and companies work extensively with suppliers from throughout the whole province, offering efficient supply chains and superior transportation links from heavy equipment and industrial materials to transportation, environmental sciences and more. Every job in the B.C. mining industry supports two jobs in mining supply and services. These include three transcontinental class 1 railways with dou­ble-stack capability and the shortest sea route between North America and Asia.

It is also well worth noting that the mining industry is the largest private sector employer of Indigenous people in Canada. Additionally, Indigenous communities in British Columbia also share in the benefits of mining through innovative impact-benefit agreements that mining companies enter into to help achieve lasting self-defined community objectives.

The growth of the industry under previous governments was tremendous, the mine exports growing 139 percent from just between 2013 to 2016. Unfortunately, the industry has slowed down considerably in the last several years.

[10:55 a.m.]

As a matter of fact, when it comes down to the length of time it takes for the approval of exploration permits that mining companies are required to get from the government, British Columbia is at a tremendous disadvantage, because it takes at least six months or more to gain approval for exploration permits. This forces companies to make significant investments on a potential site, but then the company has to sit and wait for an extended period of time.

This makes many corporate leaders avoid British Columbia as a potential jurisdiction if there are jurisdictions offering the same product yet with a much faster approval process. Last February the Fraser Institute published its Annual Survey of Mining Companies, and it wasn’t very complimentary to B.C. for its permitting times. It states:

“Amongst the three provinces which attract the majority of Canadian exploration spending on base metals and precious minerals — British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec — the results are somewhat mixed. For example, Quebec, 50 percent, and Ontario, 33 percent, had higher percentages of respondents indicating that they expected it would take two months or less to acquire the necessarily exploration permits. However, in British Columbia, only 13 percent of respondents were able to acquire the necessary permits for exploration in two months or less.

“When asked about acquiring permits in six months or less, British Columbia again underperforms compared to its two Canadian competitors, with the lowest percentages of respondents, 65 percent, who indicated that they expected to spend six months or less acquiring the necessary permits. In fact, 35 percent of respondents for British Columbia indicated that they expected to spend more than six months to get their exploration permits, whereas that percentage dropped to only 17 percent of respondents for Quebec and 19 percent of respondents for Ontario.”

Some recent evidence suggests that the permitting process for exploration activities is imposing significant costs and acting as a deterrent to investment. The Fraser Institute 2020 report went on to say: “Of the three provinces attracting the bulk of Canada’s exploration spending, British Columbia had the highest percentage of respondents…indicating that the time for permit approvals had either lengthened somewhat or length­ened considerably, compared to 59 percent in Ontario and only 25 percent in Quebec.”

Our notice-of-work permits need more resources. Some $20 million was allocated three years ago to separate compliance and enforcement from permitting, with the addition of over 60 personnel, but we have seen these permits take even longer. We need more experienced inspectors and admin staff to mentor those that are new to the field. This practical knowledge sometimes cannot be learned effectively from a textbook alone. Every application is unique and comes with its own unique variables. We desperately need upgrades to the computer and data systems, in order to streamline applications and provide immediate communication to the applicants.

There are seven mine projects near their final investment decision that could be significant contributors to our economic recovery. The B.C. Mining Association estimates that these projects could deliver more than $4 billion in capital spending, 2,000 construction jobs and more than 4,000 operating jobs, with a total economic impact of more than $8 billion.

I will hold at this stage and allow the member opposite to offer their thoughts on improving British Columbia as a more efficient jurisdiction when it comes to issuing permits on time and without delay.

M. Dykeman: Thank you to the member opposite for their comments. Mining is one of British Columbia’s oldest industries. The mining industry truly is a foundational industry to the province of British Columbia. Also, mining is one of British Columbia’s safest heavy industries, as a world leader in mine health and safety practices. With a production value of $9 billion per year, this sector provides more than 30,000 good, family-supporting jobs for people in communities throughout the province.

Our government recognizes the importance of this industry. In 2018, the government established the Mining Jobs Task Force, which brought together industry, labour, and First Nations to review mining in the province and find ways to strengthen this important industry.

With Budget 2019, our government invested $20 million, over three years, to improve regulatory oversight and permitting, while continuing to encourage investment and jobs. Our government is committed to creating a mining innovation hub to identify and support innovation, training for workers in new technologies, regulatory excellence, environmental management and low-carbon solutions.

[11:00 a.m.]

[N. Letnick in the chair.]

Some highlights from the Mining Jobs Task Force. Recently our government has actually implemented 22 out of 25 of the recommendations.

These include making the B.C. mining exploration tax credit permanent, making the B.C. mining flow-through share tax credit permanent, extending the new mine allowance for five years, improving the processing of mining applications and establishing an independent oversight unit to strengthen health and safety, removing the PST for purchases of machinery and equipment used for pollution control and waste management, developing the B.C. mining innovation roadmap and providing $1 million for the expansion of the Regional Mining Alliance, a partnership between Indigenous groups, industry and the province.

The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation continues to demonstrate a commitment to the competitive mining sector with a focus on a strong regulatory oversight. The government has created a new chief permitting officer within the ministry whose sole responsibility is ensuring that the mining permitting process is efficient and effective, helping to support the growth of the sector and attracting new investment to the province.

The chief permitting officer also works to help support growth in the mining sector and attract new investment to the province, as well as being focused on processing permits for new major mines in order to get these projects to a final investment decision.

In the past year, we have seen a significant improvement in major mine permitting times. For example, in the southeast region of British Columbia, we saw notice of departure permitting timelines for existing mines drop from an average of 45 days to only 33 days. In the first half of 2020, staff cleared a backlog of seven major projects in the southeast area.

We also recognize, though, that there is a lot of work to do and are committed to working with all parties to ensure that we have a growing world-class mining jurisdiction that all British Columbians can be proud of, remaining committed to improving the resource development approvals process, including mining permit applications, and working with industry, Indigenous Peoples, labour, communities and other stakeholders.

Mineral exploration and mine development are fundamental and essential industries in British Columbia and will continue to play a critical role in the growth of our province and from a transition to a low-carbon economy. From application submission to referral decision, it takes an average of 280 days to process a major mine permit application or amendments. So review and processing times can be significantly reduced on applications with the support from local communities and Indigenous groups where environmental factors have been sufficiently considered.

The ministry continues to focus on processing permit applications for major mines in order to get them to a final investment decision. This can be seen — these changes and the attractiveness of British Columbia — through industry investment. Significant recent investments highlight the attractiveness of British Columbia’s mining industry and future potential. Just a few of these include the $200 million from Artemis Gold acquiring the Blackwater project from New Gold; $275 million from Newmont Mining Corp. and the Galore Creek partnership.

We’ve attracted a total investment of $8.7 billion between 2017 and 2020, and the annual investment in B.C.’s mining sector grew by 20 percent since 2016.

Deputy Speaker: I apologize to the member for Kootenay East. We’re going to have to move on at this point.

Government House Leader.

Hon. J. Whiteside: Just as I hand off to my colleague, Mr. Speaker, I ask that the House proceed to the consideration of Motion 11 standing in the name of the member for North Coast.

Deputy Speaker: Members, unanimous consent of the House is required to proceed to proceed to Motion 11 without disturbing the priorities of the motions preceding it on the order paper.

Leave granted.

Private Members’ Motions

MOTION 11 — NATIONAL INDIGENOUS
HISTORY MONTH AND RECONCILIATION
WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Deputy Speaker: I recognize the member for North Coast.

Please keep all your speeches within the five minutes. We’re running late, and we’d like to get everybody in.

The member for North Coast to move the motion.

J. Rice: I move:

[Be it resolved that this House recognize June as National Indigenous History Month and continue to advance reconciliation in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.]

National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21 is a time to recognize the rich, diverse and unique culture and heritage of Indigenous Peoples, First Nations, Métis and Inuit.

[11:05 a.m.]

It’s important to also acknowledge the historic colonial injustices and ongoing discrimination that continue to affect the lives of Indigenous Peoples. At this time, we honour the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc as they grapple with their investigation into the discovery of a grave of hundreds of children on the grounds of the former Kamloops residential school. They have stated they are the caretakers of the children, and undoubtedly, this is a huge burden to bear. So thank you for taking this on when previous parties have failed to assist.

Racism, including anti-Indigenous racism, is a problem in all our communities across British Columbia and Canada. It’s important that we take the time during Indigenous History Month to reflect on what we can do as individuals and communities to combat racism.

For this government, reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples is a cross-government priority that every provincial ministry is mandated to work on. Through new investments in the 2021 provincial budget, we’re working together to make a difference in the lives of Indigenous Peoples through ongoing investments in COVID recovery, affordable housing, Indigenous language and culture, child care, mental health and addictions, culturally safe health care, skills training and economic development.

Through historic legislation passed in November 2019, the province committed to implement the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and uphold the human rights of Indigenous Peoples. Since then, we’ve been developing an action plan for this work under the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous Peoples in B.C. This past week, we’ve released a draft of the action plan to get additional feedback from First Nations and Indigenous Peoples. Once finalized, the five-year action plan will guide the provincial government’s work to advance reconciliation in British Columbia.

While we still have much to do, we believe the proposed actions in this draft demonstrate our government’s commitment to pursuing true and meaningful reconciliation together with Indigenous People. Ministries across government have been engaging with First Nations and Indigenous partners over the past year to develop the draft action plan and will continue this engagement over the next six weeks to ensure that the action plan reflects the priorities of Indigenous Peoples.

The collaboration between Indigenous leadership and ministries has been invaluable. We appreciate the wisdom and perspectives that everyone has brought to the table as part of these discussions. The draft action plan includes 79 proposed actions to advance self-determination and self-government, rights and title, ending anti-Indigenous racism, and social, cultural and economic well-being. It’s important to note that the draft action plan does not include all of the province’s work to implement the UN declaration, which will continue in parallel with the work under the action plan, including separate work to align laws to the UN declaration.

In the past four years, we’ve been collaborating with Indigenous Peoples to support language revitalization, to implement a new K-to-12 curriculum that makes sure children in B.C. are taught about Indigenous culture and history, and to work to keep the care of children in Indigenous communities where it belongs.

New revenue-sharing with First Nations from gaming activities is supporting self-government and strong, healthy communities. We are working with Indigenous Peoples to build affordable housing on and off reserve, to implement a new First Nations justice strategy and to combat racism. We are working collaboratively with First Nations on land use planning and environmental stewardship and incorporating traditional knowledge into resource decision-making. We are making innovative agreements with First Nations that support self-government and self-determination.

The StrongerBC economic recovery plan includes significant funding to advance reconciliation and support Indigenous communities hit hard by the pandemic. Reconciliation is an ongoing commitment to engage as partners in ways that respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and to determine their own future. We still have much work to do as governments, communities and individuals.

We are celebrating Indigenous History Month all throughout June. I encourage everyone to take some time to learn about the Indigenous history of the province and to think about what we each can do in our own lives to advance reconciliation and address racism.

[11:10 a.m.]

P. Milobar: It’s my pleasure to rise today in support of the motion around National Indigenous History Month and advancing reconciliation.

I rise today as not only the opposition critic for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation but also as one of two MLAs for the Kamloops area.

Of course, that’s a community that continues to be awash in sadness and grief over the treatment of Indigenous children and their families. I’m speaking, of course, about the tragic discovery of children’s remains at the Kamloops Indian Residential School site. Our community in Kamloops and, indeed, the entire province and country have been gripped with sorrow over the finding of these lost children.

For survivors of residential schools and their loved ones, the painful memories that have been brought up all over again can’t be forgotten. What happened at those residential schools in B.C. and across Canada cannot be brushed off simply as history. That’s why I think it’s critical that the timing of this month and the recognition of this month be advanced in a meaningful way throughout British Columbia and, in fact, throughout Canada.

It’s critically important that we as a province take this opportunity to truly embrace reconciliation and the learning that needs to happen and the understanding that needs to happen at a depth that we have not seen to this point, because words do not match actions a lot of times, unfortunately, when it comes to government and Indigenous issues, regardless of political stripe. We have seen that over and over again.

Kamloops has a long history of trying to advance Indigenous issues. You think back to 1910, 1911 with the Laurier memorial that was signed in Kamloops but never acted upon. Here we are 110 years later. Indigenous communities are still waiting for meaningful action to be taking place.

The unanimous support by this chamber for UNDRIP in 2019 is an important step, but it’s only an important step if it’s actually actioned. Time and again, Indigenous leaders have seen the much promised action not actually take place. We need to make sure that we don’t simply use this month as a way to learn a little bit about the history and a little bit about how to meaningfully engage with reconciliation as a broader community with Indigenous communities. We need to make sure that it stimulates ongoing and real learning and a real advancement of the issues.

It’s no longer good enough just to say we’ll pay attention for a week or for a month or for however long the news cycle runs, and then we will pretend like things have been solved when they actually have not. For too long, Indigenous communities have been waiting for that.

When we look at things like the basics around clean drinking water, access to clean power, access to safe travel routes — especially in and out of rural and remote Indigenous communities, so they’re not putting their lives in peril to try to get into more populated areas for things like health and regular day-in, day-out ways of living that people need in a modern world — those are all meaningful steps to reconciliation that we need to continue to keep advancing in a proper way, in a way that actually sees results, in a way that those actions are tangible and deliverable moving things forward.

Yes, we need to keep working in terms of resource industry and how we meaningfully and properly engage and make sure that right on the front step, first step of any project, Indigenous communities are brought in, and we’re working with them around that free and prior informed consent. That is the key to all of this. We need to make sure that we as a society are moving forward.

If this month can do anything to advance that, that is very significant step forward, in my mind. But as I say, it doesn’t end at the end of this month, because this month and in July, those issues are still going to be there. Those issues still need to be talked about. Those issues still need to be learned, and those issues need to actually have a tangible way forward to make sure those improvements happen for all in our society, especially in the Indigenous communities.

As a husband and father of an Indigenous wife and Indigenous children, it’s important watching how they keep learning about their own family history as well, moving forward. So months like this, when I see the layers of learning that happens over time, it’s very important for all of us to recognize that a month is a great way to remind us that there is a lot to learn, but we only learn it if we actually go out of our way to make sure that we are actually truly learning, truly engaging, truly trying to find and hear from those Elders about the stories of how things were and how things need to be.

Thank you for the time, Mr. Speaker.

[11:15 a.m.]

D. Routley: It gives me a great deal of pleasure to address the House on this very important issue and reflect on what our government has achieved over these years. In fact, reconciliation is the North Star of this government and this month of Indigenous history allows us to pay special attention to that.

The government’s actions have been symbolic with the adoption of the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as concrete, with steps like: $3 billion in gaming revenue being shared, the first time a provincial government has done that in British Columbia; the care of the children in First Nations being put back where it belongs, with those nations; language revitalization programs; on-reserve housing, the first government ever to do that; and a number of other concrete steps that have been taken.

On the subject of language revitalization, I’d like to say a few words to the members about two people who I know very well. One of them is on the executive of my riding association. His mother is an Elder from Kuper Island Penelakut Nation, who I met as a school trustee in the 2003-2004 school year when she was translating Robert Munsch stories into Hul’q’umi’num’ and then putting that into a computer program where students could use a mouse to click on a word in English and that word would be translated into Hul’q’umi’num’ with an Elder’s voice pronouncing that for them.

That was a very wonderful project and a wonderful way to meet Florence James, an Elder with a great wisdom and a great generosity. I later met her son Rocky James, who is now a member of our constituency executive, as I said. He’s a two-spirit young man and worked for years on the Downtown Eastside with two-spirit youth.

In this month of Pride and this month of Indigenous history, as a bisexual man, I’d like to say a few more words about the notion of two-spirit people and what that means. One of the important parts of reconciliation is that it be true and it inculcate the various institutions of our province.

It’s clear that that has happened with B.C. Hydro, when I opened their B.C. Hydro Connected newsletter this month and saw a special feature on two-spirit people. It went on to define two-spirit and noted that the phrase two-spirit was first used at the Winnipeg 1990 Intertribal Native American Conference. It was the first native gay and lesbian conference of its type.

It’s interesting and a difficult term to describe, because it is not just simply about gender or sexuality. It’s about more than that. It was described very well as “walking carefully between the worlds and between the genders.” So it is interesting for us to consider this particular lens as we view First Nations history and in the month of Pride, how so many First Nations and Indigenous Peoples have been discriminated against in so many different ways, but those who are two-spirited in additional ways as well.

It’s with thoughts of them and their struggle that I would like to bring the House’s attention to and honour them for their struggle, and assure them that all of us struggle with these aspects of our lives and our identity. It’s important that we remember, during Indigenous History Month, that two-spirit people played an important role within their cultures and continue to play an important role with reconciliation, with Rocky James and others working with the Minister of Indigenous Reconciliation and Relations to ensure that two-spirit voices are at the table of reconciliation in the spirit of “Nothing about us without us.”

With that, I honour two-spirit people in the month of Indigenous history and Pride.

[11:20 a.m.]

M. Lee: I rise to continue discussion of the motion before this House. It’s certainly a timely motion, which is incredibly important for us to consider in this chamber.

This year, as we recognize National Indigenous History Month, we do so with a different tone to past years. The last few weeks have been incredibly raw and emotional for so many of us. We have again, once again, been confronted with the darkest parts of the history of our nation — the heartbreaking and horrific discovery of the remains of 215 children. The Kamloops Indian Residential School has us grieving. It has caused us to pause and to engage in a nationwide conversation about how we can further the process of reconciliation with Indigenous People across the country.

We have a responsibility as elected representatives to ensure not only that we each join this conversation, but that we work with a renewed urgency to take meaningful action towards reconciliation, rather than fall back on empty words and promises. As the local MLA for Vancouver-Langara since 2017, I’ve learned a great deal about the approaches to reconciliation from my community that I represent.

My community office is located two blocks from Langara College, which has a strong relationship with the Musqueam First Nation. In 2016, the Musqueam bestowed upon the college the name Snəw̓eyəɬ Leləm̓, which means house of teachings. Langara College was the first public post-secondary institution to ever receive an Aboriginal name from a B.C. First Nation.

At the unveiling ceremony, Wayne Sparrow, the Chief of the Musqueam First Nation said: “By honouring Musqueam and incorporating its symbols and traditions into the very fabric of the college, you begin a process of reconciliation and lay a foundation for new and positive partnerships for the future.”

In September 2018, I had the honour of joining Chief Sparrow and other Musqueam leaders in attending the unveiling of the Musqueam listening post that now sits on the northwest corner of the campus. It welcomes people to the traditional territory of the Musqueam people where the college is located. This relationship between Langara College and the Musqueam people is incredibly important and has served as an example of what reconciliation could look like when our institutions are truly committed to the task.

As leaders, if we are to make positive change, we need to listen. We need to hear the stories of Indigenous Peoples and seek to understand the impacts of more than 150 years of systemic racism and discrimination. Then we need to honestly and earnestly work to do better, to take real action to heal and bring genuine reconciliation.

During my time as the official opposition Justice critic, I visited the Kamloops First Nations court and met with Elders there. Afterwards, one of the Elders took me through the Kamloops Indian Residential School site. As we went through the hallways and rooms, she brought me to see the space through her eyes, shared the stories of her time and of the trauma she and others endured. It was an experience I will never forget and one that I reflected on so many times particularly over the last past few weeks.

This has been a traumatic time for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. The discovery in Kamloops has caused many to relive their experiences and those of their relatives, as well as to grieve the loss of these children and all the others who suffered the horrors of residential schools. We must confront this shameful truth, stand together and make real change.

A simple first step that this government can take is to activate the Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs. It’s an existing mechanism. This government just needs to call it together to start its work. Our Leader of the Official Opposition has already written to the Premier making this very request. I genuinely hope that he will activate that committee.

It is clear from the discussions this morning that every member of this House shares the goal of meaningful reconciliation. I truly hope that we can turn this shared goal into shared action by truly listening and forming real relationships and real partnerships with Indigenous People in B.C. We need to lean in and bring much-needed healing, not just with our words but also with our actions.

[11:25 a.m.]

G. Lore: I’m so pleased to rise in the House today to speak in favour of this motion. We often recognize the Indigenous land from which we speak as way to begin our meetings or comments.

Here in this Legislature, we speak on the territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋin̓əŋ-speaking peoples of the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. As the MLA for Victoria–Beacon Hill, it is also the land I live and raise my family on — a never-invited guest.

Last week I stood at protocol corner with the Speaker and Clerk of this Legislature and the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, a grateful witness to the landing of canoes by the nations, greeted by their Chiefs and joining other nations around Vancouver Island. They joined to stand in solidarity with song and prayer for the 215 children lost at the hands of the church and state at the residential school in Kamloops.

I introduced myself to the Chiefs, a living manifestation of our colonial past and present, the representative of this place in this building. Chief Thomas of the Esquimalt Nations pointed over my shoulder and toward the land this building stands and said: “Welcome to my people’s village.”

As a way to speak in favour of this motion, I want to share with this House some of the history of the land around us now. Two blocks west of this Legislature, now Laurel Point, stood a village of the Songhees people. It was also the site of a burial ground. One block north of us, now the lower causeway, was Xwsзyq’әm, meaning place of mud, known as some of the best clam beds on the coast and one end of a popular canoe portage.

A few blocks southeast of the Legislature, a former village site and a field for sport. This place, now known as Beacon Hill Park, is called Míqәn, meaning warmed by the sun. It was also an important place for the harvesting of camas.

This land — the site of our offices here, of these desks, of this work — was designated reserve land. The Douglas treaties of the 1850s saw four hectares of land set aside. “Our village sites and closed fields are to be kept for our own use, for the use of our children and for those who may follow after us.”

B.C. was the first jurisdiction in Canada to implement the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples through legislation passed unanimously in this House. This National Indigenous History Month, as we speak in support of it, we must remember the space that this legislation was passed in, the place of this work. It is part of the story.

Today we speak to the importance of this month and to the work before us, mere days after 215 children were found lost and never returned home, the loss of which is unimaginable to me as a settler and as the mother of two small children. But it was not and is not unimaginable to the people whose land upon which this building stands. They told us of these losses for decades, and we must believe survivors.

As we recognize National Indigenous History Month, I recommit to learning and unlearning the history and roots of this place. I encourage my colleagues in this House to do the same when they are here. Take a walk at lunch; visit the seven Signs of Lekwungen, bronze moulds of cedar carvings carved by Butch Dick of the Songhees Nation and placed around the area. By the entrance to the museum, the sign celebrates the three nations of Vancouver Island: the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, the Nuu-chah-nulth and the Coastal Salish.

At the míqәn lookout, you’ll see the cast of carved sea otters, the keepers of spiritual powers — the sign recognizing the spot where rocks are placed in a circular pattern to signify ancient burial sites. The sign at Songhees Point just across the Johnson Street Bridge recognizes the four families of salmon: sockeye, coho, chum and spring. This is an important place. Once infants learned to walk, their p’álәc’әs, their cradles, were placed here because of the spiritual power of the water there.

More recently there was a settlement and then a reserve that traded with the fort on the opposite side. Members could walk to the breakwater and see the Unity Wall Mural painted, again, by Butch Dick and also Darlene Gait of the Esquimalt Nation. Eleven youth have contributed to the Land and Sea Mural, mentored by an established First Nations artist and collaborating on a design that draws on Coast Salish art.

[11:30 a.m.]

During National Indigenous History Month, we must remember, also, the present and the resilience. Cultural and language revitalization is all around us.

I support this motion and am committed to the work ahead.

J. Tegart: It is a pleasure to rise today and speak to the motion regarding National Indigenous History Month and address the topic of advancing reconciliation.

Before I start, I want to share a story that I heard in the early 1990s from an Elder from Haida Gwaii. She said: “They came to get our children.” She was six years old. The cattle truck came into town. All of the children from age six to 16 were gathered, put in a cattle truck and sent to Port Hardy. She said that at six years old, she thought she’d be going home for Christmas. She thought she’d go home for the summer. She didn’t go home until she was 16.

I’ve thought about that story every time I hear someone talk about First Nations. I share that story because I want everyone in this House to think about what your community would look like with no children.

We have a lot of work to do. The finding of the bodies in Kamloops was devastating, but I truly believe it’s only the beginning. And it is non-partisan. It is as parents and grandparents.

I have had the honour of having many people in my riding who are First Nations share their personal stories of abuse, of loneliness. When we hear people say: “What can we do…?” We need to listen. We need to listen, and we need to validate. Yes, it is tough. Yes, there are lots of tears. But we can’t move beyond that until we open our ears.

I have the honour to represent a riding that has more than 30 First Nations bands. The knowledge, the openness, the sharing with youth — it is unbelievable, when I think of the history, how forgiving, how open people are to share their stories, the importance of their family. We have so much to learn from our First Nations communities and our First Nations friends. But it can’t just be words.

In 1992, I think, was when I heard the story from the Elder. I’ve thought about that as I toured Kamloops Indian Residential School. I thought about that I was in high school, and the residential school at Lytton was still open. I thought about that as I read the Truth and Reconciliation…. That took me probably six weeks to read because it was so heavy. But if you want to learn, and if you want to have an understanding, we need to understand the tough stuff. We need to say: “We must do better.”

[11:35 a.m.]

It is a pleasure to be here today, to be in the place we’re at as leaders, and to reach out our hands to those leaders in First Nations communities and say: “We’re here. Please show us where we need to go.”

Thank you very much. I am a proud grandmother of First Nations grandchildren. I think that if we have not learned and we have not gotten in our hearts the want to work together and move forward, then shame on us.

H. Sandhu: I would like to acknowledge that today I am virtually joining you from the unceded and traditional territory of the Okanagan Indian Nations.

I am speaking in favour of this motion brought forward by the member from North Coast, asking the House to recognize June as National Indigenous History Month and continue to advance reconciliation in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.

First, I would like to extend my thoughts and profound grief with the Indigenous communities who are affected by the recent devastating discovery of finding the remains of 215 innocent Indigenous children at the former residential school in Kamloops. My sincere thoughts are with the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nations, also the neighbouring nations like Syilx Nation, Splatsin Nation and all the Indigenous Nations affected by this.

Being a mother of three children, I cannot imagine the pain Indigenous families had to endure when their children were stripped away from them. The traumatic experiences that these innocent children had to experience are horrific and cruel. I am saddened beyond words.

I would like to thank some of my constituents for sharing their stories recently, and their relatives’ experiences with me, from the residential schools. I want to share with the Indigenous communities that I am here to listen, to support in any way I can, and I stand in solidarity with them.

Sadly, the list of injustices and ongoing systemic discrimination towards the Indigenous People is very long. Unfortunately, the recent discovery at the former residential school is only the tip of the iceberg, as we’ve just heard about another discovery of 104 potential graves in a former residential school in Brandon, Manitoba, and 35 in Lestock, Saskatchewan.

When I immigrated to Canada, I read and researched the history of Canada before coming over in order to know more about the country I was going to call my home for the rest of my life. Sadly, there was no mention of these atrocities, injustices and systemic discrimination. I then proceeded to pursue my education to continue my nursing, and then took the Canadian citizenship exam. Again, there was no mention about this dark, unacceptable and horrendous part of the Canadian history. I finally started to learn more about the injustices towards the Indigenous communities under the colonial era and its detrimental effects on the Indigenous Peoples a few years after immigrating to Canada, and it was upsetting.

The recent sad discovery is another reminder of the violence the Canadian residential school system inflicted upon Indigenous Peoples and of how the consequences of these atrocities continue to this day and have been inflicting intergenerational trauma on Indigenous communities. Therefore, the need for recognition of June as National Indigenous History Month and continuation to advance reconciliation in partnership with Indigenous Peoples is so important and urgent.

We also need to educate people around us about the history to move forward towards meaningful reconciliation and to support Indigenous Peoples. This step is much needed so we can all learn from the past and speak up against such injustices to show our collective support and advocacy. This will help us to learn about the rich culture of the Indigenous People, their languages and how they took care of the lands we all live, play and work on. The knowledge and conversation will also help us and our future generations to overcome biases, stereotypes and to unlearn many things that have been taught to us traditionally from the twisted and brushed-off history.

I am hopeful that all members of this House will wholeheartedly support this motion, as this is a non-partisan issue. I believe that we are all committed to have a meaningful reconciliation in partnership with the Indigenous communities, by their guidance.

[11:40 a.m.]

J. Rustad: I’m happy this motion has come forward: “Be it resolved that this House recognize June as National Indigenous History Month and continue to advance reconciliation in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.”

I thought about this particularly from the perspective of being a former minister associated with this and also in the light of what happened, the discovery in Kamloops and in other locations, and the tragedy of that.

I looked up the word “reconciliation,” and it means “the restoration of friendly relations or the action of making one’s views or beliefs compatible with another.” I think that’s important to have in context in terms of reconciliation, because for too long, over centuries, we saw governments doing things to First Nations as opposed to actually working and trying to reconcile together, whether that’s the Indian Act or other types of things over time.

There’s an organization I wanted to just mention and talk about a little here, and that is Reconciliation Canada. I have great respect for the work they’re trying to do across this country to bring people together, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, trying to find a path forward, trying to find ways to be able to accept each other’s perspectives, to accept each other’s beliefs and find that path that is Canada, that is who we should be as a nation.

Bobby Joe — or Robert Joseph, affectionately called Bobby Joe — gave me this, which I’m wearing today. It is just a paddle on a piece of leather. He gave me that when we were doing work together on reconciliation. He gave me that because he felt moved to recognize that we had come together and we’re in this together. We’re paddling together on this journey of reconciliation. We did a lot of work together and a lot of work with First Nations in terms of doing that.

It’s more than just agreements. It’s more than just words in a Legislature. It’s more than just finding…. Whether it’s pathways or whether it’s forestry or mining or these types of things, it really is about people being able to come together and understand our history. More importantly, though, being able to work together on solutions for tomorrow.

I have to admit, before I became the minister for…. At the time, it was called Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation. I really didn’t know much about Indigenous history. It wasn’t taught. In fact, when I went to school, when I was in elementary school, there were no Indigenous students in the class. It wasn’t until near the end — I think it was grade 7 or into grade 8 — that I actually had met the first Indigenous student working in the classroom with me. I didn’t think anything of it. I didn’t even realize what was going on at the time.

Later in life, as you move forward, and there are certain events, and things are happening…. I thought: “Oh, that’s interesting. I wonder what that’s about.” But it wasn’t until I had a chance to really delve into it that I fully understood history. A similar thing happened in Prince George with the renaming of what was known then as the Fort George Park. It was renamed the Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park. That was a site that I had known to be a park, and before that, it was a golf course. People said: “Why are we changing it?”

People didn’t realize that was a village. People didn’t realize that there was a cemetery there. The cemetery is marked out, and people had walked by it, but they didn’t think about it. They didn’t make the connection about what that was. That, I think, was a huge step in terms of reconciliation. There was lots of resistance. There were lots of challenges and issues, but people were able to learn our history. People were able to learn about what that meant and then be able to accept it. I think that was an important piece.

That’s why I fully endorse the idea of Indigenous History Month, because people need to understand our joint history. But more importantly, with that, it also has to guide what we do going forward. When we sign agreements, or when we go forward with doing things, we have to make sure both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are brought together, that they understand why an agreement is to be made, that they understand the purpose behind it. But they also have the input and knowledge of each other’s perspectives, because without that, we’ll never be able to achieve true reconciliation.

[11:45 a.m.]

I’m glad we’re having this debate and discussion this morning, and I’m glad I was able to add my voice to this.

B. Anderson: June is National Indigenous History Month. With the discovery of the children’s bodies at residential schools, we know that truth and reconciliation is more important now than ever.

Today I would like to take the opportunity to talk briefly about some of the history of the Yaqan Nukiy and celebrate the work they have been doing to return their community to a self-sufficient, self-governing and sustainable state. Historically, and since time immemorial, the Lower Kootenay Band locally known as the Yaqan Nukiy were the original inhabitants of the Lower Kootenay area.

The Yaqan Nukiy is one of four Canadian and two U.S. bands which make up the Ktunaxa Nation. The people of the Yaqan Nukiy speak the Ktunaxa language, which is one of 11 original Aboriginal language families in Canada. The language is isolated and is not related to any other language in the world. Robert Louie Sr., an Elder and the last fluent speaker of the Lower Kootenay Band dialect, is preserving his stories through a documentary that the Creston Valley Arts Council, with the Yaqan Nukiy Heritage Society, is creating.

Prior to European contact, the Ktunaxa people were semi-nomadic and travelled great distances within the Ktunaxa traditional territory. In 1910, the Canadian government funded and constructed the St. Eugene Mission School, at the time called the Kootenay Indian Residential School. Operated by the Catholic church, the facility was the first comprehensive Indian industrial and residential school to be built in the Canadian west.

Operating under the government’s assimilation policy, the mission instructed 5,000 children from the Okanagan, Shuswap and Blackfoot First Nations, in addition to the area’s Ktunaxa Nation. The school was closed in 1970 when government policy changed. It sat vacant for years but is now home to St. Eugene Resort.

The building of the resort took ten incredibly difficult years. Some believed the building held their future. Others wanted it completely eradicated — the building, along with all of the bad memories. Consensus began with family visits to the school, kitchen table talks and two years of internal marketing to over 1,500 members of the five bands who share the 130 hectares of reserve land.

Finally, a referendum was held, and all bands voted with overwhelming support. I would like to read a quote from Elder Mary Paul: “Since it is within the St. Eugene Mission School that the culture of the Kootenay Indian was taken away, it should be within that building that it is returned.”

The St. Eugene golf course opened in May of 2000 and was rated one of the top three best new Canadian golf courses by Golf Digest in 2001. To our knowledge, the St. Eugene Mission is the only project in Canada where a First Nation has decided to transform the pain into a powerful economic engine by restoring an old Indian residential school into an international destination resort for futures to enjoy.

Back in the Creston Valley, the Yaqan Nukiy school is an independent band-operated school on the Lower Kootenay Band reserve. It serves students from pre-kindergarten to grade 7 and welcomes students of all heritages. Currently, this school has a population of approximately 93 students. From lessons in the Ktunaxa language to hands-on cultural activities like canoe-making, their school is at the forefront of cultural reconciliation and knowledge-sharing.

The Lower Kootenay Band’s chief and council have focused on economic development for their community. Their economic development network is helping to provide meaningful business, employment and personal development opportunities for all community members and improving the prospects for their young people.

They purchased Ainsworth Hot Springs. If you haven’t been there, it is an incredible experience. Sit in the healing waters overlooking Kootenay Lake, take a swim through the cave and jump into the plunge pool for a quick cool-off.

Hospitality and tourism are not the only businesses the Yaqan Nukiy are engaged in. Through the Robert Logging partnership, they conduct full-phase log harvesting and earthworks. Through the Kootenay forage partnership, they offer hay production and sales.

[11:50 a.m.]

The Lower Kootenay Guide Outfitters offers fully outfitted hunts, memorable B.C. wilderness adventures and photography experiences. The Lower Kootenay Band also operates the yaqan nukiy Farms, Morris Flowers and Garden Centre. They have everything from beef to bees to blueberries. They’re doing all of this incredible work for their 200-plus members.

Today, for National Indigenous History Month, I am grateful to be able to share some of the amazing work the Yaqan Nukiy are doing for their people. I look forward to building a strong relationship with the Yaqan Nukiy and moving forward on reconciliation.

E. Ross: You’ll have to forgive my cynicism when it comes to topics like this, in terms of reconciliation or First Nations issues in Canada or B.C. My views are based on my being an Aboriginal on a small reserve in B.C. as well as being a leader. Over the last 17 years, that’s what has actually formed my thoughts around this word.

The word “reconciliation” has become a buzzword, a political buzzword used by politicians or organizations who want to organize First Nations into their own agendas. Very little attention is given to the real problems and, more importantly, the real solutions that bring real results to real people. Instead, progressive Aboriginal leaders are disrespected and ignored, including elected chiefs and councils, even though they know of and are trying to solve the depth of poverty, the violence of poverty; children in government care; chronic unemployment; excessive Aboriginal prison rates; or devastating suicide rates, especially among our youth.

None of my band members, in the last 50 years, has ever been positively affected by a passionate reconciliation speech full of empty promises and rhetoric, nor have they benefited from declarations or announcements. My band, in fact — the Haisla band — decided to take a chance. In the face of great opposition from all corners, we decided to take our destiny into our own hands. In an attempt to secure a more hopeful economic future, we pursued the private sector, like LNG companies, that actually accepted our demands for partnerships with First Nations.

From 2004 to 2017, our hard work translated to skills training, jobs for people and increased revenue and growth for our communities, and it actually provided us the opportunity to address our own issues on our own terms. In all that time, we did not compromise our commitment to environmental standards. We actually highered the standards of B.C. and Canada. We got into forestry, too, by signing a forest and range agreement with the B.C. government in 2014, our very first step into being included in the B.C. economy.

We also got into land purchases, whether it be from the private sector or from the B.C. government. By the way, that land that was transferred from the B.C. government to the Haisla in 2015 is in the final stages of addition to reserve. Combined with the other outlined land acquisitions in the last ten years, we’ve doubled our land base. We’ve actually secured our future for residential, commercial and industrial use into the future, and we kept half of the land in fee simple status.

As elected chief councillor, I asked for trust amongst my membership to get these strategies fully employed. We had to adopt a new and bold strategy if we were to have any chance of moving forward and bringing new benefits to our people, because what had been done in the past from all levels of government, including my own, just did not work. Our new approach did, and “happy” or “proud” are not strong enough words to describe what I see in my community today.

We don’t talk about poverty anymore. We don’t talk about the Indian Act. It took courage and years for band members and elected councillors to fully discover and accept this new approach, which wasn’t really new at all. Many elected Aboriginal leaders before us had proposed the same strategy but had been opposed, ignored or ridiculed. Sadly, that is something that’s happening today on a provincial scale. It is the saddest thing to see our Aboriginal leaders being ridiculed and marginalized for someone else’s agenda. The destabilization of elected Aboriginal leadership, in turn, destabilizes Aboriginal communities. How hard is this to understand?

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

For a group of people already suffering through the worst of social conditions, it is despicable to see outsiders manipulating Aboriginal peoples for their own politics or reasons — no empathy, sympathy or concern for the damage being done. As a past chief councillor, I turned a deaf ear to the constant announcements and speeches on reconciliation or new relationships, and I definitely made it clear for outsiders to stay away. Instead, we stuck to our homemade plan to become independent and self-determining, and it paid off.

[11:55 a.m.]

That period of work was not enjoyable, but I’m glad we stuck with it. I’m glad we stuck through the attacks and the manipulation, because it’s a whole new, different era today for our people. It’s a win-win situation for everyone, including the province and the country as a whole. At the end of the day, actions speak louder than words.

In fact, from 2004 to 2017, there were 450 agreements signed between provincial governments and First Nations throughout the province that actually laid the groundwork for a true reconciliation in terms of being independent and actually resolving some of the horrible social issues that Aboriginal people face today. These agreements and these components of these agreements are truly what affect reconciliation, because they affect real people on the ground.

B. D’Eith: We can’t recognize June as National Indigenous History Month without first acknowledging and grieving the discovery of the 215 bodies of children in unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. This may be shocking to many Canadians, but this issue is certainly nothing new to Indigenous communities.

In fact, in the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Calls to Action, there are a number of recommendations specifically dealing with the deaths of Indigenous children at residential schools. Our government recognized the TRC calls to action and started that reconciliation work very early on. In the mandate letters of every ministry since I started in 2017, there are clear instructions, across government, to build reconciliation into actions and legislation from each ministry. Reconciliation is a core principle of our government.

Now, in September 2019, UNDRIP was adopted into legislation by unanimous support of the House, and of course, this was the first Legislature in Canada to do so. I must say that this was one of the most emotional and impactful moments of my time as an MLA in the Legislature. The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act or DRIPA, in adopting UNDRIP, has put into law these very important articles to address residential schools and other actions taken to strip Indigenous People of their heritage, laws, language and other very important parts of their culture.

Adopting words isn’t enough. I’ve heard that a lot in these speeches, and I agree: reconciliation requires action. That’s why I was very pleased this week to see the draft of the action plan for DRIPA. This action plan was drafted in consultation with First Nations, outlining key actions the province proposes to take over the next five years to advance self-determination and inherent rights of self-government, rights and title of Indigenous Peoples; ending Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination; and promoting social, cultural and economic well-being. After feedback from Indigenous Peoples this summer, the plan will be finalized later this year.

We’ve taken a lot of action up to now already — for example, from developing a farm-free migration corridor in the Broughton Archipelago to deferring logging of old growth in Fairy Creek. In the words of the Premier: “The success of this process shows that when the provincial government and First Nations work together in the spirit of recognition and respect, we can deliver results in the best interests of all who live and work here.”

There’s so much more work to do. For example, Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond’s report In Plain Sight had 24 recommendations to eliminate Indigenous-specific racism and make health care safer. We must act on these recommendations. What about social, cultural and economic well-being? Well, from the start of the pandemic, our government prioritized rural and remote Indigenous communities for vaccinations and increased funds to friendship centres, because we recognized that there was a disproportionate effect of Indigenous Peoples being affected by the pandemic.

I know that locally I was very proud, early on, to be able to attend the Ruskin dam and the artwork that B.C. Hydro put out from Brandon Gabriel, telling the story of the Kwantlen people and how dams affected their whole lives and their livelihoods.

Of course, housing on and off-reserve. The Katzie and Kwantlen, with whom I am very pleased and honoured to live and work, have housing on and off-reserve, and there are actually 30 new homes going into the Katzie Reserve. We just recently announced 61 new, affordable rental homes coming to Mission. It’s very, very important work.

[12:00 p.m.]

National Indigenous History Month is a time to reflect on past injustices to Indigenous Peoples in Canada. It’s also a reminder of the work that needs to be done to continue true reconciliation in our province. Now, that work has begun in earnest, but there’s so much more work to do.

I look forward to being part of a government that is willing to do the hard work, using UNDRIP as a guide, to heal the wounds of the past and to work with our partners in First Nation communities to improve the lives of Indigenous People.

B. D’Eith 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 p.m. this afternoon.

The House adjourned at 12:01 p.m.