Orders of the Day

Private Members’ Statements

ORANGE SHIRT DAY

P. Milobar: I rise today to acknowledge the recent Orange Shirt Day held on the inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30 but, more broadly, to speak about reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and the individual and collective efforts we must make to achieve it.

[S. Chandra Herbert in the chair.]

Last Thursday many of us in this chamber and many more across British Columbia attended local events to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. We wore orange shirts as a visible symbol of our commitment to reconciliation.

Orange Shirt Day started in the Cariboo region and is a legacy of the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School commemoration project and reunion events that took place in Williams Lake in 2013. Former student Phyllis Webstad shared a story of how she had excitedly picked out her new orange shirt to wear to her new school, not knowing it would be taken from her, amongst the other injustices she experienced there.

Beyond wearing a shirt or attending an observance, what else can we do to advance the process of reconciliation in our communities? We must listen to the voices of Indigenous people, who have too often been silenced by institutions and individuals.

As I listened to the various Indigenous leadership speak in Kamloops on Thursday, it struck me…. As speaker after speaker spoke about how there must be truth before true reconciliation, it occurred to me that Indigenous voices across this country had been speaking the truth for generations. What had been lacking is a believing of the truth. For us to actually truly embrace reconciliation in a meaningful way with those Indigenous communities and Indigenous leaders, we must be willing to finally, with open arms, believe what we had been hearing all this time.

It took the tragic events and discovery of 215 unmarked graves in Kamloops to shine a national spotlight on that and make us collectively, as a society, take a look and start to truly listen and, more importantly, believe what we’d been hearing all these decades.

As a father of three Indigenous children myself, it was moving for me to sit there and think that the last school shut down in 1996. Two of my children would have been born while these schools were still open — or the last school, anyways. I can’t fathom what it would have been like to have a knock on the door and your own kid is gone.

[10:10 a.m.]

For us to truly engage with reconciliation, we have to believe what we’ve been hearing. We have to believe the intergenerational trauma is real. Just think for a moment what it must have been like for parents who had to attend those schools themselves to knowingly send their children, knowing what they were sending their children to. To think that that did not cause real and irreparable generational trauma is simply unfathomable.

To me, it’s important that we combat stereotypes. It’s important that we listen. It’s important the truth be told. But it is very important that the truth is believed. That is a path forward that we can see for true reconciliation. The strength of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc and Kúkpi7 Chief Roseanne Casimir and in fact the whole of the Secwépemc’ulucw residents has been phenomenal through this. They’re not the only ones, though.

We’re seeing it from community by community by community — the number of schools in B.C. was incredible — when you start to look at the overall national picture. To see that type of leadership step forward, to see those communities step forward, to see those communities still, with open arms, accept people into their community to try to have those conversations, it’s incumbent on not just everyone in this chamber but everyone in British Columbia to truly start to meaningfully engage in reconciliation efforts.

The leadership of First Nations communities, the overall population of Indigenous communities, had been there for quite some time, wanting to engage, wanting to move forward in a meaningful way and wanting to do things in a good way with everyone in British Columbia. As First Nations leadership says regularly, they’re not going anywhere. We’re not going anywhere

We need to find that path forward. We need to find that way to make sure that their voices are believed. As I say, there truly can’t be reconciliation without the truth, but the truth has been out there for quite some time. As Kamloops continues to be the focal point at this juncture, we know, sadly, other communities will start to advance as well with their discoveries.

People are listening. Now is the time, more than ever, for us to take meaningful action in this chamber to make sure that the words in the UNDRIP document, which we all unanimously passed in that legislation, are meaningfully actioned, to make sure that as we move forward, reconciliation is not just a buzzword. As, again, many leaders on that stage said on Thursday, the time for empty words and empty promises is long over. The time for meaningful action and meaningful reconciliation is now.

I know all of the members in this House feel that way. Now we collectively have to make sure our actions demonstrate that commitment to those words.

J. Rice: When she had just turned six years old, Phyllis Webstad’s granny gave her a shiny, new, orange shirt for her first day of school at St. Joseph’s residential school near Williams Lake. When Phyllis arrived at school, she was stripped and her clothing taken away, including her shiny, new, orange shirt. She never saw it again. No longer excited to be going to school, she wanted to go home to granny, but she had to stay there for 300 sleeps.

No matter how much the little kids cried, it didn’t matter. No one cared. This is how Orange Shirt Day was born. Phyllis is the third generation in her family to attend residential school. Both her grandmother and her mother attended, ten years each.

Many residential school survivors and supporters advocated to the federal government for this national day of commemoration, and it was a call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The province proclaimed September 30, 2021, as Orange Shirt Day, as it has since 2017. Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was also held on September 30.

Orange Shirt Day is a grassroots event to raise awareness of the history and legacy of the residential school system. It’s a day to honour the children who were impacted and to remind all Canadians that every child matters. Recent findings of unmarked graves at the sites of former residential schools in B.C. and across Canada have brought into sharp focus this year the atrocities of the residential school system and the continued intergenerational trauma experienced by Indigenous peoples.

[10:15 a.m.]

I had the honour to witness some of the testimony at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. I recall a story of a survivor who had been dropped off by her mother to a residential school. The little girl did not want to go, but her mother insisted she had to.

She was brought inside the school, where she was lined up with other children who were getting their hair cut off. Not wanting to be away from her mother and not wanting to get her hair chopped off, she decided to get out of that lineup and run away, back outside to her mother.

The nuns tried to catch her, but she was able to dodge them, break free and get outside. There she saw her mother sitting in the car with her head tilted back on the seat, laughing. She was devastated to see her mother laughing at bringing her to such a horrific place.

This was a lasting memory for this residential school survivor — to see her mother laughing. Their relationship was strained ever since that moment. She never forgave her mother, and they spent their entire adult lives in tension and turmoil. The effects impacted her own ability to parent.

It wasn’t until her mother was on her deathbed that they made an attempt to reconcile the years of their tumultuous relationship. The daughter confronted her mother about how hurt she felt as a little girl, seeing her mother laughing at the prospect of dropping her off at residential school. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until her mother was near the end of life that she learned that her mother wasn’t sitting in the car with her head tilted back laughing. In fact, she was sitting there with her head tilted back in tears. She was crying, not laughing.

This sad story is an example of the intergenerational trauma residential schools have caused. The harms are still being felt today. Orange Shirt Day is a day to acknowledge the history and dark legacy of the residential school system and a day to honour the children and families affected.

On this day, we encourage every British Columbian to wear an orange shirt to show that every child does matter and to show our commitment to working together with Indigenous people to create a better future for all of our children.

P. Milobar: Thank you to the previous speaker for those thoughtful comments.

Although we do have a national day for truth and reconciliation in place to observe, we know that our efforts to achieve meaningful reconciliation cannot be limited to one day. Truly, every child does matter. That was a theme that we heard over and over again on Thursday, speaker after speaker, and I think we heard that across the nation.

It’s an important statement to remember, every single day, because it was how we treated children, at its core, that has created all this intergenerational trauma. Intergenerational trauma like this will not be solved quickly. It will not be solved easily, but it certainly will not be solved by staying silent and not taking action at all.

That is why, in my previous comments, when I referenced…. It’s important for us to hear the truth and, most importantly, believe the truth so that we can take those actions as a collective, that we can work in partnership with Indigenous nations to make sure that we provide the supports that they need, within their own nations, to try to provide the supports for their members that they need to try to break the intergenerational trauma that has been experienced by so many families across British Columbia and, indeed, the nation.

As someone who grew up in Kamloops, someone whose house actually had a…. You could see the residential school from the house I grew up in. It wasn’t talked about in Kamloops. It was seen as a school. We all know full well it wasn’t, now. But it shows you that if it was hidden within a city, with a school at the geographic centre of a city, so visibly, imagine what was going on in those schools in much farther-flung places that were not so visible and in the public eye.

So it’s good to hear people in this chamber, members in this chamber, all speak together with one voice and similar voices around reconciliation and moving things forward. It was good to see UNDRIP pass, unanimously, in this chamber.

[10:20 a.m.]

I say again that now is the time for meaningful, cross-party-line engagement to make sure that true reconciliation happens, not based on political stripe but based on what is right for everyone in this province and for Indigenous communities in this province, so that everyone can be a part of healing the intergenerational trauma that so many had a part in and that so many of us have a part to correct, moving forward.

Deputy Speaker: Just a quick reminder to all members. In order to follow the public health orders, can I remind you to please wear your mask over your nose and your mouth unless you have the floor.

WORKERS AND THE NEW ECONOMY

A. Walker: The nature of work is changing rapidly. It used to be that more work was full-time and based in an employer’s brick-and-mortar establishment. We’ve watched the economy and workforce shift dramatically over the past few decades as the so-called gig economy has become more and more common.

This economy consists of flexible and temporary jobs, often administered through a digital platform. Those who work in this economy may not have set hours or a set workplace, other than perhaps their car or home office, and may not even have a set employer.

A report from Statistics Canada released last year estimated that about one in ten Canadians in the workforce, about 1.7 million people, are workers in the gig economy. About half of those workers do work to supplement wages from other work. Growth areas in the gig economy include food delivery, ride-sharing drivers, cleaners and domestic workers, just to name a few.

Gig work can be an innovative option for workers who value flexibility, supplemental income and independence, but it also brings with it some challenges. Even though the economy is changing, workers still depend on fair pay and benefits to support them and their families, and they still depend on systems like the Workers Compensation Board when they become injured on the job. B.C. labour and employment laws need to reflect the needs of modern workplaces, both for workers and for employers.

Here in British Columbia, most workers are eligible for employment benefits and protections offered by the Employment Standards Act, such as overtime pay, statutory holidays and vacation. However, some gig workers may be classified by their employers as independent contractors, which may make them ineligible for the benefits and protections under the act. Some of these workers may well and truly be self-employed, but for many who are not, there is a real concern about whether such workers are being denied access to the benefits and protections for which they are eligible.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it crystal-clear that gig workers need greater support and additional coverage, as many lack the protections provided by the Employment Standards Act. The pandemic has revealed how many gig and precarious workers are also front-line workers who interact directly with the public, such as those in food delivery and ride-hailing.

This lack of legal protections for gig and precarious workers constitutes a large gap in the working population. We need to ensure that precarious workers receive the appropriate legal protections, in the same way that workers in more traditional employment relationships have appropriate protections.

As the dedicated Parliamentary Secretary for the New Economy, I will stand up for the protection of workers as our employment landscape, while also making sure that these new types of businesses are viable in British Columbia. I’ve been asked to develop a strategy to address the challenges facing gig and precarious workers while also encouraging innovative businesses in the new economy, especially where they differ from the traditional employment working relationships.

Together with the member for Surrey-Newton, I will be working with business and labour groups to develop a strategy to propose employment standards targeted to precarious workers and gig economy workers and to explore the feasibility of benefits and pensions for workers who do not otherwise have coverage.

In 2019, our government brought in ride-hailing. British Columbians had been asking for the innovative ride-hailing service since 2012, but previous governments failed to get it done. Our government did the hard work, and we delivered.

Over the last two years, a framework was developed that puts passenger safety first. We also made significant improvements to the Employment Standards Act to better protect working people, including those in precarious employment. For example, we removed the self-help kit, which was a barrier for accessing services from the Employment Standards Branch, so that vulnerable and precarious workers can get the help that they need.

[10:25 a.m.]

Last December I led consultations on behalf of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General on the fee cap for food delivery services, meeting with food delivery companies, worker representatives and stakeholders from the restaurant and licensed-premises sectors. The member for Port Coquitlam considered this feedback in establishing the delivery fee cap that is now in place to support British Columbians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A critical part of this regulation was to protect food delivery couriers by prohibiting companies from reducing couriers’ compensation to adjust for the fee cap. During the conversations I’ve had, I’ve heard from employers of many gig workers, and they are open to the conversations that we’re having. They know, just as well as I do, that they need a workforce to operate, and their workers need fair wages and benefits in return.

Now, and beyond the pandemic, our priorities are the health and safety of workers, employment standards, protections for gig and precarious workers and doing our part to support economic recovery and business innovation. I look forward to continuing this important work in the months ahead.

Deputy Speaker: A reminder that this is private members’ statements.

G. Kyllo: It’s great to be back in the Legislature once again. I’m honoured to be able to rise and respond to the statement put forward by my colleague from across the way.

I’m glad to see the topic of workers in the new economy as one of the focal points of our first private members’ discussion of this fall session. While the changes of COVID are still very much with us, the need for us to prepare our province’s economic recovery is urgent. The healing of our province must happen not only in our hospitals, long-term-care facilities and gathering places; it needs to happen in our places of work, in our small businesses and in our households, so that British Columbians are confident they can put their skills to work to provide for their fam­ilies.

While the initiatives to build a skilled workforce to meet B.C.’s future labour needs are a welcome start, there are concerning warning signs that the current conditions in our province are inhibiting both our workforce participation and our overall economic recovery. Job numbers released by Statistics Canada in September show that full-time jobs continued to lag behind pre-pandemic levels, with 12,600 fewer jobs than in February of 2020 and 17,400 fewer private sector jobs.

Additionally, recovery remains slow in the tourism industry, as the sector is still down nearly 22,000 jobs, compared to pre-pandemic levels. Just think about that. That’s 22,000 families that are no longer participating in the workforce.

The hidden unemployment rate remains high, at 9.6 percent. That’s one out of every ten workers in the province, showing that more and more British Columbians are giving up looking for work or face fewer hours and shifts. The reality is that workers in many industries feel that they don’t have access to the basic supports and necessities that will allow them to enter or to re-enter the workforce.

During the recent Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, our caucus hosted a number of round tables, where we discussed how to build a strong post-pandemic economy. We heard loud and clear from British Columbians that there needs to be a focus on housing, child care and access to education and skills training to get British Columbians back into the workforce and to lay the foundation for a strong economic recovery.

British Columbians have yet to see promised supports like the $400 renters rebate or universal $10-a-day daycare. Our province is struggling to provide affordable housing to accommodate B.C.’s families and communities.

These challenges are impacting not only our labour force but our small and medium-sized businesses, which will form the backbone of our recovery. You only have to walk down the streets of Victoria to see the number of “help wanted” signs. Businesses are indicating that they’re finding it increasingly difficult to find employees. Many of our small businesses, most notably in our tourism and hospitality sector, are facing a concerning labour shortage.

On top of this, businesses are struggling to access basic recovery grants intended to support their recovery. Less than half of the money allocated for the small and medium-sized business recovery grant and circuit breaker grant has actually made it into the hands of businesses. Just think about that for a moment. Only half of the funds that were allocated and identified to help struggling small businesses has actually gone out the door.

[10:30 a.m.]

Less than 3 percent of the money that was allocated for the PST rebate on machinery and equipment has made it out to businesses. Facing the growing burden of additional taxes, businesses are finding it harder than ever to recruit workers, recover their losses incurred during the pandemic and remain competitive against other Canadian and international businesses.

I thank the member for bringing this issue forward today. We cannot afford to drag our feet any longer. We need to see real action today. It is not enough for us to rely on the job numbers artificially inflated by growth in the public sector. We need a private sector–focused jobs plan that will truly prepare our workforce for the future. We need an economic recovery plan that will offer B.C. businesses and families the supports they need to generate jobs and move our province’s economy forward. Only then will we see our province make a full recovery and transition to the new economy.

A. Walker: I want to thank the member for Shuswap for spending so much time representing the workers of our province and the challenges we’ve had with rental affordability. I will continue speaking of the new economy in my role as parliamentary secretary.

The economy and the workforce have changed dramatically over the past few decades. We’ve seen exponential growth in the gig economy, even over the past year. This gig economy continues to grow, providing innovative services to the people of British Columbia. As these services appear, it’s clear that non-standard employment, including part-time, casual, web-based and contract work, is becoming increasingly common.

Unfortunately, gig work is often associated with job insecurity, irregular earnings and few, if any, employment protections. This could potentially lead these workers to going into debt or falling below the poverty line. Poverty should not be a feature of the new economy.

I believe there is a way forward where both workers and companies cannot just survive but also thrive. I feel fortunate to work with the member for Surrey-Newton and with business and labour representatives to develop a precarious work strategy for British Columbia. Early work on the development of a gig economy strategy has included substantial policy research to scope the issues and frame key questions for further investigation.

In addition, we have engaged with numerous stakeholders, who have been supportive and who have provided valuable feedback. We need to continue to do all that we can to support vulnerable workers. B.C. labour laws are responsible to the changing economy. It’s vital that we face these issues and ensure that all workers in B.C. are supported and protected. I’m honoured to be taking the lead on making that happen.

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY

S. Cadieux: For many of us, the past 18 months have been amongst the most challenging we’ve ever experienced. Front-line workers are coping with burnout, children and youth struggling with isolation, seniors feeling ever so lonely. And far too many British Columbians are suffering mental health issues in silence.

However, the pandemic has also helped many more people be comfortable in opening up about their mental well-being and the emotions they may be struggling with. At one point or another, I think we can all relate to feeling isolated, anxious and even depressed. And we must be open in naming, expressing and discussing our emotions and our mental health challenges, even those that are uncomfortable.

This coming Sunday is World Mental Health Day. I think it’s important that we continue the momentum to break the stigma around mental health. This year’s theme encourages everyone not only to reach out if they need help, but it’s also calling on government and governments to make sure that help is available to everyone.

I think of working moms who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and who are disproportionately shouldering much of the caregiving responsibilities. I think of students or people with disabilities and those in poverty because of the high cost of getting help for mental health supports. I think of rural British Columbians who have to potentially travel for many, many hours to get critical, in-person care.

[10:35 a.m.]

Services need to be where people need them, when they need them, so that no one falls through the cracks. Reflecting on our current mental health system, it’s abundantly clear that British Columbians need more than just supplementary programs or a reactionary system. Government needs to take proactive action to help people right now by investing in seamless mental health and addictions systems that eliminate barriers and ensure people get the help where they need it.

Mental wellness starts with prevention and instilling tools at a young age for children to not only be able to better recognize emotions but to cope with them as well. There’s never been a more important time to invest in greater mental health resources for children and youth, when research has shown that they have experienced greater mental health challenges during the pandemic, including increased anxiety, post-traumatic stress, depression and behavioural problems.

British Columbians’ mental health system was already stretched and disjointed. It’s continuing to struggle with the extra demand resulting from the stresses of COVID-19. Many clinics, like the Foundry clinics, which offered walk-in supports prior to the pandemic, now require appointments. These necessary pandemic safety measures are causing longer wait-lists and more gaps in immediate care for youth.

In May of 2020, only three months into the pandemic, B.C.’s Representative for Children and Youth confirmed there were more than 2,500 youth in B.C. on wait-lists. The numbers only continued to grow. Any child who is at risk of self-harm or other mental health challenges can’t afford to wait for months.

It’s not only children who are significantly impacted but women as well. I’ve been especially concerned for women who have had to self-isolate at home in a situation that’s unsafe, where they may face physical or mental abuse from a partner. Violence against women is not only a women’s issue, as this House well knows. It’s everyone’s issue. It affects entire communities, and the trauma ripples through families, schools and workplaces.

We must, as legislators, continue to push for actions that will prevent violence against women, such as ensuring employer supports, helping those fleeing violent situations and securing access to health care resources for counselling and mental health services.

In 2014, I helped table a report addressing violence against women in British Columbia. The report detailed steps that needed to be taken to prevent violence against women. We need to continue to build on that work to ensure that the right supports are available in communities right across B.C.

Part of taking action is ensuring that most at-risk groups — like Indigenous women, women of colour and women with disabilities — have the right supports they need that are culturally relevant and available where they need them, in an accessible way. And we all have a role to prevent violence before it starts and responding to violence when it happens. Rebuilding from its devastating effects is the last part we play.

The impacts of violence can have serious long-term consequences, including mental health struggles, isolation, social exclusion and substance use, not just for the women or adults affected but also for children who witness violence. This involves addressing not just the violence itself but ensuring that those wraparound supports include counselling, housing and employment supports, income assistance to assist in recovery from violence for the family but also with the long-lasting effects on children.

Let’s work together to ensure that everyone in British Columbia that needs help with their mental health, whether it’s a child facing loneliness or bullying or a woman fleeing violence — that there’s a system of care in place to help them.

K. Paddon: Thank you for your comments.

October 10 is World Mental Health Day. The 2021 World Mental Health Day campaign provides an opportunity for us to come together and to be partners and to be advocates.

As I prepared to speak about mental health this morning, I did what we probably all do as we’re preparing our remarks. I thought of the work and the facts. I thought of the message I wanted to share. The points that kept coming to mind were not the facts. It was the people.

[10:40 a.m.]

I thought of my friend who is so worried about her teenager and is at a loss of how to help with crippling anxiety. I thought of how hard it was when I was a teenager, a young adult struggling with depression, and how impossible it all seemed.

I thought of my friend who just wants to be a great dad and struggles with substance use. I thought of the grandparents I spoke with in my community, who didn’t know where to turn to help their grandchild. I thought of the nurse that I’ve spoken with who feels like she is so close to the edge, so close to being too tired to keep going, yet she does.

I thought of so many friends and family members who have struggled or who are struggling with anxiety, depression and conditions or disorders that impact their lives and thoughts every single day; how, for many, this last year and a half has been so much harder; and how, for many, this last year and a half has made it so much easier to hide. I thought of the person who I loved so much who I lost to suicide in March of 2001. I’m not going to lie. I thought of Dear Evan Hansen and the opening that this story provided me in talking to my teenagers about mental health.

I also thought of the work that has been done over the past few years — work that would have helped me, work that would have helped the person I lost and work that is already helping people in my community and people I love.

Our government is making a historic $500 million investment in Budget 2021 that is focused on building a comprehensive system of mental health and addictions care that people in British Columbia need and deserve. This includes major investments across the lifespan in mental health for children, youth and young adults, in addition to funding for the overdose response and substance use treatment and recovery. This funding is critically important to turn the tide on the overdose crisis; improve wellness for children, youth and young adults; and address the gaps in mental health and addiction services.

The investments further advance a plan, a Pathway to Hope, developed in consultation with stakeholders across the mental health and addictions sector. These investments reflect a continued commitment to work across government on real, lasting solutions and on upstream investments that will make a difference in the lives of many British Columbians for years to come, including British Columbians I know and love and serve.

I also thought about how much work is being done in my community to support mental health. One example is the Chilliwack Youth Health Centre. They provide drop-in counselling, among other services, to youth aged 12 to 26, in a safe and supportive environment. If you go to their webpage or social media, you can see that the Chilliwack Youth Health Centre has two sites, Neighbourhood Learning Centre and Stó:lō, with dedicated teams of service providers offering medical and mental health services, and two sites offering counselling at this time, at Tzeachten and University of the Fraser Valley.

You can go see them for anything from acne to sexual health to counselling for issues related to anxiety, depression, substance use, gender issues, family conflict, peer conflict and school and life planning. You don’t need a referral. It’s free and confidential, and you can drop in.

I don’t want to talk about one day, because I know, from experience and from what the people I love tell me, that this is not about one day. It’s about one day at a time. There’s more to do, and we won’t stop working until we build a comprehensive system.

So how do we help as individuals? What can we do as individuals? When you’re standing in the storm, you can’t always reach out, so it’s up to all of us to reach out. We reach out. We talk about it. We reduce the stigma. We say and show and prove to each other each and every day that we are not alone. You’re not alone. You are not alone.

S. Cadieux: I’ll thank the member for Chilliwack-Kent for her comments.

We can all agree that prioritizing mental health is vital, and there are small steps we can all take. We can reach out to friends and family to check in, and we should never feel ashamed to speak up about our own mental health or even just to do a simple act of kindness for a stranger. You never know when one action can help someone else.

[10:45 a.m.]

As we all come together again after the pandemic, I hope that as a society, we do reflect on what it means to truly be there for one another. Let’s take the momentum into our mental health system. Let’s continue to advocate together for better mental health resources, because as we know, when crisis hits, so many people will need support. Throughout British Columbia, people need support today.

Not only did the latest illicit drug toxicity report from the B.C. coroner show that, but this year, we know we’re on track to have the deadliest year on record. The overdose crisis is continuing to worsen month after month. Too many continue to lose their lives, and we know that there is a deep connection between addiction and mental health. It’s clear we must do more. We must invest more in prevention, harm reduction and recovery. They are all keys to success. These services are needed more than ever.

Access to naloxone or a treatment bed could save a life in a public health emergency that is taking too many fathers, aunts, brothers and so many more. We might not know the mental health struggles that our loved ones could be facing. We can, though, do our part to reach out, support our friends and family, and speak up when we’re in need of help or when someone we know needs a helping hand. There is no shame in saying: “I am not okay.”

This coming Sunday, October 10, World Mental Health Day, let’s commit to supporting one another, to reducing the stigma around mental health and continuing to advocate for comprehensive, accessible services across our province. Everyone needs it at some point in time. Let’s make sure it’s there when we do.

ECONOMIC RESILIENCE

R. Glumac: COVID-19 has changed our lives — how we work, how we learn, how we socialize, how we do business. All around the world, we know that economic activity has been significantly impacted. Global supply chains have been disrupted, and millions of people have lost their jobs.

When we take a look at what kind of people were affected the most, we see Indigenous people. We see new Canadians. We see women. We see young adults. We see people earning less than $30 an hour. We see service sector workers.

Early on in this pandemic — I’d like to take a bit of a step back to see how our government responded when things were looking the most dire — the B.C. government took swift action and put a $5 billion COVID-19 action plan in place to help those most affected.

We offered a $1,000 one-time emergency benefit to help those that were unable to work because of the outbreak, which supplemented the federal CERB benefit. About 85 percent of British Columbians also received enhanced B.C. climate action tax credits, totalling an average of over $500. Renters received a temporary rent reduction. There was a moratorium on most rental evictions and a freeze on annual rent increases.

ICBC customers who were facing financial challenges were allowed to defer insurance payments for up to three months. Of course, insurance rates later were reduced by an average of 20 percent. Because ICBC is publicly owned, and claims dropped during the period of COVID, the savings were passed on to customers in the form of two rebates, totalling an average of over $300.

B.C. Hydro customers who lost income were eligible to receive a three-month credit as well, averaging over $500. The B.C. government was there to help people get through the most challenging early days of this pandemic.

We also supported small businesses by reducing property tax bills for commercial businesses by an average of 25 percent and extending tax collection due dates by several months. Businesses were also permitted to defer their employer health tax payments, and deferrals were also extended to PST payments, hotel tax, carbon tax and motor vehicle fuel tax. We set up a B.C. business COVID-19 support service as a single point of contact for businesses looking for information.

[10:50 a.m.]

There we were, early in the pandemic, taking quick action to help the most vulnerable people and businesses. But at that time, if you remember, no one knew how long this was going to last. We still don’t know. We didn’t know when the vaccines were coming. There was a lot of uncertainty, and it was at that time that the government embarked on a comprehensive engagement process about economic recovery.

The Premier and the Finance Minister led round-table discussions with businesses, Indigenous people, academics, economists, student groups, social service providers, environmental groups and many more to gather ideas on the path forward. This conversation was framed around restoring consumer confidence, accelerating job creation and supporting job security.

In the end, tens of thousands of people engaged in this process. What emerged from this engagement is a road map for economic resiliency. When people were asked how they can ensure that we come out of COVID-19 stronger, the top answer is a greener, more innovative economy. Even in the short term, when asked about the year ahead, climate change was chosen as one of the most important issues, higher than even health care and the price of real estate. Climate change was rated even higher by those 29 and younger.

This quote from the online questionnaire summarizes the sentiment. “This is our time to create an inclusive, just and sustainable society. Please consider taking this opportunity, and be remembered as the government who took action. I’m terrified of the future due to climate change risks, and I want to feel like my government is responding adequately. I’m tired of writing letters, attending protests just to ask for a future I can depend on and feel good about, feel good about bringing my kids into. Let’s come out of COVID-19 better.”

Regardless of whether input came from round tables or online surveys or written submissions, a strong theme emerged around taking strong action on climate change and that being a central bedrock of economic resiliency.

As important as it is to engage with people, it’s equally important to look at where we’re at. We can do this with the labour force survey. The latest one in August shows that B.C. had the lowest unemployment rate in the country and was the only province in the entire country that has employment rates above pre-pandemic levels for the third straight month. The job recovery rate was the highest in Prince George at 108 percent, followed by the Cariboo and Thompson-Okanagan at over 105 percent.

B.C. made more investments per capita for people and businesses than any other province in the country. The results showed in this labour survey. In order to have a resilient economy, you need to have a government that listens to people, a government that takes decisive action to help people and businesses when times are at their worst, a government that embraces innovation and clean technology and understands that the future is something we can all be excited about.

M. Bernier: I want to thank the member for Port Moody–Coquitlam.

Obviously, we’re in the first hour. Welcome back to everybody. Of course, this is supposed to be the non-political time.

The member for Port Moody–Coquitlam did give me lots of ammunition to be able to go after him with a political rebuttal to argue most of the things that he put forward. But since this is the non-political time, I tried not to pay attention to a lot of what he was saying since he was taking it to that level.

I think it’s important to go to the topic that the member brought up, which is really about economic resilience. To me, economic resilience is really about confidence. It’s about certainty. It’s about all of us in this House instilling in the people and the employers of the people that the province of B.C. is the best place for them to invest.

I think we need to go back to the comment I was saying about employers. This is not about large business, small business per se. It’s about people who are taking risk. It’s about groups of people who take risk. They are the ones that are employing the people in British Columbia. But they will only take that risk in a province if they feel confident to come to that province.

It’s one thing to say the words. It’s another thing for governments to show action. Action means: what do we say and what do we do to have an investor, an employer, choose British Columbia?

[10:55 a.m.]

As the member talked about, we’ve gone through the last year and a half, almost two years, of some of the most troubling times economically or even personally that I think many of us have seen in our lifetime. So it is fitting to use the word “resilient,” as the member put forward, because we have seen many employers, many people, many families who have really and truly shown resilience in the last couple of years. But we need to know how we’re going to continue. What’s the next plan?

Over the last four years, we haven’t really seen an economic plan from this government, to show that certainty, to show that optimism, to show the employers that this is the right place to be. We need to do that.

We’ve heard stories from countless employers over the last two years — those that have been very resilient and lucky to stay afloat — who say that they wish they had more support and help. But they managed to do what businesses and employers do well — that is, use their entrepreneurial spirit to figure out how to get through this pandemic. I think everybody in this House will agree that, hopefully, we’re starting to get close to the end of that.

But it’s not just about resilience. It’s about showing the hope that we need for people to come to British Columbia, to be able to invest. We can’t do that by having some of the highest taxes in Canada. We can’t do that by padding a budget, mostly on property transfer tax, which seems to be helping us lower the deficit. We actually need to be giving confidence to the people and the employers in British Columbia.

As a former employer myself, that certainty is paramount. We need to ensure that that’s happening with proper legislation, with a proper taxation regime, with proper direction from government that not only are we going to get through this pandemic collectively but that we have a plan to make sure that British Columbia is the best place.

We have to remember that Canada is a very easy country to move your company around in. We’ve seen that happen. If we want to have the movie industry, the resource sector, the environmental sector, the tech sector…. If they want to be here in British Columbia, we need to show that we are the best place. Not by increasing taxes, as if companies are the evil part of our province. We need to be doing it to show that we welcome employers.

Most people in British Columbia work for somebody who took risk. They work for somebody who is resilient. They put food on the table for their family because of those employers. We just need to make sure that we have a solid direction to support them to get through this pandemic but also have a long-term vision to make sure they choose British Columbia to move to.

R. Glumac: Building on what we’ve learned from our previous engagement and through COVID-19, our government is setting a path for the next ten to 15 years to guide the development of our province’s economy with a new economic plan. We have three overarching objectives that we know are key ingredients to a resilient economy. These are innovation-led growth, inclusion and sustainability.

With this in mind, the economic plan will ensure that our province places the biggest societal changes that we face at the heart of policy and regulatory instruments. With such a bold and forward-looking economic vision, we once again went to the public with a series of focused engagements across the province. Many MLAs, including myself, held economic recovery round tables.

The local constituents that I invited came from a variety of backgrounds but mainly from the tech sector. They were excited about the future, and the ideas that they shared covered a broad spectrum, from the importance of broadband connection across the province facilitating remote work into the future, working on improving government procurement to make it easier for smaller companies, and ideas around placing more economic value on our environmental assets to help preserve them into the future.

[11:00 a.m.]

At the same time we’re engaging with the public, our government has also teamed up with Mariana Mazzucato, a world-renowned economist and professor from the University College London who has advised policy-makers around the world on innovation-led, inclusive and sustainable growth. What she says I think is very poignant:

“Governments have a critical role to play in shaping markets, not just fixing market failures. Responding after a failure has occurred is, by definition, too late and often carries a high financial and human cost, as we have seen with COVID-19 and the 2008 financial crisis.

“As the province of B.C. advances its economic recovery agenda, it has the opportunity to shape a different kind of economy — one that is sustainable, inclusive, resilient and oriented around solving problems that matter to the people of B.C. and the planet.”

That economic plan will be completed in the new year. I’m excited to see it for the future of our province.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you to members for working to try to keep this non-partisan, even though, of course, we are all political. Thank you for trying to understand that difference. I appreciate it.

Hon. J. Whiteside: I ask that the House consider proceeding with Motion 15, standing in the name of the member for Surrey–White Rock.

Deputy Speaker: Members, unanimous consent of the House is required to proceed to Motion 15 without disturbing the priorities of the motions preceding it on the order paper.

Leave granted.

Private Members’ Motions

MOTION 15 — RESPONSE TO
OPIOID CRISIS AND MENTAL HEALTH
AND ADDICTION ISSUES

T. Halford: I move:

[Be it resolved that this House agree that the current measures have not adequately addressed the opioid epidemic and commit to making mental health and addictions a priority in British Columbia.]

As we stand here today for the first time since the spring session, I think it’s important to recognize the tragic opioid crisis that continues to plague our province.

[N. Letnick in the chair.]

Since we last sat in this chamber, the death toll of people who have died of an overdose — fathers, aunts, sons, brothers, sisters, mothers — has risen to over 1,200 this year. Tragically, this year is on trend to be the deadliest since the crisis was first declared five years ago.

It’s incredibly disheartening that five years into this public health emergency we are still witnessing so many deaths. More troubling is that we continue to see a broken system that is not addressing and helping end the cycle of addiction. We need urgency from this government on this file, and we need it now.

I’ve mentioned many times before in this House how incredibly disappointing it is that we have a ministry whose budget is actually smaller than the Office of the Premier’s. Worse still, many British Columbians were shocked to learn that funding for critical, life-saving naloxone kits had been cut for front-line responders by this government. The very people who are often first on the scene of an overdose are seeing their supply of these kits disappear and the funding for it end. The cost of these kits is much less than the cost of the lives that we are losing. It is simply unacceptable.

In attempting to justify these shocking cuts for funding police departments, the Premier claimed that there was a supply issue in our province. This was an alarming thing for all of us to hear, but hours later the B.C. Centre for Disease Control publicly contradicted these comments by the Premier. They reassured British Columbians that there were no supply issues for this life-saving tool in B.C.

Today we’re in a position where it remains unclear when or how the funding will be restored to the police departments for these kits.

Last week I wrote to the Premier asking for clarity on this critical issue. I still have not gotten a response. In fact, that’s not the first time that we’ve had a lack of response from this government on these critical issues.

Earlier this year our caucus asked for the government to activate the all-party Select Standing Committee on Health, where all parties can work together and take a public approach to tackle the mental health and addiction issues that are faced by countless British Columbians. I think all of us in this House can agree on that.

[11:05 a.m.]

What we got back was an offer for a briefing from the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. Not to work together. An offer of a briefing.

This issue should not be about what side of the aisle the idea came from. It should be about taking immediate steps to save lives. Too many people continue to lose their lives to this crisis. We need this Premier to respond directly to this issue today.

British Columbia’s mental health and addiction services were already stretched and underfunded before the pandemic. This system is continuing to struggle under the extra demand resulting from COVID-19. People in need of immediate help are now not only facing the toxic drug supply but are also facing month-long wait-lists, a lack of withdrawal management, bed availability and unaffordability of privately run services.

It is unacceptable that a person living and having mental health issues or addiction issues has to wait to receive life-saving treatment. We need to do better. We all need to do better.

It is clear more action is needed to be taken to meaningfully address this issue and urgently commit to a plan for a comprehensive mental health and addictions system. We cannot be reactionary. Too little is often too late. We need to do better. People facing addiction in our province can’t afford this Premier or this minister waiting before this crisis continues to worsen.

J. Sims: First of all, let me start off by saying how good it feels to be back in the House. Seeing the kids doing the tour and then seeing their faces up in the gallery gave me a sense of normalcy that many of us have been yearning for.

It is not a surprise to any one of us that we are in the middle of a pandemic, a health pandemic caused by COVID. But really we have two health pandemics in British Columbia and, I would say, across the country. We have a COVID pandemic, but we also have a health crisis around mental illness and the opioid crisis.

I really do believe that this is a non-partisan issue. Every one of us, whether we’re a rural or an urban MLA, whether we are in the heart of Vancouver or we’re way out in Peace River — waving to my colleagues from there — knows that this pandemic, just like the COVID pandemic, is right across this province. Whether it’s in our Indigenous communities where we’re seeing the impact or whether it’s in downtown Vancouver, in Surrey, in Kelowna, in Charlottetown…. Wherever you go, we know that this is very, very real.

As with any pandemic, as we have had strategies towards COVID…. We learn more about COVID as we go along. Each time we learn, we have to adjust and adapt our policies. With this health pandemic, I’m proud of the work that we collectively did and the fact that we have a ministry and a minister that is dedicated to doing that work.

We know that the two pandemics do not work in isolation. We know that the progress we were making in tackling mental illness and the opioid crisis was working. Our strategies were working. Then along came COVID.

Whether I talk to young people or people my age or people in between…. What I’m hearing from more and more people, whether they’re professional or whether they’re stay at home, is that the COVID pandemic has had a profound impact on our mental illness and then, subsequently, I would say, on the opioid crisis as well. I think it’s very superficial if we try to isolate the two and say we need to deal with them separately. There is an interconnection here that we cannot avoid.

Once again, as I said, we do have a minister dedicated. We’ve taken a lot of steps. My colleague across the way, from his briefings — whether recent or old or from the House — knows the work that has been done.

[11:10 a.m.]

Is anybody on either side of the House saying that is enough? No. We all know there is more to do.

Mr. Speaker, you may know of my background, besides being elected. I was a teacher before that. As a teacher, I had the privilege of being a counsellor in a high school and also providing support and counselling for K to 12 at one stage in my life.

I can tell you that things have fundamentally changed when it comes to mental illness and the opioid crisis that our teachers face today compared to when I was a counsellor. We don’t have that many counsellors left in our schools, never mind the additional supports that used to be there, because of what happened in the year 2000.

What I want to say today and, really, keep wanting to focus on is that there are many things that have led into or fed into the increase of the deaths due to the opioid crisis. One, the increase of mental pressure. Two, the drug supply has been corrupted, because when you interfere with the supply chain, of course, we begin to see what we are seeing right now.

Do we need to do more to address that? Absolutely. I’m really proud of the work we’re doing collectively around decriminalization. I would say that collectively what we have to focus on is that this is not a drug crisis. This is a health crisis. Together let’s move forward and provide support that is much needed.

C. Oakes: Our communities, our families and our province are currently being torn apart. We all need to commit to making mental health, and supporting individuals with addictions, a priority.

I’m deeply concerned that the types of resources, the policies and the direction that are currently being undertaken by this government to address mental health and addictions are just simply not meeting the needs in the province in areas such as Cariboo North. Supports are becoming narrower in scope and failing to take on the perspective, the complexity, of the problem in communities such as mine — the significant gap in resources in so many of our communities and the significant impacts of trauma.

First, I feel there needs to be far more done on the preventative side. This includes an investment and significant ongoing campaigns with youth in our education system. We need to be investing in training and resourcing mental health support in our advanced education and post-secondary sectors that could include incentives to attract people to go into these important sectors. One of the ways could be looking at how to provide ways to forgive student loans if you come to an under-resourced area such as the north.

I’ve talked to so many parents who’ve tried to access support for their children for mental health, and it just simply doesn’t exist in our smaller rural communities. The fact is that parents are waiting months and often have to go and travel long distances to get the adequate supports that they need. We need to change this. We need to be investing in far more treatment options, recognizing that families deserve dignity and hope.

I want to specifically talk about the need for increased residential treatment options. Currently, for so many of us who talk to constituents, the reality is that individuals can wait months to get access to these critically important beds, and so often there is a significant financial barrier.

I’ve talked to many families that have mortgaged their home and had to take on significant debt in order to support their loved ones in treatment. This should not be the case in British Columbia today. Critical in these efforts of recovery is the need for housing, which provides the greatest level for long-term success.

[11:15 a.m.]

I want to bring to this Legislature the views and concerns of my community. When I talk to First Nations Elders and our community members, it is critical that the resources we need also include other substance addictions such as alcohol and crystal meth.

In Cariboo North, our First Nations Elders and community members have been working hard for years to have access to detox beds locally. I want to thank everyone in the Cariboo who has worked so hard to make this a reality. I know this is an important project, and I will continue to raise it here in this House and ensure that they get the resources that are needed.

We also have this incredible housing project put forward by the Quesnel Tillicum Society. At the request of government, the society invested significant funds to develop a proposal, work with architects and get through the approval stages of our local government. It is a worthy and important project in our community. I hope this government will recognize that the urgent need for housing reaches beyond the Lower Mainland and into our small rural communities as well. This is a project that I know the government can be proud of and would have significant impact in our community in addressing mental health and addictions.

I believe that we need to be providing far more training in medical school and other health care training programs in the support of treatment for both mental health and addictions. Further, we need to recognize the important role that physicians, nurses and other health care specialists provide in the support of people. You cannot go in with a mental health challenge and expect, in a ten-minute appointment with a physician, it be addressed.

We need to be looking at how we change the system. We need to ensure that our health care systems and our institutions are better designed to include and address mental health and addictions as we continue for the full continuum of care. At the end of the day, it is clear we must do more, we can do more and I challenge everyone to accept that challenge.

B. Anderson: Another community member died from the poisoned drug supply last week. He was 21.

My brother told me a few weeks earlier that a guy we went to high school with had died from the poisoned drug supply. I asked my brother if he had any kids. He wasn’t sure.

Just as students were celebrating their graduation this summer, a young 17-year-old woman with a bright smile and a kind soul died from the poisoned drug supply.

These are members from our community gone forever. It’s heartbreaking for many of us but life-shatteringly tragic for their family and closest friends.

To all the family members and friends who have lost a loved one to the opioid crisis or the toxic drug supply: I am so sorry for your loss.

The mental health crisis is exacerbating the opioid crisis and the opioid crisis is exacerbating the mental health crisis. The crisis is hitting Indigenous communities at much higher rates, a legacy of the genocide they faced through colonialism.

I would like to quote the Nelson Fentanyl Task Force’s Peer Equity and Health Care Equity in the West Kootenays, a report from September of this year. This was a collaborative project by Amber Streukens and Amanda Erickson. “While stigma is a barrier for people who use substances everywhere, the lack of anonymity characteristic of rural communities may compound the issue and further impede a person’s access to treatment. In the current fentanyl environment, this results in a situation where a person who uses drugs in a rural setting is at higher risk of overdose than their urban counterpart.”

To all the responsive, creative and compassionate community members and professionals leading the charge in community response to the overdose crisis and its intersection with COVID-19: thank you.

[11:20 a.m.]

I spoke with a medical professional in our community who had lost a very close friend. This woman was not from our local area but lived elsewhere in British Columbia. This woman’s friend was a medical professional who was loved by her family and was successfully hiding her addiction to opiates. She became addicted to opiates while recovering from an injury she sustained. She was found dead at the hospital after her shift. She was on her way to babysit her niece.

This could happen to any one of us sitting in this room, to any person in British Columbia. If you’re given opiates after a medical trauma, you could become addicted. You might have other pathways that lead to your addiction. If you become addicted, you might try to hide it.

Please get help. We don’t want to lose you too. You are loved.

Our government is working hard to ensure that mental health and addictions, harm reduction and recovery support is available to all those who need it. Nice people take drugs, and drugs take nice people.

D. Davies: I’m proud to be able to stand here today and speak on the motion to make mental health and addictions a priority.

I’m glad to see that this issue is one of the first issues to be discussed in this new session because we must all remember that COVID is not the only public health emergency in B.C. The overdose crisis is truly one of the greatest challenges that our province currently faces, and the time for action has never been more needed.

Addiction continues to take a horrific toll on the lives of people in cities and towns throughout the province, and it’s made worse by the toxic drugs currently circulating throughout our communities. The latest illicit drug overdose report by the Coroners Service reveals that this crisis shows no signs of improving, as July 2021 was B.C.’s second-­deadliest month of illicit toxicity deaths ever recorded.

People of the Peace region have continually experienced the fails of this government. We know the tragic toll all too well, as Fort St. John and the northeast continues to have the highest per-capita overdose rate in the province. It is absolutely heartbreaking that month after month, we see this trend continuing, with little being done by this government. British Columbians are desperate for action from this government.

There are crucial steps that this province could take. We’ve continued to leave these options on the table. For months, the official opposition has called for the NDP government to activate the Select Standing Committee on Health so that we can take an all-party public approach to tackle the mental health and addictions issues faced by countless British Columbians. This committee is already there, but this government has not called it together. Why? Sadly, this continues to be ignored. Why? I encourage everyone to ask the government why and to demand more.

Government could restore the funding that was cut from police services for life-saving naloxone kits, which are essential for front-line emergency workers responding to the overdose crisis. Just as naloxone kits save lives, having a health care system — with the capacity to help those suffering — also saves lives.

For months, we have called on this government to do more to address the crisis in the North and in the health authorities across British Columbia that is now reaching a critical point. The ICU in Fort St. John has been closed since June of 2020 because of continuing staff shortages, and patients are being transferred to Prince George. In fact, Northern Health says that there are just five permanent nursing positions, in an emergency department that needs 20.

The Fort St. John Hospital is not the only hospital that is in a dire situation. Elkford hospital in Cranbrook recently announced its ER will be closed until further notice. Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops is so understaffed that the workload of more than a dozen nurses is sometimes being handled by three. My colleague from Peace River South has continually had his hospitals on diversion. These are just a few examples of the situations that have only gotten worse in this pandemic.

COVID has not only worsened the overdose crisis in our communities; it has put an immeasurable amount of strain on all of our health care workers across the province. Hospitals — the entire health care system, in some areas, I would say — are on the verge of collapse. Nurses, doctors and health care workers are being pushed to the point of exhaustion, while vital hospital beds are being occupied by a growing number of COVID patients. When people in crisis can’t find a hospital bed or an ICU unit ready to take them, it is a matter of life and death.

[11:25 a.m.]

We can no longer accept just words of empty promises. We need action today. British Columbians demand it; British Columbians expect it. We must commit to a plan for a comprehensive mental health and addictions system and the complete review and overhaul of our health care system — one that will include a complete audit of Northern Health, to identify and address the staffing shortages that are plaguing our hospitals and entire health care centres. Only then can we bring the services and the supports that our communities need and must have to address this overdose crisis.

R. Leonard: I rise today to address the motion, from the member for Surrey–White Rock, on overcoming the opioid epidemic.

I’d like to begin by acknowledging the personal heartbreak of each of those left behind after a toxic drug supply has taken a son or daughter, a brother or sister, a spouse or parent, a friend or neighbour. Every community is home to lives cut short, and Courtenay-Comox is not shielded from these tragedies.

In the midst of this public health emergency, it’s important to acknowledge, in appreciation, all the front-line workers who carry on in the helping professions to provide substance use supports and services and all those who respond to these traumatizing life-and-death emergencies.

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the impact of the toxic drug supply, as the supply chain has been interrupted, introducing more toxic street drugs to first-time users as well as those who have been hooked long-term. There are also the impacts of isolation. We’re living in a time no one has ever experienced before, and COVID-19 is causing more stress, pain and loneliness, leading some to seek a potentially poisonous road to relief. One of the most risky things people can do is use alone, but COVID-19 has kept people apart. Most of the toxic opioid deaths occur alone at home.

The growing opioid crisis was declared a public health emergency by B.C.’s provincial health officer in the spring of 2016, before we formed government. Meeting people’s needs has been and continues to be our priority, leading our Premier to appoint a Minister of Mental Health and Addictions to his first cabinet in 2017. It’s the first in any jurisdiction in Canada — one leader who would focus on tackling the opioid crisis and building a system of mental health and substance use supports that works for everyone.

We were going in the right direction before COVID-19 hit us. The number of deaths were going down. So in response, in another historic first, Budget 2021 provides a half-billion-dollar investment for this ministry over the next three years. The minister is mandated to work toward decriminalization of small amounts of personal-use illicit drugs.

In the absence of the federal government acting to develop a made-in-B.C. solution that will help save lives, the minister is mandated to accelerate B.C.’s response to the opioid crisis across the full continuum of care — prevention, harm reduction, safe prescription medications, treatment and recovery — and to explore new ways to help prescribers separate more people from the toxic drug supply through safe prescription alternatives. These measures are also reflective of the calls to action that are sounding from health care providers; people with lived and living experience; police chiefs; and communities alike.

A Pathway to Hope is our ten-year road map for making mental health and substance use care better for people. We’ve completed two years of the first three-year plan. Last month a progress report was issued, indicating that priority services and supports are rolling out. More than half of the three-year priority actions identified in the Pathway to Hope are now implemented, with the remaining actions well underway.

[11:30 a.m.]

I appreciate the opportunity to share the extent of our government’s commitment to meet people’s needs when it comes to mental health and substance use. The comprehensive work our government has undertaken is far from over. Mental health services and rapid response teams were part of the $225 million pandemic response measures. More than a quarter of the $500 million current three-year budget is dedicated to substance use, for better care and saving lives; more than 40 percent for overdose response; a further 18 percent for children and youth and young adults.

The drug poisoning crisis did not appear overnight. There is no magic bullet to end the crisis, and government cannot do it alone. As we have learned from the earliest days of COVID-19, our best way forward is to act together. We’re motivated by what we’ve heard from people with lived and living experience. In addressing the opioid crisis, we have prioritized the three sides that create the strong triangle of a strong response for everyone throughout British Columbia — safe supply, strong supports and ending stigma.

T. Shypitka: I rise today in support of my colleague’s motion: “Be it resolved that this House agree that the current measures have not adequately addressed the opioid epidemic and commit to making mental health and addictions a priority in British Columbia.”

I want to begin my remarks today by expressing my condolences to every family member, every friend, every colleague and every neighbour who grieves the loss of someone they loved to addiction.

Day by day that number, sadly, continues to rise. Each month the B.C. Coroners Service releases its illicit drug overdose report, and we all brace ourselves for more tragic news. The latest report, released last week, showed that July was the second-deadliest month ever recorded in British Columbia. Our province lost 184 more people; that is six people per day. It’s staggering, and it’s clear that whatever we’re doing, it’s not working.

With these statistics as a backdrop, one has to wonder why on earth the Premier has recently cut funding for life-saving naloxone kits. These are essential tools for front-line emergency responders during this crisis.

The official opposition has written to the Premier asking for the funding for these kits to be restored to police departments that are sounding the alarm. We have also asked him to activate the Select Standing Committee on Health to enable all parties to collaborate on actions to prevent further tragedy and loss in our province, but so far, these requests have been met with silence, which is astounding, given the importance and the urgency of this issue.

People’s lives are at stake. They need access to life-saving naloxone. Just as important, they also need timely access to treatment options and mental health support, but they’re not getting it. This is an issue across B.C., not just in the major centres but also in rural communities like mine. When a person suffering from addiction is ready and willing to seek out help, we can’t go and tell them that it’s not available and that they’ll have to sit on a wait-list for weeks or, perhaps, months. When they make that call, they need to be supported immediately.

We need a comprehensive and seamless mental health and addictions system, one that isn’t just reactionary or offering services that are too little, too late. We must put them on a path to healing before it’s too late. But that’s not what we’re seeing. Instead, the government continues to tout the significance of a dedicated Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions.

I remember the announcement in July 2017 when the Premier glowed on how this dedicated ministry would greatly change the trajectory of mental health and addictions. At the time, provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall questioned whether a new ministry dedicated to mental health and addictions would help, saying that it could just add another layer of bureaucracy to the issue that is already drowning in red tape. Is that what we’re seeing here, some 4½ years later?

Some in the media have pointed out that the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions has the smallest budget in government and spends most of it on staff — another layer of bureaucracy indeed. It doesn’t fund any programs, and it can’t control mental health or addictions services in other ministries. Although the Foundry program, founded during the time the B.C. Liberals were in power, is a godsend to many — and one such facility is coming to my community in Kootenay East — this ministry has no hand in the decision-making around where the Foundry centres for youth services are located.

[11:35 a.m.]

It appears to be totally hands off on all fronts. To sum up, it’s useless. What a damning indictment. What have this Premier and his government done to prove the media reports wrong or to change the trajectory of this ever-worsening situation? Absolutely nothing. They continue to plod along and insist that they’re working hard on this file and that it’s a top priority.

Four and a half years ago the Premier stated his first order of business was to go to Ottawa to meet the Prime Minister and talk about wildfires, talk about softwood lumber and talk about the fentanyl crisis. Well, none of us need to be reminded that since then, B.C. has had two of the worst forest fire seasons ever in this province, softwood lumber is killing our cost of production and making our mills uncompetitive, and our opioid crisis has spiralled out of control.

Our overdose numbers continue to climb. Families continue to lose loved ones, and the government decides to cut funding for naloxone kits for police departments.

This Premier has made many priorities and promises: 114,000 affordable homes, renters rebates, $10-a-day daycare, forest mitigation, saving our softwood lumber and resolving our opioid epidemic. I’m finally realizing the words that make up the initialism NDP. They’re simply “never delivering promises.”

My challenge to the next member opposite to speak is to tell us what this government is going to do differently to finally get people the help they need.

M. Dykeman: Thank you to the member for Surrey–​White Rock for their motion. It’s an honour to rise in the House today to speak on such an important topic.

Too many people in our province are grieving the loss of someone that they love. Highly toxic street drugs are everywhere, and unfortunately, far too many people are at risk of a fatal overdose. The drug poisoning crisis does require urgent action. People’s lives depend on it. After decades of neglect, we’re working as quickly as possible to patch holes in the system and build something better.

We’re taking real, measurable steps. For the member opposite that just spoke, I’m going to take a few minutes to outline the steps that our government has taken. As I mentioned, after decades of neglect, we’re building up treatment and recovery services in B.C. to make sure that help is available when somebody is ready to take that step.

This has been a tragic year. With the pandemic and all the other factors that have come into play, this has made this year one of the most challenging ones. But there’s reason for hope, because as we’re innovating and building the mental health and addictions care that British Columbians need, more people are able to benefit.

We’re working across the entire addictions care system to stem the tide of B.C.’s drug poisoning crisis, including Indigenous-led solutions. We’re working to expand access to prescribed safer supply in order to save lives. As a chief of police asked for, we’re working to decriminalize controlled substances for personal use, combating stigma and reducing barriers that stand in the way of people getting help.

We’re also tackling the overdose crisis from every angle, because it requires a multifaceted approach, building B.C. a system of care to meet everyone’s needs no matter where they are in their journey with substance use. This includes new beds for treatment and recovery; doubling the number of youth treatment beds; 100-plus new adult treatment and recovery beds being added through the province, and more to come through this year; and expanding overdose prevention and supervised consumption sites.

The number of supervised consumption sites has now doubled since 2017. We’re currently opening 17 more, 12 with inhalation services, in every health authority in B.C. There are currently 38 overdose prevention supervised consumption sites operating in B.C. under health authority direction. Of these, 12 offer observed inhalation. These locations have played a critical role in connecting people to services. They have had more than two million visits and more than 11,000 overdoses responded to and survived, with zero deaths.

There’s been an expanded scope of nursing practice, with over 90 registered nurses who have enrolled or completed their first round of training. They are able to prescribe medication for opioid use disorder. This is following provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry’s order to allow registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses to prescribe controlled drugs.

There’s been expanded opioid treatment, and the number of people on opioid agonist treatment has grown to more than 24,300 as of March 2021. There’s been the introduction of the Lifeguard App.

[11:40 a.m.]

There was a 475 percent increase, 677 to 3,898, in the number of people receiving hydromorphone. This increase is due to B.C.’s enactment of the interim clinical guidance for health care providers to help people at risk of contracting COVID-19 and overdose death access a prescribed safe supply to stay safe.

Far too many people continue to lose their lives to poisoned drugs, and we’re working to make these large, systemic changes to B.C.’s system of care. We have been developing the first-in-Canada solutions, as I mentioned before — the nurse prescribing and safer supply.

I’d like to take a moment, too, to talk about some of the local initiatives. My community of Langley, Langley township, received a $2.5 million grant, funding to implement solutions. Part of that has led to a community action round table which my office was able to assist in starting, bringing people to the table who are on the ground. It’s important to understand that if you don’t have people in a community, in a location working on the ground to bring these solutions forward, they’ll never get properly instituted into a community.

These are measurable things from funding that have allowed a specific community to come together to benefit those vulnerable people. We also have a community overdose action table which is led by Daniel Snyder in my community. He works hard to bring all the partners together to get made-in-Langley solutions to address the challenges of this opioid crisis.

As I see my time is running out, I’d like to thank all of those in my community who have come to the table to help address this crisis and to say that I’m proud of the initiatives that our government has undertaken to tackle something that has suffered years of neglect.

J. Tegart: I rise today to speak on the motion, and it’s a motion that we need to listen to: “Be it resolved that this House agree that the current measures have not adequately addressed the opioid epidemic and commit to making mental health and addictions a priority in British Columbia.”

As hospitals across the province continue to experience staffing shortages and a lack of available beds, with the overwhelming number of COVID patients, the mental health strain it is having on our front-line workers is unimaginable. COVID has shed light on many gaps in our health care system. My heart goes out to all health care and emergency workers currently working on the front lines in our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ongoing pandemic, along with B.C.’s second public health emergency, the opioid crisis, is not only impacting the mental health of our health care workers, but it’s im­pacting the mental health of all British Columbians. Many people living with addiction struggle with their mental health as well, which is why the ministry today is tasked with supporting both.

I firmly believe that we cannot tackle the ongoing overdose crisis without also tackling our inadequate mental health supports. As a former school board trustee and as a parent myself, I also believe that this needs to start with our children — in our homes and in our schools. I would like to use my remaining time today to talk about the mental health challenges in our education system that desperately need to be addressed.

Our school years are some of the most formative years of our lives for our minds and our mental well-being. The mental health challenges our children develop in these crucial years can persist long into adulthood. If we truly want to change how we approach mental health, it starts with teaching our children that it’s okay to talk about their struggles.

We also need to ensure that they have the resources they need to identify and address their personal mental health challenges. While regular school responsibilities are strenuous enough for a student, our children are continuing their learning and growth amidst the constant threat of the COVID pandemic.

[11:45 a.m.]

These last two years of school have undoubtedly been the most challenging that students, staff and families have ever faced. Government has a responsibility to give British Columbians the tools and resources they need to ensure our children feel safe and supported at all times. When fighting an invisible enemy, knowledge is the greatest tool we can give students and parents for them to have confidence in their decisions.

When the province eliminated COVID notifications, this created an incredible amount of anxiety and safety concerns for students and parents. Even now, by creating lengthy pathways for parents to gather the information they are looking for, we are putting unnecessary strain on people’s mental health. British Columbians want an in-depth update on the progress of ventilation upgrades in schools, more remote learning options for students and families, enhanced contact tracing in classrooms to identify clusters and outbreaks and for government to enact greater use of rapid testing as an additional layer of identification and protection against COVID in classrooms.

We rewrite the narrative and show our children that they have places and people they can talk to when they are feeling anxious, insecure or unsafe, a place where they are free to share the challenges they are experiencing both in school and at home.

Now is the time to review and improve the mental health resources available in schools and ramp up the discussion of how better to address mental health in our classrooms. No teacher, staff or child should ever enter their classrooms feeling unsafe. The time for action is today.

S. Chant: I appreciate the opportunity to speak in the House on this topic today.

I find it interesting that already in the House I’ve heard that $500 million over three years is nothing. Five hundred million dollars over three years is what our current government has invested in mental health care and in working with the opioid crisis. It makes my heart sore and painful to hear that that is regarded as nothing.

The opioid epidemic is something that has universal impact in so many ways; something that has victims whose lives are cut short without any notice; mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and extended family members, friends and colleagues who suffer a loss that will never be fully healed. In North Vancouver–Seymour, 49 people have lost their lives, ranging in age from 16 to 50.

I’ve spoken to the grandfather of Ty. This grandfather was on the plaza outside my office drawing a corpse silhouette for Ty, putting inside: “Ty was 21 when he was taken from us.” The family tried to help Ty, and Ty tried to help himself. He went through at least two rehab sessions — one public pay, one private pay — and he and his family were so proud. He stayed clean for six months. However, something changed, and Ty was found dead. We don’t know what changed.

Grandparents and parents are not supposed to outlive their grandchildren and their children. They have spent all their lives building hopes, dreams and memories, which are shared across generations. These are now replaced by grief, guilt, sadness and anger at the loss of their precious family member. Now their life is on a new path, one that is unexpected and uncharted.

[11:50 a.m.]

Help for Ty is no longer an option. However, help for others is out there in a whole myriad of ways. The public health system has strengthened better access, more resources, improved and enhanced education for clinicians and care providers.

Nurses never used to be able to prescribe, certainly not something as critical as an opiate agonist and an opiate medication. Now they can do that. There are 90 nurses out there doing it, and there will be a lot more. That allows greater access.

There are in-patient and out-patient opportunities in many of our communities. There are really amazing people and programs that offer support and help to those who use, their families and others who want to learn what they can do to make a difference.

Mental health topics are part of curriculum in primary, secondary and tertiary education settings. Specialized courses are being offered in professional development areas across a vast spectrum of work environments, not just in health.

Overdose death rates are a terrible report on the loss of people, people who leave a hole in so many hearts and minds, people who haunt us all, pushing us to move forward and do better. I ask all of us: are we doing better? Yes, we are. Can we do better? Yes, we can. Will we do better? Yes, we will.

Each of us has something to offer to combat the opioid crisis in all walks of life. We have mobilized, and there is momentum building. There is, however, so much more to do, and there will always be more to do. We are all here to do it. I thank you for this opportunity.

K. Kirkpatrick: Thank you for the opportunity to rise in the House today and speak to the critical need to do more and do better to address the opioid crisis.

The issue of opioid addiction today continues to spiral out of control. How much money this government has spent is irrelevant if it hasn’t made the proper changes.

Addiction doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t care about age or socioeconomic circumstance, and it doesn’t care about politics and party lines. Government needs to commit to solutions that are above and beyond politics. Each day mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, young people and old are dying in this province, and it cannot continue to happen. Each party in this House agrees, I’m sure, that working together is the best way forward, yet that hasn’t happened.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

People who use drugs are suffering from not only addiction but discrimination and structural stigma. They’re often mistakenly projected with negative images, but in reality, many may lead normal lives by most measures. They come from all walks of life. The opioid crisis is having a devastating impact not just on families and individuals but communities across British Columbia.

One of the reasons I believe that not enough is being done to address the opioid crisis is the stigma surrounding people who are challenged with addiction. Addiction is not a choice. Overcoming addiction takes more than simple determination. Addiction is a complex disease of the brain and body.

Stereotypes get in the way, particularly among marginalized populations, of seeking help and treatment. Stereotypes dehumanize people. Assumptions and judgments are made, so a person may avoid getting help because of this. Because they’re afraid of that judgment, they may choose to use drugs alone, further escalating the crisis.

People who experience a mental illness are far more likely than others to also experience a substance abuse problem. Similarly, people who experience alcohol and drug use are much more likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness.

This has escalated to such a crisis that we are constantly in reaction mode, and we’ve lost the focus on the ability to put in preventative supports, such as affordable and accessible access to counselling and mental health supports.

[11:55 a.m.]

Taking mental health seriously and providing affordable and accessible counselling to British Columbians — accessible means real-time; it doesn’t mean a six-month waiting list — will help break the cycle of addiction and escalating mental health issues. Now, it’s not always, but it’s sometimes, and isn’t sometimes better than what we’ve got today?

There’s a great economic divide between treatment and support. There are counsellors and recovery programs that have a cost associated with them, as they should. But if you are unable to pay, if you have not extended medical, you don’t have a choice of getting that support. What about the rest of us? What about the victims of trauma, those who are unable to work or are precariously housed and our youth aging out of care? What access do they have to preventative mental health and addictions support?

When someone chooses to seek help, whether it’s for depression or addiction, they need to have access to low-cost counselling professionals right away. Someone cannot pause their crisis to go on a wait-list. Another person’s moment of clarity for seeking addiction supports may be fleeting, and the chance to help will have passed if there’s a waiting list. The counsellors that I know who provide subsidized counselling say that a three-month wait-list is the same as no service at all.

In my previous work, I saw many gaps in supports provided to those detoxing. Most detox programs, for example, have a short time limit as to how long a person can remain. It can be as short as seven days, where they cycle back out, they don’t have supportive housing and continued supports, and they go right back into detox.

This is a crisis that is not slowing down anytime soon, and it will take everyone to address it. It takes compassion and understanding. Let’s help people feel empowered, not filled with shame. There’s no overnight solution, but there are solutions. This needs commitment and more investment in preventative supports.

K. Kirkpatrick moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. J. Whiteside moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

Mr. Speaker: This House stands adjourned until 1:30 p.m.

The House adjourned at 11:57 a.m.