Orders of the Day

Private Members’ Statements

DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT

D. Coulter: First, I would like to begin by acknowledg­ing that we are on the traditional lands of the Lək̓ʷəŋin̓əŋ-​speaking peoples, known today as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.

I’d also like to acknowledge my friend and colleague, the member for Abbotsford-Mission, who is participating virtually today.

Welcome back. It’s so good to see you. [Applause.]

Mr. Speaker, employment is one important way people with disabilities participate fully in their communities. But people with disabilities continue to face some of the high­est rates of unemployment, because they are often unable to find work due to discrimination, negative perceptions of their abilities and a lack of workplace accommodations.

[S. Chandra Herbert in the chair.]

There are over 926,000 British Columbians over the age of 15 that have a disability. People with disabilities represent an important employee talent pool that is largely untapped. The COVID-19 pandemic has showed us the types of workplace accommodations — like flexible hours, modified work stations and new technology — that can be made available for employees to support their success. It’s also shown us that people with disabilities are disproportionately impacted.

[10:05 a.m.]

A just economic recovery must include people with disabilities. As Parliamentary Secretary for Accessibility, it’s my job to promote and encourage accessibility, but it’s also a personal passion. I’ve used a wheelchair for 21 years now, and I know that building a barrier-free B.C. is in the best interests of all of us. I was lucky to have access to resources and to be supported to retrain following my accident. I’m thrilled to have had the opportunities that I’ve had, and I know how important it is that employers are inclusive.

As we all know, we passed the Accessible British Columbia Act in June of this year. This legislation will help us identify, remove and prevent barriers to accessibility in a range of areas, including employment. The development of this legislation was a result of collaboration and teamwork. It was drafted based on the principle of “Nothing about us without us,” which, if you aren’t familiar with it, means that people with disabilities play a direct role in shaping the act and will continue to play a role in developing future accessibility standards.

One thing we heard from folks with disabilities is that government should lead the way, and the government is doing just that. Recently I had the honour of speaking to a cohort in the WorkAble program during their orientation week. WorkAble is a 12-month paid internship opportunity for recent — within three years — post-secondary graduates who self-identify as having a disability.

The program objectives include increasing capacity of hiring managers and mentors to support and coach employees with disabilities, gaining better understanding of available accommodation supports in the workplace, identifying clear pathways for hiring employees with disabilities, informing best practices for recruitment and retention for employees with disabilities, accessing an underutilized labour employee pool. The interns started in their respective ministries on September 7, 2021. They finish their internship August 31, 2022.

It’s critical that we work to continue making our workplaces in government more accessible and inclusive. The WorkAble program is an important part of that goal, so I was excited to learn about the WorkAble program and the opportunity it provides people with disabilities to gain experience working in the B.C. public service.

Another program that the government rolled out was the work experience opportunities grant. The work experience opportunities grant program was focused on helping vulnerable British Columbians impacted by COVID-19. Funding supported a sustainable, resilient and inclusive post-pandemic labour market recovery by providing opportunities for individuals to increase their ability to participate in the labour market. Grants were provided to eligible businesses and organizations to provide 12 weeks of work experience throughout the province.

As a first step in supporting the business community, we also provided $4.8 million to Small Business B.C. to administer a new grant program to help small businesses make their workplaces more accessible.

September was Disability Employment Month in B.C., and October is national disability employment month. During Disability Employment Month, we get to celebrate inclusive employers while also highlighting the contributions people with disabilities bring to organizations across B.C. Every year, Disability Employment Month reinforces our commitment to a more diverse and inclusive public service that better reflects the diversity of British Columbia. This means dedicating the resources and tools required to build a public service that is inclusive of all persons of all abilities and that provides everyone with the supports and opportunities to be their best.

This is why it has been and will continue to be so important for us to engage directly with people with disabilities, their support networks and advocates, as well as businesses, organizations and communities, so that we can build strong, supportive relationships as we all work together to create a B.C. that is truly accessible and inclusive.

One of those strong, supportive relationships we formed was with the Presidents Group, who describe themselves as such. Formed in 2013, the Presidents Group is a network of 25 change-driven B.C. business leaders who are champions for more accessible, inclusive workplaces. Lead­ers of businesses of all different sizes and sectors and business models are represented, and nearly 60,000 British Columbians are employed at the Presidents Group’s 25 member organizations. Some of these businesses include the Port of Vancouver, YVR, Vancity and TransLink. There are also smaller businesses, like Save On Meats and Tacofino.

[10:10 a.m.]

The group plays an advisory role to B.C.’s Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction and meets quarterly to share best practices amongst one another. Each member organization assigns one or more staff members, usually in HR or diversity and inclusion roles, specifically, to the community of practice. This quarterly meeting allows these internal champions to meet and dig into projects, resource development and support for one another.

I will end my seven minutes there and invite whoever is going to respond to respond.

B. Banman: I’m pleased to stand in the House to speak on disability employment, and I thank the member opposite for his comments.

The challenges COVID has brought to our communities continue to be prevalent today, especially in our current job market. B.C. still has 15,000 fewer full-time jobs compared to pre-pandemic levels. As businesses and workers continue to face the economic pressures of COVID, they are facing an increasingly unaffordable housing market, a lack of affordable and available child care spaces and many other social and economic challenges that are keeping them from fully entering the workforce. The situation is dire.

I’m proud to see many discussions taking place in this House, throughout this legislative session, on how to remove the barriers that are keeping British Columbians from seeking and finding employment. When we’re discussing these obstacles, it is imperative that we discuss the additional barriers that a significant percentage of British Columbians face daily, and that is people living with a disability.

British Columbians living with a disability represent a large percentage of our current potential workforce. Close to a million…. So 926,000 people in B.C. over the age of 15 live with some form of a disability — nearly a quarter, 25 percent, of our province’s population. We truly cannot have a discussion about the issues keeping people from entering the workforce without discussing the physical, economic and social barriers these British Columbians face on a daily basis.

What’s more, COVID has disproportionately impacted workers with disabilities and has created unprecedented challenges for many who are immunocompromised, have been cut off from their support networks and are now struggling to access the supports they rely on in our stressed health care system.

We have a duty as public servants to ensure we build a more accessible province for all, and this includes the elimination of the physical and invisible barriers that currently exist in far too many workplaces. We must create spaces where it is unthinkable to not have adequate, functional, accessible parking or access to American Sign Language and encourage proper workplace practices that accommodate all disability groups and cultures.

Think about it. Among those with disabilities 25 to 64 years of age who are not employed and not attending school, 39 percent want to work. That represents nearly 645,000 people with a disability. It’s a talent pool that’s hiding in plain sight, not because they’re invisible but because, still today, many employers simply don’t see them.

If society could implement measures to improve workplace accessibility, it would enable over half a million Canadians with disabilities to work more hours, which would increase the GDP by $16.8 billion by 2030. There are champions here in this House and outside, as mentioned. There are people like Tamara Vrooman at YVR and Robin Silvester from Port Metro Vancouver. I’m sure we can all point to someone in our community who gets it.

The president’s council established by the former government continues today to provide a place for employers who want to see this change to learn, to share and to lead by example.

What I’ve learned from talking to constituents and members is that many young people with disabilities don’t have access to the standard first job experiences to start building their résumé.

[10:15 a.m.]

The question that employers at all levels need to be asking themselves is: are my hiring practices excluding people? Are the processes necessary, or do they keep out applicants with disabilities? Is there a feedback loop? Do we know who has been hired or who has not and why? Do my job descriptions include a list of factors which are not essential to the job, like a driver’s licence, for instance?

Unfortunately, many people still think hiring a person with a disability means hiring someone to do very sim­ple jobs and tasks. It’s simply untrue. There are people with disabilities ready, willing and able to work across the continuum.

Lastly, government needs to get out of the way. Support programs that trap disabilities rather than encourage and enable independence — how can we reform these programs to better support employment? Are our post-secondary institutions doing what they can? Are co-ops effectively used? Are students with disabilities left behind? Let’s ask the tough questions so we can get to the right answers.

D. Coulter: I’ve never heard before of anyone with a disability who says: “Get the government out of my way.” But that’s beyond the point.

I would like to continue celebrating the work that the Presidents Group does because they do support employers. In 2018, they launched what they call the CAA, which gives employers, beyond the 25 appointed members on the Presidents Group, the chance to join the movement to accessible employment and access individualized support from the staff members. The CAA currently provides employer-focused tools, resources and access to training and events for B.C. employers on how to effectively recruit, hire and retain employees with disabilities.

The Presidents Group is also releasing a practical guide for employers looking to measure disability inclusion in their workplaces. It’s called Make It Count Guide: Measuring for Disability Inclusion in the Workplace. It should be released on the Presidents Group website. This guide will help employers through the process of creating a disability measurement initiative that fits the unique context of their organization.

With Make It Count…. I hope that people join the Presidents Group pledge to measure movement. The pledge to measure initiative is a challenge for more businesses, from small to large, to step forward and commit to measure their progress on inclusive hiring. Our hope is that B.C. will be the province with the highest employment for people with disabilities in Canada by 2030.

Every additional organization that takes part can add its numbers to the provincewide tally and help advocate for the full inclusion of people with disabilities. As you can see, we have many initiatives that folks who are passionate about inclusion in the workplace are working on, but we still have a long way to go if we want to make British Columbia the most accessible province by 2030.

ECONOMIC RECONCILIATION

E. Ross: It’s quite fitting that my wife is watching from Kitamaat Village, B.C. as we speak. I don’t know which camera I’m looking at, but hello to my wife.

Today I’m here to talk about economic reconciliation. We often hear and we often talk about it, but for too long, there’s been no action behind the word “reconciliation,” especially in the 21st century.

Real reconciliation means lifting people up, the most disadvantaged people in Canadian society for the last 50, 100 years — lifting them up out of poverty and putting them on a path to recovery in all its forms. As an Aboriginal member, then as a leader and now as an MLA, I’ve seen and continue to see the cycle continue too many times — talking about hope, talking about programs but not really giving the tools to succeed. This happens all across B.C. and all across Canada.

Our families are told to be bold, and then the dreams are stifled by indifference or mixed messages. Nothing to resolve the social issues that First Nations are facing.

Many Aboriginal leaders, over the decade, set out to change that in a tangible way, but very few had the foundation of Aboriginal rights and title case law — specifically, the Haida court case that came out and the duty to consult in 2004. That year is significant. At that time, First Nations had a willing partner in the then government, one that was committed to action. Ending in 2017, that government had signed over 450 agreements with First Nations, from revenue-sharing to environment protocols to just simply engagement in protocols.

[10:20 a.m.]

There were too many doubters from 2004 to 2017 when we set out on our journey of inclusion in the economy. It started out in 2006, when we signed our first-ever forest and range agreement and then renewed it five years later — our first step into the economy and our first step in developing a partnership with the then government of B.C.

It was really LNG that put us on the road to success and independence, not only at the elected chief and council level but where it really mattered, at the individual level, for those that had never had a real opportunity in life and were now exposed to the opportunity that a lot of Canadians had enjoyed before.

At the same time, there were protesters from afar who didn’t like the idea and tried to stop us even before it began. Local politicians got into the act, attending rallies that vilified what we were trying to do, vilified democratically elected First Nations leaders and even signed anti-LNG declarations without even thinking of talking to the communities or even the people who were stuck in the cycle of poverty and the violence of poverty.

Even when the outside politicians and organizations came into our communities to find discontent and played that out for their own agendas, knowing full well it would tear our communities apart right down to the family dinner table, we persevered. We stuck with it. When we as leaders, First Nations leaders, got threatened and called derogatory names like sellouts or apples, we stuck with it.

We continued to battle the political agendas, the backlash, the misinformation with facts, but it was hard. It was difficult. It was one of the darkest times of our lives as First Nations leaders because of the sensationalism. The politicians, the slick messaging, the TV spokespeople were more likely to be believed than our own leadership, which was democratically elected and was expected to deliver the truth.

Even though we did our best, it was hard to compete with the untruths. But we had a vision for reconciliation that meant our children wouldn’t have to go through what we and previous generations had experienced. We wanted to lift our band members, both on reserve and off reserve, out of poverty, and the way we were doing it was in partnership with industry and the then sitting government of British Columbia.

We did it. This is what nobody is acknowledging. We did it. The $40 billion LNG Canada was over a decade of work. That is what delivered true reconciliation to First Nations from Prince George to Kitamaat and down channel to Gitga’at, Gitxaała. But who benefited overall? It was B.C. It was British Columbians. It was Canada and, more importantly, Asian markets, which were looking for an alternative to oil and coal.

Now it’s all gone, all this initiative that we actually brought to the Legislature. It was our band that brought LNG to the Legislature and asked the B.C. government to support and implement the LNG industry. It wasn’t the other way around. And now it’s all gone.

Of the 18 major LNG projects proposed to get clean B.C. LNG to markets where it is needed, LNG Canada is the only project still standing. Projects have left B.C. to build in the United States or, worse yet, propose to pipe B.C. LNG from Canada to the U.S.A. to supplement the U.S.A.’s energy sector, including exports to Asia.

The reconciliation we had envisioned was not just about First Nations. It was about so much more, based on our evolving knowledge of the economy as well as world issues, including global warming. We all know that LNG can have a positive impact on the environment of the world. We also knew what it meant to build up neighbouring towns and cities — the Lower Mainland — what it meant to government revenues that paid for hospitals, schools, roads, infrastructure and services that B.C.’ers rely on, no matter where you are.

The cost of projects like Kitimat LNG failing is huge. Beyond the loss of jobs and capital, Canada and the world will suffer environmentally. Every year that we delay making LNG available for developing markets is another year that these growing markets remain reliant on GHG-intensive coal power, energy that is polluting our air and driving us further from our global climate goals. Meanwhile, Nisg̱a’a’s hydro-powered Ksi Lisims LNG will be at net zero within three years of start-up. Cedar LNG, a proposal led by Haisla Nation, will offer one of the lowest–carbon intensity LNG facilities in the world.

[10:25 a.m.]

We know that these projects can lift Aboriginal communities out of poverty and out of the cycles. We know that this economic reconciliation can mean more dollars to support our provincial economy. We’ve got to get away from the talking, and we’ve got to do more walking, more action. This is what reconciliation really means in terms of economics.

A. Walker: Thank you to the member for Skeena for bringing up this incredibly important and timely topic of economic reconciliation.

All forms of reconciliation depend on a strong foundation of openness, dialogue and understanding but also a strong desire to build relationships. Economic reconciliation, specifically, is about building opportunities for all people to achieve their full potential and shared prosperity.

The constituency of Parksville-Qualicum, which I represent, has the traditional territories of five First Nations overlapping: the K’ómoks, the Tla’amin, the Qualicum, the Snaw-naw-as and the Snuneymuxw. It is the Snaw-naw-as that I would like to focus on through these conversations. They are the heart of our constituency, and their traditional territory overlaps most of it.

I’m going to list off a series of economic initiatives that they have undertaken, and I challenge you all to listen to the commonalities of these initiatives. They have a shellfish operation, a sustainable harvest on lands that they have developed and cared for, for thousands of years, a sustainable harvest that provides benefits to their community but also the broader community as a whole.

They have a new tree farm licence. It’s a first of its kind for this nation. It’s a First Nations woodland licence. As the public engagement for this plan is being devel­oped…. If you review this plan, you will see a couple of notable features. First is that their harvest levels are significantly lower than what you would normally see, providing for ecological and economic sustainability. You’ll also see two massive forests that have been preserved intact for nature. The timber values for those forests are worth less than the cultural and ceremonial and medicinal values that their people will see today and for future generations in perpetuity.

They have been granted some industrial land. I say this generously, because this land is not a turnkey operation. As stewards of the land, they have been able to develop this into what will become a future industrial park. As good stewards, they have already managed to develop their first anchor tenant, the Parksville and District Chamber of Commerce, who will be using a portion of this land to build a fulfilment centre so that small and medium-sized enterprises all across central Vancouver Island are able to access the last-mile logistics that they will offer.

They have a child care program on reserve that they’re hoping to expand dramatically to support not just their community but the broader community at large, providing traditional knowledge and language skills to bring us all closer together, which is something I know we all need to see.

They have a market, and though 40,000 people drive by this market every day and may only see it as a fuelling station and a restaurant, it is so much more than that. It is a gathering place for their community, and it is an opportunity for people to come together. They are working with the nearby district of Lantzville to bring connections from the downtown to their market to try to bridge that divide between these people.

They have a campground. For those who have been fortunate enough to stay on this campground right on the beach, it is probably one of the most beautiful waterfront campgrounds on Vancouver Island. They are expanding this, as well, to include some cultural amenities for people who come from around the world to experience who they are and why that’s important.

These initiatives that I bring to the House today all have a commonality. They each bring prosperity to the nation but also to the community. This is not just economic development. This is economic reconciliation. It’s Indigenous-led. It has led to their unemployment rate, 15 years ago, of 45 percent being reduced to 9½ percent. I’ve heard from a member recently that you can’t invest in your culture if you can’t feed your families.

One of the most exciting developments that I’ve heard is the Salish shxw'aluqwa' or Salish Sisters. This is a singing group that has not only beautiful music, but it’s able to reach deep into your soul and move you in ways that I’ve never experienced in music before.

The stunning mural in downtown Lantzville, painted by Grace Edwards, is a marker and a beacon to bring these two communities closer together.

[10:30 a.m.]

I started by describing economic reconciliation as shared prosperity and helping each other achieve our full potential. I cannot think of anything that adds more richness to our community than seeing the Snaw-naw-as culture reawakened and hearing the stories of these youth who are able to go after their opportunities, which they did not have access to before. We are all richer together, and we can learn so much from each other.

E. Ross: Thank you to the member across the aisle there for the comments.

As usual, it’s talk. Not one mention of the multi-billion-dollar projects that are happening in Kitimat, one that succeeded and one that failed. A $30 billion Chevron KLNG project left town. That project was on reserve. That was going to provide jobs, taxes and rent to our First Nation. It’s gone. Not one mention of Trans Mountain, the oil project that’s coming through from Alberta to the shores of Vancouver. First Nations are actually actively trying to pursue equity agreements with the government of Canada. Not one mention.

I understand that every First Nation is diverse in terms of economic goals, but their goals are the same in terms of the end game: they’re trying to get to a better place in the 21st century. And it’s not politically correct to talk about LNG. We can even talk about First Nations in the context of being stewards — an old term.

I’d like to bring a news flash to the Legislature. I have not met one British Columbian, First Nations or not, that says: “I don’t care about the environment.” It’s not just a First Nations issue in terms of the environment; it’s a global issue.

In fact, if you take a look at what’s happening right now, the global targets in terms of climate action are not being met, and they’re not going to get met for the foreseeable future, because there’s an energy crisis happening in India. They’re going back to coal. They’re going to increase their coal burning for electricity just for the simple purposes of looking after their people.

There’s an energy crisis happening in the United States right now — 13 percent in terms of what they’re going to do in terms of increasing coal usage for electricity. There’s an energy crisis happening in Europe right now, and Europe is now at the mercy of those countries that have the energy that do not want to sell them the total amount of energy they need to get through the winter.

Reconciliation is the foundation of so many things happening here in B.C. It can uplift so many people, Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals alike. But there’s a bigger picture here. We can’t stay out of this game. It’s called global warming. It’s not called B.C. warming. It’s not called Canada warming. It’s called global warming.

First Nations want to be a part of it. In fact, Eva Clayton, with her $55 billion LNG project, says the Nisg̱a’a Nation has always been concerned about climate change and embraced the appeal of LNG as a replacement to coal and oil combustion in Asia. This is where the conversation has been with First Nations for the last 15 years. This is where the Legislature has got to go, this is where B.C. has got to go, and this is where Canada has got to go.

EARLY CHILDHOOD
EDUCATORS APPRECIATION DAY

N. Sharma: It may not be an official day today, but I want to appreciate early childhood educators, because I believe they’re one of the most important professions in our province.

Every morning parents across this province deliver their children to early childhood educators. We trust them to care for our most precious family members, helping them build confidence, gain independence and flourish. ECEs are the first educators in our children’s lives, the first step in a world away from their family’s care.

Many parents, including me, can remember the first day that their child entered the care of an early childhood educator — that feeling of separation anxiety, guilt and worry that comes when placing your child in the care of somebody else for the first time. But as I and so many parents across this province experience, that anxiety turns to joy and appreciation when we witness the way our children thrive, gain independence and confidence. This truly means the world to us and our children.

[10:35 a.m.]

I am able to stand here today in this House because my child is in the care of an early childhood educator. I have the confidence and peace of mind in knowing that they are safe and thriving. There are no words to express the appreciation that I feel and so many of us feel for this opportunity.

I know that I’m lucky as a parent. Parents are depending on investments to a universal child care system to help ensure that all children have the opportunity to be in the care of early childhood educators across this province.

They say that it takes a big heart to shape a little mind. These little minds are in such a precious state under five years old. Ninety percent of brain development happens before a child enters kindergarten, if you can imagine that. A two-year-old child has twice as many synapses in their brain as an adult. This is to help them learn faster than any other time in their life.

ECEs are trained specifically for this precious time in brain development, understanding how to make these children flourish. They have an impact not only on that child or that family but our entire society. My hands are up to the ECEs, as we can only imagine how many lives they will influence during their careers.

ECEs are a professional workforce of mostly women. These women are deserving of government support that acknowledges their importance and lifts their wages. For too many decades, early childhood educators have been undervalued and underappreciated. Universal child care that gives universal opportunities for children to flourish in the hands of a supported ECE workforce would benefit not only our children’s lives but our society greatly, investing in these women as they do the important work and lift up our future.

Childcare B.C. has invested $2.2 billion in a new social program, universal child care for B.C. families — building spaces, saving families money. One of the key pillars is to support the early childhood educator workforce — training, operating, helping them operate, supporting them through legislative changes. Budget 2021 includes investments to double the wage enhancements for ECEs — $4 an hour by the end of September 2021, which is a huge thing for that workforce and well deserved.

There are two ECEs from my riding I would like to focus on, because I believe they exemplify what quality educators mean for children today, with how much they do. Victoria Lin is an early childhood educator at Kiwassa Neighborhood House and a nominee for this year’s ECEBC Sue Fraser student award. Victoria started with Kiwassa daycare as a volunteer in high school. From the very beginning, she was committed, enthusiastic and helpful. As she worked, she completed her education and received a bachelor of early childhood care and education this summer.

Congratulations, Victoria.

As we all know, the world quickly and unexpectedly changed dramatically in March 2020. Victoria did not hesitate to do what she could during this time. Over the next ten months, she pitched in, working in all programs wher-ever she was needed. She very quickly and easily built trust, caring and respectful connections with children of all ages and earned the respect and gratitude of families.

In January 2021, Victoria took on an assignment in a classroom with children with some challenging behav-iours, but she and a co-worker responded by developing a program that was child-centred and met the needs of each child in that classroom. She has connected with agencies such as the Vancouver school board and supported the process for these children with extra needs entering kindergarten.

Victoria has also connected with professionals such as speech pathologists, physiotherapists, behaviour consultants — all with the intention of supporting the children in her care. Every day Victoria works together in partnership with parents, supporting them in learning to provide different types of support to their children.

Victoria is clearly a very extremely capable, inspiring and respected educator, and there is no doubt that her star will continue to rise. So congratulations, Victoria.

Victoria demonstrates how vital the work of ECEs are in the development of a child. She demonstrates the professionalism and care for her work that is so vital to our society.

I wish Kiwassa Neighborhood House and all the early childhood educators that work there all the best in their continued efforts to serve the children in my community.

I think I’ll go on to the next speaker, my next three minutes.

[10:40 a.m.]

T. Halford: I thank the member for Vancouver-Hastings for her remarks. I am glad to see that her children are thriving in child care right now.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak about the early learning and child care heroes in British Columbia as we recognize Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day. Personally, this day is close to my heart. I’ve had three kids involved in child care. All of them have benefited greatly from an ECE worker, and that has been something…. As you leave for work and you trust your child into the care of another, it can be quite a challenging step, an adventurous step, and an emotional step.

I remember leaving my daughter at her daycare, and it was quite emotional for about a month. It’s hard to make that transition, but when you know that you’re leaving them in good hands, that puts your mind at ease and, ultimately, you know your child will be beneficial.

ECEs often do their incredible work in the background, supporting parents and caregivers, but our communities are stronger because of the work they do with the children and the impacts for years to come. The daily tasks of educators are more than just teaching new skills. They are also introducing mental well-being practices, encouraging teamwork and so much more that the member spoke about.

It is critical as legislators that we support access to affordable and quality child care. Over the course of the 18 months, the pandemic has served to highlight how important access to child care is for B.C. families. Statistics have not only shown how vital learning environments are for children, but more importantly, the economic impact for families who do not have access to child care.

As we know, women have been shown to be disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Part of that has been due to the lack of safe and affordable child care options. B.C. is currently experiencing an ECE worker shortage. In order to ensure women can re-enter the workforce, prioritizing investment in child care is vital, and that has to include additional funding and training for ECE workers. A big part of the solution to ensure more affordable additional spaces involves investing in ECE educators. We need to ensure sure that we are creating spots that are allowing our children to thrive.

Earlier this year, speaking about current policy initiatives in B.C., Emily Gawlick, the executive director of the Early Childhood Educators of British Columbia, said that right now “the progress is so minimal it does not meet the needs of families or educators as they try to recover from this pandemic.” We all understand the importance we spoke about of ECE workers. Many of them were encouraged to see the government put forward a $2 wage enhancement.

It is troubling that, as we approach the appreciation day, that wage enhancement was expected to be delivered this past September. That’s been delayed until March. We all understand and we support and we speak with passion and truth about the great impact that ECE workers have on our own children in our own communities, but to overpromise and underdeliver is a disservice to those workers. They deserve better.

In closing, as we recognize Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day, I’d like to thank all the dedicated people in British Columbia who are committed to the care and well-being of the youngest members of our society and pledge to continue advocating to ensure educators are receiving the resources they desperately need.

N. Sharma: I’d like to spend my remaining time to talk about other childhood educators in my riding. Frog Hollow is another child care in my riding with 50 amazing early childhood educators. One of these is Sarah Krupic.

Sarah Krupic has been with Frog Hollow for 13 years this coming December. She works as a satellite daycare coordinator and works with children directly and also manages a team of nine other educators. She started as an early childhood educator, working in the three-to-five-aged daycare program and went on to take her special needs education training and her infant and toddler education training, always seeking to improve and grow her skills. Over the years, her leadership, exceptional care and education ethic moved her to the three-to-five program and team lead position.

[10:45 a.m.]

She is now working as a coordinator for a universal prototype site, delivering $10-a-day child care for families in my riding.

I remember the day that that child care opened up and the tears of joy for those families, knowing that not only were they in the hands of great educators, but they were able to pay only $10 a day for that service, saving thousands a year. I know that Sarah is passionate about early childhood education, and the love she has for everyone is evident every day that she shows up for work. She’s been instrumental in guiding and supporting ECE workers through the field, through turbulent times. Every day, she brings a positive spirit, big heart, love and care.

We’re also grateful for Sarah and her service in our riding as she is a true testament to the integral work that early childhood educators play every day. It is a real privilege for me to stand here today and honour these women who quietly work every day, delivering such important service for all of us and our children.

I want to thank these women and all the early childhood educators in the province. Thank you for your professionalism and your commitment to our children. Your work is so vital for our future.

B.C. FORESTS CARBON SINK

L. Doerkson: I wanted to take a quick moment, also, to welcome back the member for Abbotsford-Mission. It’s very nice to see her today — very nice.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak about a topic that is deeply relevant to the daily lives of my constituents but also the province as a whole.

It’s no secret that this year B.C. experienced one of the worst wildfire seasons on record. More than 1,600 fires burned nearly 8,700 square kilometres of land, destroying homes and barns, hectares of forests and rangeland, which displaced thousands of people. It can be difficult to fully understand the impact of these fires and the scale of the damage, if you haven’t lived it.

For many in British Columbia, the summer wildfire season simply means a ban on campfires during their summer vacation or hazy late-August days, when the smoke from the Interior finally makes its way to the south. It can mean the catastrophic loss of lives and livelihoods, even as these devastating wildfire seasons become increasingly and unfortunately routine.

The three worst wildfire seasons in B.C. history all took place in the last five years, a figure that should tell us there is a lot more to do and changes to be made both in how we prevent and how we fight wildfires in our province. For too many people in my constituency, this summer was absolutely devastating. These fires have an immense cost to people, wildlife and governments alike.

Of course, there are obvious costs to replacing destroyed or damaged structures, whether that’s homes, barns, fences or man-made structures that were caught in the blaze. But there are also less obvious costs. There are the hidden consequences of evacuation alerts and orders. While certainly necessary for keeping people safe, evacuation alerts have a significant impact on the surrounding communities.

For example, this summer, there were dozens of businesses and tourism operators in the Cariboo-Chilcotin that were impacted by decreased tourism as a result of the evacuation alerts, despite the active fires being a significant distance away. These are businesses that were already struggling through the pandemic. They were depending on a busy summer season to get them through.

Many soon found themselves in the frustrating situation of being far enough away from the fires that they didn’t have to leave but close enough that no patrons could come to them. As a result, many of these good businesses could be lost to this wildfire season, even though they did not come in contact with the flames.

For neighbourhoods that did have to evacuate, many families faced the theft of cherished possessions from their homes due to the lack of security. We talked a lot about this, this summer — people who were disobeying evacuation orders — without stopping to think about what may prompt people to stay behind and risk their lives. It’s hard to convince people to leave their homes when there is no offer of assurance for keeping their belongings safe from looters or their home safe from flames.

What about environmental costs? For ranchers, a fire on their property means not only a risk to livestock in the short term, but it can also mean that grazing land or fields where feed is grown are destroyed.

[10:50 a.m.]

It can take multiple years for burned land to be productive again, meaning that ranchers will not just be short on feed this year but possibly for two or three years into the future. There’s a ranching family in my community who are in this exact situation. They now find themselves short 800 full-sized round bales of hay, and that is for this season. It’s a significant need and something that will impact their operations for years and years to come.

Destroyed forests also mean the loss of biodiversity. Whole ecosystems can be decimated, and growing pressures of climate change make recovery all the more difficult for the flora and fauna that call our forests home.

Now, climate change is obviously a central part of the conversation around wildfires, and it’s clear that we’re seeing worsening fire seasons as a result of rising temperatures and more frequent droughts. This summer was a prime example of this, of course, as the heat dome and ongoing drought created a perfect storm for the explosion of active wildfires that we witnessed in late June and early July.

We cannot just talk about the way that climate change is impacting wildfires. We also need to talk about how more frequent and severe wildfires can, in turn, accelerate climate change. We know that forests are vital carbon sinks, accumulating and storing carbon, and therefore, lowering the concentrations of CO₂ in the atmosphere. But when our forests burn, that does not just mean the loss of these precious carbon sinks, it also means the release of vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. These emissions are not always accounted for in our conversations and strategies to address climate change despite their significant environmental impacts.

It’s clearer than ever that we need to pursue new solutions and better ways to prepare for the fight against wildfires. We need to better utilize local and Indigenous knowledge, find ways of using all of the resources at our disposal — including private contractors, many of whom were available but left on the sidelines this year — and continue to work to tackle climate change so that devastating wildfire seasons on the scale of this year do not become the norm.

R. Russell: Thank you to the member for Cariboo-Chilcotin. I’m proud to stand in alignment with most of what he presented.

I’d like to reflect on just how far, also, we’ve come here in this chamber. Not too many election cycles ago, I think a statement titled “B.C. forests carbon sink” would likely have raised eyebrows and have been generally uninformative to most members, yet today, I think most of us know what this discussion is about. I think that’s something that we all should be proud of.

We had a sticker on the gas door of our family mini-van that read “fuelled by recycled dinosaurs.” It was something that I had seen on an oversized and over-lifted diesel pickup truck in Spokane some years ago, and given both the humour and the seriousness of the phrase — both applicable here today — I felt like we needed to have one ourselves.

I reflect on that sticker as we think about carbon and forests because it’s insightful. Our so-called fossil fuels are created from not exactly recycled dinosaurs but recycled bacteria, plankton, algae, trees and other life forms from millions and, indeed, billions of years ago.

Of course, fossil fuels are not renewable. Once they are gone, they’re gone. Over the last 200 years, we’ve been taking what were massive carbon storage sinks, billions upon billions of organisms compressed and cooked into crude oil and coal and gases, and burning them to release that carbon back into the atmosphere.

However, our boreal forests today mimic a part of that carbon cycle and sequester an enormous amount of carbon from our atmosphere. Quite literally, they create mass from thin air, converting atmospheric carbon dioxide into wood as well as other plants and soil life. It’s estimated that our B.C. forests contain six or seven billion tonnes of carbon stored as forest biomass. That’s a lot.

This would imply a carbon sink, but of course, as the member said, it depends what happens to that forest. If it’s ravaged by beetles and rots or if it’s burned by wildfires or if it’s turned into parking lots, much of that carbon is returned to the atmosphere. And thus, what has the potential to be a huge carbon storage for Canada, especially in the current context of enormous fires and beetle kills, can and is gradually shifting to a carbon source.

[10:55 a.m.]

To me, this is a shout from the rooftops kind of reminder that we need to be doing more to mitigate climate change, and we need to be doing more to help ensure our forests are managed with community value at the core of our decision-making.

When I think of forests and their role in carbon, I think of three necessary ingredients for success. Given my family’s propensity for road trips, I’ll use a road trip analogy.

First off being road maps and trip planning, making sure we’re heading in the right direction. Here this means minimizing the contribution to climate change and our greenhouse gas emissions and being sure we can do what-ever we can to lessen the likelihood of future wildfire and beetle outbreaks. To me, this is the beautiful complexity wrapped up in the B.C. government’s CleanBC program, a diverse set of tools to help us reduce our climate impact and make it easier for all British Columbians to do so.

Second, the rules of the road. Do we know how to do the right thing? Making sure we do a good job of changing how we think of disasters so that we’re not simply reactive, but we proactively take shared responsibility for reducing disaster risk. For this, I think of the massive energy dedicated to moving towards reworking the Emergency Program Act and the current shift in our government’s approach from mainly reaction to disaster to a cross-ministry focus at mutually reducing the risks of disaster and our shared responsibilities to do so.

Then, finally, design of the vehicle itself. How are we managing our forests? Making sure we’re stepping way back, recognizing that the context of forest management is vastly different now than it was in the past. As recommended by the old growth review last year, we need a paradigm shift in how we make decisions in our forests, celebrating community value and making sure our forests work well for our rural and First Nations communities, recognizing that local values hold dear outcomes, such as ecological health, professional and sustainable jobs, recreational opportunities and more, not simply shareholder revenue.

I could provide plenty of exciting examples, like the for­est carbon initiative, a long-term program launched by the government in 2017, or the low-carbon economy leadership fund, with millions invested by the province and the feds, but I don’t think that’s necessary.

I think more telling would be to echo a sentiment that I love and maybe use a little too much, framed by Desmond Tutu, to say: “At some point, we have to stop pulling people out of the river and go upstream to find out why they’re falling in.”

This impacts all of us, and while there is certainly a lot of work still to do, I’m proud of what we’re doing at this moment to help mitigate our climate impacts to change how we think of disasters and reduce their impacts and how we’re starting to reimagine how we should be managing our forests for the sake of community vibrancy, for the sake of rural jobs and for the sake of our ecological sustainability, with shareholder profit a collateral benefit, not the other way around.

L. Doerkson: Thanks to the member opposite for his comments.

This is an issue, in my mind, of collaboration. It will be absolutely vital going forward — collaboration between members of this House, between every level of government and, of course, between government and people on the ground.

It will take all hands on deck to solve these problems; to prevent the continued loss of biodiversity; to protect our forests, our wildlife, and, of course, our land; to ensure that our carbon sinks remain intact and our carbon emissions are reduced; and to ensure that people are kept safe and are able to live on their land for generations to come.

I mentioned it earlier, but I do think the approach to wildfire response must incorporate the knowledge and experience of our locals. They are the first line of defence for their properties and, of course, could be the first line of defence for our Crown lands as well.

They can do work on their own to prevent fires on their land, work that can be done in partnership with the province. They also know their land better than anyone else. They have a connection to it, for many, going back hundreds of years, and it’s one of the reasons why some people chose to stay behind despite the danger and risk.

In some cases, they don’t have insurance. In fact, in some cases, they can’t get insurance. Their property is all they have, and they will do anything they can to keep it safe. Others are concerned about historic buildings on their property that have been in their family for generations and are simply irreplaceable.

[11:00 a.m.]

We need to modernize and improve our approaches and the way information and alerts are communicated to our communities. In fact, we should be improving every aspect of how government communicates during disasters, both with those directly impacted by the disasters and those who are not.

We need to account for climate change and put more work into our fire prevention practices so that we can protect people and property as well as our environment. We need to learn from each new year and not just write reports. What we really need to do is implement them on the ground. It will take a lot of hard work, but it is most def­initely work worth doing, and I hope that every member of this House will join me in that work.

Hon. M. Dean: I ask that the House consider proceeding with Motion 16, standing in the name of the member for Vancouver-Kensington.

Deputy Speaker: Members, unanimous consent of the House is required to proceed to Motion 16 without disturbing the priorities of the motions preceding it on the order paper.

Leave granted.

Private Members’ Motions

MOTION 16 — CONTRIBUTIONS BY WOMEN
AND EQUALITY IN WORKFORCE

M. Elmore: I’m very pleased to rise and move a motion in the House.

[Be it resolved that this House recognize the contributions made by women working in traditionally male-dominated industries, now and throughout history, and support actions to remove barriers to equality in the workforce.]

We know the world and British Columbia need science, and science needs women and girls. We know that women have led groundbreaking research into public health, vaccine treatment, innovative technology and have been on the front lines of this global COVID-19 pandemic, and their responses as scientists, health care workers and more have been critical. Yet we know that the gender and diversity inequality gap in science and technology holds women back. We know that women, racialized people are underrepresented in these industries.

We are at a critical time in terms of…. We know the COVID-19 pandemic is poised to widen the existing gen­der disparities. We must act to ensure that we keep women in career pipelines in STEAM — science, technology, engineering, art design and mathematics.

October is Women’s Herstory Month, and we’re going to recognize the great contributions that women have made. It’s critical that we recognize these contributions in science. We must dismantle stereotypes, defeat discrimination and really disrupt institutionalized misogyny and racism that put up these barriers.

We know that representation is important, and inclusion, to ensure that space is made for all people to be heard. In terms of the importance of ensuring that young girls are provided with the opportunity to consider themselves and to consider careers in STEAM…. It is important right through the early years, through elementary, through high school, through post-secondary and also into their careers.

[N. Letnick in the chair.]

We know, as well, that in terms of the importance of having women represented fully in these fields and also in leadership, it is a challenge. In terms of barriers that women experience, their critical role in terms of creativity, critical thinking, being able to address complex problem-solving — these are critical skills. Increasing the numbers and visibility of women and underrepresented groups in these areas is so critical. We know, as well, that labour market segregation along gender lines leads to lower innovation and that the lack of gender diversity also impacts the bottom line.

Our government recognizes Women’s Herstory Month. Our government is committed, as well, in terms of ensuring right across the board around…. There’s a critical role for government in terms of policy to ensure that there are equal opportunities through education programs, providing these opportunities.

[11:05 a.m.]

We heard an earlier statement in terms of providing support for $10-a-day child care for early learning and care for children. That’s critical. A commitment, as well, to providing opportunities right across the board and really proactively supporting industries to be able to hire women in non-traditional roles. Community benefits agreements are one of those initiatives.

As well, we really need to address, to build on the great foundations and the history and the contributions of women throughout history to lay the foundation to move forward and ensure that barriers are removed, and we can have full participation.

We need, when we navigate the future…. I think our province…. Certainly British Columbia is poised to face the complex challenges — the questions of climate change, artificial intelligence, big data, certainly, the challenges that are coming towards us. Achieving equity in STEAM throughout this sector, throughout society, is critical and crucial. It’s in the best interest of society.

When we reflect on…. I’m looking forward to hearing the other remarks from my colleagues here, in terms of marking October as Women’s History Month. The dedication and commitment right across the aisle, moving forward, to address systemic barriers and really disrupting institutionalized racism, really disrupting misogyny — this benefits all of us and leads to a brighter future for all of us here in British Columbia.

S. Bond: I want to begin by thanking my colleague from Vancouver-Kensington for moving the motion today.

I appreciate having the opportunity to speak in favour of what is an important motion: that our House recognize the contribution of women in traditionally male-dominated industries now and throughout history and talking about how we support actions to remove barriers to equality in the workforce.

Today is a most appropriate day to have this discussion, because today we recognize and reflect on the fact that it is Persons Day. October 18 marks the 92nd anniversary of the historic decision to include women in the legal definition of persons by Canada’s highest Court of Appeal.

It’s important to note that while this was a landmark decision, that decision did not include all women, excluding Indigenous women and women of Asian heritage. Not surprisingly, it was five women, known as the Famous Five, that launched a legal challenge ultimately leading to a decision that changed the face of equality rights in our country. On October 18, 1929, Lord Sankey, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, announced the decision: “The exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours. And to all those who would ask why the word ‘person’ should include females, the obvious answer is: why should it not?” Why should it not, indeed.

When I first became an MLA, only 56 women had ever been elected to serve in our parliament. I became number 57. While I’m incredibly proud of that accomplishment, it is important to look at the context. I was number 57, and there had been 703 men elected.

Since that time, we have seen more women than ever elected to serve their constituents and to serve in this House. The total number of female MLAs elected now numbers 130 — women who are talented, who bring their strengths, their perspectives and their experience to the work we do together. Progress, yes — but definitely more to do.

Today, on Persons Day and with this motion in front of us, it’s not hard to think about a trail-blazer who entered our workplace as the only female, and that is, of course, Mary Ellen Smith. Mary Ellen took her seat in the chamber in January of 1918 as the only woman, the first female MLA to ever serve, just two years after some women earned the right to vote in our province. She laid the groundwork for people like me and 128 others to become MLAs. She took the first step on a path that would eventually see a woman elected Premier of British Columbia.

Mary Ellen Smith paved the way for young women to see themselves as politicians and leaders, and that took courage. And Mr. Speaker, as she first rose to speak in this House, one of your predecessors had the audacity to ask her to remove her hat. But she didn’t let that distraction stop her from doing the important work of a legislator. She introduced a bill that established a minimum wage for women and quickly became a champion of women’s issues and establishing equal recognition for women in B.C. politics.

[11:10 a.m.]

Decades later we have seen trail-blazers and role models in places like B.C.’s growing technology sector, our vital forestry industry, our medical schools, on construction projects. The list goes on.

As leaders and elected officials, we have a responsibility to do more than simply encourage young women to work in traditionally male-dominated sectors. We need to ensure that gaps and barriers are identified and that we consider policy changes that provide the necessary support and resources.

In fact, today we could take that action. As every member in this House knows, my colleague from Surrey has tabled a bill that talks about equity in pay. That’s an im­portant opportunity for us have a conversation.

It’s not enough to simply encourage. In fact, what we need to do is take specific concrete steps that make a difference, that make sure that young women in British Columbia and across our country have every possible opportunity to be the best that they can possibly be, to experience all of the opportunities. And in fact, it’s a matter of opportunity. It’s a matter of taking action.

We have the opportunity to do that here in the Legislature. My question is: why not today?

B. D’Eith: I rise today in support of the motion brought by the member for Vancouver-Kensington. I would like to thank her very much for making the motion during Women’s History Month, particularly dealing with women’s access to male-dominated industries.

If we look at the facts, we have nearly half of the current labour force — that’s 1.2 million people — that are women, and 39 percent of self-employed are women. That’s 178,000. We also know that by 2029, there are going to be 860,000 job openings anticipated. So in order to keep B.C.’s economy diverse and strong and growing, we really need to look at women’s participation, particularly in male-dominated industries.

There are a few things that we know as well — that the majority of the jobs that women have are part-time, minimum wage or lower-paid work. They also face a lot of barriers due to things like child care, which was brought up earlier.

We are tackling the child care crisis. I’m very pleased to hear about our movement towards universal child care. We are embracing that. We’re providing skills training, access to skills and good-paying jobs for women in non-traditional fields. For example, the community benefits agreement, for select large infrastructure projects, will help to grow the number of women in skilled trades.

We’re also doing our part to make gender equity a priority across government and empowering women. As the previous speaker said, we just have to look at politics and walk down the hall in our Legislature and see the pictures. You can see that all of the pictures, up to a certain point, were men, which is completely unacceptable if you think about it in today’s context.

We look at someone like Rosemary Brown. It was 1972, which really isn’t that long ago. She was the first Black woman to sit in this House. It took until 2016, which is only a couple years ago, when the Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport was elected as the first Indigenous woman and the first to be in cabinet. Now over half of our government caucus is women, and half of our cabinet are women. I’m very, very proud of that.

When I grew up there were jobs that young boys were considered to pursue: trades, being a astronaut, being a fireman or a policeman. These were considered male jobs. The names themselves contained the bias. While we have changed the names to firefighter or police officer, there’s still a long history of these jobs being assumed to be men. Right now in Canada, about 34 percent of the police forces are women, and about 34 percent — the same — are paramedics. But only 5 percent are firefighters. So we obviously have a long way to go with this particular issue.

[11:15 a.m.]

In fact, that’s what I wanted to speak about today. I am very pleased that we have Amy Tai from the Victoria Fire Fighters and Haida Fortier, who’s assistant chief, in the chamber today.

I really wanted to speak about my own daughter’s experience going into becoming a paid, on-call firefighter. Of course, when she started out, she was taking a degree in kinesiology. She was interested in having a physical job of some kind, and she was drawn to look at firefighting. She registered for a women-in-firefighting seminar. Of course, that was cancelled because of COVID. I had mentioned it to one of our friends, Chris McKee from Maple Ridge fire, and he said: “Well, you know, we’re recruiting right now.”

She showed up for recruiting and went through the whole, very tough process. And of the 18 recruits that were chosen, 17 were men, and she was the only woman. She not only did well — she excelled, and she loved it. So now she’s a paid, on-call firefighter, and she worked incredibly hard for that.

I did want to say that a couple of things happened. They have Wednesday nights, where they all go out and have the fire trucks out. They dress in their uniforms. The girls just swarmed her, because they were so excited to see a female firefighter. So I’m really pleased about that.

I’m also pleased that we can see that departments are really starting to embrace women. In the future, I hope that when I have grandchildren, a granddaughter — and Amy, there’s no rush — one day I will hear: “I want to be a firefighter like my mom.”

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Dad.

Congratulations to Amy.

Cariboo North.

C. Oakes: Thank you very much, hon. Speaker, for the opportunity to rise today to this very important motion.

The university environment has undergone major changes over the past five decades, and we currently have gender parity in terms of student enrolment. But we don’t see it in the ranks of the professorate, particularly at the level of full professor and senior administration. This is just one area of leadership where women continue to be underrepresented, and it’s a major problem.

To be among the world’s innovation leaders, we must create, among other things, a talent bank of researchers and institutions that recognize and contribute to top-quality research and development. In the process of knowledge creation, it is important to consider how research is understood and how research is prioritized.

I recommend to members of this House to review the report Strengthening Canada’s Research Capacity: The Gen­der Dimension. It notes:

“Besides educating millions of students, these researchers and innovators are working to address the major issues Canada faces in the 21st century, including climate change, demographic shifts, health care, social inequality, sustainable natural resources management, cultural survival, as well as the role Canada plays on the international stage…In the knowledge economy, a talent pool of Canada’s top thinkers, researchers and innovators is needed to help secure and build Canada’s economic edge. The wider the pool is from which to draw, the more perspectives, experiences and ideas will be brought to the creative process.”

Layer onto this the context of the global pandemic that we are currently living in and the incredible role that researchers and innovators are playing every single day. On behalf of all of us in this House, we want to thank those researchers and innovators in British Columbia.

Despite women having a majority representation among the enrolled students, they only represent 32.6 percent of faculty. Of that, only 14.8 percent are faculty in STEM disciplines. At the professorate ranks — the assistant, associate and full professor, the traditionally tenured positions with research components — more women hold the assistant and associate professor positions than men. Men disproportionately hold the high­est, coveted positions of full professor.

Women are also a minority representation within levels of senior academic administration, like vice-president and associate vice-president positions.

[11:20 a.m.]

There exists a salary gap that cannot be explained by age or rank alone. Even at the full professor level, women, at best, make 95 percent of what men do. This impacts pension and lifetime earnings. Women researchers tend to be concentrated with certain disciplines, usually the ones that aren’t financially prioritized by governments. When the government sets its research priorities, it may inadvertently disadvantage women because they are less represented in these fields.

Acknowledging inequality and taking proactive steps to ensure equity are two different things. For Canada to maximize its research potential, we must look at why women continue to be underrepresented in certain fields in university faculties and in senior administration positions. Just as there are many challenges due to the dynamic na­ture of the social and the institutional systems that women researchers encounter through their life course, so are there several opportunities for progress.

Thirty-seven years ago, after Justice Abella released Equality in Employment — a royal commission report which emphasized the importance of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, an earnings and salary gap remains. The panel concluded that this persistent disparity impedes the progress of women in university research because it indicates that women researchers are not valued equally to men.

It is not right in a post-secondary setting, and it’s not right in society at large. To all members of the House, my colleague has a very important bill, a private member’s bill that she has tabled. I implore the House to please consider and call this very important bill.

B. Bailey: I rise to support the motion: “Be it resolved that this House recognize the contributions made by wo­men working in traditionally male-dominated industries now, and throughout history, and support actions to remove barriers to equality in the workforce.”

Specifically, I rise to speak on the issue of women in technology here in British Columbia. Rather than ask why this problem continues to exist, I’m highlighting the reasons it’s imperative to have more women leading and participating in the B.C. tech sector, and then will draw your attention to some of the extraordinary women who are leading in our sector here in B.C.

Technical innovation plays, or will play, a crucial role in every sector of our province. Currently we have more unfilled jobs in tech than graduates able to fill those roles, and the number of those positions held by women continues to be disproportionately low. This government is committed to addressing this. We’ve added more seats in post-secondary for tech roles. We funded the innovator skills initiative, or ISI, at $15 million and, with partnership funding, have brought it to $29 million, for 3,000 underrepresented folks to get their first job in tech.

Both our Parliamentary Secretary for Tech — myself — and the innovation commissioner, Dr. Gerri Sinclair, are women. These are specific, concrete steps. The underrepresentation of women in tech is not a new topic, and even though progress has been made, change is moving at an extremely slow pace. This issue will become a fundamental economic challenge for our economy if unaddressed. Why? Diversity generates more revenue. Research from Boston Consulting Group, from McKinsey and many others shows that compared to their peers, highly gender-diverse companies deliver better returns, and they have outperformed, on average, less diverse companies, when compared over the last five years.

Also, by nature, interacting with a diverse team forces individuals to prepare better and anticipate alternative viewpoints. Further, what kind of tech do female minds create that male minds might not? More worrisome, and something that I’ve highlighted in this House before: not having women and people of colour, folks with diverse abilities, at the table has led to tech that is not designed for them, for us.

[11:25 a.m.]

By celebrating female tech leaders, we encourage more girls to pursue their interests and careers in tech, thus increasing access to talent and innovation. When you bring women into senior roles, you demonstrate that a woman leading in tech is normal and achievable, and it opens the door for other women to enter the room.

While we still struggle to get to parity — in fact, we’re only at about 20 percent women in the sector, in general — B.C. does have exceptional female leaders. I pulled a list of leaders from the writing of tech journalist William Johnson and supplemented it with a few of my own. Here are 25 inspiring leaders for the young women interested in careers in tech to follow. In fact, if you’re a mom or a dad, I encourage you to sit down at LinkedIn, follow these folks, and point out to your children the extraordinary work that they are doing every day in our province.

These are in no particular order. Véronique Lecault, who is the chief operating officer at AbCellera. Kirsten Sutton is the chief technology and innovation officer at Vancity. Denise Williams, CEO at the First Nations Tech Council. Nerissa Allen, president at the Black Business Association of B.C. Jeanne-Marie Owens, VP of operations at Phoenix Labs. Dr. Annette Rosik, chief science officer at Terramera. Jeanette Jackson, CEO at Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre. Eleena Marley is CEO at Vancouver Economic Commission; congratulations on that change, Eleena.

Kim Kaplan, a former executive at Plenty of Fish and now the founder and CEO at Snack. Stephanie Hollingshead, CEO of HR Tech Group, doing great work in diversity, equity and inclusion. Christy Wyatt, CEO at Absolute Software. Sue Paish, CEO at Canada’s Digital Supercluster. Jill Tipping, CEO of the B.C. Tech Association. Dr. Elicia Maine, special adviser on innovation to the vice president of research at SFU. Angie Schick, executive director at New Ventures B.C. Wendy Hurlburt, president and CEO, LifeSciences B.C.

I’ll take a moment to say I want to thank those….

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Member.

B. Bailey: Thank you, sir.

K. Kirkpatrick: I rise today to speak in favour of this motion and about a few of the women I am proud to know, who have built careers in non-traditional fields — of the barriers they faced and that they continue to face today.

Innovative technologies in concrete is not a traditional place to find women, yet Kari Yuers has built the company that her father founded, Kryton International, into a global leader in technology and innovation in sustainable concrete construction. Barack Obama probably described her company best in a July 2009 speech on new technologies when he spoke of it and said: “New concrete materials that last longer are waterproof from the inside out, and that can mean that bridges and roads and buildings can last 20 or 30 years longer than using conventional concrete.” Kryton has become a global leader under Kari, and products have been included in local infrastructure, like the Vancouver Convention Centre and historic builds like the construction of One World Trade Centre.

Now the tech sector in B.C. employs more workers than oil, gas, mining and forestry combined, yet less than 5 percent of CEOs in tech in Canada are women. Laurie Schultz — a transformational CEO who built a risk-management software company and built it into a B.C. success story — is among them. In 2011, she took over as CEO of a tech company whose sales had flatlined. Laurie’s innovation led that company to be recognized as one of Canada’s Top Employers, Most Admired Cultures and Best Managed Companies. In 2021, she sold that business, Galvanize, for $1 billion U.S., making it the first B.C. and Canadian unicorn led by a female.

When Lisa Tuningley tells you she still likes to play with trains, she’s serious. The founder and CEO of T-RAIL, a company that provides innovative renewal rail-track materials to railway companies across the globe, Lisa is on a mission to attract women into engineering technologies and will speak about this whenever and wherever she can.

[11:30 a.m.]

Thirty years ago pulp and paper and shipping were unlikely places to find a woman executive. Lois Nahirney was the CIO of Fletcher Challenge, the executive vice president of Teekay Shipping and now the founder and CEO of dnaPower. Among many volunteer pursuits, Lois co-founded We For She to improve the economic opportunities for girls across British Columbia.

Now there are so many incredible women of B.C. who have made success in traditionally male sectors. Many of these women contributed to British Columbia through the previous Premier’s Women’s Economic Council, which helped guide progressive policies for women-led organizations to make them competitive locally, federally and globally.

Knowing I was responding to this motion, I called a few of these women over the last week to ask what the barriers were that they’d like me to share here. This is what I’ve heard.

We can start with gender role assumptions and misogyny. It’s harder for women to raise equity, harder for women to move into senior executive roles, become CEOs and get paid board roles. Pay equity remains a huge issue. That continuing unconscious bias where women still feel often isolated, where they felt criticized and hard to be heard…. There was often a culture of drinking, which was exclusionary. Historical recruitment and networking methods were often carried out in the back room of a private men’s club.

Ongoing, increasing red tape at a time when small and medium-sized business owners, many of whom are wo­men, need help and a reduction in red tape and costs to keep their businesses going…. These women expressed frustration in seeing the ongoing layering on of taxes. Then there’s the critical talent in recruitment and retention. The challenges when hiring and retaining staff is a theme across all sectors, but recruiting women to building technology and rail technology is particularly difficult.

Factoring in the high cost of housing, B.C.’s personal income tax regime adds to the challenge of attracting and developing the talent they need. So let’s not lose these amazing women leaders and their contributions by putting up barriers to their personal success and their economic success.

I will finish with my favourite subject. Women, regardless of the career they have chosen, need access to affordable and flexible child care. So quality child care will not only help a child thrive and be their best, but it will also help a woman to do the same thing.

A. Mercier: Speaking about male-dominated industries, I can’t think of a single industry that is more stereotypically male-dominated than the construction industry and the trades in British Columbia and in Canada. The tradeswomen that I know — the tradeswomen throughout B.C. right now, working on construction sites — are some of the strongest, most resilient women that have overcome more barriers than about anyone else that I know.

It’s important that we address this, not just for the moral reasons. Frankly, economically, we’re facing a real skills crisis in this country. So 73,000 job openings are going to occur in the skilled trades over the next ten years — 55,800 in the construction trades. Women currently make up less than 5 percent of tradespeople. Less than 5 percent. They make up 10½ percent of apprentices, and that number is growing, but there’s a retention problem there once women get through their apprenticeships.

When you speak to tradeswomen, it’s not hard to understand the issues, the adversity and the barriers that they face. Women have to be ten times as good as men on construction sites to be taken as credible. I have been told that time and time again by tradeswomen. They invest years to make sure that the men around them understand that they know what they’re talking about, that they are experts in their field and that they are respected. Yet, still, women journeypeople will have new people coming onto site — customers, journeypeople from different trades — going to speak to their apprentices instead of going to speak to them as the journeypeople, as the experts on the issues.

That creates a real mobility issue, where you find tradeswomen forgoing career opportunities because they spent so much time building up that credibility that they don’t want to go and start again. These are real barriers that we need to surmount.

That’s not even talking about the issue of bathrooms and the countless stories that I have heard from tradeswomen about having to change a tampon in a port-a-potty used by 200 men that might be cleaned once a week.

[11:35 a.m.]

We wonder how come more women aren’t attracted into the trades. These are all issues that we need to address and that we are addressing.

I want to take a moment and talk about some of these tradeswomen and share their stories, because they’re about the most remarkable group of women that I’ve ever met.

There’s Sandra Brynjolfson, who in the late ’90s, living in the West End, was in her mid-30s and decided she wanted to embark on a different career. She took a foundations electrical course at BCIT. She dallied with the idea of being a police officer, decided on electrical work. But she ended up as a foreperson for her contractor and also working with the police, helping them identify electrical diversions for grow ops. So here she was, initially thinking she wanted to be a police officer, and she ended up still doing that type of work through the trades. There are many different routes you can take.

There’s Ashley Duncan, a red seal insulator, who currently, now, is working at JFJV Fluor at LNG Canada as the coordinator for diversity, equity and inclusivity. I can’t say enough good things about Ashley and the role and mentorship she’s playing for women on a project that I’m very proud of — LNG Canada — because our government helped land that investment and helped secure the investment decision. In 2019, we joined with LNG Canada in launching Your Place, a program that is removing barriers for women in the industry.

There’s my friend Chelsea French, a foreperson mechanic who is leading the way, mentoring a group of 20 mechanics, including apprentices; and my friend Raven Hillenbrand, a tradeswoman from the Gitxaała Nation, who came down to the Lower Mainland, signed up for a women in trades course at UAPIC, the UA local 170’s plumbing school. UAPIC provided child care and transportation, so she was able to do the work to get her craft. Now she’s a red seal plumber, a class B gas fitter, and she’s apprenticing her son, which is just phenomenal.

I don’t think it’s a mistake that all of these women are now in mentorship roles. What I take to heart from that is that the next generation of women aren’t going to face…. They may face the same barriers, but it won’t be so lonely. There are more women that they can turn to in the trades, as mentors. There’s more work that we have to do as a government and also as a Legislature and as a society to help remove those barriers.

R. Merrifield: Well, I was privileged to have a father who told me that I could be anything and do anything. The only limitations were my dreams and the amount of hard work that I put towards them. They were the canvas of the change-making that I could do.

Yes, I dreamed. As a young girl, I wanted to cure cancer or solve the AIDS crisis in Africa. As an older woman, I actually dreamt about creating great jobs and innovating.

Fast forward 15 years, and I was a tear-stained face of a 23-year-old, walking out of a bank after being told that I would not qualify for a commercial loan without getting a male co-signer, like my father or my husband. For whatever reason, even in that moment, standing on Bernard Avenue in the middle of downtown Kelowna, I knew that if I stopped pressing forward, if I gave up, it would be that much more difficult for all women behind me.

Even today less money is loaned to female entrepreneurs, less equity is available to female companies, despite female-run companies posting higher profitability numbers and being more sustainable in their focus. They also have fewer bankruptcies.

Now, when I moved to the Okanagan, I was seven months pregnant, so suffice to say there was an elephant in the room during my job interviews. Even trying to hide this massive belly, the question usually came up: “How far along are you?” But I had a ton of debt, a lot of dreams, and survival was a must. So while I was working for other companies as a waitress, drama teacher, insurance salesperson, property manager and land agent, I began to think of the company I would form, if I, one day, had the opportunity.

[11:40 a.m.]

I dreamt of a company that was more diverse and had opportunities for all, one that was based around a vision and values and would actually empower people, all the while working towards common goals. I remember the day well, launch day, the day where I got to launch not only Troika but also construction companies, the day that I got to tell all of my other contracts that I was going out on my own.

Well, one of the owners of one of those companies de­cided to give me somewhat of a farewell blessing, in which he told me I would never, ever be as good a business person as he was. Eager to learn — and obviously, if I had a shortcoming, I wanted to know about it — I asked why. He shrugged and said: “Because you’re a woman.”

I never thought about being the only woman, whether it was in a meeting, around a boardroom table or on a job site, but I was not alone in being judged for my gender. There are many in the construction industry that are unfairly treated just because they are women. So if you want a change, be the difference.

I knew that if I wanted to change the industry, I had to start with the company — not with becoming more masculine but embracing femininity as a strength. As G.D. Anderson said: “Feminism isn’t about making women strong. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.”

I ended up in this room because I considered it part of my destiny to blaze a path to make it easier for women. I wanted to make sure that I was pushing the envelope forward, clearing the way for others and championing those that deserved and needed opportunity — to use my strength to make space for other women like me trying to make their way in male-dominated industries, to use opportunities to fuel their opportunities.

Maya Angelou has a great quote: “Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it, possibly without claiming it, she stands up for all women.” Whether it was creating gender-neutral bathrooms on jobsites, safe working environments where no one need to fear harassment, supporting flexible schedules for all parents, making sure that we supported child care needs for our staff, educational opportunities for all employees, equal pay or looking for paths forward for women that didn’t even know they existed, the goal was to increase parity and to make sure that all genders had opportunities.

Talk is cheap. Action is everything. Call the bill. That’s action we can take today.

J. Brar: I seek leave to make an introduction.

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

J. Brar: Visiting us today are four special guests from Pakistan. Mr. Muhammad Ejaz is an assistant advocate general, Punjab, Lahore High Court, Pakistan. He is accompanied by his wife, Erum Ejaz, his son Muhammad Ayam and his daughter Inaya Ejaz.

I’ll ask the House to please make them feel welcome.

Debate Continued

J. Routledge: I rise to speak in favour of the motion: “Be it resolved that this House recognize the contributions made by women working in traditionally male-dominated industries, now and throughout history, and support ac­tions to remove barriers to equality in the workforce.”

When I was a young woman working my way through university, I soon learned that there were barriers to my participation in the workforce. My male friends were getting summer jobs in construction or the oilfields, making two or three times the wages that we women were making in the only summer jobs open to us, like waitressing or retail. Yet our tuition, our books, our rent, our food cost just as much as theirs did.

Good-paying, male-dominated jobs are less exclusive today, and we owe that fact to women trailblazers who challenged tradition, sometimes at great personal cost — financial, emotional and even physical.

[11:45 a.m.]

I want to tell you the story of one such woman. Bonnie Robichaud was hired as a cleaner at Canadian Forces Base North Bay in 1977. After having worked at several low-paying jobs, she was delighted to get this one. It was unionized with decent pay and benefits. But her supervisor soon started sexually harassing her. She tried to avoid him. She told him to stop. But he made it clear that if she wanted to keep her job, she needed to submit to his advances.

Bonnie was trapped. She was still on probation. She needed that job. Her family, including her husband and five children between the ages of six and 11, were depending on her income. So she was forced to endure it.

When her probation period was up, Bonnie swore she would never again submit to his harassment, so she made a formal complaint to the Department of National Defence. They laughed at her, and they rejected her grievance. Her union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, tried to dissuade her, and she was shunned at her workplace.

Taking advantage of the power imbalance, her harasser threatened to sue her for slander, and he did. Bonnie suf­fered the added indignity of having to describe the details of her harasser’s anatomy and what his underwear looked like to prove she wasn’t lying. She was asked to confirm that her children were not born out of wedlock.

Bonnie did not give up. She filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which referred it to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, because they had jurisdiction over federal worksites. During this time, she was placed on leave without pay for infractions she remembers as setups.

Bonnie’s complaint was rejected by the Human Rights Tribunal, and still she did not give up. She appealed the decision to a review tribunal, then to the Federal Court of Appeal and finally to the Supreme Court of Canada. Her employer fought her every step of the way.

Bonnie was very much alone when she began her long battle for justice, except for the encouragement of her family. But throughout the ten years it took her to get to the Supreme Court, support began to grow. She created a newsletter. She spoke at Public Service Alliance women’s conferences. She was championed by the women’s committees that were emerging all over the country in her union. Women mobilized to pressure her union, their union, to take on her fight.

Bonnie Robichaud won at the Supreme Court. As a result of her courage and persistence, sexual harassment is now legally recognized as an unsafe working condition, and employers are held accountable if they fail to take preventive and corrective measures. It is because of Bonnie Robichaud that workplaces like this one, the B.C. Legislature, a workplace one might be justified in calling a traditionally male-dominated industry, has implemented a respectful workplace policy and procedure.

Let me conclude by quoting Supreme Court Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dubé: “Bonnie is my hero.”

S. Cadieux: I take my place today to speak on the motion: “Be it resolved that this House recognize the contributions made by women working in traditionally male-dominated industries, now and throughout history, and support actions to remove barriers to equality in the workplace.”

It’s an important topic on any day, but perhaps most especially important and appropriate today on Persons Day, because in 1929, a day was marked where key progress was made — not equality, but progress on the path to equal rights for women.

Women and girls represent half the world’s population — actually, a little more than half and therefore a little more than half of the world’s potential. Unfortunately, though, gender equality is still something we’re striving for. We haven’t achieved it. That’s especially so in fields like science, math, engineering and more traditionally male-dominated industries.

[11:50 a.m.]

I am pleased to remember that, like the member for Kelowna-Mission, my father instilled in me that girls could do anything. In fact, he encouraged me to follow in a non-traditional career path. He encouraged tugboat captain or air traffic controller or engineer. I ended up as a politician, which I don’t think was on his list but probably still counts.

I know many other women who are blazing trails: Elenore Sturko, with the Surrey RCMP; Shelley Morris, the assistant fire chief for Surrey; my friend Shar Calder, who is a commercial airline pilot; Courtney Crowson, who’s an engineer with Hydro; Lisa Langevin, who’s an electrician now working with the ITA to increase the number of women in trades.

New firsts are still happening. This past weekend the first all-female officiating team worked the BCHL game between the south Surrey Eagles and the Langley Rivermen. Yet from vaccine development to front-line care, women this past year have not only significantly contributed to their communities; they’ve changed the face of science. It’s with their example that we look to changing the face of industries in our province to reflect a more equal society.

However, the pandemic has also served to highlight the gender gaps that still exist. Not only did the pandemic highlight industries where women are less likely to be found in the workplace; women were also disproportionately impacted by job losses and the economic turndown. As we look towards economic recovery, women need to play a key role, and it’s important that ensuring equal pay is a part of that. Until the gender pay gap is closed, our true equity in our economy and in our communities can’t be achieved.

I’ve introduced equal pay legislation four times in this House, but the Premier and his government refused to bring it for debate. Last fall during the snap election, the Premier pledged to finally take action on equal pay. A full year later, government-sponsored legislation is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps it was just a political stunt.

Legislation I tabled would require businesses of a prescribed size to report out on the pay gap they have between male and female employees. It’s a change to previous versions of the bill, because government refused to call those on disagreement that the threshold with which businesses would become subject to the act was there.

With no more excuses and a seemingly light legislative agenda ahead of us this fall session, I look forward to the government calling the bill for debate today. While work needs to be done across all sectors in British Columbia to ensure inclusive workplaces, I believe that this work should begin here in the Legislature by taking action, not just recognizing the changes that need to be made. The government must move beyond merely acknowledging that there’s a problem and take some real steps towards achieving greater equality and opportunity, because in 2021, it’s long overdue.

M. Starchuk: I rise here in the House today in support of the motion made by the member for Vancouver-Kensington.

We’ve heard many stories of women in the male-dominated industries. My story today, during Women’s History Month, is that of a west coast pioneer, Ada Annie Jordan. Ada was born June 19, 1888, in Sacramento, California. After stops all over the globe, her family finally settled in Vancouver, in 1909. That same year, Ada was married, in September, to Willie Rae-Arthur. He was 36; she was 21. Their first child was born later in September of the next year, the second one 16 months after that. Then 19 months after, the third child came, in October of 1913.

Early in the 1900s, Vancouver’s Chinatown was known for their opium dens. Unfortunately, Willie was attracted to those opium dens and soon found himself not wanting to go to work. Willie’s doctor told Ada that his drinking and his drugs were endangering his life. The doctor also said: “Willie, you must remove yourself from all temptation.”

Ada decided to move from Vancouver to a remote piece of wilderness on the west coast of Vancouver Island, north of Tofino, called Boat Basin. In 1915, they packed up their three children and everything they had to make this journey. On June 9th of 1915, Ada and Willie put in an application to pre-empt land in Boat Basin. The maximum area for pre-emption was 160 acres, and the land had to be used for agricultural purposes — ALR uses before the ALR was ever established. Interesting.

[11:55 a.m.]

The odds of altering lands like this into a garden were dismal. But this is where, with strength and fortitude, Ada begins to change the landscape literally. Imagine, if you will, using whipsaws to clear a five-acre piece of land so that you can start your gardens in a rainforest. Imagine the ingenuity Ada would have to come up with to provide earnings and food for her family to survive. Imagine those next 16 years, where Ada would give birth to eight more children, and unfortunately, three would not survive.

This is the point in time that people started recognizing Ada with a legendary name. For the first eight years in Boat Basin, Ada was working the lands while Willie tended to the children. Ada cleared these five acres, stumps and all, and was soon producing fruit and vegetables. She was raising chickens, goats, pigs, rabbits and guinea pigs for a hospital in Vancouver.

When she first arrived, she had visions of a plant and bulb nursery. Ada had begun growing dahlias, roses and a host of bulbs and tubers. She opened up a general store and a post office. These three enterprises were essential in helping to transform this stump farm into a very original working garden.

I will take a step back, with regards to Ada and her legendary name. As you can imagine, with livestock such as chickens and goats and pigs on the property, there were predators that were looking for a free meal. Cougars were plenty on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

What I failed to mention at the beginning was that Ada was an excellent shot, and having good aim with a shotgun was necessary to keep the cougars from killing her stock. Often Ada would take the cougar pelts to the local market for sale, and it was at that time, Ada now became Cougar Annie. There have been all kinds of stories about the numbers of cougars that she dispatched while protecting her farm interests.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Unfortunately, in July of 1936, Willie died, and his death certificate indicated an accidental drowning. Willie was buried at Cougar Annie’s gardens, near the back gate, not far from the graves of three of Cougar Annie’s infant children.

Cougar Annie would go on to outlive three other husbands. Husband No. 2 is where the legend of Cougar Annie becomes somewhat mythical. The records indicate that his death was accidental, and the cause was described as: he was cleaning his rifle. Some will say that that’s physically impossible, nevertheless, as time passes, the truth will slowly fade away.

As her eyesight faded, her marksmanship faded as well. She made two trips to Vancouver for cataract surgery. It was during these two trips that I had the opportunity to meet her. The first time was when I was in high school. She looked at my hands and commented that I didn’t have the hands of somebody that worked hard. The second time I met her, I was in college, and she was truly appreciative of the fact that I was getting an education that would better my life.

I know I didn’t mention it earlier but Cougar Annie was my great-grandmother. As a five-year-old, I remember lying in bed at my grandmother’s house, looking up at the attic ceiling and seeing one of those cougars mounted with big glass eyes and a mouth wide open, showing its fangs. How I ever slept is still a mystery to me.

Today the homes, the post office, the very sheds and garden structures are weathered from rains and the winds of the west coast. Peter Buckland bought the land from Cougar Annie in 1981. In exchange, he would care for her in her final years. Peter has preserved these gardens with pride. The gardens of Cougar Annie will, hopefully, continue on forever.

Last month my partner and I toured the gardens with Peter, and we learned a few more things about my great-grandmother, and so did he. If you go to boatbasin.org, you’ll see a society has been formed to help protect and maintain the gardens that my great-grandmother Ada Annie began 106 years ago. Today I proudly stand in the House and share my story of my great-grandmother.

M. Starchuk moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. M. Dean moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

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

The House adjourned at 11:59 a.m.