Routine Business

Prayers and reflections: M. Dykeman.

Introductions by Members

Hon. H. Bains: In the gallery today is a joint delegation of Unifor and Domtar mill: Bob Stephens, vice-president, Unifor Local 10-B; Sheldon Morice, vice-president, Unifor Local 10-B; Jean-Claude Allaire, general manager, Kamloops pulp mill; Tom Hoffman, manager of forestland and fibre; Kristin Dangelmaier, technical quality and environment manager; Stephanie Blier, human resources manager; and Bonny Skene, regional public affairs manager.

Please help me give them a very warm welcome.

[10:05 a.m.]

T. Stone: I, too, would like to join in welcoming this joint delegation from Unifor and the Kamloops Domtar pulp mill, on behalf of the member for Kamloops–North Thompson and myself. Domtar is a major employer. In fact, the pulp mill in Kamloops has been there for decades, a huge contributor to the local economy and the community generally, currently employing 317 folks in the mill, with about 1,500 direct and indirect jobs. We’re very appreciative of everyone that works with and for Domtar.

With us for meetings today with the government and with the opposition are Bob Stephens, vice-president of Unifor Local 10-B; Sheldon Morice, vice-president of Unifor Local 10-B — who, I understand, was actually a pretty darned good centreman on the hockey team with the member for Kamloops–North Thompson; Jean-Claude Allaire, the general manager of the Kamloops pulp mill; Tom Hoffman, the manager of forestland and fibre; Kristin Dangelmaier, the technical quality and environment manager; Stephanie Blier, human resources manager; and Bonny Skene, the regional public affairs manager.

Would the House please make this joint delegation very welcome.

Hon. M. Dean: The only United World College in Can­ada is Pearson College, in beautiful, rural Metchosin, and today we’re blessed with having 11 students from grades 11 to 12 here visiting. They’re here today with their teacher, Michelle Moon.

Would everybody please make them very welcome.

Introduction and
First Reading of Bills

BILL 24 — ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
AMENDMENT ACT, 2021

Hon. G. Heyman presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Environmental Management Amendment Act, 2021.

Hon. G. Heyman: I move that the bill be introduced and read a first time now.

This bill proposes enabling amendments to the Environmental Management Act to establish provincewide bans on the sale, distribution or use of prescribed single-use and short-term products, to apply fees and alternatives to single-use products, where necessary, and/or require that businesses make items available only by request. This authority would be in addition to existing authority to make regulations prohibiting or restricting the use and nature of specified kinds of packaging, including plastic packaging.

This legislation will support our government’s commitment to the provincewide phase-out of single-use plastics. It will reduce the environmental impact caused by the amount of plastic waste created in this province, as well as reducing the negative impact of plastic pollution on human health and the environment. It will also minimize the risk of unintended consequences posed by other non-plastic single-use alternatives. The public expects strong action on problematic single-use products, and local government and industry expect a coordinated, provincial approach.

This legislation responds to those expectations.

Mr. Speaker: The motion is on the first reading.

Motion approved.

Hon. G. Heyman: I move that this bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Bill 24, Environmental Management Amendment Act, 2021, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

BILL 26 — MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS
STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT (No. 2), 2021

Hon. J. Osborne presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2021.

Hon. J. Osborne: I move that the bill be introduced and read a first time now.

I’m pleased to introduce Bill 26. This bill amends the Community Charter, the Local Government Act and the Vancouver Charter, among other statutes.

[10:10 a.m.]

Bill 26 does three things. It gives local governments new tools to deliver more housing for people more quickly, it responds to requests from local governments to help serve community needs, and it provides authorities necessary to dissolve the Jumbo Glacier mountain resort municipality.

Our government is listening to the needs of communities and the requests of local governments, and we’re working closely with them to provide more tools so that they can build more housing, more quickly, for people in their communities.

Specifically, Bill 26 proposes to enable local governments to delegate decisions on minor development variance permits to staff; remove the default requirement for local governments to hold public hearings for zoning bylaws that are consistent with an official community plan; modernize local government public notice requirements by allowing for community choice in addition to existing methods for providing public notice; enable the Islands Trust to meet its specialized mandate more effectively by responding to specific needs and requests of the Islands Trust, including enshrining their collaborative and cooperative processes and engagement with First Nations; facilitate economic development for the city of Powell River by removing historic regulatory restrictions on city-owned land in the mill-site area; support the responsible conduct of elected officials by requiring local governments to give consideration to developing or updating codes of conduct.

Finally, I’m pleased to share that these amendments will provide the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council with specific authorities to dissolve the Jumbo Glacier mountain resort municipality and remove the authority to incorporate a mountain resort municipality without residents in the future to prevent a situation like this from ever happening again.

As the Minister of Municipal Affairs, I’m pleased to table these amendments, which respond to the needs and requests of local communities.

Mr. Speaker: Members, the question is the first reading of the bill.

Motion approved.

Hon. J. Osborne: I move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Bill 26, Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2021, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Statements
(Standing Order 25B)

COVID-19 IMPACT ON AIRPORTS

N. Letnick: As MLAs, we are no strangers to airports, and many of us probably visited one this past weekend. For many, an airport is a simple and necessary stop on a long journey, either for work or to see friends and family or to take a vacation. But the value of airports for our communities cannot be understated.

Airports serve crucial purposes. They keep our province and our nation interconnected. They serve as the first impression of our communities for many who take their first steps into our hometowns, and they serve as key economic drivers, supporting thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic output for our towns and province.

When you live in such a desirable location as the Oka­nagan, the value of such a fantastic airport as YLW truly cannot be understated. The Okanagan and Kelowna probably wouldn’t be the same as they are today without YLW. Prior to COVID-19, YLW’s total economic impact was 4,500 jobs and $789 million in total economic output to the province of B.C.

Like all airport hubs around the world, COVID has had a tremendous impact on YLW and the thousands of people who earn their living keeping it running. At Kelowna International Airport, air service in 2020 and most of 2021 has been down by more than 90 percent. Airlines who have scheduled international flights through Kelowna International Airport are already at a point where they are cancelling routes and will need to continue to cancel routes if we do not receive confirmation of YLW’s international status reopening.

I hope my statement today serves not only as some recognition and gratitude for the thousands of staff at YLW and airports across B.C. who have kept them running throughout this incredible challenge of COVID-19 but also serves as a call to action for this House and all members to do whatever they can to convince our federal authorities to reinstate international status to the Okanagan’s airport as soon as possible.

FEEZAH JAFFER

G. Begg: I am pleased today to pay tribute to an amazing and dedicated community leader who has been a driving force in Surrey for many years in her work with the Surrey Food Bank. Feezah Jaffer has been the executive director of the food bank since 2017, and during that time, the bank has undergone and continues to undergo dramatic and remarkable progress and change.

[10:15 a.m.]

Today the Surrey Food Bank serves roughly 14,000 peo­ple monthly, with more than 40 percent of that being children. The charity serves a diverse spectrum of clients from working families and seniors to those on assistance and new immigrants and refugees. Known as an expert in food security and the food bank industry, Feezah has grown substantially through many years of hands-on leadership serving the not-for-profit sector.

A passionate collaborator, Feezah was responsible, among other things, for leading the food bank into its next stage of growth and a new building. The organization, under her leadership, found a new home a block and a half west of King George Boulevard and measuring 23,000 square feet, three times the size of the former building.

Earlier this year Feezah was honoured in what is probably best described as at least slightly ironic but, at the same time, very fitting…. She got to see her face mem­orialized on the front of a box of breakfast cereal. Feezah was one of five food bank workers from across Canada chosen by General Mills to appear on a Cheerios box. Her photo is on the trademark yellow box, along with a red maple leaf, under the banner “Cheer on the front line.” Next to Jaffer’s photo is her name in big bold letters and “food bank hero.”

Not surprisingly, a quote from Ghandi, “Be the change you want to see,” has been a guiding principle of Feezah’s life.

I know that this House will join with me in thanking Feezah Jaffer for her tremendous, continuous and ongoing community contribution.

WEST VANCOUVER PLACE FOR SPORT
AND HARRY JEROME OVAL PROJECT

K. Kirkpatrick: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language that they understand.” That’s the much-quoted Nelson Mandela.

West Vancouver’s only running track is almost 70 years old. It has a proud history as a staple community amenity and a place where extraordinary athletes got a start. But due to the track’s deterioration, there’s been a call for an upgrade to it for many years.

With the North Shore’s growing population, the de­mand for a safe, all-weather, multisport and leisure facility for all ages has never been higher. Demand has far outgrown the current field’s availability. There’s no other public track facility in West Vancouver, and the last competition-sized track in North Vancouver was removed last year as part of the Handsworth high school replacement.

A small group of dedicated volunteers has been working to raise funds to build the West Vancouver Place for Sport to fill this need, and so was born the West Vancouver Place for Sport in the community. The heart of this new facility will be a running track named in honour of one of the North Shore’s most inspirational residents, Harry Jerome.

Jerome grew up on the North Shore and trained at the West Vancouver track in the 1950s. He went on to hold the title of the world’s fastest man, setting a total of seven world records over his career. Jerome was Canada’s male athlete of the 20th century and has inspired countless individuals with his commitment through adversity.

The West Vancouver Place for Sport and the Harry Jer­ome Oval will be a reminder of his great contributions in the future. The community continues to raise funds to make this dream become a reality.

For anyone that wishes to help and support this important project and has sport in their heart, please contact the West Vancouver Foundation. We look forward to welcoming you to the track.

HYBRID WORK MODEL
AND WORKPLACE EQUALITY

J. Rice: While some of us are experiencing Zoom fat­igue, many women are embracing the technology and feeling empowered by it. While many companies are using a hybrid model of working, where employees spend part of their time working from home and part in the office, many organizations are considering keeping large meetings online.

The thinking is it helps productivity, saves time, money, GHG emissions, and it increases gender equality. The U.K. Permanent Secretary of the Department for Digital recently told staff that she would keep online meetings because they were more effective and also helped women participate.

Digital meetings can be great levellers, because everybody is in the same-sized box. Dr. Heejung Chung points to new research that shows people from an ethnically diverse background and LGBTQ2S+ workers may find that not having to be present in physical work environments that other them makes work more accessible.

[10:20 a.m.]

Research from Slack’s think tank Future Forum, based on American workers, found that only 3 percent of Black workers wanted to return to full-time in-person work compared with 21 percent of white workers.

Jean-Nicolas Reyt, assistant professor of organizational behaviour at McGill University, states:

“Even as modern organizations are challenged by attracting, retaining and promoting talented employees, they underutilize one major source of available talent: women. Women account for half of all entry-level employees, yet they compose only a third of senior managers and a fifth of C-suite executives. One of the reasons women have a harder time advancing professionally is that they are much more likely than men to prioritize their family responsibilities over their careers.”

If organizations continue to offer remote work opportunities after the pandemic is over, more women will have a level playing field.

ELIZABETH TOIGO

I. Paton: I rise today to speak of the recent passing of a beloved constituent, Elizabeth Toigo.

Born in 1933, Elizabeth and her family moved from Vancouver to Powell River at an early age. In high school, she met, and eventually married, Peter Toigo, who, even at a young age, was, like Elizabeth, an upstart entrepreneur.

Peter and Elizabeth moved the family to Tsawwassen in 1964. As the family grew, so did the Toigo business ventures of Shato Holdings, including White Spot Restaurants and many other real estate developments. Due to Peter Sr.’s untimely passing in 1993, Elizabeth became not only the matriarch of the family, but she also became chairperson of the Toigo family’s thriving businesses, which, under her guidance, continued to thrive to the present day.

Elizabeth Toigo was a wonderful mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She was welcoming. She was fun­ny. She was a generous host, a great philanthropist, a great cookie maker and a tremendous fan of the family’s Vancouver Giants hockey team. More than anything, she was a class act who somehow managed to remember all 29 grandkids’ and great grandkids’ birthdays and made each and every one of them feel they were her favourite. She also made a special point of taking each of her grandchildren Christmas shopping each year.

Elizabeth was an immensely kind and generous person. She gave significant contributions to many charities, in­cluding cancer research, Variety Club, the Delta Hospital Foundation and a historical donation which resulted in the Peter C. and Elizabeth Toigo diagnostic centre at our Delta hospital. Her kids think she even picked up the phone every time she heard Sarah McLachlan’s melodramatic singing during an SPCA commercial.

Mrs. Toigo was the glue that held the family and their businesses together. She was an extraordinarily kind, car­ing, generous and selfless person with a great sense of humour. It’s been an honour for me to be a friend of the Toigos.

On behalf of Delta residents, I pass along my condolences to Elizabeth’s adult children: Louise Greene, Wendy Toigo, Peter and Lesley Toigo, Roy and Monica Toigo, Ron and Michelle Toigo, and Rick Toigo.

Her grace, her class, her support and encouragement, her constant positivity and, above all, her unconditional love helped shape her family’s lives for the better.

COVID-19 IMPACT ON RURAL B.C.
AND LOCAL ECONOMIES

R. Russell: A few years ago I found myself in the world of community economic development, a critically important focus, especially for the new rural economy on our horizon. In that space, there’s a strategy, developed by the New Economics Foundation, called plugging the leaks.

At its core, it’s an idea that for local economies to thrive, we need not just a focus on bringing new resources into our communities but optimize what assets we already have. This focuses on regenerating our local economies from within and leveraging the great assets already resident in rural B.C.

While COVID has been brutal for so many and for so long, it’s certainly temporarily plugged some of our major economic leaks in rural B.C. While our international border was closed, for example, we saw some businesses in our border towns, such as clothing, retail and hardware, ending up with record sales numbers. Staffing was tough, mental health was tough, and uncertainty was tough. But the financial statements were good. Money was flowing.

Likewise, some local food supply chains, able to be nim­ble, have done very well. The Kettle Valley Food Co-op, for example, saw a 300 percent increase in sales, tied to their ability to pivot to food delivery and the increased demand for local food.

[10:25 a.m.]

Indeed, we are seeing an example here of triple-bottom-line benefits. A recent research paper stated: “The reconnective characteristics of alternate and local food systems are not only a source of social cohesion but also drivers of sustainability.” By boosting social innovation with the help of technological innovation, the pandemic made us accelerate a transition to sustainability.

We have the potential to redesign supply chains with our economy, nutrition and human health in mind. In rural B.C., we saw the resilience of shorter, fairer and cleaner supply chains that addressed local priorities. So we have a choice ahead of us: we can return to the path we were on, or we can actively work to retain these glimmers of hope that have shone through the COVID gloom.

Shortening supply chains and supporting local businesses can serve as a triple win — supporting resilient economic systems and local entrepreneurs, reducing environmental impacts and building social community connections.

That’s my call to action: shop local.

Oral Questions

EMERGENCY CALLS SYSTEM MANAGEMENT
AND GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO HEATWAVE

S. Bond: Emails obtained under FOI show that alarm bells were ringing at E-Comm 9-1-1 well in advance of a heatwave that took the lives of 569 British Columbians. According to E-Comm’s vice-president of operations, delays in transferring ambulance requests from 911 call takers had been increasing for 12 months prior to the heatwave.

On June 3, nearly a month before the heatwave, an internal email says: “There are spikes we cannot manage in our current underfunded model. B.C. emergency health services is compromising public safety due to delays with their call answers.”

This is a question for the Premier of British Columbia. Why did his government fail to act before these delays cost the lives of so many British Columbians during the heatwave?

Hon. A. Dix: Thank you to the Leader of the Opposition for her question.

The Leader of the Opposition will know, because I brief on these subjects regularly, that the situation around ambulance calls was something I raised in public around June 3, because those days were record days in British Columbia. They weren’t heat dome days; they were regular days.

We were seeing an extreme uptake in the use of our ambulance service, such that I think that it was June 4 or 5, in that range, that it was the highest day of ambulance calls at that time in the history of British Columbia, except for New Year’s Eve 2017 and 2018.

We have been adding extraordinary resources to our ambulance system. We’ve gone from a funding level of $424 million to $559 million. During that period, we were adding resources to the ambulance system. The events of the heat dome, as the member will know, in that weekend saw an increase in calls so significantly beyond even what we saw in the first week of June. It was unprecedented, as Dr. Henderson has suggested, from the BCCDC — a one in a 1,000-year event, which has now happened and we now have to respond to.

The member will also know the significant investments we’ve made, including in dispatch — 30 new dispatchers in the BCEHS part of the system and the ambulance dispatch part of the system — to address that issue.

But there are extraordinary challenges facing our ambulance system and health care system today because of two public health emergencies. We are responding with more resources, more ambulance paramedics, more ambulances, more air ambulances and more dispatchers.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Official Opposition on a supplemental.

S. Bond: Almost 600 frail, elderly British Columbians, for the most part, died, and this government had a warning. The time period that the emails reference was 12 months where call volumes were increasing at unprecedented rates. It was too little, too late, and the outcomes, frankly, were deadly.

The emails obtained under FOI make it clear that the crisis in 911 dispatch and the Ambulance Service were ignored by the government in the months leading up to the heatwave. E-Comm felt so frustrated at their concerns being ignored that they considered holding a press conference to directly appeal to the government — not in 2018 or 2019 but prior to the heatwave.

[10:30 a.m.]

This is what the president and CEO of E-Comm wrote on June 30: “The government needs to get in. This is for BCEHS and the Ministry of Health to fix.”

Again to the Premier, why did his government fail to fix the problems that led to 911 being absolutely overwhelmed during the heatwave?

Hon. A. Dix: The people of B.C. know the situation of the Ambulance Service, because we regularly reported on that situation throughout the pandemic. There were periods in the pandemic when ambulance calls were down. There were more significant periods, particularly on Vancouver Island earlier on in January and February, and then in the whole province, starting in May and June, where we saw ambulance demand increase in advance of the heat dome to an extent that it had never been seen before.

This is a fact and something we regularly reported on. It is why we responded by significantly increasing resources to the Ambulance Service in 2018, in 2019, in 2020, and now in 2021, to deal with the situation we dealt with at those times and to see a significant increase in service.

It is clear that the extraordinary events of that week and the continuing extraordinary events facing our province put pressure on the Ambulance Service. We have responded, as the member knows, as all members of the House know, in, I think, the best way possible: by adding supports and resources, by strengthening both the leadership and the on-the-ground supports to Ambulance Service, by providing more service in 24 rural communities, in adding services to 26 other rural communities and in adding ambulance paramedics and dispatchers in urban areas.

That is the way you respond to the challenge, and we’re going to continue to do that.

K. Kirkpatrick: These FOI documents show deep concern from E-Comm about a crisis that has been growing for 12 months.

On June 29, the president and CEO wrote: “The signi­ficant risk to public safety posed by call-answer delays in transferring 911 calls for the Ambulance Service to BCEHS has significantly worsened. BCEHS’ ability to accept our calls is being fully exhausted.” This was the very day that the Premier was giddy and said fatalities are a part of life and people need to take personal responsibility.

My question to the Premier: is this an issue of personal responsibility, when it was clearly a failure of his government?

Hon. A. Dix: The Ambulance Service has been, I think, since its creation, a source of pride in B.C. It’s why, when I became Minister of Health, I doubled our rate of increase of investment, because I think it is, and because it did require that at the time, and I think everyone knew it.

Efforts didn’t start when I became Minister of Health. George Abbott started the community paramedicine system when he was Minister of Health, and others saw it. But we had a level of investment in the Ambulance Service that was significantly below what it needed to be, and that’s why this government doubled it, why we added full-time paramedics, ambulances, air ambulances and dispatch resources.

We are continuing to do so, because at this point in our history, when our primary care system has been disproportionately virtual, there are extraordinary pressures on our Ambulance Service that we’ve seen. We’re responding again by adding ambulance paramedics — hopefully, we all agree that’s a good idea — adding cars, adding air-ambulance services, adding dispatchers, reforming the management of BCEHS and putting outstanding leaders in charge to help us through this period.

I want to thank our ambulance paramedics, who continue to do an extraordinary job on the ground. We are going to continue to do what we’ve been doing, which is significantly support them in the time of two public health emergencies.

Mr. Speaker: The member for West Vancouver–Capilano on a supplemental.

K. Kirkpatrick: I thank the minister. This government often talks about doubling investments, increasing how much money is being spent. That is not how we judge success. We judge success by the outcomes, and these outcomes are not good.

[10:35 a.m.]

This is what else the president of E-Comm wrote: “BCEHS is 100 percent maxed out. I was told last night that over 200 calls were waiting in queues to be assigned to an ambulance to attend. Fundamentally, BCEHS must remedy this problem.”

We know that by June 3, E-Comm was convinced that the problems at B.C. emergency health services were compromising public safety, yet nothing was done to fix the problems, and the system collapsed during the heat wave.

Why did the Premier describe the failure of his government as a matter of personal responsibility?

Hon. A. Dix: We are judged on what we do and our outcomes. I always try, in answering questions in this House, to take responsibility for that in as simple a way as I can.

The member says that hiring more paramedics, hiring more dispatchers, adding cars, adding air ambulances, which this government did on the base that had been left to us — and people can be judged on that, too — was not the right course, but I think it is the right course. What we know is that we need to continue to add such resources to meet the current demand.

I think when people call 911, they should get an ambulance. That’s what I think. That’s why we’re adding re­sources to meet that, because that’s what our ambulance paramedics think and our dispatchers think and people at E-Comm think and everyone thinks. So we’re going to continue our efforts to improve the system in both rural and urban B.C., in every community in B.C., to meet that challenge in the current time. I’m very proud of our ambulance paramedics and our teams for all of their efforts to make this happen.

CLEANBC PLAN AND LNG DEVELOPMENT

S. Furstenau: Last week the International Energy Agency released their World Energy Outlook report. The report is designed to be a handbook for policy-makers at the COP26 climate change conference. It is long. However, what it found is that fossil fuel development is inconsistent with keeping climate change below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Fossil fuel expansion is inconsistent with avoiding disaster.

The questions this morning in this chamber really show us that climate change is a public health emergency, and it will continue to affect every aspect of our society. Yesterday this government announced their CleanBC Roadmap to 2030. It included a new GHG cap on natural gas, or LNG, but made sure to include compliance pathways so that industry can get away with continuing to develop LNG. The Premier proudly proclaimed LNG as a bridge fuel. It is not. It is a fossil fuel with intensive greenhouse gas emissions, including methane.

To the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, despite dire warnings, will this government allow future LNG development in British Columbia?

Hon. G. Heyman: Thank you to the member for the question. British Columbians, like people around the globe, have experienced the effects of climate change in the last couple of years, and particularly this year, that exceed anything that they thought they would see, although climate scientists obviously knew what was coming.

We’re concerned about that as well in our government, and we understand we need to address the issue of climate change with great urgency. The member, the Leader of the Third Party, worked with us in the previous parliament to develop our CleanBC climate plan. I think we were all proud of that, but we know that we needed to design a road map that took us to our targets. We needed to close that loop, and we needed to up our ambition.

We’re proud of the road map we released yesterday. It is significant. It contains measures across all sectors of society and the economy. They’ve been independently modelled to reduce emissions to meet our target. That includes mandating methane emission reductions in the oil and gas sector of 75 percent by 2030, and it includes a commitment to work with the sector, with oil and gas, with Indigenous Nations and with experts to design the measures that will take us to our 2030 sectoral target of 33 to 38 percent reduction in oil and gas emissions.

[10:40 a.m.]

The CleanBC roadmap is modelled, including a 33 percent reduction.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Third Party on a supplemental.

S. Furstenau: I appreciate the minister’s response, how­ever, it did not answer the question I posed very clearly, which is: will this government allow future LNG development?

I’m curious about a specific part of the road map as well. The road map puts in place a cap on greenhouse gas emissions for LNG, but that cap is only for domestic use. That’s interesting, given that this government has been intent on LNG for export.

To the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, if LNG is developed for export, will it be exempt from the greenhouse gas emissions cap included in this government’s climate plan?

Hon. G. Heyman: The member apparently continues to try to find reasons not to believe that we’re serious about meeting our climate targets, but I assure you that we are. The member has also incorrectly interpreted the road map. There is a cap on emissions from oil and gas use, domestically, and there is a commitment to work with the oil and gas sector, with Indigenous nations and with experts to put in place programs and policies to ensure that we meet the emission reduction sectoral target for oil and gas in B.C.

The member keeps looking for a dramatic statement. I don’t know of a more dramatic statement than outlining exactly the amount of emission reductions — upstream, transmission and compression — that we expect to achieve with this plan. It is clear that we’re committed to reducing emissions from the oil and gas sector.

AMBULANCE RESPONSE TIMES
AND EMERGENCY HEALTH SYSTEM

T. Stone: Tragedy struck at the B.C. Supreme Court recently when a judge fell ill with stroke-like symptoms.

Now, we’re all taught the acronym FAST to recognize the signs of stroke. As everyone knows, the “T” stands for “Time to call 911.” But after waiting on hold with 911 for more than 30 minutes, the B.C. sheriff’s service had to drive this Supreme Court judge to the hospital using one of their own vehicles. It turns out that not even a Supreme Court justice can get an ambulance under this Premier.

My question to the Premier is this. When is the Premier going to acknowledge that B.C.’s emergency system is in crisis, and when is he going to fix it?

Hon. A. Dix: Any time that people have to wait too long or don’t get the service they need in our health care system — at these times or any other time — it’s a serious question. I take the question very seriously, of course. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter who you are in our province. That’s what the public health care system is all about.

It’s why, when I became Minister of Health and clearly a major upgrading and reform of the Ambulance Service was needed, we engaged in that, and we substantially increased resources. The numbers are there. They’re undisputed. I don’t think they’re disputed in the House.

This dramatic increase, other than Mental Health and Addictions, is the largest increase of any area of health care since I became Minister of Health, which is a significant investment. We are continuing to make those investments to upgrade service not just in urban B.C. but in rural B.C. — where the gaps can be, as the member will know, even more stark. We are continuing our efforts to add dispatchers, to add ambulance paramedics, to add ambulances, to add air ambulance capacity, keeping in mind the needs of people who depend on that service.

[10:45 a.m.]

M. Morris: We’re adding resources in rural parts of the province, perhaps, but we certainly don’t see it up in my area. The sad reality is that British Columbians across the province are having to deal with life-threatening situations without proper support. The minister can read from a laundry list of stats, but it doesn’t change the trauma inflicted upon people.

A few weeks ago a constituent had a heart attack at a remote logging camp and was transported to the Mackenzie hospital, which was closed when they got there. They were turned away at the door and told to call 911 from the parking lot of the hospital. The next closest hospital was two hours away. But when they called the ambulance, there was none available. The only one in town was tied up. The wife of the victim rattled the doors and was finally let in. Hours later that patient was medevacked to St. Paul’s Hospital.

Under this Premier, health care has gotten so bad that hospitals are closed, and ambulances are unavailable in emergencies.

Does the Premier think patients need to shake doors to get the care they need?

Hon. A. Dix: Currently in British Columbia, as the member knows…. I know, because we’ve spoken about issues in Mackenzie, including the story he describes. It’s one that we’ve taken, obviously, a careful look at and that will be the subject of a review, as it should, in our health care system. I think that our health care system, in the time of two public health emergencies, has done an exceptional job. I don’t think the member’s characterization is the correct one.

Moreover, I think our health care system has responded in a way that British Columbia can be proud of. Now, 67 people have been taken from critical care in the north to critical care in the south, mostly related to COVID-19 and mostly because this has become a pandemic of the unvaccinated. People take those steps unhesitatingly and provide the care unhesitatingly. We’ve added air ambulance resources — air resources, ambulance resources — in the north.

These are exceptional times and exceptional stresses. I appreciate the concern of the hon. member for his constituents, and I’ve been engaged with him on that question. But I also think that our public health care system in this time has responded with courage, with dignity, with effort and with passion to deal with some of the most extra­ordinary conditions we have ever seen in our province, and it will continue to do so.

G. Kyllo: Nobody here is questioning the herculean efforts that have been undertaken by the Ambulance Service. This line of questioning is all about a lack of resources and a lack of action by this government. It’s like the Premier has forgotten that this is his second term in office, that these are his decisions and that the impacts are real.

In my riding, a woman fell into a fire and suffered severe burns. Her husband and neighbours rushed to assist her and, as anyone would, called 911, expecting assistance. Help failed to arrive. After that failure, they transported the woman to Shuswap Lake General Hospital. She was then flown to Kamloops and then flown to Vancouver General Hospital.

Residents expect care when they need it. They don’t expect to have to act as an ambulance crew.

To the Premier, health care in this province is getting worse, not better. What is the Premier going to do now to make sure that people get the care that they need?

Hon. A. Dix: Well, I suppose it’s a time for clip lines. But those aren’t true; they’re not true. Yes, I’ve been Minister of Health for more than four years. Yes, each of those years has involved a record increase in the Ambulance Service. Yes, I gave twice as much priority as had been given before to those issues.

But as you know, on the ground, we’re dealing with two public health emergencies — two. In that time, we have reduced surgical wait-lists; our urgent and primary care centres — outstanding primary care. The outcomes of people with COVID-19 in critical care are some of the best in the world, and we are continuing to work to address services.

[10:50 a.m.]

To say these aren’t extraordinary times, a time of two public health emergencies, is simply to ignore what’s in front of us. I know the members know that, because they’re fully engaged on these issues every day and in their community. That’s why we’ve got to continue to work together to increase levels of immunization and vaccination so we can move to a new stage of the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to support our health care system with unprecedented resources and support in challenging times.

I. Paton: The mayor of Delta is fed up with the unacceptable ambulance delays in our community. In a letter to the minister, he writes: “On August 22, there was only one call taker for all of Vancouver because 25 of 26 BCEHS dispatcher seats were empty. On September 24, only one ambulance was operating for all of Richmond and Delta.”

This is incredible incompetence for an area of over 300,000 people. We haven’t heard the NDP MLAs from Richmond speak up about this ambulance delay, but I will.

Will the Premier act now and fix this ambulance crisis?

Hon. A. Dix: What I would say is that the challenges facing the ambulance system are not of a new date. It’s why we’ve responded the way we have, with budgets every year that have significantly increased paramedics, ambulances, dispatchers and air ambulance services across B.C. This is a recognition of both a structural need for reform, and that’s been happening, and of urgent services that are provided to support communities.

Yes, these were necessary steps, and more will be re­quired. That is why I think, given the circumstances, I am so proud of the response of our ambulance paramedics and dispatchers, who, on the ground, in challenging times when we’ve seen an unprecedented increase in demand, have responded with courage and skill and dignity and are working so very hard.

We’re going to continue to do what we have done, which is to increase the investment in our ambulance service and hire more paramedics, add ambulances and hire more dispatchers.

J. Tegart: As the minister knows, the ambulance situation is also being complicated by staffing shortages and ER closures.

Now the mayor of Ashcroft says that the Ambulance Service isn’t even being told about the closed ERs. “We have an ambulance station in Ashcroft. Sometimes they aren’t even aware that the emergency department is closed or whether it’s closing at 8 p.m. or 10 p.m.” They’re taking people in the ambulance to the ER in Ashcroft and then, finding it closed, have to divert.

Does the Premier find it acceptable that ambulances can arrive at emergency rooms only to find out they are closed?

Hon. A. Dix: Certainly, if the member has brought that to my attention, I’ll look into the issues raised by herself and the mayor of Ashcroft, because those are things that shouldn’t happen. They sometimes do happen, but shouldn’t happen in our system. We have continued to invest, particularly in rural primary care.

The member will know that the issue in Ashcroft is one of some long date, that the move away from full-time emergency room services occurred under a previous government, for reasons that were real at the time. I don’t pass judgment in that, but we are working hard with the community in Ashcroft to improve emergency room services and to improve hospital and primary care services and, with regions across B.C., to add not just on-call paramedics but full-time paramedics all over B.C. to ensure that our service is ready in rural B.C. for what’s coming over the next decade as well as this year and this month.

I thank the member for her question, and I’m happy to look into the issue she has raised.

[10:55 a.m.]

P. Milobar: Well, the problem is very clear, and the problem is very clearly this government’s failure to act in a timely fashion.

The minister can stick to the speaking notes all he would like, but the reality is all of our email boxes are filling up with story after story of delay and wait and delay and wait, and a failure in our health care system. We’ve heard about the closed emergency rooms, closed actual hospitals. We’ve heard time and again about that. I will guarantee the members opposite in government are getting those same emails yet doing nothing about it.

This minister used to be the Health critic. I wonder what he, as a Health critic, would say about the total failure of the health care system right now to address these needs.

We’ve had warnings, 15 months ago, about a shortage of dispatch. Ignored. Then a heat wave comes, and 569 people lose their lives. We’ve heard the problem is very clear — a lack of resources. A car accident in Smithers requires an ambulance. No one was answering. A passerby drove to the ambulance station and a fire hall, and an ambulance on call just happened to be driving by but already had a patient. But they still stopped. One person died in that scenario. Another had to be airlifted to Vancouver.

Health care by luck and circumstance, not by phoning 911 and actually having somebody pick up the phone in dispatching. According to E-Comm, as reported in the Tyee, that call was one of 5,000, and that’s actually a typical Wednesday. The delay was actually a lack of dispatchers. E-Comm quotes: “During this time, we were seeing longer delays in transferring 911 callers with a request for ambulance to B.C. emergency health services.”

Again, when will this Premier actually address the shortcomings and actually acknowledge the critical crisis of the health care system across the board in British Columbia and actually take steps to fix it, instead of blaming people for trying to actually get health care they need in a timely fashion?

Hon. A. Dix: With respect to the last line the member made, no one’s done that ever, right? No one’s done that ever. I think when the member suggests that we don’t take this issue seriously, he is wrong.

He refers to my time as Health critic. Yeah, I thought the government there had underinvested in the ambulance service, and they did. That’s why I doubled the level of funding to the Ambulance Service.

And yes, hon. Speaker….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. A. Dix: Well, hon. Speaker, the members know. They raise in their questions the unprecedented number of dispatches and the unprecedented number of responses, and we have to continue to do….

Interjections.

Hon. A. Dix: Well, it was day one. And, yes, when I was Health critic and the previous government decided to take away the independent bargaining rights of ambulance paramedics to raise these issues at the bargaining term, I was opposed to that. I was opposed to that, because I believe….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members, let’s listen to the answer, please. Members. Order.

Hon. A. Dix: I believe that it’s working together with our ambulance paramedics that we can do a better job, so I restored those rights at the bargaining table. Many of the increases in services, the creation of hundreds of full-time positions, are a direct result of that collaboration.

And yes, I take very seriously the questions asked by members of the opposition, in spite of the Opposition House Leader’s yelling out. I would say this. We have to continue to do better. We just have to continue to do better. And that’s why we, on July 2, posted hundreds of positions. We’re adding positions. We’re adding supports in rural and remote B.C. And there are significant challenges facing our health care system during two public health emergencies, and we are responding to that with resources and effort.

[11:00 a.m.]

This public health emergency of COVID-19 and the public health emergency in the overdose crisis, I think, have shown our health care system working together to help people in difficult times, just as the people of B.C. have done the same.

I am proud today to be the leader, as Minister of Health, of a public health care system, and I’m proud of the people of B.C. for our joint response in difficult times.

[End of question period.]

Tabling Documents

Mr. Speaker: Members, I have the honour of tabling the Auditor General’s Report on the Audit of the Public Ac­counts — Fiscal Year 2020-21.