Routine Business

Prayers and reflections: N. Letnick.

Introductions by Members

A. Mercier: It’s a big day in the Mercier-Makarow household. It’s my wife’s birthday. Kate Makarow is my best friend, my partner in crime and companion on frequent road trips.

[10:05 a.m.]

I’ll just say, as an aside, that we met ten years ago at a B.C. NDP convention. I was the recently nominated candidate for Langley. I think, in an effort to impress in my opening salvo, I asked her for a $40 donation. I did not receive the donation, but I like to think that I was playing the long game.

Will the House please join me in wishing Kate a happy birthday.

S. Bond: Today I would like to introduce Camille Currie, who is the founder of the B.C. Health Care Matters group. Camille has been leading the charge. She is very passionate about ensuring that people have a family doctor, and about primary care and the quality of it.

I look forward to future discussions with her on the important issue, and I would ask the House to make her feel most welcome today.

S. Furstenau: I’m so pleased today to introduce Charlene Hogan-Siddon, who is in the chamber, up in the gallery. Char has been a teacher in B.C. for over 20 years. Spurred on by personal experience and the mental health crisis in B.C.’s classrooms, she recently returned to school to obtain her master’s degree in education, with a specialization in social-emotional learning.

Char loves running, cycling, reading and, most of all, spending time with her husband, Dave, and her children, Ryan and Stephanie. Stephanie Siddon is our B.C. Green caucus policy lead on many, many files, and we’re so delighted that she’s part of our team. They also have two dogs, Theodore and Abby.

Would the House please make Char most welcome.

P. Milobar: I have a couple of visitors here from Kamloops today. They’re down taking in the sights of Victoria and thought they would come and be entertained with question period, as it were.

We have Vanessa Gammel here today, and her 15-year-old daughter — who is very keen on politics, so I hope it’s an interesting day for them to watch — Elizabeth is here as well, joining us. Unfortunately, with the way that scheduling is going today, I won’t be able to join them on their tour later. But that’s probably a good thing, because my tours are questionable at best. I know that the professional tour guides around this building do a much better job.

Would the House please make the Gammels welcome.

D. Routley: I’d like the House to help me to welcome a group of students and two teachers from the Penelakut Island Learning Centre. The Penelakut Island Learning Centre, on beautiful Penelakut Island, serves the families and children of the Penelakut Nation.

I want to congratulate them on the great work they did in keeping students connected to their education during the pandemic and congratulate them on their start of a new year in person and actually being here in person. Thank you, Members, for helping me.

A. Olsen: If you were in the B.C. Green caucus office just a few minutes ago, you would have heard us all singing — very beautifully, actually — happy birthday to Laura Ferreira, our legislative coordinator.

Laura joined us last fall and is doing an incredible job in keeping my colleague and I — our calendars, our schedules — in line. I know that Laura works very closely with the Whip’s offices from each of the parties in making sure that we know where we should be and when we should be there.

Could the House please wish Laura Ferreira a very happy birthday.

T. Stone: We all have exceptional people that work for us and support us, each and every day, here in the Legislature and also back home. But here in the Legislature, staff that show up, often, before us and are there after we leave just do such an incredible job in the roles that they have.

It’s with a great deal of pride that I rise today to make a very special introduction. Our communications director, Sean Roberts, and his wife, Michelle, welcomed a beautiful baby boy into this world. Myles Lawrence Roberts was born on Sunday, March 13 at 8:41 a.m., weighing in at a very healthy 7 pounds and 5 ounces, but most importantly, with a shockingly massive amount of hair on this baby’s head.

[10:10 a.m.]

Both Myles and Michelle are doing really, really well. Sean is getting used to functioning without much sleep, but he will make an exceptional dad.

I’d ask all the members of this House to please join me in welcoming Myles Lawrence Roberts to this world and congratulating his wonderful parents.

J. Sims: I’m rising today to wish someone a happy birthday. I rarely do this, but I’m going to do this for someone I’ve been with for 50 years. Come June 26, it will be 51 years. It’s for Stephen Sims. He’s celebrating a big birthday today, but our little Alliya, our great-granddaughter, has made sure that he has had five celebrations, which started on Friday. His final celebration will be tonight with a dinner and cupcakes that she is going to help to make.

Now, there’s a story behind this. The reason he’s having five is because he was complaining that I’m always out of town or at work on his birthday, ever since I became an executive member on the BCTF, which was a long time ago. So she wanted to make sure that he had lots of birthdays and lots of birthday cakes. Every celebration has to have a cake, has to have gifts, and she organizes all of that and makes them.

I hope everyone in the House will help to join me in wishing Stephen Sims a happy birthday. He’s been a wonderful partner all these years, a tireless supporter and, of course, one of my greatest critics as well.

R. Merrifield: I’m going to rise and echo the welcome of the Leader of the Third Party to Charlene Siddon, who is a friend, a constituent, but — a little known fact — she was also the teacher of special education for my son, who is now 20, almost 21. Without her help, I don’t think I would have made it through.

Would you all join me in welcoming her as well.

Hon. L. Beare: I, too, have a birthday announcement. We failed, in this House, to recognize our Minister of Men­tal Health and Addictions, who had a birthday this past weekend. Can we all wish her a very happy birthday.

S. Chandra Herbert: I just want to wish a very happy anniversary to the love of my life. Happy 22 years — we must have met when we were babies — to my husband, Romi. He’s an incredible person, the rock in my life and one reason I can still do this work.

So thank you.

Statements
(Standing Order 25B)

DISCOVER SURREY
TOURISM PROMOTION ORGANIZATION

S. Cadieux: Surrey is one of the most diverse cities in Canada, and it’s full of amazing businesses and experiences waiting to be discovered. As the world begins to open up again, and more and more people are coming to visit B.C., I’d like to highlight the work of Discover Surrey.

Discover Surrey is the official non-profit destination management organization for the city of Surrey. It’s experiencing a period of revitalization. It’s got enthusiastic new leadership, a small but productive team, and they’re continuing to work diligently to increase the awareness of tourism opportunities in Surrey and increase the number of overnight visitors during these challenging times.

Whether you’re looking for good food, local shops or beautiful nature walks, Discover Surrey can point you to the best that Surrey has to offer.

In July of 2021, Discover Surrey launched the Spice Trail. It’s a collaboration of over 75 multicultural restaurants and spice retailers in Surrey. The Spice Trail’s interactive map can lead you to local businesses featuring food from all corners of the world, from south Indian dosa to Jamaican patties to Korean dumplings. The trail features restaurants from each of Surrey’s six neighbourhoods and includes everything from fine dining options like My Shanti in South Surrey to quaint family-run businesses like Malaysian Hut in Guilford.

Destination Think recently put Surrey on their top 15 most-loved destinations in Canada for 2021, based on their tourism sentiment index. Surrey’s amazing food options were certainly one of the main reasons that people love to visit the city.

[10:15 a.m.]

I would say to come for the food, but if that doesn’t interest you, you might like the South Fraser bird and ale trails, celebrating Surrey’s natural birding areas and award-winning craft breweries, or maybe you’d want to visit the new Indigenous carving centre that will be open in the winter of 2022.

At any rate, there is no doubt the Discover Surrey team will have lots to do, as B.C.’s fastest-growing city will soon be B.C.’s largest.

Keep up the great work, Ange Chew.

DOWN SYNDROME AND AUTISM AWARENESS

D. Coulter: There’s a lot to recognize and celebrate. World Down Syndrome Day was on March 21. April is Autism Acceptance Month, and April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day.

All these days are a reminder that people with Down syndrome and autism possess a wide range of abilities and make valuable contributions to B.C. communities every day. This is an excellent opportunity for all of us to celebrate the achievements of adults and young people affected by Down syndrome and autism and to spread awareness of the barriers that many may face today in B.C.

World Down Syndrome Day was created to raise public awareness, promote inclusivity and encourage the well-being of those living with Down syndrome. It’s been recognized by the United Nations since 2012.

The month of April is Autism Acceptance Month. It includes observances to highlight folks living with autism spectrum disorder and the impacts on families. It is also an opportunity to celebrate the unique perspectives of those living with ASD.

As a society, we have to continue to push for inclusion and understanding and the well-being of people with Down syndrome and autism. We need to, every day, strive further to support and ensure inclusion for people with disabilities in any way we can. This is all our responsibility.

I’d also like to acknowledge the tremendous contributions of service providers, agencies and advocacy organizations that work hard every day to provide services and supports to children, youth and their families and adults across B.C.

I’d ask all British Columbians and this House to join me in recognizing and celebrating World Down Syndrome Day, World Autism Awareness Day and Autism Acceptance Month.

OKANAGAN COLLEGE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
AND INTERNATIONAL CASE COMPETITION

R. Merrifield: I am so proud of the entrepreneurial spirit that is in Kelowna, so I’m really, really excited to celebrate a huge accomplishment in our community that really exemplifies this spirit in an extraordinary way.

For the first time in the 17-year history of the Scotiabank International Case Competition, a business school has recorded back to back gold medals as Okanagan College climbed to the top of the podium again last month.

Interjection.

R. Merrifield: Exactly.

Hosted by Vanier College in Montreal, the real-time Case Competition attracts teams from across Canada looking to test their knowledge and skills. Okanagan College students Tamzin Birch, Bryan Cresswell and Cole Stregger represented the winning team coached by Blair Baldwin, Mark Ziebarth, Caroline Gilchrist, Dan Allen and Nakita Edwards.

Tamzin Birch, one of the gold medal winners, reflected on her win, saying: “I am honoured to have shown to Canada that our business school has a unique approach to learning. The dedication of our coaches helped us think better, collaborate and develop creative solutions for complex problems.”

The team says the double gold performance demonstrates the success of the applied learning model offered by Okanagan College’s school of business.

Business professor and coach Mark Ziebarth celebrated the school’s success by saying: “Preparing our students to compete against the best and brightest across Canada is a hallmark of the Okanagan School of Business. We embrace the challenge of punching above our weight.”

Congratulations to the team, coaches and to Okanagan College for the great work of representing the entrepreneurial spirit of our valley.

50th ANNIVERSARY OF
COQUITLAM SEARCH AND RESCUE

F. Donnelly: Fifty years. That’s how long Coquitlam Search and Rescue has been saving lives in our area. I’m pleased to rise and speak about this volunteer organization in Coquitlam–Burke Mountain, which has been performing these valuable services for half a century.

[10:20 a.m.]

Coquitlam Search and Rescue was founded in 1972 after a search on Burke Mountain revealed there was no local rescue team in existence. Since then, the group has grown to 45 active volunteers who make 30 to 40 rescue operations annually, including mutual aid calls to other teams in the Lower Mainland and other areas in B.C. and Washington state. Based in Coquitlam, they also serve the communities of Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore, Belcarra, Burnaby and New Westminster.

Coquitlam SAR carries out inland, water, wilderness and urban search and rescue operations in an area bounded by Indian Arm, Pitt Lake, Garibaldi Park and the Fraser River. Over 1,700 square kilometres in size, it includes some of the most rugged and inaccessible terrain in the southwestern region of British Columbia.

Coquitlam SAR has seen year-over-year increases in task volume for the past three straight years. With im­proved access to Pinecone Burke Provincial Park and a growing population, it is anticipated call volumes will reach over 100 operations per year by 2030. Given this increased demand, Coquitlam SAR is now looking for a new location in northeast Coquitlam to build a headquarters and store their equipment.

Our community is very thankful and proud this valuable public safety organization and dedicated group of vol­unteers exists in our community.

I ask the House to please join me in congratulating Coquitlam Search and Rescue on their 50th anniversary.

DEMENTIA CARE FACILITY
PROJECT IN KITIMAT

E. Ross: The Kitimat General Hospital Foundation has been working hard in their efforts to build a dementia care home in Kitimat. They’re continuing with their mandate to raise money for the dementia care village. The Kitimat Valley Housing Society will oversee the design and construction of the dementia care home and is the body that will provide governance for the facility once it’s operational.

The Haisla Nation is represented on the board along with the Kitimat Community Services Society,which will manage the facility when it’s up and running. They have had setbacks but are encouraged by the community, pri­vate sector and government interest to date.

The meetings with various groups to share plans and get feedback about the project have been positive, and the community response has been very enthusiastic. It’s obvious that many families have been touched by dementia and that they are aware that this important facility will not only provide appropriate care for people with dementia but will result in more beds becoming available at Mountainview Lodge and fewer acute care beds being occupied by seniors waiting for long-term-care beds.

The concept under which this facility will operate is termed a quality-of-life model. Most of us are familiar with risk aversion. Quality of life means some reasonable risk is acceptable. It improves the quality of life. The overall objective is to have this facility to be as much of a home to the people who live there as humanly possible, because leaving one’s home to move into an institution is always traumatic, in a host of different ways.

Finally, strategies to make life meaningful and engaging are important to all of us and is the goal of Kitimat dementia care village. All of this is designed to avoid the confusion that often is a part of the dementia resident’s life and experience, because dementia is cruel and unrelenting, and there are no effective ways to prevent, cure or slow its progression.

I ask that this House look at and support the efforts and initiatives all across B.C. that are striving for facilities that make life less stressful for those afflicted with dementia and for their families.

BUDDHIST VIHARA SOCIETY AND FOOD
SECURITY INITIATIVES IN CLOVERDALE

M. Starchuk: Last month I attended the Buddhist Vihara Society, known as BVS, property that is in my riding. They asked how they could better support local community events, including a food bank, senior services and other community activities in the Cloverdale–Port Kells area. I met with the BVS assistant treasurer, Eraj Liyanage, to learn about the society and the history of the seven acres of farmland in the Port Kells area.

Picture, if you will, a long driveway, and at the end of the driveway is a barn. Next to it is a two-storey house and a temple that’s off to the side. Lining the driveway, on the right, are many planter boxes where the congregation plants and harvests vegetables throughout the year.

They spoke of how they could prep food on the site and take it to the Cloverdale Community Kitchen, where they use their kitchen to cook the food and then deliver it to the less fortunate, in individual meals. I was pleased to be informed that BVS and the Cloverdale Community Kitchen also had a food bank.

[10:25 a.m.]

Instantly we started talking about the possibility of helping out in the local community and how BVS could possibly produce vegetables and fruits for their congregation and for the Cloverdale food bank. We instantly began a conversation regarding the possibility of constructing greenhouses at the rear of the barn, and that’s where the stumbling block came forward.

Halfway there’s a stream that divides the property: 3½ acres on one side, 3½ acres on the other side. The lands on the other side haven’t been in production for many years. Accessing the back of the property would be a huge asset to the production of fruits and vegetables.

Well, I can tell you that talks between BVS and the city have begun. BVS will now need to determine what kind of engineering is required to access the rear of the property. Metaphorically speaking, the bridge at the back of the property will be the bridge to BVS, providing fresh fruits and vegetables to those in need. It will also be the bridge to food security.

I hope to report back to the House in the near future to share the next chapter of BVS.

Oral Questions

ACCESS TO FAMILY PHYSICIANS

S. Bond: It is estimated that 900,000 people in British Columbia do not have a family doctor today. That number has actually increased by 200,000 people since 2017. Frances from Victoria says: “I haven’t had a doctor for over two years. He retired at 92 years of age. As I am now in my 80s, I can no longer drive all over town to find a doctor, nor am I willing to stand in line for hours. We should be ashamed that we have allowed our health care system to fall to such depths.”

Over 12,000 people have signed a petition expressing their deep frustration and calling on this government to take expedited action. Camille Currie, who started that petition, is in the gallery today, and I would urge the Premier and the minister to read the preamble that she provided. It is thoughtful, it is compelling, and it provides ideas and suggestions for the government to take immediate action.

Today will the Premier listen to 12,000 British Columbians and take the action necessary to ensure that families like Camille’s, like Frances’s and so many others have access to a family physician?

Hon. A. Dix: As the member knows, we have been taking action consistently since I became Minister of Health to address the challenges of primary care, which is to ensure that people have access to a family doctor, a nurse practitioner and other health care providers in their community. Primary care is fundamentally important to us, and I think to everybody in B.C.

The actions are specific: 27 new urgent and primary care centres; 54 new primary care networks; an increase in the number of family physicians which is more than any other jurisdiction in Canada per capita and more than the increase in population; new community health centres; and more than 800 new FTEs, meaning full-time jobs, assigned to those primary care networks and urgent and primary care centres. That is significant action, and more action needs to be taken.

The issues that are raised are a struggle in the community — and the member will know this — not just in Victoria but across the province. That’s why we continue to take those actions, continue to add resources to primary care. We’ll continue to do so, reflecting exactly what the petition says and exactly what the community says, which is that we need to improve primary care to ensure people have access to good health throughout their lives and not just urgent care when they need it.

Mr. Speaker: Leader of the Official Opposition, supplemental.

S. Bond: Well, what British Columbians want to hear today is how they are going to access a family physician.

We know that longitudinal care helps better health outcomes. So we can add buildings; we can add supplies; we can add whatever. What we need to do is to ensure that we are training, that we are looking at how we are going to have family physicians that meet the needs of British Columbians.

[10:30 a.m.]

When people don’t have a family physician, the minister knows full well what happens. They are forced to go to a walk-in clinic, or in many cases, they end up being treated in emergency rooms. He knows that that adds pressure to a system that is already under stress.

Here’s what Danielle from Kamloops had to say. “Walk-in clinics are closing, and there are no alternatives to seeing a physician, aside from sitting in an emergency room simply to get a referral or a type of regular screening done to prevent more serious illness.” That’s not an effective or efficient system, and neither does it provide the kind of care that families deserve.

Again to the minister, will he today explain to Danielle why she has to go to an emergency room to receive basic medical care?

Hon. A. Dix: Since 2017, we’ve had more than one million visits to urgent and primary care centres in B.C., providing team-based care to people in the community. That is a specific and compelling response to a family practice shortfall and a primary care shortfall that existed prior to 2017, as the member will know.

In 2013 and just before then, a program called GP for Me was developed that was supposed to provide a primary care doctor for everybody. We know that the number of people lacking a primary care doctor increased when that program was abandoned three years later. So this is something governments have been working on for a long time. It’s not that GP for Me didn’t have some successes. It did. But we are taking those steps.

Urgent and primary care centres, a million visits. Team-based care is necessary now to provide longitudinal care to ensure that health care professionals work to the full extent of their skills. More than 800 FTE, full-time equivalent, staff joined 54 primary care networks. It is significant, and we have to continue to do that work. We don’t do it just by making pronouncements. We do it in communities, day by day, ensuring that people have access to the care we need.

Most importantly, the member talked about family practice doctors. Nurse practitioners are important too. George Abbott, when he was Minister of Health, started the process of nurse practitioners in B.C., but when I became Minister of Health, we were tenth in Canada in their utilization. We increased the number of positions in post-secondary by 50 percent, and we are changing that now.

T. Halford: The minister can stand up in this House and rattle off facts, but it’s clear….

Interjections.

T. Halford: If they want to applaud people suffering, that’s on this government.

It is clear that people are hurting, and they are hurting because of the doctor shortages we are seeing today. Things are getting worse, not better, for people like Beryl Andrews from Victoria. I say, and I quote: “Personal health care used to be a reason people moved to B.C. Now the lack of it is the reason that people leave.”

What does the Premier have to say to Beryl and the thousands of others like her that don’t have a family doctor? Why is this government continuing to go in the wrong direction when it is trying to provide doctors for British Columbians?

Hon. A. Dix: I say with great respect that nobody understands more than people with chronic disease the importance of primary care. I understand, and I understand the struggle people face. It’s particularly, it seems to me, at different points of our lives.

Sometimes our need for health care is constant through­out our lives. That’s true of many people with chronic diseases, including people dealing with mental health and addiction issues. For others, it’s more episodic. At different parts of our lives, we need a lot of care and then not for a long period of time.

That’s the importance of primary care in our communities. Urgent and primary care centres, which we started in 2017, with more than one million visits, have played an important role in providing people the care that they need. But they’ve played an essential role during the pandemic, when their doors remained open for people and provided excellent care throughout that period, team-based care — doctors and nurses and nurse practitioners and health care workers of all kinds. That is the response.

In the 20th century, sole practice family practitioners were the centre of our primary care system. Now it’s team-based care and the significant investment — urgent and primary care centres, primary care networks, hundreds of new staff.

[10:35 a.m.]

If the member is suggesting he’s against that, then he should say so, but that won’t make things better. We are taking the actions that make things better in communities. But that there’s more work to do and that primary care is important, I absolutely agree.

Mr. Speaker: Member for Surrey–White Rock, supplemental.

T. Halford: We’ll say it again: 900,000 people do not have access to a family doctor in B.C. today. That number has increased over 200,000 since 2017. It’s getting worse; it is not getting better. There are 2,600 doctors nearing retirement across this province. When these practices close, they are going to have enormous impacts on every single constituency.

It’s people like Elaini from Nanaimo, who says: “Yesterday my wonderful family doctor, who is in his 70s, told me that he has to retire and that so far, he’s not been able to find anyone to take over his practice. It’s going to mean another 500 people without a family doctor.”

Can the Premier tell Elaini how she and her community are supposed to cope with losing their family doctor?

Hon. A. Dix: Well, the member’s making the case as to why these initiatives are absolutely necessary. We need, absolutely, to attract family practice doctors for the future — and nurse practitioners, nurses, health sciences professionals in community and health care workers supporting primary care. All of those things we need to do and to continue to recruit the next generation of health care workers.

How do you do that? You do that by doing it, and that’s precisely what we’re doing. One million visits to urgent and primary care centres, 54 primary care networks, more than 800 FTEs associated with that, supporting primary care, an activity that had not taken place before. Would it have, it would’ve been better. But it had not taken before, and that’s important. Hopefully, the member supports that.

New community health centres, because many new family practice doctors — the ones that are coming into the system — do not want to run businesses in the same way that current family practice doctors have for a long time. So we are moving from one path, which is fee-for-service, to many more alternative payment arrangements.

These are all of the ways we have to do. We have to, in other words, pursue a primary care plan that’s coherent, such as the one that we’re pursuing, in order to provide the very care that the member talks about. Because it is a moment when your longtime family practice doctor decides that they want to retire or have to retire. That is a major moment. So we need all of these actions and more to address the situation in the coming years.

MASK USE GUIDANCE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
COMMISSIONER COMMENTS ON COVID-19
RISK FOR VULNERABLE PERSONS

S. Furstenau: On March 16, the Human Rights Commissioner sent a letter to the provincial health officer indicating that the removal of provincial mask mandates places the greatest burden on the most vulnerable in British Columbia.

The Premier has publicly stated that COVID-19 is an airborne virus. Masking is one of the least restrictive and effective ways to mitigate the spread of this virus.

The commissioner said in her letter: “Given the benefits of the mask mandate for thousands of marginalized people and the minimal impact on those who are asked to wear one, the balance at this time favours continuing the mask mandate.” The letter states again: “Lifting the mask mandate will do disproportionate harm to those who are already marginalized.”

My question is to the Premier. In a pandemic, what does his government owe to the people — and those who live with them — who are medically vulnerable or immunocompromised?

Hon. A. Dix: In British Columbia, we have, under the Public Health Act, an independent provincial health of­ficer who has worked — and done, I think, extraordinary work — in the pandemic, balancing these very issues. Careful consideration is given to public health measures so that they don’t, as we say, interfere in people’s behaviour more than is necessary by the requirements of the pandemic. That is what Dr. Henry has done consistently.

The decisions around the provincial mask mandate — there was very significant notice given that those were under consideration. In fact, there was some criticism, even here, that we were taking too long to do that. The provincial health officer gave that due consideration, including all of the questions that the member raises.

[10:40 a.m.]

I would say this, though. Those who are clinically vulnerable have been more the focus of our efforts as a government and of the provincial health officer’s efforts than anywhere else in Canada. No one has focused, in terms of vaccination, on the clinically vulnerable as effectively and as substantively as we have, and we will continue to do that, continue to reflect the evidence and continue to support public health in their important decisions to balance these considerations.

I very much appreciate the letter from the Human Rights Commissioner. It’s an important point of view to be expressed, but it’s a point of view that is not new to the provincial health office, the provincial health officer. Obviously, there’s some disagreement there between one position and the other, but I can assure her that the focus on the clinically vulnerable will continue to be the principal focus of this government as we continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Speaker: Leader of the Third Party, supplemental.

S. Furstenau: As the Human Rights Commissioner points out, the clinically vulnerable now are deprived of choices — choices to use public transit, choices to send their children to school, choices to operate in public — because the risk to them is so much greater.

The Premier has tasked his government with tackling systemic discrimination. It is in the mandate letter of the Minister of Health. Yet our Human Rights Commissioner has said that the sudden removal of the mask mandate will have profound effects on vulnerable people. She says: “While many of us have the good fortune to simply move on with life, thousands of British Columbians will be left behind because of their age, disability or other protected characteristics under B.C.’s human rights code.”

She continues: “The mask mandate is not about eliminating risk. It is about sharing the risk burden across society rather than transferring it to a marginalized or medically vulnerable minority.”

My question is to the Premier. The Human Rights Commissioner is saying decisions of this government are harming the most vulnerable people in our province. What is the Premier’s response to the Human Rights Commissioner?

Hon. A. Dix: That we’re doing just the opposite, and the evidence over this pandemic demonstrates that.

We have given focus, from the beginning of the pandemic, to those most clinically vulnerable in long-term care, people who are clinically vulnerable in the commun­ity. It’s been reflected in every aspect of the COVID-19 response, and it has because of the ethical values and approach of our provincial health office and our provincial health officer and the ethical approach we’ve taken in British Columbia to these questions. That will continue today to be the case.

Decisions around restrictions or guidelines are ones that are taken very seriously by the provincial health of­ficer and by our government. Throughout the pandemic that has been the case, and it continues to be the case.

Of course, it is a balance between the impact of measures on people, including all people in B.C., of the measures themselves, and, I would say, the impact of those measures on the pandemic. That balance has been kept in B.C. The results can be seen in the outcomes we’ve seen in B.C., particularly amongst those clinically vulnerable.

I’m very proud of the work done by Dr. Henry in balancing these questions. I continue to be. Since the pandemic is not over by any stretch, we’re going to continue to have to do that in the days and the weeks and the months to come.

PHYSICIAN SUPPLY AND TRAINING
AND FOREIGN-TRAINED PHYSICIANS

M. de Jong: I listened carefully to the exchange a few moments ago between the Health Minister and my colleagues. It strikes me that the minister is either overlooking or wanting to avoid a key aspect to the challenge we’re all confronted by.

When we’re facing a serious shortage of family physicians, it seems clear that the response needs to include at least two things: we need to train more family physicians here in British Columbia, and we need to be more aggressive in recruiting internationally trained physicians. We’re doing neither in British Columbia right now.

[10:45 a.m.]

For hundreds and hundreds of British Columbia’s best and brightest young people, this is what happens. They apply to medical school in British Columbia. They can’t get in because there are not enough spaces. They apply to internationally renowned medical schools, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they get trained. They get trained at those institutions. Then they want to come home and practise here in B.C. as doctors, and they can’t. Because the process for having their credentials recognized is so incredibly complicated, it takes years and years and years.

There are delays in writing the exams that they need to write. There are delays in entering the clinical assessment programs. Then, if they get through that, the chances of them securing a residency in British Columbia is virtually nil. So they give up. Everyone in this House knows it and has a story to tell about how they just give up and go elsewhere.

My question to the minister is: when is the government actually going to take steps to address those key fundamental issues of training more doctors here in British Columbia — and more aggressively — and removing some of the bureaucratic obstacles to British Columbians who go abroad to get trained and want to come home and practise as doctors in B.C.?

Hon. A. Dix: As the member will know…. He says nothing has happened. When I became Minister of Health, 6,218 family practice doctors; today, 6,852, which is a significant increase — more than the increase in population growth. But the nature of family practice is changing, and we have to address significant issues around that. For the member to get up and say, “Well, nothing is happening,” when, in fact, we’re seeing an increase in the number of family practice doctors, is incorrect.

The member also talks about internationally trained doctors, and this is also true of internationally trained nur­ses, where the barriers of entry into the Canadian health care system are difficult. We are taking steps, and you will see those steps, particularly across health professions, in the coming months.

This is not as simple a question, as the member will know, because the member was Minister of Health. He will know that the very measures in place to provide accreditation to doctors are largely on the international scene — the same as they were under his government. But we need to take steps.

That’s one of the areas we need to take steps to address the health professionals we’re going to need for the future, and the government absolutely intends to do so.

Mr. Speaker: Abbotsford West, supplemental.

M. de Jong: Well, with the greatest respect, I think the minister is still avoiding the fundamental issue here, which is why aren’t we training more doctors in British Columbia?

The previous government — the one we hear a lot about from the other side — doubled the number of medical training facilities in British Columbia and created medical training spaces right across British Columbia. Now, maybe it wasn’t enough. Maybe it wasn’t enough, because the decade prior to that there had been no increase. We’re in jeopardy of repeating that scenario yet again.

That’s for the people that want to get trained in British Columbia. But there are so many stories…. Debbie Atkins contacted us from Parksville. She has a relative who is a pediatric specialist who is today working at a hospital in Switzerland. Internationally trained, internationally credentialed at a world-leading institution. Wanted to come to British Columbia. But it was made clear to him that it would be years before he would be able to put his talents to work in British Columbia.

The minister stands up — and I’m sure he will do so again in a moment — and says: “Oh, you’re exaggerating.”

Why aren’t we training more doctors in British Columbia when the need is so apparent, and why aren’t we taking steps to eliminate the bureaucratic hurdles to taking world-leading physicians who want to come to British Columbia and letting them practise in British Columbia and easing the burden faced by now close to a million British Columbians who need a family physician?

Hon. A. Dix: Well, hon. Speaker, I think the member will appreciate…. I think the issue is so serious that we won’t get into a discussion of records.

We were tenth in Canada in the number of nurses per capita when I became Minister of Health. We were tenth in Canada in the number of nurse practitioners in British Columbia when I became Minister of Health. We were below the average. We’re at the average in terms of family practice doctors.

[10:50 a.m.]

We’re seeing a change in circumstances and the nature of family practice. We’re responding to that. The way that we’re responding to that is a significant reform of practice, which includes team-based care.

The very doctors that the member talks about — those trained in British Columbia and those trained elsewhere, the young doc­tors coming into the system — want a different kind and a different style of practice, and we are making significant changes in the system to address that.

All of these measures, all of these opportunities for primary care and the expansion out to team-based care, are important. We are going to need more family practice doctors in the future, and that will require training in British Columbia. It will require a new medical school in British Columbia. It will require other steps, and it is absolutely our intention to do so.

But for the member to, I think, suggest that action hasn’t been taken — when such dramatic action has been taken to respond to this question that had been building for a long time with no action — is incorrect. We are taking that action, and we’ll continue to.

PROPOSED MEDICAL SCHOOL AT
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

C. Oakes: Well, it is clear that we need to train more doctors. As my colleague mentioned today, the minister is avoiding the very specific questions that we have around the training purposes. So maybe we’ll try a different minister.

The NDP are not helping the situation, because they’re breaking their promise to build a medical school at SFU’s campus in Surrey. Despite promising one in the last election, there has been absolutely no funding for a medical school in Surrey for two consecutive budgets.

To the Minister of Advanced Education, why is she breaking the NDP’s promise to fund a medical school when there are nearly one million people without a family doctor in the province of British Columbia?

Hon. A. Dix: The Minister of Advanced Education and I are, in fact, putting the effort required into what will be a major project, but there are two sets of things the member will understand. A new medical school is necessary to address the situation into the future and, I believe, provides some innovative new opportunities. That’s important, and that’s something the government is hard at work on, on the one hand.

On the other hand, there’s addressing the situation that has been described by herself and her colleagues now, which will involve a whole set of other measures. And the government is doing both.

Mr. Speaker: Member, supplemental.

C. Oakes: The government continues to be all talk and no action on this. I’ll quote SFU’s news release from last October: “Over the next several months, it’s hoped that the province will green-light development of a business case for the proposed school.” But here we are months later — no business case, no budget, no hope to address the doctor shortage in British Columbia.

Again to the Minister of Advanced Education, please provide the House a clear timeline and dollar figure for a medical school in Surrey, or is this just another broken promise?

Hon. A. Dix: With great respect, you know, across British Columbia — and this is particularly important in rural and remote communities in the interior of the province, where these issues are even, I think, more keenly felt than they are in urban sectors — significant action has been taken and continues to be taken in many communities. For example, in Quesnel, there’s an urgent and primary care centre where there wasn’t before.

There are two sets of things that we need to do. There are two sets of things. I agree it’s not just in rural and remote areas, but that’s a priority. Surely, the Leader of the Opposition would agree with me that addressing issues around doctors in rural and remote communities is a high priority for us. It must be a high priority for her. So one does not exclude the other is what I’m saying to the Leader of the Opposition.

The government is proceeding on numerous tracks. We are taking steps to improve access to internationally trained health professionals to come into the B.C. market, because in many areas, frankly, the system that’s in place provides an impediment. It creates a financial disincentive, and this is particularly true of nurses. It provides a structural disincentive. There are two processes, a national and a provincial one, in that case — and why we need to take those actions.

With respect to the SFU medical school, it’s a commitment in the government’s four-year plan, and we intend to meet that commitment during this mandate.

[10:55 a.m.]

PHYSICIAN SUPPLY AND BARGAINING
MANDATE ON MASTER AGREEMENT

P. Milobar: It’s very clear we’re seeing a shifting of resources from clinics and doctors’ offices to the urgent pri­mary care centres. But the net result…. The minister can say, “It’s not,” all he wants, but the fact of the matter is that we have 200,000 more people in this province without access to a family doctor than when they formed government. It’s closing in on one million people without a doctor because it’s just been a shifting of resources around, not an added capacity to the system.

We’ve heard about the struggles around access to education, access to training and access to foreign credentialing. It’s a layering of frustrations to physicians generally that is leading to them also seeking out early retirement and also lower workloads.

Another example of this frustration is the current physician master agreement, which was ratified in 2019. It’s the payment model that is obviously critical for keeping family doctors and is one of the most cited reasons for doctors closing their doors over the last while. But despite this fact, the agreement expires on Friday. We have no idea what the status of negotiations is or even what the bargaining mandate is.

This is the first time since the ’90s that the public sector negotiating mandate has been suppressed. Not surprising, I guess, given that this is the government that has been cited as the most secretive in Canada.

My question to the Finance Minister is one that’s quite simple. What is the negotiating mandate for the 2022 phys­ician master agreement so we can stop losing the critical physicians that are in short supply already?

Hon. A. Dix: The member knows that the signature initiative in the primary care plan, our primary care networks across B.C…. Every primary care network was proposed by local divisions of family practice, including doctors. In other words, there has never been this level of working together in consultation as there is now.

Does that mean…?

Interjection.

Hon. A. Dix: Well, the first urgent and primary care centre was in Kamloops. It aligned with it the ability for new doctors to come and practise in primary care in Kamloops. In fact, it’s one of the most successful of its kind in North America — in Kamloops.

I’m happy to show the numbers, happy to show the num­bers anytime — anytime. That work…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. A. Dix: …in Kamloops….

Interjection.

Hon. A. Dix: I’m happy to provide the numbers. In fact…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members, let’s hear the answer, please.

Hon. A. Dix: …if the member stays around after question period in this place — I don’t want to refer to that, because we all have much business around the place — I’d be happy to provide them to him this morning, between 11 and 12. I’m happy to provide them, because the numbers are so good. I tell you….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

The minister will continue.

Hon. A. Dix: Urgent primary care centres — I’m surprised, because I’d understood that they were supported by members of the opposition — have been essential in this period of pandemic. The doors of those urgent primary care centres have stayed open, where it’s not been virtual care. They’ve played a essential role. The member seems to dismiss one million visits, but one million visits are a lot of visits with people in British Columbia.

With respect to issues of collective bargaining…. I don’t know if this is new or news to members of the opposition, but collective bargaining should take place at the bargaining table, and it will.

[End of question period.]

Tabling Documents

Mr. Speaker: Members, I have the honour of tabling the Auditor General’s report Managing Cybersecurity Risk in the Telework Environment, and the Representative for Children and Youth’s report At a Crossroads: The Road Map from Fiscal Discrimination to Equity in Indigenous Child Welfare.

Hon. D. Eby: I rise to present the 2021 annual report of the Forest Appeals Commission.

[11:00 a.m.]