Routine Business

Prayers and reflections: S. Chant.

[10:05 a.m.]

Statements

WALK IN ESQUIMALT FOR MISSING
AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS
WOMEN, GIRLS AND TWO-SPIRIT PEOPLE

Hon. M. Dean: Today we honour the memory of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.

Just a few minutes ago the first Our Womxn Are Sacred Walk has begun in my community of Esquimalt-Met­chosin, at the corner of Admirals and Hallowell.

To people in my community, I encourage you to join your neighbours, family and friends to heal, to celebrate and to hold each other up.

I’m honoured to stand today in this House and raise my hands to the organizers: Surrounded by Cedar Child and Family Services, in partnership with Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, Victoria Native Friendship Centre, South Island Indigenous Authority, Indigenous Perspectives Society, Hulitan Family and Community Services Society, NIȽ TU,O Child and Family Services Society and Island Métis Family and Community Services Society.

HÍSW̱ḴE SIÁM.

Introductions by Members

Hon. J. Osborne: None of us is able to do our jobs without the support and the teamwork of dedicated staff. Of course, for members of cabinet, that includes the communications and public affairs professionals who support each minister’s office.

Today in the gallery, we are joined by four of these individuals from the team that supports my office in the Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship. They are Tania Venn, communications director; Nova Pierson, communications manager; Tom Winterhoff, senior public affairs officer; and Chitra Arcot, public affairs officer.

I want to thank them for the work that they do and ask the House to please help me make them welcome today.

C. Oakes: In our community of Quesnel, we have a monument that pays tribute. We reflect, especially today, on the 28 missing and murdered women from our community. I want to acknowledge all of the families who have been impacted and all of the community organizations.

There are a number of events that are happening over the next couple of weeks, and I just want to acknowledge everyone.

Hon. R. Kahlon: I have two introductions. First, on behalf of my colleague the Minister of Transportation, who I know will be coming in any minute, I want to recognize the young students that are here in the gallery today. They’re here from Central Middle School, and they are the students of colour association.

I reflect on my time in high school. I wish I had an association like this where I could get together with people to talk about our hopes and dreams and opportunities and challenges that we face. I’m looking forward to seeing them at lunchtime to talk about any topic that they want to discuss.

I want to welcome them and hope the House can please join me in welcoming them here today.

Statements

PRINCETON AND
HOCKEYVILLE COMPETITION

Hon. R. Kahlon: I do want to make one more recognition today.

Most of us that are ice hockey fans will know of the Hockeyville Canada competition. It’s advertised quite broadly. There are four cities that have been chosen across the country as the final four. Princeton, B.C., is one of those communities.

I know that my colleague from Fraser-Nicola and I are excited to hear that they’re the only city in the province that’s in the final four. Mayor Coyne, I know, is very excited. I saw a video he posted the other day promoting this important event. The winner of the competition gets not only some dollars for their rink but also the ability to host a high-level hockey game in their community.

I want to share, on behalf of Mayor Coyne and my colleague from Fraser-Nicola, that people can go online and vote. I encourage all British Columbians to go online and vote, starting tomorrow. Ontario and Quebec are our competition. If we all unite, we can get this one through.

The message is: let’s bring this home. Vote for Princeton in this important competition.

Introductions by Members

A. Singh: Today, May 5, would have been my mother’s 82nd birthday. She passed away from breast cancer a few years ago. Much of who I am is because of her.

Happy birthday, Mom, wherever you are.

[10:10 a.m.]

R. Singh: I’m also going to join the member for Delta North in welcoming the students from Central Middle School, the students of colour association. I’m really looking forward to having a conversation.

Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. Really looking forward to the conversation.

Would the House please make them feel very welcome.

Statements
(Standing Order 25B)

HILLIARD CLARE

S. Bond: A 2016 article in the Prince George Citizen called Hilliard Clare a keepsake of Prince George, and that he was.

Born in 1929, Hilliard moved to Prince George with his parents in 1930 to live in the Cache with other railroad families. Hilliard was a Mason and served in the Shriners. He was an alderman of the city of Prince George, a Jaycee senator, an associate member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 43, and he was also known to play Santa Claus for the Elks organization.

In his youth, Hilliard was a hockey goalie and a long-time director of the Prince George Mohawks hockey club. He received the prestigious Centennial Medal in 1967 for his community service and was Citizen of the Year in 1991.

While Hilliard’s dream was to go to law school, there was no money for continuing education at that time. He went to work full-time at the iconic Northern Hardware store, and there he stayed for decades — more than 70 years, in fact. During his career, he drove the delivery truck, repaired bicycles and eventually moved into the office. He said he enjoyed his job and all the people he worked with.

Hilliard was an incredible part of the history of our community and, in particular, Northern Hardware. Hilliard said that he had established many good and long-lasting friendships and that the people of Prince George are friendly and helpful and that it was indeed a great place to live.

Hilliard passed away on April 26, 2022. He will be deeply missed by his loving family and, of course, by our community. Hilliard Clare was a father and a grandfather and someone who was, in the words of writer Kathy Nadalin, a keepsake of the city of Prince George.

We will miss you, Hilliard.

ROLE OF MIDWIVES

J. Rice: On International Day of the Midwife, I rise to celebrate and honour the midwives of British Columbia. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the International Confederation of Midwives, and the theme of this year’s celebration is “100 years of progress.”

Midwives play a critical role in progressing our own health care system here in B.C. and effectively provide primary maternity care to over 10,000 families across the province each year. Not only can midwives provide families the opportunity to access primary maternity care from the comfort of their own home, but they specialize in healthy and low-risk pregnancies, effectively reducing the pressure put on hospital resources.

In British Columbia, we are fortunate enough to have over 400 highly trained midwives accredited through the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives, who provide trauma-informed, culturally safe, inclusive and effective services to families across the province. These incredible caregivers work diligently and sensitively to ensure the health and well-being of newborns and mothers before, during and after delivery. This care gives strength and support to parents who experience the significant physical and mental challenges that come with bearing and delivering a child.

Improvements are being made, but there continues to be a challenge of supporting midwives in rural and remote communities, where health services are often limited and midwifery is, in fact, an ideal service. I’ve been working with local advocacy group Prince Rupert Advocates for Midwifery. This is a group meant to bring together people in the Prince Rupert community who would like to see midwifery as an option for maternity care.

Whether a pregnant woman wants to have a hospital or home birth, a vaginal or planned Caesarean birth, maternity care with a doctor or a midwife, it should be her choice. Currently in Prince Rupert, we don’t have many of those choices, but collectively, along with local physicians and Northern Health, we’re working on changing this.

Today I invite you all to join me in celebrating, appreciating and honouring midwives.

[10:15 a.m.]

COMMUNITY AWARDS
RECIPIENTS IN KELOWNA

R. Merrifield: Resilient. Innovative. Tenacious. Courageous. Strong. Optimistic. Excellence. Service to community. These are words that have been repeated through­out the recent celebrations in Kelowna at the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce’s Business Excellence Awards, the Southern Interior Construction Association awards, the Okanagan Housing Awards of Excellence and the city of Kelowna’s Civic and Community Awards.

Yes, April was a busy month, celebrating the businesses and community that makes Kelowna so exceptional. It was a joy to be able to participate but mostly to be in person with so many from our city and reconnect after the pandemic. I wish that I could celebrate every single winner. I will acknowledge as many as time allows.

Know that you are all celebrated. Congratulations.

For the Business Excellence Awards: HUB Office Furniture Inc., Festivals Kelowna, CrAsian Foods Corp., Secure-Rite Mobile Storage, TKI Construction, Ecora, Courtney Koga, Habitat for Humanity Okanagan, Flora­Maxx Technologies, O’Rourke’s Peak Cellars, Acres Enterprises Ltd.

For the 47th annual Civic and Community Award: Edna Terbasket; Mike Sodaro; Kelowna Senior Secondary Owls boys volleyball team; Malindi Elmore; Jerome Blake; Tatum Wade; Everett Schmuland and Nathan Loo; Dryden Bennett; Jennifer Money; Canadian Mental Health Association, Kelowna; Toyota Kelowna; Don Dobson; Lloyd Nelson; David Withler.

Okanagan Awards Housing Excellence. I’ll just list the grands. Acorn Communities, Dilworth Homes, Edward West Luxury Homes, Norelco Cabinets, Hannah Katey Interior Design, Bercum Builders and Gord Turner for a lifetime achievement award.

And for SICA: Emil Anderson, Plan B Construction, John Bachelder Construction, Traine Construction, Houle Interior, Acres Enterprises, Highstreet Ventures and Flynn Canada.

Congratulations to all the winners. Thank you for all you do for our community and through your service.

COMOX VALLEY TRANSITION SOCIETY

R. Leonard: Growing from a safe home network 35 years ago, welcoming women and children fleeing violence into families’ homes, the Comox Valley Transition Society today provides many vital services for our vulnerable neighbours and continues to cultivate a supportive community, from the thrift store to events like Coldest Night of the Year, where we’re No. 6 in the country for money raised. Thank you very much.

In 1992, the transition society bought Lilli House, with 11 beds and six bedrooms. Today Stasia Hasumi is the manager extraordinaire of this women’s shelter. Last year 111 women benefited from this safe haven, which is dozens less than before the pandemic.

Finding housing for transitioning out of Lilli House and for those who are stranded with no shelter, the transition society has gone on to operate 23 subsidized homes through provincial rent supplements, and they’re planning for more housing. They opened Amethyst House, now operating 13 beds of social detox and supportive recovery for women. Praise goes to Tonya Edwards, who effectively collaborates with Island Health, Coastal Health and CMHA to provide this valuable service. Forty modular units of second-stage housing are going up, ready in the next month.

Recognizing that men who are supported result in women being safer, they operate a men’s group to address violent behaviours. Applying a gendered lens, the transition society has taken on co-ed programs for the homeless, including sheltering and the Connect day program, managed by Diana Murton.

Deb Prain provides remarkable advocacy as she manages 64 beds at the Travelodge, working collaboratively with Health to provide supports as this transitional housing helps bring stability to people’s lives.

Heather Ney, the executive director, steers the ship and is proud of her team, and we are all proud of them.

KIMBERLEY AND
BEST SMALL TOWN COMPETITION

D. Clovechok: I’m so proud to stand here today to recognize a community in Columbia River–Revelstoke for being the declared winner of the CBC search for the best small town in British Columbia.

To begin, I want to acknowledge Revelstoke, Invermere and Golden, communities also in my riding, that were in the hunt as well.

[10:20 a.m.]

In March, the CBC search launched its seven-week competition and garnered participation from 128 communities with a little over 850,000 votes. The final vote took place on Monday, April 25, and I’m proud to say that Kimberley was crowned the best town in B.C.

In the words of Mayor Don McCormick, this recognition of Kimberley couldn’t come at a better time. “The past winter was hard not only due to the pandemic, but also, they experienced two significant arson events, one at the Gymnastics Centre and another that took out the main ski lift for the entire season. This contest became a rallying point for the community. It’s not only great for Kimberley; it’s great for the Kootenays.”

Kimberley is known for many things. It’s the highest city in terms of elevation in Canada and has more than 300 days of sunshine. It’s known for its outstanding facilities, venues and small businesses that range from incredible restaurants; the underground railway; the Kimberley Heritage Museum; the Cominco Gardens; the solar park, which powers 200 homes in Kimberley; of course, the MLA’s office, which is net zero as well; the Kimberley ski resort; and the Kimberley Nature Park, to mention a few.

Then there are the people. There is a distinct vibe about this amazing place, this amazing community, around the locals who are fun-loving, hard-working and passionately committed to their community. They love where they live and would love to show you around. The people of Kimberley make it a place that is hard to leave and even harder to forget.

Thank you to the CBC.

Congratulations to all the amazing small communities who participated.

I’m so proud of Kimberley and believe it’s not only a great place to live, but now it’s the best place to live.

WATERSHED AND WETLAND RESTORATION
PROJECTS IN COWICHAN VALLEY

D. Routley: Through the healthy watersheds initiative, our government has invested $27 million into more than 60 projects aimed at restoring and preserving watersheds and wetlands, including two projects in the Cowichan Valley. Cowichan Tribes has received $2.8 million to lead two projects, which are also supporting 53 jobs in our community.

The first project includes extensive work to rehabilitate the Cowichan and Koksilah Rivers by focusing on sedi­ment management and habitat rehabilitation. Work in­volves removing 90,000 cubic metres of sediment across six sites, repairing the hatchery and old south side dikes, excavating and reactivating side channels and monitoring of sites for flood and drought management.

The second is funding to help build a water sustaina­bility plan for the Xwulqw’selu Sto’lo’, the Koksilah River watershed. In recent years, summer flow rates have been exceptionally low at times when demand is at its highest. This funding will be used to conduct technical work and analysis to support sustainable long-term land and water management in order to restore water flows for fish and water users.

With Budget 2022, we are continuing to build on the success from projects like the ones led by Cowichan Tribes, with an additional $30 million investment for restoration and preservation of more wetlands and watersheds throughout B.C.

I’d like to use the remaining moments of my time to remember and honour the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls from the Hul’q’umi’num’-speaking territories which I represent: lost to the Cowichan, Lake Cowichan, Halalt, Penelakut, Lyackson, Stz’uminus and Snuneymuxw people.

May their memories be a blessing.

Ministerial Statements

RED DRESS DAY AND REMEMBRANCE OF
MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS
WOMEN, GIRLS AND TWO-SPIRIT PEOPLE

Hon. M. Rankin: I would like to draw the House’s attention to an important event in our calendar. Today, May 5, is Red Dress Day in Canada. This is a national day of awareness to remember and honour murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit-plus people and their families.

You may have noticed red dresses and ribbons pop up across this province in windows and on trees and balconies. You may have also noticed the red dress hanging from the inner balcony of this House. The red dress is a symbol for the movement and is linked to a 2010 art installation by Jaime Black, called the REDress project.

Ms. Black chose the colour red after speaking with an Indigenous friend who told her that red is the only colour that spirits can see. It is a way of calling the spirits of missing and murdered women and girls back to their loved ones.

The project has sparked a grassroots movement that has now grown to unify us all in the fight against gendered violence. Each year individuals across the country wear red. They post videos and photos of red dresses. They hang red dresses in locations across this country.

[10:25 a.m.]

Scott Fraser, my predecessor, started the symbolic hang­ing of the red dresses here, and today our Legislature has been lit up in red in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.

Marches, gatherings, ceremonies, webinars raise awareness of this tragedy, and they demand continued action. This includes the Our Womxn Are Sacred Walk that’s hosted by the Songhees Nation and is happening in Esquimalt as I speak.

Red Dress Day continues the important work of honouring lost loved ones and the lives of all women and gender-diverse people. Together we can support healing, and we can end gender-based violence.

Let’s take this opportunity to recognize the family members, Indigenous community members and concerned citizens across this country. They are demanding change. They are demanding safety. They are supporting the healing so desperately needed from the scourge of this systemic violence.

M. Lee: I stand here today with all colleagues in this House, in a good and humble way, to acknowledge the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Across Canada and here in British Columbia, Indigenous women and girls experience an extreme amount of violence and systemic racism. As the minister just referred to, in 2010, Winnipeg artist Jaime Black began hanging empty red dresses, one for every missing and murdered Indigenous woman who has experienced racialization and sexualized violence. Twelve years later we continue this tradition to symbolize the Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people who never came home.

B.C. has the highest number of cases of murdered or missing Indigenous women in Canada, particularly in the Downtown Eastside community and the Highway of Tears. As members of this Legislative Assembly, we all have a responsibility to use our voices to bring forward meaningful systemic change, provide resources to communities to end the cycles of trauma and violence, create healing and bring justice to their families. We have a duty to educate ourselves on the dark history of our country: the appalling acts committed in residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, the millennial scoop and the continued intergenerational trauma experienced by Indigenous communities today.

Over 2,000 people — the families and survivors as well as knowledge-keepers — have shared their stories with the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Three years after its conclusion, families are still experiencing heartbreaking loss and are waiting for meaningful action.

There are concrete actions that we can take towards protecting our women, girls and two-spirit people, and we expect this government to do so. Our mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, aunties and cousins are all so precious to us, and now is the time to ensure that all Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people are treated with dignity and respect.

I also wish to acknowledge the work of the countless advocates and organizations who have raised our consciousness on these issues. I hope that we have the wisdom and the humility to listen to those same voices as we move forward with solutions. We raise our hands to you all.

Oh sea em, Hiy hiy, Miigwech. Thank you.

A. Olsen: Thank you to the Minister of Indigenous Relations and to the member for Vancouver-Langara for your thoughtful comments on today.

[10:30 a.m.]

Today is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Red Dress Day. I wish I could stand here and read into the record all the names of the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ peoples.

To the matriarchs, the future matriarchs, my grandmother, mother, aunties, sisters, cousins, nieces, to my daughter Ella, I love you, and I raise my hands to you for your power and your strength.

It’s Mother’s Day weekend. This weekend there will be too many members of our families who will not be with us. There are going to be too many empty seats around the table, too many candles burning solemnly on the mantle. I wish I could say to our relatives that their Crown governments have been inspired to ensure that every case is investigated and solved, that this institution is sparing no resources to find the perpetrators of these crimes and bring them to justice. I can’t. We can’t.

When I hear that the transformation of policing services is too expensive or too difficult, that governments don’t like expensive or difficult, it comes from a more privileged reality than that of the families of the missing and mur­dered. As we become more comfortable acknowledging our inadequate and fragmented police services built on institutionalized racism, stigma and discrimination, where there is a distinctly lesser value placed on the life of Indigenous women, where we hear that Indigenous women in communities are both underserved by police and overrepresented in our justice system, transformation is not only necessary, but there is no other choice than to change this culture.

I read the headline this morning. “‘Shocking and shameful’: for the first time, Indigenous women make up half the female population in Canada’s federal prisons.” Let’s put that into context. One out of every 20 women in Canada is Indigenous.

When I sat on that Police Act committee, I held close in my heart the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people who died because our police services, structures and institutions made them vulnerable to exploitation and death. We must do better than we have. We must do better than the national action plan, much better than our meagre commitment in A Path Forward: Priorities and Early Strategies for B.C. Today we must do better than perform for those who are missing or murdered.

I hope that just as we paused for a moment of silence on the Day of Mourning for injured and killed workers, we do the same for our sisters.

HÍSW̱ḴE SIÁM.

Oral Questions

CRIME IN COMMUNITIES AND
HANDLING OF CASES BY JUSTICE SYSTEM

K. Kirkpatrick: Yesterday we learned a woman was randomly attacked in James Bay, almost directly behind this Legislature, when a man pushed her into the corner of a building face first, cutting her face and giving her head injuries.

Despite denials by the Attorney General, random as­saults in our communities have increased dramatically.

When will the Attorney General end his catch-and-release and get prolific offenders off our streets?

Hon. D. Eby: My sincere sympathy and empathy to the victim of this horrible random assault. I imagine she and her family are going through quite a difficult time, and the broader community, in the feelings of safety and security.

The Minister of Public Safety and I take this issue very seriously, despite what the member suggested in her question. It’s not correct. We take it very seriously. I’ve been on my feet saying that for a couple of weeks now.

I look forward to making an announcement this afternoon with the Minister of Public Safety and mayors of our province about how we’re going to wrap our hands around this issue and address it. That’s what our government does. When we see a problem, we move to solve it.

[10:35 a.m.]

Mr. Speaker: Member for West Vancouver–Capilano, supplemental.

K. Kirkpatrick: Nobody has confidence in this Attorney in whatever he will announce, given his terrible track re­cord for five years and his past statements. In 2011, he said: “We have serious concerns with the results of the prolific offender program and are continuing to investigate aggressive policing tactics.”

Will the Attorney General end his catch-and-release system and take action to protect British Columbians so they can feel safe in their communities?

Hon. D. Eby: I think the police themselves will tell you that when it comes to issues of mental health and addiction and wherever those issues overlap with behaviours that are criminal in nature, police need more than just the criminal justice system. We need mental health and addictions supports. And for some people, those need to be compulsory, because they will not take up the voluntary supports we offer. We’ve been meeting with police. We’ve been going over these issues in relation to random stranger attacks as well as prolific property crime.

The member says in her question that she doesn’t appreciate my track record on these issues. I’ll point out two similar issues that came to my attention. One was the financial crisis at ICBC. We now have the best insurance rates and the best benefits in Canada, following my work and carried on by the Minister of Public Safety. The second. We had widespread and rampant money laundering in our casinos. I took on that issue. We no longer have that problem.

Just like that, we’ve identified this issue. We’ll address this issue, and I assure the members of the public who’ve been victims of crime that we take this very seriously.

ACTION ON GAS PRICES

P. Milobar: Well, this government’s empty rhetoric and lack of results are failing British Columbians on a wide range of issues. Whether it’s the catch-and-release system of this Attorney General and spiking crime rates, the crumbling of our health care system in front of our very eyes or the lack of any measures around affordability, this government is failing by every measure.

Gas prices are expected to hit an all-time high of $2.17 per litre tomorrow. This means it’s going to cost some families upwards of $200 just to fill up their family vehicle. It’s been 215 weeks since the Premier first promised action if gas prices stayed high, but today life is more unaffordable with sky-high gas prices, soaring inflation and no help in sight.

How much longer will families have to wait for a real, long-term solution and relief on gas prices from this government?

Hon. B. Ralston: I think everyone recognizes that the war in Ukraine has dramatically shifted energy markets not only here in British Columbia and not only in Canada but around the world. As a provincial jurisdiction, we do not control the world price of oil. But here within British Columbia, we do have jurisdiction that’s exercised through the B.C. Utilities Commission. That’s why we created the Fuel Price Transparency Act and empowered the energy watchdog to investigate fuel prices here.

In addition, thanks to the work of the Attorney General while he was responsible for ICBC, we are now going to be able to rebate to drivers the sum of $110 per person. That is beginning this week through the process of rebates by either mail, by credit card or by cheque. So there is some relief on its way.

Mr. Speaker: Member for Kamloops–North Thompson, supplemental.

P. Milobar: Sadly, this minister and their cabinet has got their retroactive pay, likely, in their bank accounts long before people are going to see any relief from this government when it comes to gas prices.

The war in Ukraine is affecting everybody. Yet in Washington State, right across the border, gas is $1.50 a litre today — Canadian. In Alberta, it’s 40 to 50 to 60 cents a litre — depending on the day — cheaper than in British Columbia. We have the highest gas prices with the highest gas taxes in North America.

[10:40 a.m.]

Despite five years of empty NDP rhetoric, B.C. continues to have that. Two weeks ago the Premier said he directed the Finance Minister to “bring forward initiatives” to assist with inflation. We’ll see how that goes. And 215 weeks ago the Premier said he had a plan for high gas prices. Two weeks ago he said he was still working on inflation.

When are we going to see any type of discernable action, from this government, to help people with their inflationary costs at the pump?

Hon. B. Ralston: I want to congratulate Kevin Falcon on his victory in the by-election. No doubt he will be here very soon in the Legislature, and he will have an opportunity to explain this statement that he made back in 2008: “I don’t want to…pretend that there’s any magic solutions to the fact that fuel prices have doubled in the last 12 months.”

He was asked about this statement just recently on The Mike Smyth Show, and he said: “This is what I said, and it’s true.” We’ll await his solutions, perhaps next week.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Shall we continue?

Member for Saanich North and the Islands.

NATURAL GAS FRACKING
AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ON INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES

A. Olsen: Today is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, also known as Red Dress Day. Earlier this week this assembly celebrated a new anti-racism data collection initiative, a new bill. Yesterday afternoon I celebrated that initiative.

I wish that this B.C. NDP government’s commitment extended to environmental racism. In northern B.C., spurred on by this government’s record-setting investment and subsidization of the liquefied gas industry, fracking is widespread.

We are learning about the tragic and deadly conse­quences of fracking. We’re learning more and more about it every day. Emissions of chemicals that cause and exacerbate birth defects, rare cancers and asthma are disproportionately impacting Indigenous communities. One study from the U.S. found that children born near fracking sites were 25 percent more likely to be born at low birth weights, or less than 5.5 pounds. They found an increased risk of childhood mortality and poorer educational outcomes.

A lead author from the Nobel Peace Prize–winning group called Physicians for Social Responsibility called fracking “the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”

To the Premier, does he care that his government is actively engaged in environmental racism against Indigenous communities, particularly Indigenous children and pregnant people?

Hon. M. Rankin: Thank you to my colleague from Saanich North and the Islands for the question.

In the northeast of British Columbia where the fracking activity to which he refers primarily occurs, we are engaged in addressing a historic decision of the B.C. Supreme Court — namely, the Yahey decision. We are doing so with all the Treaty 8 Nations which, the judge concluded, had had their treaty 8 rights violated through oil and gas activity.

We are engaged in a series of initiatives to heal the land and to do some of the things that the member suggests need to be done. We are doing that in close collaboration and negotiation, not with the victor in that litigation — namely, the Blueberry River First Nations — but all the other Treaty 8 Nations. We are consulting widely with industry, and we are working with local governments to make sure we get it right.

Mr. Speaker: Member for Saanich North and the Islands, supplemental.

A. Olsen: There is nothing ethical about LNG development. Neither the government nor the official opposition grasps that. Not only is LNG Canada going to be the single largest point source of emissions in this province, undermining any efforts that this government is making to combat the climate crisis. It’s disproportionately impacting Indigenous people. It’s environmental racism.

Researchers at the University of Toronto are undertaking further study of the direct impacts of fracking on fetal health, and more research is needed. Instead of contributing to that, the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission just criticized the existing study.

[10:45 a.m.]

Nobody seems to care about the fact that this study of pregnant people found higher contaminant levels in homes near fracking sites and that the highest levels of exposure were found among Indigenous pregnant people who participated. Indigenous participants’ homes showed notably higher concentration of chloroform, acetone and decanal. There were higher levels of trihalomethane in their tap water.

My question, again, is to the Premier. How does the Premier reconcile his commitments to Indigenous people, while ramping up this fracked gas development that is clearly putting the lives of Indigenous children and pregnant people at risk?

Hon. M. Rankin: I think it is true that there has been a disproportionate impact on Indigenous peoples in the northeast. That, of course, was the conclusion of Madam Justice Burke in the Yahey decision, to which I previously referred. That is why — because of that treaty having been violated over 100 years or more — we are rolling up our sleeves and doing what the court asked that we do. In doing so, we will address the impacts that the member refers to. These impacts are real. We are not shying away from that.

Indeed, we’re taking the kinds of steps — in partnership with industry, in partnership with local government — to make sure that we have a viable northeast economy but that the balance is restruck in a way that works for everyone — for those of us who benefit from that activity, in the south, but particularly to address the impacts on those who suffer, in the northeast, from those consequences.

It’s not going to be a simple solution, but it’s an overdue one. We’re rolling up our sleeves and doing that hard work now.

CONDITIONS AT HOSPITALS AND
WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION
FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS

L. Doerkson: Our health care system is in crisis. Despite NDP gag orders, doctors and nurses who are so committed to their patients are speaking out.

In my community, a very respected surgeon, who has practised for 28 years at Cariboo Memorial Hospital, has resigned. Dr. Dan Brosseuk says: “There’s a constant push to cancel or delay surgeries without consideration of patient care or needs. Patient care has been continuously eroded to the point where I can no longer participate in good conscience.” This morning I’ve been told that there’s at least one more doctor who will be resigning.

Will the Minister of Health act now to stop the crisis at Cariboo Memorial Hospital?

Hon. A. Dix: With respect to surgeries in British Columbia, the member will know that I gave a comprehensive report yesterday on surgery in the province. He will know.

This has been disruptive everywhere in the province. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellations of surgeries in Interior Health in March of 2020, and again, significantly, in 2021. These were decisions, reluctantly taken, because of the circumstances of COVID-19.

Notwithstanding that, because of the outstanding work of doctors everywhere in B.C., we set a record year for surgeries in British Columbia last year, reflecting the commitment of our surgical renewal plan to patients in B.C. — a record number than ever before, 84 measures to increase surgeries and working with doctors and surgeons everywhere in B.C.

We are always concerned when doctors express concern about issues in the system. Our commitment to Cariboo Memorial Hospital and the standard of care there could not be higher. That’s why we engaged, in 2018, in a major capital rebuild of the hospital, ensuring our long-term commitment to the people of Williams Lake and region, and why we’ll continue to work with health care professionals everywhere to ensure the quality of the system, even in these very challenging times.

Mr. Speaker: A supplemental.

L. Doerkson: Concern and action are two different things. What the residents of Cariboo-Chilcotin need is action, and they need it right now.

The minister can try to dismiss what is happening in our health care system, but as I said, our residents are concerned. Honestly, they’re afraid. I’ve heard from multiple doctors and nurses at the hospital that they are subject every day to a toxic workplace, with harassment, bullying and worker intimidation. They are gravely concerned about declining patient care, but they’re afraid to speak out “due to fears of vengeful behaviour, retaliation, persecution for coming forward.”

[10:50 a.m.]

Just this morning three more staff have reached out to me and contacted me with respect to concerns for patient care that is diminishing.

Will the minister end his gag order on concerned health care workers, listen to them and act now to stop a collapse at Cariboo Memorial Hospital?

Hon. A. Dix: I appreciate that in this Legislature, there is the use of rhetoric. I appreciate that. I appreciate that, and it’s used on all sides. But I think there is a certain duty to accuracy.

Last week the member from Abbotsford and other members of this House referred to an Interior Health document that they said was evidence of what the member talked about — that document. They quoted extensively from that document. In fact, the document in question dates to March 2004. March 2004.

Now, I know the members are honourable, and that would have been an unintentional misleading of the situation. But it’s a serious situation. It’s been a code of conduct that’s been in place since 2004.

There are whistleblower policies in the Interior Health Authority and everywhere else to protect people, to ensure fair access to the public to information. This House passed, in 2019, the Public Interest Disclosure Act. That applies to public servants. It will apply and take over from those policies in the coming year. The importance of whistleblower protection is fundamental. It’s something that has been supported by all members in this House.

When they cite evidence from 2004 suggesting that, when they ought to know where those documents came from…. The Minister of Health in 2004 was the hon. Colin Hansen, the Leader of the Opposition. When they use that as evidence, that is simply misleading and not appropriate to the debate.

Our health care workers have been through everything in the last two years. They deserve a serious debate. They deserve our support. They have it on this side. They have it, I think, all over the House, and that should be demonstrated every single day.

T. Stone: With all due respect to the Minister of Health, it’s 2022. Our health care system…. Hospital after hospital after hospital is in near collapse due to the challenges that are taking place within those hospitals.

The members of the opposition are simply bringing forward the stories, the testaments, of front-line health care workers who are demanding action. They’re demanding that this minister actually step up and take action to improve the dire situation in our hospitals.

I will highlight another hospital, the one in Kamloops, Royal Inland, where the situation is dire. Nurses are speaking out in record numbers, despite the concerns that they have about potentially being dismissed or having other types of actions taken against them. One nurse had this to say the other day: “What little staff we have is redeployed throughout the building. Medical units, which should have eight nurses, very often have shifts where no nurses are booked to work.”

This is against the backdrop of reports that the nursing complement right now at Royal Inland Hospital on most days is often at 50 percent of what a normal complement would be. That is unacceptable.

Again, the question to the minister would be this. Will the minister let these nurses speak, and will he fix the crisis at Royal Inland Hospital?

Hon. A. Dix: The member may think asserting that policies in place in 2004 were put in place by this government is just par for the course in his conduct of his role as an MLA, but I don’t agree with it. The policy is the same.

[10:55 a.m.]

There is whistleblower protection and policies in place in the Interior Health Authority and everywhere else. They continue to be in place, in addition, in this House in the wake, frankly, of the Health firings matter, which I will not go into here. We put in place public interest disclosure legislation and unanimously passed it in 2019, which will also be in place in health authorities.

The members refer, and the member from Williams Lake, Cariboo South, referred, to the record around surgeries. Well, we’ve added 299 net new surgical nurses since we put in place the surgical renewal plan in March and May of 2020. That’s action. The 84 measures to expand services. That’s action. The best year in the history of British Columbia in terms of surgeries, in one of the most complicated and difficult health years. That’s action. The fact that more than 200 nurses have been hired at Royal Inland Hospital since January of 2021 is action. The fact that we have a dedicated staff of recruitment at that hospital is action.

Look, I have visited Royal Inland Hospital. I have met with nurses. They have gone through the wringer and more over the last two years. I respect the work they do. They’ve communicated directly to me, and I’ve listened directly to them, their concerns. We’re going to continue to take action to support them, because they deserve it.

Our public health care system has done a remarkable job in dealing with this extraordinary period in the history of health care, in the history of our province. We’ll continue to support our health care workers as we move forward through this year, 2022.

Mr. Speaker: Opposition House Leader, supplemental.

T. Stone: Well, what nurses are saying at Royal Inland, what they’re saying at Cariboo Memorial, what they’re saying at hospitals all across this province is that these hospitals are on the verge of collapse. That’s what’s happening today. The reality is these nurses are coming forward in record numbers. They are saying that, but they are worried about action being taken against them.

Now back to Royal Inland Hospital for a moment. Leaked data shows that there are up to 30 nursing shifts unfilled on any given day in the ICU and ER departments — on any given day. But instead of getting the needed support, nurses face discipline, up to and including dismissal, for violating the NDP’s gag order.

This is what the B.C. Nurses Union president, Aman Grewal, has confirmed with respect to this discipline. “All that they’re doing is advocating on behalf of their patients, letting the public know the reality of what public health care is like right now.”

Again, will the minister drop the gag order? Will he act to end the health care crisis at Royal Inland Hospital so that patients and health care workers can go in and know that safety is not being compromised?

Hon. A. Dix: The member has done it again. I won’t characterize what he’s doing, but when he refers to an NDP gag order…. And they quoted from a document from March 2004.

A policy, a code of conduct has been in place, since that time, in health authorities that have whistleblower protection, from a government that brought in the Public Interest Disclosure Act to protect whistleblowers and that would protect them everywhere, from a Minister of Health who did raise issues around health employees in the Ministry of Health for years, yes, and brought in changes to ensure things were better. You bet, hon. Speaker.

As well, there are significant issues facing health care professionals and health care workers everywhere, and I expect to hear from them when there are issues. They actually have a duty to report issues, and they do. I would say that the efforts and the work done by everyone to support health care workers in primary care, in long-term care, in acute care, to ensure our long-term-care homes, 88 percent of them, are not below standard in terms of staffing…. That was the situation that existed when I became Minister of Health. Changes…. It’s my responsibility, and you bet I’ll exercise it.

[11:00 a.m.]

HEALTH CARE ISSUES AND ROLE OF
URGENT AND PRIMARY CARE CENTRES

S. Bond: Well, the minister can get up and say what he wants. But by every single measure, British Columbia is in a health care crisis.

One in five British Columbians can’t get a family doctor. They are being forced to rely on emergency rooms and walk-in clinics. Wait times are the worst in Canada in those clinics. On top of that, we have health care workers that are frustrated. They are angry, and they are burned out. What does the minister say? He gets up regularly, “All is well,” and points British Columbians to an urgent and primary care centre.

Well, you can imagine our shock when we received a leaked internal document, “Urgent and Primary Care Centre Dashboard.” That dashboard laid out just how ineffective those clinics are. In urgent and primary care centres across the province, according to the leaked document, the average number of patients per practitioner per day is 4.6. That’s right: five patients a day or less.

It’s time for the minister to end the empty rhetoric, get up in this House, acknowledge that British Columbia and its health care system is in a crisis and do something about it.

Hon. A. Dix: British Columbia has been in a public health emergency with respect to the overdose crisis since 2016. British Columbia has been in a public health emergency with respect to COVID-19 since March of 2020. You bet I have been reporting every day, virtually every day, on the challenges facing that system, which are exceptional.

We talk about primary care. I’m happy to talk about primary care. In the year 2018-19, on the fee-for-service side, there were about 17.8 million fee-for-services visits. In the most recent year, there were 19.5 million — the year ending March 31, 2022. But what happened, of course, in the meantime, was the most radical, the most revolutionary set of changes to the system that had ever taken place. Of those visits in 2018-19, 97 percent of them were in-person visits. When the COVID-19 pandemic was proclaimed, substantive and fundamental changes were required to deal with that.

A very significant number of those visits, in fact…. We went from about 600,000 virtual visits in the first year — in the previous year, the pre-pandemic year — to 13 million, in order to provide primary care to stabilize the primary care system in what was a public health emergency. That occurred to ensure an increase in the number of visits and to ensure people got primary care in the best way they possibly could in a public health emergency. That’s what occurred.

Now, in the 2021-22 fiscal year, that went from seven million to five million. I want to assure the opposition I’m going to sit down so the member will have her supplementary. That number moved…. The in-person visit moved back from five million to seven million. It will be moving back this year. This is the most fundamental change the system has ever seen, and our primary care teams have done an exceptional job of dealing with it.

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

S. Bond: Well, again, the minister can stand up and…. Let’s talk about the here and now. Let’s talk about British Columbians who are desperate for a family doctor in this province. Let’s talk about health care workers who are afraid to speak up and talk about the situation in their particular hospitals. And let’s talk about the dashboard.

Let me read to the minister exactly what the dashboard says. For his benefit, I want to be clear. This is a here-and-now document leaked to the opposition. Here’s what it says: patients per day per practitioner, 4.6. That is a shocking number. And the minister knows what’s even worse is that British Columbians are telling him and this government, on a daily basis, that the system isn’t working. They can’t get in.

[11:05 a.m.]

It’s no wonder that the Esquimalt and North Quadra Urgent and Primary Care Centres were both at capacity by 8:30 this morning. Family doctors see up to 40 patients a day, but the data in the leaked dashboard shows three patients per day in Fraser Health, 3.1 at the Surrey-Newton clinic and 0.9 patients per day at the Abbotsford clinic.

It is absolutely no wonder that we have a crisis in confidence in the health care system in British Columbia. That is on this minister and this government’s watch. Will he stand up today and acknowledge the challenges that health care workers and patients and British Columbians are facing, admit that it is a crisis and do something about it?

Hon. A. Dix: I would say…. This is something — I think I said it in my first answer — that I’ve said every day. We’re in two public health emergencies, and they have a significant impact on every health care worker in our system.

On the issue of primary care, as the member knows — I just told her this, and the data is readily available — we went from about 17.9 million in-patient visits in 2018-19 to between five million and 5.5 million visits in 2020-21 as a result of the pandemic. That meant that a lot of people — a lot of people, the majority of people — who would typically visit family practice doctors did so virtually, in what I think was an extraordinary change that happened in a matter of a couple of weeks.

Billing codes were put in place to protect the family practice system and ensure that people continued to have access to care through virtual care. In addition to 27 urgent and primary care centres, the 53 primary care networks, the new community health centres…. The primary care networks have 27 new funded employees. The Prince George one alone is doing their work to contribute to the implementation of team-based care, a necessary prerequisite. In addition, we’re taking steps to give, particularly, doctors other options and dramatically expanding, doubling, the number of nurse practitioners.

The member may feel that the one million visits to urgent and primary care centres at a time when in-person visits were at a premium were not the right ap­proach. I think that for those one million people, it was a pretty good result.

[End of question period.]

Mr. Speaker: Hon. Members, I would like us to observe a moment of silence to remember all lost sisters and missing and murdered Indigenous women, please.

[The House observed a moment of silence.]