Orders of the Day

Private Members’ Statements

CELEBRATING NURSES WEEK

L. Doerkson: It is indeed an honour to rise this morning to speak on the topic of such great importance, to stand and say a few words recognizing and celebrating the thousands of committed, passionate, hard-working nurses in our province.

We have the privilege of seeing some of these exemplary individuals and representatives from the B.C. Nurses Union today here in the gallery.

Welcome.

[R. Leonard in the chair.]

This week marks the start of National Nursing Week. It’s an important time to recognize our nurses, our nurse educators, nursing students across the country — those who provide exemplary care for us and our loved ones at some of the most pivotal moments in our lives.

In good times and hard times, nurses are there to look after the health and well-being of British Columbians. They do it with grace. They do it with dedication, working to prioritize patient care and striving for the best possible outcomes. We know that there is no health care without our health care workers, the individuals who show up every day to care for us. They were our health care heroes long before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nursing has never been an easy job. It has never lacked risk or required little of those who chose it as a profession. But the events of the last two years have reminded us just how critical nurses are to our health care system. It has reminded us of the incredible contributions and all of the work that our nurses do every single day, pandemic or no pandemic.

However, that is not to say that the last two years have been business as usual. We know that the COVID-19 pandemic has put incredible stress on our health care system and all of those who work in the field. Nurses have faced increased risk. They have faced long hours, high levels of burnout, working in overwhelmed hospitals, and chronic staffing shortages.

Recently the problems that have existed in our system for years have been exasperated and magnified due to increased pressures. The COVID-19 pandemic of course has been a major challenge, putting greater stress on the system, but we’re also dealing with another public health emergency in the form of the overdose and toxic drug crisis.

Add to that the ongoing shortage of family doctors and adequate primary care, and it’s clear to see that we are dealing with a growing crisis in our health care system and one that desperately needs to be addressed. Right now 82 percent of nurses say that their mental health has worsened during the pandemic; 65 percent say that their physical health has worsened as well. Two-thirds of nurses say that there is not enough staff and that their workloads have continued to increase during the pandemic.

Thirty-five percent report that the stress of the last few years has made them more likely to leave the profession in the next two years. This is especially concerning when considering that there were more than 5,000 vacant nursing positions in 2021. And unless something drastically changes, that number is only going to increase over time — a particularly sobering thought, given that B.C. will need more than 26,000 nurses by 2031.

It’s clear something needs to change. We owe it to our nurses and to all of our health care workers to ensure they feel valued and supported, to make sure that they’re being cared for even as they care for us. This means providing nurses with the necessary support and resources they need to do their jobs and to do them well.

This means ensuring they feel safe and heard expressing their concerns about the conditions that they and their colleagues face on the job every day — that they do not face consequences for speaking out. It means making sure that they have the resources to look after their mental health, staffing hospitals and clinics so that nurses are not forced to take on the workload and stress of multiple positions.

[10:10 a.m.]

In order for this to become a reality, we have to make sure that we have real strategies in place to recruit, to train and retain our nurses. We have to invest in our nursing schools, but we also have to make sure that nursing is a career that people want and can stay in for the long term.

It’s obvious that right now, for far too many people, nursing is tough as a sustainable career, so they may be forced to leave this profession. It isn’t enough to simply train more people if those who are already qualified are too burned out to continue working. We need a comprehensive health and human resources strategy that addresses all of these factors and makes plans to keep our health care system running and staffed for the long term.

The theme this year of National Nursing Week is #WeAnswerTheCall. It speaks to the dedication of our nurses, those who continue to show up day after day. Even under some of the most difficult circumstances, they continue to show up at our bedsides in our long-term-care homes, in understaffed clinics and in overwhelmed emergency rooms. They look after their patients to a high standard of care, even as we’ve seen their own mental health and physical health take a toll.

This National Nursing Week must recognize and thank them for this sacrifice. Nurses answer the call, and all of us in this House must ensure that we’re listening to and answering theirs.

A. Walker: Thank you to the member for Cariboo-Chilcotin for bringing up this important topic today, recognizing National Nursing Week.

I, too, would like to mention and recognize the BCNU executive, who are here with us to celebrate this week and to hold us accountable for the state of our health care system and where nursing is going. It is also International Nurses Day on May 12, and these are important days to recognize as we reflect on the critical role that nurses play in our health care system.

I also want to recognize that on April 10, it was Indigenous Nurses Day. As we as a community, as a government, as people come together, it’s important to recognize both Nurses Day as well as Indigenous Nurses Day. That was recognized for Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture. She was the first Indigenous person in Canada to be fully accredited as an RN, a registered nurse.

It’s important to make sure, within our health care system, that we have everybody represented. We have systemic racism that exists in our health care system, and to have that diversity on these teams means that we are able to better represent patients through government and through our health care.

Last year I recognized Florence Nightingale because, of course, this is the day that we recognize internationally. Nurses Day is on her birthday. She was born May 12 in 1820 — the Lady with the Lamp. It’s easy to talk about the story of her life in the context of creating this profession that we know as nursing, but there is a subtle undertone of the story that doesn’t get told, which is the struggle of class of a woman who grew up with privilege but who wanted to work and wanted to give back to her community and the world, the gender expectations of a woman to raise a family.

She went forward into this profession and pioneered nursing, but not only nursing, also hygiene and visual statistics, going into the Crimean War and representing the death rates of soldiers in the hospitals. Half a million people died, and to use visual statistics, to show that a large percentage, as much as 40 percent, of these deaths were preventable was revolutionary. As a woman during that time, to get that message across was difficult.

The struggles that nurses face today, in many ways, are not all that different. It is a profession that is a gendered profession — not exclusively, of course. But as nurses reflect on their remuneration and the way that they are treated, it is clear that, as a profession of women in a male-dominated industry of health care, there is an imbalance there.

They go to work every day knowing that they’re going to be often working through their lunches to care for their co-workers and for patients. They’re going to be working short-staffed, picking up the slack.

We know there have been some real challenges, not just with COVID but also, as the member for Cariboo-Chilcotin said, with some of the challenges of filling these vacant spaces, they show up early; they leave late. They are being relied upon, nurse practitioners, to buttress our primary care system, and that is something that goes unrecognized.

[10:15 a.m.]

It’s not just about Nursing Week. We need to recognize, every day, the work that nurses do in our health care system. Nurses work in an environment that is more dangerous than for RCMP officers. There is a higher rate of violence against nurses than there is against RCMP of­ficers. They went to work early in the pandemic without appropriate PPE.

My wife is a nurse, and I agree with her all the time — most of the time. We’ll let Hansard correct that. The one thing I disagree with is that she doesn’t like to be called a hero. She goes to work every day because she knows that’s the right thing do.

I look at all of the nurses that go to work every day in an unsafe environment, knowing there’s so much more for us to do. They go there every day, and they show up because they’re looking after the patients. I don’t know of anything that would make someone more of a hero than that.

This is a very difficult time that we’ve gone through — the COVID pandemic, the opioid crisis that continues. We’ve got staffing shortages — some real, real challenges. Workers show up for work. Some days half their colleagues aren’t there, but they pick up the slack. They do what they have to do. I could talk about all the new training spaces that we’ve created, doubling the number of seats in schools, but that doesn’t fix the issue right now.

This week, Nursing Week, and on International Nurses Day, it’s about thanking all of those people who make our health care system work and thanking them for the incredible sacrifice that they have made. I would be remiss if I didn’t use my last three seconds to mention that there is a vigil tonight, and the details can be found, I’m sure, on the BCNU website.

L. Doerkson: Thank you to the member opposite for his comments.

One of my daughters is a nurse also, and there is not a day that goes by that I don’t worry about her. I certainly have heard firsthand some of the situations that they deal with every day.

Thanks for pointing out the vigil tonight. I intend to be there, and I look forward to sharing time with all of you there tonight.

We have all faced an incredibly difficult past two years. No one in this province has had an easy time during the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve all been impacted, whether it’s affected our health or that of a loved one, whether it has impacted our jobs or our businesses, our mental health or our social interactions. It’s been a hard two years. There’s no question about that.

However, we all recognize that the greatest burden of the pandemic has been placed on our front-line workers, those who continue to go to work every single day, even at the height of the pandemic. Those who cared for the sick and worked hard to keep us safe.

Our nurses have spent more than two years on the front line, and they are exhausted. They’re trying to hold together a health care system that is on the brink of crisis, and we must do all we can to help them. We must provide relief, and we must provide support.

Yes, we must express our gratitude by celebrating them, by thanking them and recognizing their hard work, but we must also express our gratitude through action. We must celebrate our nurses by showing them how much they are valued, by demonstrating that we hear their concerns and are willing to work to make positive change.

We know that our health care system is not functioning as it should right now. We know that the health care workers are burned-out and that, because of staffing shortages and systematic stress, we are seeing patient care being impacted. This is an urgent crisis, and we must all work together to address it. Every member of this House knows the importance of health care, and we know that there is no health care without the committed people — the nurses, doctors, technicians and administrators — who keep it running.

Today, at the start of National Nursing Week, we must all commit to doing our part to honour and support our nurses. We must take action and truly invest in our health care system for the health and well-being of all British Columbians.

Thank you very much.

COMMUNITY

S. Chant: Thank you, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity to rise today and speak to a topic that is near and dear to my heart.

Clearly, we all know it’s Nursing Week. I thank the members on both sides of the House for acknowledging that.

I also offer a warm welcome to our executive from BCNU. I’m so glad you’re here, and I will be seeing you this evening.

[10:20 a.m.]

Today I am speaking from the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋin̓əŋ-speaking people, the Esquimalt and the Songhees.

I work, live and learn in my beautiful riding of North Vancouver–Seymour, situated in the unceded territory of the Coast Salish — specifically, the Tsleil-Waututh and the Squamish Nations.

Who here knows a nurse? Various folks have mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, cousins, aunties and friends and others who are nurses. There are even a couple of us in the House, and each one of us has a different story to tell about the work they do, how they do it and who they do it with.

Let me give you some examples of the spectrum of nursing. There are nurse practitioners, nurse educators, regis­tered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, then licensed practical nurses.

Our nurse practitioners are independent clinicians who work in a variety of settings to augment the available models of care. Nurse educators work to teach and mentor new nurses in a broad range of skills, knowledge and expertise in the school environment. In the working environment, our nurse educators make sure that nurses are up to date in these skills or learn new practices, information and policy changes that are always coming forward.

Registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses and licensed practical nurses — well, where do I start?

Yes, these nurses can all be working in hospitals. But do you know the difference between an operating room nurse, a neurology nurse, an orthopedic nurse and med-surg nurse, a pediatric nurse, an ICU nurse, a palliative care nurse, an oncology nurse, an emergency department nurse, a post–anaesthetic room nurse or many of the other nurses that work in a multitude of environments? Neither does anyone else, until they’re in an acute care environment and find out while getting cared for during a health episode. Of course, there are many other nurses that I have not mentioned in acute care and in other areas.

Then we have our nurses who work in long-term care and assisted living. They are making sure that seniors and others who can no longer meet their own care and safety needs are in an environment which provides that higher level of care.

We have our preventative health nurses working with newborns, babies, children, youth, as well as families to ensure that the health of these groups is at its best. There are also nurses that are part of the mental health teams, seeing people in their own spaces and reaching out to provide support and stability to clients and families.

In the home and community care programs, there are nurse case managers who try to keep a myriad of clients in various states of disrepair living in their homes for as long as possible, using a variety of resources. In the event that a higher level of care is needed, they facilitate that transition.

Ambulatory care nurses see people in clinics for wound care or intravenous infusions or other treatments that can be done on an outpatient basis. Home care nurses also do wound care, intravenous therapy and palliative care, amongst many other things. They go to people’s homes to provide the service, keeping clients out of the hospitals as much as possible and facilitating access to hospice as appropriate.

I don’t think I don’t need to tell you that it’s Nursing Week anymore because we are all talking about it, which is wonderful. Although nurses work 24 hours a day, every day, we try to be sure to give additional recognition during this time.

The members of this assembly know that through the pandemic, nurses have given and continue to give a lion’s share of effort towards getting British Columbia beyond COVID-19. We have seen the pictures, heard the stories of overcapacity of patients, shortages of care staff, supply issues, personal protective equipment concerns and the initial unknown that was COVID in the spring of 2020.

Since that time, nurses have continued to come to work, providing care, counsel, testing and vaccinations, amongst many other things, to their patients in a whole variety of circumstances. We have two years of nursing students who have experienced working and learning in a pandemic, something the rest of us just didn’t have in our skill set.

Additionally, they are also learning through the overlay that is the overdose crisis. A friend of mine who is a nurse at UVic had her students out working in the street options in Victoria, working with overdose clients. The work they did was phenomenal.

[10:25 a.m.]

Everybody thinks that maybe students need to be shel­tered and kept in the school environment. Not nursing students. They need to get in there and work with people so that they have the skill and expertise.

Everybody, and nobody, knows what nurses do: they nurse. All of our communities are the better for the dedication, commitment, compassion, expertise and sheer hard work that they do. Let us open Nursing Week by acknowledging our nurses, recognizing and respecting the professional clinicians that they are.

R. Merrifield: I thank the member opposite for her comments and expertise shared as well.

I want to use my time this morning, during the deliberations here, to discuss what we mean by community. Community is not a space, a building or an entity. It’s easy to say and often used to describe the health and safety and success of places where we live. “Community health,” “community space,” “community policing” come to mind. I believe that, above all, community is not a thing; community is people. The word “community” can be defined as the invisible thread that connects us all as people — our experiences, our locations, our feelings.

Here in B.C., our communities are built by people supporting one another in whatever capacity they can. We dedicate our careers and our lives to advancing our communities and making them better places for everyone. Within each of our communities, few roles are as indispensable as our health care workers and nurses, the people who care for our sick and elderly and support us in some of our most difficult and vulnerable moments — during cancer treatment, when we are in pain or as we pass from this life to the next.

Support has to be a two-way street, interconnected throughout the community. When our health care workers are not thriving, our community’s wellness suffers. The very reason that we are connected becomes just a little more tenuous. Our nurses and health care workers need support and long-term planning from all levels of government to ensure that they are not overwhelmed by the daunting challenges that they’re facing daily.

Over the past few years, countless warning signs have been flagged that our nurses and caregivers are being stretched to the brink. Between the pandemic and the ongoing opioid crisis, all exacerbated by an ever-growing staffing shortage, nurses are at the front lines of B.C.’s current health care crisis.

Nurses are struggling through a nightmare and have never felt more overworked, undervalued or isolated from the help they need to deliver the help they give. According to the B.C. Nurses Union, 82 percent of B.C. nurses say their mental health is suffering. Nurses tell us that their burnout has reached levels never before seen.

I have never met a nurse who isn’t dedicated to delivering the best patient care they can. They go into the field because of their passion for care, their heart to serve and their desire to heal people that are sick and injured, but as some hospitals are forced to operate at often half of their staffing capacity, nurse-to-patient ratios are becoming overwhelming, and workloads continue to increase. They’re not able to serve their community in the ways they were trained to do so. This is simply devastating to nurses.

An anonymous source at Royal Inland Hospital, the vital health care hub of the Interior, said they’re routinely operating at 60 to 70 percent of their normal nursing capacity, sometimes reaching as low as 50 percent. All the warning signs show us that under our current plan, this problem is only going to get worse.

As our population continues to grow, the demand for health care services is only going to expand. B.C. will need more than 26,000 nurses by 2031, yet because of extreme exhaustion and stress in their workplaces, 35 percent of nurses say they’re considering leaving the profession.

[10:30 a.m.]

Our nursing shortage is in crisis. Every year our communities are losing more and more of the vital people we need to keep ourselves healthy and safe. All levels of government must take immediate action today to help our communities support themselves.

We need an immediate recruitment and retainment strategy for nursing, new policies to streamline the certi­fication of foreign-trained doctors and nurses, and increased mental health supports for our nurses, who are facing unimaginable stresses and trauma in their workplaces. We need to change the hospital culture in which they work.

As policy-makers, the meaning of community requires more thoughtfulness and deliberation than we typically give it. Going forward, we must embrace the complexity, including the crucial impact communities have on health and well-being, as we strive to understand and create social change.

By giving our health care workers the support they need, they can, in turn, support our communities. We will all, together, build a stronger and better province for all.

S. Chant: Thank you for the reminder of some of the challenges that our nurses face day to day.

Now I’m going to say thank you to all the nurses in our province, country and throughout the world. I’ve had the opportunity to work overseas, and nurses are nurses. We speak the same language. We work together. Even if our languages are different, we can still work together, and we can still make things happen.

Somehow “thank you” seems inadequate to speak to everything that nurses contribute every day and everywhere. In hospitals, clinics, homes, cars, boats, tents and on the street, nurses are trying to support clients in healing, rehabilitating and maintaining a health level that supports an improved quality of life.

As well, preventative work is always being done through teaching, counselling and providing knowledgable support as people progress through a variety of chronic diseases, cancers, the impact of aging and many other health-based conditions as we go through our lifespan. A lot of effort is also put into teaching clients to take care of themselves effectively, both in promoting healthy lifestyles and managing chronic conditions and in supporting families who care for clients at home, as well as other caregivers.

I feel grateful and proud to be able to put RN after my name — as well as MLA, which is kind of neat. I still work casual. I still go out and see clients in their homes a couple of times a month. I see how things are going, set things up, try to make things better. That’s what nurses do in the community, and in the hospital, they do a whole whack of other things day in, day out. There are nurses in all walks of life throughout our province, and we are grateful to them.

In short, nurses do pretty much everything around health promotion and maintenance. I believe this House feels as proud of our nurses and as grateful to them as I do.

Thank you to the representatives that are here in the House right now, to the nurses of British Columbia. We appreciate all that you do every day.

OPIOID CRISIS

T. Shypitka: Thank you for the opportunity this morning. The tragedy of B.C.’s overdose crisis continues to deepen. British Columbia is in a worse position than it has ever been before. The death toll in our province continues to climb, with more than 6,000 British Columbians dying in the past five years. Over 2,200 people have died this past year alone. This is more than six people every single day here in B.C.

To start, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the friends and families of those who died of an overdose last year. I think it goes without saying that this crisis touches every one of us. The victims are our sons, our daughters, our sisters and our brothers. It’s incomprehensible that years into this public health emergency, people experiencing a mental health or addiction crisis continue to suffer.

[10:35 a.m.]

There were 174 suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths this past February. March saw another 165, making this the 17th month in a row where more than 150 people have died. This is an unfathomable amount of loss for families, friends and communities. The impacts of crisis continue to be felt by communities throughout B.C., with the largest numbers coming from urban centres such as Vancouver, Victoria and Surrey. That said, the death rate per capita is straight across the province. This is not an urban or rural issue as much as it is a B.C. issue.

We will continue to call for urgent action as the latest B.C. Coroners’ illicit drug death report confirms the tragic and deadly upward trend of drug toxicity deaths. Thousands of families continue to suffer heartbreaking losses as this crisis worsens.

The 2022 death review panel commissioned by the B.C. Coroners Service established a much-needed course of action to reduce the devastation illicit drugs are having on British Columbians. One of the recommendations suggested by the panel is a 30/60/90-day action plan to monitor the crisis at a level that will identify the necessary roles to develop a policy framework.

It will also provide insight into the underperforming area of substance use services and treatment. The death review panel called on the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions to prioritize a set of actions by April 11, 2022. This specific recommendation, if prioritized, would be completed by June 9.

It’s incredibly disappointing to see the rejection of a 30/60/90-day timeline presented by the B.C. Coroners Service. The refusal to accept the report’s timeline and its 23 recommendations speaks to the lack of urgency to respond to the overdose crisis. There is a clear provincial strategy outlined in the report that provides actionable recommendations that can reduce the number of people dying due to illicit drugs in our province.

Currently the drug policy framework is forcing substance users to access an unregulated market, which has led to an increased number of substance-related deaths. The report’s recommendations and the action plan were created by experts in the field who have provided a roadmap of what needs to be done to address the health issues and the crisis, including engaging substance users in treatment services.

This is because many of those who engage in substance use do not have a high engagement with treatment or support services for a variety of reasons. Reasons include a lack of coordinated services, issues in delivering the service, extensive wait times and the eligibility for services inconsistent with people’s lived experience, among others.

Despite creating a plan for how to bolster addiction services, many people continue to sit on wait-lists, hoping they can get their chance at life-saving treatment. It is very unlikely that those seeking treatment will be provided with the services they need.

Indigenous people are disproportionately represented in drug toxicity fatalities, while those living in poverty and with housing instability are more vulnerable. The panel also showed evidence that people with mental health disorders or poor mental health are disproportionately represented, and even though the panel has provided clear ways in which to combat the disproportionate representation, they’ve yet to be adopted.

This is a very complex problem, but the panel has pro­vided a great starting point for what could be done to start to address a dire situation. Illicit drug toxicity now takes more lives than homicides, motor vehicle accidents and fire-related incidents combined. The report is a very clear reminder that urgent action is needed to help save lives from overdose here in B.C., and indefensibly, month after month, people in need still aren’t getting the help that they deserve.

Just this week I received a phone call from a longtime friend of mine. We went to school together. We played in national competition, representing British Columbia. I was his best man at his wedding. He moved away, and I hadn’t seen or heard from him in years. It was great to hear his voice again. His tone was hollow, and I knew instantly that he was in trouble. He told me he was staying at a government-subsidized housing complex, which is one of Cranbrook’s hotels. The supports my friend needs are near impossible to access, and there are either months of waiting or simply nothing available.

This is the largest city in the Kootenays that we’re talking about. Rehabilitation is over three hours away and over several mountain passes. As a friend, I will do everything I can do to help my friend. But as an MLA, I’m beside myself, searching for supports that will help my friend from, Heaven forbid, becoming the next month’s statistic.

[10:40 a.m.]

When a person reaches out for help, there’s a moment of clarity and a desire to recover. The window is small, and time is of the essence to access the treatment needed. If this window of opportunity is missed, it may never come back.

There is a pressing need for action, and although the death review panel clearly outlines the deadlines to follow their plan, the first one has already passed without any action. I sincerely hope the government will accept the recommendation of the panel and ensure that a coherent, provincewide strategy is adopted throughout B.C. so that when someone reaches out for help, they can get the services they need in their community.

M. Starchuk: Thank you to the member for Kootenay East for your comments.

Before I start, I also want to mention to the nurses’ representatives for what you do during this toxic drug crisis. I would be remiss not to remind myself of my future daughter-in-law, who works in emerg at Abbotsford.

Before I start, my condolences to all the families who have had someone die due to overdose during this toxic drug crisis. To the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, grandparents and friends of a loved one no longer with us, my thoughts are with you.

As I just stated, this is a toxic drug crisis. It’s no longer just an opioid crisis. People are also dying from poisoned cocaine, methamphetamines, amphetamines, benzodia­zepines and other stimulants.

Madam Speaker, I remember the first overdose call that I went on. It was in a shelter facility in north Surrey. The incident was around two o’clock in the morning, and the patient was on the washroom floor. The others in the shelter seemed way too casual for a set of circumstances that were in front of me.

At that time, firefighters didn’t have naloxone. In those days, it was just referred to as Narcan, and it wasn’t a treatment option for myself. My only option was to perform CPR until B.C. Ambulance arrived. They showed up, and they would deliver the life-saving antidote.

I bring this up because most overdoses I was seeing at that time were heroin overdoses. As time changes, drug use changes in society. The pendulum has moved, and when Dr. Perry Kendall declared the crisis in 2016, the opioid overdoses were in the forefront.

The number of people who died from the toxic drug supply in 2021 is not acceptable. We must do more to prevent this tragic loss of life. While we’ve been adding services and supports in an unprecedented way, British Columbia is facing a rising tide of need. Highly toxic and unpredictable street drugs are everywhere, and far too many people are at risk of a fatal overdose. Separating people from the toxic, unpredictable, illicit drug supply is the first step to preventing drug poisonings and helping people stabilize their lives.

Dr. Gustafson, vice-president, public health and wellness, Provincial Health Services Authority, and deputy provincial health officer, provided an overview to those of us on the Select Standing Committee on Health last Wednesday. She made it clear that the priority should be on eliminating the toxic supply. Doing so would have a direct impact on saving lives during this toxic drug crisis.

British Columbia introduced prescribed safer supply, the first province to do so in Canada. People have been accessing prescribed safer supply since March 2020, when the province introduced the first phase of the program. From March 2020 to December 2021, more than 12,000 people were dispensed prescribed safer supply through risk mitigation guidance, and of those, more than 7,000 were prescribed an opioid. The second phase of the prescribed safer supply is being implemented in health authorities and federally funded safer program settings.

Government is investing $22.6 million over the next three years to support health authorities in implementing prescribed safer supply. Funding will support expansion of existing and creation of new programs, increasing staffing capacity through hiring new full-time-equivalent positions and robust monitoring in the evaluation of this policy.

B.C. became the first province to apply to Health Can­ada for the decriminalization of people who are in possession of a small amount of drugs for personal use. Health Canada has received this application, and we’re working hard to secure its approval.

We’re asking people to look out for one another and help keep friends and family members who use drugs alive. We need to remove the stigma of drug use and educate drug users and their families on how to access overdose prevention or safe consumption sites and how we’re carrying naloxone to save someone’s life today.

[10:45 a.m.]

On that note, naloxone’s life-saving effectiveness has been slightly diminished with the toxic drug supply we see today. Naloxone was created as an antidote to opioids, and now with other toxic chemicals entering into a drug user’s supply, its effectiveness has changed.

All sides of the House know this is a toxic drug crisis, and it needs to be addressed in a measured manner. The Select Standing Committee on Health will hear from subject-matter experts, people from lived experience and, most importantly, findings from other jurisdictions, and look at their best practices in battling this toxic drug supply crisis.

T. Shypitka: Thank you to the member for Surrey-Cloverdale for recognizing the crisis.

I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the great work the nurses provide, on this National Nursing Week. They are on the front lines, and they really feel the impact of this crisis.

The bottom line is the strategies we have been applying to reverse the trends on the increase of overdoses in the province are clearly not working. Right now people in need of urgent help are not only facing deadlier street drugs but also month-long wait-lists for treatment, a lack of beds for withdrawal management and unaffordable privately run services.

We need a coherent, provincewide strategy throughout B.C. so that when someone reaches out for help, they can immediately get the services they need and which they can afford. Inexcusably, we aren’t getting that right now here in B.C. On top of all of this, when people are vulnerable and with a lack of support, they stand a very good chance to be victimized by the criminal element. Crime is up in many communities, and some of this crime can be attributed to those who are in desperate situations just to survive.

We are all open to all solutions, but a comprehensive approach doesn’t mean just talking about aspiring to have a universal safe supply, and that is another issue. As I’ve stated in this House many times, I also question the wording of what constitutes a safe and clean drug supply. Now, the member for Surrey-Cloverdale said “safer” drug supply, which is a start. But in my opinion, when addiction is the enemy, there is no such thing as a safe and clean drug supply.

I agree that our overdose counts are largely due to a high toxic supply. However, methamphetamines, heroin, cocaine, even in their purest form, are not clean or safe to use. Even prescribed opioids are deadly and unsafe when addiction kicks in. For me, personally, it sends the wrong message to my children, who ask me what a clean and safe drug supply is.

In addition to harm reduction, recovery must include prevention and treatment that gets results and enforcement to ensure that our communities are safe. These are the four pillars of recovery. Like sitting on a stool with four legs for stability, so are the four legs of recovery.

For the past five years, we’ve seen a complete failure at all of these approaches as this tragic situation continues to get worse. The result is that without the four legs in place, we all fall. The plan so far has been patchwork, with nothing that will help those in need right now. That is why we’re pushing for an urgent, comprehensive strategy….

Deputy Speaker: Member, please remember that this is non-partisan time.

T. Shypitka: Absolutely, Madam Speaker. I think this affects all of us.

There needs to be a focus on the expansion of evidence-based treatment and the expansion of harm reduction services and options. The province needs to create more treatment and prevention programs and facilitate, in tandem, with the goal to remove the toxicity we’re seeing in the drug supply.

As some members may know, my family and many other members of this House have been directly impacted by addiction. This topic is very important to me, as with all members of this House, and I hope that it is a priority of this government.

WE HEAR YOU

H. Sandhu: Today I rise in this House to wish a very happy Nurses Week to all the incredible nurses. Nurses in British Columbia play a critical and integral part in our health care system. We cannot imagine the health care system without nurses.

We know the past few years have been some of the most difficult on record for nurses and health care workers in this province, yet they stood with us, stood for us and continue to lead with a commitment for quality health care for every person in this province.

Nurses and health care workers embody the values of resiliency and public service. Their contributions over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic were critical to preserving the integrity of our health care system and guaranteeing the health and safety of British Columbians.

[10:50 a.m.]

We all owe a debt of gratitude for their past, present and future contributions. There is not a day when I don’t appreciate and think of nurses with so much gratitude.

Nursing and health care are a huge part of my own identity, passion and pride. While I stand today in this House to wish all the nurses happy Nurses Week, I want to let you all know that we see you, we hear you, and our B.C. NDP government is working hard to add resources and supports in health care to make your workplaces better and safer and to fill many existing gaps.

Some of the steps our government has taken so far. We invested $96 million in 2021 to support our health care workforce. We have been making investments expanding support, training and opportunities for nurses. Between 2017 and 2020, there was an overall 6 percent increase in registered nurses and a 12 percent increase in licensed practical nurses. This is the result of making forward-thinking investments in public health care. This greatly helped us in meeting the demands of COVID-19.

In April, we doubled the number of new nursing seats at post-secondary institutions across the province. Seventeen post-secondary institutions across the province received a combined 602 new nursing seats, in addition to the previously added 2,000 seats, providing more opportunities for the next generation of nurses to learn and practise close to home.

Our government remains committed to expanding high-quality public and universal health care. We will continue to make the right investments in our system and the people at its heart. Increasing our supply of world-class nurses represents a key component in a broad-based strategy for our health care and our health care workforce.

We also know that there are internationally trained nurses in B.C. and around the world who dream of serving patients across the health care system here in British Columbia. I am an internationally trained nurse myself, and I have gone through the lengthy, cumbersome and very discouraging process myself. We had no supports in place at the time, none from the government of the day or from the union at the time.

I remember making several calls and driving distances to see if there was support or guidance. Despite being trained at a great institute, with excellent grades and more than triple the clinical hours needed to be­come an RN in B.C., it took myself and many other internationally educated nurses many years and hardship to become RNs here.

The province is supporting internationally educated nurses who wish to work in B.C. by investing $12 million, by consolidating the provincial-based assessment process for internationally educated nurse candidates. Part of this investment, approximately $9 million, will go into bursaries to help with English language test fees, assessment fees and transitional education supports.

We’re creating new nurse navigator positions to help internationally educated nurses navigate the assessment, licensing and employment process. By streamlining the assessment process and removing some financial barriers, internationally educated nurses will be able to enter the workforce sooner and more easily, and British Columbians will have access to even more nurses to support health care needs.

In addition, year 2 of surgical renewal delivers the completion of training, by health authorities, of an additional 400 perioperative nurses and 100 medical device reprocessing technicians. We have created 200 new nurse practitioner positions to support patients as part of a shift to a team-based primary health care system.

We have invested in expansion of the LPN access program for 2020-2021 at North Island College and the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology to enable more health care aides to become LPNs — and the LPN-to-RN bridging program at Vancouver Community College and Thompson Rivers University.

Our government acknowledges the challenges nurses face across the province and is actively working collaboratively with key partners towards effective, immediate and long-term solutions that address workplace violence and create a safer work environment for all health care providers and enable best practices to attract, recruit and retain nurses all across health care sectors in B.C.

[10:55 a.m.]

We know that nurses have made an unwavering commitment to every person in this province. Our message to you is: we hear you, we see you, and we are taking every step we can to make things easier in the future.

I also want to thank the BCNU executives and their representatives. I’ve seen their activism over the years, how they make sure that nurses all across the province have safer and better workplaces. I really applaud their ongoing activism and efforts that they do and the work that they do there.

At the end, I would say that for the things I’ve highlighted, some of the things we’re undertaking, there is more work that’s being done. That may not bring comfort to you, as the working situations and the workload issues are quite unbearable at the moment, given the two health emergencies — the opioid crisis and the pandemic — but I would like to reassure you that you have two of us here advocating on your behalf every single day.

Happy Nurses Week. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. On behalf of our B.C. NDP government and all the members of this House, thank you for all you do.

C. Oakes: I truly feel grateful to have the opportunity to rise in the House today to echo the comments of many of the members that have spoken today. I want to acknowledge the executive of the BCNU for all of the work that you’re doing and for coming and advocating today.

Nurses in every community of our province are the backbone of our medical system, from providing life-saving care to comforting us when we are in a time of need. We would simply be nowhere without them. This is, as members have mentioned, National Nurses Week, and it is a good reminder to us all of the vital work that they do every single day.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, our medical system has been pushed to the brink. Nurses, doctors and all those, in fact, who work in critical care have worked tirelessly to ensure we made it through. However, now we are left with a burnt out and diminished workforce who cannot continue on with the status quo. Too many have left or retired, despite our growing population and the continuing pandemic.

We all need to be listening to what the nurses are saying, what is happening on the ground in our communities. What is clear is something must change urgently. Our health care system is in crisis, and nurses want members of this House and members across British Columbia to understand what is happening on the ground in our medical system.

[J. Tegart in the chair.]

There are stories that we are hearing from across British Columbia about just how short-staffed and overworked many are. I want the members here in this House and nurses across the province to understand we are listening and we do hear you. In rural communities, we recognize that we need to attract, recruit and retain in our rural communities, and safety concerns are top of mind. We are hearing it time and time again. We need better workplaces.

In Quesnel, we require critical training for LPNs. We know what is needed in our communities, and much more needs to happen.

We’ve heard from nurses in Kamloops, at the Royal Inland Hospital, who are speaking out in record numbers. 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 the Royal Inland Hospital is, on most days, often at 50 percent of what a normal complement would be. This is simply unacceptable.

In the neighbouring community of mine, in Williams Lake, a doctor recently took to the media to raise attention to the dire situation in the local hospital at Cariboo Memorial. Dr. Brosseuk said patient care has eroded so much that he is leaving his position, as he can no longer continue in good conscience.

[11:00 a.m.]

With these working conditions, how can we expect medical professionals like doctors and nurses to stay on the job for much longer? We need to listen. We need to understand what is going on, on the ground.

Furthermore, leaked data shows that in Royal Inland Hospital, there are up to 30 nursing shifts unfulfilled on any given day in the ICU and the ER departments. I want members of this House to take a moment and pause and reflect on the stress and the pressure that nurses must feel when they have to go and care for people in our communities, people they know in our communities, and that pressure of what they must feel knowing how short-staffed they are.

It’s not just members of the opposition who, of course, have been raising these concerns in this House. In fact, today we have members of the B.C. Nurses Union here, this morning in the gallery. They’ll be here over the next couple of days to bring the pressing concerns of nurses to this House, in addition to remembering those lost to COVID-19 at a candlelight vigil tonight. It’s time that we have nurses’ backs.

There’s so much I have to say, and I’ll take a moment just to, again, offer my incredible gratitude. We’ll continue to work on your behalf. We’ll be there for you and continue to raise what is happening.

H. Sandhu: I want to thank the member for Cariboo North for her response and for her ongoing advocacy.

While celebrating Nurses Week, I once again want to reassure our amazing nurses that you are valued, as fully supported health care has always been our government’s priority. We do not implement cuts, roll back wages or privatize or find money-saving tactics on your back.

Many of us remember CDMR, launched by the previous government in 2013. Nanaimo was ground zero, where a number of nurses lost their positions. CDMR stands for care delivery redesign model. Government tried to replace RNs and LPNs with care aides, and they were further going to expand this to other health authorities. This risked many lives and caused so much chaos in the health care system.

I remember this full well, because I, along with many B.C. Nurses Union activists and even members of the public, participated in several protests across the province to oppose and to stop this. It took two years and lots of rallies, protests, public support and union activism to finally settle this. It is reassuring to hear members of the opposition sharing their concerns and talking about the quality of health care, because this is a non-partisan issue, and we need to work together to make health care better.

Historically we all know who pays the price when leaders ask health authorities to absorb millions of dollars of cuts. It’s the front-line nurses. And who suffers? It’s the patients. Several nurses and health care workers have shared with me, repeatedly, when we talk about the past cuts, that they do not even want to imagine to have any cuts or any…. They want to add more resources.

Deputy Speaker: Member, I will remind you. It is non-partisan in this part of the agenda.

H. Sandhu: I have not mentioned any government. My apologies, Madam Speaker. I’m just sharing the contrast and the priority of why we need to invest versus implement any cuts.

Nurses have shared with me that they cannot imagine having more cuts or underfunding, especially during these two biggest health care emergencies. As many still remember, the impacts are lasting, and the health care system is still in crisis. I want to reassure that our B.C. NDP government does not cut corners or compromise health care by unacceptable cost-saving measures, which leave detrimental consequences in the long run, which we can see now.

I encourage you all, nurses, with the workload, to please use the tools you have. Remember PRF, personal responsibility forms. Do the workload grievances. Use your occupational health and safety committees to have your voices heard.

[11:05 a.m.]

Hon. N. Simons: I move that the House consider proceeding with Motion 10 on the order paper under the name of the member for West Vancouver–Sea to Sky.

Deputy Speaker: Prior to calling upon the member for West Vancouver–Sea to Sky, unanimous consent is re­quired to proceed with Motion 10 without disturbing the priorities of other items on the order paper.

Leave granted.

Private Members’ Motions

MOTION 10 — COLLABORATION BY
ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES

J. Sturdy: Today I’d like to move a motion.

[Be it resolved that this House agree that British Columbians expect their elected representatives to work together despite their partisan perspectives and that seeking out, fostering and championing good ideas, regardless of their origin, is important to advance the broader public good.]

If this sounds familiar, well, it should. It is almost iden­tical to what is written in this government’s ministerial mandate letters. In fact, the mandate letters also say this: “I expect you to reach out to elected members from all parties as you deliver on your mandate.” Directed by the Premier himself, the ministers of this government are expected to work with all members of this House to champion good ideas regardless of where they come from.

While these are comforting words, and I certainly support them, it doesn’t seem that they are at all embraced in practice by this executive council or Government House Leader. Members of my caucus, myself included, have brought forward what we consider to be good ideas, anyway, that this government has ignored and, frankly, in some cases disparaged. In this session alone, our caucus has introduced six bills, each on an issue that is important to British Columbians. Yet this government refuses to call them for debate.

Perhaps it’s time for government members to review page 3 of the ministerial mandate letters and be reminded of what they are directed to support. While they’re at it, they could look at page 2, which says: “Keeping people at the centre of everything we do means protecting and enhancing the public services people rely on and working to make life more affordable for everyone.”

I think we all agree. Affordability, in fact, is an issue that we all care about and is under real stress here in British Columbia. Yet for the past three years, I have been advocating on behalf of British Columbians who are experiencing skyrocketing rent increases. Where? On Crown land. And we have seen no action by this government.

Amidst the affordable housing crisis, government has capped rent increases at 1.5 percent for every landlord in the province but themselves. Rental rates for Crown land tenants are tied to Ministry of Forests land evaluation policies, and because of the increase in equivalent fee simple property evaluations, tenants are experiencing outrageous — in fact, usurious — rent increases.

One of my constituents saw an increase from $5,650 to $19,650 in a single year. Can you imagine paying an additional $14,000 for rent next year? It’s just not acceptable.

I’ve twice introduced a Crown land residential lease act to this House, simply asking government to hold itself to the same standard it applies to every other landlord in the province. I have advanced the simple solution to this government to tie Crown land rent residential increases to whatever the residential tenancy branch allows for every other landlord. Government to date has chosen to ignore it and make British Columbians pay more. This doesn’t sound like keeping life affordable.

Could it be that because it’s an opposition member advancing this solution, there has been no uptake, no de­bate, no resolution? It’s my responsibility and our responsibility to represent and advance the interests of our constituents. This is impossible, however, if government refuses to listen to the members of this House about issues that are impacting their residents and their constituents.

If we are indeed to advance the broader public good, then this government should be bringing the Crown land residential lease act and other private members’ bills up for debate and demonstrating to British Columbians that mandate letters aren’t just rhetoric and that this cabinet acknowledges that they have no monopoly on good ideas.

[11:10 a.m.]

At the very least, let members’ motions and bills be owned and debated and either supported or defeated by this chamber, rather than the current practice of reject, ignore and let die on the order paper. Government could also revive the moribund committee process, without having it be a last-minute, high-pressure surrender, as we saw on the Health Committee.

However, hopefully other members have an opportunity to speak to this problem more completely, as my time is running out.

J. Sims: It is an absolute pleasure to rise in this House and speak today. I’m always grateful to the citizens of Surrey-Panorama for giving me that privilege. It is a pleasure to rise on such an important motion that is before the House today: “Be it resolved that this House agree that British Columbians expect their elected representatives to work together despite their partisan perspectives and that seeking out, fostering and championing good ideas, regardless of their origin, is important to advance the broader public good.”

There is not a person in this House that would disagree with that. All of us went through school, and what did we learn in kindergarten? What we learned in kin­dergarten was how to play together, how to cooperate, how to collaborate.

Most of my teaching career I spent teaching high school and, in that context, worked with teens and encouraged collaboration. Collaboration doesn’t mean you agree with each other all the time. Sometimes you have to agree to disagree, but you do that without becoming disagreeable in the process.

Collaboration also means listening to each other and to the good ideas that all of us have and then moving forward. It does not mean…. Collaboration is not often seen during question period, and I don’t think any of us will doubt that. But outside of question period, I would say I see a lot of cooperation in this House.

I have the privilege of chairing the select committee on children’s rights, and I can say that over the last few years my work on that committee has shown how well members from all sides of the House can work together and do work together.

In the last number of years, we have faced crisis after crisis after crisis. Currently we are going through two health pandemics — COVID and, of course, the opioid crisis. I’ve been pleased with the amount of cooperation. I saw, at least at the beginning of the crisis, the collaboration and everybody standing together. I think we need to see more of that, and I welcome that.

As a teacher, I learned very, very early that when students put their heads together and actually listened to each other, what came out may not have been A or B but was actually better than A and B. I’m a firm, firm believer in that.

And you know what? I want to thank my colleague for putting forward this motion, because this motion is a reminder to all of us, every one of us on both sides of the House, that collaboration means working together, means listening to each other respectfully.

Another thing I learned from my father many, many years ago was that yelling at somebody and hitting somebody constantly — verbally, I mean — does not always get them to move to see your perspective. Sometimes just listening and being calm and not being overreactive will take you far. I encourage that. I am encouraged by what my colleague said today. I’m looking forward to working together on child care to make sure that, together, we give British Columbians what they’re looking for, which is affordable child care.

It would be great to have both sides of the House tackling a major, major crisis facing people across this prov­ince, and that is the housing crisis. Nobody has the answer. I’ve said many times there is no magic pill for many of the problems we are facing.

[11:15 a.m.]

When we sit in a room and we cooperate and we collaborate, you know what? We can find a way forward. I’m an optimist, and I’m going to hope that that’s going to happen.

The same for climate change. This is a crisis, and our kids realize it. My five-year-old great-granddaughter realizes it. We all realize it when we’re in our homes. Let’s come to this House, the people’s House, and work together on that crisis in order to protect the planet.

I could go on and on, but let me finish with one thing. Collaboration and cooperation are something every one of us should embrace, and let us agree that is best for the people of B.C.

S. Bond: With that boundless enthusiasm, I would suggest the member speak to her House Leader and call the bills that have been tabled by the members of the opposition. It’s a really good starting point.

Interjection.

S. Bond: I will point out to the minister who is chirping on the other side that this is his Premier who put those words in his mandate letter. That’s his promise to keep.

I’ve served as a member of this Legislative Assembly for many years, and I do think that it is critical we remember, first and foremost, that we are here to represent the people who sent us here, our constituents. Ultimately, our responsibility is to British Columbians, who have given us the enormous privilege of serving in this House. That comes with an increasing expectation that we find areas of common ground and work together on behalf of all British Columbians.

Having said that, our role in opposition is to hold the government to account. That means asking tough questions, pointing out the gaps and calling on the government to keep the promises they made, like the words that are written in the ministers’ mandate letters. The official opposition is also here to bring forward concerns, to bring forward ideas and offer solutions and suggestions on behalf of our constituents.

I think one area that most of us should agree on is that we have a health care system under pressure. Simply put, more needs to be done. This government doesn’t hesitate to take credit for the positive outcomes in the health care system but fails regularly to acknowledge that we have gaps and that more work is needed.

How can we follow up on the member’s words? By taking positive steps together. Some things should be above partisan politics.

Let me give the government members a small but significant example. Currently, only one in ten people will survive a cardiac arrest. Sudden cardiac arrest can affect anyone of any age at any time. In fact, in British Columbia, in ridings all across the province, 7,000 people will experience a sudden cardiac arrest this year alone. The chance of survival is low in a sudden cardiac arrest, but we have convincing data that shows how these statistics can be improved.

When CPR and automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, are used together in the first few minutes of a sudden cardiac arrest, survival rates increase by a staggering 75 percent. With such a clear and straightforward way to save B.C. lives, shouldn’t we do what it takes to ensure greater access to AEDs? Too many British Columbians in every one of our ridings are impacted by sudden cardiac arrest every day, either directly or through a loved one.

Together we have the power to make a difference. Our paramedics do incredible, life-saving work, but it may be too late by the time the ambulance arrives. By placing AEDs in every public building, and having them registered with the B.C. emergency health services AED registry, emergency dispatchers can locate a nearby AED and coach bystanders on how to use the AED and perform CPR.

Well, last week I introduced it again, the Defibrillator Public Access Act, to require the maintenance and registration of AEDs in public buildings across B.C. While this government has been presented with a clear opportunity to save lives, like so many other ideas that have been brought forward, they choose to ignore it and refuse to call the bill to debate.

While we continue to wait for the government to recognize the life-saving potential of the Defibrillator Public Access Act, we have been taking action. With the generous support of many donors, we’ve been placing defibrillators in places throughout Prince George, McBride and Valemount to help increase the chance of survival from a sudden cardiac arrest in our public spaces.

[11:20 a.m.]

My family and I are proud to honour my late husband Bill’s legacy, with the ongoing generosity of friends, family and community. We have made an initial commitment to place ten AEDs across these three communities.

I know and every member knows that more can and should be done. We have an opportunity in this House to support life-saving measures, but it is so disappointing that even something like this can simply be ignored, perhaps because it comes from a member that is not a government member.

Today’s motion comes directly from this government’s ministerial mandate letters. In these letters, it is clear that members of cabinet are expected to work collaboratively with all members of this House. Instead of embracing that, however, the NDP government prefers to use its majority to repeatedly ignore ideas, input and offers to collaborate, no matter where they come from.

On many issues, we will agree to disagree and sometimes very passionately. But on some things, we need to find a way to common ground.

H. Yao: I would like to respond to the motion presented by the member for West Vancouver–Sea to Sky: “Be it resolved that this House agree that British Columbians expect their elected representatives to work together despite their partisan perspectives and that seeking out, fostering and championing good ideas, regardless of their origin, is important to advance the broader public good.”

Before I start, I want to acknowledge and express my sincere gratitude to the previous member for Surrey South, Stephanie Cadieux, for officially introducing this private member’s motion a few weeks ago. I sincerely hope my response to this private member’s motion truly reflects her spirit behind it.

I want to take a moment to thank the people of Richmond South Centre for believing in my passion and determination to fight for what is in Richmond South Centre’s best interests in the B.C. Legislature. When it comes to serving the people of Richmond South Centre and British Columbians, we as elected officials, when possible, should strive to collaborate for the betterment of all. I personally felt a heavy weight and responsibility in responding to this private member’s motion.

By no means am I naive about partisanship in this chamber and institution and how partisanship in this place can directly impact one’s ability and opportunity to continue with honourable services to our respective constituencies. However, as individuals seeking opportunities to collaborate with one another, we cannot ignore the foundation of collaborative relationships. When fostering collaborative environments, one should find a way to be a supportive team player. It can be challenging to navigate complicated working relationships.

I would like to take a moment to thank my colleagues on all sides of the House for choosing civility, respect, collaboration and humanity over comments designed for negativity, destructiveness and hatefulness.

From legislative staff to opposition MLAs, I work to greet everyone in the hallways in our part of the Legislature with respect and care. While trying my best to remember everyone’s name — I’m pretty certain I’ve made quite a few mistakes already — I’m certain everyone at this point is familiar with my “Good morning,” “Good afternoon” and “Good evening” comments, especially if I got the time of day wrong.

In my speech here in the Legislature, I celebrate my community and my government’s good work. I also ac­knowledge opposition MLAs and the work they are doing to represent their communities.

During committee work, I acknowledge and celebrate great ideas, no matter where they come from. I avoid criticism and challenging concepts without asking deeper questions first to better my own understanding.

When serving as a Chair, I try to be fair and reasonable while placing everyone’s needs into consideration for making decisions. As an MLA, I greet everyone with respect, equity and humanity. My office and I are committed to building bridges and supporting people in Richmond.

Most of all, I know many of us work to stand up and speak out against harmful behaviours when we see them. I agree with the member for West Vancouver–Sea to Sky that British Columbians do expect the B.C. Legislative Assembly to work together for the betterment of British Columbians.

Therefore, I ask all my colleagues in this chamber, in hope, to respond and celebrate the spirit behind Stephanie Cadieux’s private member’s motion; in hope, to find op­portunities to better support our constituents and all British Columbians; in hope, to set a good example of leadership for future generations that we all commit to change and foster a better, more collaborative, more cooperative and partnership-oriented chamber that can serve all British Columbians.

Together let us practise what we preach.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak.

[11:25 a.m.]

P. Milobar: I’m happy to rise to this motion today, a motion that is actually word for word out of the mandate letters of cabinet, out of the executive council for the government.

Unfortunately, we haven’t seen any action. Much like…. Most of their mandate letters in general have not been actioned. We actually have not seen this particular part of their mandate letters’ action, which is to actually cooperate and to take good ideas regardless of where they come from in this chamber.

You’ve heard a few of my colleagues speak of private member’s bill after private member’s bill that routinely just sits on the order paper, doesn’t get debated or has, frankly, token debate, as we saw happen two weeks ago with the member for Surrey South — a former member’s bill that came forward around pay equity. That has had, technically, some second reading debate now. It could move through to committee stage quite quickly. It could be passed over the next three weeks, and we would actually see steps towards pay equity in this chamber. But unfortunately, that won’t happen either.

There are other ways to also work collaboratively with ideas, and that is when we see flawed or troubling legislation come forward in the form of amendments during committee stage, during debate. I myself brought forward a couple of amendments during Bill 6 debate. Unfortunately, it was rejected by the government as well.

There were a few key pieces in there, and although cabinet obviously had their marching orders, it was unfortunate to see the non-cabinet members — the back bench of the NDP — have a whipped vote and not be able to just vote freely on these ideas. If we’re truly trying to embrace ideas regardless of where they come from, one would think that would actually happen as well.

So what were those two amendments? Well, one was to take away the retroactivity of the pay raise for cabinet so that instead of it taking effect as of April 2021, it would have taken effect April 2022. It seemed like a reasonable amendment to make, where cabinet would then get their pay raises moving forward but not be retroactive, where they would see a pay raise for a year’s worth of work that was already completed.

I think GEU and other unions negotiating right now found it very interesting that cabinet felt it was appropriate for themselves to get retroactive pay raises, but that was rejected by a standing vote, in fact. The government was so adamant that they get their pay raise retroactively that they wanted to make sure that they proudly stood against that amendment.

The other amendment, which would really impact peo­ple’s day-to-day affordability — and again, empty rhetoric from the government talking about addressing affordability in these current inflationary times — was an amendment in that same bill. On page 91 of the budget, where there was discussion around the new taxation for used-car sales, which treats people in British Columbia as if they are tax cheats and tax evaders — these are words used by government during debate on that bill — it would have seen the removal of PST on all used cars under $20,000.

In fact, it was the exact same wording, except it would be for a gas combustion vehicle, that this government has brought in for electric vehicles. Essentially, it would have said that regardless of the type of vehicle you buy, if it’s used and under $20,000, you shouldn’t have to pay PST on it. Now, that would save people $2,400 on a $20,000 car.

We know that as people are struggling to make ends meet, more and more used cars come into play. We know that younger people buy used cars, because that’s what they can afford to get to school, get to work, get their young families around.

We also know that younger people are typically on the lower end of the income scale, because they’re just starting their careers. They’re just starting out at, maybe, just a job they’re working while they’re going to school. What does page 91 in the budget say? It actually says that the tax change to used cars in this government’s budget will directly impact low- and middle-income families and those in rural B.C. the most.

It’s not just this side of the House this government doesn’t want to listen to. It’s their own experts, writing their own budget documents — their own public service employees — that are actually providing good, sound advice, forthright advice, in black and white in their budget document that this government has chosen to ignore. That’s why this motion is so important to see the actual action take place. I know that seems to be a struggle for this government. They are big on rhetoric, as we see all through their mandate letters, but very short on results.

This would be one area that would be very simple and easy for a government to actually start to show some results to match the rhetoric that’s in their mandate letters. That would be to actually work collaboratively with good ideas for all of British Columbia that come forward in this House, regardless of which party they come from and what part of the province they come from.

[11:30 a.m.]

Unfortunately, we’re not seeing that. Hopefully, we see that moving forward over these last three weeks. There’s still time to make change.

K. Paddon: As I prepared today to speak to this motion, I was encouraged by the commitment from the other side to join our executive council and our caucus in this commitment to the people of B.C. We’re all, in this chamber, elected to do this. Although we may disagree, sometimes at very fundamental, values-based levels, on how to advance the broader public good, on how to take care of people, on how to seek justice or on how to build a stronger B.C., I believe that these are common goals that unite us.

I think of the cross-party committees I sit on. I’m currently serving on several of these committees that work across parties and who are working together to review legislation.

The first committee I experienced as a new MLA was the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth, a committee that I remain happy to continue to serve on. This committee receives reports from the Representative for Children and Youth, and we have engaged in some in-depth and, quite frankly, emotional work as we learn together; hear stories from parents and youth; and hear from advocates, ministries and others. In the past, this committee, for me, has been an example of how we can come together regardless of partisan perspectives to discuss important ways forwards for our most precious citizens.

I also serve on the Special Committee to Review the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. This committee has members from all parties, and I am grateful for both the differences of opinions and perspectives and the commitment to work together held by our members there. Working together does not require that we necessarily agree, but it does require respect and consideration of another’s views and ideas, which, I think, speaks to the content of this motion.

Some of the worst arguments I’ve had in my marriage, I believe, are when we mistake agreement for respect or listening. So just because we disagree, on even fundamental issues, doesn’t mean that there’s a lack of will to work together. I believe that at some point through some influence, people may have come to the mistaken idea that if someone doesn’t agree with you, they must either not be listening, not understand you or they must be against you. In each of these cases, it seems that the solution is not new ideas and collaboration but rather being louder, angrier and more divisive.

We have seen the influence of these politics and rhetoric from our southern neighbors leak in and impact our culture in Canada and British Columbia as well as the impacts that the pandemic has had on how we coexist with those who disagree with us. It has not been a positive shift. But I am encouraged by the tone of this motion and by what I saw last fall in my community.

During the atmospheric river event, the flooding and the landslides, the residents and businesses of Chilliwack-Kent came together in the most incredible of ways. With very few exceptions, most of us came together here in this chamber as well, rather than try to score political points, and in order to be part of the solution. In my community, I saw so many cases of people reaching out and working to help — no hesitation and no evaluation of beliefs.

It didn’t matter which church you belonged to, which way you voted or what your politics were. We were there to support each other and to support our neighbors and to support our communities. We were aiming to make a difference, whether that was for one person or for 100 people.

It was a devastating time, but the human generosity of it all was so beautiful. So much got done so quickly. It shows what can be done when everyone is willing to contribute to solutions rather than argue about the problem. I’m looking forward to the contributions to solutions for the issues that we are working on here.

The problems are clearly defined, and we welcome the opposition to help work together with us to support the work being done to respond to mental health and the opioid crisis, not using the position to spread stigma veiled as personal beliefs.

To fight climate change, which starts with being on the same page as to whether it exists and the urgency it requires.

To join us in deciding that child care should be more affordable in order to support families.

To make ICBC even more affordable.

To make sure that having a home is affordable and to stop speculation in the housing market.

To improve services and build back a recovery that includes everyone, absolutely everyone.

[11:35 a.m.]

In the spirit of this motion, I will continue to watch and listen in places like question period for not only the work of holding government accountable but also for the change in tone that is described here in this motion. I will listen for the ideas and presentations of solutions to replace the search for sound bites and accusations lacking full context. I will watch for a back-and-forth in debate that does not minimize the contribution of others or suggest that disagreement must simply mean an inability to comprehend.

I look forward to this shift, hon. Speaker, and thank you for the time to speak to this motion.

T. Stone: I am pleased to rise and speak to this motion as well. It is a good idea to share good ideas on all sides of this House. I think we’ve heard this morning a number of good ideas that have been brought forward — several and many, many times — by the official opposition that haven’t been embraced by the government.

Hopefully, today’s short debate between government and opposition here on this will shine some light on some of these good ideas and actually better bring to life the Premier’s mandate that he has provided in all of the mandate letters that the cabinet has, which is to seek ideas from all members of this Legislature.

I’m going to throw another good idea on the table. It’s one that I have brought forward many, many times to this House. I certainly will not take credit for this good idea, because the reality is that this good idea was borne out of the frustration of hard-working business owners in British Columbia and local governments that potentially could have some tools to help small businesses, if only the province were to make some adjustments.

It is the advocacy of these small businesses and their voices the government is not being responsive to. These are business owners in neighbourhoods like Marpole in Vancouver, along with those on the West 4th, Granville and Cambie Street corridors, not to mention Lonsdale in North Vancouver and many, many others.

These local governments formed a working group a number of years ago in a bid to come up with some solutions. Specifically, they want government to put an end to — and there’s no other way to describe it — the ridiculous practice that taxes businesses on the empty airspaces above their heads, the empty airspaces above their establishments.

I have tried, on numerous occasions, to the help the government do the right thing here that would address this unfair tax burden on the empty airspace above the heads of small businesses. I have done that by introducing a private member’s bill, the Assessment (Split Assessment Classification) Amendment Act, 2022. I’ve introduced that bill five times, but the government simply doesn’t seem to be interested in working with us, working with these small businesses and local governments. That’s really unfortunate.

It’s not too late. They could embrace this bill, this ap­proach, which was developed by local governments and by small businesses. It was developed by those who are being impacted by this issue. The proposed solution has two parts. One is the creation of a new commercial property subclass for the airspace above small businesses and other affected organizations. Secondly, it provides for maximum flexibility for local governments to set the property tax rate on this new subclass as the local government sees fit — from zero dollars to just below the existing commercial property tax rate.

The bill provides the exact solution that local governments and small business organizations have asked for, and it’s exactly what they’ve worked on together. It would eliminate the nonsensical application of the speculation tax on the airspace over the heads of these same struggling small businesses. Some of these small businesses in question face property tax increases as high as 200 to 300 percent specifically because of this unfair tax practice.

Just last year…. We all know that we’re hearing all of the stories. We hear from small businesses that property assessments rose as much as 40 percent on average. Businesses need real action to solve this problem. What they got, in terms of what the government brought forward in 2020, was called the interim permissive tax exemption tool. With great fanfare, it was brought forward.

Fast-forward to today, two years later. Not a single one of British Columbia’s 162 municipalities has embraced that tool. They continue to ask for the split assessment solution, which we have put on the table.

I thought Michelle Barile, who’s the executive director of the West Broadway Business Improvement Association said it quite well: “Death and air taxes go hand in hand. Taxing properties for their development potential is killing small businesses and small business property owners that contribute to their community.”

[11:40 a.m.]

I couldn’t have said it better. I think that drives home the point that there is a solution, a positive solution. The member for Chilliwack-Kent said: “Bring solutions forward.” This is a positive solution. It’s an idea that was developed by small businesses, by local governments.

The legislation has been written. It’s on the order paper. It could be called by this government at any moment, and it would enable local governments to use this tool to help these small businesses who are struggling under the weight of massive property tax increases.

D. Coulter: It’s my honour today to be able to speak to this motion: “Be it resolved that this House agree that British Columbians expect their elected representatives to work together despite their partisan perspectives and that seeking out, fostering and championing good ideas, regardless of their origin, is important to advance the broader public good.”

First, I’d like to acknowledge that this motion was first brought forward by the former member for Surrey South a couple of weeks back, but the Government and Opposition House Leaders got together and decided we would debate the member for Surrey South’s private member’s bill instead. I think this is what working across partisan lines can look like and is a perfect example of the kind of collaboration that can be achieved here. I actually think it was a beautiful moment.

Another example of collaboration is that after calls from both the opposition parties, the Premier announced that the Select Standing Committee on Health would be established to address the urgent and ongoing illicit drug toxicity and overdose crisis.

Before striking the committee in this House during question period, the Premier said: “I appreciate the question from the member. It does speak to the need for all of us to try and get back on the same page. I know that no one benefits, no British Columbians benefit, from contemptuous questions and contemptuous responses. No one wants to politicize this. I firmly believe that.” This all-party committee exemplifies the spirit of this motion.

Our government also tabled amendments to strengthen the Election Amendment Act in 2017 that incorporated suggestions from both opposition parties. At the time, the Attorney General said: “We are doing politics differently, and as Premier Horgan has said, no party has a monopoly on good ideas. I am pleased that the amendments introduced today are a tangible result of that commitment and include changes proposed by both opposition parties.”

He went on to say: “Our government believes that the Legislature works best when all MLAs are able to put forward good ideas and come together to support legislation that advances the public good. Working collaboratively with other political parties is just one more example of how we are turning our commitments into reality.”

This government also understands and appreciates the need for a strong opposition that holds the government to account. To hold the government to account, the opposition needs the time and space to be able to adequately canvass bills during third reading and to thoroughly canvass in committees of supply. This is fundamental to the way our system works. It holds the government to account and helps the public understand what its government is doing. That’s why this House has a spring and fall sitting.

The previous government chose to cancel the fall session in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2016. There were also shorter sessions in 2006 and 2008 under the previous government. This severely reduced the opposition’s ability to hold the government to account. This was not a decision made for the broader public good and, I would submit, not in keeping with this motion.

Our government has taken a different tack. Doing some research for this motion, I found out something I had no idea about. The B.C. NDP government provided legislative drafting services to opposition members so all MLAs can better serve British Columbians. The office of legislative counsel provides political parties with confidential House amendment drafting services. As part of this, the OLC will help to accurately express policy objectives in a form that can give them the intended legal effect. This will allow proposed amendments by the opposition parties to be consistent with British Columbia drafting style.

The Attorney General, at the time of this change, said: “We are committed to doing politics differently, and I am proud to put people and ideas at the centre of our efforts by working with other political parties. These changes will accelerate the amendment drafting process for all MLAs so they may better serve British Columbians.” I think that’s also keeping in spirit with this motion.

[11:45 a.m.]

There are more examples of members of this House, whether opposition or government, working together. I hope the opposition can meet the government in the mid­dle and support our efforts on curbing housing speculation, making child care more affordable for British Columbians, protecting home buyers and fixing ICBC.

There’s so much more that we can accomplish with cooperation. I fully support this motion.

I. Paton: It’s a pleasure to rise today and take my place in this important debate. There’s no secret that I welcome any opportunity to stand up in this House and recognize our farmland and local businesses and the people that tend to them and run those businesses.

I have previously presented two bills I believe will benefit our province greatly. However, the government refuses to call opposition bills for debate, even though the Premier outlined in his mandate letters to cabinet the intent to work together despite partisan differences. I still wait for that day to come.

I reintroduced the Home-Based Craft Food Act just a couple of weeks ago, after initially introducing it in 2020, and it has never been called for debate. This act empowers families and individuals who want to foster their entrepreneurial spirit in the form of microbusinesses.

Through the pandemic, our province has come together to support shopping and eating locally. There are a growing number of people who want to purchase local food directly from their own communities. These items are often available to buy when strolling through one of our incredible farmers markets. Many farmers, families and individuals are keen on starting their own businesses that sell delicious, low-risk food products like jams, candy, honey, baked goods and jerky.

They may earn extra money to support themselves and their families by selling these food products right from their homes and farms. However, if they intend to sell their products anywhere other than the farmers market, they are subject to harsh rules and regulations. These strict guidelines don’t make it feasible for any small home operation to function.

My private member’s bill, if adopted, would enable home-based businesses to make and sell their products by only having to obtain a local business permit and a FoodSafe level 1 certification. Through more accessible guidelines, this legislation opens the door for farmers to increase income and strengthen our province’s food security. By creating a more practical path for microbusinesses, they can continue to grow and thrive in B.C., enriching our food landscape.

I have also twice introduced a bill which, again, has never been called that aims to protect Brunswick Point farmland and bird habitat from any future economic development. The history of Brunswick Point has been lengthy and a painful one for several Delta farm families. Starting in 1968, a proposal for a coal terminal at Deltaport and a railway line through Delta farmland was brought forward. This project came with the expropriation of approximately 4,000 acres of prime farmland in west Delta.

Many years after, and realizing this expropriated land was not necessarily needed as part of the expansion, the government offered to sell most of the farms back to their original owners. However, more than 600 acres of Brunswick Point farmland that is being held by the Crown has not been sold back to original owners. Instead, this land has been offered back to the families through short-term leases only.

I presented this bill in the past, as it would protect Brunswick Point, a triangular-shaped piece of land that borders the ocean and the Fraser River at Canoe Pass and includes seven kilometers of dike walking trails. This land also boasts exceptional class 1 soil that grows B.C.’s very best potatoes.

Most importantly, the area is world renowned as a resting stop for migrating birds, including Canada geese, snow geese, swans and snowy owls. The resting birds are well nourished by the leftover morsels of potatoes, grain and corn. This section of land is only two kilometres from the Reifel Bird Sanctuary. This farmland is precariously close to the Deltaport and container terminal and a massive mall, warehousing and housing development next door at Tsawwassen First Nations.

It is vitally important this precious 600 acres of farmland continues to be held by the Crown, be kept in agriculture and wildlife habitat in perpetuity and be sold back to the original farm families or offered back with long-term leases. It is essential that farmland at Brunswick Point and its bird habitat be protected from any future economic development.

Therefore, I presented this bill with the hope that the members opposite could look past partisan differences and work together to protect our beautiful province and do what is best for the people of British Columbia. Sadly, again we continue to wait for this and other good ideas to be called for debate.

[11:50 a.m.]

M. Dykeman: I’m thrilled to rise in the House today to speak to the motion from the member opposite in regards to working together on good ideas, which I think there’s a strong emphasis on. I must say that it was quite refreshing to see this motion come forward, although quite surprising.

I was really hopeful when I came in the House today that this was indicative of a new leaf being turned over, a focus on recognizing the hard work that’s been done by the government in affordability related to housing, child care, fighting climate change — we’re looking at addressing ICBC and looking at a strong economic recovery, building back better after what, really, has been a challenging two years — and that perhaps there had been a renewed interest in coming together to ensure that these important initiatives, the things that matter to people every day, are addressed.

Listening to our friends across the floor respond today, I’m quite doubtful. We’ve heard quite a bit about rhetoric and, really, many of the statements made today were simply that. Just standing up and pushing forward to….

I do want to preface my next comment by the fact that I recognize all the members in this House are honourable and would never mislead or make a statement like that. So I could only see it as an accidental mischaracterization, because we have so many examples of us working together.

I am so honoured to sit on the Finance Committee. We travel together. We meet with groups. We discuss important recommendations that inform the budget. We do that for…. It’s the committee that seems to just continuously meet. I mean, I can’t even express how many hours it is. We spend that time together, and quite often, we agree on things.

There’s lots of examples of these select standing committees. For instance, the one that met this morning, which I’m so honoured to be the new Chair of — the Parliamentary Reform Committee. We met this morning on a bill related to a university. It’s all parties. We come together, and we discuss these matters that are important.

As my friend from Chilliwack said, the opposition has an important role in holding government to account.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Question period very much is an opportunity to come forward, and there’s a theatrics and a history that is associated with that. But the good work takes place in committee. The good work takes place sitting down in all of the committees that exist within our government, including the steering committee, which has representatives from all parties working to modernize the province’s health professions and regulatory system, which is another example.

The government also has tabled amendments to strengthen provisions of the Elections Amendment Act. It incorporates suggestions from both opposition parties as well as consultations from Elections B.C.

This work takes place every day. In my riding of Langley East, for instance, it’s represented by every party at every level. We have two NDP MLAs. We have a Conservative MP. We have a Liberal MP. And we work together for the things that matter to the people in our community.

It doesn’t mean that we agree on everything, and it certainly doesn’t mean that every idea that’s brought forward is a good idea. But what it does mean is that when the work needs the be done, we come together, and we get the work done. That’s what happens in this House.

[11:55 a.m.]

I really hope that, as we continue to move forward, this was a very genuine motion in the sense that we are going to see more of a collaborative nature that we see in the committees, in this House, working for the things that matter for people every day in British Columbia.

I’m grateful that we’ve all had a chance to stand up and speak to this and look forward to seeing those words, not the empty rhetoric, and actually have measurable steps to benefit the lives of British Columbians.

E. Ross: The Premier wants ministers to look at new ideas in this House, in this Legislature, and collaborate. I would like to speak about an issue I have been speaking about for the last 18 years, which actually focuses on energy.

This is more important than ever because now it’s a global issue, especially when we talk about what is happening in Europe, with Germany now paying some of the highest energy costs in the world, where Russia has evaded Ukraine. Underneath this are energy costs and energy politics.

B.C. could be doing so much more. We should be ramping up our ability to export LNG, not only to Asia but also to Europe to fill in the gaps where Russian energy is actually enforcing its own regime on the rest of Europe and other parts of the world. B.C. LNG is an ethical transitional fuel source.

While I have listened for the last five years, in terms of LNG from this government, it always boils down to just being rhetoric. There’s no real support for LNG. There’s nothing. I haven’t heard one speech on the 18 LNG projects that have left B.C.

I’m not just talking about the energy needs of the world; we’re talking about benefits that come back to British Columbia, in terms of the services that we’ve become dependent on. The revenues that come from LNG exports pay for our hospitals, our doctors, our nurses, our schools, our teachers, our highways. There’s so much more we could be doing, but there’s not one word of support for LNG exports in this House apart from this side of the House.

In fact, of all those projects, most of them have left for the United States, Dubai. They have left for Australia. All that opportunity, and there is not one conversation about how B.C. participates in this energy crisis around the world.

If we do want to collaborate on new ideas, we should be looking at how we want to expand the export of our abundant LNG here in B.C. and fill the void due to international instability. That’s not going to end. It is not going to end.

LNG Canada, for example, has always been proposed for four trains, for a total of 26 million tonnes annually. They’re currently approved for 6 million tonnes. We can actually speed that up, because the certificate is already in place, and First Nations already fully support this project. The current timeline for LNG Canada’s approval for the remaining 20 million tonnes is 2030. The world can’t wait that long.

We can’t wait that long. With the amount of deficits that we’re incurring at the provincial and federal level, we do need a way to pay off these deficits. If not, it’s our kids and grandkids that will suffer.

Chevron has left town — a $30 billion project, 18 million tonnes annually. Not a peep of it in this House. Another major project. But there’s hope. Enbridge recently purchased the Pacific Trail pipelines certificate that has First Nations support. There is a way to bring this back. There are also smaller projects like the Nisg̱a’a’s Ksi LNG project and Cedar LNG in Kitimat, a project that was developed under my tenure.

At the end of the day, what we’re really talking about is energy. That’s what we’re talking about. Recent extreme weather events have shown how vulnerable we are, in terms of gasoline and diesel dependency, on other prov­inces and the United States. Washington State had to barge in extra diesel and gasoline to help. Truckers had to drive around, down through the United States, to come back and keep a minimum supply of fuel in B.C.

On Vancouver Island, the vulnerability is even greater. If the tankers and ships carrying diesel and gasoline to Vancouver Island stopped, Vancouver Island would have only three days of fuel supplies. We know the rationing would start with emergency and medical vehicles, who would get priority, leaving even less supply for residents.

A built-in B.C. refinery could create more supply and bring down the cost of gasoline and diesel for B.C. companies and residents. The expansion of existing refineries is also a new idea, or the building of a new refinery, to address B.C.’s energy security and dependency problems. It’s just one more great idea in an already long list of good ideas for this government to consider.

It’s time that B.C. takes its place. We have an abundant supply of energy. We can help the world, and at the same time, we can help our own citizens. But we’ve got to get away from the rhetoric and politics and anti-LNG statements, the anti–fossil fuel statements, and have a really good, mature conversation about where B.C. is heading in a global context.

E. Ross moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. N. Simons moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

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

The House adjourned at 12 noon.