Third Session, 42nd Parliament (2022)
OFFICIAL REPORT
OF DEBATES
(HANSARD)
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Morning Sitting
Issue No. 237
ISSN 1499-2175
The HTML transcript is provided for informational purposes only.
The PDF transcript remains the official digital version.
CONTENTS
| Routine Business | |
| Orders of the Day | |
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2022
The House met at 10:04 a.m.
[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]
Routine Business
Prayers and reflections: M. Dykeman.
Introductions by Members
Hon. L. Popham: Today, in the province of British Columbia, has been officially declared B.C. Ag Day. We are just so thrilled to have a number of amazing people that come from the agriculture industry here to speak to so many of us in the House.
Last night the B.C. Ag Council hosted an incredible reception that I think most of us in this chamber attended. It’s known to have the best selection of snacks and treats, and we enjoyed the hospitality. I’d like to thank them for that.
In the chamber today, we have got some special guests. We have Kimberly Ross, Bryce Gulicker, Humraj Kallu, Andries Quik, Hannah Wilms, Craig Cherrett, Kelly Coughlin, Heather Stretch, Eva-Lena Lang, Jack DeWit, Bill Zylmans, Angela Groothof, Steve Froese, Deep Brar, Peter Simonsen, Corne Quik, Tristyn MacLeod and Amy Dhanjal.
Thank you so much for attending today. Many of us have meetings with you. We’re looking forward to each and every one of them. Thanks for everything you do.
Hon. H. Bains: Today I would like to welcome guests from the United Steelworkers, who are joining us in the House. They will be meeting with many of us, almost all of us, later today and tonight.
Before I name them all, I just want to say a couple of words about them. This is the union that I spent my entire working life, 32 years of them. This is the union where I learned to stand up and not stand idly by when injustice was being delivered to the workers and other people. They showed me how to advocate on behalf of people who can’t advocate on their behalf.
I just want to say that I owe a lot about my basic values to this union, and many of them are in the House here today. They were my mentors, and I just want to say thank you for all of the advice and the fight that you gave me about injustice in this world.
In the House today is the newly elected district 3 director, Scott Lunny. This is the largest geographical area that Scott Lunny now represents in the steelworkers’ four Western provinces.
Along with him is Jessie Uppal, Brett Bardon, Mike Duhra, George Soule, Adam Connell, Tim Twa, Ravi Gandha, Chris Walker, Colin Gurnett, Jeff Jewell, Jason Arnold, Doug Mooring, Fred Girling, Brian Harder, Kay Noonan, Lori Travis, Tamara Marshall and Marty Gibbons.
Please join with me and give them a very, very warm welcome.
Hon. M. Dean: Canada’s only United World College is here in Metchosin, called Pearson College. Today teacher Michelle Moon and students from Pearson College are here visiting, and they’re in the gallery this morning.
They’re part of the global affairs program. The global affairs program brings together the college and wider communities to explore issues such as the climate crisis, politics, civil affairs and the arts. Would the House please make them all very welcome.
Hon. K. Chen: After the introductions of many important adults in this House, I want to introduce a very important young person who is joining us for question period today.
That is a friend of my son, ten-year-old Rory Nagai, who is visiting the Legislature with his family. He is definitely one of the kindest, most thoughtful and caring young people I know. He’s going to Lochdale elementary school in my community. He plays soccer with the Cliff Avenue soccer team in Burnaby. He plays hockey with Burnaby Minor. He plays baseball with Coquitlam Little League. He’s a very busy young activist in our community.
I just want to also take this opportunity to thank Rory for always caring for my son and being like an older brother to my son.
Thank you, and welcome, Rory.
M. Dykeman: I have two introductions to make today. Joining us in the gallery is a very special guest. Quinn Zaniol was the recipient of one of the two scholarships that I sponsor annually. He is such a fabulous student and has such an incredibly bright future ahead of him. He volunteered in my office this summer, and I learned a ton from him. I wish we could just keep him, but apparently, he wants to pursue a bachelor of arts at SFU. I know he’s going to go on to do incredible things in our community. He’s just a wonderful person.
With him today is also another wonderful person, one of my CAs, Carly Haugen. Really, absolutely nothing would get done without her. She keeps me organized, which is quite a task into itself. I was wondering if the House could please join me in making both of them feel very welcome and congratulating Quinn on his accomplishments.
My second introduction. Joining us in the gallery are Fred Girling, Brian Harder, Kay Noonan and Lori Travis, who are part of the Steelworkers retirees association. Fred sits on my riding association and has been an incredible mentor. He is full of information and has taught me so much in his volunteering. I am looking forward to having lunch with him today. I was wondering if the House could please join me in making them feel very welcome.
A. Singh: I also want to introduce my good friend, Mike Duhra, who is the assistant to the director of district 3. He’s joining us in the gallery today as well. Welcome to the halls, Mike.
J. Sims: I also want to welcome the USW delegation that’s here and congratulate Scott Lunny, but I have two very special introductions today.
First, I would like to say that Brett Barden is here in the gallery today. He is an activist like no other I have ever met. Ever since I moved to Surrey, and even before then, he was Mr. NDP for me. He’s a progressive; he’s a grassroots organizer. Whether it comes to a riding association in Guildford, whether it comes to Panorama, or whether it was Surrey–Green Timbers, he is just so, so committed to the democratic process, both provincially and in the city of Surrey as well. He put together an organization called Surrey Forward and did a horrendous amount of work, and I want to do a huge shout-out to Brett Barden.
My second introduction is to a blast from the past. George Soule is here. We’ve walked to many events together. We’ve walked the corridors of the House of Commons and sat in the lobby. He was in communications at the time. We’ve travelled together as well. Now I think Steel is so fortunate to have this very talented young man working with them. Please help me welcome George Soule to the B.C. Legislature.
D. Ashton: I, too, would like to follow in the Minister of Labour’s footsteps and welcome the United Steelworkers here. Thank you very much, gentlemen. I belong to IWA, and you put me on the path that helped me get to here today. So thank you very much. I greatly appreciated the conversations yesterday.
Also, there’s a gentleman I would like to recognize — Glen Lucas, from the B.C. Fruit Growers Association — that indirectly helps me bring some delicious fruit from the Okanagan to the Legislature.
Welcome, Glen.
T. Shypitka: I’d like to triple down on the welcoming of the United Steelworkers members that were here and had a great meeting yesterday. The United Steelworkers are a big part of my riding, being that the Teck coal mines are up there. There are some 4,000 United Steelworkers that are up there.
Almost most importantly, two members of that group, Chris Walker and Ravi Gandha, are fellow hockey dads of mine, and our kids, our sons, play for the RINK Hockey Academy in Kelowna. I’d like to welcome Ravi and Chris.
Statements
(Standing Order 25B)
B.C. AGRICULTURE DAY
I. Paton: Organized by the B.C. Agriculture Council, B.C. Ag Day is a reminder to all British Columbians how fortunate we are to have such dedicated people producing food for our province.
It is important to understand how the decision to buy local supports farmers, ranchers, producers and processors as well as our communities. Their dedication to their craft has helped them overcome major challenges, such as the unprecedented pandemic and a series of climate events that caused much damage to crops, land structures, equipment and livelihoods. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified concerns over food security and how easily our food system could be disrupted. It highlighted the necessity of agriculture investments to ensure access to food for British Columbians.
Our last summer in B.C. also brought to light additional challenges of extremely hot and dry summers, which negatively affected our food production. Many farmers were also faced with devastating floods last year. The atmospheric river caused major damage as farm fields, barns and homes were destroyed and livestock killed. These are stressors farmers must deal with throughout the year, yet they continue their work without fault to keep our province fed.
Let us never forget the volatile and high-risk livelihood of farming and ranching. Drought, rain, frost, disease, viruses and soaring costs of production can take you down in a heartbeat. On top of those challenges, the agriculture industry is faced with a persistent labour shortage along with the ever-increasing financial burden of the three Fs facing farmers today, that being feed, fuel and fertilizer. While steps have been taken to combat these issues, we will continue to advocate for British Columbia’s farmers and their efforts to improve B.C.’s food security for current and future generations.
Ag Day is not only a great day to connect legislators with farmers, but the day also increases awareness of agriculture’s positive impact on the local economy while giving farmers and ranchers an opportunity to share ideas and solutions to the sector’s challenges with MLAs here in Victoria.
P. Alexis: I rise in the House today to recognize B.C. Ag Day. The day acts as a reminder to all British Columbians how fortunate we are to have such a passionate and committed group producing food for the people in our province.
When I think about agriculture, I can’t help but think of the people of Abbotsford and Mission. We’ve seen the extreme impacts of climate-related weather events on our farming communities, and that’s why we are taking action to support farmers and ranchers with climate adaptation tools and projects.
One in five jobs in the Fraser Valley is related to the agricultural sector, and the valley ranks number 1 in the province’s agricultural economy, generating over $1 billion in gross farm receipts yearly.
When I think of agriculture, I can’t help but think of Bill and Helinda Vanderkooi and their family. The Vanderkooi family owns Bakerview EcoDairy in Abbotsford and are deeply committed to helping people learn about farming and where their food comes from. This working farm is open to the public for field trips, tours and events. The farm is home to a variety of farm animals that even includes beehives. Most of the land is irrigated grass for the cattle, but they also grow berries and rice — yes, rice.
These stewards of the land have embraced technology such as anaerobic digesters that help to convert animal manure into usable resources like heat and electricity. The Vanderkoois are living their dream of collaborating with the agricultural community to continue to develop solutions to improve animal well-being and the environment, a shining example of how traditional and innovative farming techniques can come together to contribute to the local economy.
If you visit Abbotsford, I’d like you to stop by Bakerview EcoDairy for a tour. And the ice cream, I promise you, is exceptional and highly recommended.
TONY CESCON AND OUTDOOR EDUCATION
CLASSES FOR SECONDARY
STUDENTS
B. Stewart: It’s an honour to rise in the House today to talk about British Columbia, where we are blessed with no shortage of incredible environments: mountains, rivers, forests, lakes. However, many of us do not get much opportunity to spend time in nature or learn the skills to take part in the various outdoor pursuits.
Well, in my community of West Kelowna, we have a dedicated teacher who wants to change that. For over 20 years, the last five at Mount Boucherie Secondary, Mr. Tony Cescon has been working to give as many students as possible the chance to experience the outdoors, learning valuable life skills along the way. Over the years, hundreds of students have taken part in his outdoor education classes. He is passionate about taking students out of the typical classroom environment and teaching them to find new strengths and leadership skills.
Through a combination of both classroom-based instruction and outdoor education, the course teaches students to tackle new challenges, like learning to hike, camp, rock-climb, snowshoe and cross-country ski. Students also learn critical skills like water safety, avalanche awareness, meal planning, first aid and bear safety.
I remember doing something similar in my youth, taking part in an outdoor program where we hiked up the Garibaldi Neve Glacier and even dug and spent a night in a snow cave. It was a formative experience for me, being a young person in nature. It created lasting memories, and I learned lifelong skills. It exposed me to some of the beauty of British Columbia and opened up new opportunities.
As a result, it’s encouraging to hear about a teacher who is so passionate about giving his students those same valuable opportunities and experiences, investing in their future and equipping them for the future.
BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARDS
IN
RICHMOND
K. Greene: This year is the 45th Business Excellence Awards, hosted by the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, and finalists have been announced in ten categories. Among them are a number of Richmond-Steveston businesses.
Advantage Speech-Language Pathology has a team of speech-language pathologists that sees clients of all ages with all types of communication and swallowing concerns and can provide services in 15 languages, including sign language.
Collective Beauty Studio believes in empowering self-confidence through the power of beauty, collaboration and community and is a finalist in two categories.
Generation Daycare offers preschool and school-age programs where children have opportunities to learn and grow through indoor and outdoor active play, quiet play and rest.
Go2Girl owner La Toya Barrington won the first-ever Small Business of the Year award from the Black Business Association of B.C. Her business offers residential and commercial cleaning, home organization, weddings and events, and more.
LivEZ has formulated vegan, sustainable and socially conscious skin care and wellness products for sale online and at retailers. A little business with big heart, they’re aligned with U.N. sustainable development goals.
Optima Living operates Wisteria Place, a seniors independent living residence which just opened in Steveston. Wisteria supports seniors to live a full and rewarding life in the community, near the amenities that Steveston offers.
Renaissance Academy of Learning provides child care, before- and after-school programs, and spring and summer break camps with emphasis on arts and STEM.
Steveston’s Arts Connection provides instruction in visual arts, dance and music, helping children learn important skills and grow empathy.
True Conditioning is a finalist in two categories as well and is a gym that has all women trainers, instructors and nutrition coaches. Supportive and positive, they offer classes for all levels and abilities.
Please join me in congratulating these fine finalists on their outstanding work and contributions to our community.
APPLE SEASON AND FRUIT INDUSTRY
D. Ashton: It’s the most wonderful time of year. No, I’m not talking about Christmas. We’re still a little ways away from that. I’m talking about apple season — unfortunately, about three weeks late. Locally grown apples are widely available right now, so I encourage everybody to take advantage and enjoy the many varieties grown here in British Columbia. I want to thank our tree fruit growers and other fruit and berry growers in the Okanagan region and beyond, who have put a tremendous amount of work and care into this year’s crop.
We all know that recent climate events have created a lot of challenges for farmers and growers throughout our province. Heatwaves and drought conditions ended up scorching some of the crops and taking a toll on the soil. Last year’s heat dome also led to a very much lighter crop and harvest this year. Meanwhile, heavy rains and atmospheric rivers put some of the plants right under water. These events not only damaged the crops, but they damaged structures, equipment and vital infrastructure.
As farmers and growers struggle to fully recover from these damages and losses, it’s ever more important for British Columbians to consider buying local as much as possible. The farmers, their families and those that help the farms absolutely need our support. We salute each and every one of them for a job well done under the most challenging circumstances, producing high-quality, delicious and nutritious fruit products for all of us to enjoy.
Thank you to the Fruit Growers Association of British Columbia, B.C. Tree Fruits and all the berry councils who continue to advocate on their behalf during these uncertain times.
A special, really heartfelt thanks to Richard and Denise MacDonald, Lorraine Bennest and Adrian Arts, who again have topped up our family orchard supply of the wonderful Aurora Golden Gala for all in the Legislature to enjoy.
ACTION ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN HOCKEY
G. Lore: I have been a hockey fan all of my life. The last few months have been gut-wrenching. The recent changes at Hockey Canada are welcome, but for me and so many others across B.C., they are not enough. I humbly use this opportunity this morning to speak to hockey here in B.C., to teams and players — local, junior, professional and everything in between.
First, we’re asking you to say it — to say that sexualized violence has no place in your sport. We want to know that you feel as we feel about what’s been revealed at Hockey Canada.
Second, leadership in your locker room matters. Does your training need an upgrade? What language do you allow to be used in your locker room? Most importantly, what happens if a player on your team commits sexual assault or domestic violence? We want to know, we need to know, that there are no on-the-ice skills that are more important than the safety of women and girls and others in your community.
Finally, lead in your community. Call in other teams. Use your platform to show the role of men and boys in standing up against sexualized and domestic violence, because this violence isn’t limited to the hockey community. It affects every community across our province.
What we’re asking is for our hockey teams, their players and fans to show the courage that survivors show every day — survivors like Kelly Favro, whose courage and resilience took her all the way to the B.C. Supreme Court, where she won the right to share her own story without fear of prosecution.
Her courage and her fight brought Kelly and survivor Sammie Geiger to Ottawa, where they shared their stories with the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights and asked for change, asking for the right to speak their own stories and tell their own truths, demanding to reclaim their autonomy.
I stand with Kelly; I stand with Sammie. I stand with survivors, and we need you, your teams, your coaches and your fans to stand with us.
Oral Questions
HEALTH CARE SYSTEM USE OF NURSES
FROM PRIVATE
AGENCIES
K. Falcon: As I’ve spoken to thousands of people across this province, I am alarmed to hear from nurses who say how often they find that they are outnumbered on hospital wards by private agency nurses.
Now, you can imagine how shocked I was to learn that under the NDP government, we have had an explosion of private contractors working as nurses in our hospitals, some from as far away as Newfoundland and others that are just leaving the public sector to go join the for-profit sector.
The amount of money that the NDP are spending on private agency nurses has skyrocketed by over 600 percent. Now, this is not only a massive waste of taxpayer dollars, where we’re paying up to three times more for the same nurse who was once working for the health authority and is now working for a private agency contractor, but it’s also wrong, it’s inefficient, and it’s destroying the morale of our nurses.
A nurse from the Interior says: “For the first time, I have thought about becoming an agency nurse. No overtime, no stress, no phone ringing on my days off, and I would make double to triple what I make right now. But I feel like I would be leaving my co-workers high and dry.”
There is no better picture of a health care system on its last legs than our current NDP Minister of Health using a backdoor approach to bring in for-profit nursing, to prop up a public health care system that is in collapse.
Will the Minister of Health, who has clearly run out of ideas, do the right thing and resign?
Hon. A. Dix: The Nurses Bargaining Association has increased by 18 percent since I became Minister of Health. We’ve taken steps to dramatically increase training spaces — just recently, in February, 604 more nursing spaces. We’ve taken significant action to add and improve pathways for internationally educated nurses.
Yesterday one of the most significant things requested by the B.C. Nurses Union, by the Hospital Employees Union and others…. We improved and we laid down improvements to safety in our hospitals to address issues of….
Interjections.
Hon. A. Dix: I would just contrast this. The only Minister of Health in recent memory, NDP or Liberal, who saw the decline in the number of registered nurses under his or her watch was the Leader of the Opposition. It’s sometimes not so nice to be unique. I would say this: it was the Leader of the Opposition.
We in British Columbia — yesterday we spoke to this — have established an agency to support nurses and other health care workers in their occupational health and safety.
You may say: “Why did you need to create such an agency?” Why did we have to create such an agency? Because there was one, and that Leader of the Opposition eliminated it.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.
Leader of the Official Opposition, supplemental.
K. Falcon: We have to remind this member that they’re in their second term of government. The public is learning that every time they get in trouble….
Interjections.
K. Falcon: Exactly. That’s what the public’s thinking.
Every time they get in trouble, they make an announcement. I’m glad the minister made another announcement. But frankly, your announcements haven’t made a difference in results. What the public is very quickly figuring out is that when it comes to results, this government gets the worst possible results.
Under this minister, we have hallway medicine. We’ve got the longest walk-in clinic wait times in the country. Well done. We’ve got people literally dying in overcrowded waiting rooms, just waiting to be seen. That’s the record of this minister and this government.
It’s this minister — he loves spewing out numbers — that just talked about an 18 percent increase in nurses. I’m talking about a 600 percent increase in for-profit contract nurses that this member has also overseen. Now the president of the B.C. Nurses Union, Aman Grewal, says: “There are units in hospitals where it is all agency nurses.”
Now, I’d love to tell the House what the tainted incoming Premier thinks of this, but he’s had nothing to say about health care — not one idea during that entire joke of a leadership race. But by contrast, the only leadership candidate that had a health platform, Anjali Appadurai, promised action, saying: “We have an acute crisis of nurses leaving the system, where they’re able to get wages that are higher in the private sector.”
The Minister of Health has completely lost his way. Will he do the honourable thing, step aside and let somebody else try and fix the broken system that he is overseeing?
Hon. A. Dix: I think our teams of nurses and doctors and health sciences professionals and health care workers have done an extraordinary job in this period of two public health emergencies. That performance is recognized everywhere, I think, other than perhaps by the Leader of the Opposition.
Since I became Minister of Health, we addressed and have addressed a health human resources challenge by adding net 38,000 people to the health care system. The Leader of the Opposition says that an 18 percent increase in nurses in the Nurses Bargaining Association doesn’t matter. Well, maybe if you cut registered nurses when you were Minister of Health, you would think so, but he is the only person in British Columbia who believes that.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. One question at a time and one answer at a time.
Let’s continue.
S. Bond: The conversation is not about the job that, actually, nurses and physicians and radiologists and all of the health care professionals are doing. They’re doing a fantastic job. This is all about the job that this minister isn’t doing.
Let’s be clear. The minister is relying on bringing in private company nurses at a salary range that is up to three times more than the pay of their colleagues. The minister can dismiss that, but what it is doing is driving nurses out of public health care to go to a private contractor so they can come back to work in the very same unit for up to three times more money. And the minister simply dismisses it.
Here’s what a nurse from Vancouver told us: “I’m expected to show up every day and work in a toxic workplace for an employer that doesn’t respect me. To add insult to injury, I’m now working side by side with agency nurses, who are doing the same job that I am for nearly twice the pay that I earn, and they are former colleagues that I’ve worked with in the same unit for over ten years.”
The minister can smile and ignore all of these details. It is demoralizing to nurses. He is relying on privately contracted nurses to prop up the health care system. It is time he did the right thing, stood up and resigned.
Hon. A. Dix: For members of the opposition to talk about privatization…. The authors of the largest layoff of women workers in the history of North America — there they are.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. Members, yesterday we had a wonderful question period — very dignified, very respectful. Let’s try to maintain the same spirit, please. Thank you.
Hon. A. Dix: I don’t know what’s changed, hon. Speaker. I don’t know what’s changed.
What we have focused on is adding nursing positions, adding nurses. When I became Minister of Health, we were the last in Canada in nurse practitioners. We were tenth in Canada in registered nurses. We had fewer nurses, believe it or not, registered nurses, in 2016 than we had in 2009, when the Leader of the Opposition became Minister of Health.
We are dealing with a period of pandemic and, of course, responding with urgent measures where they’re required to ensure people get the care they require. That is my responsibility as Minister of Health, and you bet I’m carrying it out.
Mr. Speaker: Prince George–Valemount, supplemental.
S. Bond: The part of the answer the minister ignored was that under our government, we had the best health outcomes in the country, bar none. In fact, he can go look it up. He’s well familiar with CIHI, and that is exactly who looked at outcomes.
Let’s be clear. This minister today hasn’t denied the use of privately contracted nurses. In fact, he’s celebrating the fact that he is using privately contracted nurses at up to three times more the salary than nurses that are working in the public health care system. Apparently, that’s acceptable to the minister.
Well, it isn’t to the B.C. Nurses Union. Here’s what the president said. President Aman Grewal said: “It’s a bit of a robbing Peter to pay Paul type of a situation. Because they’re leaving one employment to go to do an agency nursing, we’re still at a loss.”
The minister has created such a mess in the health care system. It has collapsed. It has come to the fact that he has to hire contracted nurses so that British Columbians can get some semblance of care.
This is not about nurses. This is not about doctors. This is about a minister who has failed in his portfolio, who has created a mess, and it is time for him to accept that and step aside.
Hon. A. Dix: As members will know, if you were waiting to get surgery, we were around the bottom of the country when I became Minister of Health. Now, in many categories of hip and knee replacement surgery, we’re number 1. Where we did….
Interjections.
Hon. A. Dix: Well, we count these things.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Shhh, shhh, shhh, Members. Members.
Hon. A. Dix: The Leader of the Opposition talks about CIHI data. That’s CIHI data, and it demonstrates that.
When you were waiting in Northern Health to get diagnostic care…. We’ve added and more than doubled the capacity, for example, for MRIs in the Northern Health Authority. We were waiting, and now we’re waiting dramatically less time there and across British Columbia.
With respect to nurses, the opposition says 18 percent more in the bargaining unit is not good enough. I agree. That’s why we’re adding nursing spaces. We’re adding internationally educated nurses. We’re addressing the situation that we face in front of us to ensure that people get the care now and get care in the future.
That’s what we are going to continue to do, which is strong action to respond to the challenges facing a health care system that’s dealing with two public health emergencies — and health care workers and health care professionals, who are doing an outstanding job.
COMMUNICATIONS ON
COVID-19 IN
SCHOOLS
S. Furstenau: Speaking of public health emergencies, yesterday Capital Daily and Burnaby Beacon published a story about the reality of how COVID was spreading in our schools in 2021. Well, the story the provincial health office and the government wanted to tell did not match what was actually happening.
Can the Minister of Health explain to the public what happened?
Hon. A. Dix: Well, what’s happened, throughout the pandemic, is outstanding leadership by our provincial health officer and, here on Vancouver Island, by our chief medical officer of health. Dr. Henry and Dr. Stanwick have done an outstanding job.
What’s happened in British Columbia is that in schools, in particular…. Schools stayed open in British Columbia, providing health and educational benefits for children that are incalculable. We have the best record of any jurisdiction in the country because of actions of Ministers of Education and Minister of Health, but mostly the actions of teachers, the actions of parents, the actions of students, who did an outstanding job.
There’s a reference to an email from Dr. Richard Stanwick, now retired, and Dr. Henry that said that COVID cases during spring break were going up, which was the pattern we had seen in winter breaks as well. In other words, transmission was less during school than it was during break periods.
What Dr. Stanwick recommended is that we remind people to stay home when they’re sick, something we’ve been doing since February of 2020 and something we doubled down with when we became the first Legislature in Canada to pass sick day legislation, by the Minister of Labour.
Mr. Speaker: Leader of the Third Party, supplemental.
S. Furstenau: Speaking of doubling down — astonishing.
For those who didn’t read it, here are some quotes from the article that was published yesterday. The provincial health officer’s own advisers, including Dr. Stanwick, warned her of “daunting” spikes in school exposures. Yet Dr. Henry wrote to her staff, “We need to be able to give some data that supports what we’re saying” — i.e., that transmission in schools is low. We have a narrative, and we need the data to support it.
She then told the public, over and over again, that transmission in schools was low, denying the reality that teachers and parents were experiencing in their real lives — over and over again, gaslighting.
And all the while, what was happening? A study was being co-authored by the PHO herself. Now we know that 70 to 80 percent of children and youth have been infected with COVID, more than any other age cohort in B.C., and that between March and August of last year, spread among kids was 92 times higher than what this government was reporting.
My question is to the Minister of Health.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Let’s hear the question, please, Members.
Interjection.
S. Furstenau: Wow. These guys are desperate.
My question is to the Minister of Health. In light of this information, how can we trust his word and the word of the provincial health officer?
Hon. A. Dix: Well, I think, British Columbians think, and the world thinks that we have an outstanding provincial health officer.
Interjections.
Hon. A. Dix: Perhaps I’ll let the opposition have its discussions.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Continue.
Hon. A. Dix: The leader of the Green Party quotes Dr. Stanwick, who was referring to a spike in COVID cases during spring break of 2021. Then she says the response from Dr. Henry was the one she reported. That response was an email from December 23. I just think that to imply that one is a response to the other is inaccurate. It’s inaccurate and, I suggest, not worthy of a question in this House — not worthy.
The email from Dr. Stanwick came following spring break, and Dr. Henry’s advice continued to be what it should have been, which is stay home when you’re sick. In December, at a time of high contact tracing, the advice continued to be…. We briefed on the same day the email was put out, and the advice is, as it continues to be, that people need to be careful and stay home when they’re sick. It was a time of contact tracing, and seeking out more information on that is not unreasonable.
Dr. Henry has consistently provided her best advice, and the suggestion that she did otherwise is simply incorrect. Does that mean that she’s right every single time? Of course not. This has been an evolving pandemic that has challenged health officers everywhere in the world. We have had a level of service from Dr. Henry in terms of transparency to the public that is second to none and a level of advice and guidance that has benefited the people of B.C.
You can go to any grocery store or any place in B.C., and you’ll get the same answer. Dr. Bonnie Henry is outstanding.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Thank you, Members. Take it easy. Thank you.
ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND
ISSUES IN HEALTH CARE
SYSTEM
T. Stone: Every day we hear more stories of a health care system that is collapsing in British Columbia. Alan writes: “I recently spent 16 hours in the emergency waiting room with extreme chest pain. I’m 73 years old, and this was a horrific experience.”
The NDP’s massive failure on health care comes against a backdrop of record high amounts being spent on administration while British Columbians face increasingly dire results when it comes to health care delivery. In fact, financial statements show that despite a crippling health care staffing shortage, the amount of funding that’s going towards corporate administrative expenses within health authorities under this minister has increased by $1.3 billion over the past five years. That’s nearly double the level that it was in 2017.
How can this Minister of Health justify spending $1.3 billion more on administrative costs when British Columbians like Allan aren’t able to get the care that they deserve? Will this minister do the right thing and resign?
Hon. A. Dix: I’m glad that the Leader of the Opposition was lauding the Canadian Institute for Health Information, because they actually measure these things. What the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows is pretty straightforward.
There’s a corporate services expense ratio that compares jurisdictions, and what does it show? It shows that B.C. has one of the lowest rates of administration in the country. It shows that the situation has improved since 2016. In fact, that level of administration has been reduced. Why has it been reduced? It’s because we’ve been hiring more nurses and more health care workers. We’ve been bringing….
That why we measure these things, and the record…. That’s why the Canadian Institute of Health Information measures these things, so that when people stand up and make statements that are incorrect, it gives us a chance to correct them. It’s a very positive situation.
One of the reasons why we are increasing the number of surgeries, increasing the number of diagnostic exams, increasing the number of staff is to respond to these very issues, because when you’re waiting for care — whether it’s in an emergency room, whether it’s for an ambulance or whether it’s for surgery — that’s the most important thing in your life, and we know it. That’s why all of these actions have been taken: increased nurses, increased doctors, increased surgeries, increased diagnostic equipment. It’s so that the people involved, the people who benefit from those things, will see the consequences in a positive way.
We are living through two public health emergencies, and our health care teams are doing an outstanding job. Can we do better? Absolutely. That’s why we are taking these actions.
Mr. Speaker: Opposition House Leader, supplemental.
T. Stone: Well, talk about a Health Minister that’s completely out of touch with British Columbians when it comes to the delivery of health care. One in five without a doctor. People dying in hallways and ERs. People dying waiting for an ambulance to arrive. ER closures have become routine in communities all over the province, and this minister stands up and portrays a system that apparently is the best in the country.
You know, what British Columbians really care about are positive outcomes, positive results. So against that backdrop, you can imagine how outraged British Columbians are to learn that under this minister, there are now 64 vice-presidents across health authorities, each earning approximately $400,000 apiece.
Now, this does nothing for people like Tina, who says: “I am now facing a mental and physical health crisis, and I have no doctor. I am falling through the cracks of a broken health care system, and there must be accountability from this incompetent Health Minister and his team of no answer, no show, no help.”
How can this Health Minister justify having 64 vice-presidents across the health authorities, making, on average, $400,000 each, and spending $1.3 billion more on administrative costs today than in 2017, when people like Tina can’t get the health care that they deserve when they need it?
Hon. A. Dix: I think the reason why the Canadian Institute for Health Information keeps those statistics is to show contrast. We were last in Canada, tenth, in registered nurses in 2017. That has impact on outcomes.
In 90 percent of our care homes, we did not meet staffing standards, because we had a government that had launched a 15-year war against workers in health care that affected the quality of care. That affected it in every care home in British Columbia, and it’s why we’ve taken the actions we’ve taken to get rid of, for example, the agency that was set up to contract out work — to rid that and to bring that back into health authorities so that we can have health care workers working for health authorities and so that we can recruit health care workers that we need in the future to do so.
We’ve added care aides. We’ve added nurses. We’ve added health sciences professionals. We’ve added doctors. Still, in the context…. They still talk about their fantasy of privatization, when that group on the other side of the House damaged our health care system for a generation through privatization schemes that made no sense.
Our investment has been in front-line staff. We’re going to continue to do it, because it’s those front-line staff that deliver the care British Columbia needs.
R. Merrifield: The contrast of the fantasy that this minister promotes and the reality of British Columbians that have health care needs is staggering. Every day we hear stories about the collapse of the health care system under this minister’s watch.
Linda recently shared her story with me. She’s a 73-year-old woman going through waiting lists — waiting lists for a mammogram, a waiting list for an ultrasound, another waiting list for a biopsy and yet another one for her surgery. And after these waits, when she finally had surgery, the tumour had grown so significantly that she was now stage 4.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to us. The radiologists warned us of the tsunami of late-stage cancer cases. Because of the progression while Linda waited, she now has to undergo both radiation and chemotherapy. But instead of working to help Linda, this minister has put 1.3 billion additional dollars in increased administrative costs instead of in front-line workers.
How can the minister justify this $1.3 billion in additional administrative spending or the 64 vice-presidents, each earning $400,000, all while Linda can’t get the care that she deserves? Will he do the right thing and resign, or will he wait to be fired by the tainted Premier-delegate?
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. Members, are you interested in the answer?
Hon. A. Dix: Every case in British Columbia matters — every single one. This has been, as people in this House know, an extraordinary period for public health care.
Two public health emergencies aren’t even recognized in their questions when they ask for the help. It’s as if they didn’t exist; as if it’s not there; as if COVID-19 is still not an international health emergency and a pandemic in B.C., which it is. It’s as if there aren’t 15,000 people off work this week in health care — in very significant respects, compared to the average — because of COVID-19; as if these things aren’t happening.
In this context, we are delivering…. Hon. Speaker, I guess….
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members, please.
Hon. A. Dix: The Opposition House Leader is continuing to heckle. They seem to suggest that the questions are serious, and then they don’t behave that way. That’s fine. That’s their business….
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
The minister will continue.
Hon. A. Dix: Thank you, hon. Speaker.
With respect to radiology, every case matters, and when people struggle in getting access to the system, the system needs to respond to that. In very significant ways, it is.
After a long period of government, we were last in Canada in MRIs, right? We’ve done 174,000 MRIs in the 2016-17 fiscal year. That’s 174,000 people, and that seems like a lot. Last year, in a pandemic, it was 296,000. If we were still at 174,000, can you imagine what the circumstance would be in radiology?
But we are not, and why are we not? Because we went from one MRI machine going 24-7 to nine. We went from four going 16-7 to 18. And we added 17 public MRI machines — equally, with respect to CT scans.
You know who we pay for? We pay for tech. We pay for staff who support and schedule those appointments. We pay for radiologists. Those are the things we pay for in providing that care. We’ve gone from, frankly, 22 per 1,000 in the Northern Health Authority — it’s mostly represented by B.C. Liberals — to more than double that in terms of MRIs. That is a record to be proud of.
[End of question period.]
Orders of the Day
Hon. M. Farnworth: I call continued second reading of Bill 36.
[J. Tegart in the chair.]
Second Reading of Bills
BILL 36 — HEALTH PROFESSIONS AND
OCCUPATIONS ACT
(continued)
M. Lee: To continue my second reading speech on Bill 36, I was saying before the break yesterday evening, the matters I want to bring forward during committee stage on Bill 36, particularly from the perspective of how the level of consultation has been with First Nation leaders and Indigenous leaders in this province.
I look forward to receiving from the minister the opportunity to set out the level of consultation that was involved, recognizing the complexity of this legislative framework and responding to the In Plain Sight report and other needs within so many communities across this province.
It will be helpful to understand the role and the perspectives that were brought to bear in respect of the guiding principles for UNDRIP as well as the anti-discrimination measures in this legislative framework.
I look forward to receiving from the minister the opportunity to set out the level of consultation that was involved, recognizing that with the complexity of this legislative framework and responding to the In Plain Sight report and other needs within so many communities across this province, it will be helpful to understand the role of and the perspectives that were brought to bear in respect of the guiding principles for UNDRIP as well as the anti-discrimination measures in this legislative framework.
An example of why it’s important to see how this legislative framework will be going forward is the use of the term “Indigenous governing body” in this Bill 36. That brings over the definition of Indigenous governing bodies from the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
If we look at a few examples, such as the important buildout in the area of support services…. Members, during second reading, have referred to this in terms of the availability of support services, counselling services, to support persons to recover from or seek redress for sexual misconduct, sexual abuse or discrimination. Section 288 sets out and refers to the list of support workers in this area. That can be and would be, for the administrator of this program, looking at a list through “a process established under the program parameters by one or more Indigenous governing bodies or other entities representing Indigenous peoples.”
As I commented yesterday, as well, it has been three years since DRIPA has been adopted in this House. In terms of the use of the term “Indigenous governing body,” I certainly would like to pursue with the minister what that means in the context of this bill. For example, here, when we’re talking about program parameters being established by one or more Indigenous governing bodies, what does that mean?
Given the recognition in the DRIPA action plan of the distinctiveness of each of the First Nations and Indigenous nations in our province, including the Métis, when we’re talking about program parameters and only being established by one or more, I’m interested to know what that means in effect and how that will be translated into this framework.
Also, the use of this larger term now: “other entities representing Indigenous peoples.” Obviously, with entities like the First Nations Health Authority, other umbrella organizations, the AFN themselves here in British Columbia, Assembly of First Nations Chiefs as well as the leaders summit and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs as well….
There are many bodies, of course, that are representative in nature for Indigenous peoples — Métis Nation, of course. How does that feed into ensuring we have availability of this list of support workers? That is my interest, to raise that to the minister and his team as we look to address that.
Another example…. Of course, I won’t go through them all in the time that I have here. The bylaw provisions under section 384, as well, make use of this same framework. When we’re looking at bylaws, rules to be established by boards or health occupation directors, they must “…first consult with all of the following.”
So we’re talking about persons who are affected by the proposed bylaw, of course, other regulators and then, in category (c), “one or more persons nominated for this purpose by Indigenous governing bodies or other entities representing Indigenous peoples, if the bylaw or rule is made.” Then it gets into discrimination or anti-discrimination matters, “…if Indigenous identity is specifically relevant”; the delivery of the type of health care services.
Something else that has been commented and noted by other members on second reading here is the use of restorative processes that are intended to reflect or be influenced by Indigenous practices. Again, when I look at the guiding principles and the reference to UNDRIP…. I mentioned yesterday, for example, article 24 in UNDRIP.
Recognizing the acknowledgment that we need to use a distinct, based approach, recognizing all the individual differences between First Nations and this term that is also embedded in this act now with Indigenous practices….
We are talking about Indigenous cultural practices, contemporary Indigenous practices that are based on, originate in traditional Indigenous practices, and a combination of traditional and contemporary Indigenous practices.
All I’m pointing out is that when we’re talking about one or more persons nominated for this purpose, what is that governing body? What is that reference for Indigenous nations in this province that will provide that input as they nominate a person, or one or more persons, to serve in this role? What is the requirement by the other entities representing Indigenous peoples? How might that be reconciled, so to speak, coordinated and aligned with Indigenous governing bodies themselves?
If I turn to another section which I do want to spend some time with the minister on during committee, it would be the superintendent’s office. Obviously, as the framework puts in teeth to expectations on all of these professional regulatory bodies, the superintendent plays a significant role in oversight.
That role includes the purposes as set out in section 435 of the act, which is “to promote awareness of and adherence to the guiding principles as described in section 14.” Those section 14 guiding principles, as I mentioned yesterday, do include reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, UNDRIP itself and the need to address racism and anti-racism issues that are specific to Indigenous peoples.
As we break this down in terms of the actual role of the superintendent, we have qualifying words around promoting awareness. That is actually in the guiding principles itself. It’s doubled up in the regulatory oversight. What does that mean? I think it’ll be important to understand, from the minister, what the level of current awareness is, whether that’s a measurable result. Specifically, when referring to UNDRIP, we’re talking, I presume, around articles like Article 24.
What’s the effect of this? As we look at the use of the word “adherence” to the guiding principles, what is the expectation, in this legislation, that we have for the superintendent to ensure adherence to the guiding principles? This is the use of the term and the framework for how we are ensuring that under the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, legislation that comes in front of this assembly, this House, is consistent with UNDRIP itself.
By walking through these examples, I’m trying to give an indication as to where the discussion would go to ensure how this legislation lines up with the principles set out in the articles of UNDRIP. When we’re using this mechanism of guiding principles, it does invite the question as to where this government is of the view that this legislation is consistent with UNDRIP. Apart from the framework around guiding principles, I will be asking the minister about the government’s view of that, in terms of its adherence and compliance with the DRIPA Act.
As we look at the remaining balance of this bill, just a few other examples, which I would like to get into at committee stage, relate to the superintendent’s conduct of the oversight process. In Section 467, we have a listing of the Indigenous matters where the superintendent would “collaborate with one or more persons nominated by Indigenous governing bodies or other entities representing Indigenous peoples….” There again is the use of that term that’s set out to involve those bodies, both from the governing bodies’ perspective as well as entities representing Indigenous peoples.
Again, to understand the differences between nations and Indigenous communities…. We talked earlier about the traditional versus the contemporary. There are certainly distinct differences here in how that will be ported in to the collaboration necessary by the superintendent in these areas around discrimination, anti-discrimination matters and the type of delivery of health services in accordance with Indigenous practices. Again, that does bring in the differences amongst Indigenous nations and communities themselves.
Just to put in two other points here, we have, in section 540, reference to the transition and respect of applications for registrations. Here we have, again, where the decision on the application will look to the exercise of powers and performance of duties under the guiding principles. How that will be involved in these particular sections, including around disciplinary proceedings….
Again, because there’s a general reference to UNDRIP under the guiding principles, I do think it’s going to be instructive for this House to get a better understanding at committee stage as to what the expectation will be as to how those power and performance of duties in the course of a disciplinary proceeding would occur. I think it will be helpful to hear from the minister a number of examples, if the minister would be prepared to share that with us during the committee stage, just so that we can understand how this will work, given the broad general reference, I’d say, to UNDRIP under the guiding principles.
With that, I look forward to having that kind of detailed discussion with the minister and his team during committee stage with, of course, our member for Prince George–Valemount and other members on this side of the House to walk through these various provisions from my perspective, as they affect First Nations and Indigenous peoples, to see the objectives that are certainly important under this new legislation. I look forward to that committee stage. Thank you. Those are my comments at this time.
J. Rice: I’m happy to rise today to speak to Bill 36, the Health Professions Act. This is a really important piece of legislation, particularly for my constituents in North Coast.
I have a high Indigenous population in my riding. I understand that it’s the highest of all the ridings or constituencies we have in B.C. Almost half my constituency are Indigenous peoples living on reserve. Historically there’s been a tenuous relationship with health care facilities and health care service for a lot of Indigenous people in my riding.
In fact, the hospital in Bella Bella is named after a white male historical racist person. Recently the Heiltsuk First Nation removed the name of the hospital, and they’re going through a naming process to name the hospital to be much more culturally appropriate and safe. That just reflects the changes and the day and age of communities, and British Columbians in general, working towards a concrete action plan for reconciliation.
I was really happy to see some of the details in this piece of legislation, but it’s a little bit more comprehensive than that, than my local issue. Patient safety will be enhanced, oversight of health regulatory colleges strengthened, and governance of the health professionals will be improved with this piece of ground-breaking legislation. Our government is making the most significant changes to oversight of regulated health professionals in British Columbia’s history.
These changes will streamline the process to regulate new health professions, provide stronger oversight, provide more consistent discipline across the professions, act in the public interest and protect patient care in this province while also laying the groundwork to further reduce the total number of regulatory colleges.
The Health Professions and Occupations Act replaces its predecessor, the Health Professions Act. The act enables the creation of a new oversight body, an independent discipline tribunal and a reformed complaints process that increases accountability and transparency, protects people in vulnerable circumstances and creates a commitment to cultural safety and humility and a new way to regulate lower-risk health occupations.
The legislation will simplify…. The legislation makes this more simple and streamlines the process for regulating new professions. Government will begin regulating counsellors and then diagnostic and therapeutic professionals and will continue finalizing the amalgamation of colleges from 15 to six.
One amalgamation will combine the colleges for dietitians, occupational therapists, opticians, optometrists, physical therapists, psychologists and speech and hearing professionals into one regulator. The other amalgamation will combine the colleges for chiropractors, massage therapists, naturopathic physicians, traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncturists.
The Ministry of Health has made progress ahead of this legislation by reducing the number of regulatory colleges. In October of 2020, B.C.’s three nursing colleges were amalgamated into one. In September of 2021, the nursing college was amalgamated with the College of Midwives, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons was amalgamated with the college of podiatrists.
In September of this year, of 2022, B.C.’s four oral health colleges, which included dentists, denturists, dental assistants, dental hygienists and dental technicians, were amalgamated into one regulatory college. There are 15 health colleges, under the act, providing regulatory framework for 25 health professions.
The legislation is partly in response to concerns raised in a report, in 2019, by Harry Cayton, former chief executive of the United Kingdom’s Professional Standards Authority. He was appointed by the Minister of Health to review the Health Professions Act and its regulations and to make recommendations.
The changes also reflect some of the key recommendations from the 2020 In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-Specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care report and further implements the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act action plan. As well, the amendments fulfil recommendations made by the multiparty steering committee, which was chaired by the Health Minister, the MLA for Kelowna–Lake Country and the MLA for Cowichan Valley.
To get into a little more of the specifics…. I’ll just talk about some of the details to further elaborate on what this means.
We’re announcing legislation that will enhance patient safety and improve oversight of regulated health professionals. The new legislation sets a path forward to modernize the way health professions are regulated in B.C. by replacing the former Health Professions Act with the new Health Professions and Occupations Act. These comprehensive changes will help ensure health professionals are regulated more consistently and transparently in the public interest, moving away from a system that is, essentially, decades old.
The current framework for the regulation of health professionals in B.C. was developed nearly 30 years ago. Health care practices, profession oversight and public expectations have changed significantly since then. Our health care system is changing, and we need to ensure that regulated health professionals are keeping up by improving patient safety and public protection, the efficiency and effectiveness of B.C.’s regulatory framework and public confidence through transparency and accountability.
The Cayton report recommended approaches to modernize B.C.’s health regulatory framework through legislative reform for improved governance and regulatory performance in the interest of the safety of patients and the public. Feedback helped the steering committee establish its final recommendations, which focus on cultural safety and humility, improved governance, a reduction in the number of regulatory colleges to six, creation of an oversight body, a new discipline process and improved information-sharing, as I stated earlier.
In summary, what is being done is that the new legislation addresses discrimination in health care and requires cultural safety and humility to be embedded in the ways professionals provide health care.
It improves governance to ensure regulatory colleges are governing the professions in the public interest, creates a path to reduce the number of regulatory colleges for improved efficiency and effectiveness, establishes the creation of an oversight body to ensure that the regulatory framework is functioning in the public interest, creates a new discipline process that is safer and accessible for patients who have experienced harm while getting health care and improves information-sharing for better transparency and accountability.
I just wanted to talk about how this will help people. This legislation helps build stronger public protection supports. It creates a safer complaints process. It enhances public safety measures and, as I said earlier, establishes greater transparency and accountability.
The complaints and adjudications system will have a new complaints process that separates the investigation stage, which will remain with the regulatory colleges, and the discipline stage, which will be handled by an independent discipline body. Of interest also, regulatory colleges will have to fund counselling for people who have experienced sexual abuse, sexual misconduct or discrimination from regulated health practitioners. The regulatory colleges will be able to then recover the associated costs from the regulated health practitioners found to have committed the harm.
Regulatory colleges will now have new abilities to share information between each other, and with other agencies where necessary, for public safety and protection. Enhanced information-sharing will remove barriers to improving patient safety, enable more transparency and improve the public trust in this system.
I just want to talk a little bit about the discrimination part of this piece of legislation because it is so relevant to my constituents in North Coast. The new act will help protect the public from the harms of discrimination in health care and promote anti-discrimination practices by doing the following. The legislation addresses all forms of discrimination by strengthening the response to discrimination when it occurs and promoting anti-discrimination objectives for safer health care.
Health regulatory colleges will now be required to take action against professionals who are found to have engaged in any form of discrimination made against protected grounds under the B.C. human rights code. This includes discrimination based on race, colour and ancestry. Additionally, we are establishing a legal duty for health professionals to report other health professionals who engage in acts of discrimination and for employers to report to the regulatory colleges if a discrimination incident occurred that may have resulted in termination.
The new legislation enhances public protection by opening the door to complainants who are in a vulnerable position. The new legislation enables such people to request that their identity would be protected during the investigation process of a regulated health practitioner.
In the past, people may have avoided submitting a complaint or providing information during an investigation, as it can be traumatizing to do so and it could lead to retaliation. Offering identity protection will encourage more people to come forward to hold regulated health practitioners accountable for their actions.
The new legislation also reduces the potential risk of retraumatizing someone testifying during discipline hearings by allowing reasonable steps to be taken to support them and shield them from the health professionals they are complaining about. For example, this includes requiring sensitive documents to only be disclosed when relevant and necessary.
Requiring patients to face the person who perpetrated harm in an adversarial discipline hearing or to have their sensitive documents disclosed, only to damage their credibility, can be traumatizing and prevent people that experience harm from coming forward. Allowing the independent discipline body to take steps to prevent this is intended to help people who experience harm feel more comfortable in making complaints.
The new act also provides funding for support. It creates a pathway to support people, through counselling services, who have experienced sexual abuse, sexual misconduct or discrimination by a health professional. To ensure people have prompt access to support services, support can be provided before an investigation reaches a conclusion.
A new provision in the new legislation creates a funded support worker position for those who experience a traumatic experience by a regulated health practitioner. These support workers play a dual role. Firstly, they are there to support the complainant through the complaint process. Secondly, they are there to provide recommendations and monitor the complaint process to help make it safer and trauma-informed.
Before I conclude my remarks and my support for this piece of legislation, I just wanted to outline a story, in my constituency, of how this is so relevant to solving a problem that we face here in British Columbia.
Primarily, my riding is encompassed by the Northern Health Authority. We also have Vancouver Coastal for my Central Coast communities. Often we will receive health complaints related to racism to Indigenous peoples. I often refer people to the patient care quality assurance office.
What I have learned is…. Well, all the Northern Health employees have access to cultural safety and humility training. They have opportunities for so much education, I could say, on the relevance of Indigenous peoples in this province and to the riding and to the health services and the important role that they’ve played and the trauma they’ve experienced historically.
It came to my attention that the physicians…. I’m certainly not targeting any particular physician, but we often have a lot of locums come to Prince Rupert that are really sort of ill-informed on the demographic they’re there to serve. A lot of the complaints came from the locums or the visiting doctors not taking the sensitivity of their patients into consideration.
However, through the patient care office, they are unable to address these concerns, because physicians are regulated by their own college. They’re essentially independent contractors and not technically an employee of Northern Health, even though they are a partner of Northern Health.
I think by addressing some of these…. This whole piece of legislation addresses so many aspects in that patients will now know who to go to. It’s so confusing with all the regulatory bodies and associations. Also, action can be taken, and corrective measures and education for physicians can be obtained, which I think is a great step forward for reconciliation in this province and particularly serves the constituents in my riding.
I’m very excited about this legislation, and I’m happy to support it.
Hon. M. Dean: It’s a real honour to rise here in the House today and speak in favour of Bill 36. This change in the legislation, the Health Professions and Occupations Act, is going to really enhance patient safety and improve the oversight of regulated health professionals.
Having worked in the sector myself for over 30 years, I know how important it is…. All workers who are delivering services to British Columbians, especially to vulnerable British Columbians, have to be held accountable. There has to be a really solid system of regulation and of support, for sure. We need to have confidence, in agencies and professionals that are delivering services, that there’s good accountability. What this legislation is going to do is set a path to modernize the way that health professions are regulated in British Columbia.
The current framework was developed 30 years ago. Well, 30 years ago I was still training to be a professional social worker, a front-line worker, and I can tell you I’ve seen a lot of changes in my profession and in lots of services and partner professions in those 30 years. It’s not just in having moved between and worked in different jurisdictions.
It’s really important, as a professional, that you continue your training, that you continue building your knowledge, that you reflect on your practice. We learn from mistakes, we learn from vulnerabilities in the system, and we build a very robust and comprehensive system. We need to know that everybody who’s in the field delivering services is being held accountable, that there is a solid and robust system of regulation.
Our health care system is changing. We’re living with two public health crises at the moment, and there’s a strain on the health care profession. We need to be learning from those, and we need to be making improvements as well. These improvements will include improving patient safety and public protection, efficiency and effectiveness in the regulatory framework and public confidence through transparency and accountability.
Just a little bit of history as to how we got here. The Ministry of Health launched an inquiry into the College of Dental Surgeons of B.C. in 2018. Harry Cayton, who is an expert in health profession regulation, conducted the inquiry. As part of this inquiry, Mr. Cayton also reviewed the Health Professions Act. That’s the act that sets out how health professionals are regulated in B.C.
We’re going to replace that with the new Health Professions and Occupations Act. In response to his inquiry, Mr. Cayton wrote the report An Inquiry into the Performance of the College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia and the Health Professions Act. This was released to the public in April of 2019.
There was further consultation, as well, that took place between 2019 and 2020. That was even more information that has really helped us to move forward with these changes to the legislation.
There were six recommendations that came forward in August of 2020. These were that, as we make these changes to legislation, we need to enable cultural safety and humility, improve governance, reduce the number of regulatory colleges, create a new oversight body, improve the complaints and discipline process and improve information-sharing.
Having run an agency here in British Columbia myself for over ten years…. These are all areas of work that I know, having been responsible for an agency, are very, very critical in making sure that we have culturally safe, trauma-informed, held-accountable services delivered to British Columbians in a way that benefits them. We can see their outcomes, and we can actually track the needs being presented, the services being delivered, the investments being made and the outcomes that are actually achieved through that delivery of services.
I’m supportive of this legislation, because it really moves us forward into modernizing how health professions are regulated. At the end of the day, what’s really important is how services are delivered in British Columbia and what outcomes are experienced by British Columbians. What’s being done here is actually going to be making a significant difference to the quality of care for British Columbians.
To get into some more of the details of the legislative changes, firstly, I want to talk about the proactive approach to eliminating discrimination in B.C.’s health care system. We’ve heard from too many sources, I’ve read too many reports, and I’ve heard from too many other British Columbians that the system creates racist barriers, and we need to be eliminating them.
The Health Professions and Occupations Act will now be clear that discrimination is a form of professional misconduct, and so a regulated health professional who engages in discrimination can be subject to investigation and being disciplined. This is a significant move forward. There will also be more clarity to ensure health care is practised in a manner that is consistent with objectives for anti-discrimination and improved cultural safety for patients.
One of the first things that I did in running the agency that I ran for over ten years here in British Columbia was to make sure that everybody was at a good level of understanding and training and understood the expectations of anti-racist interactions, service delivery and teamwork in the organization that I ran, not just in terms of being able to move forward with genuine reconciliation, but all aspects of racism that I had observed since arriving in British Columbia.
In my organization, we actually brought in a trainer. We spent a whole day dedicating our learning to anti-racist practices, anti-racist values and how we could see that in each other showing up every day in our service delivery, in how we interacted in our team. We could support each other and hold each other accountable as well. Then a few years later, we actually did another session as well. We also did some sessions with a focus on reconciliation and on understanding the colonial history and its impact on Indigenous peoples.
In being able to do that training together, it meant that we could really support each other in our self-awareness and our approach of working in an anti-discriminatory way and an anti-racist way. So we could really provide safe feedback to each other as well, and safe spaces for reflection and for ongoing learning as well.
Something else that, of course, happens out in community and at lots of other board levels is making sure that there’s a really good, solid approach to governance. We need to make sure that we’re very clear about the roles and expectations and where that accountability lies. These changes in legislation will also improve governance. The new legislation clarifies the role of a regulatory college board as functioning exclusively in the public interest. That really anchors the accountability of the health professionals.
It actually is going to help us to shift away from the election of health profession board members and create a system where all board members are appointed based on competency. It will establish smaller boards of regulatory colleges, with equal numbers of public and health profession board members. Members of the public will be on these boards, and that will really reinforce that accountability, making sure that the services that are being delivered by these regulated health professionals are in the public interest.
There will be a streamlined path to reducing the number of regulatory colleges through amalgamation as well. To improve efficiency, we’ve taken action since 2017, when we passed legislation to allow colleges to amalgamate. Since then, we’ve reduced the number of colleges from 22 to 15.
Under the Health Professions and Occupations Act, amalgamations will continue to happen, and it will then be with a more streamlined process as well. Ultimately, the total number of these colleges will actually be six. That will enhance their ability to regulate. It will make it much less confusing for patients who need to know where to direct their concerns or their complaints or their questions as well.
There will be a new discipline process with improved transparency as well. Now, the complaints and adjudications system will have a new complaints process that’s going to separate out the investigation stage, which will remain with the regulatory colleges, and also the discipline stage, which will actually then be handled by an independent discipline body.
Information about all discipline imposed during a discipline hearing and about all agreements made between regulatory colleges and health professionals will be public in order to increase transparency.
The regulatory colleges will provide support workers. These are new positions for people who have experienced sexual misconduct, sexual abuse or discrimination from regulated health practitioners to help navigate through the complaints process in a safe and trauma-informed way.
The regulatory colleges will also fund counselling for people who have experienced sexual abuse, sexual misconduct or discrimination from regulated health practitioners. The colleges will be able to recover the associated costs from regulated health practitioners found to have committed harm.
I know how important this is to be really clear about the process of making a complaint, having worked in the field and having had to hear complaints from people who have had issues with services that they’ve received. Having personally had to make a complaint against a health authority as well, I know that it’s actually really difficult to separate out process from experience.
If you’ve had a traumatizing experience, when you then get into a complaint system, it can actually be really triggering and re-traumatizing to have to tell your story again and to be asking for some kind of response that actually validates what you’ve been saying and provides some kind of remedy for the harm that you have experienced in that system, whether it’s the health system or the community social services system.
It’s actually really difficult to make a complaint when you feel that you have had some kind of trauma and some kind of harm in the system. Making improvements to the system will actually mean that more people are able to express their concerns and talk about the issues that they had experienced in the system. And it means that the discipline of the person who was responsible for that harm that you’d experienced is actually handled independently. That will give people more confidence in the system that they will be listened to and that there will be an appropriate remedy for what has happened.
Many people will make a complaint. Many people report harms and issues because they don’t want it to happen to someone else. They actually want there to be some kind of a remedy so that that kind of practice that they experienced as harmful isn’t actually then going to traumatize somebody else.
Also, having this new role of support workers is really important. It can be very lonely and very difficult to navigate a bureaucratic complaint system that you probably feel is set up as a defence mechanism to protect the people who you’ve come into contact with and who you feel have harmed you.
So actually having support workers — and this is a new role — to support people who’ve experienced some kind of a traumatic experience is going to be very beneficial for British Columbians. It’s going to provide more protection.
The other thing that’s really important, as well, is that even before your complaint has been finalized or ended but as soon as knowing that you’ve had a really significant impact of your experience, you’ll be able to access some counselling and the supports that you need. You don’t have to have finished in the complaints process before you actually access those supports.
We know, and I know from having worked in the field for so long, that the sooner you receive supports after having experienced some kind of traumatizing event or experience…. It’s not just a one-off event, necessarily. There’s often a lot of dismantling of your confidence and an increase in your vulnerability and a taking advantage of your vulnerability that leaves its mark and that actually has done the damage.
Making sure that you are able to receive support and counselling as early as possible in the process means that you’re much more likely to have improved, longer-term outcomes and be able to recover from whatever it was that the system had harmed you with as well.
These support workers are not just there to support a complainant through the complaints process. They’re also there to provide recommendations and to monitor the process, as well, to make sure that it is safe and trauma-informed.
Now, it’s really important that services and systems are designed to be trauma-informed. It takes a lot of thinking, and it takes a lot of understanding.
At every step along the way, there needs to be a meaningful design in the system to make sure that it’s accessible and that no more harm is done. Having that understanding from a trauma-informed perspective means that you actually understand the impact of trauma on people and how they will then be able to or not be able to continue engaging with that particular system and continue having the conversation with people in the system that you actually feel has harmed you.
[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]
The new Health Professions and Occupations Act is very significant in that it establishes clear definitions for sexual misconduct and sexual abuse. Having worked in the field for decades and having specialized in child sexual abuse, I know how vulnerable people can be in these kinds of systems to being exposed to abuse, to being made to feel more vulnerable and to have that vulnerability exploited.
It’s really important that we modernize the system and make sure that we recognize exactly what sexual misconduct and sexual abuse are, where there are risks for it occurring, and put every safeguard that we can in the system to make sure that nobody is exposed to those kinds of harms.
People come to professional health services because they need help and because they are feeling vulnerable in some kind of a way around some kind of a personal or health issue. They’re looking for a trusted person. A trained person. Someone with knowledge and insight who is there to care for them and to help them. So it’s really important that we have a very robust system to make sure that any kind of concerns that sexual abuse or sexual misconduct is occurring — that that is addressed immediately and swiftly and quickly.
By defining these terms, we have a clear understanding of what these kinds of harmful behaviors are, and that means that we will be able to better hold regulated health practitioners who commit these harms accountable for their actions and help ensure that the severity of discipline matches the severity of the incident. Clear definitions also enhance the public understanding of what is prohibited and the basis for which complaints can be made.
This is a first step. We know that we need to continue making improvements in the system, but these are significant changes that will provide stronger accountability and better protections for British Columbians, especially at a time of vulnerability when they’re coming into contact with the health system and with regulated professionals.
Thank you so much for the time.
I move adjournment of the debate.
Question of Privilege
(Reservation of Right)
S. Furstenau: I rise to reserve my right to raise a question of privilege relating to comments made by the Health Minister and others during question period.
Hon. M. Dean moved adjournment of debate.
Motion approved.
Hon. S. Robinson moved adjournment of the House.
Motion approved.
Mr. Speaker: This House stands adjourned until 1:30 this afternoon.
The House adjourned at 11:53 a.m.