2004 Legislative Session: 5th Session, 37th Parliament

HANSARD

The following electronic version is for informational purposes

only.

The printed version remains the official version.

Official Report of

DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

(Hansard)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2004

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 20, Number 18

CONTENTS

Routine Proceedings

Page

Introductions by Members

Tributes

Boris Trajkovski

Mr. Speaker

Introduction and First Reading

of Bills

Business Practices and Consumer

Protection Act (Bill 2)

Hon. R.

Coleman

Cremation, Interment and Funeral

Services Act (Bill 3)

Hon. R.

Coleman

Business Practices and Consumer

Protection Authority Act (Bill 4)

Hon. R.

Coleman

Statements (Standing Order 25 B )

Tourism in Victoria

J. Bray

Black History Month

R. Stewart

Economic development in Pitt Meadows

K. Stewart

Oral Questions

Open Learning Agency severance

payments

J. Kwan

Hon. S. Bond

Hon. G.

Collins

Remuneration of Crown prosecutors

P. Nettleton

Hon. G.

Plant

Young Liberals

J. MacPhail

Hon. G.

Collins

Cost of new Abbotsford hospital

R. Hawes

Hon. C.

Hansen

Auto theft prevention

B. Locke

Hon. G.

Plant

Literacy in B.C.

K. Manhas

Hon. T.

Christensen

Tabling Documents

Service Plan 2004/2005-2006/2007 ,

auditor general report

Mr. Speaker

Second Reading of Bills

Ministerial Accountability Bases Act,

2003-2004 (Bill 10)

Hon. G.

Collins

J. MacPhail

Motions without Notice

Committee of Supply to sit in two

sections

Hon. G.

Collins

Throne Speech Debate (continued)

R. Visser

R. Sultan

R. Stewart

H. Long

K. Manhas

K. Stewart

Hon. J. Les

Hon. R. Coleman

Royal Assent to Bills

Supply Act, 2003-2004 (Supplementary

Estimates No. 3) (Bill 9)

[ Page 8845 ]

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2004

The House

met at 2:03 p.m.

Introductions by Members

Mr.

Speaker: Good afternoon, hon. members.

Today it

was my pleasure, along with several of our colleagues in the House, to have

lunch with a distinguished delegation from Serbia and Montenegro. I'd like to

introduce them to you at this time. Mr. Dragoljub Micunovic is President of the

Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro. He is accompanied by Mr. Milorad Drljevic,

Dr. Zarko Korac, Mr. Borislav Banovic, Ms. Natasa Vuckovic, Ms. Svetlana Popov,

Ms. Sanja Zikic and Mr. Branko Marjanac. Our guests are also accompanied by

officials from the Parliament of Canada: Ms. Christine Fisher, Ms. Danielle

Gougeon and Ms. Mireille Aubé. Would the House please make them very welcome.

[1405]

Tributes

BORIS TRAJKOVSKI

Mr.

Speaker: In the presence of our guests, hon. members, I would also like to

acknowledge the sad news this morning that the President of the former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia, Boris Trajkovski, was killed in a tragic plane crash in

Bosnia. On behalf of our Legislature, I would like to express our condolences to

the Macedonian government and all residents of the Balkan region who are

mourning his loss today.

Introductions by Members

Hon. J.

Murray: I would like to introduce Ian de la Roche, who is the president and

CEO of Forintek Canada Corp. Mr. de la Roche is visiting in the parliament

buildings today. His organization is widely respected and supports the success

of our important forestry sector. Would the House please make him welcome.

Hon. G.

Cheema: Today in the members' gallery I would like to acknowledge a special

guest from the Bahamas. Please join me in welcoming His Excellency Phillip

Smith, the high commissioner for the Commonwealth of Bahamas. This is the high

commissioner's first official visit to British Columbia, and I am pleased that

he has travelled to British Columbia to discover the many opportunities our

beautiful province presents. He's accompanied by his wife, Etta Smith, and Mr.

Jack Thompson, the deputy high commissioner. Would the House please make them

very welcome.

Hon. S.

Bond: It's my pleasure today to introduce someone from Prince George to my

colleagues here in the House. He is a member of the Prince George school board.

He is here meeting with several ministers and doing due diligence today — a

good friend. Would the House help make John Rustad welcome today.

Jarvis: I'd like to welcome today, for their first visit to the Legislature,

three of my most favourite people — that is, my granddaughter, Emily Jarvis;

my grandson, Jake Jarvis; and my first wife, Dianne Jarvis.

Penner: It's my pleasure to introduce to the House Fred Dyson, who is a

state Senator from the great state of Alaska. He is also this year's president

of the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region. He's joined by PNWER's hard-working

executive director, Matt Morrison, and Michael Cormier, who is from the Victoria

Harbour Authority. We've had a number of productive meetings with various

ministers this morning. I'd like to thank the Speaker for his kind hospitality

today at lunchtime. I ask that the House please make all of these gentlemen

welcome.

J. Bray:

Joining us in the gallery today are several students from one of the oldest

high schools in British Columbia, Victoria High School, commonly and fondly

known as Vic High. Joining them this afternoon on a tour is their teacher, Ms.

Leslie Albers. I'd ask the House to please make these fine young people very

welcome.

Introduction and

First Reading of Bills

BUSINESS PRACTICES AND

CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT

Hon. R.

Coleman presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill

intituled Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act.

Hon. R.

Coleman: I move that the bill be introduced and read a first time now.

Motion

approved.

Hon. R.

Coleman: I have the pleasure today to introduce new consumer protection

legislation for the province of British Columbia. The Business Practices and

Consumer Protection Act is one of the three bills that I will be introducing

today, which will strengthen consumer protection in the province and support

good business practices.

The first

of these three bills, the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act,

repeals and replaces six consumer statutes: the Consumer Protection Act, the

Cost of Consumer Credit Disclosure Act, the Credit Reporting Act, the Debt

Collection Act, the Trade Practice Act and the Travel Agents Act. In addition,

it replaces the contractual provisions of the Cemetery and Funeral Services Act.

[1410]

The

streamlining of these acts will modernize consumer law, strengthen enforcement

actions available under consumer law, make penalties consistent across

industries, provide a consistent approach to dealing with regulated industries,

fix problems that have been caused by repeated amendments to consumer law over

[ Page 8846 ]

the years, remove duplication and inconsistencies, and address new areas of

consumer law in a manner consistent with other jurisdictions in Canada.

I move that

the bill be placed on the orders of the day for consideration at the next

sitting of the House after today.

Bill 2

introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for

second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

CREMATION, INTERMENT

AND FUNERAL SERVICES ACT

Hon. R.

Coleman presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill

intituled Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act.

Hon. R.

Coleman: I move that the bill be introduced and read a first time now.

Motion

approved.

Hon. R.

Coleman: I have the pleasure today to introduce new cemetery and funeral

legislation for British Columbia.

Along with

Bill 2, the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act makes significant

improvements to the Cemetery and Funeral Services Act. While Bill 2 deals with

consumer transaction matters for the industry, this act establishes rules

relating to the operation of cemeteries, mausoleums, columbariums and

crematoriums. It also deals with land issues and disposition and disinterment of

remains and activities that cannot be carried out on the land of a cemetery,

mausoleum or columbarium.

Improvements

to the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act include adoption of the

streamlined and enhanced enforcement tools outlined in Bill 2; clear

requirements for opening and closing a cemetery, mausoleum or columbarium; and

reduction of the regulatory burden on businesses.

I move that

the bill be placed on the orders of the day for consideration at the next

sitting of the House after today.

Bill 3

introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for

second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

BUSINESS PRACTICES AND CONSUMERPROTECTION

AUTHORITY ACT

Hon. R.

Coleman presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill

intituled Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority Act.

Hon. R.

Coleman: I move that the bill be introduced and read for a first time now.

Motion

approved.

Hon. R.

Coleman: I have the pleasure of introducing the Business Practices and

Consumer Protection Authority Act, the last of three bills I am presenting

today.

This act

establishes an independent authority to administer the Business Practices and

Consumer Protection Act and the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act.

The new authority will deliver consumer protection services throughout the

province and promote fairness and understanding in the marketplace. It will

administer and enforce the laws that protect all consumers and will regulate the

travel, cemetery and funeral industries and debt collectors.

The new

authority will enhance the oversighted consumer protection activities in B.C.,

increasing industry and consumer involvement in consumer protection, and will

focus on consumer education. The Business Practices and Consumer Protection

Authority will operate at arm's length from government as a non-profit

corporation governed by a board of directors. The Business Practices and

Consumer Protection Authority Act is another example of this government's

commitment to put into place alternative and effective service delivery

mechanisms.

I move that

the bill be placed on the orders of the day for consideration at the next

sitting of the House after today.

Bill 4

introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for

second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Statements

(Standing Order 25

b) TOURISM IN VICTORIA

J. Bray:

This week tourism operators in B.C. were holding their annual conference here in

our beautiful capital of Victoria. I think this is very apropos, because

Victoria has become a tourism mecca for British Columbia. In fact, tourism has

outpaced all other industries in growth over the past decade. In Victoria alone,

it is worth over $1 billion to our economy. That means direct and indirect jobs,

investment and economic diversification.

[1415]

The world

has noticed. Condé Nast Traveler named Victoria best city in the

Americas in 2003 and Vancouver Island the number one island in North America.

That's a great achievement. Our government has worked hard with industry to help

achieve these world-class results. Competitive tax rates, support for Tourism

B.C. and the Greater Victoria Community Olympic Committee are all successful

collaborations.

The Museum

Act passed last year helped establish the Royal B.C. Museum as a stand-alone

entity, allowing it to significantly improve fundraising and employ more

entrepreneurial activities to improve operating revenues. The Royal B.C. Museum

now anchors the cultural precinct in Victoria. Cultural tourism is one of the

fastest-growing markets in this industry.

[ Page 8847 ]

I have

spoken before about the desire of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria to build

an additional 35,000-square-foot exhibition space in the cultural precinct. I

continue to support this initiative and encourage our government to also support

this project and its positive impact on cultural tourism.

Our cruise

ship visits are projected to grow to a new record this summer, with 152 visits

— a 50 percent increase since our election in 2001. [Applause.] You can

applaud that. That's good news. Our support of the Greater Victoria Harbour

Authority has helped make the cruise ship terminal upgrade a reality.

Many of our

American tourists arrive in Victoria right outside the Legislature at the

Belleville Street terminal. As our U.S. border facility, it is in need of

expansion and improvement to handle the continued increase in tourism demand. I

believe the Belleville Street terminal project to be the next key tourism

investment needed in this region. I urge our government to look forward and

support this.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Stewart: Last weekend I had the pleasure once again of attending the annual

gala celebration of Black History Month in Vancouver, along with several of my

colleagues, including the Minister of State for Immigration and Multicultural

Services. It is indeed a testament to the multicultural nature of our great

province that this year's celebration took place at the Croatian Cultural

Many people

might not be aware that British Columbia has had a long and proud history of

African immigration and influence dating back to the earliest days of pioneer

settlement. In fact, B.C.'s first governor, James Douglas, was of British and

African heritage. In 1858 Douglas extended an invitation to San Francisco's

African American community to enjoy new lives as free citizens on the colony of

Vancouver Island. More than 800 African Americans made the journey north, and

upon their arrival they made numerous important contributions to the colony's

social fabric. This new and vibrant demographic formed one of the earliest

colonial militia units, the Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps.

In 1972,

B.C. elected its first black person to the Legislature — Rosemary Brown. She

was a champion for human rights and women's equality. In 1994, Emery Barnes

became the first black Speaker of the B.C. Legislature. I'm sure that the

efforts of both these members will be remembered for years to come.

I could

speak for hours about the many contributions the black community has made to

make B.C. a better place. The 2001 census states that there are more than

662,000 Canadians who identify themselves as black. They come from Africa, the

Bahamas, the Caribbean, the United States and many other parts of the globe.

The

Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services has done an outstanding

job in reaching out to our ethnic communities and developing anti-racism

strategies. I'd like to applaud this government for establishing a Minister of

State for Multiculturalism. This new appointment can only mean that B.C.'s

multicultural communities have an even stronger voice in Victoria.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

IN PITT MEADOWS

Stewart: Last Thursday, shortly after our government delivered a balanced

budget, I joined more than 50 Pitt Meadows business people representing groups

from home-based business to major railroads and Fraser ports. We participated in

a business and economic development summit hosted by the Pitt Meadows economic

development advisory committee. The goal was to look at ways to continue to

develop our local economy, taking advantage of our natural attributes, our

wealth of human resources and, of course, our proximity to Vancouver.

The local

business community sees the tremendous potential with such initiatives as the

Pitt Meadows Airport revitalization program, growing tourism and agritourism

opportunities, the new Fraser crossing and the future upgrading of the Pitt

River Bridge, Meadow town centre, the GVRD greenway plan, the proposed Codd

Island conservation area, and of course the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter

Games. Business people know these initiatives are spurring local economic

confidence and interest in our region.

[1420]

Round-table

discussions took place on how to take advantage of these opportunities inherent

in the initiatives to build a sustainable and growing local economy. Following

the round-table discussion, presentations were made based on strategies

affecting sectors which include agriculture, transportation, tourism, commercial

development for downtown and the Lougheed Highway, general industry, home-based

business and education.

This was a

highly successful evening. The confidence and energy expressed by the

participants was indeed encouraging. It was also great to hear many present

express confidence in our government and optimism in the direction our

government is going and the opportunities presented by a balanced budget. This

is only the beginning of more great news for Pitt Meadows.

Oral Questions

OPEN LEARNING AGENCYSEVERANCE PAYMENTS

J. Kwan:

Students and parents across B.C. are paying through the nose for college and

university, owing to Liberal tuition hikes, but it appears that senior

post-secondary executives are getting special treatment from government to

ensure that they're well taken care of. Can the Minister of Advanced Education

explain why the former CEO of the Open Learning Agency, Ms. Terry Piper, was

awarded $150,000 severance

[ Page 8848 ]

payment disguised as a completion bonus after only 16 months of work?

Hon. S.

Bond: I'll take that question on notice.

Mr.

Speaker: The member for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant has a supplementary.

J. Kwan:

New question and new information. The $150,000 severance handed to Ms. Piper was

$10,000 more than the government's legal advice said was appropriate — and

only after the payment was deliberately disguised as a completion bonus so as

not to appear as a severance payout. The opposition has obtained leaked

confidential minutes from the Open Learning Agency, which describe this

deception in detail. Can the Minister of Advanced Education explain why, at the

April 5, 2002, board meeting, OLA directors conspired to change the wording of

Ms. Piper's contract and that of vice-president Mr. Bill Harlan to hide the

generous severance provisions embedded in their contracts?

Hon. S.

Bond: I can assure the House that should policy and practice not have been

followed appropriately, we will certainly follow up on that immediately.

J. Kwan:

Well, those words bring little comfort. Terry Piper was appointed as CEO of the

Open Learning Agency in June of 2002. Bill Harlan was appointed COO at the same

time. According to the confidential minutes from April 5, 2002, OLA board

directors discussed PSEC concerns that the $150,000 agreed to in Ms. Piper's and

Mr. Harlan's contracts might be construed as severance payments. Therefore,

according to those internal minutes, it was agreed to reword the language of the

contracts to get around PSEC rules.

September 18, 2003, Ms. Piper resigned her position to, in her own words,

"go pick apples in Nova Scotia," and walked away with $150,000. Bill

Harlan is still on the payroll. Can the Minister of Advanced Education tell

students and parents why they're paying more for education when senior

executives at the Open Learning Agency are being handed huge severance payments

disguised as completion bonuses? Will she order her deputy to rewrite Mr.

Harlan's contract to protect taxpayers from this deliberate deception and tell

us how many more sweetheart deals are being signed across government?

Hon. G.

Collins: As the minister responsible for PSEC, I can assure this House that

when we took office, there were literally hundreds of contracts in place that

did not comply with policy — that were excessive. There were huge severance

issues across the public sector. We brought in Bill 66, which standardized those

provisions. Those provisions are expected to be followed. If individuals at any

level have tried to avoid those policies….

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please. Order. Let us hear the answer.

Hon. G.

Collins: If individuals at all have failed to comply with that or

deliberately failed to comply with it, the appropriate action will take place.

There's also provision in the legislation that any contract wording that does

not comply is null and void. If there is money owing back to the taxpayers of

British Columbia, we will pursue that in a necessary way to refund those

amounts.

[1425]

It's a

little hard to take the comments from the Leader of the Opposition about not

being on the ball when ICBC, under her watch, spent $250 million on a building

that was worth less than that. She has yet to apologize.

Interjection.

Hon. G.

Collins: Well, we could talk about that as well.

Interjection.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please.

Hon. G.

Collins: The hypocrisy that comes daily from the member opposite is a little

hard to take when you look at her record. Bill 66 was designed to clean up the

actions by that government. We've done it. We'll recoup those funds if they're

owing.

REMUNERATION OF CROWN PROSECUTORS

Nettleton: The Attorney General's response to the Taylor report and concerns

of Crown prosecutors simply parrots the party line with no regard to the agreed

process nor to the public interest in preventing a strike.

Furthermore,

this is an Attorney General that has presided over the closure of courthouses

and legal aid offices, the elimination of victims services, and censure by his

own colleagues within the legal profession — and his blind devotion to the

Premier and his heartless ideology.

Will the

Attorney General today do the right thing and be an advocate not only for Crown

prosecutors but for the entire justice system?

Hon. G.

Plant: In the year 2000 the former government and the Crown Counsel

Association entered into an agreement. As a result of that agreement, the former

government brought legislation into force that made the Crown Counsel

Association the recognized bargaining agent for Crown prosecutors in British

Columbia.

As a result

of that agreement, there were negotiations. I believe prosecutors received just

about an 8 percent pay increase over three years. Matters reached a point, as

contemplated by this process last year, where an arbitration panel was

constituted. A majority of the panel made a recommendation which, under the

[ Page 8849 ]

agreement and the process that the Crown themselves had agreed to in the year

2000, government was free to reject.

I examined

the report carefully. I gave careful consideration to the arguments made in the

report and by the Crown Counsel Association representatives who met with me.

While I can sympathize with the disappointment, I am resolute in my conviction

that the case for a market adjustment was not made out. Crown counsel in British

Columbia are fairly paid, and there the matter rests.

YOUNG LIBERALS

MacPhail: There's an old saying, recently written up in the Times

Colonist , that goes like this: "Young New Democrats go to convention to

make policy. Young Tories go to convention to make contacts, and young Liberals

go to conventions to get…." I won't say what it is. In the interests of

parliamentary decorum, I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

Let me read

from a recent e-mail from the president of UVic Young Liberals, Dallas Henault,

regarding this weekend's regional Liberal convention in Vancouver. After telling

his readers the cost for this "exciting convention" — $30 for B.C.

Liberal Party members — Mr. Henault goes on to say: "The rest of the

weekend is covered, which means ferry, booze, hotel and all the good

stuff."

If the old

saying about young Liberals is true, can the Finance minister shed any light on

what the B.C. Liberal Party will be covering — which Mr. Henault is calling

"all the good stuff" — and can he tell us how much the B.C.

Liberals, out of taxpayer dollars, are paying for "all the good

stuff"?

Mr.

Speaker: The question really does not deal with ministerial responsibility.

MacPhail: Well, Mr. Speaker, actually it does involve…. There's an issue

of taxpayer dollars here. The upstanding young Liberal was seated behind the

Finance minister during the budget speech, and he took great delight in the

minister's elimination of student grants, increases to tuition and the continued

gouging of low- and middle-income earners.

The Finance

minister is familiar with youth recruitment techniques and the recent

revelations about activities in his office. Could he tell us if Mr. Henault and

other young Liberals have been told to clean up their act after the embarrassing

revelations of B.C. Liberal youth activities over the past few months? Or has he

removed himself from youth politics since the raids on his legislative offices?

[1430]

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please. Order, please. The question is out of order. The

Minister of Finance may answer if he wishes.

Hon. G.

Collins: Well, I have another out-of-order question: did you ever pay back

the $2 million your party stole from the charities in Nanaimo?

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please.

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please. Will the Leader of the Opposition please come to

order. The member for Maple Ridge–Mission has the floor.

COST OF NEW ABBOTSFORD HOSPITAL

Hawes: I've stood….

Interjections.

Hawes: Some of my constituents are interested in the question, not in

listening to this kind of verbal garbage.

I've stood

in this House many times to help counter the fearmongering and the

misinformation put out by the Hospital Employees Union regarding the new

Abbotsford Hospital and Cancer Centre. The latest self-serving document put out

by the HEU points out some more erroneous figures, and even their own report

says: "Costs in the original analysis were estimates based on our" —

and that's the HEU — "interpretation." That's hardly an endorsement

for unbiased accuracy.

Can the

Minister of Health Services now confirm to my constituents and the residents of

the Fraser Valley that this hospital is being carefully planned and that the

latest cost estimates by the HEU are unfounded and unwarranted fearmongering?

Hon. C.

Hansen: Well, first of all, I think we just have to acknowledge that after a

decade and a half of promises by the previous government around a new hospital

in Abbotsford, it's finally happening, because we deliver on our promises.

I can

assure the member that the information that was used by the Hospital Employees

Union in their evaluation is old information based on a previous model. The good

news for the residents of the Fraser Valley is that we have expanded the scope

of that project to make sure that we're ready not just for the health care

system of the NDP generation in the 1990s but for the health care system of the

future, which means that we have more ambulatory care. We've got more infection

control built into that facility. We actually have more space to allow for it to

become a teaching hospital, which is so important as we go forward into the

future.

This is an

exciting project. There has been a lot of good work. We have sought out

worldwide expertise to make sure that this public-private partnership brings the

best of everything, to make sure that the residents

[ Page 8850 ]

of the Fraser Valley get the kind of facilities they need going forward into

the twenty-first century.

AUTO THEFT PREVENTION

Locke: My question is to the Attorney General. As part of the auto theft

task force, last week I attended a public forum on auto theft held in response

to Surrey being named the car theft capital of North America. My constituents

are rightly frustrated and demanding action to combat the city's spiralling car

theft rate. While there are things that we can do as individuals to combat the

problem, a theme stemming out of the forum was in regard to the administration

of justice.

Can the

Attorney General please tell the people of Surrey and the people of B.C. what is

being done and what can be done to address auto theft?

Hon. G.

Plant: First of all, I know that auto theft is causing the people of Surrey

and people everywhere a lot of frustration, and I share their concern. There is

a lot of work being done that's good work. There's great work being done by the

Solicitor General in partnership with the police, in partnership with ICBC

around the bait car initiative, including the PRIME-BC program to help deal with

law enforcement at the street level. I think it needs to be said — and I know

that people in Surrey are working hard to advance this — that the devices that

we can put on our steering wheels may be the best thing we can do to prevent car

theft.

[1435]

But now we

know that the judiciary are interested in making sure that their work has the

confidence of the public, and I applaud the judiciary for their progressive step

in that regard. In my ministry we are doing everything we can to contribute to

constructive solutions to ensure that repeat offenders are dealt with

appropriately by the court system, and we will continue to do that work so that

the people of Surrey and British Columbia have confidence in the administration

of justice.

LITERACY IN B.C.

Manhas: My question is to the Minister of Education. It's the goal of our

government to become recognized as the leader in literacy by the year 2010 in

North America. However, there is a little bit of confusion surrounding the

funding for teacher librarians in our schools and how that affects students'

opportunities to improve their own literacy skills. I'd like the minister to

please explain how we'll address this concern to ensure that our students are

able to achieve their very best and that we do indeed become the most literate

location in North America by the year 2010.

Hon. T.

Christensen: I think if there's one thing that every single member of this

House can agree on, it's that strong literacy skills are essential to our

students achieving their best. That's why the Premier has pledged that by 2010,

British Columbia will be the most literate jurisdiction in North America.

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please. Order.

Hon. T.

Christensen: This government has introduced school planning councils and

accountability contracts to assist schools and school districts to improve

student achievement. All 60 school districts throughout British Columbia have

made literacy their number one priority. In fact, there is a concerted focus on

early literacy and on incorporating literacy skills into all parts of the

curriculum. This government has provided….

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please. Order. Order, Mr. Minister. We'll continue when we

have order in the House.

Hon. T.

Christensen: The government has provided an accountability framework. School

districts, teachers and principals are all working hard to ensure that within

that framework, they're working to improve student achievement. I'm confident

that we will reach that goal of being the most literate jurisdiction in North

America by 2010, just as the Premier has promised.

[End of question period.]

Tabling Documents

Mr.

Speaker: Hon. members, I have the honour to present the auditor….

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Excuse me. Excuse me. I'm sorry to interrupt you, Leader of the

Opposition. I truly am. There is another question period coming up Monday, and

I'm sure the opposition would like to participate.

I have the

honour to present the auditor general's Service Plan 2004/2005-2006/2007 .

Orders of the Day

Hon. G.

Collins: I call second reading of Bill 10.

Second Reading of Bills

MINISTERIAL ACCOUNTABILITY

BASES ACT, 2003-2004

Hon. G.

Collins: I move second reading of Bill 10, the Ministerial Accountability

Bases Act, 2003-2004.

This bill

is the second part of an introduction…. It attaches to the introduction and

passage of supplemental estimates for the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday. As

well, it deals with the issues that have arisen in the last fiscal year with

regard to the Ministry of Forests and the Ministry of Public Safety and

Solicitor General.

[ Page 8851 ]

As the

House will be aware, this last year the province of British Columbia was hit

with a number of natural disasters: the forest fires in the interior, the BSE

infection amongst the cattle industry here and the impacts of that — or the

impacts of that infection — across Canada and in the United States, as well as

the costs of floods and fire control from the Ministry of Solicitor General.

[1440]

At the time

last fall when those events were occurring, I made it clear that the government

would obviously do whatever was required to put the fires out, to deal with the

flooding, to support our agriculture sector due to these natural disasters, and

that we would bring back to the House, if required, a supplemental estimate to

pay for those. You will know that the Ministry of Forests as well as the

Ministry of Solicitor General both have statutory provision for their

expenditures. It was also said at that time, last fall, that we would be

bringing into the House legislation to provide for the exemption under the

ministerial accountability act for those three ministers.

contemplation of the creation of this legislation, the issue arose with regard

to these kinds of eventualities and whether or not exemptions should be put in

the act itself to deal with that, as was the case in the legislation that the

previous administration had before the House. It was felt at that time —

rather than put a standard provision into the legislation that would allow

members to just declare that there was a natural disaster or an emergency and

have an exemption therefore — that we would require members to come into the

House, require the minister to come into the House and request that exemption of

the members of the chamber. It's obviously up to members of the House whether

they think that's appropriate.

I believe,

given the disasters that the province faced last year, that the inability to

anticipate them in any way, shape or form is good grounds for an exemption under

the ministerial accountability act. This bill does that. It does it by going

back and referencing the budget numbers in the estimates that were presented at

the beginning of the last fiscal year and adding to them the sum that is

included either in a supplemental estimate or through statutory approval. Then

we'll compare that with the number that comes out of the public accounts at the

end of the year. That is the mechanism that's being used here to accommodate

this provision.

MacPhail: Most of my questions around this matter will be at committee

stage. I find it interesting how the Finance minister always has the take that

these are improvements over what was a disaster before. If indeed it is true

that his legislation is an improvement on previous legislation, we're going to

put that to the test at committee stage. It is unfortunate that we won't have

the benefit of the Filmon report to actually examine the nature and the value of

the expenditures. We will be looking at the provincial emergency program and

changes that have occurred there, the impact it had on the supplementary

estimates. We will be examining in detail the effect that it has had on the

salaries and the stipends — what this means in terms of salary and stipends

for the individual ministers.

We're going

to take the Finance minister up on his assertion that this is such an

improvement to debate this in the Legislature. Only this Finance minister could

make it a partisan issue — forest fires — in this province. Let it be so,

Mr. Speaker, and we will be examining it top to bottom.

Mr.

Speaker: The Minister of Finance closes debate.

Hon. G.

Collins: I fail to see how it has been made a partisan matter, other than

the questions that were asked last fall by the members of the opposition with

regard to payment that was happening across the province. My comments were

merely to explain why this legislation is required and the rationale behind the

structure of the legislation that was put in place with the ministerial

accountability act. If the member for some reason views that as being partisan,

I would perhaps suggest that her skin is becoming thinner all the time.

I think the

legislation does exactly what it was intended to do. It provides a venue for

that debate to occur. I look forward to any comments members may have in

committee stage for debate and questions or suggestions. We always do.

With that,

I move second reading.

Motion

approved.

[1445]

Hon.

G. Collins: If I may, there is a motion that's in the hand of the Clerk as

well as the opposition. It's the standard motion at the beginning of the session

to set up the provisions to run two committees of supply, one in the Douglas Fir

Room and one here. It's the same standard motion that the House moves every

year.

I request

leave to introduce and then move that motion.

Leave

granted.

Mr.

Speaker: Please proceed.

Motions without Notice

COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY

TO SIT IN TWO SECTIONS

Hon. G.

Collins: I move the motion that's in the hands of the Clerk.

[Be it resolved that this House hereby authorizes the

Committee of Supply for this Session to sit in two sections designated

Section

A and

Section B;

Section A to sit in such Committee Room as may be appointed

from time to time, and

Section B to sit in the Chamber of the Assembly,

subject to the following rules:1. The Standing Orders applicable to the

Committee of the Whole House shall be applicable in both Sections of the

Committee of Supply save and except that in

Section

[ Page 8852 ]

A, a Minister may defer to a Deputy Minister to permit such

Deputy to reply to a question put to the Minister.

2. Subject to paragraph 3, within one sitting day of the

passage of this Motion, the House Leader of the Opposition may advise the

Government House Leader, in writing, of three ministerial Estimates which the

Opposition requires to be considered in

Section B of the Committee of Supply,

and upon receipt of such notice in writing, the Government House Leader shall

confirm in writing that the said three ministerial Estimates shall be

considered in

Section B of the Committee of Supply.

3. All Estimates shall stand referred to

Section A, save and

except those Estimates which shall be referred to

Section B under the

provisions of paragraph 2 of this Order and such other Estimates as shall be

referred to

Section B on motion by the Government House Leader, which motion

shall be governed by the provisions of Standing Order 60A. Practice

Recommendation #6 relating to Consultation shall be applicable to this rule.

Section A shall consist of 19 Members, being 17 Members

of the B.C. Liberal Party and 2 Members of the New Democratic Party. In

addition, the Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole, or his or her

nominee, shall preside over the debates in

Section A. Substitution of Members

will be permitted to

Section A with the consent of that Member's Whip, where

applicable, otherwise with the consent of the Member involved. For the fifth

session of the Thirty-seventh Parliament, the Members of

Section A shall be as

follows: the Minister whose Estimates are under consideration and Messrs.

Bennett, Bloy, Bray, Hamilton, Hunter, Jarvis, Lee, MacKay, Manhas, Penner, R.

Stewart and Visser, Mmes. Locke, Orr, Sahota, Trumper and Mmes. Kwan and

MacPhail.

5. At fifteen minutes prior to the ordinary time fixed for

adjournment of the House, the Chair of

Section A will report to the House. In

the event such report includes the last vote in a particular ministerial

Estimate, after such report has been made to the House, the Government shall

have a maximum of eight minutes, and the Opposition a maximum of five minutes,

and all other Members (cumulatively) a maximum of three minutes to summarize

the Committee debate on a particular ministerial Estimate completed, such

summaries to be in the following order:

(1) Other Members;

(2) Opposition; and

(3) Government.

Section B shall be composed of all Members of the House.

7. Divisions in

Section A will be signalled by the ringing

of the division bells four times.

8. Divisions in

Section B will be signalled by the ringing

of the division bells three times at which time proceedings in

Section A will

be suspended until completion of the division in

Section B.

Section B is hereby authorized to consider Bills referred

to Committee after second reading thereof and the Standing Orders applicable

to Bills in Committee of the Whole shall be applicable to such Bills during

consideration thereof in

Section B, and for all purposes

Section B shall be

deemed to be a Committee of the Whole. Such referrals to

Section B shall be

made upon motion without notice by the Minister responsible for the Bill, and

such motion shall be decided without amendment or debate. Practice

Recommendation #6 relating to Consultation shall be applicable to all such

referrals.

10. Bills or Estimates previously referred to a designated

Committee may at any stage be subsequently referred to another designated

Committee on motion of the Government House Leader or Minister responsible for

the Bill as hereinbefore provided by Rule Nos. 3 and 9.]

Mr.

Speaker: It's the same motion that's moved every year at this time.

Motion

approved.

Hon. G.

Collins: I move that Bill 10 be referred to Committee of the Whole House for

consideration at the next sitting of the House after today.

Bill 10,

Ministerial Accountability Bases Act, 2003-2004, read a second time and referred

to a Committee of the Whole House for consideration at the next sitting of the

House after today.

Hon. G.

Collins: Now I call Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne.

Throne Speech Debate

(continued)

Mr.

Speaker: Address in Reply continues with the member for North Island.

Visser: When I was speaking last time in a brief introduction to my reply to

the throne speech, I think I was in a little different mood.

North

Island is one of those great places that is wonderful to live in but is being

visited upon by some tremendous structural economic forces. It makes it

challenging for the people that are there — that live there, that work there,

that are trying to raise their families there. Issues that we hear about on the

news — the Canadian dollar, the price of copper, the price of lumber, labour

costs in China, shrinking markets, differing markets — all have a human face

there some days.

I was in

Port Alice yesterday. Port Alice is a beautiful little town on the northern tip

of Vancouver Island. In 1908 some entrepreneurs came along and decided that

would have been a good place for a pulp mill. By 1913 a company had in

production a cellulose pulp mill. Yesterday when I visited the community again,

as I have done nearly monthly now for the last couple years, there is renewed

talk of it closing because the parent company is struggling in the process of

creditor protection. The markets in that industry have shifted over the last few

years, and for that little community of Port Alice, the world has changed.

It doesn't

feel very good to represent that. It's not a success. It's not what people like

any of us in this House seek office for — to watch a small town go through

something like that. On the northern end of Vancouver Island I've seen it too

many times. We saw it happen in Gold River when the pulp mill there closed in

1995-96. We saw it again in Tahsis a year and a half ago when the sawmill there

officially closed after being down for two years.

[ Page 8853 ]

This kind

of shift has an even longer history than that in our area. There are whole towns

that used to exist and that used to have thriving hospitals, community centres

and schools, which are now mere pilings eroding at the water's edge. I don't

think that's the fate of this community. That's not the sense I get from the

people there. It's not the sense that I get from their leadership. They're

fighters, and they're going to make every effort to get this to work. Those

economic forces — those winds are strong, and the challenge that's faced in

the financial world for them is uphill.

[1450]

I have to

tell you, Mr. Speaker, that the government does have an obligation to

communities like that. We have an obligation to the Barrieres, the Port Alices,

the Tahsises of the world. The obligation is this: to assist where we can, to

not be the barrier to their success, to have policies that allow them to move

forward and to let them be all that they can be. This government needs to work

with that industry and its leadership, the financial community and its

leadership, and the communities and the workers and the staff and their

leadership to find ways to achieve success.

When you

sit around the table with these folks, none of us underestimate the challenge

ahead. As we come to deadline after deadline in the courts and as this drags on

over what is now close to two years, where people's lives have been interrupted,

where they've only worked about a couple of months in the last year, hanging on

to that community…. The mayor did a straw poll. The town used to be 1,100

people. Today he figures it's somewhere just over 700. We've got some work to

do. As a representative of this government, it is going to be challenging to

find ways through.

But you

can't take your eye off all the successes that are out there. There are other

things that communities like Port Alice can count on. There are other things we

have neglected over the years that we have to encourage now. Shellfish

aquaculture won't replace a pulp mill, but it will provide some distance and

some strength to that community. Small-scale salvage won't replace a pulp mill,

but it will provide some strength to that community and some diversity. Tourism

will not replace a pulp mill and the GDP that it creates, but it will provide

some stability and some diversity. Mining may, but nobody guarantees that the

hills surrounding little communities like that are full of minerals. They do

have a limestone quarry there that's been operating for years. They do have a

finfish aquaculture hatchery there that's been operating for a few years. They

do have some abilities for diversified success. They are moving forward. There

are little communities out there that do that.

Think about

Tahsis for a minute. The community of Tahsis used to get a million dollars a

year — roughly about a million, just shy — from the company for its sawmill

in property taxes. When they closed the mill and started taking it apart, that

number dropped to $8,000. It's hard to run a town on an industrial tax base of

$8,000 when you go from $1 million. The same thing happened in Gold River.

Governments can be there, and we have been and will be there for those

communities when they suffer those things — to help them with transition, to

help them plan for the future, to help them seize opportunities that are out

there.

On the

northern end of Vancouver Island there are run-of-the-river projects slated for

hydro and energy development. There are wind farms that are being talked about

for electrical energy development to provide those much-needed electrons for

Vancouver Island. There are opportunities, and there is hope.

Tahsis and

its mayor made a presentation to the Premier last year that I thought was

spectacular. They called it Tahsis 2010. It's that council's vision of what that

community's going to be like in six years. It's a great vision. It's a vibrant

community. It certainly is a different community.

[1455]

They

recognize now that nobody is going to build a new sawmill in Tahsis. So they're

counting on some things. They're counting on things like community forests, like

I know Port Alice, Port McNeill and Port Hardy are. They're counting on salvage

industry, like I know those other communities are. They're counting on shellfish

aquaculture, like those other communities are. They're counting on finfish

aquaculture, like those other communities are. They're counting on

run-of-the-river power projects, like those other communities are. Government's

job is to allow them to seize those opportunities, allow those communities to

reach their vision in 2010.

I was there

last year, and they had a cruise ship called The World tied up at the

dock. What a marvellous thing it was to have driven into Tahsis for years and

years, where at times there were freighters loading lumber at the deep-sea port,

and to drive into that community and see this monstrosity of a vessel there and

all of the passengers off milling about in what is unquestionably a beautiful

little town in a very beautiful part of the world. That's part of their vision

for the future.

I had this

idea that they should partner with Gold River. They should build a golf course

there, and they should become the back nine for the Gold River golf course — a

little fishing, a little golf. Now, the clubhouse turn is 64 kilometres over a

gravel road, but hey, I think it would be the only golf course in the world —

and I have not verified this, but I'm going to run with it anyway — that you

can tie up your cruise ship to. Mr. Speaker, I know what a fan of cruise ships

you are. You may have to play nine holes in Tahsis someday, which would be a

wonderful thing for a community like that.

Those

communities struggle, and those people struggle. It doesn't seem fair, and it

doesn't seem right. The interesting thing about Port Alice is that in the last

three, four, five years that I've been there talking to those folks, every

single time they say: "What happened in Skeena and the way you bailed out

Skeena — we don't want that. It's not going to help us. You can't spend $500

million and get us nowhere, because we'll be right back in this boat

again."

[ Page 8854 ]

The forest

industry is going through a structural change. We saw it in the Pearse report.

It's visited in the employment numbers. It's visited in the shipments. It's

visited in the capital invested in this industry on the coast of British

Columbia. All of those numbers are down, down, down. This year, as recognized in

the throne speech, 2003 was the year of the forests. If 2003 was the year of the

forests because of hard, complex, forest policy shifts, then the year 2004

should be the year of success in forestry, where we start to reap the benefits

of that policy change, where we start to be able to withstand those economic

winds out there that challenge us.

I'm

confident, very confident, that these shifts are going to get us to where we

need to be, where we're turning around this industry, where we're engaging with

those entrepreneurs again, where we're engaging with those investors so that

that money starts showing back up here. I am confident we will be putting in new

plant. We'll be buying new trucks, buying new log loaders, buying new yarders

— going beyond that and buying new sawmills — increasing our productivity,

competing in that world, introducing new products, engineering new wood products

and finding new marketplaces abroad. This is the year we start to engage in that

process and win some successes back for our small communities.

[1500]

Government

has to build a foundation for that, so we make forest policy changes. We also do

some other interesting things. I think we have brought a certain discipline and

a certain meaningful perspective to the concept of land use planning in British

Columbia. Beyond all hope or expectation, I think, a group of people on the

central coast of British Columbia have arrived at a consensus plan for land use

from roughly Bute Inlet to Bella Coola.

Now, that's

not my area, but it is where the people who live in my communities work. I grew

up in Campbell River. I can tell you, when you grow up there, one of the things

you know about is camp life. Sometimes your dad's gone for ten days and home for

four. Sometimes your neighbour's parents are gone for 14 and seven. You get

outside of coastal British Columbia, and nobody understands what ten and four or

14 and seven or 21 and seven means. When you grow up in those communities, you

sure do. For those 21 days, those 14 days, those ten days, our parents were in

camp. They were in Wakeman Sound. They were in Mackenzie Sound. They were in

Jervis Inlet or Bute or nights in logging camps working, providing for their

families.

There has

been a lot of turmoil on the central coast. We have engaged in a process that I

think…. When you put an end point on it, when you put an end date on it and

put expectations on that table, you put expectations on those interests and you

get them in that room and you get them all working together and you ask first

nations to be participants in it, you are willing to engage with those first

nations in government-to-government discussions, you will be able achieve

success.

think, finally, we might have come to some resolution on the central coast. I

feel optimistic about it. I feel as though we're gonna get back to work there. I

feel as though the cut that has been back down to 1.6 million, 1.7 million or

1.8 million cubic metres last year will be able to ramp back up to three million

metres where it belongs, where it is sustainable and meaningful for the

communities of Bella Coola, Port McNeill, Port Hardy and Campbell River and

indeed many others.

[J. Weisbeck in the chair.]

It's

a good thing. It makes you feel good. It makes us feel as though the world

around us is starting to stabilize. The Ministry of Forests right now —

currently in ongoing, consultative back-and-forth negotiations to protect the

broader community and the interests of the workers in British Columbia — is

going through a takeback exercise. I think we'll have some final results in that

over the next few days. I'm encouraged to know that I think we're getting to

where we need to be in that file.

We're

getting to where we can commit to first nations. I think we signed 29 forest

agreements worth just under 7.25 million cubic metres of wood, and we're

revenue-sharing almost $40 million this year with first nations where they're

actually becoming involved in that forest economy.

Communities

like the Quatsino first nations communities, Kyuquot on the west coast of

Vancouver Island and Klemtu all need to become involved in this economy of ours.

For too long they've not been involved. For too long that relationship has been

antagonistic and challenging and difficult, and for too long it has headed to

the courts. For too long the courts have been telling successive governments of

the day that you need to move forward on the issue of aboriginal rights

entitlement. This government is doing that, and day in and day out the Minister

of Forests, the Minister of Sustainable Resource Management and others in treaty

negotiations are moving this province forward with agreements.

think we're moving in a bunch of other industries too. It was announced last

week that a company in Toronto called Breakwater Resources — primarily a a

zinc producer from around the world — has purchased or is offering to purchase

the Myra Falls operations, the copper-zinc mine in Campbell River from Boliden,

a Swedish zinc metals producer.

[1505]

I sent a

quick note off to the CEO of this company thanking him. I got a note back that

said they're looking forward to coming back to British Columbia. They're looking

forward to being here because they heard that the mining industry in this

province is turning around. They've heard it loud and clear from around this

world — and that's where all their operations are — that this province is

open for mining, that this province wants the mining industry back here again.

It is

places like Myra Falls and Campbell River that mine in one of the most

spectacularly, environmentally

[ Page 8855 ]

honest ways that any mine has ever done in the heart of Strathcona Park, the

oldest park in British Columbia. It has been there for 25 years. With luck and

good hard work and with good solid investment, good productivity and the winds

of the economic forces of the world, it should be there for another 25 years.

It's good

to have people thinking about British Columbia. It's good to see those capital

markets around this world looking at assets in British Columbia again, saying:

"We need that as a key part of the foundation of our future moving

forward." I know that many of the people at the mine are excited about

this. This mine will get some new focus and be able to start exploring again

underground, will start developing new resources underground and will be there

for the long term in that community.

We're

moving ahead with mining, and I think that's good news in British Columbia. The

Quatsino first nation is working hard with a company called Electra Gold to put

in a modest geyserite quarry. Geyserite is one of those industrial minerals we

use to help in cement-making, and it's a great opportunity for the first nations

and a great opportunity for cement businesses in Seattle and Vancouver. It's a

great product, and they're moving forward with those types of investments here

in the North Island but, most importantly, in British Columbia.

There are

lots of things we've got to do. There are lots of doors we have to open. We have

to open doors in tourism and in fisheries, and those two things are more linked

than you could ever imagine. We need to build a very constructive relationship,

one that has not been particularly constructive in the past, with the federal

Department of Fisheries and Oceans. British Columbia and Canada have got to

figure out a management scheme and a management arrangement that allow the

interests of British Columbians to be fore-centre of decisions made in Ottawa

around fisheries policy.

It is no

secret out there in my riding of North Island and in many other ridings that

there are complications in the relationship and that the federal entity presents

challenges to us, but they are things we can work through. There are things that

the Minister of Fisheries is trying hard to work through and things even the

Premier is working through. We need to connect that. We need to draw the line

between those two organizations, between ours and theirs, so that the people of

this province start to benefit.

They need

to benefit in the commercial fishery. They need to benefit in aquaculture,

shellfish and finfish. They need to benefit in forestry, in land development and

in tourism opportunities, because those rules that regulate when you can catch a

fish are the same rules that regulate who's going to bother coming to British

Columbia on a fishing trip. For places like Tahsis, Port Alice, Port McNeill and

certainly Campbell River, which has prided itself on being the salmon capital of

Canada, that's an important piece of information. That's an important decision,

and it's something that a better relationship between Ottawa and British

Columbia will provide some certainty for and some security to that investment

that tourism operators make.

[1510]

I want to

talk a little bit about the throne speech and the Olympics. I ran into the coach

of British Columbia's Special Olympics floor hockey team the other day in

Campbell River. For Darcy, Dave, Hazen, Beau, Ben and the others, they won

silver back east. What a great accomplishment.

It was in

that room in Campbell River when we sent them off that for the first time for

me, other than being at the Olympic announcement, I actually got just a small

sense of what it is going to be like in 2010. If we can just capture some of

that every now and then, if we can just bring that feeling to the people of

British Columbia every now and then, it's going to be a great six years we've

got ahead of us.

You know, I

can feel the energy building. It builds on Mount Washington. It's building

across the communities of the North Island. It's building because people want to

bring the world to our part, our little corner. They want to bring folks here

and share our world with them.

The throne

speech talked about the B.C. Rail–CN partnership, and I am very supportive of

that deal. Coming from a constituency that has virtually no railroads in it —

or ones that go anywhere other than within the constituency — people ask:

"Well, why would you care?" I think it is important to care, and

here's why. If we're bringing the world to British Columbia, I want that world

to travel up Vancouver Island, and I want that world to get on a ferry in Prince

Rupert. I want those people to travel the beautiful Inside Passage, the trip

between northern Vancouver Island — Port Hardy — and Prince Rupert, or Port

Hardy and Bella Coola. I want them to get off that ferry, I want them to get on

a rail passenger train out of Prince Rupert, and I want them to go over to Banff

or Jasper or Calgary and then back to Vancouver again.

We need

that kind of infrastructure. We need that kind of entrepreneurial spirit. We

need that kind of energy out there in this province again so that we can

legitimately go out to that world and say: "Come and visit us, and here's

where you can go."

This has

been an amazing three years. It has been a bumpy three years for many

communities on the North Island, but every single time we have hit a bump in a

road, they found a solution. Every single time there has been a crossroads,

they've taken the right path. It is the government's obligation to help those

folks down that path. It's government's obligation to be there for those

communities and to work hard with them to allow them to seize every opportunity

they can.

I'm happy

to respond to this throne speech, and I look forward to next year's.

Sultan: I respond to the Speech from the Throne where the

Lieutenant-Governor addressed bringing out the best in our economy. She said:

"…costs have been lowered, tax rates have been cut, red tape has

[ Page 8856 ]

been reduced, competitiveness is being restored, progress has been made, and

results are beginning to show. Next week your government will table a balanced

budget, right on schedule." That's what she said.

I would

like to remark upon one dimension of the program of this government which I

think will play an important

part in restoring the economy, as the

Lieutenant-Governor referred to it. I refer to what some thoughtful people in

the financial community are referring to as the sleeper in the government's

program. The sleeper in the government's program, in their opinion, may well

turn out to be the proposed legislation dealing with international financial

centres.

[1515]

understand what international financial centres are all about, let me give you

some personal history. In the seventies I was working with a very large banking

institution in Montreal. In those days, Montreal was not quite prepared to

concede that maybe the world had shifted to Toronto — perhaps not unlike

Vancouver saying: "What are those upstarts in Calgary thinking about? We're

the centre of the universe out here in the west."

However,

the acceleration of head offices — and in particular the financial community

— from Montreal to Toronto accelerated under the impulse of what was called

the terrorist organization Front de Libération du Québec, the FLQ, to be

followed politically by the accession to office of the Parti québécois under

René Lévesque and Jacques Parizeau. These people made it very plain, even

prior to the election, in their visits and luncheons with us — our little tête-à-têtes,

as we tried to understand what their program was — that there was really no

place in Montreal for institutions like a major, largely anglophone bank. The

message was received and people left — in the night, quietly, but they left.

Gradually,

the level of activity in the community subsided. While those of us who remained

enjoyed a very intense social life, there were fewer of us around because many

of our friends and neighbours had moved to Toronto. I think even the bureaucrats

in Quebec City realized this was not a very good economic strategy and thought:

"My goodness, we have to do something to restore economic vitality to the

financial sector of Montreal."

frequently is the case, they looked to Ottawa for a solution. They went up there

and said: "Why don't you pass some special legislation so that financial

transactions in Montreal can be conducted tax-free? That would give us a big

hand-up over Toronto." The people in Ottawa said: "That's a good

idea." The people in Toronto didn't think it was such a good idea, and

there was a huge uproar and delegations, briefs, lobbying — all the stuff that

goes on.

Finally a

deal was made. Yes, Montreal would get its tax-exempt status for international

financial transactions, but to provide balance in Canada they wouldn't help

Toronto because that would, of course, destroy the whole point. They wanted a

leg-up over Toronto, but there is that city way up there in the west coast that

we hear about occasionally called Vancouver, so why don't we give the same

tax-exempt status to Vancouver? The deal was made, and Canadian balance and

unity were restored.

The folks

in Vancouver, you know, when they weren't busy skiing and sipping on their

lattes, didn't really know what hit them. It seemed like a nice idea, but they

really didn't feel much necessity or compulsion to take advantage of this new

legislation, unlike the folks in Quebec. Let's give them full tribute for the

entrepreneurs and the hustling people they are. These people get in there and do

business. They created a whole structure around both federal and provincial tax

exemptions for international financial transactions. To this day, some

1,500-plus people are employed and billions of dollars of transactions are

flowing through Montreal tax-free.

While

eventually people in Vancouver awakened to the possibilities, it was always on a

very low scale compared to Montreal and never really provided Montreal with any

serious competition, which is probably what the people in Montreal assumed would

happen all along. That was more or less the case until a year or so ago when the

International Financial Centre Vancouver came under some new leadership.

Just so you

understand more precisely what the International Financial Centre Vancouver is,

it's a public-private partnership designed to promote the exceptional advantages

that the city of Vancouver and the province of British Columbia have to offer as

a location for investment and expansion in the financial services sector. It is

only one of two Canadian cities so designated. Calgary? Tough luck. Toronto? I'm

sorry. You got left out.

[1520]

Companies

that qualify under the international financial business legislation are eligible

to receive a 100 percent provincial corporate income tax refund. Specialists

employed by these firms — the individuals, the workers, the management — can

also receive up to a 100 percent provincial personal income tax refund. Not only

does the business operate with many tax advantages — I think to say it's

tax-free is an exaggeration, but many significant tax advantages, nonetheless

— so do the people doing the business. This is a nice business, at least in

the first two years of employment. That's what was set up, and the companies

that located here of course have tremendous advantages in terms of lifestyle,

infrastructure, educated workforce and so on.

The new

chairman of the IFCVancouver described this fresh start for the IFCVancouver as

follows. Ron L. Bozzer, senior partner of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, said in the

annual report:

"This

fresh start for the IFCVancouver provided an opportunity to press the

provincial government for specific changes to the legislation governing

International Financial Centre offices which would enable Vancouver to better

compete with many other prominent financial centres around the world. In this

regard we have worked closely with the provincial Ministries of Finance and

Competition, Science and Enterprise in Victoria to consider the effect of the

proposed changes."

[ Page 8857 ]

He goes on to say nice things about the member for West Vancouver–Capilano

and the member for Vancouver-Burrard, which modesty prevents me from quoting.

Let me go

on to the president's report — Robert A. Fairweather, president of the

International Financial Centre Vancouver. "My first six months as president

of the IFCVancouver have been hectic." He has been dealing with a lot of

people, especially officials and politicians in Victoria. He pays a lot of

tribute, and he also acknowledges the assistance in proposed changes to

legislation to become more competitive with Montreal from the Investment Dealers

Association, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and others.

He pays particular credit to the former Minister of Competition, Science and

Enterprise, without whose strong leadership — and I don't think this has

really been acknowledged adequately in this House — the new IFC legislation

would not have occurred.

The

Minister of Competition, Science and Enterprise of the day deserves a good deal

of credit for wrestling through some imaginative changes, of course ably

assisted by his deputy minister, who took on this assignment with a gusto. A lot

of people, at the end of the day, were involved in this reformatting of some

legislation — which in truth we have not yet seen, but it has been described

— to change the rules.

Finally,

let's consider what Lynn Reston, the senior vice-president of finance of

Canaccord Capital had to say about it, again drawing from the 2003 annual

report, as I have been doing. It says here:

"Canaccord

Capital…. With approximately 1,200 employees in 26 offices worldwide"

— they've come a long way, Peter Rabbit — "they offer a full range of

investment banking, fixed income, research, institutional sales, international

trading, insurance and estate planning, products and services."

How's that for a plug?

"One

of the earliest and largest supporters of the IFCVancouver, registering as a

core member in 1989, Canaccord now has 22 staff members registered as eligible

employees or specialists" — under the act, the previous act of course.

"This broad partnership has helped them develop the most extensive U.S.

trading desk operation of any Canadian investment firm in business

today."

Of course, with pending changes in the act, they're looking forward

to aggressive expansion, it would appear.

What,

again, do these international financial centres actually do? A whole range of

things limited only by the imagination, to some degree, of the financial

institution's leadership. An easy one is fund management. A large pension fund

perhaps legally domiciled in Hong Kong could be managed out of Vancouver with

this tax-favoured status.

Film

distribution companies, we are told, will be included in the new IFC

legislation, so we could distribute films worldwide — films made here in

British Columbia, we hope — on this tax-favoured basis. Back offices can be

set up in Vancouver to do all of the accounting and computerized recordkeeping

that, say, a mutual fund requires — or a bank or a trust company offshore.

[1525]

The new IFC

legislation will allow one-sided foreign exchange transactions. Someone will

have to explain what that means to me. We are also told, for example, that a

couple of our major forestry companies, which have set up subsidiaries in other

Canadian provinces because of the restrictions under B.C. legislation, might be

lured back home with this new legislation.

Why should

we even encourage this stuff? It's hardly the traditional resource business that

has been in the past the backbone of British Columbia. I would suggest to you

that financial institution activity is a very desirable form of economic

activity. The pay is good; it is non-polluting; the workplace is dry. And as

they say, there is no heavy lifting. I think it's the sort of white-collar job

in the service economy that increasingly characterizes modern economies, and

when it leaves town we miss it. We miss it in my riding. We miss it in Vancouver

and in all of British Columbia.

The new

legislation will make us more competitive with similar tax-favoured domiciles in

places that we in British Columbia deal with regularly, commercially, such as

Singapore and Hong Kong, which have huge financial centres in their own right,

usually on extraordinarily favourable tax terms. This will make us much more

competitive with those entities — not to mention with our friends, of course,

in Quebec.

Another

advantage of the new legislation will be that it has been extended not just to

Vancouver, which is the geographic boundary, you might say, of activities under

the federal side of the legislation…. You appreciate that there is both

federal and provincial legislation acting in tandem here. But on the provincial

side, as we have been told, the proposal is to extend the advantages to the

heartland, so for the first time one might imagine a wood products trading

operation based in Terrace taking advantage of these favourable tax environments

— or in Prince George or in Quesnel or in Nelson or any other place in the

heartlands. It need not be on Howe Street. That is the point.

At a dinner

the other night, where some of us speculated about the implications of the new

legislation, the question was raised: well, how do you define Vancouver? The

head of one of our major financial houses said: "That is a very good

question." With a bit of imagination, I could see the wheels going round in

his brain — that maybe almost any transaction could be routed through

Vancouver if you set your mind to it, even though the people might be somewhere

else.

There is

another aspect to this new legislation that is worth mentioning in passing,

although it is speculative at this point and far too preliminary to embrace with

any certainty. I refer to the possibility of changes in the B.C. Securities Act.

I think, as is well known, there has been extensive consultation. The B.C.

Securities Commission has been contemplating changes in the B.C. Securities Act

that would really move from a rules-based to a principles-based basis for

regulation.

[ Page 8858 ]

It's too

bad what's happened to securities trading in Vancouver. Some people still think

we have something called the Vancouver Stock Exchange. They say: "Those

rascals down at the VSE — they're at it again." Well, you know, I've got

news for them. The VSE was shut down a long time ago. It went to Calgary.

Calgary couldn't hang on to it. It migrated somehow to Toronto. Those rascals in

the east always seem to come out on top. Toronto is, frankly, hanging on by the

fingernails. Whether it will move down to New York or to some computer based in

who-knows-where — Midland, Texas, perhaps — isn't clear.

The

location of trading activity has been shifting and, frankly, shifting to the

disadvantage of Vancouver, which has and continues to maintain a tradition of

entrepreneurial finance, risk capital, angel financing, junior company mine

exploration finance, etc., that is of landmark status in the world.

[1530]

It's hard

to believe that in fact Vancouver, despite the absence of a trading floor,

continues to be one of the world's centres for entrepreneurial mine finance,

just to cite one example. Of course, with high-tech and biotech software

companies popping up here and there and so on, we see a whole new spectrum of

young, emerging companies taking advantage of the entrepreneurial finance

tradition of Vancouver.

We have a

history here of excellence in this field, but we lost the trading side of it.

What is intriguing — and without mentioning too many names — I thought, for

me, is that a very interesting and educational dinner party, with

representatives of a couple of the larger investment houses in Vancouver ,was

held here about a week ago. The Investment Dealers Association representatives

from Toronto, who were in town. John Howard — an eminent attorney retired and

living in Sooke, the father of the

Canada Business Corporations Act, former

general counsel to MacMillan Bloedel and a director of the IDA — discussed the

possible impact of the new IFC legislation and speculated how it might interplay

with proposed changes and redrafting and, in fact, a brand-new B.C. Securities

Act.

This could

be the opportunity to restore Vancouver as a major financial centre not just in

Canada, not just in North America but worldwide. There is opportunity here that

I think we have to explore very carefully.

To wrap up,

the international financial centre legislation that is proposed is certainly in

keeping with the announcement of the Lieutenant-Governor — bringing out the

best in our economy, which I think all of us endorse heartily. I would only

leave this topic on one note, and that is to say we can pass these laws here in

Victoria. I'm afraid as laid-back British Columbians, we sometimes, particularly

here in the Legislature, say: "Well, we've done our job. Over to you folks.

Make something of it." It is what I call the Kevin Costner syndrome — the

field of dreams. Build it, and they will come. In the twenty-first century you

can build it, but they don't necessarily come. You've got to get out and sell

it.

This

perhaps has been something we have not paid enough attention to. We are going to

have to work closely as legislators. Hopefully, as the government I would urge

them, as people in the financial community in Vancouver and the other people in

the community — municipal and elsewhere — to really sell this concept. It's

tricky. It needs explaining. We need to get on the road and explain it, but I

think it's another dimension of the tremendous acceleration of the rebirth of

the British Columbia economy that the B.C. Liberal government is fostering, and

I commend them for that.

Stewart: It's a great pleasure to follow my esteemed and learned colleague

from West Vancouver–Capilano. His experiences of a life of business, a life of

finance and other aspects of business I think are invaluable to the work we're

doing here in the Legislature, and I applaud him for the work that he does for

this Legislature and for the province.

I applaud

all my colleagues for the tremendous amount of effort that has gone into the

last two and a half years as we have sought to turn this province around from a

position of having enormous deficits, an inability to create jobs, an inability

to house its people and an inability to afford the important social programs

that I think all of us value tremendously.

[1535]

One of the

aspects of the work that we have to do in getting this province back on its feet

is the role of housing in improving our economy, in making certain that our

families are in the best position they can be to succeed. I believe very

strongly that housing is one of the most important things we can do. The throne

speech touched on aspects of housing in a way, I think, that speaks to the role

we have in trying to move the province forward in the coming years.

Housing has

seen a tremendous growth in the last two and a half years. For example, in 2003

we saw a 21 percent jump in housing starts. This year looks better again. The

national housing Economic Research Council, of which I used to be chair,

actually is now pointing to British Columbia as being perhaps the brightest

market for the creation of housing in the country. It hasn't always been that

way. I look to some of the history of our housing market over the past decade,

and I regret some of the ways in which governments interfered with the housing

market, in which governments actually in many cases destroyed the housing market

in British Columbia. That doesn't just mean destroying the businesses and

putting people out of work. It means making it almost impossible in many markets

for families to find appropriate housing.

We saw

housing starts fall from about 38,000 a year in the early days of the previous

government's first mandate to less than 15,000 a year in the dying days of their

mandate. In many ways it was exactly the same as the way they treated the

economy — the way in which the economy reacted to the business policies and

the economic policies of a government that didn't understand economics, which

didn't understand the importance of job creation and business confidence and

consumer confidence in ensuring that the economy was strong.

[ Page 8859 ]

I met a few

weeks ago with a group called the Tri-Cities housing coalition. This group is

largely made up of concerned citizens and church groups and other community

interests trying to lobby for improved access to what they call affordable

housing. Everyone understands what we think we mean by affordable housing, but

all too often what we really mean is housing that isn't actually affordable and

must be subsidized in order to make it affordable for the market that they're

aiming the housing at. We had a long discussion, and I think we agreed on a

great many aspects of the concerns that I have and the concerns that they have

over the housing market in British Columbia, particularly in the Tri-Cities

area.

We know

that governments have a tremendous role to play in either allowing housing to be

built or in stifling the construction of housing. We know that in the past

decade we've seen almost no rental housing, almost no purpose-built rental

housing constructed in the province. The result of that is that we have very low

vacancy rates and very high rents in many communities.

In my

community I actually visited, about five weeks ago, a family — a single mother

and four children — who lived in absolutely decrepit conditions in rental

housing that was far too expensive and was completely inadequate and unsafe in

many ways. I looked with great concern at the fact that her situation was

unavoidable. Her situation in the environment we inherited is unavoidable

because she can't even complain about her housing because she'll lose it. We

could actually have her housing shut down, and there is nothing for her to move

to with her four children. That is the predictable result of a lack of focus on

the development of housing and the lack of focus on making sure that the housing

market functions like other markets.

In British

Columbia for the past decade the housing market has been made to be almost

dysfunctional. It is almost impossible to find a pro forma that makes rental

housing construction viable. You couldn't borrow money to build rental housing

in British Columbia because high land costs combined with some federal tax

policies and a whole bunch of municipal and other regulations that pile on make

it so that rental housing doesn't work.

[1540]

If we move

forward in the spirit of the throne speech to try to ensure that every family

has a bright future, we have to make certain that we can house them as well as

possible, that the market is functioning as well as possible so that we will end

up with higher vacancy rates and better ability for the development community

— both profit and not-for-profit — to build rental housing and for-ownership

housing that is affordable to the markets that they're aiming them at,

particularly at the low end of the economic situation.

I applaud

the Tri-Cities housing coalition for focusing their interests and their

attention on the issue of housing. I look forward to a greater dialogue with

groups like that and with municipal governments, the provincial government and

the federal government to make certain we can get governments out of the way and

unfetter the market to some degree as it tries to build housing. That's the

market that consists of both for-profit developers and not-for-profit societies,

which tell us exactly the same thing. There are incredible impediments to

building financially viable market housing and non-market housing that don't

come with some enormous subsidy from government.

Yet in many

other communities, it isn't an issue at all. We can blame it all on high land

costs, but in the end, high land costs are only one of the many impediments we

face in the housing market. I think we have to focus on a great many of the

other impediments, as well, to make certain that as much as possible, we've

removed the barriers existing in our market to make certain that people can be

housed as well as possible and to really focus on achieving results in that

regard.

Achieving

results is what we focus on in everything that government is trying to do.

That's what we're focusing on in our education system, for example — focusing

all the dollars we spend on education on achieving results. We spend a

tremendous amount on education. We often hear, of course, that we've cut

education funding. That's not true, but we hear it. In fact, we hear it

sometimes from people who ought to know better, and I hear it from some people

who know they're not telling the truth. They know they're not telling the truth

about education, because we've added money to education every year in spite of

declining enrolments.

We know it

would be great if we could add more money to education. It would be great if we

could add more money to almost everything we do as a government. I get e-mail

from across the province, and I have yet to receive a piece of e-mail that says

we should spend less money on this particular social program or this particular

program of government. All the e-mail suggests that for a particular element of

government, we're not spending enough money.

understand that, but let's understand, as well, that we spend more money on

education, K-to-12, per student than almost any jurisdiction in North America.

We spend a tremendous amount on education, and we want to make sure we're

focusing those dollars on the classroom, on achieving results for our students.

I think that's really, really important.

It's the

same thing with health. Our health care system is extremely expensive, extremely

important, and we spend more on it per capita than almost any public

jurisdiction in North America. We don't spend enough, we'll be told. Of course,

it would be great if we could add more money to health care, but let's be

realistic. Over the past 15 years we haven't seen balanced budgets. We have seen

an ever-increasing amount spent on education and on health care, to the point

where we are today.

For the

last 15 years we were unable as a province to sustainably balance our budget.

For the last 25 years the budget has been balanced only five times, and two of

those times were based on unusual economic circumstances that permitted the

budget to appear bal-

[ Page 8860 ]

anced. We could throw more money at health care, yet I've heard from health

care practitioners who say more money isn't what is needed. We really have to

refocus the way health care is delivered, and that's what this province has

done.

We've

focused on creating outstanding centres of excellence in any number of forms of

health care, outstanding centres of excellence like the leukemia centre in

Vancouver Hospital. I had the occasion to visit a young patient in the leukemia

treatment centre on the top floor of the Jim Pattison building in Vancouver

Hospital. This young patient is housed in a room very close to a member of this

House who is also in that ward, and I saw the outstanding service that's

provided in that hospital for leukemia patients.

[1545]

I know that

Karine is in very good hands in that hospital, and I know other patients also

benefit greatly from the tremendous quality of service by the professionals in

Vancouver Hospital and in hospitals across the province. In Eagle Ridge Hospital

in Port Moody, we have new services that are now being introduced. We have

eliminated film on X-rays and medical imaging, for example. It is now almost all

electronic, and that allows hospital practitioners to share the X-rays —

essentially, to allow the X-ray to be viewed over at Royal Columbian by the

specialist, who is going to either take the patient on at Royal Columbian or

recommend some other form of treatment. It allows for cost savings in the long

run, but it also makes health care tremendously better in that one small area,

in that one small form of health care — medical imaging.

We've got

new operating rooms at Eagle Ridge Hospital that will benefit our community and

communities around the health authority. I had the opportunity on the weekend to

tour the emergency room at Eagle Ridge Hospital with the head of the emergency

room, Dr. Peter MacDonald. We saw the challenges that that hospital's emergency

ward and many other hospitals' emergency wards are facing and have faced for the

last number of years, perhaps ten years, in adapting to the challenges sometimes

created by government policy.

We have

had, over the last few years, a real challenge with long-term care beds. As a

result, we have many patients admitted to hospital and lying in acute care beds,

who don't need to be there and would be better off in some other form of health

care. But we haven't had that, and our government is committed to creating those

health care spaces outside of acute care hospitals so that the acute care beds

can be freed up for the patients I saw in Eagle Ridge emergency ward —

patients who had been admitted to hospital already but were still in the

emergency ward.

This isn't

new, of course. I remember that I was once admitted to a hospital, one I'll

leave nameless. This was about five years ago, and I stayed the entire stay in

the emergency ward. The ambulance actually stayed out in the parking lot,

because I was still on the ambulance bed. It was tremendously expensive. The

last government's response was that there weren't enough beds in emergency

wards, when in fact the doctor told me it wasn't about the number of beds in

emergency wards but that they were all filled with patients that should be in

acute care. So I said: "Well, there aren't enough acute care beds." He

said: "Oh, there are lots of acute care beds, but they're filled with

patients that should be in long-term care."

We see this

shortage of long-term care beds resulting in a shortage of parking spaces in the

parking lot for ambulances waiting to get their ambulance stretchers back.

That's an unreasonable situation that has existed for ten years, and we're going

to fix that. I thanked Dr. Peter MacDonald for raising the issues he raised with

me. I know we're going to be moving forward on a number of those issues, trying

to ease the challenges we inherited in a health care system that I believe can

again become the best in the country.

Another

thing we're achieving — we promised to do it, and it's going to be outstanding

— is the Citizens' Assembly. The Citizens' Assembly is working very hard and

moving forward in this province to do something no one has ever done before. We

have more than 100 people from across this province that are sitting down,

weekend after weekend, and studying electoral systems. As interesting as that

sounds, I want to applaud them for their dedication, because it undoubtedly is

going to be arduous. They are going to have some important and heated

discussions, and the results are vital to future generations in this province. I

believe so.

I had the

opportunity to speak to a grade 5 class at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic

elementary school in Coquitlam. That was about eight weeks ago, I think. This

group of grade 5s had a passionate and keen interest in the way government

works, but nothing raised their interest more than when I put this question to

them. I asked them to pretend they were the Citizens' Assembly and that

essentially they were going to elect their class president or a provincial….

They were going to design an electoral system, and these children were

passionately interested in this. The most important thing they wanted to know

was: "How does this affect my future? Will this actually change the way I

will live in my future?" I think it will.

[1550]

Actually,

tomorrow, I think, I'm going to see my daughter's grade 2 class at Mundy Road

Elementary. We probably won't have the same high-level passionate discussion

about the Citizens' Assembly and electoral reform.

Interjection.

Stewart: We might be surprised indeed. I look forward to that discussion.

Ultimately, everything we're doing is aimed at that one thing — our youth.

Everything we're doing is trying to make certain that our youth have a better

future, that the next generation comes along with more stability, with a better

sense of a bright future that will meet their needs and those of their own

children.

[ Page 8861 ]

Part of

that bright future is the Olympics. We see excitement. I met someone from

Squamish yesterday at the tourism conference. They were as excited as can be

about the Olympics. For them, it was going to play an important role in the

future of their community. I also met someone from up in the Peace River

district who was just as excited. That seems a little bit far from the Olympics,

but from their perspective the Olympics is in their back yard, and they're going

take advantage of it. I applaud them for their enthusiasm.

I met with

the francophone chamber of commerce. The dedicated people that work for the

francophone chamber of commerce are looking at the Olympics and looking at the

bright future that British Columbia is starting to see again. They're saying

that the Olympics have some tremendous advantages for the francophone population

in British Columbia, and the francophone population of Canada also presents some

outstanding advantages for our delivery of the Olympic Games, because the two

and other groups in the francophone community of the province to really embrace

the Olympic Games as we move forward toward them in 2010 and to come out

strongly and make certain that we produce the best Olympic Games that have ever

happened in the history of the games.

If we look

at business job growth, business growth in British Columbia is once again

happening. We saw a 9 percent increase last year in business starts. We saw

tremendous job growth. We in British Columbia are essentially the bright spot in

job growth in North America. That's because of improved business confidence,

improved consumer confidence, that has resulted from the government policies

we've put in place.

I think

that as we move forward over this next decade, we will be able to tell the world

very confidently that we're open for business in British Columbia, that they

should come here and invest here and that this is the place to do business. We

haven't been able to say that for a decade. I'm very pleased, as we now look at

this bright future that we have ahead of us, that we will be able to say to

businesses: "This is the place to invest."

Finally, we

have a balanced budget. The throne speech spoke of a balanced budget and the

benefits that would be achieved by fiscal responsibility and by making certain

that we didn't borrow from our children. We've been doing that for 15 years.

I've got four young children. We have been borrowing from them to pay for

government services that we couldn't afford ourselves. My generation borrowed

from my children, broke open their piggy banks and took the money from them,

saying: "You can pay for the services that adults today are going to use

up." That's a shame.

I'll be

speaking to a grade 2 class tomorrow, and I'll be able to hold my head a little

bit higher knowing that I'm not borrowing from them, as the last government did,

to spend on programs that I think are valuable. These are valuable programs —

no question — but if we can't afford them, we're going to have to do something

about that. The something we must do is not simply borrow money from the next

generation.

A balanced

budget was critical to this government's election campaign. A sustainably

balanced budget is critical to this province's future. With that balanced budget

comes a very bright future.

I applaud

the throne speech. I know that the future of this province is brighter. I know

that the people of this province are enthusiastic about the future. I look

forward to working with my colleagues over the next year to make certain that we

bring this budget in completely balanced on

schedule and that we continue to

move forward in creating the kind of environment where British Columbia and

British Columbians can thrive into the future.

[1555]

H. Long:

Well, of course we are speaking to the throne speech today, but I can't help but

speak to the budget speech, as well, and what it means to my community in Powell

River–Sunshine Coast. I want to thank the Premier and the Minister of Finance

for both the throne speech and the budget speech that he made and that they put

out on the table for the future of British Columbia.

Of course,

we all know where we have come from. We know that when we were elected in 2001,

we had a huge job on our hands. I want to thank all the people of the Sunshine

Coast and the people of Powell River for their patience with us. We have had a

lot of hard things to do, a lot of very tough decisions to make that have

affected their lives. I just want to thank them and all the people there for

being with us. There have been changes, lots of changes, and people basically

don't like changes.

I'd like to

talk about one issue that has come up, which is very important to me and to my

riding, and what I think we have to look forward to in the future. When we went

into the election, they said there was going to be a referendum on how the

people felt about treaties here in British Columbia. There was something that

was brought forward, and we were criticized sternly for going to that referendum

— that having that referendum was a waste of money, that the first nations

wouldn't go along with it, that they wouldn't buy into it and weren't going to

have anything to do with us in the future.

Well, lo

and behold, the Attorney General has got some great successes on his side. I

just want to congratulate the Attorney General on this, and I want to

congratulate Chief Maynard Harry, the chief councillor for the Sliammon band in

Powell River. They have signed an AIP, agreement-in-principle, with the

province. Of course, that's going to lead to a lasting treaty in the end. It

gives them great opportunities to get into the economic market, to get more

timber, to have more opportunity to work with the rest of the people of Powell

River in that area.

I've got to

congratulate our mayor and council in some respects, because they had also

signed an accord

[ Page 8862 ]

with the native Sliammon people, and it was well done. They signed an accord,

and now the municipality, with the native people and with many of the other

entrepreneurs in the area, is looking forward to some really good economic

development in the Powell River area.

When I say

that, I know that the economic development people in Powell River — and I have

a meeting there tomorrow — are looking at the possibility of trying to entice

a sawmill into the area where an old sawmill used to be, where the footprint

still is, where they still have all the needs for a sawmill. It could be a

brand-new sawmill.

I see the

Minister of Forests across from me nodding his head, so I imagine there are some

real opportunities. I'm not putting the Minister of Forests on the hook here. I

know it's an uphill battle. It means if someone out there — an entrepreneur, a

group of entrepreneurs — has the opportunity and it's a good business study to

put a mill in, then they can do it. I hope Weyerhaeuser and some of the people

that hold that timber with the native people maybe can get together and create

the jobs in that area. I congratulate them.

I would

look forward to the Oweekeno people, that tribe, to have a treaty — and also

the Sechelts. Of course, the Sechelts have a huge economic driver in their area

now, and I think that to sign an agreement with the Sechelt's Chief Garry

Feschuk would be a great boon for the area. They already work hand in hand with

the community. I think it would just be a huge plus, and I encourage them to

work with me and our government to get a treaty and an AIP and carry on with

that.

[1600]

You know,

on the lower Sunshine Coast we have some real opportunities in the health care

area. We have a 140-bed seniors unit being put there by the Vancouver coastal

health authority. These are all positive things for seniors. These are multicare

housing units. It's something that's so desperately needed there. As well,

they're looking at more care units in Powell River in the future.

I'm going

to go back and say: where were the NDP in the last ten years? I was first

elected to this House in 1986 to '91. Do you know, when I think back on that —

and I said this to our newspaper a week ago — and when I look back…. She

asked me a question. Basically, I asked her the question. I said: "What

have I done in the last two and a half years I was here in this House? What have

I done?" Do you know, the only way I could answer — and I'll do this

maybe as diplomatically as I can…. What we have been doing in this House for

two and a half years plus is cleaning up the mess of the NDP, which put a

scourge on this province in the last ten years. I said to her: "If you go

back in history, when I was there in '86, what did we get in Powell River? What

could we do? We had balanced budgets. Things were going well. We got a hospital.

We got a school. We got a golf course. We got a pipeline. Vancouver Island

pipeline came through Powell River, through Jack Davis."

All these

things could happen because we had a balanced budget. We had the revenues, and

we had the money to do it. The NDP got in, and I said: "What has happened

in the last ten years?" She could not answer one single solitary monetary

thing that went into Powell River in ten solid years. Now we've cleaned up the

mess, the books are balanced, and I think we can look forward to some really

good initiatives moving forward for all the communities of B.C. over the next

session.

Even in the

health care system I know that in Powell River, for instance, we do have a

brand-new hospital. It's not that old; it's only ten or 12 years old. On the

Sunshine Coast I know that they're looking at upgrading the hospital in Sechelt

— their X-ray room, their emergency wards and some other areas. They just

finished bringing it up to earthquake standards.

I'll tell

you, one of the biggest things that bothers the people on the Sunshine Coast —

specifically on the lower coast even more than Powell River, but Powell River is

really affected by it — is the ferry system. The new B.C. Ferries authorities

that are there now have marching orders to make sure the ferry system works for

our communities, and I think that's important.

We have put

more money into the area. We've put money into the infrastructure of water and

sewer on the Sunshine Coast. Last Saturday, unfortunately because of fog, I

wasn't able to get to an economic development meeting in Gibsons, and I'm sorry

I missed it. It is a growing area, the Sunshine Coast. It's a hugely growing

area.

I would

have to ask the infrastructure people here, between the feds and the province,

to really take a hard look at our requests for infrastructure money, because

without it, we can't grow. I'm encouraging the municipalities and the regional

districts to really get on board, to open up the land so they can start building

more housing; so we can get more water and sewer and bring the people there and

bring less dependence on the ferries to take people back and forth rather than

them staying in their communities, shop in their communities and get our

hospital up to standards where they do not have to travel as many times to

Vancouver.

[1605]

But there's

one thing. You know, Mr. Speaker, we go back in time to when — maybe this is a

little dated — we gave the 25 percent tax cut on provincial taxes to everybody

in the province. The people on the lower income actually have more in their

pockets to spend. Of course, everybody has more in their pockets to spend, and

that is quite obvious. The NDP condemned us for it. They told us it wouldn't

work. I guess they're right. According to their figures it won't work, because

what they propose…. I want to tell the people of Powell River, and I don't

want to mince words on this…. This is what their Canadian Centre for Policy

Alternatives — which, in fact, is the NDP's group that gives them the

recommendations on what to do, which the NDP have not denied…. The Leader of

the Opposition and the members have not denied what this paper says.

[ Page 8863 ]

Basically,

it goes like this — that people earning between $32,000 and $65,000 a year….

Now, most of you out there that are watching television today would really sit

down and say: "$32,000, $65,000 — where's my tax bracket?" If you're

in that tax bracket, look for a 40 percent increase in your personal income tax

if, in fact, the NDP was government here today.

That's

unacceptable — a 5-cents-a-litre increase in gas tax. We put on 3 cents a

litre on gas tax to do the infrastructure of the highways throughout the

province. I can see those activities happening in the Sunshine Coast today.

There was one announced the other day at Pratt Road, so there will be work done

there. All across this province you're seeing work being done and you're seeing

things happening, because we committed to only three cents on that litre of fuel

going toward the highway system.

The real

scary one is the small business tax. Just as we get it down with the small

businesses in a tax bracket where they can survive and we have growing small

business, we have the small business creating 85 percent of the jobs in this

province. We have the business that's out there doing their hardest. They've

taken their own personal money, without government money, put it up front and

taken a chance. They took a chance on the economy and a government like ours

that's willing to work with them and make it work for them. They're the ones

that create the jobs.

The NDP are

saying they will raise the tax on small business by 70 percent. Well, there go

the jobs, there goes the investment, and that's unacceptable as well. I know

there are a lot of NDP out there that are going to jump up and down and say,

"It's not true," but the Leader of the Opposition hasn't denied it.

I go back

into the throne speech, and I've got some things highlighted. It pleases me to

see a lot of the things. There are so many things this government can do and has

done. Well, you can go right back to the $30 million one-time exemption funding

on the legacies for sports, where through our committees, our 2010 committees

— the Olympic committees that we have formed both in the Sunshine Coast and in

Powell River — some of this money will be available for kids in sports and for

initiatives that are needed for the Olympic Games. This is for our children as

well.

I think

we've got a lot to look forward to in the future here in British Columbia. I

know — as I've said before to the people of my riding, and I really appreciate

them — that it's not easy, and there have been some changes. But I also think

that when you put $176 million over the next three years in timber sales

programs to encourage the forest industry, to encourage everything we're doing

with forests, and provide $6 million over the next three years to help the

timely harvest of timber damaged by fires and pine beetle…. I don't think

people in my riding understand exactly the scope of the pine beetle, because we

don't have it in our area.

Recently I

flew over the province — all the way from my home up to Muncho Lake, actually.

I flew over the area behind Prince George, and it's devastated. It's terrible.

All you see is a sea of brown, dead trees. I did watch harvesters down there

trying to take out as much as they could as quick as they could, but they

haven't caught up to it and they aren't going to catch up to it. I think the

quicker we get the timber out of there….

[1610]

Of course,

a lot of the environmentalists say, "Well, all these dead trees in the

park," and a lot of them are in the park, and you know, we should be taking

them out of the park. I mean, common sense says that if you leave all these dead

trees in a park and you can't cut them out of that park and regrow new trees,

you're going to have such horrendous fires that the park won't be there anyhow.

So it's time we started looking at what we're going to do in our parks and how

we're going to manage them. They're there to be managed, and we must, especially

when we have all this bug- kill around.

I mean,

there are a lot of things in the budget that don't touch us. You know, we've got

the budget for $17 million for the B.C. oil and gas development strategy. Of

course, that's the northeast, but that's where we get our gas from that we warm

our homes with right in Powell River now, which was not even conceived of quite

a number of years ago. There are lots of things. I'm trying to hit the things

that really touch my communities.

On some of

the other things, the education, of course, in which we have brought the

per-child…. I think it's up to $500-some-odd per child over what it used to be

in our education system, so I think that's a real plus for our government. One

of the things I noticed in Powell River, which is the school board…. I was

criticized the other day for shutting down schools. When I think about shutting

down schools, the school boards look after that. I know that the only school

that shut down, where they were criticizing, had nothing to do with me. It had

something to do with the school board, and it was the best move they ever made.

They went

to the Minister of Finance, and they took all their finances together. They

looked at it, and they said: "Over the next two years we're going to shut

down the school." They did some moving, and they were going to add on to

one school and shut down another school. And you know, they ended up with a net

value in the bank toward their school board of $2 million to the plus — not a

negative budget, a plus budget, so they got money for the future. They can do

some planning. They, too, can now make choices on what they want to do with that

money. They can make choices on lots of things in that school, and for someone

like these NDPers to criticize that the schools are closing and that doom and

gloom are coming is ridiculous.

I think

that with everything we're doing here in Victoria, it's a real plus. The people

in my riding can look forward to a great future. I hope we can bring more

economic activity to my riding.

I'd be

remiss if I didn't mention it again, seeing the Solicitor General here in the

House. Going back to the statement of one Adrian Belshaw, one of the council

[ Page 8864 ]

lors on the regional board… And I want to make it right clear, it's up

there. He made a comment to the police meeting, when the RCMP were there for

their meeting with the regional board, that the police should stay away and

leave the marijuana grow ops alone, because they created economy for the

peninsula: "Do something worthwhile, like go out and look after

traffic."

Well, if

you have people like this in your society, in your councils, that are so

misguided that they think the traffic is more important than our children, we've

got a problem. Personally, I would like to see that member resign his office for

the comments he made and have an open meeting to find out who would take his

place, because that's irresponsible. There are kids dying because of drugs.

You've got the grow ops here in B.C. creating drugs, selling them for heroin and

all kinds of other drugs — crystal meth and everything else — back into

their community. Any politician that says, "My community is open for grow

ops, for drugs, for crime," is detestable. It's awful. They should just

quit.

What we

have in the balanced budget today is going to bode well for this province in the

future. I think it's all said when the minister says we will be able to make

those choices, will be able to make the choices that are good for all the people

of British Columbia. And on the $1 billion we put back into health care, I want

to tell them, as well, that it doesn't go toward the physicians or the nurses.

It goes toward the physicians to fix people. I mean, if you're going to be a

physician and get paid, here's your pay. Do an operation, and get paid. That

goes toward patient care, and I think that's important to remember as well.

[1615]

I really

appreciate the opportunity to speak here today. I also appreciate how tough it

was for all those people in my riding over the last two and a half or three

years and understand that things will get better for them in the future. I think

that with the balanced budget, we will prove that.

Manhas: I rise to support the Speech from the Throne. This occasion

continues to be a real honour for me. It's nice to be part of an enterprise that

is building on the greatness and the opportunity in British Columbia. In fact,

we've just seen recently that our accomplishments have captured the world's

attention. The Economist intelligence unit rated cities around the world

on a scale that took into account such things as health and safety, culture and

environment and infrastructure. It was reported around the world. We came first

— the best-rated place in the world.

While it

would be absurd for any person to claim credit for our inspiring geography and

pleasant climate, I think we ought to be proud that Vancouver was rated the best

in the world according to measures such as the availability of goods and

services, recreational opportunities, transport infrastructure, housing stock,

education and more.

What's

truly amazing, however, is that we have the opportunity to improve ourselves

even further. In fact, today I sense a great burden of responsibility. We have

been entrusted to help this province fulfil the dreams and devote an attentive

ear to the concerns of the people of this province. No matter how much we're

celebrated abroad, I know the people of my community and the people of British

Columbia will never lose sight of their spirit that has made British Columbia

such a great place to live, and they will never cease to dream or care for their

families, their youth and their neighbours.

The

residents of my community of Port Coquitlam–Burke Mountain are counting on our

government to help reverse the damage done after a decade of irresponsible

governance, a decade where British Columbia missed the largest period of

expansionary growth in North America's history — a period where British

Columbia became one of two jurisdictions in North America to slip into

recession. They're counting on us, on our government, to reward the hunger of

all British Columbians for good opportunity. This government's priorities and

the priorities listed in the Speech from the Throne do just that.

People of

my community count on us to ensure that British Columbians return thankfully to

work, that no one is left unwillingly behind. They trust that we will not forget

that they do not serve us in government, but we serve them.

Between

elections most people's first concern is what's going on in their personal lives

and in their own neighbourhoods. This is by no means trivial. It is by

individual lives and communities that our success as government, as leaders and

representatives is measured. We are starting to win again as a province, but we

must ensure that the spirit of shared endeavour reaches into every single

neighbourhood — each block, each home, each individual. Each individual's life

is touched. This is certainly not to be taken for granted, for it's not everyone

who begins with the advantages of a supportive family and appropriate education

or a familiar neighbourhood.

Not too

long ago, the Tri-City News and The Now featured the same

front-page story. The report concerned the assault of a grade 12 student by

three teenage attackers. The boy was pushed to the ground and beaten with a bat

while two other assailants kicked him repeatedly in the head. Apparently dozens

of people stood around and looked while this savagery took place. You may wonder

how badly the victim was hurt. You might not be surprised if I told you this boy

was killed — murdered — at 3:30 in the afternoon in a public park just

months before he was to graduate from high school. In fact, the boy did not die.

Luckily, his life was saved.

The boy's

rescuer was a complete stranger, a passer-by who saw the assault taking place.

This brave woman fought her way through a crowd of onlookers and rushed to place

herself between the attackers and the victim. If it was not for this woman's

heroic act, this boy could easily be dead right now.

What does

this story tell us? Well, some folks would hear a story like this and conclude

that our

[ Page 8865 ]

community is plagued by monsters. These folks will double-lock their doors,

drop their blinds, despair for life and not talk to anyone on the street.

Others, however, will have a glimpse in this story of something encouraging and

beautiful. As this heroic woman pulled the beaten boy to safety, three other

bystanders intervened to support her action. This proved to be the tipping

point. The crowd scattered and the attackers fled.

[1620]

This is the

message that we must discern in this. There will always be things in life which

frighten us and which intimidate us. In fact, these things are probably

frightening and intimidating everyone else too. When we step forward, when we

take action to reclaim our lives and our neighbourhoods, others will and do

follow.

In the case

of the incident I've been telling you about, I can guarantee you that this

heroic woman will prove to have saved more than one boy, and she will inspire

more than just three individuals to choose action over indifference. In the

crowd she pushed through to break up the fight, there will have been many

individuals who will never forget the surprise and the shame they felt when they

saw a person defying the trend and intervening to do the right thing. They may

well emerge to be the heroes of tomorrow. In addition to these, there are

innumerable people who have read this story in the news or who have seen the

reports on television. These people's admiration of this one brave soul may well

inspire them to lift their blinds, to open their eyes and their hearts to the

community they're part of.

Today I'm

proud to be able to say that in fact in my community, in my riding, this process

of inspiration, action and reaction has been taking place for some time and is

gaining momentum very quickly. This is thanks to the unremitting dedication of

people who are committed to act and to act