British Columbia Hansard — Tuesday, August 25, 2009

H0825am-01

British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)

First Session, 39th Parliament o FFicial rePort o F Debates of the Legis Lative a ssemb Ly (hansarD) the honourable bill bari So FF, SPeaker iSSn 0709-1281 Tuesday, August 25, 2009 Morning Sitting Volume 1, Number 1

Pro Vince o F britiS h colu Mbia (entered c onfederation July 20, 1871) lieutenant -Go Vernor h is h onour the h onourable Steven l. Point, obc First Session, 39th Parliament SPeaker o F the leGiS latiVe a SSeMbl Y h onourable bill barisoff eXecutiVe council Premier and President of the executive c ouncil ......................................................................................................h on.

Gordon c ampbell Minister of State for intergovernmental r elations ....................................................................................................h on. n aomi Y amamoto Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance.......................................................................................................................... h on. c olin h ansen Minister of State for the o lympics and a ctn ow b.c. ....................................................................................................... h on.

Mary Mcn eil Minister of a boriginal r elations and r econciliation .....................................................................................................h on. George a bbott Minister of a dvanced e ducation and l abour Market Development ............................................................................ h on. Moira Stilwell Minister of a griculture and l ands ...................................................................................................................................h on.

Steve Thomson a ttorney General ...................................................................................................................................................... h on. Michael de Jong, Qc Minister of c hildren and Family Development and Minister r esponsible for c hild c are ............................................h on.

Mary Polak Minister of citizens' Services and Minister r esponsible for Multiculturalism and the Public a ffairs bureau ...........h on. ben Stewart Minister of c ommunity and r ural Development ................................................................................................................h on. bill bennett Minister of e ducation and Minister r esponsible for early l earning and l iteracy ......................................h on.

Margaret MacDiarmid Minister of energy, Mines and Petroleum r esources .....................................................................................................h on. blair l ekstrom Minister of State for Mining ................................................................................................................................................h on. r andy h awes Minister of environment .......................................................................................................................................................h on. barry Penner Minister of State for c limate a ction ...........................................................................................................................................h on.

John Y ap Minister of Forests and r ange and Minister r esponsible for the integrated l and Management bureau ........................... h on.

Pat bell Minister of h ealth Services ...................................................................................................................................................h on. k evin Falcon Minister of h ealthy l iving and Sport ...................................................................................................................................... h on. ida c hong Minister of h ousing and Social Development .................................................................................................................h on. r ich c oleman Minister of l abour ................................................................................................................................................................ h on.

Murray c oell Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General .....................................................................................................................h on. k ash h eed Minister of Small business, t echnology and e conomic Development ................................................................................ h on. iain black Minister of t ourism, c ulture and the a rts ...................................................................................................................... h on. k evin k rueger Minister of t ransportation and infrastructure ...................................................................................................................h on.

Shirley bond leGiS latiVe a SSeMbl Y l eader of the official o pposition ...................................................................................................................................................c arole James Deputy Speaker ............................................................................................................................................................................................Vacant a ssistant Deputy Speaker ...........................................................................................................................................................................Vacant Deputy c hair, c ommittee of the Whole ..................................................................................................................................................Vacant c lerk of the l egislative a ssembly...................................................................................................................e.

George MacMinn, obc, Q c c lerk a ssistant ..................................................................................................................................................................................r obert Vaive c lerk a ssistant and l aw c lerk................................................................................................................................................. ian D. izard, Qc c lerk a ssistant and c lerk of c ommittees ................................................................................................................................. craig h.

James c lerk a ssistant and c ommittee c lerk .................................................................................................................................... k ate r yan-l loyd Sergeant-at-a rms .................................................................................................................................................................................

Gary l enz Director, h ansard Services ............................................................................................................................................................Jo-a nne k ern a cting l egislative l ibrarian .......................................................................................................................................................... Peter Gourlay l egislative c omptroller ....................................................................................................................................................................... Dan a rbic

alP habetical liS t o F MeMberS a bbott, h on. George (l) ........................................................................ Shuswap a ustin, r obin (nDP) ................................................................................ Skeena bains, h arry (nDP) ....................................................................Surrey-n ewton barisoff, h on. bill (l) ............................................................................Penticton barnett, Donna (l) ................................................................ c ariboo-c hilcotin bell, h on.

Pat (l) ..................................................... Prince George–Mackenzie bennett, h on. bill (l) ...................................................................k ootenay e ast black, Dawn (nDP) ................................................................n ew Westminster black, h on. iain (l) ..................................................... Port Moody–c oquitlam bloy, h arry (l) ......................................................................burnaby-l ougheed bond, h on.

Shirley (l) ...........................................Prince George–Valemount brar, Jagrup (nDP) ................................................................ Surrey-Fleetwood c adieux, Stephanie (l) ...........................................................Surrey-Panorama c ampbell, h on. Gordon (l) .........................................Vancouver–Point Grey c antelon, r on (l) ..............................................................

Parksville-Qualicum c hong, h on. ida (l) ..................................................... o ak bay–Gordon h ead c houhan, r aj (nDP) ........................................................... burnaby-e dmonds c oell, h on.

Murray (l) ....................................Saanich n orth and the islands c oleman, h on. r ich (l) ............................................Fort l angley–a ldergrove c onroy, katrine (nDP) .............................................................. k ootenay West c oons, Gary (nDP) .........................................................................n orth c oast c orrigan, k athy (nDP) ..................................................... burnaby–Deer l ake Dalton, Marc (l) .............................................................. Maple r idge–Mission de Jong, h on.

Michael, Qc (l) .............................................. a bbotsford West Dix, a drian (nDP) ............................................................Vancouver-kingsway Donaldson, Doug (nDP) ......................................................................... Stikine e lmore, Mable (nDP) ................................................... Vancouver-kensington Falcon, h on. k evin (l) ..........................................................Surrey-c loverdale Farnworth, Mike (nDP) ............................................................

Port c oquitlam Fleming, r ob (nDP) .......................................................... Victoria–Swan l ake Foster, eric (l) .......................................................................Vernon-Monashee Fraser, Scott (nDP) ............................................................a lberni–Pacific r im Gentner, Guy (nDP) .........................................................................Delta n orth h ammell, Sue (nDP) .................................................... Surrey–Green t imbers h ansen, h on. c olin (l) ..................................................

Vancouver-Quilchena h awes, h on. r andy (l) ..................................................... a bbotsford-Mission h ayer, Dave S. (l) .................................................................... Surrey-t ynehead h eed, h on. k ash (l) ...................................................... Vancouver-Fraserview h erbert, Spencer (nDP) ..................................................Vancouver–West end h ogg, Gordon (l) ............................................................... Surrey–White r ock h organ, John (nDP) .......................................................................

Juan de Fuca h orne, Douglas (l) ..............................................c oquitlam–b urke Mountain h oward, r ob (l) ..................................................................... r ichmond c entre h untington, Vicki (ind.) ..................................................................Delta South James, c arole (nDP) .........................................................Victoria–b eacon h ill k aragianis, Maurine (nDP) ........................................e squimalt–r oyal r oads k rog, l eonard (nDP) ........................................................................... n anaimo k rueger, h on. k evin (l) ..................................... k amloops–South Thompson kwan, Jenny Wai ching (nDP) ...........................

Vancouver–Mount Pleasant l ake, t erry (l) .....................................................k amloops–n orth Thompson l ali, h arry (nDP) ..........................................................................Fraser-n icola l ee, r ichard t . (l) .......................................................................burnaby n orth l ekstrom, h on. blair (l) .......................................................

Peace r iver South l es, John (l) .........................................................................................c hilliwack l etnick, n orm (l) ........................................................k elowna–l ake c ountry MacDiarmid, h on. Margaret (l) ..................................... Vancouver-Fairview Macdonald, n orm (nDP) ....................................c olumbia r iver–r evelstoke Mcintyre, Joan (l) ..................................................West Vancouver–Sea to Sky Mcn eil, h on.

Mary (l) .................................................Vancouver–False creek Mcr ae, Don (l) ............................................................................. c omox Valley Mungall, Michelle (nDP) ..........................................................n elson-creston Penner, hon. barry (l) ............................................................c hilliwack-h ope Pimm, Pat (l) ..........................................................................Peace r iver n orth Polak, h on.

Mary (l) ...............................................................................l angley Popham, l ana (nDP) ...................................................................Saanich South r alston, bruce (nDP) ................................................................

Surrey-Whalley r eid, l inda (l) .............................................................................r ichmond e ast r outley, bill (nDP) .................................................................. c owichan Valley r outley, Doug (nDP) ............................................n anaimo–n orth c owichan r ustad, John (l) ........................................................................... n echako l akes Sather, Michael (nDP) ......................................... Maple r idge–Pitt Meadows Simons, n icholas (nDP) ...................................

Powell r iver–Sunshine c oast Simpson, bob (nDP) ...................................................................c ariboo n orth Simpson, Shane (nDP) .....................................................Vancouver-hastings Slater, John (l) ..............................................................boundary-Similkameen Stewart, h on. ben (l) ........................................................... Westside-kelowna Stilwell, h on. Moira (l) ...................................................... Vancouver-l angara Sultan, r alph (l) .....................................................

West Vancouver–capilano Thomson, hon. Steve (l) ........................................................k elowna-Mission Thorne, Diane (nDP) .................................................c oquitlam-Maillardville Thornthwaite, Jane (l) .......................................... n orth Vancouver–Seymour t revena, c laire (nDP) .................................................................... n orth island van Dongen, John (l) .............................................................a bbotsford South Y amamoto, hon. n aomi (l) ................................. n orth Vancouver–l onsdale Y ap, hon.

John (l) .............................................................r ichmond-Steveston liS t o F MeMberS bY riD in G a bbotsford-Mission .............................................................h on. r andy h awes a bbotsford South .....................................................................John van Dongen a bbotsford West ...................................................... h on. Michael de Jong, Qc a lberni–Pacific r im ..........................................................................

Scott Fraser boundary-Similkameen .....................................................................John Slater burnaby–Deer l ake ................................................................... k athy c orrigan burnaby-e dmonds ..........................................................................r aj c houhan burnaby-l ougheed ............................................................................ h arry bloy burnaby n orth .............................................................................. r ichard t . l ee c ariboo-c hilcotin ........................................................................Donna barnett c ariboo n orth ................................................................................ bob Simpson c hilliwack ...............................................................................................

John l es c hilliwack-h ope ...................................................................h on. barry Penner c olumbia r iver–r evelstoke .................................................. n orm Macdonald c omox Valley.....................................................................................Don Mcr ae c oquitlam–b urke Mountain .....................................................Douglas h orne c oquitlam-Maillardville...............................................................

Diane Thorne c owichan Valley ................................................................................ bill r outley Delta n orth ......................................................................................Guy Gentner Delta South...............................................................................Vicki h untington e squimalt–r oyal r oads .....................................................Maurine k aragianis Fort l angley–a ldergrove ...................................................h on. r ich c oleman Fraser-n icola........................................................................................ h arry l ali Juan de Fuca .....................................................................................John h organ k amloops–n orth Thompson .............................................................t erry l ake k amloops–South Thompson ............................................ h on. k evin k rueger k elowna–l ake c ountry ...............................................................n orm l etnick k elowna-Mission .............................................................. h on.

Steve Thomson k ootenay e ast .......................................................................... h on. bill bennett k ootenay West ............................................................................ k atrine c onroy l angley.......................................................................................h on. Mary Polak Maple r idge–Mission .....................................................................

Marc Dalton Maple r idge–Pitt Meadows ........................................................Michael Sather n anaimo ......................................................................................... l eonard k rog n anaimo–n orth c owichan ......................................................... Doug r outley n echako l akes ..................................................................................

John r ustad n elson-creston ........................................................................Michelle Mungall n ew Westminster ..............................................................................Dawn black n orth c oast.......................................................................................

Gary c oons n orth island .................................................................................. c laire t revena n orth Vancouver–l onsdale ........................................h on. n aomi Y amamoto n orth Vancouver–Seymour ..................................................Jane Thornthwaite o ak bay–Gordon h ead ............................................................ h on. ida c hong Parksville-Qualicum ..................................................................... r on c antelon Peace r iver n orth ................................................................................

Pat Pimm Peace r iver South ...............................................................h on. blair l ekstrom Penticton................................................................................... h on. bill barisoff Port c oquitlam ..........................................................................Mike Farnworth Port Moody–c oquitlam .............................................................h on. iain black Powell r iver–Sunshine c oast ................................................. n icholas Simons Prince George–Mackenzie .............................................................h on.

Pat bell Prince George–Valemount ...................................................h on. Shirley bond r ichmond c entre ............................................................................ r ob h oward r ichmond e ast ................................................................................... l inda r eid r ichmond-Steveston .................................................................... h on. John Y ap Saanich n orth and the islands ........................................... h on.

Murray c oell Saanich South ................................................................................ l ana Popham Shuswap ...............................................................................h on. George a bbott Skeena .............................................................................................. r obin a ustin Stikine .......................................................................................

Doug Donaldson Surrey-c loverdale .................................................................h on. k evin Falcon Surrey-Fleetwood ...............................................................................Jagrup brar Surrey–Green t imbers ..................................................................Sue h ammell Surrey-n ewton ................................................................................. h arry b ains Surrey-Panorama ..................................................................Stephanie c adieux Surrey-t ynehead ...........................................................................

Dave S. h ayer Surrey-Whalley.............................................................................. bruce r alston Surrey–White r ock ....................................................................... Gordon h ogg Vancouver-Fairview ............................................. h on. Margaret MacDiarmid Vancouver–False creek ........................................................ h on.

Mary Mcn eil Vancouver-Fraserview ..............................................................h on. k ash h eed Vancouver-hastings ....................................................................Shane Simpson Vancouver-kensington .................................................................Mable e lmore Vancouver-kingsway..........................................................................a drian Dix Vancouver-l angara ............................................................. h on. Moira Stilwell Vancouver–Mount Pleasant .........................................

Jenny Wai ching kwan Vancouver–Point Grey .................................................h on.

Gordon c ampbell Vancouver-Quilchena ..........................................................h on. c olin h ansen Vancouver–West end ................................................................Spencer h erbert Vernon-Monashee ...............................................................................eric Foster Victoria–b eacon h ill .......................................................................c arole James Victoria–Swan l ake.........................................................................r ob Fleming West Vancouver–capilano ............................................................. r alph Sultan West Vancouver–Sea to Sky ........................................................

Joan Mcintyre Westside-kelowna ...................................................................h on. ben Stewart Party Standings: l iberal 49; n ew Democratic 35; independent 1

CONTENTS t uesday, a ugust 25, 2009 Morning Sitting Page e lection of Speaker .........................................................................................................................................................................1

1 tueSD a Y , auGuS t 25, 2009 The h ouse met at 10:06 a.m. This being the first day of the first session of the 39th l egislative a ssembly of the province of british c olumbia for the dispatch of business, pursuant to a proclamation of the h on. Steven Point, l ieutenant-Governor of the province, hon. members took their seats, after having taken the prescribed oath and having signed the parliamentary roll. Clerk of the House: Good morning. h is h onour the l ieutenant-Governor is about to enter the chamber. h is h onour the l ieutenant-Governor entered the chamber and took his seat on the throne. Hon.

M. de Jong: i am commanded by h is h onour the l ieutenant-Governor to announce that he does not see fit to declare the cause of his summoning you at this time and will not do so until you have chosen a Speaker to preside over your honourable body. h is h onour the l ieutenant-Governor hopes to be enabled to declare, during the afternoon, his reason for calling you together. h is h onour the l ieutenant-Governor retired from the chamber.

Election of Speaker Clerk of the House: Members of the l egislative a ssembly, it is my duty to inform you that only one candidate has declared an intention to stand for the election of Speaker pursuant to Standing order 11. Therefore, i wish to announce that bill barisoff, the member for Penticton, is declared elected as Speaker. [1010] h on. b. barisoff took his place in the chair. Mr. Speaker: Well, first of all, thank you very much. Mr. Premier, the l eader of the official o pposition, hon. Members, i want to humbly thank you for re-electing me to this honourable position.

The last four years have been great, and i look forward to continuing with the grace and integrity that this office bestows upon us as the l egislative a ssembly. With that, in keeping with tradition, i will ask that we take a short recess while i dress in the appropriate attire. So we'll take a short recess for five minutes, and i'll be back. The h ouse recessed from 10:12 a.m. to 10:21 a.m. [Mr. Speaker in the chair.] Mr. Speaker: h on.

Members, first of all, it's good to see everybody back. i know that it's going to be a very busy time for the foreseeable future. at this time i would like to call on the Premier of british columbia to say a few words. Hon. G. Campbell: h on. Speaker, let me first start by saying congratulations to you and thank you for taking on this onerous responsibility as Speaker of our house.

The Speaker has been a member of this a ssembly since 1996, and you will all be pleased to hear that this is the first time his mother has actually been here to watch him organize the h ouse and manage us and keep everything the way it should be. i'd like to give a special thank-you from the h ouse and welcome to the h ouse to his mother and to his wife, edna. Welcome to british c olumbia's l egislature. Mr.

Speaker, in the spirit of the positive discussions we're going to have in this h ouse, i wanted to congratulate you on the establishment of the new chamber audio headsets. i know the h ouse in the past has sometimes been raucous and you've had to ask us to quieten down, but now with these headsets i'm sure we're going to have thoughtful, deliberative conversations about how to solve the problems of british c olumbia. i think it is a very ingenious innovation, Mr.

Speaker. i want to say thank you for that as well. i also want to welcome all members on both sides of the h ouse back to the 39th parliament. i think this is going to be, obviously, a very important session for all of us. We are living in very significantly changing times, a time that calls for all of us to come together and work on behalf of british c olumbians. i know, hon. Speaker, you will do your best to make sure we're doing just that. So congratulations, and welcome back. Mr. Speaker: Thank you. The l eader of the official o pposition. C. James: Mr.

Speaker, on behalf of this side of the h ouse i'd like to offer our congratulations to you as well. We've had the good fortune of working with you over the last four years, and i had the good fortune of working with you in our past lives around the school board table. i know your integrity, and i know the strength you bring to the role, so on all our behalf, i'd like to say thank you for serving in this role. There is no question that democracy can be noisy, can be messy, can be loud and can be heated. i expect we'll see some of that through this legislative session. but i'm also confident, Mr.

Speaker, that with your good rule from the chair, we will ensure that we are able to do our job as an official opposition, that the government can come forward and do their job and that we can ensure that issues will be raised on behalf of the people of british c olumbia. Thank you so much for serving, Mr. Speaker.

british c olumbia Debates2 t uesday, a ugust 25, 2009 Hon. M. de Jong: Mr. Speaker, the h ouse will now adjourn until two o'clock this afternoon, when h is h onour the l ieutenant-Governor will present the Speech from the Throne. h on. M. de Jong moved adjournment of the house. Motion approved. Mr. Speaker: This h ouse stands adjourned until two o'clock this afternoon. The h ouse adjourned at 10:25 a.m.

hansard Services Director Jo-a nne k ern Manager of Print Production r obert Sutherland Post-Production t eam l eader c hristine Fedoruk e ditorial t eam l eaders l aurel bernard, Janet brazier, r obyn Swanson Senior e ditor — Galleys h eather bright t echnical o perations officers Pamela h olmes, emily Jacques, Dan k err indexers Shannon a sh, Julie Mcc lung, r obin r ohrmoser r esearchers Jaime a polonio, Mike beninger, brant Felker, Morgan l ay, c aitlin r oberts e ditors a nton baer, a aron e llingsen, Deirdre Gotto, Margaret Gracie, Jane Grainger, betsy Gray, iris Gray, l inda Guy, barb h orricks, bill h rick, Paula l ee, n icole l indsay, Donna Mcc loskey, a nne Maclean, c onstance Maskery, Jill Milkert, l ind Miller, l ou Mitchell, k arol Morris, Dorothy Pearson, erik Pedersen, Peggy Pedersen, Janet Pink, h eather Warren, a rlene Wells, Glenn Wigmore Published by british c olumbia h ansard Services, and printed under the authority of the Speaker.

Printing a gent c rown Publications, Queen's Printer for british c olumbia 563 Superior St., Victoria, b.c. V8W 9V7 t oll-Free: 1-800-663-6105 t elephone: (250) 387-6409 Fax: (250) 387-1120 e-mail: crown@crownpub.bc.ca r ates Single issue, $2.85; per calendar year, mailed daily, $396. GSt extra. www.leg.bc.ca h ansard Services publishes transcripts both in print and on the internet. c hamber debates are broadcast on television and webcast on the internet. Question Period podcasts are available on the internet.

Document details

Collection	British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	H0825am-01
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	H0825am 01
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	01ad92f403974ebd8628664fde244635735b3175

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