2016 Legislative Session: Fifth Session, 40th 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)

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 39, Number

ISSN 0709-1281 (Print)

ISSN 1499-2175 (Online)

CONTENTS

Page

Blessing and Presentation of the

Talking Stick

R. Sam

M. Thomas

E. George

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

Introduction and

First Reading of Bills

Bill M229 — Election Amendment Act, 2016

A. Weaver

Bill M230 — Government Advertising Act, 2016

G. Holman

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

French immersion

M. Dalton

Diverse economy and business awards in greater Victoria

R. Fleming

Passport to Employment training program for youth

L. Larson

Bhimrao Ambedkar

R. Chouhan

Electrical safety

G. Kyllo

Rules of parliamentary debate

V. Huntington

Oral Questions

Government response to youth death cases

J. Horgan

Hon. C. Clark

Housing and resources for youth in care in Downtown Eastside

D. Donaldson

Hon. S. Cadieux

C. James

Mental health services and suicide prevention

S. Hammell

Hon. T. Lake

Roadside prohibition program review process

M. Farnworth

Hon. M. Morris

Surgical services at B.C. Children’s Hospital

J. Darcy

Hon. T. Lake

Reports from Committees

Special Committee to Review the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, report, May 2016

D. McRae

D. Routley

Tabling Documents

Office of the provincial health officer, annual report, Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Reducing the Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes on Health and Well-being in BC, 2011

Petitions

M. Mungall

Orders of the Day

Committee of Supply

Estimates: Office of the Premier

Hon. C. Clark

J. Horgan

Proceedings in the Douglas Fir Room

Committee of Supply

Estimates: Ministry of Justice (continued)

Hon. S. Anton

D. Donaldson

A. Dix

B. Routley

M. Mark

L. Krog

Estimates: Other Appropriations

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2016

The House met at 1:35 p.m.

[Madame Speaker in the chair.]

Blessing and Presentation of the

Talking Stick

Madame Speaker: Hon. Members, I call the House to order and welcome the very special guests who are with us in the chamber today. I would like to introduce Chief Ronald Sam of the Songhees Nation; Chief Jeff Jones, Port Renfrew nation; and Chief Gordon Planes, T’Sou-ke Nation.

I now recognize elder Elmer George and elder Mary Anne Thomas to offer a prayer blessing for this Talking Stick. Please rise.

[Prayer and blessing given by E. George and M. Thomas in the SENĆOŦEN language.]

Madame Speaker: Hon. Members, it is now my honour to suspend the regular proceedings of this assembly to extend a special welcome to our guests today and to receive the Talking Stick on behalf of all members.

Chief Ron Sam from the Songhees Nation.

R. Sam: Hello, everybody. I’m very honoured to be standing here with you all today on behalf of our nation, Songhees Nation.

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At this time I’d like to invite the fellow chiefs to come up and stand with me. And if I could just have Elmer and Mary Anne off to my side here, off to the left.

I just thank everybody in this House. I thank the Speaker for working with everybody to make this day happen and to present this Talking Stick, this gift, that was given to Lieutenant-Governor Steven Point from my late uncle, our late chief, Robert Sam, in 2010.

As I said in my comments outside earlier, for it to be sent on a journey by my uncle and to where it’s going to rest for the rest of its life…. You know, because this speaking stick does have life, and it carries a lot of respect with it, as was also mentioned by Minister Rustad.

I’d like our two elders…. Because it’s our elders and their guidance as to where we are as a people today — also our ancestors. I’d like to call Mary Anne and Elmer forward to present this gift to the Speaker. We present it to everybody in this House but also to everybody that may come through these doors in the future.

You know, we just wish everybody all the best in all of the work that they do on behalf of their communities and their people. Like us, we work on behalf of our community, and if we remember that every day, it’s only going to make good things happen on behalf of all in this great province that we live in.

If I could have our two elders present this gift to the Speaker on behalf of all nations on this end of the Island.

Madame Speaker left the chair.

M. Thomas: First of all, before we present this to our special lady here, you know this is a real long breath — this Talking Stick. It’s about working together and being patient with each other. That’s what our late Chief Bob Sam did with these people — the legacy that he left behind.

We’re so honoured today to present this to our Speaker. This is going to come a long way, and it’s going to help your ŚW̱ЌÁLEC̸EN and heart and mind — to everyday life that you face.

We’re just honoured to present this.

E. George: On behalf of the Songhees First Nation, our late Chief Bob Sam, Chief Ron Sam, all of the other chiefs, the elders of the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations, we present this Talking Stick. [Applause.]

Madame Speaker resumed her seat.

Madame Speaker: It is indeed a privilege to receive this stick on behalf of the Legislative Assembly in the province of British Columbia. Its placement in our midst is a symbol of the contributions of First Nations in our province and will be a reminder that all First Nations are near and dear to our hearts.

Hon. Members, I thank you for your kind attention during this presentation. We will take a moment to allow our special guests to depart the chamber.

Thank you so very much. [Applause.]

Routine Business

Madame Speaker: We will now resume regular House proceedings. I welcome the introduction of other guests.

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Introductions by Members

J. Horgan: I just want to add to your remarks and to Chief Sam’s and to say how much I enjoyed participating with the Minister of Aboriginal Relations today in a ceremony of the receipt of the Talking Stick.

I also wanted to introduce two chiefs from the territory that I represent in this Legislature: the traditional territory of the Pacheedaht people and Chief Jeff Jones, and the traditional territory of T’Sou-ke First Nation and Chief Gordon Planes.

I would also just add, after their eloquent words, that I am grateful they’re not staying for question period to see how long they would last.

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Hon. J. Rustad: For all of us in the chamber, it’s rare that we would witness and be part of a changing of the traditions that are in this Legislature. But by the introduction of this speaking stick, gracefully given, of course, by the Songhees and the Esquimalt people, we have now taken what was a European tradition and brought First Nations, brought the people of this land, into this chamber to make it part of our proceedings. I just wanted to extend my thanks to the Songhees and Esquimalt for this great gift.

L. Reimer: It’s my great pleasure and my great honour to introduce today to the House my wonderful colleagues and friends from our tri-city Korean community. We have Mr. Ron Byeung Gil Suh, president of the National Unification Advisory Council of the Republic of Korea, western Canada chapter, with us. We have Sung Kee Lee, chief vice-president of the National Unification Advisory Council of the Republic of Korea, western Canada chapter. We have Grace Jong Eun Lee, vice-president of the National Unification Advisory Council of the Republic of Korea, western Canada chapter.

Grace is a wonderful performing artist. If any of you ever get an opportunity to see her play the piano, it’s absolutely beautiful.

We also have with us Duyeol Kim, executive director of the National Unification Advisory Council of the Republic of Korea, western Canada chapter. We have Mr. Raymond Jee, who’s a director with our C3 Korean-Canadian Society. We have Ms. Aekyung Woo, director of the Vancouver Korean-Canadian Scholarship Foundation.

We also have Esther Chung Ferguson, director of the Vancouver Korean-Canadian Scholarship Foundation, and Mr. John Jihan Kim, director of Sharons Credit Union board of directors, as well as Ms. Sue Hongsook Kim. She is the mother of Steve Kim, who I’ll be introducing in just a moment, and Ms. Kyung Ok Kim as well.

Of course, we have with us a member of our provincial multicultural advisory committee, a board member of Place des Arts and also a member and director of the Canada Korea Business Association, Mr. Steve Kim.

Would the House please make them all very welcome.

H. Bains: It is my great pleasure to introduce to this House representatives of the Council of Forest Industries. The board members are led by the president and CEO, Susan Yurkovich — I’m sure many members of this House are familiar with that name; Jess Ketchum, president; and Ted Seraphim, chair, representing the industry mostly from the Interior, industry that built this province.

These are the people that are captains of the industry. They lead this industry to have so many — tens of thousands — good, family-supporting jobs all over British Columbia.

When we met with them this morning, along with my leader and other members of our caucus, the optimism that was portrayed by those representatives, I think, made me feel that our future is brighter in the forest industry. I want to thank them for continuing to make our industry one that would lead our economy in the future and lead us into the future. Please help me to welcome them to this House and give them a warm welcome.

Hon. S. Thomson: I also would like to welcome all the representatives from the Council of Forest Industries that have joined us here today.

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I had the opportunity to meet with their board this morning. They’ve met with members of this side of the Legislature, with both sides of the Legislature, today to bring the message about the importance of the forest sector to British Columbia.

These companies, these representatives, represent the greatest majority of the Interior forest industry in British Columbia — communities throughout the Interior. These companies are the bedrock of many of the communities. They create jobs and economic activity throughout the region and make a very, very important contribution to the province.

With the group, just to show the breadth of the representation: Susan Yurkovich, who is the president and CEO of COFI and who gets to manage and corral this group of companies, doing a great job in representing the industry and managing the council; Ted Seraphim, who’s the chair of COFI and the CEO of West Fraser; Ron Gorman, who’s the CEO of Gorman Bros. from the Okanagan — I won’t show my bias, but a great company out of the Okanagan; Rob Novak, the CEO of Dunkley Lumber; Ken Shields, the CEO of Conifex; Greg Stewart, CEO of the Lakeland–Sinclar Group; Steve Zitka, the CEO of Babine Forest Products; Fred Dzida, who is the CEO of Weyerhaeuser Canada; Alan Fitzpatrick, who’s the president of Nechako Green Energy and the general manager of Nechako Lumber; Kevin Belanger, vice-president of products for Domtar; Mac Palmiere, who’s the regional operations manager for Louisiana-Pacific; Nick Arkle, who is the chair of the COFI management committee and also vice-president of Gorman Bros.; and Andrew Horahan, who is the vice-president of B.C. operations for Interfor.

I’d ask the House to join me in welcoming them here today and making them welcome in this House.

Hon. T. Lake: This morning I had the pleasure to have breakfast and meet with some visitors from the Interior Health Authority. It seems to be Interior day today. First of all, I want to introduce Mr. Erwin Malzer. He’s the chair of the IHA. Erwin is a certified corporate director, a certified management consultant, but more than that, he is someone who is dedicated to transformation of the health system.

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Our board members, especially our chairs, put in yeoman’s service, lots of hours that they dedicate to this. Erwin is here today, along with the president and CEO of IHA, Chris Mazurkewich, who joins us, coming back from Alberta, to once again work with IHA and lead their senior executive team; and someone that’s no stranger to this building, the vice-president of communications and public engagement, Mr. Jamie Braman.

Would the House make all three of these IHA officials very welcome.

J. Darcy: I’d like to join with the minister in welcoming the senior leadership at Interior Health Authority. Some of my colleagues from the Interior and I had an excellent opportunity to meet with the CEO, the board chair and the VP of communications to discuss their strategic plan for Interior Health and also to share concerns that we hear from constituents in communities throughout the Interior. So I’d like to join with the minister and all members in the House in making them feel very welcome in the Legislature today.

Hon. S. Cadieux: I am pleased to introduce four people today who were here this morning to talk to us about Covenant House Vancouver at breakfast. I also had the pleasure of meeting with them over lunch.

The executive director, Krista Thompson, who is also a YWCA Woman of Distinction, is here. She works tirelessly, and has for many years, on behalf of youth who are facing extreme challenges in life and offers them a place that is safe, open and nurturing so that they can grow and succeed.

Accompanying her is Laura Mills, also from Covenant House. With them is board member and a not-so-long-ago member of this House, Geoff Plant, who also joined us for lunch — and that, of course, meant for an entertaining time. As well, with them is a friend of mine from New Westminster, Hector Bremner. If the House would please make them all very welcome.

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J. Horgan: I want to join with the Minister of Children and Family Development. Rare is the time that you can raise a point of order during introductions, hon. Speaker, but as a former Attorney General, I’m certain that Geoff Plant would know that a cravat is in order while sitting on the floor of the Legislature. I don’t know if the speaking stick is now going to give us some liberty in this regard. Perhaps we can consult my learned colleague across the way.

Despite the absence of a necktie, I certainly would also join with the minister and welcome Geoff Plant back to the Legislature.

Hon. M. Polak: Our Langley Central Rotary Club, in my riding, does tremendous work promoting youth leadership, and today is no exception. We’re joined in the chamber by Adolf Dalke and Terry Smith from the Langley Central Rotary Club.

They brought with them students Isabella Gamba and Kendra Yoshizawa, who joined me for lunch. I have high hopes for both of them. They’re extremely bright young ladies, and I know that our future is in good hands with the ambitions that they have.

Also joining us in the Legislature today is my executive assistant, Alex Shiff. Would the House please make them all very welcome.

G. Holman: It’s my honour to introduce a remarkable grade 12 student from Stelly’s Secondary School in my constituency, Ottalie Garvin. Ottalie has cerebral palsy, but she refuses to let that stop her. She recently completed a 30-kilometre climb in the Mount Albert Edward area of Strathcona Park with 20 of her peers in up to 13 feet of snow.

Ottalie’s in the gallery today with her parents, Ken and Carrie Garvin, and with Abby Gibbs and Daniella Ledet, two of Ottalie’s fellow grade 12 students who accompanied her on this climb. Abby and Daniella have completed all five of the climbing trips offered by Stelly’s over the last two years. Finally, with Ottalie is Paul Ledet, a teacher at Stelly’s and the organizer for the climbing group. He’s led these trips 64 times over the last 23 years.

We can all learn from Ottalie and her peers about perseverance, positive thinking and teamwork. Would the House please make Ottalie and her guests feel very welcome.

Hon. A. Virk: It’s my pleasure to introduce a group of enthusiastic, energetic young individuals that comprise an 11-person team, the B.C. Liberal interns for the summer. With us, we have, seated behind us here somewhere — I’m sure the opposition can see them — Ben Walls, Jonathan Okey, Byron Lee, Dylan Decalso, Julia Panuk, Taylor Vral, Linda Hwong, Laura Chen, Alexandra Barberus, Niall Pathill and, last but not least, somebody that I’ve known for about 23 years and, I think, one hour….

I know the exact — because it’s my daughter, and it’s her birthday today. Anisha has inherited, luckily, her mother’s good looks and her mother’s good disposition and, I think, something from me.

Would the House please welcome all 11 of them and wish my daughter happy birthday as well.

Hon. S. Anton: , It is a historic day today with the Talking Stick and a good day to introduce a historic law firm. In May 1866, which is 150 years ago, Ernest Bodwell and Theodore Davie started a law partnership in Victoria. The firm later merged with another Victoria firm, Crease, Davie and Co., to become the firm of Crease and Co., which marks its 150th anniversary this month as the old-

[ Page 12980 ]

est law firm in British Columbia. I gather there’s been a certain amount of arm-wrestling around that, but they seem to have prevailed, so Crease and Co. does seem to now officially own that title.

The Crease firm has produced two Attorneys General as well as two Supreme Court of Canada judges and a host of other judges in other levels of court. Sir Lyman Duff, one of those judges, was further elevated to the House of Lords and is the only British Columbian who ever sat on the judicial committee of the Privy Council.

Crease Harman LLP, as it’s currently known, and its predecessor law firms have, in their long history, represented the province of British Columbia in the Alaskan boundary dispute and represented the Dunsmuir enterprises on Vancouver Island, including their coal enterprises, shipping and real estate. They founded the Victoria Board of Trade, the British Columbia SPCA and have many other notable achievements.

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Many of the lawyers have distinguished military service, as well, including Thomas Norris, who served as senior Canadian legal adviser to Field Marshal Montgomery during the Second World War.

This firm has been part of the life of British Columbia since our beginnings. I am proud to recognize their 150th anniversary today and to introduce the following members of the firm who are in the gallery — Colin Simkus, Greer Jacks, Dafydd Pritchet, Timothy Summers, Moses Watson and managing partner Bruce Hallsor. Would the House please join me in celebrating this historical anniversary and welcoming the members of Crease Harman to the House.

This will be a little briefer, but I would like to join in recognizing my predecessor, Attorney General Geoff Plant, back to the House. As well, a young lawyer, Cinzeanna Goucho, who has recently joined the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner is joined by her friend, my new administrative assistant, Kailey Hatford.

Hon. N. Yamamoto: I have a special guest in the House. She’s just finished her first year at UBC, studying literature. She’s going to be spending the summer, working with the B.C. Liberal interns. I’d like the House to welcome my favourite stepdaughter, Julia.

J. Yap: This is, I believe, my first opportunity in the time that I’ve been here to introduce my predecessor. He’s already been recognized by a couple of ministers and the opposition leader, but I would like to add my welcome to my friend, my mentor and the former MLA for my riding, Richmond-Steveston, Geoff Plant.

If the members would check Geoff’s Twitter, it describes him as a recovering politician. That probably explains the opposition leader’s comments about his dress, why he was dressed the way that he was. Would the House please join me once again in welcoming Geoff Plant.

M. Dalton: Visiting us in the gallery is Shannon Pauls. Shannon is a constituent of mine from Maple Ridge, and we attend the same church. Would the members please make her feel welcome.

G. Kyllo: I’m joined in the House today by three very special guests from Sicamous. My mother-in-law, Gwen Stead, is joining us. Gwen is joining us from Sicamous. I want to thank Gwen for raising such an amazing daughter — my wife, Georgina.

Also joining her are my parents, so we have Marianne Thomsen and my stepfather, Knut Thomsen, again, joining us from Sicamous.

Would the House please make them all feel very welcome.

D. Ashton: This morning, along with the member for Surrey-Whalley, I had the pleasure of meeting with a group of young Western Washington University students, who are visiting from Bellingham.

They’re here to learn about our Canadian parliamentary system in their fourth year of political science. The course is entitled the politics of Canada. It’s wonderful that these students have taken a keen interest, learning about their friends to the north and how we govern ourselves in British Columbia.

They’re also accompanied by their professor Dr. Theodore Kamena. I would ask that all members of the House make these fine young students welcome.

L. Reimer: I would like to make a special welcome to Bryan Lee, who is here with our B.C. Liberal young interns, and to thank him, as well, for all the help he’s provided me on my riding association. Would the House please make him welcome.

G. Hogg: Recognizing that the current record for introductions in this House is four, it is my privilege to introduce my former roommate, an aficionado of sport, music, trivia and everything else of relevance. Please welcome yet again, for the new world record, Geoff Plant.

Madame Speaker: I have the pleasure of introducing three guests today, Marcia VanderVoort, executive vice-president; Debbie Bohlin, program assistant, education programs; and Evelene Lakis, director of strategic planning, on behalf of the State Legislative Leaders Foundation. They are advancing a board meeting that will happen here in December, and we’re very pleased to welcome them on behalf of this assembly.

Thank you so much for joining us.

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Introduction and

First Reading of Bills

BILL M229 — ELECTION

AMENDMENT ACT, 2016

A. Weaver presented a bill intituled Election Amendment Act, 2016.

A. Weaver: I move that a bill intituled Election Amendment Act, 2016, of which notice has been given in my name, be introduced and read a first time now.

Motion approved.

A. Weaver: It gives me great pleasure to introduce the Election Amendment Act, 2016, which, if enacted, would lower the voter age in British Columbia to 16. B.C.’s voting age was not always 18. The voting age dropped from 21 to 19 in 1952 and then again to 18 in 1992. In 1970, Canada’s Elections Act was amended to drop the voting age federally from 21 to 18.

There’s ample evidence to suggest that the earlier in life a voter casts their first ballot, the more likely they are to develop voting as a habit throughout their life. It’s also a common misconception that 16-year-olds are not as informed and engaged in political issues as older voters. The available research, however, suggests otherwise. These young B.C. citizens are also old enough to drive, drop out of school, get married, pay taxes and sign up for the military. They are taxed without representation.

Each and every year B.C. students are required to take social studies 11 or civic studies 11 or B.C. First Nations studies 12 to fulfil their social studies graduation requirement. Politics and government is a key unit in the social studies curriculum, taken when students are, typically, 16. It’s an ideal time to engage students on the history and importance of voting.

Today’s decision-makers don’t have to live with the long-term consequences of the decisions they make. Those who do are either not allowed to or are not participating in our democratic institutions. We can do something about the former by reducing the voter age to 16. After all, the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. They should have a say in the direction we are heading, as they will inherit what we will leave behind.

Austria, Argentina, Brazil, Germany and parts of the U.K., to name but a few jurisdictions, have extended voting rights to 16-year-olds. Scotland experimented by lowering the voting age in their independence referendum. They viewed it as being so successful that they subsequently permanently dropped the voting age to 16 in all future Scottish Parliament and local government elections. It’s time that British Columbia did the same.

I move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Bill M229, Election Amendment Act, 2016, 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.

BILL M230 — GOVERNMENT

ADVERTISING ACT, 2016

G. Holman presented a bill intituled Government Advertising Act, 2016.

G. Holman: I move that a bill intituled Government Advertising Act, 2016, of which notice has been given in my name on the order paper, be introduced and now read for a first time.

Motion approved.

G. Holman: As we enter into the final year before the May 2017 election, we are once again being deluged by government advertising, the main purpose of which appears to be the promotion of the governing party. If previous experience is any indication, this taxpayer-funded advertising will be ramped up as the election approaches. In combination with this government’s recent elimination of pre-election spending limits on political parties and the refusal of the Premier to ban corporate and union political donations, partisan-tainted government advertising exacerbates the undue influence of big money on our political process.

The purpose of the Government Advertising Act is to prevent any provincial government from using public dollars to promote its own political interests. Under this bill, all government advertising must be reviewed and approved by the Auditor General against clearly defined criteria forbidding advertising that promotes the partisan interests of the governing party or creates a negative impression of government critics. The bill requires government advertising to present information factually and objectively. This bill also requires that all government advertising will cease four months before the fixed election date.

I move that this bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Bill M230, Government Advertising Act, 2016, 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 25B)

FRENCH IMMERSION

M. Dalton: Across British Columbia, there has been a growing demand for French immersion in the K-to-12

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system and for good reason. We live in a proudly bilingual country. Putting our children in French immersion offers them the opportunity to study in both of our official languages.

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French immersion participation has grown steadily over the last decade across British Columbia. In the 2015-16 school year, there were over 52,500 students, across 46 school districts, enrolled in French immersion programs in the province — almost 10 percent of B.C.’s students.

The communities I represent, Maple Ridge and Mission, have a number of schools which offer French immersion. In school district 42, these include Eric Langton, Golden Ears, Laity View, Maple Ridge Secondary as well as Pitt Meadows Elementary and Secondary, where I taught for a good number of years. In Mission, French immersion programs are offered at Christine Morrison, Mission Central Elementary, Heritage Park Middle and Mission Secondary.

I’m proud of the success that French immersion programs have had in my communities and throughout the province.

J’aimerais dire félicitations aux professeurs d’immersion et aux étudiants pour leurs grands efforts de ce programme. Fantastique.

Merci, Madame La Présidente.

DIVERSE ECONOMY AND BUSINESS

AWARDS IN GREATER VICTORIA

R. Fleming: The capital region is home to a very diverse economy, powered by small and medium-sized businesses. People are drawn to our region’s incredible natural beauty and our highly engaged community. Advanced technology has established itself as our leading economic generator in this region, while tourism serves millions of visitors a year. Victoria is also home to innovative retailers, a strong shipbuilding sector and a growing agriculture industry.

The Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce brings together 1,500 business members from across sectors to support a robust business community, and each year the chamber hosts the Greater Victoria Business Awards, recognizing local business excellence. I was proud to see that four of the businesses are based in Victoria–Swan Lake, my constituency, and were recognized at this year’s awards.

One of those companies is Emterra Environmental, which received the award for Business Leadership. For over 40 years, Emterra has been diverting waste from our landfill. By adopting new and sustainable technologies, Emterra has established itself as a leader in our region and across Canada.

The Mayfair Optometric Clinic was named Business of the Year for companies with 11 to 25 employees. It’s located just ten minutes from my community office. I can attest that this clinic serves many of my constituents, offering a holistic care approach that addresses each patient’s unique vision needs.

Kingsters Bin Sanitizing Services took the New Business award. This mobile eco-friendly business sanitizes commercial and residential garbage and compost storage bins and, with a long hot summer ahead, provides a solution to a very odoriferous issue.

Finally, the runner-up for the Innovation award was Starfish Medical. This is a great world-class company that develops medical devices. I have visited this business with a number of my colleagues. It’s an R-and-D leader. Touring their headquarters last year, I saw how Starfish partners with innovative companies to create breakthrough products like the high cycle prosthetic heart valve tester and an ultrasound.

I would ask members of the House to join me in offering congratulations to all the finalists and winners in this year’s business awards for their contribution to my community.

PASSPORT TO EMPLOYMENT

TRAINING PROGRAM FOR YOUTH

L. Larson: Destination Osoyoos and Okanagan College have partnered to deliver Passport to Employment, an innovative program that aims to grow the food, wine and tourism industry by providing free hands-on training to high school students in Oliver and Osoyoos.

The program offered training and certification in areas that the wine, food and tourism industry had recognized as skills gaps. Topics included essential employment skills, professionalism in the workplace as well as front desk, housekeeping and cashier training. Students also earned valuable industry-recognized certificates, including FoodSafe, WorldHost, Serving It Right and WorkSafe B.C. occupational first aid.

The program, which ran until the middle of April on evenings and weekends, moved between Okanagan College’s Oliver and Osoyoos centres. Graduates of the program are eligible to apply for a $1,000 scholarship to further their education.

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Brianne Hearle, director of marketing with Destination Osoyoos, stated: “We recognized that if we could offer a hands-on training program to our local youth, we would all win. Our youth would be retained in our community.

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They would become gainfully employed during and after their high school years, and our hospitality sector business would have a better selection of certified employment-ready workers, resulting in a more stable human resource situation.”

Destination Osoyoos worked closely with Okanagan College to design a program that produced graduates that can convey to visitors the exceptional experiences offered in Oliver and Osoyoos.

Thank you to Destination Osoyoos and Okanagan College for their partnership to deliver this Passport to Employment initiative.

BHIMRAO AMBEDKAR

R. Chouhan: Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar was born on April 14, 1891, in a small town in central India in a community of so-called Untouchables.

In his village school, he was not allowed to sit inside the classroom with other children. He was a very bright student and graduated from the school with the highest possible marks. He received a scholarship, which allowed him to go to college. After receiving another scholarship, he went to the U.S.A. for higher studies. There he got his first master’s degree in economics from Columbia University in New York. Later he got another MA and his first PhD. He then enrolled in the London School of Economics and received his second PhD. In a few years, he’d earned three MAs and four PhDs.

After returning from abroad, he started an active movement against untouchability. In 1927, he led a march to establish the rights of Untouchables, also known as Dalits, to drink water from the same water tank like anybody else. That marked the beginning of the anti-caste movement, challenging the rigid class system in India.

In 1942, he was appointed a member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council, which allowed him to bring legislative changes to protect the rights of Dalits. After India’s independence in 1947, Dr. Ambedkar, also known as Babasaheb, became the first law minister and chaired the committee to draft India’s constitution.

All his life he fought for the rights of Dalits, women and workers around the globe. On April 13, at the UN headquarters, his 125th birth anniversary was celebrated by more than 500 diplomats, academics and other international dignitaries. He continues to remain an inspiration for millions of people in the world seeking equality and social justice.

ELECTRICAL SAFETY

G. Kyllo: May is traditionally a month that is focused on safety across British Columbia and North America. The generation, transmission and distribution of electricity are inherently dangerous. B.C. Hydro is focused on minimizing this risk to British Columbians through awareness and education programs. That is why today is Electrical Safety Day in our province. This is a day when schools around B.C. come together to learn about staying safe around electricity.

The campaign this year focuses on downed power lines. Now, a common misperception is that a downed power line is not energized. Incidents with electricity happen because many people don’t realize just how dangerous power lines are. Electricity is an invisible danger, so being prepared and understanding the hazards are key to electrical safety.

We are asking students today to think about three important keys to staying safe. When working or playing outside, take a moment to look up and down to note power lines that could be a hazard. If you see a power line that is damaged or on the ground, stay back ten metres or the length of a school bus. Call 911. If it’s down, it’s a danger. Dial 911. Students are urged to remember this simple tagline: Down, Danger, Dial.

Although rare, electrical incidents and accidents involving youth are often fatal, making it even more important to raise awareness. I’m sure you’ll all join me in applauding B.C. Hydro for this very important safety initiative.

RULES OF PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE

V. Huntington: Three hundred and twenty-three years ago the House of Commons of the United Kingdom banned hissing and applause from its proceedings. There were to be no disturbances when members were speaking — no booing, exclamations or other interactions, with the exception of “Hear him, hear him.”

[1420]

Since the 17th century, there have been so few instances of applause in the U.K. House of Commons that there are actually blogs documenting every single one of them. Westminster isn’t always a model of decorum, but when MPs do clap in the U.K., the very act itself is newsworthy.

When parliamentary democracy came to Ottawa, those centuries of tradition somehow got lost over the Atlantic. Not only did MPs get desks; they decided that thumping and banging on those desks was a splendid idea. That begs the question of whether the desk-banging would have happened at all had those early legislators been women.

In 1977, when Hansard started broadcasting from the House of Commons, MPs stopped banging when they realized how peculiar it looked on TV. The problem is they started clapping.

In 1998, the U.K. modernization committee maintained their 300-year ban, saying that there was a danger the practice that may lead to speeches being judged not by the content but by the length of the ovation.

Just last year, Quebec MNAs unanimously banned applause from question period. The difference in civility

[ Page 12984 ]

and tone prompted Speaker Chagnon to comment that maybe we could see this model exported.

We spend 20 minutes a week on applause in QP. This session, we will have clapped away the equivalent of seven entire question periods. Perhaps B.C. should consider importing the National Assembly’s experiment.

Oral Questions

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO

YOUTH DEATH CASES

J. Horgan: It is with a sad heart that I rise today to ask a series of questions with respect to the activities of the Ministry of Children and Family Development and particularly a report recently released by the Representative for Children and Youth. We raised these issues on Monday. With the Premier in attendance, I’d like to pose questions to her with respect to the contents of that report.

In it, the representative said: “This is a difficult situation with very little positive to report, other than to record the representative’s most serious concern for the youth who was the subject of this investigation and the more than 100 others who are in a similar situation.”

Yesterday we also received a coroner’s report on the death of Alex Gervais. As if to put an exclamation point on the representative’s concerns, we learned that after Alex’s group home was closed, he was put unattended in a hotel room and ultimately took his own life.

My question to the Premier: At what point is enough, enough? And when will we do something to address, at a minimum, the 100 children that were identified as still at risk in the care of the government of British Columbia?

Hon. C. Clark: Well, let me join the opposition leader in expressing my profound concern for these young people who find themselves in very, very difficult circumstances, who are clearly some of the most vulnerable people in our society and who end up depending on government because they don’t have other supports. It is a terrible situation for young people to find themselves in, and government has a duty and an obligation to make sure that we look after those children.

The reports that the representative has done, the report that Mr. Plecas did and a number of other expert comments that we’ve heard over the last year or so have been extremely helpful in making sure that the ministry is appropriately focused, to make sure we are staying ahead of where we need to be in meeting the needs of young people who come into government care and recognizing that those needs have changed. The profile of those kids has changed over the years. We always need to do things differently.

Not least of all is the fact that in our most recent budget, we made a large increase in the total budget for the Ministry of Children and Families, recognizing that they needed more money — Mr. Plecas certainly told us this as well — in order to be able to do the job that we all depend on them and, most importantly, those vulnerable children depend on them to do.

Madame Speaker: The Leader of the Official Opposition on a supplemental.

J. Horgan: I’ll refresh the Premier’s memory, if she hasn’t had an opportunity to review the report. This was a report on the past year, on what progress has been made over the past year.

[1425]

The representative reports that, regrettably, little progress has been made. We now know that Alex Gervais, according to the coroner’s report, had a substance abuse problem. According to the coroner’s report, he had difficulty managing emotions and he was profoundly concerned about his future. Despite that, the system, which the Premier just said is going to get better, said that Alex Gervais was at zero risk of suicide. Yet after that assessment, after leaving him unattended in a hotel room, he leapt to his death.

My question again to the Premier is: at what point have we had enough of not getting it right with the current minister, and at what point are we going to try to get it right to protect the most vulnerable children in our community?

Hon. C. Clark: Let me remind all members of this House that assessments of children and their state of mind, their health, are made by experts in the field, by the people who work for the ministry or who are contracted by the ministry — people who are highly professional and skilled and bring real expertise to what they do. I just want to take a moment. They sometimes take a beating in this Legislature through the war of words that happens here. I want to take a second to thank them all for the work that they do on all of our behalf to make sure that vulnerable children have the services that they need.

The Representative for Children and Youth has called on the ministry to do a full review of all the children who are ministry-involved in the Downtown Eastside. Our rapid response team is making real progress on that. Twenty-eight children who have been identified now have a place to sleep, access to health care that they need and, most importantly, a dedicated team that understands the unique challenges that they face.

Over a five-month span, we’ve canvassed and inventoried and sat down with dozens of social services organizations on the Downtown Eastside to examine how we link our hands to improve safety for those youth. We’ve also reached out to thousands of service providers, more than 344 of them in the Downtown Eastside alone — doctors, police, youth outreach workers — to make sure that they meet their duty to report when they see that there is a child that they believe is in need of protection.

[ Page 12985 ]

In addition to that, the additional funds that have been granted to the Ministry of Children and Families, which are going a long way…. That work is underway now, including 100 new front-line workers, social workers, who are adding to our capacity to do the hard work that it takes to make sure that vulnerable children in our province are protected.

Madame Speaker: The Leader of the Official Opposition on a final supplemental.

J. Horgan: It wasn’t front-line workers that cut programs. It wasn’t front-line workers that reduced funding to this ministry. It wasn’t front-line workers that eliminated the youth representative upon coming to power. It was the B.C. Liberal Party that did that. The responsibility for the fiasco that we have today is not front-line workers. It’s the government of the day. That’s the challenge in this Legislature. That’s why we stand up every day and defend those workers and defend those children, because the government doesn’t seem to be capable of doing it.

Now, I appreciate this was some time ago, but when the Premier had a different job and she had to fill time between commercials at CKNW, what she used to say at that time, with respect to the then Minister of Children and Family Development, is the following. She said, with respect to the representative: “Cooperate with the Representative for Children and Youth. That’s how we’re going to get to the bottom of what’s happened. It’s better to have the truth than to not know you’ve made a mistake because you’re afraid to admit it.” Wise words from the broadcast booth.

Further to that, the minister said, with respect to that minister’s actions: “Fundamentally, we cannot undermine our confidence in the minister’s ability and willingness to look after some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”

Again, good words from the broadcast booth. We’ve heard some good words again today from the Premier, but what we have here is a complete disconnect between what’s been said in here and what’s being delivered out there.

Again, to the Premier: will she listen and follow the lead of the children’s representative and make sure that the hundreds of children that are at risk today have better supports by making sure that front-line workers have the tools they need to provide the services that are so desperately needed in our community?

[1430]

Hon. C. Clark: In the time that I was in the broadcast room at CKNW, I can remember all of the things that I talked about, all the times that I talked about how important it was to grow the economy and get to yes so we could look after people. When I was doing that, this member was on the other side of the House doing the same thing he is today, which is trying to figure out how to stop people from being able to find the work that they need, by stopping work from being created in British Columbia.

If we want to look after the people of this province, as we should, and if we want to look after people who are vulnerable, as we have an obligation to do, we need to make sure that we continue to grow the economy, create jobs and create opportunity for people in this province, including single parents who want to find their way off social assistance and into work — the single parents, for example, who have taken advantage of the single-parent employment initiative. Over 2,500 parents, most of them women, have found their way through the doors to try and find their way into work.

The work that we’re creating in British Columbia has made it possible for us to put $217 million to support vulnerable children and families and implement the recommendation of the Plecas report and $286 million to address caseload pressures and temporary income assistance disability–related supplementary benefits. And 644 youth have been placed in adoption over the past two years, exceeding our targets. Those children now have forever homes — more in one year than British Columbia has ever placed out in adoption. We have more to do, and we will keep it up.

HOUSING AND RESOURCES FOR

YOUTH IN CARE IN DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE

D. Donaldson: The Minister of Children’s own numbers show there are over 124 children and youth involved with her ministry residing in or frequenting Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. How can the minister possibly think that waiting a year after the Paige report to provide five beds for 124 youth is an adequate response to the needs of these young people?

Hon. S. Cadieux: Well, once again, the member shows his complete lack of understanding of what is available, what supports are in place in the Downtown Eastside and what work has gone on since we received the report from the representative on the tragic circumstance of Paige. That certainly was a report about one individual’s circumstance, but it spoke to the struggles faced by many young people — too many young people — who are attracted to the magnet that is the Downtown Eastside, through no fault of their own but through their circumstances.

A great deal has changed since that time. We’ve done a lot of work. We implemented the rapid response team — with all of the partners and all of the service providers on the Downtown Eastside — to look at where the services are, where the gaps are and to really hear from those people on the front lines about what they felt would make a difference in their ability to better serve these youth.

One of the things we heard from that group was that

[ Page 12986 ]

they needed more resources. So I was pleased yesterday to be able to announce that an additional $400,000 is being invested to support youth outreach workers within community agencies that serve the Downtown Eastside youth.

Another $800,000 will go to supporting ten new staff for the Ministry of Children and Families in that area, to focus specifically on an adolescent unit that will be open until 12:30 in the morning so that youth can access services when it works for them. And as the member notes, as well, we announced that we will be moving forward to create a “no questions asked” housing alternative for youth at the highest risk.

Madame Speaker: The member for Stikine on a supplemental.

D. Donaldson: One year later, five beds for 124 youth. If the minister doesn’t like to hear the facts from me, maybe she’d like to hear them from the Representative for Children and Youth: “We have a large number of extremely vulnerable young people. They have been spit out of group homes, they have been spit out of the foster care system, and they’re basically in the hands of predators.”

The minister knows that there are over 100 children involved with her ministry on the Downtown Eastside. She admits that at least 20 of them are in crisis at any one time. So why would she think that opening five beds next year is an adequate response?

[1435]

Hon. S. Cadieux: Indeed, we did a very deep file review and situation review for the 124 children and youth that are either in care or receiving services on and around the Downtown Eastside. It’s a very large area, not the small area that many of us think of when we think of the Downtown Eastside. Who receive services or are in care — that may mean they’re in foster care, in very safe and very appropriate circumstances.

But there are — and we have been very frank and open about this — at any given time, between 20 and 40 youth at the highest risk who come in or out of the Downtown Eastside who are intravenous drug users, who are sexually exploited, who are involved with gangs and who are very troubled. It takes a great deal of time and effort and repeated, repeated work to build trust with those youth, to be able to get them the services they need.

I do want to make sure that the member understands that there is a bed for any youth who needs it today. We have housing. We have 27 beds at four youth-specific shelters. We have self-contained suites for youth, including ten at Directions, 30 at Broadway-Fraser. We have 37 units at the Remand Centre, 24 affordable housing units at the aboriginal children’s village, 30 units dedicated at St. Helen’s Hotel, 12 spaces at Imouto House, 12 units at the Pacific Coast Apartments and, of course, all of the resources we have in foster care.

What we announced yesterday was a new, no-questions-asked, sort of barrier-free housing option which we will move to implement with our partners because it is clear that that is missing.

C. James: This minister says the government has been frank and open. Well, let’s remember that this was the government that wouldn’t even admit that there were children in care living in the Downtown Eastside. Then the minister yesterday said: “It’s not news.”

The government’s own press release says 124 children in care are frequenting the area. And as the children’s representative notes: “It’s pretty disgusting in our province that there are kids left there.”

I just heard the Premier say we are ahead of where we need to be. Five beds for 124 children in need? Five beds that will come a year from now? Is that the best the minister can do?

Hon. S. Cadieux: I think it is highly irresponsible that members opposite would selectively read pieces of information and misrepresent what that actually says.

What it says is there are 124 youth for whom we did extensive research — and it’s all public; it’s available on the Internet, if the member would like to read it — that shows that many of those are kids in our care in the ministry, which means they are in safe foster or group home placements. Some of them are receiving services, which means they only come to us to receive some piece of support, and they aren’t, in fact, in care.

There are others, a group that is extremely high risk, who may come in and out of the Downtown Eastside that our team of social workers on the ground is aware of. Our team of extremely talented and long-serving — 20-year plus — social workers have dedicated their lives to reaching out and serving these youth.

The new resource that we’re looking to put in place is because we are reacting to the realities that this group of youth is changing. Their needs are changing. They do not all…. They are not all ready to give up substances or enter treatment programs, but they do need a place to sleep, and we’ll make sure they have it.

Madame Speaker: Victoria–Beacon Hill on a supplemental.

C. James: Again quoting the representative: “For these young people, every day is a day in peril.”

[1440]

When the Premier was a CKNW radio host, this is what she had to say about the B.C. Liberal failure to protect children in care: “The minister is apparently refusing to make the changes Turpel-Lafond demands. Apparently she prefers the cheaper option. It’s one thing to make a mistake, even a serious one. It’s entirely another to refuse to address it or even acknowledge, especially when lives are at risk.”

[ Page 12987 ]

Well, lives are at risk. Why won’t the Premier live up to her very own words?

Hon. S. Cadieux: There is a group of youth who live very challenging lives, through no fault of their own. Many of them are addicted to drugs. Many of them are sexually exploited. Many of them need specialized help for mental health issues. They need housing, they need supports, they need people to wrap around them, and our people are there to do that.

There are numerous resources available, but not every resource suits every youth’s needs. That’s why, in addition to all of the other things I mentioned, we are working now to open, with our partners, a new housing option — a no-questions-asked housing option for youth. It is targeted to have approximately five beds, because that is what is deemed to be an appropriate number for that type of housing.

It doesn’t mean we can’t build more, but that needs to get up and running. We need to see whether or not kids respond and will be served well by that, and then we can look to do more.

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

AND SUICIDE PREVENTION

S. Hammell: A week ago today, Eddie Young committed suicide, less than an hour after being discharged from Burnaby General Hospital, where he was admitted a few days earlier because his mom feared that he would take his life. The Health Minister, when asked about this tragedy, replied: “Sometimes there just aren’t answers. People make decisions for themselves.” But there are answers, answers that can prevent the coroner from investigating another case of a person taking their own life despite being admitted to hospital a few days earlier.

For example, a number of jurisdictions worldwide have adopted zero-suicide initiatives that are dramatically reducing suicide rates. To the Health Minister: why is this government claiming there are no answers when there are solutions to prevent more suicides like the one that took Kim Young’s son?

Hon. T. Lake: Of course, this is a terrible tragedy for this person’s family. It’s very trying, as well, for the dedicated health professionals who tried to assist this person. The proper protocols need to be followed, and I’m assured by Fraser Health that, in fact, they were.

Adults make decisions based on information that’s provided to them. Clinicians, experts, assess individuals as to whether or not they should be discharged. The individual was offered a choice of different services. At the end of the day, it is difficult to force someone to do something they don’t want to do.

We continue to provide more and more opportunities for people to access services to avoid this type of situation. And while the member may not like to hear frank and honest answers, sometimes, despite best efforts, these types of things happen. Our job is to do everything we can to avoid it, and we will continue to do that.

Madame Speaker: Surrey–Green Timbers on a supplemental.

S. Hammell: You actually need to believe you can make a difference before you can make a difference. Eddie Young’s death illustrates that our mental health system isn’t working.

[1445]

It wasn’t the first time Eddie exhibited suicide tendencies. He’d been taken to the hospital in the past and threatened to kill himself less than two months ago. Under a zero-suicide approach, which is adopted worldwide, Eddie would have been assessed with the best-available screening tools. Clinicians would have also stayed in contact with the family upon release and involved his family in the discharge planning.

To the Minister of Health: why is your government saying there are no answers when solutions do indeed exist?

Hon. T. Lake: I won’t try to second-guess the expertise of psychiatrists who examine people that have these types of challenges, that seek help, or families that bring members of their family to seek help. But we have a constitution, and we cannot infringe on constitutional rights of people, despite what the member may think. We offer services, and we try and reach out, but if a person does not want their family to be involved, that is their constitutional right as a consenting adult.

It is a tragedy. But to pretend that we will always, always avoid these types of situations is disingenuous, despite all of our best efforts and the efforts of the people at the hospital. If the member thinks that the people at the hospital didn’t have the best interests of this patient in mind, she’s wrong. They did. They work extremely hard, and it is very challenging work. We try every day to increase the amount of resources available to offer those choices for people and will continue to do that.

ROADSIDE PROHIBITION PROGRAM

REVIEW PROCESS

M. Farnworth: The immediate roadside suspension program was supposed to keep roads safe, yet this government has bungled its implementation since day one and continues to do so. Four years ago, the government was forced to amend legislation so drivers could have access to a fair review process. Now we learn that in thousands of cases submitted for appeal, the superintendent of motor vehicles is failing to make decisions within the mandated time.

[ Page 12988 ]

To the Attorney General: why is this government incapable of setting up a review system that works properly?

Hon. M. Morris: There are only, probably, a couple of us in this House that can relate to the long walk up a driveway to notify somebody that one of their loved ones has been killed as a result of an impaired driver on the highways that we have here in B.C. It’s a job that all of us did with a great deal of trepidation, but it was something that we had to do.

In all my service — 32 years as a policeman; I’ve been out now for a number of years — I have never seen a program as successful as our IRP program is in British Columbia at reducing the number of deaths that we have on the highway resulting from alcohol-related drivers. Since this program was initiated, there have been 260 lives saved. That’s a 52 percent reduction in the number of alcohol-related deaths that we have on our highways in B.C.

Madame Speaker: Member for Port Coquitlam on a supplemental.

M. Farnworth: Nobody in this House is arguing about the need or the success of the program. Everybody supported it. We are asking questions of the minister — and the reason why that minister is now dealing with the file — because of the mess created by the Attorney General when this review process was set up.

Let me quote from the decision that was rendered by a judge in the case: “For all these reasons, I find that the superintendent’s conclusion that

section 215.57 permits an extension for an indefinite or indeterminate time is an unreasonable

interpretation and one that cannot be sustained.”

[1450]

The minister said he’s concerned about getting drunks off the road. Well, guess what. Because of this backlog created by this government’s incompetence, thousands of cases have been delayed, and the result is that people who should be off the road are still on the road, and people who are innocent are going through hoops to try and get an interim licence.

The question, Minister, that you need to answer is: why does this government have a 1,000-case backlog and is incapable of putting in a review process that works?

Hon. M. Morris: The system does work quite well. The majority of the review decisions are made within the 21-day period of time. There are, like the member opposite has said, about 1,000 cases outstanding right now that are being reviewed. In the scheme of things, with the thousands of drivers that we’ve been able to successfully take off the road and reduce the number of accidents, reduce the number of injuries by 52 percent, the program is working very well.

SURGICAL SERVICES AT

B.C. CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

J. Darcy: Kids in B.C. are waiting in pain for surgery at B.C. Children’s Hospital, and they could now wait months longer. Two of eight operating rooms are closed, and at least 50 surgeries have been postponed. This has never happened before in the history of this hospital, and it is the result of this Liberal government’s decade of neglect.

The Minister of Health has known for at least a year….

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members.

J. Darcy: The Minister of Health has known for at least a year about these looming nursing shortages at B.C. Children’s Hospital and has failed to act. Now we have kids waiting in pain for needed surgeries. Why are children suffering because of this minister’s failure and neglect?

Hon. T. Lake: Certainly, I can empathize with any family that has to experience a delay in their child’s surgery. We know that the most-needed surgeries are being done and that B.C. Children’s Hospital and the phenomenal people who work there are working with families to ensure that the most-needed cases are done, and in fact, that is happening.

But we recognize that there is a worldwide shortage of specialty-trained nurses, which is why we’re very happy with the signing, the ratification by 85 percent of nurses in the Nurses Bargaining Association today, ratifying a five-year agreement with the province of British Columbia that will increase the number of specialty-trained nurses so that we can look and make sure that we are meeting the needs of future British Columbians. And those 42,000 nurses will benefit from an expanding and growing economy here in British Columbia, leading Canada. Our nurses will participate and enjoy the benefits of that.

[End of question period.]

Reports from Committees

D. McRae: I have the honour to present the report of the Special Committee to Review the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

I move the report be taken as read and received.

Motion approved.

D. McRae: Madame Speaker, I ask leave of this House to move a motion to adopt the report.

[ Page 12989 ]

Leave granted.

D. McRae: In moving adoption of the report, I’d like to make a few brief comments. The report summarizes the results of the committee’s public consultations on access-to-information rights and privacy protection. The committee heard how our digital age provides new opportunities and challenges.

The committee’s 39 recommendations will enhance proactive disclosure, impose a duty to document and improve the freedom-of-information process. The committee agreed that new technologies support more proactive disclosure of government information, but we need to maintain and a strong and up-to-date legal framework for access and privacy.

[1455]

Other recommendations — mandate notification and reporting of privacy breaches — require public bodies to have a privacy management program and create a new privacy protection offence. I should note that on May 9 the government announced various new measures to improve transparency and disclosure, including a proactive release of several new categories of records commonly requested through FOI requests.

I’d like to express the committee’s sincere appreciation to all of the British Columbians who took the time to participate in the committee’s public consultations.

I would also like to recognize the hard work, the exceedingly high level of professionalism and, of course, the patience of the Clerk’s office with their efforts to create this report. I’d particularly like to recognize Mary Newell, who is the Clerk’s office administrative coordinator; Helen Morrison, who is the committee research analyst; and Susan Sourial, who is the Clerk Assistant and in charge of committees and interparliamentary relations.

Lastly, I would like to thank my fellow committee members, including the Deputy Chair, the member for Nanaimo–North Cowichan, for their collaboration and their hard work.

With that, I move adoption of the report.

D. Routley: I would like to speak positively and in favour of this report. Before I make comments, I’d like to echo the member from Comox’s comments about the excellence and professionalism that was displayed and delivered to this committee by the Clerk’s office — most notably, as already noted, Mary Newell, Susan Sourial and Helen Morrison.

British Columbians deserve to know the excellence and professionalism that resides in our public service, and those public servants deserve to have that known. We, all committee members, would like to extend our thanks to them.

This report is delivered in the context of several very contentious political issues that have arisen through gaps in freedom of information, performance of government, and privacy breaches in the recent past. So we must remember that while the steps that were taken on May 9 by government were positive and went some distance to correct some problems, they didn’t go nearly far enough.

I think the members of this committee, on both sides, have applied a real desire to reach best practice in the recommendations that this report has brought to this House, and I think that this spirit of cooperation and dedication to that best practice should be respected by the House.

I recommend adoption of the report. This is a very important issue to all British Columbians, to our democracy and to our right to privacy. If adopted and implemented, the committee members are confident that would return B.C. to a leadership position in terms of open government. It would begin to repair the faith of citizens of B.C. when it comes to openness and transparency of government. I support and recommend the report to the House.

Madame Speaker: The question is adoption of the report.

Motion approved.

Tabling Documents

Hon. T. Lake: I have the pleasure to table the report of the provincial health officer entitled Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Reducing the Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes on Health and Well-Being in B.C.

Petitions

M. Mungall: I rise to present a petition on behalf of my constituents. They’re asking this government to withhold issuing any commercial groundwater licences for aquifer 511, in Blewett, B.C., until a third-party environmental assessment has been done, adequate water supply is confirmed and a water sustainability plan for the community that includes public consultation and ongoing water monitoring is in place.

Madame Speaker: The Premier seek leaves to make introduction.

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

Hon. C. Clark: On this ceremonial day and, obviously, with your permission, I’d like leave to introduce two young women who are job-shadowing me for today. They’re on the floor of this House. Emily Hardy is age 14 and aspires to be the Premier herself one day, and Ava Hatton, who is age 11, aspires to help Emily become the Premier of British Columbia one day.

[ Page 12990 ]

I’d also like to introduce Doug Parton and Derek Dinsi, from Ironworkers, Local 97, who are with us in the chamber as well today, in the gallery. I very much look forward on Saturday to joining them again for the skills competition, when I will be assisting them in awarding the top skills prize at their annual event on Saturday, this weekend.

[1500]

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. de Jong: In both sections, Committee of Supply. In

section A, for the information of members, the estimates of the Ministry of Justice, and in this chamber, the estimates the Office of the Premier.

Committee of Supply

ESTIMATES: OFFICE OF THE PREMIER

The House in Committee of Supply (Section B); R. Chouhan in the chair.

The committee met at 3:04 p.m.

On Vote 10: Office of the Premier, $8,998,000 .

The Chair: I’ll ask the Premier to make opening comments.

Hon. C. Clark: I know we don’t have lots of time today because of some of the ceremonial…. We spent a bit of time on some other very important matters today in the Legislature, and we will end a little bit earlier, I think. So I won’t spend a lot of time in opening comments. Just let me start with this. I want to quote a story from Bloomberg, May 9.

[1505]

It starts with:

“British Columbia’s economy is on a tear. Last month Canada’s westernmost province added 13,000 jobs, and its unemployment rate plunged to 5.8 percent from 6.5 a month earlier. Statistics Canada reported this on Friday. For the first time on record” — for the first time on record — “dating back to 1976, the province has the lowest jobless rate in the country.

“While the rest of the country struggles with slumping commodity prices and a failed manufacturing recovery, British Columbia is benefiting from a housing boom that’s fuelling consumer confidence and spending, coupled with the revival of the lumber industry.

“Economists surveyed by Bloomberg see the province’s real GDP rising, on average, by 2.5 percent in 2015, ’16 and ’17. The last time British Columbia recorded the fastest growth in Canada was 2005. This province has never led the country growth-wise in back-to-back years since at least 1961.

“British Columbia is beating the rest of Canada in just about every sector employment-wise, but particularly in services such as wholesaling, retailing and, of course, housing. Retail sales employment is up 9 percent over the past year, compared with 1.5 percent in the rest of the country. Wholesalers are increasing employment at almost six times the national pace. Even manufacturers prefer British Columbia, where factories are actually growing. Nationally, manufacturing employment has fallen over the past year.

“British Columbia has, by far, the highest consumer confidence levels in the country. A gauge of confidence tracked by Nanos Research group for Bloomberg News scored them at 66 versus a national average of 57.7. This is spilling over into spending. Retailer proceeds in the province — at $6.13 billion in February — exceeded Alberta’s for the first time since 2009.”

In British Columbia, we are indeed on a tear, an economic growth boom that makes the rest of the country look very, very slow indeed. We are the bright spot in Canada when it comes to provinces’ employment and jobs.

That outcome that’s been reported by Bloomberg this last week is the product of a determined effort on the part of our government to get to yes on economic development, the product of our sustained effort to find ways to make sure we create the opportunities for jobs to come to British Columbia.

That’s the $20 billion that we’ve got booked for infrastructure spending — without going into deficit, by the way — that will put all kinds of working people in jobs — in good-paying, family-supporting jobs all across the province. That’s our determined effort to make sure that we move ahead with an LNG industry, despite what is probably the worst commodities market in history, or at least in recent history for Canada.

That is why we keep focused on making sure that we want to move to projects like Site C, which will create a generation of clean, low-cost power for British Columbia. The creation of this opportunity in our province and this growth allows us to do the other things that are so important, like diversifying our economy, investing in technology, a $100 million venture capital fund to grow our tech sector all across the province, not just the Lower Mainland but also the south Island, Kelowna and other parts of the province where we’re really seeing that beginning to thrive.

It’s thriving because government is making investments. It’s also thriving — just like the tech sector is — because government is making very purposeful, focused investments in education. Our announcement that children from kindergarten to grade 6, girls and boys equally, will all become coders is just one part of making sure that we produce the tech sector talent that British Columbia will need to grow.

Our announcement with the skills-for-jobs blueprint makes sure that we are focusing on those high-demand trades, makes sure that we are moving people off social assistance, if they want to, and into the job sector. This has been a particular success with women. Single mothers — 91 percent of the people that have found their way through the single-parent employment initiative are women, women who are heading up single-family homes.

That range of initiatives from education to building infrastructure; the determination to get to yes; the focus on making sure that we are working in markets around the world and growing, doubling, our trade presence in

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Asia in particular — all those things have come together to make sure that British Columbia is number one in this country.

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I believe that working people should have the chance to work. If you believe in working people — as we do on this side of the House — you have to believe you’re going to do everything you can to try and make sure that the jobs are there for them to go to. They’re not working people if they are not working.

On this side of the House, we have been determined to get to yes. It hasn’t been easy. Often it’s been very difficult. Those who would say no are everywhere. But my belief is that those who would say no are not in the majority. They may be loud, they may be vocal, and they may always find their way to the front of a microphone. But the silent majority in this province believes in getting to yes.

The silent majority in British Columbia believes in the infrastructure projects that are going to transform British Columbia and create a better future for our kids. The silent majority would tell you they don’t want us to continue to build up debt, run deficit after deficit, pay for things we can’t afford and have our children pay the bill.

Most people in British Columbia would say that’s not the way to go. The way to go is to make sure that we are not just looking after our budget today but that we’re putting a little bit of money aside to pay down and ultimately pay off our debt in the long term so our children don’t have to do it for us.

The only way we will succeed at doing that is if we are determined and purposeful and optimistic about the future and decide that we can do something better in British Columbia. We can create new opportunities, and the only way to do that, sometimes, is to turn your backs on those people who will be determined to say no, no matter what the answer is.

It’s to make sure that you move forward into the future, full of optimism, full of purpose and full of a determination to try and overcome all the barriers that are there so that we can get to yes, create economic growth and create jobs for working people all across British Columbia.

In doing that, we don’t just create better lives for those people who have jobs. We make it possible for us to create a fairer, more equal society, more resources to share amongst us, more money for investments and the things that really do give people opportunity — great education, great health care, investing in making sure that the programs are there that people depend on when they’re vulnerable to help them get through perhaps what are tough times. That’s the ambition that we should all have for our province.

As I always say, as I said to the young women who are job-shadowing me today, the only way to get there is to make sure you remember where the wealth is created. That’s by getting to yes in the private sector, in the public sector, creating opportunities for people to go to work every day, to go home with the dignity of a paycheque and the knowledge that they can build a future for their children, a future in a society that fundamentally is able to afford to ensure that we’re always making this a more just and more fair society.

J. Horgan: I thank the Premier for her enthusiasm as we embark upon yet another opportunity to discuss the state of B.C., the budget estimates for Vote 10 and the Premier’s office. I do commend the Premier’s enthusiasm, and I welcome her two guests with us today to join in this debate, which is going to be an interesting afternoon for Emily and Ava, I’m sure. Certainly, it will be for the Premier and for me and for all those who are assembled here today.

Again, I want to say that I, too, am enthusiastic about the opportunities in British Columbia. I believe, as a born-and-raised British Columbian, we are the most blessed people on the planet, with our abundance of natural resources, our innovative populations and our multicultural diversity. I believe it separates us from other provinces in Canada — in fact, other jurisdictions here in North America. But there are troubling seas, and the horizon is sometimes bleak.

I note, just on the jobs front, we’ve been discussing a jobs plan that the Premier introduced some years ago, where she focused exclusively on liquefied natural gas, mining and forestry and more or less ignored manufacturing, more or less ignored high tech, ignored film. Those areas that were ignored, interestingly, are doing very, very well. Those that had intense effort from the government seem to have done less well.

For example, in mining, mining and quarrying jobs have fallen by 3,200, or 25 percent, since 2013. We’ve had more mine closures than we’ve had mine openings, although I recall the Premier saying not that long ago that apparently nine new mines had opened up since she became Premier.

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I’d be interested to see if she could inventory those for us today, but I rather doubt it. In fact, we’ve seen mine closures and care and maintenance for many facilities here in British Columbia.

On the oil and gas side, we have 2,000 fewer people in direct and indirect supporting activities working in that sector, a 21 percent decline since the peak in 2012.

With respect to forestry jobs, my colleagues and I met with the Council of Forest Industries today; 30,000 fewer people are working in forestry than were working in 2001.

Similar challenges, of course, on the manufacturing side when it comes to pulp products and so on. It’s not all roses, as the Premier would like us to believe.

It’s a regional challenge as well. The Thompson-Okanagan area has lost 500 jobs in the past year. The Premier may well be familiar with this, as she represents Kelowna. Kelowna, in fact, has lost 1,000 jobs in the past

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12 months and now has an unemployment rate of 8.1 percent — right in her own backyard.

In the northeast, which has been impacted by the decline in the price of natural gas and in oil and gas activity, broadly speaking, the region has seen a loss of 1,100 jobs and an unemployment rate right now of 9.4 percent. In the Kootenays, 500 jobs lost and an unemployment rate of 7.6 percent.

There have been many bright spots in the B.C. economy, and those have been articulated by the Premier. I well imagine I’m going to hear that again several times over the next three hours. But I would prefer instead if the Premier could focus, as we do have limited time, on those areas that are seeing difficult times, those areas of the economy that are not growing at the same rate that others are.

Certainly we’ve seen great success in the Lower Mainland. The Bloomberg

article that the Premier referenced spoke to the housing market. It’s interesting who’s reading what and who’s writing what when it comes to housing. When I talk to people about the housing market in Vancouver, there’s significant concern, not wild-eyed enthusiasm. In fact, affordability — housing affordability specifically, but affordability generally — is the issue that I hear people talking about over and over again.

Now, we travel in different circles, the Premier and I. I think that’s fair, and it’s likely to continue to be that way. But when I talk to people about the economy, they see tougher times for them. Flat wage growth over the past decade. Increases in government costs, whether it be medical services premiums that have been going up year after year after year. Hydro rates, going up year after year after year. Insurance Corporation of B.C. rates, again, going up. Ferry fares, for those of us who live on Vancouver Island, going up. Even camping fees are going up.

It’s not all roses in British Columbia. It’s not all doom and gloom. Again, I think there are a couple of issues that Emily and Ava might find the Premier and I agree on over the next couple of hours. But I think on this notion that everything is grand, we will have to divide. The people that I’m talking to and the people that are sending me information through my emails and that I meet when I travel around British Columbia are very, very concerned about the downturn in commodity prices and the lack of resilience when it comes to our rural economy.

Are we doing well on the Lower Mainland? Absolutely. Southern Vancouver Island? Couldn’t be better. But the housing bubble is a significant, significant concern. A year ago, in this place, I asked the Premier during these estimates debates what she planned to do to help British Columbians manage the rising cost of housing, and at that time, she said: “Stay tuned.”

Well, here we are a year later. As of yesterday, we’re going to address a symptom of the runaway costs of housing in the Lower Mainland — that being shadow flipping. We’re going to address a symptom of what I would argue is an overemphasis on speculative investment in what’s supposed to be and traditionally has been a fundamental investment for young families and individuals — that being buying a home and using that asset over their working life, not just for short-term benefits.

With that, again, I expect we’re going to be back and forth — one side saying, “Isn’t life grand?” and me saying: “Well, there are some shortcomings.”

I would like to start with that shortcoming in the housing market and ask the Premier if she could advise those of us in attendance here and those that are watching at home what her vision is to address the affordability crisis in housing in the Lower Mainland.

Hon. C. Clark: Let me start where the member started, which is in terms of the economy. I want to correct a few things for the record.

One, his assertion that the jobs plan was focused just on LNG. It wasn’t. There are eight sectors that were the focus of the jobs plan, some of them where we’ve exceeded our goals and some where we haven’t met our goals and we’re continuing to do that work. So, he’s right. The work is not over.

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There is more to do, and there always is more to do. When you’re number one, you want to stay number one, and that takes hard work and determined effort.

One thing we may agree on is that all of this economic growth and all of this wealth in British Columbia could disappear very quickly if governments decided that we weren’t going to pay close attention and we decided that we weren’t going to focus on trying to get to yes. This is the worst commodities market that British Columbia has seen in a very, very long time. We need to continue to be focused on getting to yes.

Our economy is number one in the country, despite the fact that many people for a long time said we’re drawers of water and hewers of wood. We’re a resource-based economy, and here we are in this terrible commodities market, and we’re still thriving, positioned to outpace the country not just this year but also next year. That takes a lot of work. In fact, I would argue it’s going to take even more determined effort over the next few years than it has over the last few, because the world is a very, very uncertain place.

If government decides at some point that it wants to take its foot off the gas and start saying no, because not everybody agrees with everything all the time, we could find ourselves in the same place that a lot of other provinces have found themselves. Go ask some of those people who are unemployed in the Kootenays and in Kelowna. Lots of them have come from places like Alberta, where they’re really suffering in the economy, and other parts of the country.

People are coming to try to find work and landing. Many experts would tell you that part of the unemploy-

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ment rate increase in those communities has been the result of those people taking the time that they will need, necessarily, to try and find work.

But this country is in a very fragile place economically, and it’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of determined effort and a lot of focused principle to make sure that we get to yes on projects.

I’ll give another example for the member — because he talked just about LNG — in technology, for example, which was one of the areas that we focused on in the jobs plan. It contributes $23 billion in annual revenue. Last year’s tech exports exceeded $1 billion for the first time ever.

There are now almost 87,000 jobs, and not all of them are in the Lower Mainland. Many of those jobs…. The second-biggest tech cluster in the province is in the south Island, diversifying this economy in a way that we haven’t seen in a long time, in an economy that very necessarily has been very much focused on the government and public service sector.

The economy in Kelowna, again, is one that has been focused on retirement communities and one that’s been focused on tourism. The tech sector is enlivening that community and bringing wealth and young people in a way that hasn’t happened, in terms of a new industry, in a very long time.

Mining, in a very, very tough commodity market, is soldiering on. We’re continuing to work to support them in doing that and getting through these tough times. But God knows that if they made it through the 1990s, they will make it through these days too. In British Columbia, we made a commitment in the jobs plan that there would be eight new mines in operation and nine mining expansions by 2015.

Some of these mines have suspended operation or construction in the midst of the worst of this. But Copper Mountain, New Afton, Mount Milligan, Bonanza Ledge, Red Chris…. Bonanza Ledge has gone into care and maintenance. Three mines that are under construction: Brucejack, Silvertip and Kitsault, which got started and has put its construction on hold in the midst of this market. Highland Valley Copper; Huckleberry; Quinsam Coal; Elkview coal; Endako, which, again, is on hiatus; Gibraltar; Fording River; Line Creek, which I know the NDP oppose — some of those have gone into care and maintenance.

But the point is that from a government’s…. We cannot control the commodities market, but we can make sure that we are doing everything within our government to make sure the permits are issued and the work is done to enable these mines to get under construction, to make those expansions or to be able to do the mineral exploration that’s required to be able to find the wealth that’s under the ground. Mineral exploration spending in 2015 was up by $29 million from 2001. It has gone up to $272 million.

It is a tough time. There is no question about that. And the member is right. The economy is very fragile across the country and, I would argue, fragile in British Columbia as well, which is why we need to be so attentive and so focused on making sure that we find ways to get to yes and make sure we are doing everything we can as a government to support the growth of the resource sector, the tech sector, the education sector — all of those areas of the economy that are so important to British Columbia.

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Government doesn’t control the prices that we get overseas, but we can do everything we can to get out of the way of these developments happening. We have been focused on that since the introduction of the jobs plan, and that’s why we are number one in Canada today.

J. Horgan: I didn’t realize that the B.C. Liberals had created the Internet, but I guess that’s good news for the tech sector. They’re on the case, and were it not for their good work, none of this would have happened.

Again, the Cariboo, 400 jobs lost in the past 12 months — unemployment up there. The north coast, 2,200 jobs lost in the past 12 months — now with a 7.8 percent unemployment rate. Vancouver Island and the coastal region — doing very, very well.

But let’s see if we can get to: “Yes, I will answer a question from the Leader of the Opposition today.” The question I asked the Premier was: what is her vision and view to help the people in the Lower Mainland who are struggling to get into the housing market. Let’s see if we can get to yes on a direct answer.

Hon. C. Clark: In answer to that question, as I’ve certainly said many times in this House and outside it, we recognize, I recognize, that home ownership for people who are trying to get into the market, in particular, can be very challenging, especially in Vancouver and, in particular, on the west side of Vancouver.

The Minister of Finance and the Minister for Housing are both meeting with Mayor Robertson on collaborative steps that they can take to increase the market for rental supply and housing supply. That includes making sure that we are reducing red tape and investment costs, because this is a supply-and-demand problem.

The thing that governments can have a big impact on is supply. We’re working with cities to try and find ways that we can increase the supply of housing. Their latest estimates are that while there have been about 200,000 people that have moved to the Lower Mainland, there are about 2,000 units on the market. We have to improve that supply-and-demand balance. We are analyzing some of the requests that have come in, both from the city of Vancouver and from critics and academics around the province, to make sure that any changes that we bring in will be done right and won’t have an adverse impact.

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I think it’s very easy for opposition members, as they have done, to get up and suggest solutions that would ultimately decrease the value of housing that people already own. If you talk to anybody who owns a home, almost all of them have a mortgage on it. Reducing the value of their home and the equity that they’ve built up is something that most British Columbians — I would argue, all homeowners — would tell us is the wrong thing to do.

We need to be very careful about the changes that we make and the remedies that we bring in. You saw some of those yesterday, some of those final decisions on that. We’re going to continue to work on that and continue to work with cities on supply.

I know the member says he’s not all doom and gloom. I’m having trouble finding anything that he’s said recently that wasn’t doom and gloom. He talked about some of the unemployment numbers. I just want to spend a second on that, because he also did.

Here we are with the lowest unemployment rate in Canada, one of the lowest unemployment rates we’ve ever had. We are lower than the national average of 7.1 percent on Vancouver Island. It’s 6.6 percent, down from an historic high of 11.7 percent in the dying days of the last NDP government. Prince George is 4.7 percent, from an historic high of 17.6 percent in March 1999, in the death throes of the NDP government.

The youth unemployment rate is 10.5 percent. We are number one in the country on that number, although I would argue that it’s still too high. But that is nearly half the historic rate of 20.1 percent after about eight years of NDP — highest income taxes in Canada, lowest job growth in Canada, eight deficit budgets in a row, six consecutive credit downgrades in a row, last in private sector investment, last in job growth for five years straight.

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There are spots in the province regionally where we do need to be attentive and make sure that we are supporting people as the economy fluctuates, regionally and sectorally — that we help them find their way into work. But the overall numbers for the province are very, very good.

We have more to do, absolutely, and all of this could disappear at a moment’s notice if British Columbia had a government that decided they didn’t care about getting to yes and that they liked to say no a lot more. We are determined to make sure that we keep our focus on working people and that we keep our focus on making sure working people have a chance to go to work.

J. Horgan: Again, if I could bring the Premier back to the housing issue. I’ve talked to executives in the tech sector who want to expand. They want to recruit and bring new engineers and other new jobs to the Lower Mainland. They want to keep UBC grads. They want to keep BCIT grads right here.

But when you have, just below the border, a fairly dynamic information technology and high-tech sector that can give a discount on housing that is almost off the charts, it makes it more difficult for those new tech companies to continue growing and for the start-ups to get beyond that critical stage where they need to bring in more people.

So if I could just bring the Premier back to the housing issue. What tangible steps is her government going to take to address the affordability crisis in the Lower Mainland?

Hon. C. Clark: I appreciate we’re carrying on two conversations at the same time. First, let me speak a little bit more to the mining issue, and then I’ll get to the housing one. I know the member doesn’t like to talk about mining, but I will.

Mount Milligan today announced that it was increasing production. So 456 employees on site, and 23 percent of them are from Prince George, 14 percent are from Fort St. James, 16 percent are from Mackenzie, 8 percent are from Fraser Lake, 5 percent are from Vanderhoof, and there are 32 apprentices on site. So there are lots of regional…. I know the member has expressed his concern about regional economies. He’s moved down to the Lower Mainland since then, but I want to make sure that he understands we are paying very close attention to what’s going on in those regional economies.

The decade of mines closing — two closing for every one that opened — when British Columbia was named the most hostile jurisdiction for mining anywhere in the world, is long over. Again, despite a very difficult commodities market, these very resilient entrepreneurs and employers and their workers are soldiering on. As I said, if they could make it through that guy’s government in the 1990s, they’re going to be able to make it through this market until we see some upside.

In terms of the property issue, on the property transfer tax, a new full exemption for new homes up to $750,000 will save homebuyers up to $13,000. The cost of that exemption will be offset by increasing the property transfer tax from 2 to 3 percent on homes valued over $2 million.

And $3.55 million in B.C. Housing, which is the biggest budget we have ever had, for building and renovating more than 2,000 new units of affordable housing. That’s the largest single investment, as I said, in affordable housing in B.C. history and one we can afford to make without going into deficit because we are so focused on making sure that we grow the economy and we get to yes on creating jobs for working people in the province.

Starting in summer 2016, individuals who purchase a property will also need to disclose their citizenship or permanent residency. That’s going to help us understand the nature of the problem much better, just as we discovered when the city of Vancouver, which had been very concerned about vacancy issues, commissioned a study which was a very useful piece of information. Thanks to the city for doing that, along with working

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with B.C. Hydro on it. It came back with information that suggested the problem was different than people had thought. This data will, again, help us understand the problem better, and it will also help us make sure that we come up with the right solution to it.

We continue to work with cities — like the city of Vancouver, also the city of Surrey — and other jurisdictions to try and make sure that we are coordinated in our approach to balancing supply and demand better in the Lower Mainland.

You know, one of the downsides of a fast-growing economy, one of the downsides of being the most attractive place to live — because you can get a job — in the country is that it does affect the housing market, no question about that.

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Many, many thousands of people have come from Alberta, many of them in search of work, and many of them are finding and buying homes.

We are certainly seeing growth in the housing sector across the market. We need to understand why that’s happening and recognize that these people coming, the 50,000 new British Columbians we’ve welcomed in the last year, is a great thing for the province. But one of the impacts of that is certainly on the housing market, and we absolutely do need to address that, particularly for new buyers who are entering the market, who haven’t had a chance yet to build up that equity.

J. Horgan: Eighty percent of home sales are resales, so the property transfer tax changes that the Premier referenced affect a very small portion of the overall market. I’m wondering why the choice was made to just focus on new homes rather than the entire housing market.

Hon. C. Clark: Because we want to increase supply. We want more new houses to be on the market so there is more supply of homes. In the city of Vancouver, the number of single-family homes hasn’t changed very much in something like 30 years or 25 years. We need more housing on the market so we can change the balance of supply and demand. That is an essential part of the solution.

Now, there are other things that government can and should do. But without more supply in the market, in a place like Vancouver, in particular — the most beautiful place to live, with an economy that is booming…. People want to move here, from across the country, in particular, but from all over the world as well. As demand grows, supply needs to grow as well. We all know that that is ultimately the most important part of addressing the problem.

Because the member did talk about the tech sector and whether or not they are struggling, I would say, for the tech sector…. They have, certainly, talked to me, as well, about the cost of housing and how hard it is to settle employees. It’s not just the tech sector but people in all kinds of businesses and workers from all across the country. As I said, we do need to address that, but we should also be very proud of the fact that so many people want to locate in Vancouver.

It’s not just housing. We also have to address the talent supply. Making sure that we are…. For example, the announcement that every kid in schools in British Columbia is going to become a coder. It will be gender-equal, so the tech sector…. Girls and boys — by grade 6, those kids will know the basics of coding, which will be a huge step up for us in being able to create the workforce that British Columbia needs to continue to grow in the tech sector.

Investments that we’re making in post-secondary institutions in tech, which have been very substantial — you’ll see that in our tech-focused skills-for-jobs strategy. All of these pieces are a part of whether or not companies are able to locate here: housing costs, access to local skilled labour, the ability to be able to attract immigrants, tax rates.

I would note that after the highest marginal personal income tax rates in North America finally went down in 2001, we suddenly saw a new growth in the tech industry. All of these and many more factors go into whether or not the tech sector grows. And if the member asked me if I think we have done everything we can, I’d say, “Of course, there’s more to do,” but have we done a lot? The numbers speak for themselves.

You see the tech sector, how it’s growing. You see the success and the response that we had to the $100 million venture capital fund that we introduced for the technology sector. We do have more to do. We want this sector to grow. And many parents in British Columbia would tell you that they’d love it if their kid went into technology for a career. We want to make sure those opportunities are there for them, and we are working on that as part of our jobs plan, as we do every day.

J. Horgan: Did the Premier provide any new resources for the K-to-12 system to pay for all of these new coders?

Hon. C. Clark: Yes, $6 million for training. We announced that, in conjunction with the BCTF. We’re delighted to be able to be working, by the way, so cooperatively with the teachers union — after years and years of governments of all stripes and teachers unions almost constantly fighting — reaching the longest period of labour peace in B.C. public schools in our history since the union was founded.

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It means that we do have the opportunity to talk about the things that are really important to kids more often,

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rather than fighting about the issues that are important, mostly, to the adults in the room — the government on one side, and the Teachers Federation on the other.

We all care about kids — the union members, union leaders, government members and parents. That means we need to talk about the things that are important to them. We have a chance to do that. We’ve been working very cooperatively with the Teachers Federation on making sure that that $6 million is available to train teachers in how to support kids in this learning in the classroom. There will be more to do, but this a great beginning, I think, for a real change — a real change in schools, a change in our relationship and a change, in the long term, for our economy.

J. Horgan: I don’t believe the $6 million is in this year’s budget. I think that might just have been in the press release. Press releases pay for very little in classrooms, but I’m sure they’re very good for speaking points for the Premier.

I’d like to go back to the housing question for a moment. I was sidetracked by the enthusiasm for coding, and I thought I’d just see if the Premier had a ready-made answer. Sure enough, you push a button and out spits some rhetoric. It’s really quite magical.

I’d like to go back to housing and density in the Lower Mainland. One of the ways you can assist local governments with allowing them to find opportunities to create supply in the housing market is to allow them to increase density, and the best way to do that is to build transit. I’m wondering if the Premier is still going to insist upon a referendum before she brings any more money to the table to assist the people in the Lower Mainland that are jammed in gridlock and are finding difficult opportunities to create more density along transit corridors.

Hon. C. Clark: Look, here’s the thing on…. I know the NDP doesn’t care about how high taxes get. I know that they support…. There isn’t a new tax that they don’t love. But I can tell you, for British Columbians, for taxpayers in this province, there are a lot of taxes that they do not love. Having been the highest income tax jurisdiction in North America in the 1990s…. Having engineered, almost single-handedly, the worst downturn our province has ever experienced, in the midst of the biggest economic expansion in North American history, is quite a feat.

We can lay that at the feet of the thinkers and the policy-makers, like the member opposite, who, on the one hand, thought you could just continue to raise taxes without a care in the world and, on the other hand, thought you could just say no to every project that came along and thought we would survive. Those are the things that the member stood for then, and those are the things that he stands for now.

During the election campaign, we told taxpayers in the Lower Mainland that before TransLink could go for a new source of funding to them, they would get a say. We stand by that policy. We are working with TransLink on ways that they could raise money, potentially — that we could support them in that — without going to taxpayers for new taxes.

This House should be in no doubt that, on that side of the House, while they yearn and hunger for more tax dollars to churn through the machinery of government at the expense of hard-working citizens, on this side of the House, we work to protect taxpayers and make sure we leave as much money in their pockets as we can. In British Columbia, we lead the country in doing that.

J. Horgan: Does the Premier agree that increased transit would provide more opportunities for increasing density, which would bring more supply into the housing market and which would bring forward more affordable solutions for families? Does she not see that, or is it just all about the rhetoric?

Hon. C. Clark: Well, I gave the member an answer to his question about the referendum. I’m happy to answer another question.

In terms of transit, it’s vitally important for the Lower Mainland — for congestion, for quality of life. As the government that has led the country on fighting climate change, we want to continue to do that.

When we brought in the carbon tax in British Columbia and that member fought it, we stood firm and stuck with it. We are the only province in Canada that has an almost economy-wide tax, at $30 a tonne, and we will be for the foreseeable future. We are looking forward to other provinces in the country catching up, as Ontario says that they will, as Alberta says that they will and as Quebec has already begun down that path. As the leaders in fighting climate change in Canada, as I said, we want to continue to do that.

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The public and private sectors will provide a total of $3.4 billion for transportation investments over the next three years. So $2.7 billion of that investment will be in transportation infrastructure, and $700 million of that investment will be leveraged through federal cost-sharing and partnerships with private partners, local governments and other agencies.

We are working with the federal government and with cities now to try and make sure that the transit that people need is there. Also, I have thought for a long time that density around transit is a really important part of making sure that transit works, and it’s a great way to improve supply. If he’s asking me if I…. Well, he did ask me: do I not think that? I do. I think it is a very good way to address housing affordability and also get full value for the public investment that we make in public transit.

J. Horgan: The federal government has changed their funding formula for infrastructure programs. I under-

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stand the Premier will be talking to the federal government about that shortly.

The Mayors Council has an inventory of projects that they believe are high priorities. I’m wondering if the Premier could have advanced her thinking on these matters. Maybe she could try to get to yes on some of the Mayors Council’s projects and, perhaps, amend her thinking of three years ago to try and be contemporary with today’s challenges.

In keeping with that, is there any plan to address the concerns that mayors have been bringing to you for three years?

Hon. C. Clark: Even the Leader of the Opposition, who fought tooth and nail to try and make sure that local taxpayers had no say in whether or not their taxes would be raised by TransLink, has to admit that the referendum proposal had the very positive effect of getting the mayors together around a plan. It was the first time we’ve seen all the mayors come together around a specific plan. That in itself was a great win out of the process.

We are working with the mayors. The minister responsible met with them as recently as the last couple of days to make sure that we are working cooperatively and to understand what it is they need us to do, what we need them to do, what we all want the federal government to do jointly because transit for the Lower Mainland is really vital.

J. Horgan: Again, maybe I can just continue to ask questions. Hopefully, the Premier will get up and, rather than accuse me of whatever sins she seems to want to lay at my feet for things gone by and things in the future, maybe focus on the challenges that British Columbians are facing today. It’s always about affordability.

There are serious challenges in the Lower Mainland. She says that her minister, who’s with us here today, is working closely with the Mayors Council and other representatives in the Lower Mainland. The federal government has moved. They’ve shifted. They’re talking a new game on infrastructure.

I’d like, if it’s at all possible, for the Premier to just stand up and tell us, perhaps, how she would like to maybe alter or amend the position that she’s held for the past number of years and try to get to yes for the people in the Lower Mainland.

Hon. C. Clark: We are starting to negotiate those bilateral agreements, but I won’t do it publicly here in the House.

J. Horgan: Well, perhaps the Premier would give the public some assurance or some confidence that she is going to listen to what the people are saying and try to address those challenges. The advantage of the transit issue is that you not only address the climate question and the congestion question; you provide an opportunity for local governments to make density decisions that will address the housing shortage. This is a supply-and-demand thing. The Premier was talking about that a moment ago.

Wouldn’t it be a good thing today…? Rather than say, as she said the last time I raised the housing question a year ago, “stay tuned,” perhaps she could maybe articulate a vision for the people in the Lower Mainland that didn’t just involve saying yes to this and yes that but how we are going to actually achieve something and accomplish things in the Lower Mainland.

Hon. C. Clark: Well, the member is right. I’ve told him that I do think the transit opportunity is also an opportunity to improve density and, therefore, supply. We’re working with mayors on that now. Of course, we do very much, enthusiastically, support the transit expansion and welcome the federal government’s investment in that and the interest and cooperative work that we’ve done with local governments.

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It makes a real difference for people to be able to access transit. It really changes communities. I think it’s part of wanting to get to yes. It’s not easy, but if we keep at it, we can find agreement over sometimes very, very difficult issues. That’s what the minister is actively engaged in right now.

That’s the work that we’re doing with the federal government and with the cities. As that work continues, I know that publicly, there will be more information as those agreements are completed.

J. Horgan: Rental housing stock is an enormous challenge right across the board as well. Again, the community is not just made up of those who are trying to access home purchases. They’re trying to access affordable rental stock as well. I’m wondering if the Premier has any thoughts on those questions.

It’s not just confined to the Lower Mainland. There are challenges in rural communities — Comox, Penticton, Kamloops and so on. Does the Premier have any thoughts on the rental housing stock? Is her government planning any initiatives to assist people who are trying to get into that market?

Hon. C. Clark: I do. Rent assistance for seniors is currently more than 18,600 seniors. We support them in finding their way into rental housing. Rent assistance for families benefits 10,800 families. The provincial contribution in housing has gone from $139 million to $432.5 million.

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The member will probably know that the rental assistance program helps families with the cost of private rental market housing. That’s been an extremely helpful program for those families, because it’s meant that it’s not just government building the housing, which is a very expensive way to do it, but nonetheless, something that we are going to do a lot of in the next three years, as we have a record budget for social housing.

But it also allows families to be able to stay in their homes, even if their circumstances mean that they can’t afford to pay the rent fully themselves. That’s what the rental assistance program is all about. But we do need to continue to work with cities on making sure that not just the supply of housing is there but that it’s the right mix of that supply.

J. Horgan: Any incentives for new rental supply? Again, with the scarcity of land and the benefits of creating homes, condominiums and so on, are there any incentives planned specifically for the development community so that they can build specific stock for rental accommodation?

Hon. C. Clark: I know the city of Vancouver has done some work around that, some of which has been successful. I’m not sure that all of it has been as successful as they had hoped, but nonetheless, there are very important lessons in that for all of us.

On May 5, we announced there would be $50 million for 2,000 new affordable rental units, and as I said, $355 million over five years — the biggest budget we’ve ever had for those kinds of housing.

We’ve got to continue to do more and, of course, work with the federal government, which has a new commitment to affordable housing. We’re working with them on that now.

J. Horgan: With respect to homelessness, a challenge that’s bedeviled governments for generations in British Columbia and right across the country, we’re seeing increasing numbers of homeless people in rural communities — Cranbrook, Prince George. The list goes on. But one of the things that the government has refused to do over the past number of years is to do a provincewide count and participate in getting….

We talked about data when it came to offshore investment. We talk about collecting data to make good decisions. I think everyone would agree, regardless of where they sit in this House, that if you’ve got good information, you’re going to make better decisions.

When it comes to homelessness, the government has kind of left it up to communities, left it up to social agencies, to do those calculations. Does the government have any plans to intervene more aggressively in the homelessness debate by assisting in having direct access to information so that we can make good decisions?

Hon. C. Clark: I just want to correct the member. It is not true that the government is leaving this up to communities to figure out. That is just simply not accurate.

Since the launch of Housing Matters in 2006, provincially subsidized housing units, rent supplements and shelter spaces available for homeless and those at risk of homelessness have more than doubled, to over 13,200. We have preserved or developed more than 6,400 housing units for the homeless and people at risk of homelessness. That includes the acquisition of 26 single-room occupancy hotels, with more than 1,500 units, which, of course, preserves an important source of housing for those who need it most.

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Around $213 million was provided last year for more than 13,200 emergency shelter spaces. We have partnerships with eight B.C. communities, providing close to $500 million to build more than 2,100 new supportive housing units for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and close to 1,400 new units will be built in Vancouver. We are working with communities every single day, with a very substantial commitment to support people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Since 2001, our governments, over the years, have invested almost $4½ billion to provide affordable housing for low-income individuals, seniors and their families. This is the most significant investment in housing and supporting those who are homeless that government has ever made in British Columbia.

Again, if I can reluctantly bring this member back to talking about the economy for a moment, it will be to say that the reason we can afford this — without plunging our children further into debt by running constant deficits and seeing our borrowing costs rise at the whim of creditors around the world — is because we have worked so hard to grow the economy, to get to yes on all of those projects that every day this member stands up and says should never happen.

J. Horgan: I’m disappointed that the Premier thinks I don’t have more to do every day than just follow her around saying no to her yeses. I’m far more busy than that. But if that’s what she wants to believe, I guess there’s not much I can do to dissuade her from that point of view. She’s going to say it anyway.

Let’s talk about the economy. Let’s talk about wage growth. Again, there are some disturbing trends. In some areas, stubbornly slow wage growth. For example, in the past 12 months, B.C.’s wage growth has been the third-slowest in the country, we’re in eighth place among ten provinces, and wages have actually fallen by 0.05 percent. Between 2011 and 2016, B.C.’s wage growth has been second to last, and it just goes from there.

Again, we’ve had an announcement of an increase in the minimum wage that will take place in September that will put us in the bottom third of minimum wages across the country. We’re in the bottom third in wage growth.

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Does the Premier have any explanations as to why this is happening in British Columbia?

Hon. C. Clark: Well, we’re going to get to third in the country, of provinces, when it comes to minimum wage. When you’re leading the country in job growth, when you’re leading the country in economic wealth, we should be making sure that people on minimum wage are participating in that. That was the announcement on minimum wage, and I’m really glad we were able to do that.

I’m glad that our economy can sustain this growth in minimum wage as well. People in small business are telling us that their confidence is very high, that business is good. They are very much a reflection of economic growth — as much as anybody else, probably more than most other businesses because many of them are on much tighter, much smaller margins. Because our economy is growing, we can sustain these increases in minimum wage, and I’m very glad that we can. People who work on minimum wage work hard, and they work just as hard as anybody else does.

In terms of wage growth, one of the explanations for that is that we have kept our public service increases down to a level that British Columbia can afford. I mean, you look across the country at the settlements that other provinces have reached with public servants. Some of them are regretting those decisions now, because they can no longer afford or sustain that growth and those wages.

A huge number of public servants in British Columbia. Those wages have not grown as quickly as the wages in some areas of the private sector. There’s no question about it. We did our