20200715pm Hansard n341

British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)

Fifth Session, 41st Parliament OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES (HANSARD) Wednesday, July 15, 2020 Afternoon Sitting Issue No. 341 THE HONOURABLE DARRYL PLECAS, SPEAKER ISSN 1499-2175

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Entered Confederation July 20, 1871) LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR Her Honour the Honourable Janet Austin, OBC Fifth Session, 41st Parliament SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Honourable Darryl Plecas EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Premier and President of the Executive Council ............................................................................................................... Hon. John Horgan Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance............................................................................................................................Hon.

Carole James Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training..................................................................................................... Hon. Melanie Mark Minister of Agriculture.........................................................................................................................................................Hon. Lana Popham Attorney General.................................................................................................................................................................Hon.

David Eby, QC Minister of Children and Family Development ............................................................................................................ Hon. Katrine Conroy Minister of State for Child Care...................................................................................................................................... Hon. Katrina Chen Minister of Citizens’ Services...................................................................................................................................................Hon.

Anne Kang Minister of Education ............................................................................................................................................................ Hon. Rob Fleming Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources ..................................................................................................... Hon. Bruce Ralston Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy............................................................................................. Hon.

George Heyman Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development ..............................................Hon. Doug Donaldson Minister of Health .....................................................................................................................................................................Hon. Adrian Dix Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation ......................................................................................................... Hon.

Scott Fraser Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness.............................................................................Hon. Michelle Mungall Minister of State for Trade...............................................................................................................................................Hon. George Chow Minister of Labour ...................................................................................................................................................................Hon.

Harry Bains Minister of Mental Health and Addictions............................................................................................................................ Hon. Judy Darcy Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.................................................................................................................. Hon. Selina Robinson Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General ........................................................................................................... Hon.

Mike Farnworth Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction..............................................................................................Hon. Shane Simpson Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture.....................................................................................................................................Hon. Lisa Beare Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure................................................................................................................ Hon.

Claire Trevena LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Leader of the Official Opposition................................................................................................................................Andrew Wilkinson, QC Leader of the Third Party .................................................................................................................................................................Adam Olsen Deputy Speaker................................................................................................................................................................................

Raj Chouhan Assistant Deputy Speaker............................................................................................................................................................. Simon Gibson Deputy Chair, Committee of the Whole ................................................................................................................ Spencer Chandra Herbert Clerk of the Legislative Assembly ...........................................................................................................................................

Kate Ryan-Lloyd Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel.............................................................................................................................. Seunghee Suzie Seo Clerk Assistant, Parliamentary Services...........................................................................................................................

Artour Sogomonian Clerk Assistant, Committees and Interparliamentary Relations ..............................................................................................Susan Sourial Senior Research Analyst ................................................................................................................................................................. Jennifer Arril Senior Research Analyst ...................................................................................................................................................................

Karan Riarh Acting Sergeant-at-Arms..................................................................................................................................................................Greg Nelson

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERS Ashton, Dan (BC Liberal) ......................................................................... Penticton Bains, Hon. Harry (NDP)................................................................ Surrey-Newton Barnett, Donna (BC Liberal) .....................................................Cariboo-Chilcotin Beare, Hon. Lisa (NDP)..............................................

Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows Begg, Garry (NDP) .......................................................................Surrey-Guildford Bernier, Mike (BC Liberal) .........................................................Peace River South Bond, Shirley (BC Liberal)...........................................Prince George–Valemount Brar, Jagrup (NDP).......................................................................Surrey-Fleetwood Cadieux, Stephanie (BC Liberal)........................................................

Surrey South Chandra Herbert, Spencer (NDP) .......................................Vancouver–West End Chen, Hon. Katrina (NDP)...................................................... Burnaby-Lougheed Chouhan, Raj (NDP) .................................................................Burnaby-Edmonds Chow, Hon. George (NDP).................................................Vancouver-Fraserview Clovechok, Doug (BC Liberal) ..................................Columbia River–Revelstoke Coleman, Rich (BC Liberal) ................................................................ Langley East Conroy, Hon.

Katrine (NDP)...........................................................Kootenay West Darcy, Hon. Judy (NDP) ............................................................. New Westminster Davies, Dan (BC Liberal) ........................................................... Peace River North de Jong, Michael, QC (BC Liberal) ..............................................Abbotsford West Dean, Mitzi (NDP)................................................................ Esquimalt-Metchosin D’Eith, Bob (NDP) ................................................................Maple Ridge–Mission Dix, Hon.

Adrian (NDP)....................................................... Vancouver-Kingsway Donaldson, Hon. Doug (NDP)...................................................................... Stikine Eby, Hon. David, QC (NDP).............................................. Vancouver–Point Grey Elmore, Mable (NDP).........................................................Vancouver-Kensington Farnworth, Hon. Mike (NDP) ........................................................Port Coquitlam Fleming, Hon. Rob (NDP) ......................................................

Victoria–Swan Lake Foster, Eric (BC Liberal).............................................................Vernon-Monashee Fraser, Hon. Scott (NDP) ..................................................Mid Island–Pacific Rim Furstenau, Sonia (BC Green Party) .............................................Cowichan Valley Gibson, Simon (BC Liberal) ...................................................Abbotsford-Mission Glumac, Rick (NDP).........................................................Port Moody–Coquitlam Heyman, Hon. George (NDP) ................................................Vancouver-Fairview Horgan, Hon.

John (NDP) ................................................ Langford–Juan de Fuca Hunt, Marvin (BC Liberal) ........................................................ Surrey-Cloverdale Isaacs, Joan (BC Liberal) .......................................... Coquitlam–Burke Mountain James, Hon. Carole (NDP).................................................... Victoria–Beacon Hill Johal, Jas (BC Liberal).................................................Richmond-Queensborough Kahlon, Ravi (NDP)............................................................................... Delta North Kang, Hon.

Anne (NDP)......................................................... Burnaby–Deer Lake Kyllo, Greg (BC Liberal)..............................................................................Shuswap Larson, Linda (BC Liberal) .............................................. Boundary-Similkameen Lee, Michael (BC Liberal) ........................................................Vancouver-Langara Leonard, Ronna-Rae (NDP) ..................................................... Courtenay-Comox Letnick, Norm (BC Liberal).............................................

Kelowna–Lake Country Ma, Bowinn (NDP) .....................................................North Vancouver–Lonsdale Malcolmson, Sheila (NDP) ........................................................................Nanaimo Mark, Hon. Melanie (NDP) .......................................Vancouver–Mount Pleasant Martin, John (BC Liberal)....................................................................... Chilliwack Milobar, Peter (BC Liberal)..................................... Kamloops–North Thompson Morris, Mike (BC Liberal) ........................................... Prince George–Mackenzie Mungall, Hon.

Michelle (NDP)......................................................Nelson-Creston Oakes, Coralee (BC Liberal) ............................................................ Cariboo North Olsen, Adam (BC Green Party)............................ Saanich North and the Islands Paton, Ian (BC Liberal).......................................................................... Delta South Plecas, Hon. Darryl (Ind.) ........................................................... Abbotsford South Polak, Mary (BC Liberal) ............................................................................. Langley Popham, Hon.

Lana (NDP)............................................................... Saanich South Ralston, Hon. Bruce (NDP) ............................................................Surrey-Whalley Redies, Tracy (BC Liberal) .......................................................Surrey–White Rock Reid, Linda (BC Liberal) ................................................. Richmond South Centre Rice, Jennifer (NDP) ............................................................................. North Coast Robinson, Hon.

Selina (NDP) .........................................Coquitlam-Maillardville Ross, Ellis (BC Liberal)................................................................................... Skeena Routledge, Janet (NDP) ....................................................................Burnaby North Routley, Doug (NDP) ................................................. Nanaimo–North Cowichan Rustad, John (BC Liberal) ................................................................Nechako Lakes Shypitka, Tom (BC Liberal) ..............................................................

Kootenay East Simons, Nicholas (NDP) ......................................... Powell River–Sunshine Coast Simpson, Hon. Shane (NDP)..................................................Vancouver-Hastings Sims, Jinny (NDP) ........................................................................ Surrey-Panorama Singh, Rachna (NDP) .........................................................Surrey–Green Timbers Stewart, Ben (BC Liberal) ................................................................. Kelowna West Stilwell, Michelle (BC Liberal)...............................................

Parksville-Qualicum Stone, Todd (BC Liberal)..........................................Kamloops–South Thompson Sturdy, Jordan (BC Liberal)........................................ West Vancouver–Sea to Sky Sullivan, Sam (BC Liberal)................................................ Vancouver–False Creek Sultan, Ralph (BC Liberal) ...........................................West Vancouver–Capilano Tegart, Jackie (BC Liberal) ................................................................. Fraser-Nicola Thomson, Steve (BC Liberal)......................................................

Kelowna-Mission Thornthwaite, Jane (BC Liberal) ...............................North Vancouver–Seymour Throness, Laurie (BC Liberal) .......................................................Chilliwack-Kent Trevena, Hon. Claire (NDP) ................................................................North Island Wat, Teresa (BC Liberal) ................................................. Richmond North Centre Weaver, Dr.

Andrew (Ind.)................................................Oak Bay–Gordon Head Wilkinson, Andrew, QC (BC Liberal) ................................Vancouver-Quilchena Y ap, John (BC Liberal)............................................................Richmond-Steveston LIST OF MEMBERS BY RIDING Abbotsford-Mission............................................................................Simon Gibson Abbotsford South....................................................................... Hon. Darryl Plecas Abbotsford West......................................................................

Michael de Jong, QC Boundary-Similkameen...................................................................... Linda Larson Burnaby–Deer Lake....................................................................... Hon. Anne Kang Burnaby-Edmonds................................................................................Raj Chouhan Burnaby-Lougheed .................................................................... Hon. Katrina Chen Burnaby North .................................................................................

Janet Routledge Cariboo-Chilcotin .............................................................................Donna Barnett Cariboo North.................................................................................... Coralee Oakes Chilliwack ............................................................................................... John Martin Chilliwack-Kent ...............................................................................Laurie Throness Columbia River–Revelstoke .........................................................

Doug Clovechok Coquitlam–Burke Mountain.................................................................. Joan Isaacs Coquitlam-Maillardville ...................................................... Hon. Selina Robinson Courtenay-Comox................................................................... Ronna-Rae Leonard Cowichan Valley .............................................................................

Sonia Furstenau Delta North.............................................................................................Ravi Kahlon Delta South ..................................................................................................Ian Paton Esquimalt-Metchosin ..............................................................................Mitzi Dean Fraser-Nicola .........................................................................................

Jackie Tegart Kamloops–North Thompson .............................................................Peter Milobar Kamloops–South Thompson..................................................................Todd Stone Kelowna–Lake Country .....................................................................Norm Letnick Kelowna-Mission ..............................................................................

Steve Thomson Kelowna West ..........................................................................................Ben Stewart Kootenay East.......................................................................................Tom Shypitka Kootenay West........................................................................ Hon. Katrine Conroy Langford–Juan de Fuca .............................................................. Hon. John Horgan Langley .....................................................................................................

Mary Polak Langley East.........................................................................................Rich Coleman Maple Ridge–Mission.............................................................................. Bob D’Eith Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows............................................................Hon. Lisa Beare Mid Island–Pacific Rim................................................................ Hon. Scott Fraser Nanaimo......................................................................................

Sheila Malcolmson Nanaimo–North Cowichan............................................................... Doug Routley Nechako Lakes........................................................................................ John Rustad Nelson-Creston ................................................................... Hon. Michelle Mungall New Westminster........................................................................... Hon. Judy Darcy North Coast ...........................................................................................

Jennifer Rice North Island.............................................................................. Hon. Claire Trevena North Vancouver–Lonsdale................................................................... Bowinn Ma North Vancouver–Seymour........................................................Jane Thornthwaite Oak Bay–Gordon Head............................................................Dr.

Andrew Weaver Parksville-Qualicum.......................................................................Michelle Stilwell Peace River North ................................................................................... Dan Davies Peace River South ................................................................................ Mike Bernier Penticton ................................................................................................. Dan Ashton Port Coquitlam...................................................................... Hon.

Mike Farnworth Port Moody–Coquitlam.......................................................................Rick Glumac Powell River–Sunshine Coast....................................................... Nicholas Simons Prince George–Mackenzie....................................................................Mike Morris Prince George–Valemount ..................................................................

Shirley Bond Richmond North Centre..........................................................................Teresa Wat Richmond-Queensborough.........................................................................Jas Johal Richmond South Centre ......................................................................... Linda Reid Richmond-Steveston ...................................................................................

John Y ap Saanich North and the Islands .............................................................Adam Olsen Saanich South .............................................................................Hon. Lana Popham Shuswap...................................................................................................... Greg Kyllo Skeena........................................................................................................... Ellis Ross Stikine....................................................................................Hon.

Doug Donaldson Surrey-Cloverdale ................................................................................ Marvin Hunt Surrey-Fleetwood.....................................................................................Jagrup Brar Surrey–Green Timbers........................................................................Rachna Singh Surrey-Guildford......................................................................................Garry Begg Surrey-Newton ..............................................................................Hon.

Harry Bains Surrey-Panorama ...................................................................................... Jinny Sims Surrey South ................................................................................ Stephanie Cadieux Surrey-Whalley ......................................................................... Hon. Bruce Ralston Surrey–White Rock .............................................................................. Tracy Redies Vancouver-Fairview.............................................................. Hon.

George Heyman Vancouver–False Creek........................................................................ Sam Sullivan Vancouver-Fraserview...............................................................Hon. George Chow Vancouver-Hastings ............................................................... Hon. Shane Simpson Vancouver-Kensington....................................................................... Mable Elmore Vancouver-Kingsway..................................................................... Hon.

Adrian Dix Vancouver-Langara................................................................................ Michael Lee Vancouver–Mount Pleasant..................................................... Hon. Melanie Mark Vancouver–Point Grey ............................................................Hon.

David Eby, QC Vancouver-Quilchena........................................................Andrew Wilkinson, QC Vancouver–West End .....................................................Spencer Chandra Herbert Vernon-Monashee ....................................................................................Eric Foster Victoria–Beacon Hill.................................................................. Hon. Carole James Victoria–Swan Lake.................................................................... Hon. Rob Fleming West Vancouver–Capilano...................................................................

Ralph Sultan West Vancouver–Sea to Sky................................................................Jordan Sturdy Party Standings: BC Liberal 42; NDP 41; Independent 2; BC Green Party 2

CONTENTS Wednesday, July 15, 2020 Afternoon Sitting Page Routine Business Introductions by Members................................................................................................................................................... 12037 Tributes ................................................................................................................................................................................... 12037 Terry Moist Hon. C. Trevena Stan and Maxine McRae S. Malcolmson Jennifer Hyland B.

D’Eith Statements (Standing Order 25B) ....................................................................................................................................... 12038 Impact of racism J. Sims Experience of viral myocarditis T. Redies Living Room Art in the Heights event and role of legislators during COVID-19 J. Routledge Doug Husband I. Paton Doug Armour B. D’Eith Work of Cowichan Valley constituency office staff S.

Furstenau Oral Questions....................................................................................................................................................................... 12040 Economic conditions and deferral of taxes A. Wilkinson Hon. C. James Economic recovery plan M. de Jong Hon. C. James Economic recovery priorities and CleanBC plan funding S. Furstenau Hon. C. James B.C. Hydro agreements with independent power producers and First Nations clean energy projects A. Weaver Hon. B. Ralston Government purchase of hotels for supportive housing and impact on businesses P . Milobar Hon. S.

Robinson Government support for tourism industry D. Clovechok Hon. L. Beare Opioid crisis and prescription monitoring program J. Thornthwaite Hon. J.

Darcy Tabling Documents............................................................................................................................................................... 12046 Report pursuant to the COVID-19 Related Measures Act regarding Order-in-Council 393/2020 Crown Proceeding Act, report, fiscal year ended March 31, 2018 Crown Proceeding Act, report, fiscal year ended March 31, 2019 Orders of the Day Third Reading of Bills ........................................................................................................................................................... 12046 Bill 11 — Attorney General Statutes (Vehicle Insurance) Amendment Act, 2020

Committee of the Whole House.......................................................................................................................................... 12046 Bill 13 — Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2020(continued) M. Lee Hon. D. Eby B.

Stewart Reporting of Bills................................................................................................................................................................... 12051 Bill 13 — Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2020 Committee of the Whole House.......................................................................................................................................... 12052 Bill 20 — Motor Vehicle Amendment Act (No. 2), 2020 J. Johal Hon. D. Eby M.

Morris Report and Third Reading of Bills....................................................................................................................................... 12056 Bill 20 — Motor Vehicle Amendment Act (No. 2), 2020 Committee of the Whole House.......................................................................................................................................... 12057 Bill 21 — Wills, Estates and Succession Amendment Act, 2020 M. Lee Hon. D.

Eby Report and Third Reading of Bills....................................................................................................................................... 12058 Bill 21 — Wills, Estates and Succession Amendment Act, 2020 Committee of the Whole House.......................................................................................................................................... 12058 Bill 5 — Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2020 J. Martin Hon. H.

Bains Report and Third Reading of Bills....................................................................................................................................... 12060 Bill 5 — Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2020 Motions Without Notice....................................................................................................................................................... 12060 Recall of Children and Family Development Ministry estimates in response to COVID-19 pandemic Hon. M. Farnworth

Schedule of Estimates ........................................................................................................................................................... 12060 Hon. M. Farnworth Second Reading of Bills ........................................................................................................................................................ 12060 Bill 18 — Economic Stabilization (COVID-19) Act Hon. C. James S. Bond

WEDNESDAY , JULY 15, 2020 The House met at 1:35 p.m. [Mr. Speaker in the chair.] Routine Business Prayers and reflections: Hon. C. Trevena. Introductions by Members Hon. M. Farnworth:It’s my pleasure to introduce, in the gallery today, a former member of this chamber, a former member of the House of Commons in Ottawa. He was the MLA for Vancouver-Fraserview as well as the Minister of Tourism from 1996 to 2001. He’s since gone on to become an author and a filmmaker. Would the House please make Ian Waddell most welcome. Hon. D. Eby: I join my colleague in welcoming Mr.

Waddell to the House and recognize that he does have a new book out, although I wish I knew the title before mak- ing the introduction. But I recommend it to all members. I’m sure it’ll be compelling reading if I know Mr. Waddell and his history. S. Furstenau:I am so delighted to announce the intro- duction of a new family member for our former press secretary and my dear friend, Jillian Oliver, and her hus- band, Chris Browes, who yesterday welcomed Eric Wil- liam Browes to their family. All of us in the B.C.

Green caucus want to wish Jillian and Chris the happiest begin- ning to the most wonderful journey you can have, which is becoming a parent. Tributes TERRY MOIST Hon. C. Trevena:It is with great sadness that I share with the House today the sudden death of Terry Moist. Terry was a generous, supportive, smart and compassion- ate man. Like other young teachers in the early ’70s, he was attracted to Campbell River by the innovations in education happening there, starting at Carihi High before moving to alternative education programs. As one of his friends said, he kept kids out of jail.

Terry made a difference to so many people and to the community. He was an integral part of the John Howard Society of North Island. He was on the society’s board for 43 years, starting when there were just two employees. Now it has more than 130 people running a huge variety of programs, including one of the first Foundry centres. From establishing an outdoor challenge centre in the ’80s to bringing restorative justice to the community to estab- lishing youth housing, Terry helped turn ideas for troubled youth into realities.

He said: “I’ve always had an affinity for and ability to connect with kids on the fringe. ” An educator friend told me: “When dealing with school populations, if you look after the edges, the middle will take care of itself. ” I think this philosophy applies everywhere. In 2014, Terry received the province’s highest recog- nition for community safety and crime prevention, the Anthony J. Hulme lifetime achievement award. When he died, he was the board chair at John Howard again.

Terry had also been the president of the Campbell River District Teachers Association, and his collaborative approach was shown when negotiating what teachers of the time said was one of the best agreements they’ d ever reached. He was a sailor around our west coast waters, up to Alaska, over to Hawaii, and on winter days, he could be found on his sailboat, with the heater on, reading. He was a golfer. He was a runner. He was part of the Oyster River Enhancement Society. He was a New Democrat, active in many, many elections. He died too soon.

He leaves his wife, Patricia Trasolini, and daughters, Sunny and Breigh. I hope the House will pass on our condolences to them and to the many friends who are truly missing him. STAN AND MAXINE McRAE S. Malcolmson:I want to celebrate the lives of Stan and Maxine McRae. Here’s a piece of Stan’s obituary in the Nanaimo News Bulletin. I urge people to track it down and read it. Stan was a contract miner, working in hard rock underground mines across Canada in some of the poorest safety and working conditions. [1:40 p.m.] There were no unions then.

During the labour move- ment, from the early ’50s on, an intense battle was being fought across Canada for the right-to-mine certifications and to bring in union representation. It was as tramp miners that Stan, Paddy “Take Five” Toner, Vince Ready, Archie MacDonald, Norm Harsford and most other young wildcats worked under Al King. These young, haywire organizers did such a good job that people called them King’s Wrecking Crew. We knew Stan here on Gabriola and in Nanaimo as the bowl turner, and we knew his wife Maxine McRae so well.

She was an artist; a bookkeeper; and a New Democrat on many election campaigns, from Tommy Douglas’s right up to mine. They were very generous supporters of our com- munity. They donated the land for the Gabriola Museum. They donated a 19-acre beautiful wildflower meadow con- servation covenant to Islands Trust, another New Demo- crat creation. They died a month apart — Maxine just on Monday and Stan a month earlier. I’m very grateful to Stan’s niece, 12037

Ellen McRae, for all the care and the solidarity in family; to island friends, in particular, Graham Sheehan and Joyce Babula, for caring for them so sweetly; to the staff of Nanaimo General Hospital and Trillium Hospice; and to Leonard Krog, who was a particular friend of theirs at all stages of their life. We’re going to miss them dearly, and we’re grateful to have had them in our midst. JENNIFER HYLAND B. D’Eith: Today I’ d like to introduce and recognize Ridge Meadows RCMP Supt. Jennifer Hyland. She is this year’s recipient of the International Association of Women Police award.

She’s being honoured for her work training and mentoring fellow officers. In particular, Superintendent Hyland designed an eight-part program focusing on leadership skills for female officers to help them to address the challenges in a predominantly male environment. The program has been very successful for helping female officers to advance to leadership roles within the department. Superintendent Hyland was nominated by her fellow officers, a testament to her commitment to her department.

I know everyone in our community and the House would be truly thankful to have the incredibly dedicated officers like Superintendent Hyland who keep us safe. I want to congratulate Superintendent Hyland, and thank you to the Ridge Meadows RCMP for everything that you do. Mr. Speaker:Members, if I might remind you that Introductions is intended to be a place for introducing people to the House. Other kinds of statements people would like to make would be better reserved for two- minute statements. Thank you. Statements (Standing Order 25B) IMPACT OF RACISM J.

Sims: In the people’s House today, I bring a message from an amazing young woman who shared her pain with me and wanted all of you to know about the impact of racism on her and others like her. These are her words that I’m going to be reading out today. “Being biracial, I have had and still do face my fair share of racism at my school, where I’m definitely a minority. From being called the ‘n’ word to having my whole class talk and laugh at me in other languages, these experiences would anger and sadden me. “I want to make clear that it’s only a select group that say these racial slurs, but it hurts, nonetheless.

It hurts knowing that there is nothing I can do to change the way I am viewed and looked at, that I am being judged solely on the colour of my skin. “ As a 14-year-old girl, I am still learning about the roots of ra- cism, but I am certain of one thing. I know the overwhelming hurt behind being the target of racism. If you have ever experienced ra- cism, we have probably shared a feeling that you and I both know feels like nothing else.

But if you are one of the lucky few that have never, it is very important that you know what it feels like. [1:45 p.m.] “The first time I was called a racial slur, my body felt like a thou- sand thorns had viciously hit me. The words hurt more than I can even begin to describe. That feeling of a thousand thorns I now re- cognize as shock, and every time I get racially targeted, it returns.

One might think that the feeling would lessen, but it never does. “If you haven’t already had a new-found experience on the im- pacts of racism, then I leave you with something to think about. ‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. ’” She quotes from James Baldwin. Every one of us in this House has a responsibility to tackle racism head on. Let us name it and work on it together to eradicate it, so this young woman and others and like her do not have to experience that pain of a thou- sand shards of glass. EXPERIENCE OF VIRAL MYOCARDITIS T.

Redies:Y ou don’t know how pleased I am to be rising to speak in the Legislature today. As most of you know, about ten months ago, before COVID-19, I had my own encounter with a nasty virus while travelling to Brazil with our youngest daughter. I came home with what seemed like a bad flu, which went away almost as quickly as it came, until about three weeks later when I was suddenly unable to walk up stairs or walk from my car to my office without stopping. I was diagnosed with viral myocarditis or an inflamma- tion of the heart muscle due to a virus.

Viral myocarditis affects the heart’s ability to pump blood to the rest of the body. If not addressed, it can lead to congestive heart fail- ure and sudden death. Symptoms are shortness of breath, fatigue and edema and typically follow within two to four weeks of having a virus. If you have symptoms like this after having had a cold or flu, consult your doctor, because this can be life-threatening. Viral myocarditis can affect anyone, including young adults, children and infants, and it’s the third-leading cause of death in young adults and children in the U.S. It’s also relatively rare.

In the U.S., it affects 22 out of 100,000 people annually. And for the most part, people recover fully. However, in some cases, the disease can be deadly for reasons not well understood. In my own case, it was almost catastrophic, taking out 80 percent of my heart function. It’s been a long road back. I’m here today thanks to the incredible skill of my fam- ily GP , Dr. Andries Bredenkamp, and my cardiologist, Dr. Vicki Bernstein, as well as numerous other cardiologists, acute care specialists and the incredible nursing staff at VGH.

Their outstanding care ensured that I would contin- ue to be here for my family and my community, and I’m eternally grateful to them. 12038 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, July 15, 2020

I would also like to recognize my many colleagues, con- stituents, friends and the many people in this Legislature, on all sides of the House, who reached out to support me and my family during this difficult time. Notwithstanding a life-altering illness, I feel very blessed to have had your support. And from the bottom of my now, thankfully, much smaller heart, I thank you all. LIVING ROOM ART IN THE HEIGHTS EVENT AND ROLE OF LEGISLATORS DURING COVID-19 J. Routledge:Living Room Art in the Heights brings my community together. Once a year, local artists turn a private home into an art gallery for one evening.

This year COVID-19 kept us from gathering in the same house. So the organizers exercised their imaginations as true artists and created something new. Living Room Art in the Heights went virtual. It was the poet Shelley who said: “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. ” Two hundred years later, I would say creative artists are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. They’re not afraid of a blank canvas. They put brush to paper, aim a camera, pick up a musical instru- ment to create something new and beautiful.

I see a parallel between the imaginative work of artists and the work we do as legislators. Our job is to create a more beautiful society. But how can we if we can’t ima- gine what a better society might look like? Imagination is a learnable skill. We wouldn’t tell a two-year-old to stop try- ing to walk and talk because they’re not very good at it, would we?

Y et how many of us declare that we don’t have an artistic bone in our bodies? [1:50 p.m.] As we slowly emerge from the pandemic and try to rebuild our economy, we need to hone our imaginations; otherwise, we will be tempted to return to the way things used to be. But those ways did not work for everyone. The old normal left too many people out in the cold, literally scrambling to make a living, exhausted, disillusioned, dis- connected. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it has taught us that we are all in this together. If the most vulnerable among us are not safe, none of us are safe.

Like the organizers of Living Room Art in the Heights, let’s bravely embrace our inner artists and go out and paint a new normal. DOUG HUSBAND I. Paton:I rise in the House today to honour a local legend. Doug Husband is a Ladner boy through and through. He is from a fourth-generation Delta family who are well known for their dedication to community service. Early on in his life, Doug became an RCMP officer, at the age of 18. He stayed in the service for five years before returning to Delta. He later went on to become a prom- inent insurance adjuster in the early 1970s.

Through his work, Doug developed a skill set for solving problems, a master of negotiation who was able to keep cases outside of the provincial courts. This would prove to serve him well as he embarked on his political career. Doug sat on Delta city council for five terms after first being elected in 1979. Most notably, from 1987 to 1990, Doug served as Delta’s mayor. Post-politics, various volunteer organizations across Delta have been fortunate enough to have benefited from Doug’s unique skill set.

He has contributed his time to organizations such as the Delta Hospital, the Little House Society for addiction, the Delta police board, the Delta Museum and Archives and the Rotary Club of Ladner. Unsurprisingly, in 2002, Doug was honoured with Her Majesty the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for community service. In recent years, Doug wrote for theDelta Optimist newspaper as a regular contributor for the community comment column. Over a five-year period, Doug wrote over 90 articles highlighting Delta’s past and present, as well as paying respect to people like him who have strengthened our community.

In November 2019, Doug was honoured with the Delta Citizen of the Y ear Award as a long-serving community volunteer. He became the third member of his family to receive this top honour. Just recently, Doug was honoured with the news that Delta’s newly renovated museum will be named after him. Doug is leaving a legacy to follow not only for his family but for the community at large. He still lives in Ladner with his wife of 58 years, Maureen, and enjoys quality time with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Recently Doug has been dealing with some significant health challenges.

But such is Doug, he carries on with grace and dignity. I want to say thank you for all of your contributions to make Delta a better place. We need more people like Doug Husband here in Delta South. DOUG ARMOUR B. D’Eith: Today I rise to mourn the loss of Doug Armour, who sadly passed away last week from cancer. Doug was the assistant fire chief at the Maple Ridge fire department. I’ d like to extend my heartfelt condolences to Doug’s mother, Elizabeth Armour; his wife, Danica; and his two sons, Tavis and Cade. Doug leaves behind a proud legacy of service. He began as an on-call firefighter in 2001.

Six years later, he received a career position. In 2015, Doug became a training officer. After two years there, he was promoted to assistant fire chief. Now, Doug initially worked with his brother in a secur- Wednesday, July 15, 2020 British Columbia Debates 12039

ity alarm business, and according to his brother, when Doug initially had the opportunity to become a firefighter, he quit his job before he even had been hired as a firefight- er. In fact, he spent every moment he could at the fire hall to demonstrate his commitment to the position. Doug loved sports and spending time with his family. He also spent many, many hours at the Justice Institute of British Columbia, helping to train new recruits. We sleep safe at night knowing that life-saving help is there when we need it and because of the courage and self- less dedication of firefighters like Doug.

The outpouring of messages in Maple Ridge this week are a testament to the indelible mark that Doug left on our community. On behalf of myself and the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, I would like to say how much he’ll be sorely missed in our community. [1:55 p.m.] WORK OF COWICHAN V ALLEY CONSTITUENCY OFFICE STAFF S. Furstenau:Tricia Datene handles much of our case- work in the Cowichan constituency office, which has opened over 700 cases in the last three years. Thanks to Tricia, the vast majority of them have reached a positive resolution.

Tricia describes beautifully what it’s like to work in the constituency office: “Helping people actually get what they’re seeking is a joy. We get all types of people in the office. I’ve held the door for persons with disabilities, held babies for mothers while they tell me what they need, and held my tongue when someone with a mental health is- sue starts yelling. There are never two days the same. People will come in every week with a question I have never heard before.

I love learning new things, and this job has given me a chance to keep growing. ” B McKenzie handles all files related to children and families. Her compassion, determination and dedication to helping families heal is a wonder to behold. B teaches all of us as she brings her whole self to everything she does. Kayla Brent, who reached out to me when she was a grade 12 student at Frances Kelsey Secondary, triages the hundreds and sometimes thousands of emails our office receives daily.

She is wise way beyond her years, unflap- pable, incredibly hard-working and an inspiration to all of us who watch her navigate her early 20s with grace, humour and a maturity that many of us still aspire to. Maeve manages the office, including the wonderful volunteers, Erin, Marianna, Shelby and Pat. Maeve also attends the community meetings when I’m down here in Victoria and keeps lines of communication and connec- tion open between all other levels of government and the incredible array of community groups in Cowichan.

Maeve is the spark of joy and humour that we all need and the fierce Momma Bear who will do everything she can to help and protect the incredible team that have been help- ing and serving our constituents. To Tricia, B, Kayla, Maeve, Erin, Marianna, Shelby and Pat: thank you. Oral Questions ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND DEFERRAL OF TAXES A.

Wilkinson: We’ve become aware, through the announcements yesterday about the state of the prov- ince’s finances, that roughly $5 billion of employers health tax, sales tax and other taxes have been deferred, with collection expected during the fall — we under- stand in late September. Now this is going to be a very onerous expectation for small businesses all over British Columbia, which have been living on fumes, to put it politely, for four months now. The question goes to the Finance Minister.

Does she anticipate full collection of the outstanding amounts of all of these different taxes from small businesses in British Columbia this fall? Hon. C. James:Thank you to the Leader of the Opposi- tion for the question. I want to begin by first saying thank you to the incred- ible businesses, the workers, the people of British Colum- bia who’ve done an extraordinary job when it comes to bending the curve, when it comes to paying attention to Dr. Bonnie Henry. We all know that the very best economic recovery that we can have is a smart, careful restart to be able to build that confidence.

The member asked specifically about one of the initiatives that we have put in place for businesses. I know I’ll have an opportunity to talk about many more of those, including the tax cuts we have given. In fact, when it comes to property tax, we have in fact made a cut of 25 percent, $700 million, that is not repayable in the supports for businesses. When it comes to the taxes we have deferred, we’ve deferred them till the end of September. That’ll be reviewed as we go through the summer. Mr. Speaker:The Leader of the Opposition on a supple- mental. A.

Wilkinson: Of course, the minister is correct in terms of the Ministry of Health’s function and what Dr. Henry has guided us to, which is a pretty good place in terms of the level of viral load in the province of British Columbia and the prevalence of cases, in which we lead the continent and possibly the world. However, it doesn’t answer the question for the hundreds of thousands of small businesses in British Columbia who will want to know urgently whether they are expected to remit the full outstanding sum of taxes due on September 30. It’s a very simple question to the Finance Minister.

It’s in 12040 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, July 15, 2020

her ministry, not the Ministry of Health. Will full payment be expected from all small businesses in British Columbia on September 30 or not? [2:00 p.m.] Hon. C. James: As I’ve already said to the Leader of the Opposition, that will be reviewed well before we get to September 30. Businesses have suggested a number of ideas. Ideas are coming forward through the economic recovery process, as well, to add to the supports that we’ve already put in place for businesses.

As I said, the cut that we’ve made in property taxes, the support that we’ve provided through hydro bill forgiveness for businesses, the support we put in place around evic- tions for the commercial tenants who were in buildings where the landlords weren’t applying for the support. We have a whole range of supports for businesses. The deferrals are one, and we’ll be looking at those over the next months.

ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN M. de Jong: Y esterday the Finance Minister presented an update that was unprecedented in our province’s his- tory, including a staggering — I think that was her word, not mine — and record-setting deficit. For all of that, I think British Columbians understand the circumstances that have led us to this point today. They also understand that the situation is not sustain- able. It is not sustainable for hundreds of thousands of families and young people who are out of work. It is not sustainable for small businesses in the tourism sector that are on the verge of closing their doors forever.

Actually, it’s not even sustainable for the government itself to continue to rack up debt at the pace we are presently seeing. Here’s what people don’t understand. They don’t under- stand why the Finance Minister was silent on the issue of how we’re going to get out of this and how we’re going to rebuild our economy. In her presentation yesterday, she dedicated one of 25 slides to the topic of economic recovery. What did that say, and what did she have to say? Well, she promised more meetings, more consultation and maybe, just maybe, an announcement sometime in the fall. That’s not good enough.

That’s simply not good enough. British Columbi- ans can’t wait two more months for a recovery plan to lift us out of circumstances that are clearly unsustainable. Where is the plan? Hon. C. James:Well, in fact, I would say to the member, as the member well knows, that everything we are doing is about economic recovery. If we did not put in place the plan to be able to keep people safe and to address the health care crisis, there would be no economic recovery.

If we did not put in place $5 billion to be able to support people, with immediate relief for people and for businesses, there would be no eco- nomic recovery. If we did not put in place a safe restart plan so that we can build confidence for people to go back out again, to go to businesses and restaurants, and make sure that was being done safely, we wouldn’t have any eco- nomic recovery in this process. Is there another payment of $1.5 billion? Y es, there is. We’re asking British Columbians to engage with us just as other sectors have.

I look forward to those dollars coming out in addition to the dollars, as we announced yesterday, that we put in place to make sure we have a long-term, sus- tainable restart process and economic recovery in British Columbia. Mr. Speaker:The member for Abbotsford West on a supplemental. M. de Jong: Well, I’m afraid that kind of answer will be cold comfort to the thousands of businesses that are facing huge deferred tax bills coming due this September, for which the minister refuses to provide an answer. Famil- ies are facing work uncertainty or outright unemployment.

Actually, if they happen to live in a condo, the situation is even worse, for reasons we have been discussing in this House. The government’s own ability to continue providing support to individuals is steadily eroding. The minister knows that as well. Our collective hope lies in successfully reigniting our economy, but on that fundamentally important issue, the government, the Finance Minister and the Premier remain silent. How are people supposed to have any faith in a recovery plan, so entitled, that promises nothing except more meet- ings and maybe an announcement in the fall? [2:05 p.m.] Hon. C.

James: I would say to the member: how do you ignite the economy if people don’t feel safe? How do you ignite the economy if you’re not dealing with bending the curve, as we have been able to do in British Columbia because of the people of this province? How do you ignite the economy if people are not feeling safe to go out to busi- nesses and businesses and workers don’t feel safe to get their businesses going? Everything we have been doing through the pandemic is about economic recovery, Member. We have been focused on making sure that we do this well, that we do this safely.

We have an additional $1.5 billion that will be put in place as well. We certainly saw glimmers of hope when it came to the June employment numbers. Forty percent of the jobs that have been lost since February are now back again. Again, you’re seeing more people get back into the workforce. The signs are positive. The people of British Columbia are going to stand together. I’ d ask the member and the members on the other side Wednesday, July 15, 2020 British Columbia Debates 12041

to join us in being positive about the economy, supporting the people of British Columbia and making sure that we’re able to do just as we did through the pandemic — come out the other side with a strong recovery here in British Columbia. ECONOMIC RECOVERY PRIORITIES AND CLEANBC PLAN FUNDING S. Furstenau:At one point in time, the B.C. NDP were highly critical of the greenhouse gas emissions from LNG.

As a government, they have rightfully criticized the Trans Mountain pipeline as being too risky a proposition and have suggested that CleanBC will be the driving force for how the government makes recovery funding decisions. An expanded oil and gas industry is not where the future of our economy lies. It creates stranded assets and disap- pearing jobs. My question is to the Minister of Finance. Will she com- mit to not spending any of the $1.5 billion in recovery funding on subsidies to the fossil fuel industry? Hon. C. James:Thank you to the member for the ques- tion.

We certainly do have a long road ahead of us. There’s no question. The pandemic has profoundly impacted our province and profoundly impacted the people and the businesses and the economy of British Columbia. We also know that as we rebuild, we have an opportunity. We have an opportunity to make sure we’re doing it with the values that matter to British Columbians. Of course, those values mean building an innovative, sustainable economy for the long term in British Colum- bia.

It means helping people get the training and the edu- cation that they need to be able to get the jobs that will be available in British Columbia. It means making sure we’re investing in cleaner transportation and cleaner projects in British Columbia. I can assure the member that the funding is going to be used and earmarked, in fact, for a sustainable economy. We’ve made that statement, both the Premier and I. It cer- tainly will, as well, be used to be able to move ahead on our CleanBC projects. We share those values as caucuses.

We also share those values, I believe, with British Columbians, and we have an opportunity through economic recovery to do just that. Mr. Speaker:The Third Party House Leader on a sup- plemental. S. Furstenau:I’m going to take that as a hopeful yes. There won’t be any spending on subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. I’ll frame it again in more of a positive. Throughout this pandemic, B.C. has been seen as a global leader in our response, showcasing that when we agree to work together towards an objective, we actually are able to achieve it.

By working together with the Green caucus, this minor- ity government has put together one of the continent’s leading climate plans with CleanBC, which has been rec- ognized as an economic plan, and the Premier has repeatedly pointed to the role it will have in recovery. Just yesterday the Minister of Environment said it will be at the heart of the recovery. The Minister of Finance just said that in her response. These are encouraging signs, but words are not enough. The $1.5 billion earmarked for recovery must be spent on a green recovery package that will not just revitalize but actually transform our economy.

My question is, again, to the Minister of Finance. Can her government commit to spending at least $500 million of the $1.5 billion in recovery funding to directly acceler- ate or expand CleanBC in order to create clean jobs across the province? Hon. C. James: There is no question. I expect that a significant amount of the recovery funding that we have will be used in meeting our climate goals and in the work that we’re doing with CleanBC. I want to also express my appreciation for the work that we’ve done with the Green caucus, with the member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head, around CleanBC.

There is no question that it is world- leading when we come to the work that we’ve been doing. [2:10 p.m.] We’ve invested over $1.3 billion in the CleanBC strategy over the last couple of budgets. We know how important it is to make sure we’re doing everything we can to move that ahead. We’re continuing to engage, as the member knows. We’ve had extraordinary proposals come forward from a number of groups across the province, including many, many that have come forward around the sustain- able agenda and the opportunity to look at sustainability.

It just reinforces the fact that we are already putting CleanBC and a sustainable economy front and centre as part of our recovery plan. I’m looking forward to going through those proposals and being able to act on them in the fall. B.C. HYDRO AGREEMENTS WITH INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCERS AND FIRST NATIONS CLEAN ENERGY PROJECTS A. Weaver:Many Indigenous communities in British Columbia anticipated being able to sell surplus electricity to B.C. Hydro. Despite this government’s professed com- mitment to reconciliation, the decision by B.C.

Hydro to cancel its standing offer program has placed these com- munities in a very difficult position. As I’m sure the minister is aware, reconciliation is a multifaceted process that involves building genuine, long- lasting economic partnerships with Indigenous com- 12042 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, July 15, 2020

munities. Otherwise, many such communities will contin- ue to struggle economically. More recently, with the pro- posed changes to the self-sufficiency clause in the Clean Energy Act, First Nations aspiring to become clean energy producers will be dealt yet another serious blow. My question is to the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. How can this government claim that it is committed to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples while at the same time introducing measures that will restrict their opportunities for economic development? Hon. B.

Ralston:I want to thank the member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head for his question. Let’s begin by remem- bering that the old government signed insider deals for power at five times the market price. That created a $16 billion obligation owed by British Columbians. That’s $16 billion in unnecessary costs. We are committed to keeping B.C. Hydro rates low and building a low-carbon economy for people. Maintaining affordable electricity is critical to electrifying our economy and meeting our CleanBC goals. The standing offer pro- gram was not compatible with this.

Our government understands — and I acknowledge the import of the member’s question — that many Indigenous communities view small-scale private power as economic development opportunities. Indeed, when we suspended the standing offer program in February 2019, we exempted five projects in development that had significant First Nations involvement. I agree with the member that it’s important to support Indigenous communities in clean energy economic devel- opment. Just last month we announced $13 million for four clean energy projects to help remote communities get off diesel. Mr.

Speaker:The member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head on a supplemental. A. Weaver:I’m not sure what the…. Interjection. A. Weaver:There’s clearly a joke happening on opposite here. Please share it with me later. Over the last decade, numerous First Nations have banked heavily on clean energy projects as an economic development strategy. Many have entered into agreements with independent power producers to do the same. On Vancouver Island, for example, 13 of the 14 Nuu-chah- nulth First Nations are either current or prospective stake- holders in renewable energy products.

The Tla-o-qui-aht Nation has poured over $50 million into clean energy pro- jects and has plans to spend an additional $100 million. Successful endeavours, such as the T’Sou-ke Nation’s solar farm in the Premier’s own riding, have helped get Indigenous nations off diesel, while others that have received financial backing from the government promise to do the same. For many Indigenous communities across British Columbia, the opportunity to sell excess electricity is a vital component of their future economic plans. My question once more is to the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.

Will the minister instruct B.C. Hydro to declareforce majeure on the exist- ing Site C construction contracts, as opposed to the IPP contracts, to save billions upon billions of ratepayer dol- lars, and instead instruct B.C. Hydro to issue calls for power at market rate for any future power needs? To remind the minister, market rate is not 20 cents a kilowatt hour. It’s not 15 cents a kilowatt hour. It is a few cents a kilowatt, as is demonstrated worldwide with the price of solar and wind being lower than the price of coal and natural gas combustion in most jurisdictions. [2:15 p.m.] Hon. B.

Ralston:Once again I’ d like to thank the mem- ber for Oak Bay–Gordon Head for his question. As a gov- ernment, we are committed to working collaboratively with Indigenous communities on opportunities for eco- nomic development. We consulted widely, including engagement with Indigenous nations, on the B.C. Hydro phase 2 interim report, which includes the proposal on the self-sufficiency requirement. I think it’s important to note that the changes that we are proposing will not happen overnight. They will allow B.C.

Hydro to consider out-of-province energy as one option — one option among many — to providing clean and affordable energy as part of their next 20-year plan. These changes support our climate plan, CleanBC, and they allow B.C. Hydro to continue purchasing power from First Nations–owned projects. My ministry has a wide range of programs that support Indigenous communities to transition to clean energy and improve energy efficiency. For example, we’ve invested $5 million in the B.C. Indigenous clean energy initiative. This initiative supports community clean energy projects.

I appreciate the member’s questions on this important topic. Our government will continue to work with Indi- genous communities to identify clean energy opportun- ities. GOVERNMENT PURCHASE OF HOTELS FOR SUPPORTIVE HOUSING AND IMPACT ON BUSINESSES P . Milobar:On Monday, we asked the Minister of Hous- ing about two Victoria small businesses: Paul’s Diner and All About Hue hair salon. These two businesses have been destroyed as a direct result of the minister’s decision to buy the hotels for housing. These businesses lease space in these hotels, and B.C. Housing is refusing to allow them to break their lease.

When we asked the minister, on behalf of Wednesday, July 15, 2020 British Columbia Debates 12043

these business owners, what she was going to do for them, she was combative and dismissive of their concerns. The minister has had a couple of days to come up with real answers for owners Clif and Lindsay, so I’ll ask the minister again. To the Minister of Housing, what is she going to do to fix these situations? Hon. S. Robinson: I want to be very clear with the members opposite that we have offered to maintain these leases. We were very clear that we were happy to keep both of these tenants. We’ve done that in other buildings where we have commercial tenants, where we’ve purchased the buildings.

They’re absolutely welcome to continue to stay. Mr. Speaker:The member Kamloops–North Thomp- son on a supplemental. P . Milobar:Wow. To be very clear for the minister, the problem is the businesses do not want to stay. The busi- nesses do not want to be held to their lease. The businesses had operating businesses inside hotels, with regular trav- elling clientele coming and going. Now they are homeless shelters; they do not want to continue to operate there. B.C. Housing is refusing to allow them to leave, which is bankrupting them.

We are asking these questions on behalf of the real people and local entrepreneurs who’ve lost tens of thousands of dollars and who’ve had to let go of dozens of staff. To quote Clif, the owner of Paul’s Diner: “We employ people with meaningful work, support local farms and donate food to the homeless and those margin- alized. The government is…ruining a business that is an important part of the solution. ” Again to the minister — perhaps now she understands their concerns: what will she do to solve the problem she’s created and to compensate Clif and Lindsay? Hon. S.

Robinson: Again, I want to let the members of the House know that we are prepared to work with everybody around this. If these tenants feel that they cannot sustain their business or work with B.C. Hous- ing, we’re absolutely prepared to work with them to cre- ate a transition for them. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR TOURISM INDUSTRY D. Clovechok:Every day, the Minister of Tourism says: “We’re listening and working on a plan. ” But tourism oper- ators need a plan right now.

Here’s what John Wilson of Wilson Transportation had to say: “Seventy-five percent to 85 percent of our revenue stream is made from April through September, and that season is pretty much gone. To make it through the fall and winter, so many will require continual or added support from government. ” [2:20 p.m.] My question yet again to the Minister of Tourism: after over 16 weeks of waiting, when can operators like John Wilson expect to see an actual recovery plan? Give John a date. Hon. L. Beare:I want to thank the member opposite for the question. We have the same goals for tourism.

We both want to see a strong and resilient tourism sector here in our province. And as the Minister of Finance spoke earlier, every action we’ve taken to date is to ensure that we have that economic recovery in place here. Through our economic recovery process, our govern- ment is focusing on a strong, coordinated provincial approach, and we’re focusing on supporting people and making sure that they’re able to access the supports and the services that they need.

We are working with industry leaders and the public, as well, to make sure that we develop a recovery plan that will help ensure our businesses, including the tourism sector, come back strong, come back resilient. I’ve been working closely with the tourism sector over these past months. We’ve been able to provide a number of reliefs that the sector has personally asked for, such as wholesale liquor pricing, supporting patio expansions, creating a program to help displaced tourism workers find jobs, flexibility in grant funding that they’ve been having. We are addressing the needs directly from the sector.

I’m going to continue working closely with the sector and with those leaders, as we go through our COVID-19 action plan and we move towards recovery together. Mr. Speaker:Columbia River–Revelstoke on a supple- mental. D. Clovechok:Again, that’s cold comfort — no date and no plans. Many Interior communities have seen tourism hit hard over the last few years from forest fires and flood- ing. That means the number of visitors has dropped dra- matically, and small businesses have already been suffer- ing. Now add COVID-19, and many of these businesses may have to close their doors permanently.

As part of the economic recovery plan, if one ever comes, is the Tourism Minister prepared to accelerate tourism-related infrastructure projects immediately? Hon. L. Beare:Thanks to the member for the question. There is absolutely no doubt that the tourism sector has been impacted extremely hard by the COVID pandemic. That’s why our government has set aside $1.5 billion for economic recovery. We want to support economic resili- ence, business recovery. We want to help people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the pandemic.

I’m going to keep working with the industry leaders as we work towards recovery together and listen to their ideas. We’ve been taking action, and we will continue to take action. We’re going to update our tourism strategic frame- work and Destination B.C. ’s corporate strategy. We’re going 12044 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, July 15, 2020

to continue to support destination development and implement key tourism experiences and infrastructure projects, as the member was mentioning. Y ou know, these can include everything from trails and cycling networks, or it could be arts and culture installations. It could be accessible infrastructure. All of these pieces will drive demand, they’ll create jobs, and they’ll help increase tourism here in our province. We’re going to continue to be nimble with our provincial marketing funding. We want to protect our international spaces.

We want to encourage all British Columbians to travel throughout the province, and we want to maintain B.C. ’s global competitive edge. I’m going to keep working with the sector. I’m going to keep working with industry leaders as we work together to find the best way to move forward to develop this strong, resilient tourism sector as we move towards recovery. OPIOID CRISIS AND PRESCRIPTION MONITORING PROGRAM J. Thornthwaite:Last month the official opposition wrote to the Premier about the worsening opioid crisis.

May was the deadliest month in this province’s history, and we offered four immediate steps the Premier could take to help make an impact. One of those steps was the imple- mentation of a prescription drug monitoring program to help prevent cases of addiction in the first place. To the Premier, will he be implementing a prescription drug monitoring program? [2:25 p.m.] Hon. J. Darcy:Thank you to the member for the ques- tion. We are, in fact, implementing a prescription monitor- ing system.

We’ve been working very closely with the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons for about a year and a half now on this program and other improvements around pre- scription medication in order to keep people safe. And as I have reported to this House previously, in answer to pre- vious questions in January 2019, we signed a contract with the College of Physicians and Surgeons. We’ve learned from our experience with PharmaNet that these types of systems absolutely need buy-in from prescribers and from pharmacists.

That’s why we’ve been doing this in close partnership with the College of Phys- icians and Surgeons, the College of Pharmacists, the Col- lege of Nursing Professionals, the College of Dental Sur- geons of B.C., naturopathic physicians, College of Mid- wives and the B.C. Coroners Service. Work on the planning of this project is now complete. We’re moving towards implementation. There’s a lot of work ahead to establish the program. But we are moving forward.

I do want to be clear — and the College of Physicians and Surgeons has certainly said this very, very clearly: there are limitations to the prescription monitoring pro- gram and the prescription review program in combating the opioid crisis. Primary prevention is only one line of attack. As the member knows, we’ve been working on a wide variety of programs related to prevention, but he says neither the prescription review program nor the creation of a prescription monitoring program will be the sole solu- tion to this complex public health emergency. But we are working on it. We’re at the implementation stage.

It is moving ahead. Mr. Speaker:The member for North Vancouver–Sey- mour on a supplemental. J. Thornthwaite:Well, since we first raised this issue, more than 1,900 people have died in British Columbia. So we would like to know whether or not the minister or the Premier is going to act quicker so that we can prevent more deaths? Hon. J. Darcy:Thank you to the member. Just to refer back to what the College of Physicians and Surgeons said, that program is about prevention, but it is not a quick fix. I’ve spoken to this issue in the House yesterday, and I will refer to it again.

The coroner has been absolutely crystal-clear, and so has the provincial health officer, that the principle reason for the spike in overdose deaths in this province is because we are dealing with a drug supply, a street drug supply — not, first and foremost, prescription meds, which is a primary cause in some other places, some parts of the United States. In our province, at this time, the spike is due to a drug supply that is seeing combinations of drugs — very high concentrations of fentanyl, sometimes mixed with benzodiazepines — that are a direct result. We have been working to prevent deaths.

We rolled out, within a couple of weeks of the pandemic being declared, a new risk mitigation program in order to get safe prescrip- tion medications out to people, to separate them from the illegal drug supply. At the same time, we are working on building the con- tinuum of care, because we know that it’s critical to have all of these pieces in place: harm reduction, safe supply, treat- ment and prevention, enforcement. All of those are the pil- lars of our drug response. I want to give just one example.

The First Nations Health Authority and the coroner released a report last month that showed, for Indigenous people, the death rate has gone up. It’s 5.6 percent of the population at large. That’s why we are working in very close partnership with the First Nations Health Authority on renovating and rebuilding six Indigenous treatment centres, two new urb- an Indigenous treatment centres, mental health and well- ness programs, land-based healing and a number of other initiatives. They’re part of the continuum of care that we need to be Wednesday, July 15, 2020 British Columbia Debates 12045

building and that we are building at the same time as we try and keep people safe from overdose and prevent more people from tragically dying. [End of question period.] Tabling Documents Mr. Speaker:Members, I have the honour to present a report regarding a regulation made under the Emer- gency Program Act from the office of the Minister of Pub- lic Safety and Solicitor General. [2:30 p.m.] Hon. D. Eby: I have the honour to present the Crown Proceeding Act reports for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2018 and ’19. Orders of the Day Hon. M.

Farnworth:I call third reading of Bill 11, Attorney General Statutes Amendment Act. Third Reading of Bills BILL 11 — ATTORNEY GENERAL STATUTES (VEHICLE INSURANCE) AMENDMENT ACT, 2020 Bill 11, Attorney General Statutes (Vehicle Insurance) Amendment Act, 2020, read a third time and passed. Hon. M. Farnworth:I call committee stage, continued, on Bill 13, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act. Committee of the Whole House BILL 13 — MISCELLANEOUS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2020 (continued) The House in Committee of the Whole (Section

B) on Bill 13; R. Chouhan in the chair. The committee met at 2:32 p.m. Sections 12 to 15 inclusive approved. On

section 16. M. Lee: I just want to ask, in terms of the status of next steps with this change to expand the number of Supreme Court justices from 90 to 95…. What’s the expectation around timing, with the federal government, in terms of getting these additional judges in place? [2:35 p.m.] Hon. D. Eby: The timing is dependent on the federal government, which has the responsibility for appointing. There are conversations, of course, between the courts and the federal government. What this does is it creates the possibility for additional appointments.

The complement is the number of judges in the province, and the existing provision has the number 90. This changes it to 95, but the appointments sit with the federal Attorney General. Sections 16 to 20 inclusive approved. On

section 21. Hon. D. Eby: I move the amendment to

section 21 standing in my name on the orders of the day. [SECTION 21, by adding the underlined text as shown and delet- ing the text shown as struck out: 21

Section 30 is amended (

a) in subsection (2) by striking out “must make the following information contained in transparency records available for search by any person” and substituting “must make the fol- lowing information contained in transparency records available through searches conducted under

section 35[searches by members of public]”, (

b) in subsection (2) (

a) by striking out “reporting bodies that are, at the time of the search, registered as owners” and substi- tuting “reporting bodies that are identified as registered own- ers”, (

c) by repealing subsection (2) (b) (

i) and (ii) and substituting the following: (

i) individuals who are, at the time of the search, identified as interest holders in relation to (

A) the reporting bodies referred to in paragraph (

a) of this subsection, or (

B) the interests in land in respect of which the reporting bodies referred to in paragraph (

a) of this subsection are identified as registered owners, and (ii) in the case of reporting bodies referred to in paragraph (

a) of this subsection that are trustees of relevant trusts, persons who are, at the time of the search, identified as settlors of the relevant trusts;, (

d) in subsection (2) by adding the following paragraph: (b.1) parcel identifiers for parcels of land in relation to which persons are, at the time of the search, identified as reporting bodies, interest holders or settlors;, and (

e) by repealing subsection (3) and substituting the following:

(3) The administrator must take reasonable steps to ensure that the information to be made available under subsection (2) relates to persons who are, at the time of the search, identified as reporting bodies, interest holders or settlors. (3)

(4) The following information, as that information relates to an individual who is identified as an interest holder or settlor, must not be made publicly accessible under subsection (2) until at least 90 days after the transparency report to which the information relates has been accepted by the registrar for filing with the admin- istrator: (

a) primary identification information; (

b) parcel identifiers for parcels of land in relation to which the individual is identified as an interest holder or settlor. (4)

(5) For certainty, the requirement under subsection (3)(4) (

b) that parcel identifiers must not be made publicly accessible as in- formation that relates to an individual identified as an interest holder or settlor does not affect the requirement under subsec- tion (2) (b.1) that parcel identifiers must be made publicly access- 12046 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, July 15, 2020

ible as information that relates to a person identified as a reporting body.] On the amendment. Hon. D. Eby:This amendment amends

section 21 of the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2020, to require the administrator of the Land Owner Transparency Act to take reasonable steps to ensure that information that is provided as the result of a public search is current. The amendment is in response to concerns raised by the administrator that in a small number of cases, information in the registry may be out of date with respect to land title and survey records.

In these cases, the administrator will manually intervene to ensure the information is accurate, but it may impact their ability to provide accurate inform- ation immediately as required by the current legislation. The Chair:Just to clarify, Members, this amendment was moved in the name of the Hon. Carole James. Hon. D. Eby:Thank you for the correction, hon. Chair. Amendment approved.

Section 21 as amended approved. On

section 22. Hon. D. Eby: I move the amendment to

section 22 standing in the name of the Minister of Finance on the orders of the day. [SECTION 22, by deleting the text shown as struck out and adding the underlined text as shown: 22

Section 35 is repealed and the following substituted: Searches by members of public 35 Subject to reasonable conditions that the administrator may impose, a person may search obtainpublicly accessible informa- tion by (

a) searching for the name of a person to ascertain the parcel identifiers for the parcels of land in relation to which the person is, at the time of the search, identified as a reporting body, in- terest holder or settlor, (

b) searching for the parcel identifier for a parcel of land to as- certain the persons who are, at the time of the search, identified as reporting bodies, interest holders or settlors in relation to the parcel of land, or (

c) conducting a prescribed search.] On the amendment. Hon. D. Eby:I wondered if I might speak to the amend- ment just so members knew what it was. [2:40 p.m.] This amendment amends

section 22 of the Miscel- laneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2020, to help provide clear authority to the administrator of the Land Owner Transparency Act to release information when the public searches the registry. The amendment is in response to concerns raised by the administrator that the act as previously amended did not provide clear and uncontestable authority to release the primary identification information of beneficial owners to individuals who search the registry. Amendment approved.

Section 22 as amended approved. Sections 23 to 30 inclusive approved. On

section 31. B. Stewart:I just would like the minister to perhaps cla- rify and advise what the process is in the event under sub- section (3.1) where there are more than six parcels. If there is no newspaper, does it revert to subsection (3) where written notice must be provided to every person that has an interest in the appertained land? Hon. D. Eby: I’m just clarifying. I think that the min- ister responsible for the act will be answering these ques- tions. We’re just making sure to get him online. It might be one moment. If we might have a brief recess, Mr. Chair.

The Chair:This House will be in recess for five minutes. The committee recessed from 2:43 p.m. to 2:43 p.m. [R. Chouhan in the chair.] Hon. D. Eby: I wonder if the member could repeat his question. I see the minister is now online and able to answer. B. Stewart:The question is on subsection (3),

section 94. Can the minister advise what the process is going to be in the event under section (3.1) where there are more than six parcels? If there’s no local newspaper, does it revert to section (3), where written notice must be provided to every person that has an interest in the appurtenant land? [2:45 p.m.] The Chair:Minister, are you ready to answer now? Please proceed. I can’t hear you. The House will be in recess for another five minutes. The House recessed from 2:46 p.m. to 2:48 p.m. [R. Chouhan in the chair.] Hon. D. Eby:Mr. Speaker, just given the challenges that the minister’s having, I wonder if we might stand his sec- Wednesday, July 15, 2020 British Columbia Debates 12047

tions down and reach out to his office and try to get him physically here into the chamber. The relevant sections, as I understand it, for the minister are this

section through to

section 34, inclusive. Y es, 35 would be where we would pick it up. So we’ d stand down this

section and 34. The Chair:All right. Members, we will then skip to sec- tion 35. Sections 31 to 34 inclusive stood down. On

section 35. [2:50 p.m.] B. Stewart:Under

section 35,

section 18, in regards to the E-Health (Personal Health Information Access and Protection of Privacy) Act, I just would like to clarify what is being done here in this

section and

section 36, which is amending

section 23 of the Pharmaceutical Services Act. Was this amendment reviewed by the Privacy Commis- sioner, and was the privacy impact statement done? Hon. D. Eby:I can advise the member that the commis- sioner’s office was involved in that they were consulted on this particular amendment, and there was a privacy impact assessment done. B. Stewart:Just to go back, I combined two of my ques- tions into one there. The first one, in

section 18, we just want to confirm that what’s being proposed here, and sec- tion 36, is amending

section 23 of the Pharmaceutical Ser- vices Act. Hon. D. Eby: I can advise the member that this adds those relevant subsections to the Pharmaceutical Ser- vices Act, so I believe his understanding is correct with respect to that. B. Stewart:To clarify that this amendment is being done to provide consistency with the amendments that were made in the previous amendments to FOIPPA in the bill? Hon. D. Eby: The member is correct. In the previous

section we passed a miscellaneous statutes bill that amended FOIPPA, and these provisions, 35 and 36, incor- porate those amendments into the E-Health Act and, as the member noted, the Pharmaceutical Services Act. B. Stewart:I don’t think I was asking about the…. I was trying to get an answer about the fact that this was to provide consistency with the amendments that were made in the previous act in the miscellaneous stats, of FOIPPA, that was brought forward previously. Hon. D. Eby: Assuming that the member and I have the same understanding, I think the short answer is yes.

They incorporate provisions from that previous amend- ment by reference. It actually brings those provisions dir- ectly into these acts. So it would make them entirely con- sistent because it directs people to those particular amend- ments. It literally uses those exact amendments. [2:55 p.m.] B. Stewart:Of course, I mean, privacy and the fact that we have examples last fall, recently, where there has been information that was inappropriately shared. I think it’s important that we get this right and that we don’t just make any assumptions here.

To be clear, the minister has confirmed that this is to provide consistency with the amendments that were made in the previous amendments to the FOIPPA bill. As the minister will remember, the Privacy Commissioner had significant concerns with those amendments and had filed communication to the government in that respect. Do these amendments take into consideration any of his recommendations that were in that communication? Hon. D. Eby:The member is testing my memory about the previous amendments.

The commissioner’s comments and feedback were in relation to the previous set of amendments that have already passed this House. With respect to these amendments that incorporate the bill that then passed, there was no additional work done with the commissioner in terms of those original submissions of the commissioner’s related to the amendments. I just want to note that those amendments do not per- mit storage outside of Canada. I believe the member was referencing the LifeLabs data breach, which was in relation to data that was stored. So this would not have a relation- ship to the LifeLabs data breach.

It’s for temporary pro- cessing by a computer outside Canada, not for storage of data or information outside Canada. M. Lee: I appreciate the member for Kelowna West raising these questions on this provision. That actually is the commentary, in my recollection, when we went through this similar set of provisions on amendments relating to temporary storage outside of Canada. There were issues and concerns raised from the Privacy Com- missioner about those amendments.

So just to clarify again, with these proposed amendments here to this particular act, is it on the same basis for temporary stor- age as were the previous amendments that were made under a different misc stats bill? Hon. D. Eby:That bill did pass the House, and there is a requirement that additional statutes, to borrow the mem- ber from Kelowna’s words, are made consistent. So these statutes are being made consistent with that which is now law in British Columbia. 12048 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, July 15, 2020

The member…. I think he just misspoke. But just to be totally clear, those original amendments and these incor- porating amendments do not permit the storage of per- sonal information, either on a temporary basis or on a per- manent basis. They only allow the processing of informa- tion outside of Canada. M. Lee: I intended to say temporary processing. It was the temporary processing of personal data outside of Canada that the Privacy Commissioner had concerns about and the way that that was being expressed in the pre- vious amendments that were being made.

We had actually proposed amendments to that to reflect the concerns of the Privacy Commissioner. In making these further amendments, even if it’s for consistency purposes — coming back to the Attorney General’s previous response — has there been any further dialogue with the Privacy Commissioner about this partic- ular set of amendments? And does the Privacy Commis- sioner still maintain any concerns regarding the nature of these temporary processing requirements? [3:00 p.m.] Hon. D. Eby: I am advised that the commissioner did not raise similar concerns this time around. Sections 35 to 74 inclusive approved.

The Chair:The House will be in recess for five minutes. The committee recessed from 3:01 p.m. to 3:02 p.m. [R. Chouhan in the chair.] The Chair:We will be now going back to

section 31. Hon. D. Eby:I’ll be taking those sections for the minis- ter. On

section 31. B. Stewart:In

section 31, the repeal of subsection 94(3), we just want to clarify that the process in the event under

section 3.1…. If there are more than six parcels, if there is no local newspaper, does it revert to

section 3, where writ- ten notice must be provided to every person that has an interest in the appurtenant land? Hon. D. Eby: The answer is yes. All affected parties are notified in writing in the case of where there’s not a local newspaper. B. Stewart:No other questions on

section

Section 33 is the next one. Sections 31 and 32 approved. On

section 33. B. Stewart:In this new section, 117.1, I just would like to confirm what the purpose of this

section is and what generated the need to add this section? [3:05 p.m.] Hon. D. Eby: This is an issue where there’s a practice taking place, currently, and

an act that requires activities but doesn’t clearly fulfil the requirements of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. In particu- lar, you need to have explicit authority to collect, use and disclose certain personal information under FOIPPA in British Columbia. That needs to be explicit within the act itself. So the amendment fixes that omission by expressly giving authority to collect this information. The information is important for a number of reasons. It’s available inside and outside of Canada and used by a wide range of users.

So certainly government, emergency services, provincial health authorities, industry — includ- ing forestry, mining and oil and gas companies — use this information to notify impacted users. For example, down- stream users would be notified of an incident that could impact public health and safety, like, for example, a spill of a chemical — to use just one example — which is why this information needs to be collected and kept up to date. Under the Water Sustainability Act, there are obliga- tions where an applicant for water use must identify and notify other potentially impacted users.

For example, if your water source is likely to be detrimentally impacted, the ground water licence applicant has to notify others who are using that source that they intend to use it in that way. The only way they can know who to notify is if the information has been collected, and the only way the gov- ernment can let them know who will be affected is if gov- ernment can disclose that information. B. Stewart:Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and to the minister for that very comprehensive answer.

Again, in the fact that this is an oversight in a previous piece of legislation, has this been gone over by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and was the privacy impact assessment done just on these changes? Can the minister advise what the response was from the Office of the Infor- mation and Privacy Commissioner, in the case that they did do that? Hon. D. Eby: I can advise the member that there were two temporary orders that were issued by the minister engaging with the Privacy Commissioner in order to address the omission.

The commissioner advised govern- ment that we should be ensuring that the statute was amended and that the omission was corrected before those temporary orders expired, and they expire in 2021. So that is the extent of the feedback from the commissioner. I’m advised that the commissioner had on this simply Wednesday, July 15, 2020 British Columbia Debates 12049

that we needed to have a provision like this in the act and not to address it through maintaining the temporary order but to fix it in legislation as soon as possible, which is what we’re doing. B. Stewart:So just to be clear, the Office of the Informa- tion and Privacy Commissioner confirms that the tempor- ary orders by the minister responsible for the Water Sus- tainability Act — these improvements were necessary and covered off by the changes that are proposed here? [3:10 p.m.] Hon. D. Eby: This fully addresses the issue, and the temporary orders will be cancelled once this passes. B. Stewart:Okay.

Just to confirm, the Privacy Commis- sioner accepts that as being a…. That’s acceptable, being that he hasn’t issued a written report on this. We want to be clear that he is in agreement that these changes meet the privacy requirements. Hon. D. Eby: It’s my understanding that the commis- sioner requested that government make these amend- ments. So they are consistent with the commissioner’s wishes, in terms of how government addressed this issue. B. Stewart:The next question on

section 117.1 is: has this ability for the minister to disclose this personal infor- mation been…? Sorry. In

section 117.1, it provides for the information to be published in a registry. Does this registry currently exist, or is this something new that’s being created? Hon. D. Eby: I can advise the member that there are two existing registries that are intended to be captured by that section. One is the groundwater wells or the GWELLS registry, and the other is the water licence registry, also known as the e-licensing database. B. Stewart:We’ve got two different registries that previ- ously existed. Who has access to the registry, and is it pub- licly available? Hon. D.

Eby: I’m advised that the public has access to these registries. It is online access, and they’re fully search- able. This is partly why the provision talks about access in and outside Canada. It’s online and can be accessed and searched, likewise, from anywhere in the world. Both are fully public registries. B. Stewart:In subsection 117.1(3), can the minister advise what might be sources other than an individual in this act? [3:15 p.m.] Hon. D. Eby: I’m advised that common examples are the land title registry or the B.C. Assessment rolls.

They would be sources of information, other than the individu- al, that could be looked at for access to information that would assist in these registries. B. Stewart: Moving on, in the same section, to 117.1(4), in the existing act, it says that published per- sonal information “that was collected otherwise than directly from the person to whom the personal infor- mation relates” must not be published unless notice is provided and consent provided. Could the minister just confirm how that’s going to occur? Hon. D. Eby: I wonder if the member could just draw me to the

section he’s referring to about the publication requirement. I’m just trying to clarify with staff exactly which

section he’s referencing here. B. Stewart:This is, again, subsection 117.1(4). What I was referring to was that the former act required that the information was not to be published unless notice was provided and consent provided. The new

section does not apply to the publication of personal information. What is the rationale for overriding the protection of the existing act? That’s my question. Sorry. Hon. D. Eby:The member is right. It’s an unusual thing to have the publication of personal information by gov- ernment, so there needs to be an overriding objective. In this case, it’s ensuring that people have information, in the event of emergency or another significant impact on water use, of who would be affected and who needs to be noti- fied.

If you have a well that you’re relying on for drinking water for your family, it’s vital that if there is some kind of contamination or spill, you get notified right away. That urgency and the need for people to be able to access this information as quickly as possible, including even a longer-term project where there’s construction pro- posed that’s going to affect groundwater in an area…. The contractor or the proponent needs to be able to find and identify who will be affected by that activity and provide notice to them. That is the justification for removing this publication or consent process.

The overriding value here is of urgent notice and upfront notice so that people can register objec- tions or concerns or otherwise be notified of a potential issue with the water that they’re using. [3:20 p.m.] B. Stewart:I can appreciate the sense of urgency that is needed with some of the things that the minister described earlier. Being that this

section is now going to override and remove the

section about the personal information — it’s going to be available — was this section, again, reviewed by the Office of the Privacy and Information Commission- 12050 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, July 15, 2020

er, particularly allowing publication of the personal infor- mation without consent? Hon. D. Eby:I can advise the member that the whole of 117.1 was reviewed by the Privacy Commissioner. I have advised him of all of the feedback that I understand we have received from the Privacy Commissioner about it. B. Stewart:Section 117.1(5): “Nothing in this

section is intended to limit the authority of the minister to col- lect, use or disclose personal information under an enactment. ” Can the minister give an example? The fact that this is such a sweeping statement, very broad — can we just get an example on the record, please? Hon. D. Eby: There are other acts and other provisions within this act that discuss the minister’s or the ministry’s ability to collect or use different types of information. The goal of this subsection, of this section, is to be clear that this particular

section is not meant to limit other authorit- ies that might be out there, in terms of the minister’s ability to collect, use or disclose personal information. It applies to the scenarios that relate to this section, but not to other sections. The concern would be this sec- tion being applied to a

section that it was not drafted to apply to. It’s just meant to provide clarity to someone try- ing to understand how they would be affected by the act — that these authorities are limited to the circumstances described and not meant to affect other sections. B. Stewart:I think that what we’re looking for is…. Actually, with the minister’s answer, it broadens the whole question about the enactment and the term and how broad that is. Is there an example, specifically, where this has been a barrier, in terms of past actions, so that the public can better understand this?

And I guess the last part on this is: because of the sweep- ing powers of this, is there going to be a clear policy within government to make certain that this information is restricted within government and only used for the pur- pose that’s been described here today? Hon. D.

Eby: The member is looking for a clear state- ment of the purposes of the collection of the information that are stated in subsection (2). [3:25 p.m.] The provision specifically says: “The minister may, for one or more of the purposes listed in subsection (2)…. ” So when it says that, then you have to go to subsection (2) and see when the minister can collect, use and disclose the information. The purposes are as follows, and they’re a limited set of purposes: purpose (

a) to administer the act; purpose (

b) to publish the information in a registry — we talked about those registrations — where the registry relates to one or more of the following matters. So it’s not just any registry, but it has to relate to these: (

i) authorizations, change approvals, permits or drilling authorizations; (ii) works, like construction; (iii) water, streams, groundwater or aquifers; and (iv) is a prescribed matter that can be set by regulation. And then there’s also a subsection (c), of course, which is to manage significant harm to public safety, the envir- onment, land or other property; and (

d) to monitor com- pliance with this act and the regulations. So the minister is constrained by this

section around what purposes he is allowed to collect, use and disclose the information, and it is only those purposes that are permitted. Subsection (5) is important — to note that, you know, there may be other sections of the act…. And I apologize to the member. I don’t have one at hand. But what it’s meant to say is that this

section is not meant to apply to other sections of the act. It’s not intended to…. Where there may be another provision that somehow has a broad- er ability to publish or has different requirements or dif- ferent purposes, it’s not meant to limit the authority of the minister to collect or use that information. It’s not an unusual provision in that regard. It doesn’t enable some sort of widespread data collection. The minister is still lim- ited by subsection (2). Sections 33 and 34 approved. Title approved. Hon. D. Eby:I move that the committee rise and report the bill complete as amended. Motion approved.

The committee rose at 3:28 p.m. The House resumed; Mr. Speaker in the chair. Reporting of Bills BILL 13 — MISCELLANEOUS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2020 Bill 13, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2020, reported complete with amendments, to be considered at the next sitting of the House after today. Hon. D. Eby:Mr. Speaker, I call committee stage of Bill 20. [3:30 p.m.] Wednesday, July 15, 2020 British Columbia Debates 12051

Committee of the Whole House BILL 20 — MOTOR VEHICLE AMENDMENT ACT (No. 2), 2020 The House in Committee of the Whole (Section

B) on Bill 20; S. Gibson in the chair. The committee met at 3:31 p.m. On

section 1. J. Johal:I just have a couple of broad questions for the Attorney General. Can the Attorney General explain the overall purpose of Bill 20? Hon. D. Eby:The amendments proposed relate to num- ber plates, also known as licence plates, and validation decals, those little stickers with the month and year you get from your ICBC broker when you renew your insur- ance.

They provide for the possibility for decals to last for periods longer than the term of the vehicle licence plate and are non-expiring — you get your sticker, and it doesn’t expire — and also for the possibility of there not being a decal at all. It enables a number of pieces that flow from this — in particular, during the pandemic. We had phone renewals and email renewals for people, for their insurance, when it’s expiring, to be able to provide social distancing and assist them to interact with their broker. Certainly, they still had to receive the sticker for their licence plate.

With online renewals and phone renewals and email renewals, it may be — depending on engagement with, for example, law enforcement — that it’s better not to have a decal at all. There are many jurisdictions that don’t have decals like this. So it’s an example of the kind of reform that could flow from this. This is enabling. It’s not prescriptive. It depends on our engagement with groups, like law enforcement, that depend, potentially, on the decal to know whether a car is insured or not. Or maybe they use their licence plate read- ers and a database, and they don’t look at the decals at all.

We’re going to be engaging with those stakeholders. This enables the possibility that changes could flow from that. J. Johal:The Attorney General touched on the impact of COVID and how ICBC has responded on behalf of the company and, of course, the people of British Columbia. Were these changes that the Attorney General is talking about inspired because of what happened with COVID and how ICBC responded to the pandemic? Why now? Hon. D. Eby:We’re engaged in a modernization project with ICBC. Part of that includes an online renewal system.

We are continually moving the pieces down the board to turn ICBC into a modern insurance company. Obviously, it’s a significant piece of work. The members have all been here for the work that we did around the enhanced care model. This is part of our continuing modernization. We’re asking questions. Do we need to do the things that we’ve always done? Are there different ways to approach issues and ways that reduce costs and increase conveni- ence for British Columbians? [3:35 p.m.] There are many entities that have an interest in how ICBC does business.

These include law enforcement, brokers, other stakeholders and, of course, most import- antly, British Columbians. We’re going to do that work. We know that there’s a great deal of interest in online renewals, as one example. This facilitates that kind of modernization work. J. Johal:Just to confirm, this process, for some of the things that the minister is talking about, started prior to COVID? Hon. D. Eby:That is correct. J. Johal:Can the Attorney General give us a sense of the history of this bill in regards to the idea that came and how it made it to the floor today? Hon. D.

Eby: It’s certainly our goal to be responsive to the wishes of British Columbians around their public auto insurer. There are, obviously, some priority areas for Brit- ish Columbians — that rates be lower and that benefits be better — and there are concerns around convenience, things like online renewals. Certainly, as I was receiving that feedback from many British Columbians — actually, I think I received that feedback from the member who asked the question — in relation to online renewals, we were looking at…. What would it take in order to facilitate that?

Are there things that we do right now that might limit the ability to do online renewals and that might make it less convenient? That opened up a line of questioning around the decals. There’s not a huge amount of history or depth beyond that. It’s our goal to modernize the company. That includes online sales. To my mind, this is very closely linked to that goal around delivering those online sales. When it was originally conceived of, we did not imagine the COVID situation, where everyone, overnight — all of the brokers and ICBC — would transition to telephone and email renewals.

That experiment, in real time, was a great credit to the brokers and to ICBC staff working together, very closely and very quickly, to enable that to happen. It was a very successful project. This bill has…. Although the work started before, it’s very complementary to the direction that we’re clearly going. J. Johal:The Attorney General talks about eventually 12052 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, July 15, 2020

getting to online renewal. I don’t recall the government mentioning online renewal up until about last year. I could be off by a few months. What change was in the mindset of the Attorney Gener- al and the government to now bring this bill forward and move towards online renewal? Hon. D. Eby: I think that what was really the focus of government’s attention in the first couple of years on the file was the hemorrhaging of $1 billion a year by ICBC and the need to urgently address that.

Online renewals, although certainly a priority in terms of convenience for many British Columbians, really paled in comparison to the financial state of the corporation and the need to address that very urgently.

With our first round of reforms around the limit on pain and suffering awards for minor injuries and the use of the civil resolution tribunal, stabilizing ICBC’s finances and now the enhanced care model work proceeding along, it creates the possibility for what I would describe as second- stage modernizations and initiatives that we would have liked to have prioritized but that had to, essentially, take a back burner because of the financial state of the corpora- tion. [3:40 p.m.] This work is proceeding along in the background.

I do have to acknowledge it hasn’t been as significant a priority, given the priority of the financial reforms we’ve had to make to improve benefits and reduce prices for British Columbians and get ICBC on a stable financial footing. J. Johal:Online, as the Attorney General said, is the eventual goal with this bill. Can he provide a road map of when British Columbians can expect…? After the pas- sage of this bill, there’s a lot of work still to do. But can he provide a timeline of when we can get to that point of Brit- ish Columbians actually being able to renew their licence online? Hon. D.

Eby: Well, the good news is I can advise the member that people, right now, can renew by email and by phone, through their brokers, and that work is in place. In terms of being able to go to a website, the back-end work for the enhanced care model needs to be complete first. That is due in May of next year. There’s engagement with stakeholders — like law enforcement, brokers and others — around the issues of the decals that also need to take place. So until that work is done, people will not be visiting a website to do their renewals. However, I am optimistic that we will get there sooner rather than later.

The challenges, though, are…. Again, the priority is get- ting rates down for British Columbians and delivering the benefits of the enhanced care model, which requires an overhaul of the technological back end of ICBC, and that overhaul will facilitate the additional work. There are unbelievable challenges with the existing computer system that makes some really important work quite difficult.

The happy news is that by May of next year, the infra- structure will be in place that will facilitate things like online renewal and other important work that ICBC, and most people, would expect that ICBC would be able to do in the year 2020. But we are playing catch-up. J. Johal:It’s safe to say that with the passage of this bill, we probably won’t see online renewal within the next 12 months. Hon. D. Eby: British Columbians have online renewal available right now, but in terms of doing that through a website or an app, it’s unlikely to be within the next 12 months.

The focus is on enhanced care implementation to reduce rates for British Columbians. J. Johal:I should have clarified. I was talking about a website and an app. Is it fair to say that we can expect online renewal before the end of this government’s man- date? Hon. D. Eby: Well, hidden in there is a very important question about when the end of this government’s man- date is. We’re in a minority parliament. I wouldn’t set that as a date in a minority parliament for anything. But the member’s first question, I think, was one that I feel better equipped to respond to.

I don’t expect that, outside of email renewals, British Columbians will be visiting a website or using an app to renew their insurance within the next 12 months. The focus within the next 12 months will continue to be the enhanced care project and delivering those lower rates and better benefits for British Columbians. In the interim, we have email and phone renewals. J. Johal:There’s a significant amount of consultation that’s still coming with this bill, after the passing of this bill. We can get to the law enforcement question a little bit later.

But can the Attorney General educate this House in regards to what the consultation process is going to look like moving forward for various stakeholders, including brokers, and how he sees that moving forward? [3:45 p.m.] Hon. D. Eby: I can advise the member that an initial outreach has already been made to the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police and that their initial feedback is that this is an important modernization effort. They are heartened that in other jurisdictions where they have made this mod- ernization of getting rid of stickers, they were able to address law enforcement concerns.

That work continues. There’s also engagement with the Ministry of Trans- portation commercial enforcement team and enforcement teams under Public Safety and Solicitor General, as well, to Wednesday, July 15, 2020 British Columbia Debates 12053

determine how or if they use these stickers for any reason. Then, in addition to the law enforcement outreaches that are taking place, I expect to hear a report from the brokers in the next 16 to 20 weeks. They should complete that pro- cess and have provided a list of feedback on online imple- mentation. The member will know that I am not particularly enthu- siastic about hiring on a significant number of people at ICBC to manage online. My preference is that the brokers take on that work of managing online.

In order for that to happen, we need their feedback, and I’m expecting a full report from them with recommendations, certainly within the next four months. And then, with respect to other groups, I’ d certainly welcome any suggestions that the member might have about other stakeholders who should be consulted. But those were the two main groups that staff have identified: policing and law enforcement groups, and the brokers. J. Johal:Is there a cost savings for ICBC in regards to the decal arrangement? Hon. D. Eby: It depends very much on what the final model looks like.

Certainly, we do expect some savings to flow to ICBC, but I don’t have any numbers. There’s been no modelling, because the actual model of what it will look like is not finalized yet. I do note that it’s hard to know how British Colum- bians will take up online renewals. In Saskatchewan, it’s about 15 percent of people who renew online, despite there being an online renewal model. So if we have a modest sort of uptake like that, the impact will be relat- ively low. But if there’s a greater impact, there might be greater savings for ICBC. J.

Johal:As the Attorney General is saying, he doesn’t have a desire to add on more employees at ICBC. He wants to work with the brokers. But when customers go online, they expect some savings with the convenience of going online. Does the minister see any impact on broker fees — in this case, brokers making less money — and any com- pensation? Is that part of that conversation too? [3:50 p.m.] Hon. D. Eby: That will very much be determined by the kind of model that comes forward.

The recommenda- tions and feedback from the brokers will be considered, as will any feedback from law enforcement and enforcement teams within the provincial government around the stick- ers and so on. Certainly, my hope is a more efficient process for every- body, where everybody wins, resulting in lower fees and reduced cost for consumers, and we do believe there will be some savings for ICBC. But at this stage, it is too soon to say, given that we have not yet settled on a particular model of how this will be delivered.

I think the goal here is to externalize as much as pos- sible, from my perspective, the support and follow-up, if people have trouble with the online system. I don’t partic- ularly wish that ICBC has to hire up new call centres to deal with and provide support to people who are having trouble with that. I would much prefer that the brokers take on that work, but that is all part of the conversation. J. Johal:As I had stated, the people do expect some savings when they go online. Is it safe to say that the Attorney General hasn’t ruled out compensation for brokers?

Because as he knows very well, they have applied for this licence. They have spent a significant amount of dollars building their business and training their staff. At the same time, customers do want reduc- tion in what they’re paying at times — 5 percent, 10 per- cent. That’s got to come from somewhere. Does he see at least some sort of potential conversation in regards to compensating brokers who may lose some business?

Document details

Collection	British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	20200715pm Hansard n341
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	20200715pm Hansard n341
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	25f0dcb771b196be4596baf7d1cb7378238220c7

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (pdf).