British Columbia Hansard — 26 October 2021, a.m., Issue 115 (42nd Parliament, 2nd Session)

20211026am-Hansard-n115

British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)

Second Session, 42nd Parliament OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES (HANSARD) Tuesday, October 26, 2021 Morning Sitting Issue No. 115 THE HONOURABLE RAJ CHOUHAN, SPEAKER ISSN 1499-2175

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Entered Confederation July 20, 1871) LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR Her Honour the Honourable Janet Austin, OBC Second Session, 42nd Parliament SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Honourable Raj Chouhan EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Premier and President of the Executive Council ............................................................................................................... Hon. John Horgan Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Training...........................................................................................................Hon.

Anne Kang Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries......................................................................................................................Hon. Lana Popham Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing .............................................................................................Hon. David Eby, QC Minister of Children and Family Development ....................................................................................................................Hon.

Mitzi Dean Minister of State for Child Care...................................................................................................................................... Hon. Katrina Chen Minister of Citizens’ Services.....................................................................................................................................................Hon. Lisa Beare Minister of Education .................................................................................................................................................. Hon.

Jennifer Whiteside Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation ........................................................................................Hon. Bruce Ralston, QC Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy............................................................................................. Hon. George Heyman Minister of Finance .......................................................................................................................................................... Hon.

Selina Robinson Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development ................................................ Hon. Katrine Conroy Minister of State for Lands and Natural Resource Operations................................................................................. Hon. Nathan Cullen Minister of Health and Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs.............................................................................Hon.

Adrian Dix Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation .......................................................................................... Hon. Murray Rankin, QC Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation....................................................................................................... Hon. Ravi Kahlon Minister of State for Trade...............................................................................................................................................Hon.

George Chow Minister of Labour ...................................................................................................................................................................Hon. Harry Bains Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.............................................................................................................. Hon. Sheila Malcolmson Minister of Municipal Affairs ............................................................................................................................................. Hon.

Josie Osborne Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General ........................................................................................................... Hon. Mike Farnworth Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction........................................................................................... Hon. Nicholas Simons Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport .................................................................................................................. Hon.

Melanie Mark Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure................................................................................................................... Hon. Rob Fleming Minister of State for Infrastructure ................................................................................................................................... Hon.

Bowinn Ma LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Leader of the Official Opposition...................................................................................................................................................Shirley Bond Leader of the Third Party .......................................................................................................................................................... Sonia Furstenau Deputy Speaker..........................................................................................................................................................

Spencer Chandra Herbert Assistant Deputy Speaker..............................................................................................................................................................Norm Letnick Deputy Chair, Committee of the Whole .......................................................................................................................... Ronna-Rae Leonard Clerk of the Legislative Assembly ...........................................................................................................................................

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

Jennifer Arril Clerk Assistant, Committees and Interparliamentary Relations ..............................................................................................Susan Sourial Senior Research Analyst ................................................................................................................................................................... Karan Riarh Sergeant-at-Arms ........................................................................................................................................................................... Ray Robitaille

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERS Alexis, Pam (BC NDP) ............................................................Abbotsford-Mission Anderson, Brittny (BC NDP) .........................................................Nelson-Creston Ashton, Dan (BC Liberal Party) ............................................................... Penticton Babchuk, Michele (BC NDP)...............................................................North Island Bailey, Brenda (BC NDP).................................................. Vancouver–False Creek Bains, Hon. Harry (BC NDP).........................................................

Surrey-Newton Banman, Bruce (BC Liberal Party) ............................................ Abbotsford South Beare, Hon. Lisa (BC NDP) .......................................

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

Surrey South Chandra Herbert, Spencer (BC NDP).................................Vancouver–West End Chant, Susie (BC NDP) ..............................................North Vancouver–Seymour Chen, Hon. Katrina (BC NDP) ............................................... Burnaby-Lougheed Chouhan, Hon. Raj (BC NDP).................................................Burnaby-Edmonds Chow, Hon. George (BC NDP) ..........................................Vancouver-Fraserview Clovechok, Doug (BC Liberal Party)........................Columbia River–Revelstoke Conroy, Hon.

Katrine (BC NDP) ....................................................Kootenay West Coulter, Dan (BC NDP) .......................................................................... Chilliwack Cullen, Hon. Nathan (BC NDP) ................................................................... Stikine Davies, Dan (BC Liberal Party)................................................. Peace River North de Jong, Michael, QC (BC Liberal Party)....................................Abbotsford West Dean, Hon. Mitzi (BC NDP) ...............................................

Esquimalt-Metchosin D’Eith, Bob (BC NDP) .........................................................Maple Ridge–Mission Dix, Hon. Adrian (BC NDP) ................................................ Vancouver-Kingsway Doerkson, Lorne (BC Liberal Party) ........................................Cariboo-Chilcotin Donnelly, Fin (BC NDP) .......................................... Coquitlam–Burke Mountain Dykeman, Megan (BC NDP)............................................................... Langley East Eby, Hon. David, QC (BC NDP).......................................

Vancouver–Point Grey Elmore, Mable (BC NDP) ..................................................Vancouver-Kensington Farnworth, Hon. Mike (BC NDP) .................................................Port Coquitlam Fleming, Hon. Rob (BC NDP) ...............................................

Victoria–Swan Lake Furstenau, Sonia (BC Green Party) .............................................Cowichan Valley Glumac, Rick (BC NDP) ..................................................Port Moody–Coquitlam Greene, Kelly (BC NDP) ........................................................Richmond-Steveston Halford, Trevor (BC Liberal Party) .........................................Surrey–White Rock Heyman, Hon. George (BC NDP) .........................................Vancouver-Fairview Horgan, Hon. John (BC NDP) ......................................... Langford–Juan de Fuca Kahlon, Hon.

Ravi (BC NDP) .............................................................. Delta North Kang, Hon. Anne (BC NDP) .................................................. Burnaby–Deer Lake Kirkpatrick, Karin (BC Liberal Party) ........................West Vancouver–Capilano Kyllo, Greg (BC Liberal Party)....................................................................Shuswap Lee, Michael (BC Liberal Party) ..............................................Vancouver-Langara Leonard, Ronna-Rae (BC NDP)...............................................

Courtenay-Comox Letnick, Norm (BC Liberal Party) .................................. Kelowna–Lake Country Lore, Grace (BC NDP)........................................................... Victoria–Beacon Hill Ma, Hon. Bowinn (BC NDP).....................................North Vancouver–Lonsdale Malcolmson, Hon. Sheila (BC NDP)........................................................Nanaimo Mark, Hon. Melanie (BC NDP).................................Vancouver–Mount Pleasant Mercier, Andrew (BC NDP) ........................................................................

Langley Merrifield, Renee (BC Liberal Party)......................................... Kelowna-Mission Milobar, Peter (BC Liberal Party) .......................... Kamloops–North Thompson Morris, Mike (BC Liberal Party) ................................. Prince George–Mackenzie Oakes, Coralee (BC Liberal Party).................................................. Cariboo North Olsen, Adam (BC Green Party)............................ Saanich North and the Islands Osborne, Hon.

Josie (BC NDP)........................................Mid Island–Pacific Rim Paddon, Kelli (BC NDP) ................................................................Chilliwack-Kent Paton, Ian (BC Liberal Party) ............................................................... Delta South Popham, Hon. Lana (BC NDP)........................................................ Saanich South Ralston, Hon. Bruce, QC (BC NDP) .............................................Surrey-Whalley Rankin, Hon.

Murray, QC (BC NDP) .............................Oak Bay–Gordon Head Rice, Jennifer (BC NDP) ...................................................................... North Coast Robinson, Hon. Selina (BC NDP)...................................Coquitlam-Maillardville Ross, Ellis (BC Liberal Party)......................................................................... Skeena Routledge, Janet (BC NDP) .............................................................Burnaby North Routley, Doug (BC NDP)...........................................

Nanaimo–North Cowichan Russell, Roly (BC NDP).................................................... Boundary-Similkameen Rustad, John (BC Liberal Party)......................................................Nechako Lakes Sandhu, Harwinder (BC NDP) .................................................Vernon-Monashee Sharma, Niki (BC NDP)..........................................................Vancouver-Hastings Shypitka, Tom (BC Liberal Party) .................................................... Kootenay East Simons, Hon. Nicholas (BC NDP).........................

Powell River–Sunshine Coast Sims, Jinny (BC NDP) ................................................................. Surrey-Panorama Singh, Aman (BC NDP) .............................................Richmond-Queensborough Singh, Rachna (BC NDP)...................................................Surrey–Green Timbers Starchuk, Mike (BC NDP) ......................................................... Surrey-Cloverdale Stewart, Ben (BC Liberal Party) .......................................................

Kelowna West Stone, Todd (BC Liberal Party) ...............................Kamloops–South Thompson Sturdy, Jordan (BC Liberal Party) ............................. West Vancouver–Sea to Sky Tegart, Jackie (BC Liberal Party)....................................................... Fraser-Nicola Walker, Adam (BC NDP) ....................................................... Parksville-Qualicum Wat, Teresa (BC Liberal Party) ....................................... Richmond North Centre Whiteside, Hon. Jennifer (BC NDP) .........................................

New Westminster Wilkinson, Andrew, QC (BC Liberal Party)......................Vancouver-Quilchena Y ao, Henry (BC NDP) ..................................................... Richmond South Centre LIST OF MEMBERS BY RIDING Abbotsford-Mission................................................................................. Pam Alexis Abbotsford South...............................................................................Bruce Banman Abbotsford West......................................................................

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

Janet Routledge Cariboo-Chilcotin ..........................................................................Lorne Doerkson Cariboo North.................................................................................... Coralee Oakes Chilliwack ...............................................................................................Dan Coulter Chilliwack-Kent .................................................................................... Kelli Paddon Columbia River–Revelstoke .........................................................

Doug Clovechok Coquitlam–Burke Mountain...............................................................Fin Donnelly Coquitlam-Maillardville ...................................................... Hon. Selina Robinson Courtenay-Comox................................................................... Ronna-Rae Leonard Cowichan Valley ............................................................................. Sonia Furstenau Delta North................................................................................... Hon.

Ravi Kahlon Delta South ..................................................................................................Ian Paton Esquimalt-Metchosin .................................................................... Hon. Mitzi Dean Fraser-Nicola .........................................................................................

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

Renee Merrifield Kelowna West ..........................................................................................Ben Stewart Kootenay East.......................................................................................Tom Shypitka Kootenay West........................................................................ Hon. Katrine Conroy Langford–Juan de Fuca .............................................................. Hon.

John Horgan Langley .............................................................................................Andrew Mercier Langley East....................................................................................Megan Dykeman Maple Ridge–Mission.............................................................................. Bob D’Eith Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows............................................................Hon. Lisa Beare Mid Island–Pacific Rim............................................................ Hon.

Josie Osborne Nanaimo.............................................................................Hon. Sheila Malcolmson Nanaimo–North Cowichan............................................................... Doug Routley Nechako Lakes........................................................................................ John Rustad Nelson-Creston ............................................................................. Brittny Anderson New Westminster.............................................................. Hon.

Jennifer Whiteside North Coast ........................................................................................... Jennifer Rice North Island................................................................................... Michele Babchuk North Vancouver–Lonsdale......................................................... Hon. Bowinn Ma North Vancouver–Seymour...................................................................Susie Chant Oak Bay–Gordon Head..................................................Hon.

Murray Rankin, QC Parksville-Qualicum........................................................................... Adam Walker 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..............................................Hon. Nicholas Simons Prince George–Mackenzie....................................................................Mike Morris Prince George–Valemount ..................................................................

Shirley Bond Richmond North Centre..........................................................................Teresa Wat Richmond-Queensborough..................................................................Aman Singh Richmond South Centre .......................................................................... Henry Y ao Richmond-Steveston ............................................................................

Kelly Greene Saanich North and the Islands .............................................................Adam Olsen Saanich South .............................................................................Hon. Lana Popham Shuswap...................................................................................................... Greg Kyllo Skeena........................................................................................................... Ellis Ross Stikine........................................................................................ Hon.

Nathan Cullen Surrey-Cloverdale .............................................................................. Mike Starchuk 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, QC Surrey–White Rock .......................................................................... Trevor Halford Vancouver-Fairview.............................................................. Hon.

George Heyman Vancouver–False Creek...................................................................... Brenda Bailey Vancouver-Fraserview...............................................................Hon. George Chow Vancouver-Hastings ..............................................................................Niki Sharma 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 .....................................................................

Harwinder Sandhu Victoria–Beacon Hill............................................................................... Grace Lore Victoria–Swan Lake.................................................................... Hon. Rob Fleming West Vancouver–Capilano...........................................................Karin Kirkpatrick West Vancouver–Sea to Sky................................................................Jordan Sturdy Party Standings: BC NDP 57; BC Liberal Party 28; BC Green Party 2

CONTENTS Tuesday, October 26, 2021 Morning Sitting Page Routine Business Introductions by Members..................................................................................................................................................... 3695 Introduction and First Reading of Bills................................................................................................................................ 3695 Bill 24 — Environmental Management Amendment Act, 2021 Hon. G. Heyman Bill 26 — Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2021 Hon. J.

Osborne Statements (Standing Order 25B) ......................................................................................................................................... 3696 COVID-19 impact on airports N. Letnick Feezah Jaffer G. Begg West Vancouver Place for Sport and Harry Jerome Oval project K. Kirkpatrick Hybrid work model and workplace equality J. Rice Elizabeth Toigo I. Paton COVID-19 impact on rural B.C. and local economies R.

Russell Oral Questions......................................................................................................................................................................... 3698 Emergency calls system management and government response to heatwave S. Bond Hon. A. Dix K. Kirkpatrick CleanBC plan and LNG development S. Furstenau Hon. G. Heyman Ambulance response times and emergency health system T. Stone Hon. A. Dix M. Morris G. Kyllo I. Paton J. Tegart P .

Milobar Tabling Documents................................................................................................................................................................. 3704 Office of the Auditor General,Report on the Audit of the Public Accounts — Fiscal Year 2020-21 Orders of the Day Second Reading of Bills .......................................................................................................................................................... 3704 Bill 22 — Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2021(continued) On the amendment(continued) T.

Stone On the main motion M. de Jong Hon. L. Beare

TUESDAY , OCTOBER 26, 2021 The House met at 10:03 a.m. [Mr. Speaker in the chair.] Routine Business Prayers and reflections: M. Dykeman. Introductions by Members Hon. H. Bains:In the gallery today is a joint delegation of Unifor and Domtar mill: Bob Stephens, vice-president, Unifor Local 10-B; Sheldon Morice, vice-president, Unifor Local 10-B; Jean-Claude Allaire, general manager, Kam- loops pulp mill; Tom Hoffman, manager of forestland and fibre; Kristin Dangelmaier, technical quality and environ- ment manager; Stephanie Blier, human resources man- ager; and Bonny Skene, regional public affairs manager.

Please help me give them a very warm welcome. [10:05 a.m.] T. Stone:I, too, would like to join in welcoming this joint delegation from Unifor and the Kamloops Domtar pulp mill, on behalf of the member for Kamloops–North Thompson and myself. Domtar is a major employer. In fact, the pulp mill in Kamloops has been there for decades, a huge contributor to the local economy and the com- munity generally, currently employing 317 folks in the mill, with about 1,500 direct and indirect jobs. We’re very appreciative of everyone that works with and for Domtar.

With us for meetings today with the government and with the opposition are Bob Stephens, vice-president of Unifor Local 10-B; Sheldon Morice, vice-president of Uni- for Local 10-B — who, I understand, was actually a pretty darned good centreman on the hockey team with the member for Kamloops–North Thompson; Jean-Claude Allaire, the general manager of the Kamloops pulp mill; Tom Hoffman, the manager of forestland and fibre; Kristin Dangelmaier, the technical quality and environment man- ager; Stephanie Blier, human resources manager; and Bonny Skene, the regional public affairs manager.

Would the House please make this joint delegation very welcome. Hon. M. Dean:The only United World College in Can- ada is Pearson College, in beautiful, rural Metchosin, and today we’re blessed with having 11 students from grades 11 to 12 here visiting. They’re here today with their teacher, Michelle Moon. Would everybody please make them very welcome. Introduction and First Reading of Bills BILL 24 — ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AMENDMENT ACT, 2021 Hon. G. Heyman presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Environmental Management Amendment Act, 2021. Hon. G.

Heyman: I move that the bill be introduced and read a first time now. This bill proposes enabling amendments to the Envir- onmental Management Act to establish provincewide bans on the sale, distribution or use of prescribed single-use and short-term products, to apply fees and alternatives to single-use products, where necessary, and/or require that businesses make items available only by request. This authority would be in addition to existing authority to make regulations prohibiting or restricting the use and nature of specified kinds of packaging, including plastic packaging.

This legislation will support our government’s commit- ment to the provincewide phase-out of single-use plastics. It will reduce the environmental impact caused by the amount of plastic waste created in this province, as well as reducing the negative impact of plastic pollution on human health and the environment. It will also minimize the risk of unintended consequences posed by other non- plastic single-use alternatives. The public expects strong action on problematic single-use products, and local gov- ernment and industry expect a coordinated, provincial approach.

This legislation responds to those expectations. Mr. Speaker:The motion is on the first reading. Motion approved. Hon. G. Heyman:I move that this bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today. Bill 24, Environmental Management Amendment Act, 2021, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today. BILL 26 — MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT (No. 2), 2021 Hon. J.

Osborne presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2021. 3695

Hon. J. Osborne:I move that the bill be introduced and read a first time now. I’m pleased to introduce Bill 26. This bill amends the Community Charter, the Local Government Act and the Vancouver Charter, among other statutes. [10:10 a.m.] Bill 26 does three things. It gives local governments new tools to deliver more housing for people more quickly, it responds to requests from local governments to help serve community needs, and it provides authorities necessary to dissolve the Jumbo Glacier mountain resort municipality.

Our government is listening to the needs of communit- ies and the requests of local governments, and we’re work- ing closely with them to provide more tools so that they can build more housing, more quickly, for people in their communities.

Specifically, Bill 26 proposes to enable local govern- ments to delegate decisions on minor development vari- ance permits to staff; remove the default requirement for local governments to hold public hearings for zoning bylaws that are consistent with an official community plan; modernize local government public notice require- ments by allowing for community choice in addition to existing methods for providing public notice; enable the Islands Trust to meet its specialized mandate more effectively by responding to specific needs and requests of the Islands Trust, including enshrining their collab- orative and cooperative processes and engagement with First Nations; facilitate economic development for the city of Powell River by removing historic regulatory restrictions on city-owned land in the mill-site area; support the responsible conduct of elected officials by requiring local governments to give consideration to developing or updating codes of conduct.

Finally, I’m pleased to share that these amendments will provide the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council with specific authorities to dissolve the Jumbo Glacier moun- tain resort municipality and remove the authority to incorporate a mountain resort municipality without res- idents in the future to prevent a situation like this from ever happening again. As the Minister of Municipal Affairs, I’m pleased to table these amendments, which respond to the needs and requests of local communities. Mr. Speaker:Members, the question is the first reading of the bill. Motion approved. Hon. J.

Osborne:I move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today. Bill 26, Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2021, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today. Statements (Standing Order 25B) COVID-19 IMPACT ON AIRPORTS N. Letnick:As MLAs, we are no strangers to airports, and many of us probably visited one this past weekend.

For many, an airport is a simple and necessary stop on a long journey, either for work or to see friends and family or to take a vacation. But the value of airports for our com- munities cannot be understated. Airports serve crucial purposes. They keep our province and our nation interconnected. They serve as the first impression of our communities for many who take their first steps into our hometowns, and they serve as key eco- nomic drivers, supporting thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic output for our towns and province.

When you live in such a desirable location as the Oka- nagan, the value of such a fantastic airport as YLW truly cannot be understated. The Okanagan and Kelowna prob- ably wouldn’t be the same as they are today without YLW . Prior to COVID-19, YLW’s total economic impact was 4,500 jobs and $789 million in total economic output to the province of B.C. Like all airport hubs around the world, COVID has had a tremendous impact on YLW and the thousands of people who earn their living keeping it running. At Kelow- na International Airport, air service in 2020 and most of 2021 has been down by more than 90 percent.

Airlines who have scheduled international flights through Kelowna International Airport are already at a point where they are cancelling routes and will need to continue to cancel routes if we do not receive confirmation of YLW’s interna- tional status reopening.

I hope my statement today serves not only as some recognition and gratitude for the thousands of staff at YLW and airports across B.C. who have kept them run- ning throughout this incredible challenge of COVID-19 but also serves as a call to action for this House and all members to do whatever they can to convince our federal authorities to reinstate international status to the Okanagan’s airport as soon as possible. FEEZAH JAFFER G. Begg: I am pleased today to pay tribute to an amaz- ing and dedicated community leader who has been a driv- ing force in Surrey for many years in her work with the Surrey Food Bank.

Feezah Jaffer has been the executive director of the food bank since 2017, and during that time, the bank has undergone and continues to undergo dra- matic and remarkable progress and change. 3696 British Columbia Debates Tuesday, October 26, 2021

[10:15 a.m.] Today the Surrey Food Bank serves roughly 14,000 peo- ple monthly, with more than 40 percent of that being chil- dren. The charity serves a diverse spectrum of clients from working families and seniors to those on assistance and new immigrants and refugees. Known as an expert in food security and the food bank industry, Feezah has grown substantially through many years of hands-on leadership serving the not-for-profit sector. A passionate collaborator, Feezah was responsible, among other things, for leading the food bank into its next stage of growth and a new building.

The organization, under her leadership, found a new home a block and a half west of King George Boulevard and measuring 23,000 square feet, three times the size of the former building. Earlier this year Feezah was honoured in what is prob- ably best described as at least slightly ironic but, at the same time, very fitting…. She got to see her face mem- orialized on the front of a box of breakfast cereal. Feezah was one of five food bank workers from across Canada chosen by General Mills to appear on a Cheerios box.

Her photo is on the trademark yellow box, along with a red maple leaf, under the banner “Cheer on the front line. ” Next to Jaffer’s photo is her name in big bold letters and “food bank hero. ” Not surprisingly, a quote from Ghandi, “Be the change you want to see, ” has been a guiding principle of Feezah’s life. I know that this House will join with me in thanking Feezah Jaffer for her tremendous, continuous and ongoing community contribution. WEST V ANCOUVER PLACE FOR SPORT AND HARRY JEROME OV AL PROJECT K. Kirkpatrick:“Sport has the power to change the world.

It has the power to inspire, to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language that they understand. ” That’s the much-quoted Nelson Man- dela. West Vancouver’s only running track is almost 70 years old. It has a proud history as a staple community amenity and a place where extraordinary athletes got a start. But due to the track’s deterioration, there’s been a call for an upgrade to it for many years. With the North Shore’s growing population, the de- mand for a safe, all-weather, multisport and leisure facility for all ages has never been higher.

Demand has far out- grown the current field’s availability. There’s no other pub- lic track facility in West Vancouver, and the last competi- tion-sized track in North Vancouver was removed last year as part of the Handsworth high school replacement. A small group of dedicated volunteers has been working to raise funds to build the West Vancouver Place for Sport to fill this need, and so was born the West Vancouver Place for Sport in the community. The heart of this new facil- ity will be a running track named in honour of one of the North Shore’s most inspirational residents, Harry Jerome.

Jerome grew up on the North Shore and trained at the West Vancouver track in the 1950s. He went on to hold the title of the world’s fastest man, setting a total of seven world records over his career. Jerome was Canada’s male athlete of the 20th century and has inspired countless indi- viduals with his commitment through adversity. The West Vancouver Place for Sport and the Harry Jer- ome Oval will be a reminder of his great contributions in the future. The community continues to raise funds to make this dream become a reality.

For anyone that wishes to help and support this import- ant project and has sport in their heart, please contact the West Vancouver Foundation. We look forward to welcom- ing you to the track. HYBRID WORK MODEL AND WORKPLACE EQUALITY J. Rice: While some of us are experiencing Zoom fat- igue, many women are embracing the technology and feel- ing empowered by it. While many companies are using a hybrid model of working, where employees spend part of their time working from home and

part in the office, many organizations are considering keeping large meet- ings online. The thinking is it helps productivity, saves time, money, GHG emissions, and it increases gender equality. The U.K. Permanent Secretary of the Department for Digital recently told staff that she would keep online meetings because they were more effective and also helped women participate. Digital meetings can be great levellers, because every- body is in the same-sized box. Dr.

Heejung Chung points to new research that shows people from an ethnically diverse background and LGBTQ2S+ workers may find that not having to be present in physical work environ- ments that other them makes work more accessible. [10:20 a.m.] Research from Slack’s think tank Future Forum, based on American workers, found that only 3 percent of Black workers wanted to return to full-time in-person work compared with 21 percent of white workers.

Jean-Nicolas Reyt, assistant professor of organizational behaviour at McGill University, states: “Even as modern organizations are challenged by attracting, re- taining and promoting talented employees, they underutilize one major source of available talent: women. Women account for half of all entry-level employees, yet they compose only a third of senior managers and a fifth of C-suite executives.

One of the reasons wo- men have a harder time advancing professionally is that they are much more likely than men to prioritize their family responsibilit- ies over their careers. ” If organizations continue to offer remote work oppor- tunities after the pandemic is over, more women will have a level playing field. Tuesday, October 26, 2021 British Columbia Debates 3697

ELIZABETH TOIGO I. Paton:I rise today to speak of the recent passing of a beloved constituent, Elizabeth Toigo. Born in 1933, Elizabeth and her family moved from Vancouver to Powell River at an early age. In high school, she met, and eventually married, Peter Toigo, who, even at a young age, was, like Elizabeth, an upstart entrepreneur. Peter and Elizabeth moved the family to Tsawwassen in 1964. As the family grew, so did the Toigo business ven- tures of Shato Holdings, including White Spot Restaurants and many other real estate developments.

Due to Peter Sr. ’s untimely passing in 1993, Elizabeth became not only the matriarch of the family, but she also became chairperson of the Toigo family’s thriving businesses, which, under her guidance, continued to thrive to the present day. Elizabeth Toigo was a wonderful mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She was welcoming. She was fun- ny. She was a generous host, a great philanthropist, a great cookie maker and a tremendous fan of the family’s Van- couver Giants hockey team.

More than anything, she was a class act who somehow managed to remember all 29 grandkids’ and great grandkids’ birthdays and made each and every one of them feel they were her favourite. She also made a special point of taking each of her grandchil- dren Christmas shopping each year. Elizabeth was an immensely kind and generous person. She gave significant contributions to many charities, in- cluding cancer research, Variety Club, the Delta Hospital Foundation and a historical donation which resulted in the Peter C. and Elizabeth Toigo diagnostic centre at our Delta hospital.

Her kids think she even picked up the phone every time she heard Sarah McLachlan’s melodramatic singing during an SPCA commercial. Mrs. Toigo was the glue that held the family and their businesses together. She was an extraordinarily kind, caring, generous and selfless person with a great sense of humour. It’s been an honour for me to be a friend of the Toigos. On behalf of Delta residents, I pass along my condol- ences to Elizabeth’s adult children: Louise Greene, Wendy Toigo, Peter and Lesley Toigo, Roy and Monica Toigo, Ron and Michelle Toigo, and Rick Toigo.

Her grace, her class, her support and encouragement, her constant positivity and, above all, her unconditional love helped shape her family’s lives for the better. COVID-19 IMPACT ON RURAL B.C. AND LOCAL ECONOMIES R. Russell:A few years ago I found myself in the world of community economic development, a critically import- ant focus, especially for the new rural economy on our horizon. In that space, there’s a strategy, developed by the New Economics Foundation, called plugging the leaks.

At its core, it’s an idea that for local economies to thrive, we need not just a focus on bringing new resources into our communities but optimize what assets we already have. This focuses on regenerating our local economies from within and leveraging the great assets already resid- ent in rural B.C. While COVID has been brutal for so many and for so long, it’s certainly temporarily plugged some of our major economic leaks in rural B.C. While our international bor- der was closed, for example, we saw some businesses in our border towns, such as clothing, retail and hardware, ending up with record sales numbers.

Staffing was tough, mental health was tough, and uncertainty was tough. But the financial statements were good. Money was flowing. Likewise, some local food supply chains, able to be nim- ble, have done very well. The Kettle Valley Food Co-op, for example, saw a 300 percent increase in sales, tied to their ability to pivot to food delivery and the increased demand for local food. [10:25 a.m.] Indeed, we are seeing an example here of triple-bottom- line benefits.

A recent research paper stated: “The recon- nective characteristics of alternate and local food systems are not only a source of social cohesion but also drivers of sustainability. ” By boosting social innovation with the help of technological innovation, the pandemic made us accel- erate a transition to sustainability. We have the potential to redesign supply chains with our economy, nutrition and human health in mind. In rur- al B.C., we saw the resilience of shorter, fairer and cleaner supply chains that addressed local priorities.

So we have a choice ahead of us: we can return to the path we were on, or we can actively work to retain these glimmers of hope that have shone through the COVID gloom. Shortening supply chains and supporting local busi- nesses can serve as a triple win — supporting resilient economic systems and local entrepreneurs, reducing environmental impacts and building social community connections. That’s my call to action: shop local. Oral Questions EMERGENCY CALLS SYSTEM MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO HEATW AVE S.

Bond: Emails obtained under FOI show that alarm bells were ringing at E-Comm 9-1-1 well in advance of a heatwave that took the lives of 569 British Colum- bians. According to E-Comm’s vice-president of oper- ations, delays in transferring ambulance requests from 911 call takers had been increasing for 12 months prior to the heatwave. On June 3, nearly a month before the heatwave, an internal email says: “There are spikes we cannot manage in our current underfunded model. B.C. emergency health 3698 British Columbia Debates Tuesday, October 26, 2021

services is compromising public safety due to delays with their call answers. ” This is a question for the Premier of British Columbia. Why did his government fail to act before these delays cost the lives of so many British Columbians during the heat- wave? Hon. A. Dix:Thank you to the Leader of the Opposition for her question. The Leader of the Opposition will know, because I brief on these subjects regularly, that the situation around ambulance calls was something I raised in public around June 3, because those days were record days in British Col- umbia. They weren’t heat dome days; they were regular days.

We were seeing an extreme uptake in the use of our ambulance service, such that I think that it was June 4 or 5, in that range, that it was the highest day of ambulance calls at that time in the history of British Columbia, except for New Y ear’s Eve 2017 and 2018. We have been adding extraordinary resources to our ambulance system. We’ve gone from a funding level of $424 million to $559 million. During that period, we were adding resources to the ambulance system.

The events of the heat dome, as the member will know, in that weekend saw an increase in calls so significantly beyond even what we saw in the first week of June. It was unprecedented, as Dr. Henderson has suggested, from the BCCDC — a one in a 1,000-year event, which has now happened and we now have to respond to. The member will also know the significant investments we’ve made, including in dispatch — 30 new dispatchers in the BCEHS part of the system and the ambulance dispatch part of the system — to address that issue.

But there are extraordinary challenges facing our ambu- lance system and health care system today because of two public health emergencies. We are responding with more resources, more ambulance paramedics, more ambu- lances, more air ambulances and more dispatchers. Mr. Speaker:The Leader of the Official Opposition on a supplemental. S. Bond: Almost 600 frail, elderly British Columbians, for the most part, died, and this government had a warn- ing. The time period that the emails reference was 12 months where call volumes were increasing at unpreced- ented rates.

It was too little, too late, and the outcomes, frankly, were deadly. The emails obtained under FOI make it clear that the crisis in 911 dispatch and the Ambulance Service were ignored by the government in the months leading up to the heatwave. E-Comm felt so frustrated at their concerns being ignored that they considered holding a press confer- ence to directly appeal to the government — not in 2018 or 2019 but prior to the heatwave. [10:30 a.m.] This is what the president and CEO of E-Comm wrote on June 30: “The government needs to get in.

This is for BCEHS and the Ministry of Health to fix. ” Again to the Premier, why did his government fail to fix the problems that led to 911 being absolutely over- whelmed during the heatwave? Hon. A. Dix: The people of B.C. know the situation of the Ambulance Service, because we regularly reported on that situation throughout the pandemic. There were peri- ods in the pandemic when ambulance calls were down.

There were more significant periods, particularly on Van- couver Island earlier on in January and February, and then in the whole province, starting in May and June, where we saw ambulance demand increase in advance of the heat dome to an extent that it had never been seen before. This is a fact and something we regularly reported on. It is why we responded by significantly increasing resources to the Ambulance Service in 2018, in 2019, in 2020, and now in 2021, to deal with the situation we dealt with at those times and to see a significant increase in service.

It is clear that the extraordinary events of that week and the continuing extraordinary events facing our province put pressure on the Ambulance Service. We have respon- ded, as the member knows, as all members of the House know, in, I think, the best way possible: by adding supports and resources, by strengthening both the leadership and the on-the-ground supports to Ambulance Service, by providing more service in 24 rural communities, in adding services to 26 other rural communities and in adding ambulance paramedics and dispatchers in urban areas.

That is the way you respond to the challenge, and we’re going to continue to do that. K. Kirkpatrick:These FOI documents show deep con- cern from E-Comm about a crisis that has been growing for 12 months. On June 29, the president and CEO wrote: “The signi- ficant risk to public safety posed by call-answer delays in transferring 911 calls for the Ambulance Service to BCEHS has significantly worsened. BCEHS’ ability to accept our calls is being fully exhausted. ” This was the very day that the Premier was giddy and said fatalities are a part of life and people need to take personal responsibility.

My question to the Premier: is this an issue of person- al responsibility, when it was clearly a failure of his gov- ernment? Hon. A. Dix:The Ambulance Service has been, I think, since its creation, a source of pride in B.C. It’s why, when I became Minister of Health, I doubled our rate of increase of investment, because I think it is, and because it did require that at the time, and I think everyone knew it. Efforts didn’t start when I became Minister of Health. George Abbott started the community paramedicine sys- Tuesday, October 26, 2021 British Columbia Debates 3699

tem when he was Minister of Health, and others saw it. But we had a level of investment in the Ambulance Service that was significantly below what it needed to be, and that’s why this government doubled it, why we added full-time paramedics, ambulances, air ambulances and dispatch resources. We are continuing to do so, because at this point in our history, when our primary care system has been dispro- portionately virtual, there are extraordinary pressures on our Ambulance Service that we’ve seen.

We’re respond- ing again by adding ambulance paramedics — hopefully, we all agree that’s a good idea — adding cars, adding air- ambulance services, adding dispatchers, reforming the management of BCEHS and putting outstanding leaders in charge to help us through this period. I want to thank our ambulance paramedics, who con- tinue to do an extraordinary job on the ground. We are going to continue to do what we’ve been doing, which is significantly support them in the time of two public health emergencies. Mr. Speaker:The member for West Vancouver–Capil- ano on a supplemental. K. Kirkpatrick:I thank the minister.

This government often talks about doubling investments, increasing how much money is being spent. That is not how we judge suc- cess. We judge success by the outcomes, and these out- comes are not good. [10:35 a.m.] This is what else the president of E-Comm wrote: “BCEHS is 100 percent maxed out. I was told last night that over 200 calls were waiting in queues to be assigned to an ambulance to attend.

Fundamentally, BCEHS must remedy this problem. ” We know that by June 3, E-Comm was convinced that the problems at B.C. emergency health services were com- promising public safety, yet nothing was done to fix the problems, and the system collapsed during the heat wave. Why did the Premier describe the failure of his govern- ment as a matter of personal responsibility? Hon. A. Dix:We are judged on what we do and our out- comes. I always try, in answering questions in this House, to take responsibility for that in as simple a way as I can.

The member says that hiring more paramedics, hiring more dispatchers, adding cars, adding air ambulances, which this government did on the base that had been left to us — and people can be judged on that, too — was not the right course, but I think it is the right course. What we know is that we need to continue to add such resources to meet the current demand. I think when people call 911, they should get an ambu- lance. That’s what I think.

That’s why we’re adding re- sources to meet that, because that’s what our ambulance paramedics think and our dispatchers think and people at E-Comm think and everyone thinks. So we’re going to continue our efforts to improve the system in both rural and urban B.C., in every community in B.C., to meet that challenge in the current time. I’m very proud of our ambu- lance paramedics and our teams for all of their efforts to make this happen. CLEANBC PLAN AND LNG DEVELOPMENT S. Furstenau: Last week the International Energy Agency released theirWorld Energy Outlook report.

The report is designed to be a handbook for policy-makers at the COP26 climate change conference. It is long. However, what it found is that fossil fuel development is inconsistent with keeping climate change below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Fossil fuel expansion is inconsistent with avoiding disaster. The questions this morning in this chamber really show us that climate change is a public health emergency, and it will continue to affect every aspect of our society. Y ester- day this government announced theirCleanBC Roadmap to 2030.

It included a new GHG cap on natural gas, or LNG, but made sure to include compliance pathways so that industry can get away with continuing to develop LNG. The Premier proudly proclaimed LNG as a bridge fuel. It is not. It is a fossil fuel with intensive greenhouse gas emissions, including methane. To the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, despite dire warnings, will this government allow future LNG development in British Columbia? Hon. G. Heyman: Thank you to the member for the question.

British Columbians, like people around the globe, have experienced the effects of climate change in the last couple of years, and particularly this year, that exceed anything that they thought they would see, although cli- mate scientists obviously knew what was coming. We’re concerned about that as well in our government, and we understand we need to address the issue of climate change with great urgency. The member, the Leader of the Third Party, worked with us in the previous parliament to develop our CleanBC climate plan.

I think we were all proud of that, but we know that we needed to design a road map that took us to our targets. We needed to close that loop, and we needed to up our ambition. We’re proud of the road map we released yesterday. It is significant. It contains measures across all sectors of soci- ety and the economy. They’ve been independently mod- elled to reduce emissions to meet our target.

That includes mandating methane emission reductions in the oil and gas sector of 75 percent by 2030, and it includes a commitment to work with the sector, with oil and gas, with Indigen- ous Nations and with experts to design the measures that will take us to our 2030 sectoral target of 33 to 38 percent reduction in oil and gas emissions. [10:40 a.m.] 3700 British Columbia Debates Tuesday, October 26, 2021

The CleanBC roadmap is modelled, including a 33 per- cent reduction. Mr. Speaker:The Leader of the Third Party on a supple- mental. S. Furstenau:I appreciate the minister’s response, how- ever, it did not answer the question I posed very clearly, which is: will this government allow future LNG develop- ment? I’m curious about a specific part of the road map as well. The road map puts in place a cap on greenhouse gas emis- sions for LNG, but that cap is only for domestic use. That’s interesting, given that this government has been intent on LNG for export.

To the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, if LNG is developed for export, will it be exempt from the greenhouse gas emissions cap included in this govern- ment’s climate plan? Hon. G. Heyman:The member apparently continues to try to find reasons not to believe that we’re serious about meeting our climate targets, but I assure you that we are. The member has also incorrectly interpreted the road map.

There is a cap on emissions from oil and gas use, domest- ically, and there is a commitment to work with the oil and gas sector, with Indigenous nations and with experts to put in place programs and policies to ensure that we meet the emission reduction sectoral target for oil and gas in B.C. The member keeps looking for a dramatic statement. I don’t know of a more dramatic statement than outlining exactly the amount of emission reductions — upstream, transmission and compression — that we expect to achieve with this plan. It is clear that we’re committed to reducing emissions from the oil and gas sector.

AMBULANCE RESPONSE TIMES AND EMERGENCY HEALTH SYSTEM T. Stone:Tragedy struck at the B.C. Supreme Court recently when a judge fell ill with stroke-like symptoms. Now, we’re all taught the acronym FAST to recognize the signs of stroke. As everyone knows, the “T” stands for “Time to call 911. ” But after waiting on hold with 911 for more than 30 minutes, the B.C. sheriff ’s service had to drive this Supreme Court judge to the hospital using one of their own vehicles. It turns out that not even a Supreme Court justice can get an ambulance under this Premier. My question to the Premier is this.

When is the Premier going to acknowledge that B.C. ’s emergency system is in crisis, and when is he going to fix it? Hon. A. Dix:Any time that people have to wait too long or don’t get the service they need in our health care system — at these times or any other time — it’s a serious ques- tion. I take the question very seriously, of course. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter who you are in our province. That’s what the public health care system is all about.

It’s why, when I became Minister of Health and clearly a major upgrading and reform of the Ambulance Service was needed, we engaged in that, and we substantially increased resources. The numbers are there. They’re undis- puted. I don’t think they’re disputed in the House. This dramatic increase, other than Mental Health and Addictions, is the largest increase of any area of health care since I became Minister of Health, which is a significant investment.

We are continuing to make those investments to upgrade service not just in urban B.C. but in rural B.C. — where the gaps can be, as the member will know, even more stark. We are continuing our efforts to add dispatch- ers, to add ambulance paramedics, to add ambulances, to add air ambulance capacity, keeping in mind the needs of people who depend on that service. [10:45 a.m.] M. Morris:We’re adding resources in rural parts of the province, perhaps, but we certainly don’t see it up in my area.

The sad reality is that British Columbians across the province are having to deal with life-threatening situations without proper support. The minister can read from a laundry list of stats, but it doesn’t change the trauma inflic- ted upon people. A few weeks ago a constituent had a heart attack at a remote logging camp and was transported to the Macken- zie hospital, which was closed when they got there. They were turned away at the door and told to call 911 from the parking lot of the hospital. The next closest hospital was two hours away. But when they called the ambulance, there was none available.

The only one in town was tied up. The wife of the victim rattled the doors and was finally let in. Hours later that patient was medevacked to St. Paul’s Hospital. Under this Premier, health care has gotten so bad that hospitals are closed, and ambulances are unavailable in emergencies. Does the Premier think patients need to shake doors to get the care they need? Hon. A. Dix: Currently in British Columbia, as the member knows…. I know, because we’ve spoken about issues in Mackenzie, including the story he describes.

It’s one that we’ve taken, obviously, a careful look at and that will be the subject of a review, as it should, in our health care system. I think that our health care system, in the time of two public health emergencies, has done an exceptional job. I don’t think the member’s characterization is the cor- rect one. Moreover, I think our health care system has responded in a way that British Columbia can be proud of. Now, 67 people have been taken from critical care in the north to critical care in the south, mostly related to COVID-19 Tuesday, October 26, 2021 British Columbia Debates 3701

and mostly because this has become a pandemic of the unvaccinated. People take those steps unhesitatingly and provide the care unhesitatingly. We’ve added air ambu- lance resources — air resources, ambulance resources — in the north. These are exceptional times and exceptional stresses. I appreciate the concern of the hon. member for his con- stituents, and I’ve been engaged with him on that question.

But I also think that our public health care system in this time has responded with courage, with dignity, with effort and with passion to deal with some of the most extra- ordinary conditions we have ever seen in our province, and it will continue to do so. G. Kyllo:Nobody here is questioning the herculean efforts that have been undertaken by the Ambulance Ser- vice. This line of questioning is all about a lack of resources and a lack of action by this government. It’s like the Premi- er has forgotten that this is his second term in office, that these are his decisions and that the impacts are real.

In my riding, a woman fell into a fire and suffered severe burns. Her husband and neighbours rushed to assist her and, as anyone would, called 911, expecting assistance. Help failed to arrive. After that failure, they transported the woman to Shuswap Lake General Hospital. She was then flown to Kamloops and then flown to Vancouver General Hospital. Residents expect care when they need it. They don’t expect to have to act as an ambulance crew. To the Premier, health care in this province is getting worse, not better. What is the Premier going to do now to make sure that people get the care that they need? Hon. A.

Dix:Well, I suppose it’s a time for clip lines. But those aren’t true; they’re not true. Y es, I’ve been Minister of Health for more than four years. Y es, each of those years has involved a record increase in the Ambulance Service. Y es, I gave twice as much priority as had been given before to those issues. But as you know, on the ground, we’re dealing with two public health emergencies — two. In that time, we have reduced surgical wait-lists; our urgent and primary care centres — outstanding primary care.

The outcomes of people with COVID-19 in critical care are some of the best in the world, and we are continuing to work to address services. [10:50 a.m.] To say these aren’t extraordinary times, a time of two public health emergencies, is simply to ignore what’s in front of us. I know the members know that, because they’re fully engaged on these issues every day and in their community.

That’s why we’ve got to continue to work together to increase levels of immunization and vaccination so we can move to a new stage of the COV- ID-19 pandemic and continue to support our health care system with unprecedented resources and support in challenging times. I. Paton:The mayor of Delta is fed up with the unac- ceptable ambulance delays in our community. In a letter to the minister, he writes: “On August 22, there was only one call taker for all of Vancouver because 25 of 26 BCEHS dispatcher seats were empty.

On September 24, only one ambulance was operating for all of Richmond and Delta. ” This is incredible incompetence for an area of over 300,000 people. We haven’t heard the NDP MLAs from Richmond speak up about this ambulance delay, but I will. Will the Premier act now and fix this ambulance crisis? Hon. A. Dix: What I would say is that the challenges facing the ambulance system are not of a new date. It’s why we’ve responded the way we have, with budgets every year that have significantly increased paramedics, ambu- lances, dispatchers and air ambulance services across B.C.

This is a recognition of both a structural need for reform, and that’s been happening, and of urgent services that are provided to support communities. Y es, these were necessary steps, and more will be re- quired. That is why I think, given the circumstances, I am so proud of the response of our ambulance paramedics and dispatchers, who, on the ground, in challenging times when we’ve seen an unprecedented increase in demand, have responded with courage and skill and dignity and are working so very hard.

We’re going to continue to do what we have done, which is to increase the investment in our ambulance service and hire more paramedics, add ambulances and hire more dispatchers. J. Tegart:As the minister knows, the ambulance situ- ation is also being complicated by staffing shortages and ER closures. Now the mayor of Ashcroft says that the Ambulance Service isn’t even being told about the closed ERs. “We have an ambulance station in Ashcroft.

Sometimes they aren’t even aware that the emergency department is closed or whether it’s closing at 8 p.m. or 10 p.m. ” They’re taking people in the ambulance to the ER in Ashcroft and then, finding it closed, have to divert. Does the Premier find it acceptable that ambulances can arrive at emergency rooms only to find out they are closed? Hon. A. Dix:Certainly, if the member has brought that to my attention, I’ll look into the issues raised by herself and the mayor of Ashcroft, because those are things that shouldn’t happen. They sometimes do happen, but shouldn’t happen in our system.

We have continued to invest, particularly in rural primary care. The member will know that the issue in Ashcroft is one of some long date, that the move away from full-time 3702 British Columbia Debates Tuesday, October 26, 2021

emergency room services occurred under a previous gov- ernment, for reasons that were real at the time. I don’t pass judgment in that, but we are working hard with the com- munity in Ashcroft to improve emergency room services and to improve hospital and primary care services and, with regions across B.C., to add not just on-call paramed- ics but full-time paramedics all over B.C. to ensure that our service is ready in rural B.C. for what’s coming over the next decade as well as this year and this month. I thank the member for her question, and I’m happy to look into the issue she has raised. [10:55 a.m.] P .

Milobar:Well, the problem is very clear, and the problem is very clearly this government’s failure to act in a timely fashion. The minister can stick to the speaking notes all he would like, but the reality is all of our email boxes are filling up with story after story of delay and wait and delay and wait, and a failure in our health care system. We’ve heard about the closed emergency rooms, closed actual hospit- als. We’ve heard time and again about that. I will guarantee the members opposite in government are getting those same emails yet doing nothing about it. This minister used to be the Health critic.

I wonder what he, as a Health critic, would say about the total failure of the health care system right now to address these needs. We’ve had warnings, 15 months ago, about a shortage of dispatch. Ignored. Then a heat wave comes, and 569 people lose their lives. We’ve heard the problem is very clear — a lack of resources. A car accident in Smithers requires an ambulance. No one was answering. A passerby drove to the ambulance station and a fire hall, and an ambulance on call just happened to be driving by but already had a patient. But they still stopped. One person died in that scenario.

Another had to be airlifted to Vancouver. Health care by luck and circumstance, not by phoning 911 and actually having somebody pick up the phone in dispatching. According to E-Comm, as reported in the Tyee, that call was one of 5,000, and that’s actually a typical Wednesday. The delay was actually a lack of dispatchers.

E-Comm quotes: “During this time, we were seeing longer delays in transferring 911 callers with a request for ambu- lance to B.C. emergency health services. ” Again, when will this Premier actually address the shortcomings and actually acknowledge the critical crisis of the health care system across the board in British Col- umbia and actually take steps to fix it, instead of blaming people for trying to actually get health care they need in a timely fashion? Hon. A. Dix: With respect to the last line the member made, no one’s done that ever, right? No one’s done that ever.

I think when the member suggests that we don’t take this issue seriously, he is wrong. He refers to my time as Health critic. Y eah, I thought the government there had underinvested in the ambulance service, and they did. That’s why I doubled the level of funding to the Ambulance Service. And yes, hon. Speaker…. Interjections. Mr. Speaker:Members. Hon. A. Dix: Well, hon. Speaker, the members know. They raise in their questions the unprecedented number of dispatches and the unprecedented number of responses, and we have to continue to do…. Interjections. Hon. A. Dix: Well, it was day one.

And, yes, when I was Health critic and the previous government decided to take away the independent bargaining rights of ambulance paramedics to raise these issues at the bargaining term, I was opposed to that. I was opposed to that, because I believe…. Interjections. Mr. Speaker:Members, let’s listen to the answer, please. Members. Order. Hon. A. Dix: I believe that it’s working together with our ambulance paramedics that we can do a better job, so I restored those rights at the bargaining table.

Many of the increases in services, the creation of hundreds of full-time positions, are a direct result of that collaboration. And yes, I take very seriously the questions asked by members of the opposition, in spite of the Opposition House Leader’s yelling out. I would say this. We have to continue to do better. We just have to continue to do better. And that’s why we, on July 2, posted hundreds of positions. We’re adding positions. We’re adding supports in rural and remote B.C.

And there are significant challenges facing our health care system during two public health emergencies, and we are responding to that with resources and effort. [11:00 a.m.] This public health emergency of COVID-19 and the public health emergency in the overdose crisis, I think, have shown our health care system working together to help people in difficult times, just as the people of B.C. have done the same.

I am proud today to be the leader, as Minister of Health, of a public health care system, and I’m proud of the people of B.C. for our joint response in difficult times. [End of question period.] Tuesday, October 26, 2021 British Columbia Debates 3703

Tabling Documents Mr. Speaker:Members, I have the honour of tabling theAuditor General’s Report on the Audit of the Public Ac- counts — Fiscal Year 2020-21. Orders of the Day Hon. M. Farnworth:I call continued second reading debate on Bill 22. [S. Chandra Herbert in the chair.] Second Reading of Bills BILL 22 — FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIV ACY AMENDMENT ACT, 2021 (continued) On the amendment(continued). Deputy Speaker:All right, Members. Let’s get this sec- ond reading underway. I believe it’s the member for Kam- loops–South Thompson to continue. Proceed, Member. T.

Stone:I appreciate the opportunity to continue my comments today to the amendment that the official oppo- sition moved yesterday to Bill 22. Just to remind folks, the amendment that the official opposition moved was to refer this bill to the Special Com- mittee to Review the Freedom of Information and Protec- tion of Privacy Act, and a number of us in the opposition, both the official opposition and the Third Party, walked through our rationale for believing that this is the appro- priate thing to do — the right thing to do.

I’m hoping that in what little time we have left today in debate on this amendment, and potential additional debate on second reading more generally, that someone, anyone, from the government will stand up and articulate the rationale for bringing this bill forward now. That some- one from the government will stand up and actually explain to this House — and through this House, to British Columbians — how such a deeply flawed bill is even in front of us here today. Why is the special committee that is statutorily required to review the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act…?

Why was this bill brought forward prior to that committee actually meeting and undertaking its important work engaging with stakeholders, not the least of which is the FOIPPA commissioner himself, to better inform through those recommendations the content of the bill — or of a bill that would amend the FOIPPA act? But we find ourselves here with one of the most sweep- ing packages of changes or reforms to this legislation and no one from government seemingly wanting to speak to it. I think that’s a very disappointing day in the history of this place. Again, it’s not too late.

Hopefully someone from the other side will jump up and offer some insights into the government’s rationale for moving forward with this deeply flawed bill. [11:05 a.m.] Back to the purpose of the amendment. Again, in light of the disconnect that seems to be at play here between the purpose of the special committee that statutorily has the obligations to review the FOIPPA act and bring for- ward recommendations…. The disconnect between letting that committee do its work and then bringing forward recommendations through legislation….

Because this bill is so deeply flawed, again, the amendment would basically provide for the bill not being read a second time at this time but rather be referred to the appropriate committee, which I’ve talked about. The issues, however, that we have with this bill and that so many British Columbians are articulating about this bill…. The more and more people actually dive into it and realize what is actually in this bill…. The reasons for our concern also form an important foundational motivation for moving this amendment as well. It’s a deeply flawed bill.

When I say that, amongst a number of flaws we believe are contained within this bill, we’re very much opposed to the imposition of financial barriers, fees that will now — through this legislation, if it passes — be imposed on Brit- ish Columbians. It’s not just opposition parties that will end up having to pay these fees. When I say opposition parties, let’s be clear here: it’s actually the taxpayers. It’s not any member of the opposi- tion, per se, that has to dig deep into their pocket to pay fees to access government information that should be pub- lic.

It’s members of the opposition, which are funded by the taxpayers of British Columbia. I mean, it’s ridiculous. But it’s also news outlets, it’s media organizations, it’s journalism schools, and it’s all kinds of stakeholders that, again, have indicated significant concern with the financial barriers that are being imposed in this legislation. We’re very concerned that the Premier’s office is being excluded from the purview of freedom of information. We will get into that in a lot more detail, I believe, in committee on the bill.

But that, again, forms part of the basis for our bringing forward this amendment to refer this to the special committee. We believe that’s a significant flaw with the legislation. The reduction, generally, of oversight of the commissioner’s office…. He’s a highly respected, very professional, internation- ally acknowledged expert in privacy and freedom-of- information matters, and his office and his authorities are being significantly watered down in this bill.

The fact that the government is leaving most of the changes, through this legislation, to regulation — so they are not even defining in detail or providing those details 3704 British Columbia Debates Tuesday, October 26, 2021

to this House and to British Columbians — is deeply con- cerning. Then there are the provisions that are referred to in the bill as data linking and data residency. So with the remaining time that I have, I want to focus the balance of my comments on these two areas. The definition for “data linking” is being rewritten in this legislation. It’s being rewritten to provide for three implications. One is health research, the second is all personal records within the cus- tody and control of government, and third is social media engagements and government.

Social media engagements — this is a brand-new con- sideration within the scope of data collection that is con- templated through this legislation. This is totally new. This is a piece that, again, the more British Columbians realize what this could potentially mean…. They’re concerned. Now, we don’t know exactly what it means, because it’s not defined, it’s not detailed, and there’s no light shining on what exactly the government’s intentions are with this. The specific

section of the legislation says that a public body may disclose information if the information “was disclosed on social media by the individual the inform- ation is about” and it “was obtained or compiled by the public body for the purpose of enabling the public body to engage individuals in public discussion or promotion respecting proposed or existing initiatives, policies, pro- grams or activities of the public body or respecting legis- lation relating to the public body. ” That’s the

section from the legislation. [11:10 a.m.] What this means…. And it’s important to understand what data linking is. Data linking is bringing together dis- parate data sets and linking them, to enable the analysis of trends, to build out a profile on individuals, to — when used properly and appropriately, with guardrails wrapped around it — enhance service for people.

But the inclusion of social media, social media channels, the social media posts that British Columbians make — again, in relation to policies, protocols, engagements, consultations, initiat- ives of government or of a public body of government — is very, very concerning, not to be defined anywhere. What is the government’s intent here? If my neighbour posts on her Facebook page that she was really upset, for a number of reasons, with her recent experience at a pro- vincial park, what is the government going to do with that data?

If another individual is unhappy with the road main- tenance in the province, what is government going to do with that data? The government is going to have the right to go in and scrape those posts, that content, the metadata wrapped around it. Government is going to be able to go in and scrape that data, harvest that data, obtain that data. Use whatever word you want. The government is going to have access to that personal data, social media data of British Columbians. This has the potential to be a significant invasion of per- sonal privacy. As I’ve said, the details are all pushed into regulation.

The commissioner, in his tersely worded, sev- en-page letter, that was provided moments after the legis- lation was introduced, was very, very clear about his con- cerns related to data linking — and data residency, which I’ll get to in a moment. He was very clear in saying that he doesn’t believe that there are guardrails built in to this legislation — that his office should have oversight, that there should be draft regulations provided to his office so that his office can better understand what government’s intentions are here and provide its view of those intentions to government.

Those concerns were all expressed by the commissioner, but again, they have fallen on deaf ears. I want to talk a little bit about the data residency side of this. I, for the life of me, cannot understand it.

As a former tech CEO, and someone who knows a few things about data co-location and the importance of strict security pro- tocols in terms of how data is stored and managed and backed up and protected, I have no idea what the motiv- ation is for government to eliminate the current data-res- idency requirements, which require that data, that person- al health data, of British Columbians — that soon to be extracted personal social media data of British Columbi- ans…. Why in God’s name would the government of British Columbia want to, potentially, take that data out of Can- ada? That is what this act will do.

That is what this bill will do if it passes. It will eliminate the need for the storage of that data here in our country. Now, we have state-of-the-art co-location facilities. A couple of them are up in my hometown in Kamloops — state of the art. They have additional capacity; I’ve checked. Y et the government is saying: “No. We need to take this information. We need to at least have the flexibility to store this information outside of our country. ” [11:15 a.m.] British Columbians should be very concerned about that. Am I somewhat putting words into the mouth of the government? Perhaps, but I have no choice.

I don’t under- stand what the motivations are, because no one in gov- ernment will stand up and speak to this legislation — this amendment, in particular — and the details of the govern- ment’s intentions aren’t included here. When that data is stored here in Canada, there are very specific policies and protocols that have to be respected, right down to the staff person that has access to where the servers are located. Those kinds of arrangements — you have much less protection, much less control, when it’s outside of the country. I could go on more, but my time is running out.

I just want to, again, say: the financial barriers that are imposed in this bill, the Premier’s office being extracted from pur- view of freedom of information, these insidious data-link- ing and data residency requirements or changes that are contemplated in this legislation, the reduction of over- Tuesday, October 26, 2021 British Columbia Debates 3705

sight, the attack on the commissioner’s office and moving all of this into regulation means that this is a deeply flawed piece of legislation. I encourage everyone in this House to support the amendment to push this legislation to the special com- mittee that is charged statutorily with the responsibility to do this work and bring forward recommendations in the future. Deputy Speaker:Seeing no further speakers, I call a vote on the proposed amendment moved by the member for Kamloops–North Thompson.

Division has been called. [11:20 a.m. - 11:25 a.m.] Division has been called on the following amendment proposed by the member for Kamloops–North Thomp- son: “That the motion for second reading of Bill (No. 22), intituled Freedom of Information and Protection of Pri- vacy Amendment Act, 2021 be amended by deleting all the words after ‘that’ and substituting therefore the follow- ing: ‘Bill (No. 22) not be read a second time now but that the subject matter be referred to the Special Committee to Review the Freedom of Information and Protection of Pri- vacy Act. ’” Amendment negatived on the following division: YEAS — 29 Ashton Banman Bernier Bond Cadieux Clovechok Davies de Jong Doerkson Furstenau Halford Kirkpatrick Kyllo Letnick Merrifield Milobar Morris Oakes Olsen Paton Ross Rustad Shypitka Stewart Stone Sturdy Tegart Wat Wilkinson NAYS — 50 Alexis Anderson Babchuk Bailey Bains Beare Begg Brar Chant Chen Chow Conroy Coulter Cullen Dean D’Eith Dix Dykeman Eby Farnworth Fleming Greene Heyman Horgan Kahlon Kang Leonard Lore Ma Malcolmson Mark Mercier Osborne Paddon Popham Rankin Rice Robinson Routley Russell Sandhu Sharma Simons Sims A.

Singh R. Singh Starchuk Walker Whiteside Y ao Deputy Speaker:We will now return to the second reading debate on Bill 22. We’ll just wait a minute, Mem- bers, while the House does what it needs to do. Thank you. Members, if you could make your way out of the cham- ber if that’s what you’re planning to do. Otherwise, we do have a member who wishes to have the floor. On the main motion. M. de Jong:I made a prediction yesterday that I was — I made two, actually — fairly confident would be accurate. I was genuinely hoping I would be wrong, but as it turns out, I’m not.

We are confronted by a bill that, as others — my colleague from Kamloops just a few moments ago — have justifiably described as being flawed. [11:30 a.m.] As persuasive as his remarks may be, it is perhaps more important to acknowledge that similar criticisms derive from an officer of this Legislative Assembly, the Privacy Commissioner himself, who has been, I think, well chron- icled in this — well, I guess, politically speaking — mono- logue. Y ou can’t call it a debate.

The Privacy Commissioner has reinforced the challen- ges with the legislation before the House, all of which has taken place against the backdrop of there being a fully charged, empowered, statutorily authorized, statutorily directed committee of this House awaiting the opportunity to do its work, which it has done regularly and is ready, willing and able to do today.

Against that backdrop, an amendment, a proposal, was made not to defeat the bill but to send it to that body for further consideration, consideration of the concerns expressed by the Privacy Commissioner, consideration of the concerns expressed in this House, consideration of the concerns expressed by others in the public to tap into the expertise that exists on the committee itself. By any meas- ure, a reasonable proposition. An entirely reasonable pro- position, consistent with the conventions and procedures of this House.

Now, the government, not surprisingly, I suppose — disappointingly, but not surprisingly — did not view that reasonable amendment positively. All right. That’s not the first time it that has happened that governments and oppo- sitions have disagreed on what constitutes a reasonable procedural approach to legislation. But 50 members of the government just voted against that very reasonable approach. Not one of them could muster one word, nay, not one syllable to justify the vote that they’ve made, and that is despicable.

Not one of them had the temerity to stand in this House and provide any rationale, any argument, any opinion for why the proposal to send this to a committee was improper, unreasonable, unworthy of support. 3706 British Columbia Debates Tuesday, October 26, 2021

I made another prediction yesterday. I said: “This marks a turning point, a seminal moment in the life of this gov- ernment. ” And we have just seen it. A government armed with a majority that now governs on this basis: we’ll do what we want, when we want, because we can. The proce- dures, the opportunity to argue, the opportunity for an exchange of opinions — it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s not relevant. It’s not part of how this government is going to govern. Fifty-seven members.

For the purpose of this discus- sion, I think 55 were entitled to participate in the debate, 50 of whom cast a ballot, cast a vote against this propos- al. The member for Victoria–Beacon Hill voted against this proposal, didn’t have anything to say about why it was unworthy of support. The member for Vancouver–False Creek, the member for Coquitlam–Burke Mountain, the member for Nelson-Creston, the member for Surrey- Cloverdale, the member for North Island, the member for Parksville-Qualicum, the member for North Coast.

They all apparently believe that fulfilling their parliamentary duties involves coming into this House, voting against pro- posalsen bloc, en masse with their colleagues and not even providing a reason to the public for why they have cast that vote that way. [11:35 a.m.] If there is a better demonstration of a government that has come to embrace and be consumed by its own arrog- ance, I do not know what it is. I’ve not seen that before. Interjection. M. de Jong:Stop the presses. A member of the govern- ment side just spoke. He didn’t stand up to speak.

He didn’t stand up to explain why he voted against this amendment. No, he’s here heckling. He’s here heckling. Interjection. M. de Jong:He’s just full of commentary after the vote. He’s just full of commentary. But we’re not done. We’re in second reading. In fact, if he’ll indicate to me now his willingness to stand up, I will defer. I’ll sit down. He can stand up right now. All he has to do, the member for Maple Ridge–Mission, is look my way, give me a thumbs-up, and I’m going to sit down, and he can stand up, and he can make arguments on behalf of the government. He’s not nodding, and I don’t see any thumbs.

I haven’t even gotten to the minister. I haven’t even got- ten to the minister who, on behalf of the executive coun- cil, brings a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant- Governor, commends it to the House for support, makes brief remarks, very brief, is confronted by the concerns of the House, the concerns of the parliamentary officer of the House, and then confronted by an amendment that says, “Y ou know, in this case, absent any urgency…. ” By the way, no one on the government side has offered a single argument about the urgency of this.

Confronted by all of that, the minister has chosen to simply ignore and offer, again, not a single syllable of justification or argu- ment, on behalf of the government, for why the sugges- ted amendment is unworthy of support or why the govern- ment won’t support it. They may have their own reasons. It’s a parliament. Now, I’m no linguist, but even I under- stand that it comes from the wordparler, to speak, and when the members of this government choose to ignore, arrogantly ignore and refuse to provide any sort of ration- alization for the course they’re on, people understand what’s taking place.

I talked about the member for Port Moody–Coquitlam. He’s the Chair of the committee that the government, by their actions, has disparaged. Now, I actually have been around here long enough that I didn’t expect him to get up and trash the government. I didn’t expect that. I did, however, expect that given his role as the Chair of the committee, given his role as a mem- ber of the government caucus, he would feel compelled to explain to the House, if this was his view….

Apparently it is, because he voted that referring the work to the commit- tee he was Chair of was a bad idea. [11:40 a.m.] I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of a Chair of a com- mittee…. I don’t know if I have ever, in my time here, seen a Chair of a committee vote and say, by virtue of that vote: “Please don’t send us the work that we’re statutorily obliged to do. ” I guess it’s easy to stand here and make fun of the situ- ation, but there’s really an important principle at stake here.

It gets back to that second prediction I made, that turning point in the life of a government armed, as this one is, with a healthy majority in this place, that is now saying to British Columbians: “We actually don’t have to explain anything. We can do it because we want to and we have a majority. ” Is that why the Minister of Social Development wanted to enter the cabinet? Is that the kind of government that he wanted to be a part of, a government that demonstrably believes it is unanswerable for the steps it takes? That’s what he’s done today, he and 55 of his colleagues.

A sad day, a sad demonstration, and a day that I think will come back to haunt this government as people increasingly become aware of what has taken place. I’m not going to go on much longer. But I hope that whether it’s this evening or over the weekend, the mem- bers of the government, who…. On every other occasion, they have no hesitation and seem to have plenty to say when it suits their purpose.

But when confronted by a situ- ation that is uncomfortable for them, when confronted by a situation which they and their government have chosen to pursue and it’s strictly an entirely political agenda and they have adopted positions that are difficult — I say, in Tuesday, October 26, 2021 British Columbia Debates 3707

this case, impossible — to defend, they could not rise to that challenge. They would not rise to that challenge. That is weakness. That is weakness, and that is what we have seen here today — weakness coupled with arro- gance, by a government that believes the majority it has achieved allows it to proceed as it wants and is un- answerable and no longer obliged to in any way defend the steps it wishes to take. We will continue our questioning and our opposition to this bill. We will do so within the rules provided to us in the standing orders and in this House.

We will pose the questions that one would expect to be posed. What I am less confident about, I have to say, is whether we’ll get any answers, because we couldn’t get a single answer from a single member of the government caucus about why a reasonable proposal to refer this to a special committee that is already empowered was a bad idea. We’ll see. [11:45 a.m.] At some point, the second reading debate is going to conclude. I’m fascinated to anticipate what the minister will say.

I am fascinated because the minister, as we now know, refused to explain why a referral to the committee in the manner suggested in the amendment just voted upon was unreasonable and not worthy of support. Deputy Speaker:Member, we’re drawing close to the line around the question of reflections on previous votes, as the member knows, so just a caution that we can bring it back to the second reading debate on the bill. Thank you. M. de Jong:I appreciate the caution and the reminder, because reflecting on that earlier vote profoundly disturbs me, and the manner in which it occurred.

The minister still, by the way, has options available to her. She could — of her own volition, of course — refer the matter to the committee. I don’t think she’s going to do that. I wish she would, but what I particularly hope she will do is explain to the House why cutting the special commit- tee statutorily responsible for this out of the equation is the appropriate thing to do. I hope, in the course of this second reading debate, she will touch upon the criticisms, observations and concerns addressed to her by the Privacy Commissioner.

I hope she will table the letter that she undoubtedly has sent in response to those concerns to the Privacy Commission- er, or at least, for the purposes of today’s conversation, confirm that she has responded in writing to the Privacy Commissioner, because heaven forbid she has to admit that she hasn’t even written back to him. We can end that speculation right now. Having received a letter unlike any that I have ever seen from a statutory officer, this minister can at least inform the House that she’s had the courtesy of responding in writing. My prediction is in a few moments, she’ll have that opportunity.

I hope she’ll do it. If she doesn’t, we’ll draw our own conclusions. By any measure, however, what we are about to exper- ience will be somewhat unprecedented, and that is at least one person on the government side who’s prepared to speak to this bill. I know members of the government are uncomfortable. I think many of them are embar- rassed. I hope they are. That would at least speak to their character a little bit. I hope the minister’s embarrassed. I hope she’s not proud. If she stands up and says how proud she is, I’ll be profoundly disappointed, but that, too, will speak to character.

A sad and disappointing day, not because one side or the other lost a vote. That happens here every day. A sad day because the side that persevered no longer feels obliged to explain how they have come to their decision, no longer feels obliged to participate in the exercise of debate. Sad indeed. Deputy Speaker:Seeing no further speakers, does the minister wish to close second reading debate? Hon. L. Beare:I want to thank all the members that I’ve been listening to through the second reading debate.

It is very interesting, because there seems to be a whole lot of misinformation being spread by the members opposite about what this bill is. [11:50 a.m.] It makes me sad that the members opposite feel it neces- sary to invoke fear in the public, rather than actually have a conversation about what this bill is and how it’s going to continue to improve the lives of British Columbians by allowing them to continue accessing the services that they need, by continuing to strengthen their privacy protec- tions and to continue to give them access to their personal information in a timely manner.

With that, I look forward to committee stage, which is where we’re going to have this debate — clause by clause, line by line — through this legislation, and I’m going to get the chance to outline what this means for British Colum- bians and how important it is. I move second reading. Deputy Speaker: Members, the question is second reading of Bill 22. Division has been called. Point of Order B. D’Eith:I noticed, Mr. Speaker, that the clock started about 20 seconds after you rang the bell. I was just won- dering, on a point of order, if perhaps we could add those 20 seconds…? Deputy Speaker:Thank you.

We will take that into con- sideration and account, Member. [11:55 a.m.] 3708 British Columbia Debates Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Debate Continued Deputy Speaker: Members, the question is second reading of Bill 22. Second reading of Bill 22 approved on the following division: YEAS — 52 Alexis Anderson Babchuk Bailey Bains Beare Begg Brar Chant Chen Chow Conroy Coulter Cullen Dean D’Eith Dix Dykeman Eby Farnworth Fleming Glumac Greene Heyman Horgan Kahlon Kang Leonard Lore Ma Malcolmson Mark Mercier Osborne Paddon Popham Rankin Rice Robinson Routledge Routley Russell Sandhu Sharma Simons Sims A. Singh R.

Singh Starchuk Walker Whiteside Y ao NAYS — 29 Ashton Banman Bernier Bond Cadieux Clovechok Davies de Jong Doerkson Furstenau Halford Kirkpatrick Kyllo Letnick Merrifield Milobar Morris Oakes Olsen Paton Ross Rustad Shypitka Stewart Stone Sturdy Tegart Wat Wilkinson Interjections. Deputy Speaker:Order, Members. Order. We will have order, Members. Minister. Hon. L. Beare:I move that the bill be referred to the Committee of the Whole to be considered at the next sit- ting of the House after today.

Bill 22, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2021, read a second time and referred to a Committee of the Whole House for consideration at the next sitting of the House after today. Hon. M. Farnworth moved adjournment of the House. Motion approved. Deputy Speaker:This House will adjourn until 1:30 this afternoon. The House adjourned at 12 noon. Tuesday, October 26, 2021 British Columbia Debates 3709

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Collection	British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	20211026am-Hansard-n115
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	20211026am Hansard n115
Language	en
Format	pdf
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Identifier	2d3814745fe70dc347600be2171a70e2e2c8a2ab

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