Fourth Session, 42nd Parliament

(2023) OFFICIAL REPORT

OF DEBATES

(HANSARD)

Monday, February 13, 2023

Afternoon Sitting

Issue No. 264

ISSN 1499-2175

The HTML transcript is provided for informational purposes only.

The PDF transcript remains the official digital version.

CONTENTS

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

Tributes

Mark Poppe

A. Olsen

Introductions by Members

Tributes

Mark Poppe

N. Simons

Introductions by Members

Introduction and First Reading of Bills

Bill 6 — Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act (No. 5)

Hon. A. Kang

Statements (Standing Order 25B)

Real Acts of Caring Week

R. Glumac

Chamber of Commerce Week

T. Halford

Coldest Night of the Year fundraising walk in Cloverdale area

M. Starchuk

Scotties Tournament of Hearts

T. Stone

Acts of kindness

K. Chen

Vancouver’s Chinatown

T. Wat

Oral Questions

Community benefits agreements and infrastructure projects

T. Stone

Hon. A. Dix

P. Milobar

Protection of Saanich Inlet and environmental assessment for Bamberton quarry expansion proposal

A. Olsen

Hon. G. Heyman

Cowichan Hospital replacement project and Cowichan Tribes contractors

G. Kyllo

Hon. A. Dix

E. Ross

M. Lee

Community benefits agreements and infrastructure projects

M. de Jong

Hon. D. Eby

Government Motions on Notice

Motion 14 — Powers and role of Public Accounts Committee

Hon. R. Kahlon

T. Stone

On the amendment

T. Stone

Hon. R. Kahlon

P. Milobar

A. Olsen

Motion 15 — Powers and role of Children and Youth Committee

Hon. R. Kahlon

Question of Privilege (Reservation of Right)

R. Merrifield

Orders of the Day

Second Reading of Bills

Bill 2 — National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Act (continued)

M. Lee

J. Sims

K. Greene

H. Yao

Hon. J. Whiteside

Hon. R. Kahlon

Bill 4 — Finance Statutes Amendment Act, 2023

Hon. K. Conroy

P. Milobar

Hon. K. Conroy

Throne Speech Debate

(continued)

Hon. P. Alexis

R. Merrifield

Hon. G. Lore

L. Doerkson

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2023

The House met at 1:35 p.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

Hon. A. Dix: In the lunch break, members on both sides of the House had the

opportunity to meet with the B.C. Lung Foundation, which has been around in

B.C. for 110 years. All of us were honoured to be briefed on issues around

air quality, around assisting people in stopping smoking, about stopping

young people from vaping and a host of other issues that affected MLAs from

every part of the province.

On behalf of all members of the House, I’d like to welcome their

president and CEO, Chris Lam, to the chamber.

S. Bond: I want to join with the Minister of Health in welcoming Chris. It was

an excellent presentation, and it does point out there is a lot of work to

be done, particularly on the issue of vaping. We heard stories of young

people beginning as early as ten years old.

Together I know that our House Leader and others in this House have

made that a very personal issue in terms of making changes there. So thank

you to Chris and the entire team for doing such an excellent job, not just

here today but around the province and for British Columbians.

I join the minister in welcoming Chris today.

S. Chandra Herbert: I want to introduce to this House an incredible champion for arts,

culture and diversity. She’s on the B.C. Entertainment Walk of Fame, founder

of the Firehall Arts Centre and the Dancing on the Edge Festival. She’s won

the Cultural Harmony Award at the city of Vancouver. She’s won more Jessie

Richardson Theatre Awards than I can remember.

She’s done so much for arts and culture in this province, but I think

the best job she’s ever done is being my mom. I want to just wish my mom,

Donna Spencer, a happy, happy birthday.

G. Kyllo: We’re joined in the House today by somebody that I can truly call a

friend: Jon Coleman, the owner of Jon-co Contracting, a member of Cowichan

First Nation.

I can say that Jon is truly a master contractor. He’s provided lots of

skills training and mentorship for many individuals within his community.

Jon is a first advocate for the rights of First Nations to have the right

and respect to have opportunities for work within their traditional

territory. Would the members of this House please welcome my friend Jon

Coleman.

M. Babchuk: Today I’d like to introduce Lucy Sager, who is somewhere in this

gallery. Lucy is advocating really hard for Indigenous youth all across B.C.

and also in my riding of North Island. Would this House please make her

welcome.

T. Stone: It’s a special day for me here in the chamber. Like the member for

Vancouver–West End, I am very fortunate that my mom and dad are both here

with us in the gallery today. They raised an incredible son, who has gone on

to do amazing things. His name is Shawn Stone. He’s a helicopter pilot up in

Fort St. John. They’re still wondering what the heck happened to the older

brother — myself. But they’ve long forgiven me for my career

choice.

Anyway, I just want to welcome Mom and Dad to this House.

Ken and Bernadette Stone, thank you for being wonderful parents. I

love you very, very much.

Would the House please join me in making them feel welcome.

Tributes

MARK POPPE

A. Olsen: This morning I heard the key card go across the door. The door

opened, and in walked Mark Poppe into the caucus offices. Mark is a

member of the protective services, whose last day in the Legislative

Assembly is today.

Interjections.

A. Olsen: Yes, exactly. That is exactly how we all feel.

Mark has served us well and is moving on to new things. He worked

in Parks, as I learned today, and also with the Saanich

police.

[1:40 p.m.]

I’m sure that as the wheels go round and round, the next group of

people that you get to serve are going to be very happy for

it.

Could all of the members here thank Mark and all of his colleagues

for the great service that they provide in the security of these

precincts.

Introductions by Members

Hon. S. Robinson: Well, it seems it’s “bring your family to work” day. The member from

the West End has his mom here, and the member for Kamloops–South Thompson

has his folks here. I just want to acknowledge the member for Skeena is

wearing his family around his neck.

I. Paton: I’m honoured to see, up in the gallery today, my good friends from the

B.C. Fruit Growers Association — the general manager, Glen Lucas, and Peter

Simonsen.

I’m sorry I don’t quite know the two folks next to you, but I’m meeting with you all later

this afternoon.

They do a great job for our wonderful tree fruit industry in the

Okanagan. I’ve had the pleasure to speak to their annual conference a few

times. So welcome.

Folks, please make them feel welcome here this afternoon.

Hon. P. Alexis: Although they aren’t real family, they feel like it. Staff have

arrived today for question period. Please welcome Jo-Anne Chadwick, Ilene

Duguay and Isabella Gonzalez to the House.

We will be meeting with you later on today as well, the B.C. Fruit

Growers Association. Thank you so much. Welcome.

S. Furstenau: I did get the memo on “bring your family to work” day today. I’m so

delighted. I have three very special introductions to make today.

My husband, Blaise Salmon, is here in the gallery. You might recall

that I was talking about him last week, when he was a page, so his penance

is to come and watch the proceedings in here and recognize that we’re all

doing such important work on behalf of British Columbians. In all

seriousness, I don’t get to say it often publicly and on the record, but I

couldn’t be doing what I’m doing without Blaise. He is a pillar of support

and has been remarkably able to adapt to the life that we have found

ourselves in for these last 400 years. I love him very much, and I’m very

grateful that he’s here today.

With Blaise is his son and my beloved stepson, Brennan

Strandberg-Salmon. It’s also Brennan’s first time here. I can tell you that

Brennan is the glue in our family. He is always cheerful. He always has a

game for us to play. He almost always wins, and we don’t mind, because we

love him so. Brennan is just finishing his degree in the faculty of

environment at Simon Fraser University and has already contributed

enormously to solution-making around environment and climate change. We’re

so proud of him.

Brennan, I love you too, and it’s so nice to have you here in the

House.

With Brennan is his cousin Riley Brennan. Riley is finishing her

degree at UVic, in law. She’s in her final year. She’s already got her

articling lined up with a very impressive firm. It’s a delight to have Riley

join us today, and I want to just congratulate her on her excellent work as

a law student at UVic.

Would the House please make these three very special people most

welcome.

E. Ross: Thanks to the minister for pointing out my family tie I wear on

special occasions. This tie is more popular than I am. Of all the things I

talk about in B.C., this always comes up.

My wife is in Prince Rupert today for the All Native. She’s with my

daughter and my grandson at the biggest, largest basketball tournament for

Aboriginals in B.C. Today, even though we’ve been together for 38 years,

it’s our anniversary for 24 years. So she has put up with me for 38

years.

[1:45 p.m.]

I just want to say there’s no telling where I could have ended up. As

a wild Aboriginal growing up on reserve, I was going down the wrong path in

so many different ways, but my wife put me on the right track, gave me a

great family and a great life.

I just want to say happy anniversary, and I’ll see you next week when

I get back.

R. Russell: I just to echo the welcome from the Member for Delta South. On behalf

of my colleague from Vernon-Monashee and myself and the Minister of

Agriculture, I’m really pleased to see the B.C. Fruit Growers Association

here: Peter Simonsen as the president and orchardist; Glen Lucas, that’s the

general manager; and Avi Gill as the owner of Farming Karma and a director.

Please make them feel very welcome.

Sorry, I haven’t met the fourth of your quartet yet.

Tributes

MARK POPPE

N. Simons: I just want to add to the warm introduction that my friend from

Saanich North and the Islands made for Mark Poppe, whose last day in the

House…. I think he might be in the hallways patrolling. He’s a familiar

face to all of us. He has spent the last eight years here.

Prior to being here, he was with both the B.C. Parks service and

with the Saanich police, where he spent 24 years. He was well known for

his ability to de-escalate situations, well known for his Christmas

party planning and well known for de-escalating unruly tourists, so his

skill set is obviously a broad one.

He was also a canine officer. His first call was a B and E, where

he tracked back from four suspects to a B and E location and was able to

successfully return all articles to the victims.

I think that his retirement from this place speaks well to his

character and reflects well on the Legislative Assembly Protective

Services. He’s going to spend time caring for his mother. I hope he gets

time to do his passion and fish and enjoy British Columbia.

Once again, I join my colleagues all through the House in thanking

him for his service.

Introductions by Members

T. Shypitka: In the House, we have Janice Sommerfeld. She is not part of my

immediate family, but she is part of the Kootenay East family. She’s a

constituent there. She’s a long-time resident. She is a retired owner and

publisher of East Kootenay snapd, which was a really great community

newspaper that celebrated a lot of the goings on in the East Kootenay, was

really a well-received newspaper.

She’s a former president of Rotary. She was involved in lots of

service projects, everything from wine tasting to art auctions, and was a

retired realtor. I think the first time I met her was as a former member of

Business Networking International, BNI.

I’d just like the House to make her feel real welcome here in

Victoria.

Introduction and

First Reading of Bills

BILL 6 — MUNICIPALITIES ENABLING

AND VALIDATING ACT

(N o . 5)

Hon. A. Kang presented a message from Her Honour the

Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Municipalities Enabling and Validating

Act (No. 5).

Hon. A. Kang: I move that the bill be introduced and read a first time

now.

I’m pleased to introduce Bill 6. This bill enacts the

Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act (No.5). Bill 6 continues

protection for the National Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory,

located in the regional district of Okanagan-Similkameen.

These proposed amendments will extend the regional district of

Okanagan-Similkameen land use contract number LU-6-D, which provides

protection to the National Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory by

limiting impacts from the St. Andrews community. This amendment has been

requested by the federal government and is supported by the regional

district of Okanagan Similkameen.

As the Minister for Municipal Affairs, I am pleased to table these

amendments, which protect the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory,

which is a significant federal asset with international significance and

one of only two in North America.

Mr. Speaker: Members, the question is the first reading of the bill.

Motion approved.

[1:50 p.m.]

Hon. A. Kang: 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 6, Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act (No. 5),

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)

REAL ACTS OF CARING WEEK

R. Glumac: I was very much looking forward today to introducing Mrs. Chang’s

grade 4 and 5 leadership class. They were planning on coming today, but

the ferries got cancelled, unfortunately. They have been here for many

years because of their great advocacy for Real Acts of Caring

Week.

As Mrs. Chang puts it: “Real acts of caring feel good, and this

feeling is contagious.” Studies have shown that encouraging caring and

kindness supports mental health by building self-esteem, decreasing

depression, reducing bullying behaviour, encouraging creativity and

improving cognitive function. Studies have also shown that we feel

happier and experience a greater sense of belonging when we are caring

and kind, thus helping to create positive school cultures of learning

and connected communities.

Although they couldn’t be here today, they’ve been working really

hard, doing many acts of caring throughout their community. For example,

fundraising and putting together care packages for animal shelters as

well as placing treats and kind notes on desks in classrooms, recycling

and helping others to recycle, helping other students who are upset in

playgrounds, connecting with seniors, even, during COVID who felt

isolated, and also, clearing snow from windshields in parking lots for

shoppers.

Even though they can’t be here today, their efforts are very much

appreciated, and we can all learn a lot and we can all do better at

being kind on a daily basis.

This year the province has officially declared February 12 to 18

as Real Acts of Caring Week in British Columbia.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WEEK

T. Halford: This week marks the beginning of B.C. Chamber of Commerce

Week.

We all know that chambers of commerce play a vital role in the

business community in British Columbia. They serve as a voice for

businesses of all sizes and industries, representing their interests and

concerns not only to governments at all levels but also other

organizations. By bringing businesses together, chambers help to create

a supportive network and a sense of community, enabling businesses to

share ideas and collaborate on initiatives that benefit the entire

community.

Chambers also provide valuable resources and services to their

members, including network opportunities, training and development

programs, and access to new information. In addition, many chambers

offer advocacy and lobbying services, working to shape policy and

legislation that supports the needs of local businesses. Through their

efforts, chambers help to create a business-friendly environment that

attracts investment and encourages economic growth. In this way,

chambers play an important role in the economic prosperity of the region

and contribute to overall quality of life of residents.

For their incredible contributions of these communities around the

province, we recognize the many chambers around B.C. this Chamber of

Commerce week. Whether it’s networking, advocacy or education, chambers

of commerce in British Columbia play a crucial role in the success and

growth of local businesses.

I am very blessed to have the South Surrey and White Rock chamber

in my riding. I share that with the member for Surrey South. It’s events

that…. I think I’m going to be hosting on March 22 a joint town hall

with that chamber.

It’s through the pandemic that Ritu Khanna and other members of

the South Surrey and White Rock chamber have really been a force and a

pillar in our community in making sure that businesses have the

information they need when they need it.

COLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR

FUNDRAISING WALK IN

CLOVERDALE AREA

M. Starchuk: The Coldest Night of the Year Walk is in 36 locations across

British Columbia. There are three of these walks in Surrey, and one in

my constituency of Surrey-Cloverdale, which is the Cloverdale Community

Kitchen’s annual and largest fundraiser. It brings together many sectors

of the community — businesses, associations, schools, sports teams and

churches — to raise money and awareness for the hungry, hurting and our

vulnerable in our community.

[1:55 p.m.]

This year, over 600 participants will come together to walk and

raise a goal of $250,000. This money is incredibly important to the

Cloverdale Community Kitchen, as it allows them to continue running

programs year-round, which include community meals. This program runs

Mon­day to Friday, and approximately 700 individuals are provided

free and hot meals weekly on site.

Just to give you an idea, there are probably 100 people in the

House right now, and they do that seven times every five days. They make

sure that everybody that’s in the community receives a meal.

They have a food bank which includes fresh and non-perishable.

It’s distributed four times a week to individuals and families

struggling to make ends meet. The food bank sees about 450 to 500

households per week. There are mobile meals. This program delivers hot,

nutritious meals to seniors and other vulnerable people in the Surrey,

Langley and White Rock area. Currently, 750 meals are delivered each

week to those people at home.

The cold weather shelter…. Cloverdale Community Kitchen hosts a

30-bed shelter which runs nightly from October into March, and it

ensures not only that people have a warm place to sleep, but that they

have access to breakfast in the morning and warm clothes and shoes as

they need it. The money raised during the Coldest Night of the Year

ensures that they have the resources to continue meeting the needs of

food, shelter and clothing for the vulnerable in our

community.

As of 1:30 today, the Cloverdale walk has raised $136,558 of the

goal of $250,000, which is 54 percent, and the walk is still 12 days

away.

SCOTTIES TOURNAMENT OF HEARTS

T. Stone: Canada’s tournament capital is once again laying out the welcome

mat for a major sporting event that will bring skill, talent, excitement

and economic benefit to the city of Kamloops over the next two weeks.

This Friday the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts will kick off in

Kamloops, bringing Canada’s best women’s curling teams together to

compete under one roof at the Sandman Centre.

This year will mark the 42nd edition of the popular Canadian

women’s curling championship, and Kamloopsians are eager and ready to

host this exciting event. We’re proud of our reputation for being

spectacular event hosts.

I want to thank the many local volunteers who are stepping up to

make the Scotties a memorable experience for the competitors, for fans

and indeed for the entire community. I also want to thank the organizers

and staff behind this large-scale event who are working very hard behind

the scenes to manage many details and moving parts to ensure a smooth

event for everyone involved.

I know all the competitors will receive the warmest of welcomes,

and we wish them all the best of luck. But I do hope that all members of

this House will join me in sending a bit of extra luck to Team B.C., who

hail from the Vancouver Curling Club. Team members include the skip,

Clancy Grandy; the third, Kayla MacMillan; the second, Lindsay Dubue;

and the lead, Sarah Loken. They are led by their very capable coach,

Katie Witt.

Along with the member for Kamloops–North Thompson, we wish them

all the best.

We welcome all competitors, their fans, friends and families, as

well as spectators from across Canada, to the great city of Kamloops for

this exceptional and guaranteed-to-be-exciting sporting

event.

ACTS OF KINDNESS

K. Chen: As we just heard from my colleague sharing about the Real Acts of

Caring Week, I also want to take this opportunity to share about the

power of kindness. I actually want to take this opportunity to share and

give my sincere thanks to many of you who have shared your kindness with

me and my son since my departure from cabinet.

I saw a quote that says: “Kindness means building bridges instead

of walls.” In politics, sometimes we feel like we have to build walls to

show contrast and to attack. For the past two months, I’ve received

nothing but kindness from colleagues from all sides of the House, staff

members, people I’ve worked with and even many strangers, like someone

who bumped into me and my son at a grocery store and gave us good

wishes.

I cannot tell you how much it means to us. Whenever I feel like

I’m lost or running in circles, I think about the kindness I’ve received

in my life, and I can continue my journey.

Gender-based violence is not something that’s easy to talk about.

I’ve never shared with anyone until recent years, and I’ve had people

who try to change the topic or act awkwardly when the topic comes up.

But those of you who have shared your kind thoughts or even raised

awareness on the issue, please know that your kindness can change lives

and gives us the courage to do something about it.

[2:00 p.m.]

Kindness can change a person. Kindness can change the world. I

know question period is coming up, and I still remember my own heckling

in the House and my passionate response to the opposition. But I hope

that when we are passionately debating in the House, we all have the

kindness in us that will motivate us to take the real actions that will

make things better for other people. Kindness is way more than what we

do. It actually shows who we are.

Thank you all for allowing me this opportunity to share my

appreciation here during the Real Acts of Caring Week and share how your

kindness has changed me personally.

My son, Yoann, actually just turned nine years old yesterday. Many

of you may remember how he used to run around the Legislature. He also

wants me to thank all of you and all the kind people who are so nice to

him in Victoria, especially those who give him candies and the fries on

a ferry.

VANCOUVER’S CHINATOWN

T. Wat: Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Vancouver

Chinatown with some of my fellow members to meet with residents and

discuss community development opportunities.

Some key organizers helping in the process of China­town’s

revitalization are the Vancouver Chinatown BIA Society and the Chinatown

Merchants Association, two organizations that are keen to improve one of

the most historic neighbourhoods in Vancouver.

Founded in 2000, Vancouver Chinatown BIA represents 250 merchants

and 150 property owners in Vancouver Chinatown. It is a community-based

non-profit with a goal of encouraging and promoting business in

China­town. The Vancouver Chinatown BIA has a strong connection to

the Chinatown Merchants Association, which succeeded in obtaining the

business and property owners support required to establish the BIA

Society in the late ’90s.

Today, both groups’ focus on improving the safety and cleanliness

of Chinatown is incredibly important, and it continues to make great

progress and gain further support from surrounding merchants and

property owners. The two groups work together in their commitment to

encouraging community stakeholders’ involvement that focuses on economic

resilience and sustainability.

Chinatown has a major appeal to people in Vancouver and those

visiting. The two Chinatown organizations play an integral role in

ensuring the neighbourhood, with more than 100 years of heritage, stays

vibrant and continues to grow.

I would like to thank the team behind the Vancouver Chinatown

Merchants Association for being a pioneer in bringing the community

together and creating organizations such as the Vancouver Chinatown

BIA.

Oral Questions

COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENTS

AND INFRASTRUCTURE

PROJECTS

T. Stone: Well, life has never been more unaffordable than it is today under

the NDP government, and now wasteful spending of epic proportions on

public infrastructure projects is making things considerably worse for

British Columbia’s struggling families.

The Cowichan Hospital project is now three years be­hind

schedule and $850 million over budget, all due to NDP incompetence. The

project is under a so-called CBA, or community ripoff agreement, that

excludes, actually discriminates against 85 percent of B.C.’s

construction workers.

Now, these ripoff agreements also deny qualified local and

Indigenous workers and contractors like Jon Coleman, who is here with us

today, the opportunity to work on vital projects, public projects within

their respective community. Jon says: “Abolish the CBA. You’re

disrespecting everyone at the table. There is no

reconciliation.”

Will the Premier end the discriminatory community ripoff

agreements that are preventing Indigenous contractors like Jon Coleman

from participating in projects within their traditional

territory?

Hon. A. Dix: I can tell you that people in the Cowichan Valley agree with me

that the Cowichan Hospital needed to built years ago.

[2:05 p.m.]

We are proceeding to do just that, adding dozens of new acute care

beds, mental health facilities that matter to people everywhere in B.C.

and matter to people in the region…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. A. Dix: …and improved capacity for surgeries. All of those things come.

And yes, everyone working on the Cowichan Hospital lives within 100

kilometres of the hospital, building support and building the community

and training more people while we do that work. More than 20 percent of

people under the CBA are Indigenous now.

As I said in response to a question last week, the Khowutzun

Development Corp. is now eligible to bid for work on the Cowichan

Hospital site without a change to their workforce. Discussions between

the subcontractor and the KDC began last Thursday. Our government has

met with Chief Hwitsum and Jodee Dick, the CEO of their development

corporations, to ensure that everyone is clear on the

process.

We of course need everyone to build this extraordinary and

important project for health care that will serve the Cowichan Valley

for decades to come. We support it. We brought it into place. We’re

building the hospital, something the previous government failed to do

for years.

Mr. Speaker: Opposition House Leader, supplemental.

T. Stone: Well, this project just highlights the NDP incompetence at a whole

other level.

We’re talking about, again, a project that is three years late and

$850 million over budget. Worse than that, if it’s possible to be worse

than that, this project doesn’t enable anyone to be eligible to work on

the project. Those are weasel words.

For anyone to suggest that Jon Coleman and contractors and

Indigenous workers, non-Indigenous workers like him, frankly, that make

up the 85 percent of British Columbians that are not allowed to bid on

these projects unless they join one of the NDPs units…. To suggest that

that’s eligibility, well that’s a very different definition than I think

most British Columbians have, and certainly than Jon Coleman.

The B. C. Infrastructure Benefits website actually says: “You are

required to apply for membership with one of the affiliated unions

within 30 calendar days.”

Guess what. John Coleman doesn’t want to abandon his business

model. He doesn’t want to get rid of over half of his workers, which is

what he would end up having to do if he was to go and encourage his

workers to sign on with these with these unions. What he does want to do

is he wants his workers and he wants his business to be able to work on

a project in their traditional territory.

At a time when families are struggling, it’s shameful to see every

single one of the NDP’s community ripoff projects results in less for

more. Pattullo Bridge — delayed a year, $100 million in extra costs,

lacks a new interchange that was long promised on the Surrey side, and

they’re replacing a four-lane bridge with a four-lane bridge. Highway 1

four-laning — higher costs, decreased scope and delayed

construction.

Pick a project on the Trans-Canada Highway. Anywhere, pick a

project. They’re all massively higher in costs with reduced scope. Now

the Cowichan Hospital, $85 million over budget.

Dan Gillespie of Down to Earth Trucking says: “This discrimination

isn’t right, and it doesn’t benefit the little guys in our town. I

support Jon Coleman and other local contractors in calling for the CBA

policy to be abolished.”

Again, a question to the Premier. Will he get up today with Jon

Coleman and many others watching — Jon Coleman here in the chamber — and

scrap the community rip­off agreements that discriminate against

qualified workers and contractors who want to work on the projects in

their communities?

Hon. A. Dix: The industry average for Indigenous participation on such projects

is 6 percent. On the Cowichan project, it’s well over 20 percent. That

shows the progress you can make when you give priority to ensuring that

when a project is built, it doesn’t just build our health care capacity

but improves the ability of people to work now and in the future, brings

access to training and to benefits. Four times as much is pretty

significant.

I’ll just say this on health care projects in general. I could go

down the line. Dawson Creek Hospital — delayed for decades, being built

now.

Interjections.

[2:10 p.m.]

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.

Hon. A. Dix: They know and we know we’re proceeding. ICU in Quesnel. Mills

Memorial Hospital. A major project at Peace Arch Hospital. A major

project in Williams Lake.

The reason we need to build these projects is after years of

delay, the hospitals that have served many communities well need to be

rebuilt, and that is precisely what we are doing.

P. Milobar: The minister better brush up on some of his own announcements,

because Dawson Creek has been delayed by this minister. Williams Lake

has been delayed by this minister. The Cowichan Hospital was supposed to

actually be open in 2024 — not our timeline, this government’s timeline.

It’s in preconstruction. It’s nowhere near being open in 2024. In fact,

the Cowichan project has become the most expensive hospital project of

its kind in Canada due to this NDP complete bungling of the

project.

The Premier can simply look up the road to the North Island

hospitals project to see what it should be. We built two

state-of-the-art hospitals in the Comox Valley and Campbell River for

$600 million — on time, on budget, $2.4 million a bed.

The Cowichan Hospital is now three times that dollar value. I know

the minister might try to say: “Well, with inflation.” That’s still over

twice as expensive for the Cowichan Hospital right now than other

hospitals being built all over this country right now. Complete

incompetence by this government.

Again, will the Premier scrap these wasteful community ripoff

agreements that cost taxpayers more and more and are delivering less and

less every single time?

Hon. A. Dix: There were four terms of Liberal government, and four times the

Dawson Creek Hospital was promised, and four times they failed to

deliver it. We are delivering on it on a new site. The Mills Memorial

Hospital project….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. A. Dix: The Mills Memorial Hospital project should have been built decades

ago. It’s being built now in Terrace by this government. The Williams

Lake Hospital project — they should have started it in 2008. They took

ten years while a concept plan sat on the desk of a previous Minister of

Health, not me. It sat on their desk, like the Terrace Hospital, like

the Dawson Creek Hospital.

We are proceeding to build the hospitals of the future in B.C.,

and the people of those communities support that.

Mr. Speaker: Member for Kamloops–North Thompson, supplemental.

P. Milobar: Once again the NDP rhetoric just simply doesn’t match anywhere

near the actual results that they are failing to provide for British

Columbians.

These hospitals are all delayed. They’re all delayed. Cowichan was

announced in 2018. You know what hap­pened in five years when we

had five years? We built two hospitals on the North Island, on time and

on budget, and they were opened. You know what’s happened under this NDP

government, in Cowichan, after five years? They’re in preconstruction

and $850 million over budget. That’s what this government seems to think

is progress.

On time and on budget, we were: Abbotsford Regional Hospital, the

Jim Pattison Pavilion in Surrey, the Penticton Regional Hospital.

Hospital projects in Vernon, Vancouver, Kelowna — I could keep going on,

but we won’t have time to capture them all.

The Comox Valley and Campbell River hospitals alone had over 290

apprentices that were working on the project. All of those other

projects had apprentices training. All of those other projects had

Indigenous people training. In fact, a lot of those projects had 30

percent, not 20 percent, Indigenous participation.

In contrast, after being announced five years ago, the Cowichan

Hospital, once again — $850 million over budget on an original $600

million budget. This is strictly a decision by this NDP government to

discriminate against the 85 percent of the construction workers, and it

is simply only benefiting their 19 hand-chosen unions at the expense of

unionized and non-unionized workers across this province.

Again, will the Premier end this wasteful use of billions of tax

dollars, put people like Jon Coleman back to work where they want to be

working and get rid of these community ripoff agreements?

[2:15 p.m.]

Hon. A. Dix: Well, the opposition Finance critic talks about Vancouver. They

announced St. Paul’s Hospital in 2002; a business plan, 2004, 2008. They

announced it again in 2009. They didn’t want to hurt this promise by

keeping it. In 2011, 2015 — no one showed up for that one. They were so

embarrassed about the previous six announcements.

In that time, it’s not like St. Paul’s Hospital didn’t need to be

fixed. It is, of course, an outstanding hospital in B.C., but it needed

to be done in 2002. They delayed for 16 years, it took them, to go from

business plan to a pre–business plan stage. That’s the wrong

direction.

We are committed when we build major projects….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Shhh. Shhh.

Hon. A. Dix: Wait a second. They mentioned Surrey, hon. Speaker. I can’t

believe they’re mentioning Surrey. I can’t believe it.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. A. Dix: They sold the land that that hospital should’ve been built on. We

are building that hospital.

PROTECTION OF SAANICH INLET

AND ENVIRONMENTAL

ASSESSMENT FOR

BAMBERTON QUARRY EXPANSION PROPOSAL

A. Olsen: Currently there is a proposal to expand the Bamberton quarry to

extract nearly 500,000 tons annually of construction aggregate, toxic

soil dump and the expansion of a provincial foreshore lease.

Like our ancestors, I, my relatives and our descendants rely on

the Saanich Inlet to harvest our food: salmon, herring, herring eggs,

cod, cod eggs, snapper, crab, clams, mussels, prawns, ducks, oysters,

sea eggs, urchins, octopus, seal, seaweed, deer and many other

species.

In 1996, the B.C. NDP government published a 500-​page study

of the inlet. It found the Saanich Inlet is a highly valued place. The

aesthetic, cultural, spiritual and environmental values have been

diminished or degraded. Despite the degradation, it is still a viable

ecological system.

The study recommendations are clear. The level of protection must

be based on the most sensitive human or ecological use. The

precautionary principle must be applied when questions or gaps in

information occur, and “the assimilative capacity must not be viewed as

a pollute-up-to level, but rather as a tool to effectively direct

protection and remediation efforts.”

The report was inclusive. It was collaborative. This government’s

Ministers of Environment, Mines and Forests are all pretending like it

doesn’t exist.

To the Minister of Environment, is his environmental assessment

office using this study to inform their deci­sions about whether

an environmental assessment of the proposed industrial expansion in the

Saanich Inlet is acceptable?

Hon. G. Heyman: I want to thank the member for raising the issue of the proposed

Bamberton quarry expansion. I also want to thank the Saanich Inlet

Protection Society for their determination to ensure that all issues

related to the health of the inlet and related to the potential

expansion of the quarry are on the table.

As the member knows, the Saanich Inlet Protection Society made an

application to the environmental assessment office to consider whether

this proposed expansion project should be subject to an environmental

assessment. The EAO has gone out of its way to hear from people. It has,

in fact, allowed the Saanich Inlet Protection Society, in an

unprecedented manner, to participate directly in having a voice in

public hearings and having input into those hearings.

There has been a period of time set aside, after the initial

report, for public comment. In fact, the environmental assessment office

has extended that public comment period to February 21 to ensure that

there is adequate time for additional public input. At that point, the

result of all of the input and all of the knowledge about the inlet will

be applied to the determination about whether an environmental

assessment should be ordered.

[2:20 p.m.]

Mr. Speaker: House Leader, Third Party, supplemental.

A. Olsen: I think it needs to be pointed out that it took a community

organization to get this provincial government to pay any attention to

this application at all. Otherwise, this application was just screaming

through the process. This delay that the minister has highlighted is

only happening because that community group raised this.

In light of all of the information, including the 500-​page

study that I raised previously…. In light of the information this

government has, the environmental assessment office has gone to the

extent to say an environmental assessment is not recommended for this

project, even though the 500-page study…. It was laid before this

government back in 1997.

What it seems like is that this process is just an enabler of the

extractive industry that is proposing to grind away a sacred mountain

site and to threaten and damage all of the food sources that me and my

relatives have harvested and fed our families with for generations and

that we are standing up and hoping we can protect for generations to

come.

It’s not just this situation that the Minister of Environment has

turned his eye away from. There is the Hartland Landfill, which is

spreading human waste on the top as a cap. That’s just on the other side

of McKenzie Bight, another place where we harvest snapper.

There’s a proposal to build a highway, not beside Goldstream,

where we harvest salmon, but right in Goldstream.

Mr. Speaker: Question, Member.

A. Olsen: When will this Minister of Environment stop excusing the

destruction of the Saanich Inlet and start protecting it?

Hon. G. Heyman: Thank you again to the member for the question.

I’m a bit surprised that the member believes that I’m excusing

destruction when no final decision has been made. I take the process

seriously.

I think what the member has failed to recognize is that when we

revitalized the Environmental Assessment Act in 2018 and we put in place

the Reviewable Projects Regulation, the new one, we included a provision

that not only set thresholds to trigger assessments for new projects and

expansions of existing ones. We put in place a mechanism to ensure that

if certain projects came close to that threshold, they had to notify the

environmental assessment office so consideration could be given as to

whether an assessment should be ordered in a particular, specific

case.

That is exactly the process that we are undertaking today. That is

a process that we take very seriously.

COWICHAN HOSPITAL

REPLACEMENT PROJECT

AND COWICHAN

TRIBES CONTRACTORS

G. Kyllo: It’s truly outrageous what has been happening under these CBA

ripoff agreements. They’re dismissive, they’re disrespectful, and

they’re discriminatory. Cowichan Tribes members are being denied the

ability to work unimpeded on projects located within their traditional

territories, land that they donated.

Dan Williams of RavenStone Construction is a Cowichan Tribes

member who says he wants to work on a project in his territory without

NDP government discrimination. “We lost any opportunity to work on this

project because I’m not going to accept losing core employees and having

my business dismantled just to participate.”

Will the Premier tell Indigenous contractors like Dan Williams and

Jon Coleman, who are joining us here in the gallery today, why he

doesn’t think that they are good enough to work on projects in their

traditional territory?

Hon. A. Dix: The member is simply not factually correct. In fact, he’ll know….

The very high level of Indigenous participation on this project

demonstrates the commitment of the CBA to ensuring that people in

society who previously have not had a sufficient participation in

government projects have got that participation.

[2:25 p.m.]

Those aren’t just numbers. Last week two plumbers from the

Cowichan Nation started work on the hospital project. They’re a father

and son. Dad is a red seal plumber. Neither was a member of a union.

They will be among the first plumbers on the worksite because of the

priority language in the community benefits agreement.

E. Ross: I didn’t read about the discriminatory nature of the Indian Act in

a book. I lived it. I tried to fix it. Now we find, in the 21st century,

that Cowichan Tribes are going through exactly what First Nations were

going through 100 years ago, exclusion and discrimination under a CBA.

But it’s okay, because it’s legislation. That’s what the Indian Act

was.

The Indian Act promised to look after Indians only if the Indians

agreed to live by government rules. You’ve come full circle, and you’ve

made it a provincial Indian act, not a federal. This is wrong. Anybody

can see this is wrong.

The Elders of the Cowichan Tribes gifted land to the province to

build the hospital in Cowichan. Then the Premier told the Cowichan

Tribes they can’t work unless they pay the union agents who support them

politically. This is a colonial story from 100 years ago.

As Jon Coleman said today: “I thought we were past the days of

such discrimination sidelining and treating Indigenous people as if we

don’t know anything.” I know exactly how he feels. This is no different

than being controlled by an Indian agent. For all of you that purport to

understand what First Nations culture is, or maybe even have some

ancestry in your background, you should know what he’s talking about.

Not these political narratives that are empty.

My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier tell Jon Coleman,

who is sitting here today, watching in the gallery, why the Premier is

discriminating against him and other Indigenous people who want to work

on public projects?

Hon. A. Dix: The Khowutzun Development Corp. is now eligible for bids for work

on the project — period. Those discussions have been underway. They’ve

been underway — for example, because I spoke in the House on Wednesday —

since last Thursday, and they continue now.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Shhh. Shhh.

Hon. A. Dix: No. As I said then, as I say now, they’re eligible to bid for work

on the Cowichan Hospital site with­out a change to their

workforce. I can’t be more straightforward than that. That’s the

circumstance.

We have a project, did last Wednesday. We’ve also been meeting

with Chief Hwitsum, with the development corporation, and that’s exactly

right.

I’m sure everyone in the sound of my voice understands what that

means, what it meant last Wednesday and what it means now, which is that

they are allowed to bid on the project and, of course, work on the

project without a change to their workforce.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

M. Lee: This minister’s response is highly disrespectful to the Cowichan

Tribes, whose contractors and workers continue to be blocked from

working on their traditional territory.

This government’s imposition of its discriminatory CBA regime on

the Cowichan regional hospital project with no consultation with the

Cowichan Tribes is not economic reconciliation. This government should

know that.

Article 17 of UNDRIP says very specifically that Indigenous

peoples have the right not to be subjected to any discriminatory

conditions of labour, but that is exactly what we have seen under the

discriminatory CBE regime, against the companies and workers of the

Cowichan Tribes, including Jon Coleman and Dan Williams.

As Chief Lydia Hwitsum said on the weekend: “Our companies and

their workers are sitting on the sidelines, watching the clock run out

on any meaningful participation.”

To the Premier, how is this discrimination against Indigenous

peoples consistent with

article 17 of UNDRIP?

[2:30 p.m.]

Hon. A. Dix: I’ll repeat the answer, because it’s important that these

questions are understood. The Cowichan Hospital project is incredibly

important to the people of the region, to all people of the region,

including the Cowichan Tribes. We’ve worked together with all of the

parties to ensure and talk through the challenges. In fact, since last

Thursday, the subcontractor — that’s the way the work goes on a big

project — has been in discussion….

Interjection.

Mr. Speaker: Member for Vancouver-Langara, please.

Hon. A. Dix: The Khowutzun Development Corp. is now eligible to bid on the work

without a change in the composition of their workforce. It’s fairly

straightforward and clear. The work is ongoing. The government has met

with Chief Hwitsum on this very question.

I think I would say, as well, that this project is of central

importance to the Cowichan Tribes. It is currently, on site, having a

significant participation of Indigenous people, and it will have more.

With respect to the Khowutzun Development Corp., they’re going to have

every right to bid on the work without a change in the workforce, which

is exactly, I think, what the member is asking for.

COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENTS

AND INFRASTRUCTURE

PROJECTS

M. de Jong: I’ve listened carefully, and if what the minister is saying was

true, Jon Coleman wouldn’t be sitting here. He’d be back home working on

the project.

I think of all the high-minded statements that have been made in

this chamber by members on both sides about UNDRIP. Then when you look

at this Cowichan Hospital fiasco, you realize how little things have

changed, practically.

I spoke with an Aboriginal gentleman on the weekend, an older

fellow. He’s got some ancestral connection with Cowichan. He’s not from

there. He used a term that the member for Skeena…. He talked about the

lingering colonialism. That’s the term that he used. He told me that 60

years ago, governments went to his family and said: “Of course we’ll

help educate you. You just have to do it our way.”

Today the equivalent is governments that come to Aboriginal people

and say: “Oh, of course you can participate in big public works

projects. You just have to organize yourselves the way we tell you to

organize yourselves.”

It is a lingering form of colonialism, but it’s even worse because

it’s colonialism driven by cronyism, by a government that cares more

about satisfying their political donors in the big labour movement than

honouring the spirit of the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous

peoples.

To the Premier, will he stand in this place and finally recognize

what these CBA ripoff agreements have actually become and what they’re

actually doing? They’re costing British Columbians hundreds of millions

of dollars more than they should for these important projects. Will he

recognize that they are making a mockery of the reconciliation that

UNDRIP was supposed to represent in British Columbia?

Hon. D. Eby: Thank you to the member for the question.

I think it’s critically important that this government is building

a new hospital in Cowichan. The hospital was built in 1967, and it’s

time to be replaced. But I think the core of the member’s question is….

When you’re building big public infrastructure projects, it’s important

that you build them, of course, but it’s also important how you build

them, the standards you build them to — we’ve talked about climate

change, environmental protection — but also how you treat the people and

who gets to work on the projects.

[2:35 p.m.]

That is what the CBA agreements are about. It’s about making sure,

when we put big public investments into major infrastructure, that

people who haven’t had access to apprenticeships get access to

apprenticeships, that they get to build skills-training opportunities,

that the jobs go to people in the local area.

I hope that now that’s a position universally shared through this

Legislature. It’s just a question of: how do we get to that?

Now, for Mr. Coleman, it is a fact that his company is able to bid

on the project without changing the composition of the workforce, which

means, in other words, without joining a union. Okay? But it’s also

important to know that almost 20 percent of the workers on the site are

First Nations workers and that what’s been happening right now is that

these unions have been out in community, training Cowichan workers so

that they’re able to work skilled trades jobs on the site.

The electrical workers have been training workers at the Cowichan

Secondary School and the Duncan RCMP station on electrical work so they

can start…. As soon as the electrical work starts at the hospital, they

can start on the site. The sheet metal workers have been in the

community training people, Cowichan workers, in sheet metal work so, as

soon as the project starts doing sheet metal work, they can start on the

site. They’re getting paid right now in the training. There’s rebar

training that’s been happening in the community, and more than a dozen

people have already been offered positions working on the

hospital.

The members raise really important points. We’re working on this

as a government, and it’s a priority for us, and I think it’s really

important to note that it’s now a priority for the other side. I know

there’s a lot of important concern about our province doing a good job

on reconciliation, given this province’s history, and we’re going to

continue to do that work at Cowichan Hospital and every project that we

build in this province.

[End of question period.]

Hon. R. Kahlon: I call Motion 14 on the order paper.

Government Motions on Notice

MOTION 14 — POWERS AND ROLE OF

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

COMMITTEE

Hon. R. Kahlon: I move Motion 14, which outlines the terms of reference for the

Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts, of which notice has been

given in my name on the order paper:

[That all reports of the Auditor General of British Columbia

transmitted to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly be deemed

referred to the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts. For

greater certainty, the following exceptions are provided:

a. the report referred to in

section 22 of the

Auditor General Act (S.B.C. 2003, c. 2) shall be referred

to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services;

and,

b. reports of the Auditor General respecting the

Legislative Assembly prepared under the provisions of the

Legislative Assembly Management Committee Act (R.S.B.C.

1996, c. 258) shall be referred to the Legislative Assembly Management

Committee.

That the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts be the

Committee referred to in sections 6, 7, 10, 13 and 14 of the Auditor

General Act (S.B.C. 2003, c. 2).

That, in addition to the powers previously conferred upon the Select

Standing Committees of the House, the Select Standing Committee on

Public Accounts be empowered to:

a. appoint of its number one or more subcommittees and

to refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the

Committee and to delegate to the subcommittees all or any of its powers

except the power to report directly to the House;

b. sit during a period in which the House is

adjourned, during the recess after prorogation until the next following

Session and during any sitting of the House;

c. adjourn from place to place as may be convenient;

and,

d. retain personnel as required to assist the

Committee.

That the Committee report to the House as soon as possible, and that

during a period of adjournment, the Committee deposit its reports with

the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, and upon resumption of the

sittings of the House, or in the next following Session, as the case may

be, the Chair present all reports to the House.]

T. Stone: I would like to take this opportunity to actually propose an

amendment to the terms of reference for the Public Accounts Committee

and just offer some very brief background comments as to why.

[That Motion 14 be amended by inserting the underlined

text:

That all reports of the Auditor General of British Columbia

transmitted to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly be deemed

referred to the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts. For

greater certainty, the following exceptions are provided:

a. the report referred to in

section 22 of the Auditor

General Act (S.B.C. 2003, c. 2) shall be referred to the Select

Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services; and,

b. reports of the Auditor General respecting the

Legislative Assembly prepared under the provisions of the

Legislative Assembly Management Committee Act (R.S.B.C.

1996, c. 258) shall be referred to the Legislative Assembly Management

Committee.

That the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts be the

Committee referred to in sections 6, 7, 10, 13 and 14 of the Auditor

General Act (S.B.C. 2003, c. 2).

That the complete final report on the forensic audit of B.C. Housing

be transmitted to the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts

within 10 days of its receipt by the Office of the Comptroller

General.

That, in addition to the powers previously conferred upon the

Select Standing Committees of the House, the Select Standing Committee

on Public Accounts be empowered to:

a. appoint of its number one or more subcommittees and to

refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the Committee

and to delegate to the subcommittees all or any of its powers except the

power to report directly to the House;

b. sit during a period in which the House is adjourned,

during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and

during any sitting of the House;

c. adjourn from place to place as may be convenient;

and,

d. retain personnel as required to assist the

Committee.

That the Committee report to the House as soon as possible, and

that during a period of adjournment, the Committee deposit its reports

with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, and upon resumption of the

sittings of the House, or in the next following Session, as the case may

be, the Chair present all reports to the House.]

On the amendment.

T. Stone: The House will recall that back on November 24, during a question

period exchange, the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, in

responding to a question about the anticipated work of the Public

Accounts Committee for the forthcoming year, would include, obviously,

as it always is the case, the receipt of a series of reports from the

Auditor General.

The member for Kamloops–North Thompson, at that time, also

indicated that in light of the fact that for days, if not weeks, leading

up to that point, there had been lots of back and forth in this House

about legitimate concerns at B.C. Housing and internal operations…. Then

we had all learned in this chamber from the Premier directly, himself,

that he, while serving as Housing Minister, had asked the comptroller

general to do a review.

The member for Kamloops–North Thompson said, as part of his answer

on that day, November 24, that he would hope that the Premier and the

government would be willing to include, in the terms of reference

receipt by the Public Accounts Committee, of the report from the

comptroller general, again, who was looking into internal workings of

B.C. Housing.

The amendment today follows up on that. I believe when the member

for Kamloops–North Thompson made those comments that there was,

seemingly, an acknowledgment from the Premier that that would be

acceptable.

On February 3, just the other day, at the most recent Public

Accounts Committee, there was a discussion amongst the members of that

committee where the Chair proposed that the terms of reference be

modified in that committee. It was pointed out by the member for

Vancouver–West End that it would probably be a more appropriate place to

do it here in the chamber as part of the overall terms of reference for

the forthcoming year, so the committee determined to do that and to kick

it back here.

[2:40 p.m.]

The amendment that I’m proposing today simply inserts one more

paragraph that reads as follows: “That the complete final report on the

forensic audit of B.C. Housing be transmitted to the Select Standing

Committee on Public Accounts within ten days of its receipt by the

office of the comptroller general.”

Hon. R. Kahlon: I appreciate the amendment. I think the House Leader of the

opposition and I have been talking almost every day, and I think it

would be appreciated if this was shared prior to now for the

conversation. I will just share with the member that when we have the

report, which I’ve already committed publicly and the Premier has

committed publicly, it will be made public.

So if the member’s concern is that there is a report that’s

developed and it won’t be shared, then I can share with the member that

he shouldn’t be worried, because we’re going to share that report

publicly. So in this case, we won’t be supporting the amendment, but

again, I commit that that will be shared publicly.

P. Milobar: Just speaking to the motion. I appreciate what the Government

House Leader has indicated, who is also the Housing Minister. However,

the reality is that if not for one different letter, if it had been the

Office of the Auditor General that had been asked by the then Housing

Minister and then Attorney General, it would automatically be coming to

the Public Accounts Committee for review when that report was tabled.

Because it’s the OCG and not the OAG, it didn’t fall under our current

orders and terms of reference.

What this motion would actually do, though, is it would enable a

committee that works very well together, that has membership…. The

majority membership actually are government members — six to three. But

it’s a committee that is specifically designed to look into these exact

types of reports and audits. And when we had our discussion, it was safe

to say everyone agreed on our committee, I feel, that we all recognize

that we work well together. We work well across party lines.

The meetings are publicly broadcast. The media has access to watch

as well. On something as important and as critical as a forensic audit

of B.C. Housing…. When you think of what’s going on in our housing

market these days, when you think of the concerns people have, this

audit may shine a light that says everything is working well, or it may

shine a light that says, actually, things are very

questionable.

Either way, good public policy would suggest that putting that to

a committee automatically when it gets tabled, which does work well

together and is used to handling these types of reports and information,

would be the best way for the public, the media and everyone to get that

sunlight onto what is actually happening on B.C. Housing, and that

confidence in the public that not only the forensic audit was done, but

that B.C. Housing would then come and answer questions related to that

audit as well in a very public venue so that the public can understand

where literally billions of dollars of their tax dollars are being

invested.

A. Olsen: I think it’s just important to note that in a former year, a year

previous to this one, I was on that Public Accounts Committee and found

that the work that was done in that space to actually be the way that

committees should function and oversee the business of this Legislative

Assembly. I think that the appropriateness of how a motion is brought

forward or the process behind it is separate from whether or not the

motion is valid. And I think that there can be conversations between the

three House Leaders about how motions are brought forward.

I note that the Government House Leader gave notification to

myself and to the other Opposition House Leader about motions, and I

believe that there’s an appropriateness to that. But I don’t know that

that should diminish what’s being asked here, nor do I think that what’s

being asked here diminishes…. In fact, I think that it elevates the

work, and in fact, I would like to see, and the Third Party would like

to see, the use of committees in this way to build trust and confidence

in the work that we do in this Legislative Assembly. That work with

all-party committees can be very productive.

[2:45 p.m.]

It’s more than just, actually, being able to look and the public

seeing the report. It’s the conversation that happens at the Public

Accounts Committee. The comptroller general will be there. B.C. Housing,

perhaps, will be invited. They’ll be asked questions by a committee of

our colleagues that have been elected to this place who have gone

through that report, who have pulled out things that they feel need to

be asked and got answers for on the public record.

I think that that’s a very valuable process and certainly support

that initiative, as I would support the initiative of the government

using the select standing committees more proactively to do that public

oversight and confidence-building process.

Amendment negatived on division.

Motion approved.

Hon. R. Kahlon: I call Motion 15 on the order paper.

MOTION 15 — POWERS AND ROLE OF

CHILDREN AND YOUTH

COMMITTEE

Hon. R. Kahlon: Hon. Speaker, I move Motion 15, which outlines the terms of

reference for the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth, of

which notice has been given in my name on the order paper.

[That the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth be

empowered to foster greater awareness and understanding among

legislators and the public of the B.C. child welfare system, including

the specific needs of Indigenous children, youth, families and

communities, and in particular to:

1. Receive and review the annual service plan from the

Representative for Children and Youth (the “Representative”) that

includes a statement of goals and identifies specific objectives and

performance measures that will be required to exercise the powers and

perform the functions and duties of the Representative during the fiscal

year;

2. Be the Committee to which the Representative

reports, at least annually;

3. Refer to the Representative for investigation the

critical injury or death of a child;

4. Receive and consider all reports and plans

transmitted by the Representative to the Speaker of the Legislative

Assembly; and,

5. Complete, pursuant to

section 30 (1) of the

Representative for Children and Youth Act (S.B.C. 2006, c.

29), a comprehensive review of the Act or portions of the Act to

determine whether the functions of the Representative described in

section 6 are still required to ensure that the needs of children and

young adults as defined in that

section are met, including consideration

of any information or evidence received by the Committee during the

Third Session of the Forty-second Parliament.

That, in addition to the powers previously conferred upon Select

Standing Committees of the House, the Select Standing Committee on

Children and Youth be empowered to:

a. appoint of its number one or more subcommittees and

to refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the

Committee and to delegate to the subcommittees all or any of its powers

except the power to report directly to the House;

b. sit during a period in which the House is

adjourned, during the recess after prorogation until the next following

Session and during any sitting of the House;

c. conduct consultations by any means the Committee

considers appropriate;

d. adjourn from place to place as may be convenient;

and,

e. retain personnel as required to assist the

Committee.

That the Committee report to the House as soon as possible, and that

during a period of adjournment, the Committee deposit its reports with

the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, and upon resumption of the

sittings of the House, or in the next following Session, as the case may

be, the Chair present all reports to the House.]

Motion approved.

Question of Privilege

(Reservation of Right)

R. Merrifield: I just wanted to reserve my right to raise a question of privilege

relating to the comments made during the debate of the private member’s

motion this morning, specifically from the member for Parksville-Qualicum,

as well as others.

Orders of the Day

Hon. R. Kahlon: I call continued second reading on Bill 2.

[S. Chandra Herbert in the chair.]

Second Reading of Bills

BILL 2 — NATIONAL DAY FOR

TRUTH AND

RECONCILIATION ACT

(continued)

M. Lee: I’m pleased to stand in the House today to speak in support of

Bill 2 to make the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on September

30 a statutory holiday. As we all recognize in this House, the

relationship with Indigenous peoples in our province and in our country

is one that comes from a very dark history for our nation, and one that

must be acknowledged in order to make progress and build towards a

better B.C.

As the member for Saanich North and the Islands and the Minister

for Reconciliation and Indigenous Relations said, reconciliation is hard

work. It’s important that we all reflect on the history of residential

schools and witness and honour survivors and their families. We need to

honour their resilience and their strength and reconfirm our commitment

to meaningful reconciliation.

As has been said, this proposed legislation is one small step in

our continued collective efforts towards truth and reconciliation. We

recognize that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, in its

actions, action 80, called for the establishment of a National Day of

Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday.

[2:50 p.m.]

By moving with this legislation on the floor of this Legislative

Assembly, B.C. will join Canada, Prince Edward Island, the Northwest

Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon to recognize September 30 as a

statutory holiday.

This comes after years of the official opposition calling on the

government to provide certainty to families and businesses as to whether

they would recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a

statutory holiday in the province here of British Columbia.

As we reflect on the meaning of truth and reconciliation through

this national day in our province and the role we all have to play in

this vitally important process, it’s important that the government does

the same.

At the committee stage, I expect the critic for Labour, the member

for Shuswap, will be joining in the committee stage to ask the Minister

of Labour and perhaps the Minister of Indigenous Relations and

Reconciliation, as I would, to address the work of government with our

First Nations on this day, and what work will be done in the lead up to

this day, including the ongoing work regarding sacred sites.

Last week on the floor of the chamber, we had recognition of the

introduction on the first reading of this bill. Many members, respected

elders and First Nation leaders were in the assembly in the gallery to

witness the introduction of Bill 2.

We also had, in the library rotunda, a press announcement where we

had powerful statements made, including by Phyllis Webstad, the member

from Cowichan…. Cariboo-Chilcotin. Sorry, I have Cowichan on my mind.

Still do. We’ll get to that in a moment.

The member for Cariboo-Chilcotin certainly gave a wonderful

introduction to Phyllis, and we all recognized her work. She spoke in

the library rotunda of all that has become of Orange Shirt Day, on the

day that her own orange shirt was removed from her, and how so many of

us across our country and in this province have taken the responsibility

to wear that orange shirt, to wear symbols of that orange shirt and to

commemorate with others, certainly on this day and on other days, to

remember the survivors — those who didn’t survive, their families and

the witnesses.

As Phyllis said, it’s not just about one day. It’s about every

day.

The Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation paid good

tribute to Eddy Charlie, another person who spoke powerfully at this

gathering after this bill was read on first reading. Eddy referred to

reconciliation as being a river and that it’s continuous.

He also revealed the ugliness in our province and why this day is

so important — because of how non-Indigenous people see Indigenous

peoples. He used the word “monster.” As a survivor of the residential

school on Kuper Island, Eddy certainly speaks to that with much

strength.

For those of you who had an opportunity to speak with Eddy and to

sit with him, as I did, you feel the strength of his message, the

strength of the importance of this day and the recognition that when we

look at reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and Indigenous nations in

our province, we need to do that through many lenses, including in the

context of residential schools and what those schools did, what we did

as a country, to Indigenous children and families.

[2:55 p.m.]

That’s why raising people’s awareness of what happened in the

residential schools and understanding why this is important is important

to underpin the work that we continue to do in this chamber, with this

government and with First Nations in our province, around

reconciliation.

But reconciliation must be more than just a day of remembrance and

reflection. As Eddy’s efforts indicate…. He asked his co-partner in this

effort to remove from her lapel the badge that she was wearing and give

it to me. The badge says — some of the members in this House, I’m sure,

might have some of these badges — “Listen to the survivors.”

Well, one of those survivors who went to residential school with

Eddy is Jon Coleman’s mom. She went to residential school on Kuper

Island as well. Jon, who was in the gallery today to witness our

exchange in question period, was here last Wednesday as well. He’s been

here in the gallery in this House fighting for the cause, fighting for

the rights of his workers, for the ability to work on his

lands.

He speaks about his mother’s silence around residential schools.

He told me and the member for Skeena and the member for Shuswap and the

Leader of the Official Opposition and others that his mother’s silence

is a source of his strength. After all these years as a survivor of

residential schools, he’s only actually been able to get her to talk to

her grandchildren, his children, for about 45 seconds about what she

experienced.

I certainly recognize the trauma that we speak about when we ask

Indigenous peoples to share their experience and how hard it is. Jon

sees the damage of that intergenerational trauma because his sister is

living on the streets in Duncan with addiction challenges. Jon has taken

on the responsibility for the care of her six children. This is just an

unfortunate example of the generational impact that residential schools

have had.

I would like to just say that in the second reading speech from

the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, partly in

response to the member for Shuswap, and again referred to today as we

heard from the Minister of Health….We hear the words that the members of

the KDC workforce are eligible to work on the site of the Cowichan

Hospital.

But what the minister didn’t refer to — both ministers, including

the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation — in his second

reading speech on Bill 2 is that under this government’s discriminatory

CBA regime, one of the 19 unions favoured by the government has been

given full authority to determine who does the work on this

site.

When this was confirmed by BCIB, this effectively shut out Jon

Coleman and others from working on this site. That authorization from

BCIB is still in place. That’s the reason Jon Coleman was sitting in the

gallery, not working on his lands.

The reason why I raise that is that when we look at the situation

around reconciliation, we talk about a day that’s dedicated to recognize

truth and reconciliation. We have to be truthful with ourselves in this

chamber. We have to speak the truth. We have to be honest about the

situation.

[3:00 p.m.]

I see a statement by Chief Lydia Hwitsum which came out on Friday,

February 10, three days ago, subsequent to the points made today in this

chamber. Chief Hwitsum says: “We have not yet received formal

notification from any parties involved of any changes.”

Those discussions that have been referred to in this House about a

proposal have been going on for months. This is a situation that dates

back to 2021, 18 months ago, in discussions between Island Health and

the Cowichan Tribes. This is not something new. This is not something

that parties have come to an understanding of. There’s no agreement.

There is no work that has been provided to those contractors and workers

for the Cowichan Tribes.

Why is that important? Because this is a nation-to-nation

relationship. Reconciliation is not just about Indigenous peoples. It’s

certainly about the mothers, the daughters, the grandparents, the sons

and the fathers who have lost so many through residential schools. It is

also about repairing the relationship, and that can only be done based

on truth. Yet we see time and time again in this House…. Again, I will

take us back to the comments made by the Minister of Indigenous

Relations and Reconciliation in his second reading speech on this

bill.

He reminded us, sharing his optimism…. I share optimism too. We

should be optimistic over the future we have in this province. The

minister said: “I never give a speech anywhere where I don’t point out

that the Declaration Act passed in this place was the product of a

unanimous vote in this place.” Yes, we understand that. We refer to

that.

I dare say that to this government…. The member for Abbotsford

West and myself spent five days with the former Minister of Indigenous

Relations and Reconciliation talking about UNDRIP, going through each

article attached to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Act. It was based on that understanding of those five days of very

rigorous discussion and confirmations by this government as to what

UNDRIP meant in the context of this province that members of this House

supported the passage of that act.

It’s important to remember that because as I pose the question

today and as the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation

continues to talk about the unanimous support of UNDRIP in this House,

we have to recognize that

article 17 says in sub 3: “Indigenous

individuals have the right not to be subjected to any discriminatory

conditions of labour and, inter alia, employment or salary.” We had the

opportunity.

The member for Abbotsford West questioned, at least four different

rounds of questions to the former Minister of Indigenous Relations and

Reconciliation, as to the exact same scenario that Jon Coleman and the

Cowichan Tribes find themselves in today, for the last 18 months: the

inability to work on their lands because of the discriminatory effect of

CBAs. The former Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation was

not able, not prepared to respond to that question.

It demonstrates, first and foremost, that back in October and

November of 2019, when we were all in another ceremony celebrating and

commemorating the passage of UNDRIP unanimously in this House, it was

done on a basis of understanding that Indigenous peoples themselves

would not be subjected to discriminatory conditions of

labour.

[3:05 p.m.]

Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I’m just…. I’m sorry. I’ll put the paper down.

Yes.

Deputy Speaker: I was just asking you to come back to the bill so I could

understand the connection to the bill.

M. Lee: Okay. Well, I’ll pick up my paper and just say this. The bill

speaks about reconciliation. This government talks about reconciliation.

We all do. But it has to mean something, and it has to mean more than

just commemorating it on one day, on September 30, in each calendar

year. It’s got to mean more than that. Because if it doesn’t, we’re

fooling ourselves and wasting the time of Indigenous peoples and First

Nation leaders across this province, including Chief Lydia Hwitsum of

the Cowichan Tribes.

Why do you think Jon Coleman is here, day after day, advocating

for his workers, the next generation, the people who depended on him? He

had over 30 workers working on-site until they were booted off because

under the CBA, it was determined by the BCIB that only the Teamsters

could dictate to anyone who could work on that site. Teamsters are one

of the 19 unions favoured by this NDP government.

We spent a lot of time with Jon. We spent a lot of time talking

about the harms of residential schools, as I talked about earlier. We

need to listen to the survivors. We need to listen to Jon Coleman, as I

asked the House to do when I introduced him last Wednesday. We need to

listen, and we need to be truthful. So I hope that as we look at

honouring the survivors and recognizing what we’re doing on

reconciliation in this province, we don’t disrespect First Nations, as

this government has done.

It’s done that over the Cowichan regional hospital, with no

consultation about the CBA, the terms and the restrictions for their

peoples — still no work. We’ve seen this disrespect when this Premier

rejected the First Nations–led bid from the

Líl̓wat, Musqueam, Squamish and

Tsleil-Waututh nations. They did that with no further discussion after

their feasibility study was provided. We see that, as the member for

Skeena has spoken to in this House, in the continued delays on the

decision around Cedar LNG, a First Nations–led LNG project in this

province.

We continue to see signs that this government is failing on

economic reconciliation. I see this disconnect. It’s one thing to talk

about a day; it’s another thing to actually get that important

partnership with First Nations done in our province. There’s too much

that depends on this. The future of our province depends on that right

level of partnership. I know the Leader of the Official Opposition

continues to advocate for that.

I join him and other members of this House to continue to call on

this government to make meaningful reconciliation and hope that as

members of this House continue to review this bill in committee stage,

we’ll take the opportunity to reflect on what that means and how this

government continues to fail on that front.

J. Sims: It’s my pleasure today to rise and speak on this very, I would

say, historic and important piece of legislation.

Many of you know, in this House, that I am a teacher. I arrived in

B.C. in 1977. It seems like a long time ago. For many of my colleagues,

they were not born at that time, so they, of course, throw their arms up

like that. Coming from England and having had the kind of history

background that I had, moving to Canada was very, very

enlightening.

[3:10 p.m.]

My images and what we had been taught in the public school system

back in England about our Aboriginal communities were never very

complimentary or very thorough or very understanding. To say the least,

the history I was taught was through the colonial lens, because back in

the ’70s when I went to university and in the ’60s when I was at school,

that’s the way it was.

When I arrived in Nanaimo, my first teaching job was at Woodlands

Secondary School, and at Woodlands Secondary School, we had a few

Aboriginal students but not too many. My second assignment was to

Ladysmith Secondary, and Ladysmith Secondary had a significant First

Nations population. I can tell you that I learned a lot during that time

about First Nations, their history, but also about the challenges being

faced by youth, at that time, who were from Aboriginal

communities.

Before I knew it, I was their informal counsellor at the school,

and what really struck me at that time was that we had a very, very

difficult time keeping the students at school, especially as they hit

grades 9 and 10. It’s only when you went into the community and started

to talk to the parents and actually listen and hear that you could begin

to understand why that was, why there was a disconnect with our school

system.

I tell that story because that seems like a lifetime ago, yet not

so. The work done by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

was truly historical, and it engaged the communities right across Canada

in having a very difficult and tough conversation. Out of that came a

series of recommendations. All of you, I know, will have heard of the

calls to action, recommendations which we all supported at the time, and

in this House, we supported as well.

Number 80 of the calls to action specifically referred to having a

day to commemorate truth and reconciliation but also a day for people to

have a statutory holiday, when people would have time to reflect and

think. Some people will say: “A holiday?” Well, we have holidays in the

calendar, and they all mark, commemorate significant — I’m talking about

statutory holidays — days in our lives.

A statutory holiday is Remembrance Day. We have statutory holidays

— others as well. But I’m going to say, for me, that when we have

Remembrance Day, it is not to…. What we do in the school system is —

leading up to Remembrance Day, amazing learning happens. Seniors come

into the schools, and they talk, and young people learn about what it

was like for our veterans to be at war and what their experiences were.

All of that is really critical.

As a history teacher, I often brought in veterans, sometimes for

the full week leading up to it — talking about different aspects, and

different veterans coming in to tell their story. What that did — for

students who had not experienced war firsthand, they heard the stories

firsthand from these veterans.

[3:15 p.m.]

Getting back to call to action No. 80, to honour survivors, their

families and communities and to commemorate the history of residential

schools and also in recognition of the ongoing trauma, it sort of makes

me feel very, very proud to be part of a government that passed, I would

say, very critical legislation already on truth and reconciliation, and

has done significant work.

I think credit needs to go to all sides of the House, because when

we accepted the recommendations from Truth and Reconciliation, those

were supported unanimously by everyone in this House. It always is

magical when we can get folks sitting on both sides of the House to

agree on something. To me, that shows the importance of this for British

Columbians.

September 30, after this bill is declared, will become a statutory

holiday in British Columbia. It’s for two things, as I said: the

commemoration of the history of residential schools, but also to

commemorate Orange Shirt Day, which, as we know, in B.C. and especially

in this Legislature, we have been marking since 2018. Orange Shirt Day

is also significant because it also talks about the fact that every

child matters.

Being a mom, a grandma, a great-grandmother and a teacher, I know

how important our children are. Every one of us can remember the

memorial on our doorstep at the Legislature, when the little shoes were

left, and they covered the steps. I can remember my great-granddaughter,

four at the time, coming and standing out there. I have this beautiful

photograph of her. She didn’t pose for it. She didn’t even know I was

taking it. It’s taken from the back. It’s her back, looking up at the

shoes.

The question she asked…. It still makes me emotional. She calls me

Mama because I’m her great-grandma. She goes: “Mama, where are all the

children?” I want us to think about that for a moment — for a

four-year-old to see all those pairs of shoes and then to say: “Mama,

where are all the children?”

When I think about September 30, I’m thinking about the time — I’m

hoping families, friends, workplaces — and of all the conversations

people will have to talk about the impact of the residential schools,

the impact of the inherent racism that has been there and has not gone.

Also to think about the collective agony, I would say, of our First

Nation communities right across Canada.

I don’t think any of us will forget those pairs of shoes. I don’t

think any of us are ever going to forget the images of those

unidentified graves. I’m proud of the fact that we have a day. It’s not

a holiday. It’s a day for us to commemorate and to remember.

I’m certainly hoping that people who are listening to the debate….

I know there are at least five people outside of the Legislature, of

course. I’m certainly hoping that people will take this time.

I can remember when, on Orange Shirt Day, an orange shirt was just

worn by a few people. I noticed that this last Orange Shirt Day…. I went

to an event in Surrey at Holland Park. Holland Park was packed as far as

you could see with orange shirts. That tells you that education is

working, but we have a lot more to do.

[3:20 p.m.]

I’m certainly going to appeal to the teachers around the province,

whether they work in public schools or private schools, whether they

work in universities or whether they work in K-to-12, and all of child

care providers, that they find age-appropriate ways to have these very

difficult conversations.

I really must stress age appropriate. Kids are smart. They

understand things. When we explain to them, they can feel the pain and

the joy. In this case, it’s very, very important that they remember and

that they get to know the history that is Canada. It is very, very

important that the colonial lens, as much as it’s there in each and

every one of us…. We also have that lens of the history from the eyes of

our First Nations communities.

That’s a day for us to invite — maybe the day before — First

Nations Elders, representatives into our class­rooms, into our

workplaces to come and talk to us about the trauma and the history from

their perspective. This has to have that active engagement. It can’t be

just something…. You have a little lesson plan, and you just go in. I’ve

done my ten minutes on Truth and Reconciliation Day.

I’m telling you. The stories you’re going to hear from some of the

Elders will be life-changing. I can remember going to a longhouse in

Nanaimo on a professional development day. I’ve always enjoyed my

professional development days because I learn so much. In this

particular case, we got on a bus, and we went to the longhouse. It was

an amazing ceremony. We ate together, and then the Elders stood up and

told us stories of the residential schools.

The one that has always haunted me was from a gentleman who was

probably about 82 at the time, quite a few years ago. He started to

speak, and all he could do was cry. The words just wouldn’t come out

because he’d been hearing the stories of the others. Everybody gave him

the time. Everybody sat and waited.

What he said was: “As a result of me and my experiences in the

residential schools, I never knew what it was to be a son. I never knew

what it was to be a brother. I didn’t even know, when I got married,

what it was like to have a relationship or what a family looked like. So

when my children were born, I did not know how to be a

family.”

He said: “I carry this huge guilt inside me that I failed my

children. But where was I supposed to learn what it was supposed to be

to be a family when I never had one?” His experiences were those of the

residential school, which, he told us, were not pleasant at

all.

The impact of the residential schools was intergenerational, and

the pain and the agony carry on today. When­ever I hear, whether

it’s the young people or the elderly talking about the impact of the

residential schools — I’m talking about the Aboriginal community, our

First Nations communities — you can actually feel the pain right down to

their core. It is palpable in the room. Sharing those stories is very,

very important.

[3:25 p.m.]

To me, history is not made up of dates. I know I was taught that

at one time. You learned all the battles. You learned where the armies

were positioned. Very soon I realized, that kind of history I could

memorize. But I was really interested in the social history, the history

of how people lived, what made them who they were, what they ate, how

they played.

We know that as a result of the residential schools, the agony of

the day for the parents who had their children taken away, for the

children themselves, for their siblings, is unimaginable — to me,

anyway, and to many of us. Yet this went on not for one year, not for

two years; this went on for decades. The pain and the agony that is

there in the emotional history of the First Nations people is there, but

what happened at the residential schools, and the impact of those, is

felt by communities right across British Columbia.

Some people will say: “Yeah, just another holiday.” No, I’m hoping

that this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is now being

enshrined in B.C. law, will give people an opportunity to reflect on and

think about the pain and the suffering and that it will allow them to

get actively involved in the process of reconciliation.

[J. Tegart in the chair.]

Reconciliation can be facilitated by the Legislature, working with

First Nations communities, but it cannot happen just in here.

Reconciliation is out in our communities. It’s in Smithers; it’s in

Kitimat; it’s in Prince George; it’s in Nanaimo; it’s in Surrey; it’s in

Richmond. It is in all the cities right across British Columbia that we

have to have this.

Some of you might be wondering: are there other prov­inces

that have recognized September 30 as Truth and Reconciliation Day?

Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon and now B.C. I’m sure there are

going to be more to come as other provinces engage in a very tough and a

very necessary dialogue on the importance of moving forward.

It’s not just enough…. As I was saying, it’s not just about

sharing stories. The sharing of those stories is healing, but it’s also

a way of capturing that history. But also, when you honour your history,

you develop resilience. That resilience is so needed for generations to

come.

I don’t think I am naive enough to think that on the day of the

statutory holiday — under law, that’s what it is called — people are

going to say: “No, I’m going to go to work.” I think I’m going to

encourage people to gather, if not at their workplace, somewhere else —

with friends, with family, with colleagues. I’m hoping some of the

leadership in the communities will put on special workshops that could

be community-wide and go across sectors, so that people can learn from

each other and hear each other’s stories.

That, I think, will be really very special because the more we

talk about this, the more we make it not just something our First

Nations people have to do. I think we, as a collective province and as a

nation, have to be active participants in passing on our history.

History is amazing, but history has its ugly side too. I think that this

particular day, we have an opportunity to take an ugly side of history

and engage in these dialogues.

That will then allow us to move into the future, to build a Canada

where all our people — First Nations, Indigenous, the rest of Canada, no

matter where they have come from — can feel part of and included in the

history that we have and where we share those stories with each

other.

[3:30 p.m.]

It’s also a very important day for us to have serious discussions

and chats about the inherent racism that has existed in our institutions

for well over a century and then begin to dismantle some of that and

say: “How are we going to move forward so that those systemic barriers

and challenges that exist can be removed and we can move forward in a

healing way?” That is what is really, really necessary right

now.

Going back to some of the students I taught over the years, it’s

been amazing for me to watch a few of them come here as part of the

delegation, especially on the day that the truth and reconciliation

legislation passed, and to be surprised by a young man who said to me:

“Do you remember me?” You know what? It was amazing. As soon as he said

that, I knew his name. I knew exactly what kind of a student he was, and

I told him.

hug. An amazing thing now is that he is working with the First Nations

in Nanaimo in a senior management role. All that has come through with

developing some pride in who he is and recognizing that he also has a

responsibility to serve his community. I’m always, always in awe of

that.

Going back to my little great-granddaughter, Alliya, standing on

the doorstep…. I’m going to take just a few more minutes to say that the

pain is unbearable, but the pain will be even more unbearable if we

don’t talk about residential schools and the impact and have those

conversations in a cross-cultural, across nations, across partnerships

way so that we can heal.

We may not have all the answers. We don’t. This is a

jour­ney of truth and reconciliation we have started together in

partnership, and yes, there are going to be little missteps along the

way. But you don’t stop the journey because of that. You learn from all

of those experiences, and you keep moving forward towards building a

truly inclusive and equal partnership with our First Nations

communities.

Part of that has to be economic justice as well. I’m so proud of

the work that our government has done in the area of connectivity,

because I know what it was like in 2017 when I travelled around the

province. It’s not perfect, and we still have a long way to go, but

we’ve made lots of progress. That connectivity actually opens doors for

economic engagements for people in the North, not only to grow their

economy there, but to participate in the global economy and, therefore,

really live up to our commitment to the reconciliation part and make

sure that those resources are there.

In a similar way, we have to get beyond this idea that in order to

have truth and reconciliation, we’re going to agree on everything. There

are going to be things we’re going to disagree on with First Nations,

but then we have to have a process to find our way through and have

those difficult conversations.

I am very, very proud of the work that this government has done. I

want to thank every member in this House for the support they have shown

for the legislation, previously, in which we passed legislation on truth

and reconciliation.

[3:35 p.m.]

I’m just as convinced that this legislation is also going to get

unanimous consent, because we realize the importance of having these

special days where we can focus and refocus on our history, build

relationships together and move forward in a true partnership way with

our First Nations communities.

K. Greene: I am speaking today in favour of Bill 2, the National Day for

Truth and Reconciliation Act. I believe that this is an incredibly

important and powerful tool that we can use to build dialogue in our

communities and increase knowledge of our shared history that has, to

now, really been erased and rewritten in a very colonial way.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission called for the creation of

a statutory holiday to commemorate the history and legacy of the

residential school system. Today we are already recognizing September 30

as Orange Shirt Day. I think it’s really important to recognize the work

of Phyllis Webstad and other survivors of the residential school system

in the grassroots campaign that built the momentum that has really swept

across B.C. and across Canada.

My colleague noted how many orange shirts that we see now when we

go out in public on September 30, and I know for a fact that every

school in Richmond is very dedicated to sharing information about the

history of colonial British Columbia and encouraging students to wear

orange.

Every child matters. That is the message that Phyllis Webstad

wants us to know. Every child matters. It’s really important to say

that, because in the history of this province and this country, not

every child mattered. There are unmarked graves in the thousands in this

country and hundreds more being discovered regularly. It is work that is

ongoing, and it is heartbreaking for communities and for everyone who is

involved.

As a mom of young children, it is very difficult for me to

comprehend the atrocity that was done upon children in this country.

Schools for white children don’t have graves in them. There is a senior

member in my family who went to boarding school as a young person. He’s

white, and his boarding school did not have a grave in it. Residential

schools inflicted incredible trauma upon young people, not just the ones

who didn’t make it home, but the ones who did. It was not just once. It

wasn’t a period of time. It was generation after generation after

generation of kids not coming home or coming home broken.

I think it’s really important we educate ourselves on the

realities that Indigenous people in this country have faced. There is a

real lack of awareness, but it is being rectified. It’s the work of

Phyllis Webstad and other Indigenous survivors that have never given up.

Their courage inspires us all. But it’s not just education, although

that is the gateway to doing better. We need to take action.

I hear this through so many communities — that knowledge without

action is almost worse than ignorance. How can you know and not do

better?

[3:40 p.m.]

I think that passing this bill to have a day of commemoration, a

day specifically put aside for learning and coming together, for knowing

more about our shared history in British Columbia and Canada and for

really honouring the strength and resilience of Indigenous communities….

Despite the trauma that they have had inflicted upon them, despite

everything that has happened, the thing that I hear very frequently —

and it is so powerful — is the words: “We’re still here despite

everything.”

I would just like to, here, honour those words, because that is

unimaginable strength — to be able to come forward and say this is the

time for reconciliation. This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to

have Orange Shirt Day. We’re not going to stop until we take action on

all of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action. This

particular bill addresses call to action No. 80.

The more that we do this work here in the Legislature, and the

more that this work is done with the federal government, the more that I

have hope for the future. Hope is really important. It keeps us going.

It inspires us. It is a future we can see that is better than the one we

have today. That is why we do this work — to lift us all up, to make

sure that we are looking after each other as we would look after our

own.

Building on UNDRIP is so important and taking action…. TRC action

No. 80 is incredibly important. I very much hope that, like UNDRIP, we

can have the unanimous support of the House so that we can move forward

with a statutory holiday where we can engage with the public, where

we’re encouraged to have these conversations. It’s not a holiday, just

to be clear. It is a day that we can reflect and learn and connect and

build those communities and build those connections.

I’d also like to offer some words that I have learned from a

strong Indigenous woman. If you’re asking for some of this emotional

labour, if you’re asking for this education…. If you’re a settler or an

immigrant and now a settler…. If you are asking for that work,

compensate them. If you are asking for a special speaker to come to your

work to take action on reconciliation, which is very important…. I

really do encourage people. You need to compensate them. It is not their

free time. Part of reconciliation is compensating people appropriately

for the work they do.

Reconciliation is going to be a long road. I see that work

happening here every day. Every day that I am in the Legislature, every

day that I’m doing my job, I’m seeing the question being asked. How does

this fit in with reconciliation? It’s not going to be an easy road, but

we are all here in it for the long haul. This bill, Bill 2, is one more

important step along the way of that journey.

I think it’s also really important that we learn about the places

that we are specifically from. While we are all in British Columbia, we

all have places that we call home. I come from the territory of the

Musqueam First Nation. I am in Steveston.

[3:45 p.m.]

You may have heard of Garry Point Park. You may also know that the

Point family is quite prominent in the Musqueam community. I have so

much respect for the Point family. I’ve known them for a number of

years, coming to welcome us to their territory at numerous functions and

events.

Now, Garry Point was actually named after Nicholas Garry, who was

the deputy governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company back in the 1800s. This

spit of land, which had a name, was renamed Garry Point. At the same

time, settlers were coming in from all over to Steveston, and the

Musqueam were pushed further and further into the corner until all they

had left was seven or eight homes on Garry Point.

You may have thought that maybe Garry Point was named after the

Point family. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The Point family was

actually named after the deputy governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company,

because the Point family was required to take an Anglican last name in

order to have ID cards.

That is a piece of history from my corner of the world. I would

really encourage everybody here to think about the histories of your

corners of the world and to take the time, not just on September 30 —

any time of the year is a good day to learn — to learn about the history

of where you are.

Now, the conversations that we’re having are incredibly difficult.

The trauma is still very real. This isn’t something that happened a long

time ago. It did happen a long time ago, but it also happened recently.

The person in my family that went to boarding school is in his 70s, and

he’s younger than survivors.

For anybody who is needing support services, who is facing a

crisis because of the conversations that are being had, I would really

recommend that they reach out for help. The Indian residential school

crisis line is available. It’s a national service for anybody finding

distress because of the residential school experience. It’s a 1-866

number: 1-866-925-4419.

The KUU-US Crisis Line Society is a crisis service for Indigenous

people in B.C. Adults and Elders can call 250-​723-4050, and they

have a children and youth line: 250-723-2040.

There are so many impacts to our communities, and they are

intergenerational. When you compound them through the generations, it’s

incredibly traumatic. So I encourage everyone to not try to do it alone.

This is a time to come together. It’s a time to heal.

In conclusion, I am in support of Bill 2 and the National Day for

Truth and Reconciliation. I think this is a very important step to take

to address reconciliation in the province of British Columbia and a very

good way to open dialogue — opportunities to learn and connect and do

better.

H. Yao: It is a pleasure of mine to stand up and support Bill

Before I start, I want to echo many of my colleagues’ land

acknowledgments. We are on the

Lək̓ʷəŋin̓əŋ-speaking

territories, specifically the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations. I

thank them for allowing us to live, work and play on their ancestral

land.

Of course, as the Richmond South Centre MLA, I also want to

acknowledge that I’m representing a riding that sits on the Musqueam,

Kwantlen and Coast Salish peoples as well as thank them for allowing us

to live, work and play on ancestral lands.

[3:50 p.m.]

It’s interesting how we’re talking about Bill 2. One reason why

I’m very passionate, as we’re standing up to talk about Bill 2, is

because I’m speaking from an outsider’s perspective.

As a person of colour…. Of course, we’ve experienced different

forms of racism and different forms of discrimination, and of course, as

we grow, work and learn in this unceded territory, we also experience a

certain amount of colonial bias as we start developing our knowledge and

awareness.

One thing I do want to emphasize is that there are times that

there will be discriminatory action against me that I’m not even fully

aware of. Why am I bringing this topic up? Because the reality is that

racism and discrimination are complex. When we’re talking about

Indigenous history with Canadian history, its depth, its complexity, its

bloody history are far more intense than a lot of other racism we

address. That is the reason why it is extremely important for us to mark

a day to truly, concretely and comprehensively work with British

Columbians to acknowledge the importance of truth and

reconciliation.

I will take a quick step back. From December 28 last year until

now, I personally attended about 49 events, and about 32 of them were

about the lunar new year. At all of those events, one thing I try to

make sure I do is to do my land acknowledgment. I’m not saying anything

special about what I did, but I want to say that the way the community

echoed and responded was very reassuring.

When I first started, some of the event attendees would walk up to

me: “What do you mean unceded? What do you mean traditional? We own

Canada.” Some of them would even question why I would waste 15 seconds

of my speech, which I usually make only within a minute, to talk about a

land acknowledgment. Then they’d see me doing it over and over

again.

I want to also take a moment to express my gratitude to colleagues

from all sides of this aisle, thanking you…. Whenever you attend an

event and you do provide a land acknowledgment, thank you for promoting

awareness.

One of the things we often talk about in Richmond, unfortunately,

especially in the Chinese-Canadian community, is that due to the

language barrier and due to the limited exposure, there are a lot of

understanding barriers being created. We are trying to work, as MLAs, in

community engagement, to ensure we foster bridges, understanding and

mutual appreciation of the challenges we face in the

community.

This has been exhibited…. The symptoms can be seen through the

voting rate, through the democratic engagement and sometimes even to

have a public debate and feel like they’re expressing different, wrong

messaging because they were receiving wrong information. That is why

it’s so important for our public institutions to continue to stand

up.

Now when we take a look back at our Indigenous history in Canada,

we realize the challenges that the Indigenous community have

experienced. I dare not assume that I can even come close to

comprehending the pain, the suffering and the family brokenness of what

residential school has done to many of them. The fact that when you wear

an orange shirt to go to school, and somebody has a right to take it off

you….

Why it is so important to have truth and reconciliation is because

it’s a complex situation that takes gradual steps as we move forward. We

must be moving forward as we continue finding ways to truly find the

truth and reconcile the challenges we’re experiencing.

One reason I’m so excited by Bill 2 is that I have seen, simply by

doing the land acknowledgment, that I now have community group leaders,

especially emcees or community co-ops, say: “Hey, Henry, I don’t really

know this, but can you help me do quick research? What kind of territory

am I on? Should I do my land acknowledgment? How do I do my land

acknowledgment?”

This brings up conversations. Absolutely no one should hold the

expectation that we should be able to resolve truth and reconciliation

within a day or two or within a year or even within our lifetime. But we

must make gradual steps to continue to educate our community and our

constituents. I think having Bill 2, setting a date, a marker on our

calendar and saying that this is how we will not forget….

I think I’m going to echo my previous colleague from

Richmond-Steveston. She made it very clear: every child matters. And

when we choose to let things slip past history, we will forget about the

impact it has in our community.

It is easy to look at 250 and say that’s the number of people who

passed away. But in reality, that’s every child passing away who is lost

and will never be able to return home. That’s one life and one complex

story missing. That’s one family that’s broken. That’s one challenge

that we will never be able to reconcile, and that’s one evil that

happened in our Canadian history that, if we do not acknowledge it, will

end up repeating itself again.

[3:55 p.m.]

I do want to emphasize why it is so important for us that

September 30 is our truth and reconciliation date, where we should wear

our orange shirt. It is not just a public exhibit of where we stand or

some kind of moralism. It is not being forced or driven to

an act of

sensationalism. It is our deep desire as a society, as a community, to

tell one another, and tell ourselves as well, that we must do whatever

it takes to prevent that evil from repeating itself. We must acknowledge

the pain and suffering it has cost, not because there’s a number of

people who have suffered, but every life matters.

We’re talking about: “Every child counts.” We want them to come

home. I want to echo every member within the chamber who are parents or

are grandparents, who have kids. None of us ever want to see our kids

not coming back home. This is just not a thought that I dare entertain

in my head. It is something I dare not break my heart over, because I

don’t think any one of us can recover from that.

That is why…. I don’t want say I’m glad, but I am reassured that

our government stepped up, and that with the support of every member

across the aisle, we are placing truth and reconciliation as a priority

as we move forward. Again, I will continue on to express my gratitude to

every member, to every elected official, to share your land

acknowledgment, to remind our community this is something we should

never forget.

As MLA in the community, I often walk around the community,

attending events where we talk about the Holocaust, where we talk about

the head tax, and, of course, now we’re talking about residential

school. All of those are historical wrongs, evils. But if we let it slip

past, our future generations will be the ones who are carrying a

different form of suffering and pain and impact from it. That’s the

reason why I’m standing here today, joined by my colleagues, and

supporting Bill 2.

I also want to emphasize the fact that it creates bridges to have

healthier dialogue. I actually had a really interesting conversation

with one of our group, talking about anti-racism at an event I was

hosting, and people were talking about the importance of anti-Asian

racism. “We must stop that.” I asked a quick question. “How come your

group didn’t do a land acknowledgment at the beginning?” That didn’t

happen, not because they chose not to but because they were not aware of

it. Now we’re: “Oh, can I?”

One of the biggest and most daunting historical wrongs is the

relationship Canadians have with the Indigenous community. That’s why we

have truth and reconciliation. It’s hard work to have to say we’re

talking about supporting one form of anti-hate, yet we fail to

acknowledge another form of anti-hate, and especially our relationship

with Indigenous communities. The historical bloody history far exceeds

every other form of racism we experience as community

members.

When our organizers actually approached me and asked me: “Okay,

what do I do…?” How should I acknowledge? What kind of education can we

provide? How can we allow truth and reconciliation to become a front

line of our anti-racism fight in our community, so we can promote

inclusivity, engagement, dialogue and mutual respect?

If there’s an argument about whether it should be a holiday, I

think we’re going in the wrong direction. If we’re talking about whether

or not it’s a day off, we’re going in the wrong direction. I think what

it reminds me of is when we attended Remembrance Day, when we stood

there for two minutes while different organizations were in uniform,

marching, and reflected on the sorrow and memories of lives lost to

defend our democracy. We must also utilize Truth and Reconciliation Day

to remind us of the pain and suffering that we are now benefiting from.

Therefore, we must get history correct so that we can bring back a lot

of justice that was lost because it was allowed to be lost.

Bill 2, the fact that we’re having a holiday, is saying that we

will no longer let this kind of memory be lost and be forgotten. It is

actually something you’d read in a history book. It is something to be

alive. It is something that we need to really listen to and really hear

the stories of residential school survivors and to understand the simple

fact that the children, and not just the children, went through…. It’s

about the devastating breakage of the spirit, the devastation of the

family, how families sometimes were not expecting their loved one to

come back.

When we have a ceremony in Richmond’s Brighouse Park, we will

place 250 shoes on the floor. It’s giving us a context. It is giving us

a depth. It is giving us an opportunity to experience a glimpse, a

simple glimpse of the pain some of our family has gone

through.

[4:00 p.m.]

Our government, working with all sides of the aisle, is really

putting this together. I’m really hopeful that we’ll all come together

and show support. To show support to this is unfortunately a minor step

of many thousands of steps that we need to take as a community to

continue to say that we cannot let this memory to pass by. We must

understand the pain that everybody went through, and we must prevent

this kind of inappropriate evil reoccurring itself in our society. If

we’re truly believing that we are against hate, we must be against all

forms of hate.

It has been a fascinating journey, including for myself, to go

from becoming simply a community member to an MLA and then witnessing

everybody do land acknowledgments. We talk about unceded and traditional

territory, where we can talk about the ancestral land. Around the world,

there’s still a lot of geographical conflict — fighting over identity,

jurisdiction and land entitlement.

I think that for us Canadians and for us British Columbians to

truly be able to say that we must walk forward with a more civilized,

modernized view of how to create a stronger dialogue for community, we

have to show our support for this opportunity for Bill 2, so we can come

together and say yes, despite how painful, how bloody, how unfortunate

and how evil. The historical residential schools have caused pain in the

community. We can continue to face the challenges directly on so that we

can say that we will acknowledge the truth objectively, before we can

muster the strength to truly walk through reconciliation.

I think it speaks to question period. I hear both sides of the

argument, talking about the important truths around reconciliation. It

is all built upon UNDRIP. I’m so glad that we’re continuously putting it

together, having arguments and having debate in this chamber, talking

about how we can better the truth and reconciliation. Yet I do also want

to emphasize — and I’m not here pointing fingers at anybody — that I

have heard all kinds of conversation that makes me wonder: is more

education needed?

I remember we had, here, a topic talking about the Indigenous

relationship — of a bill. People talked about safety for children — that

before we can actually pass on any kind of act, we must worry about

safety. Yet as a youth worker, I knew from my experience that the term

safety was often how colonial-based organizations go in and remove

children from Indigenous families. Based on our colonial view, we must

believe that’s not safe. Instead of saying, “What can we do to support

the family?” we remove a family.

Why is it so important to have this conversation? It’s because

we’re still learning. I don’t believe the member who made that comment

did so out of disrespect. But I also know I will probably be sure to say

a l