2009 Legislative Session: First Session, 39th Parliament

HANSARD

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

official report of

Debates of the Legislative Assembly

(hansard)

Monday, September 14, 2009

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 2, Number 2

CONTENTS

Page

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

Tabling Documents

Elections B.C. Annual Report 2008/09

Introduction and First Reading of Bills

Bill 4 — Wills, Estates and Succession Act

Hon. M. de Jong

Statements (Standing Order 25B)

Monument to Surrey firefighters

S. Cadieux

Fleetwood Festival in Surrey

J. Brar

North Shore Disability Resource Centre

J. Thornthwaite

Creston Valley agriculture and fall fair

M. Mungall

Sandra Williams and family health support society

D. McRae

Cowichan River cleanup

B. Routley

Oral Questions

Funding for athletes and school sports

C. James

Hon. M. MacDiarmid

D. Donaldson

Hon. I. Chong

K. Corrigan

S. Simpson

M. Farnworth

Hon. M. McNeil

Funding for parent advisory councils

D. Thorne

Hon. M. MacDiarmid

Petitions

N. Letnick

Orders of the Day

Budget Debate (continued)

Hon. S. Thomson

D. Routley

D. Barnett

D. Black

R. Cantelon

H. Lali

Reports from Committees

Special Committee of Selection, first report

Hon. M. de Jong

Motions Without Notice

Powers and role of Finance and Government Services Committee

Appointment of Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives

Hon. M. de Jong

Budget Debate (continued)

H. Lali

J. Slater

R. Chouhan

Hon. R. Coleman

B. Simpson

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

The House met at 1:34 p.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

Hon. I. Chong: I have the privilege today of introducing some of the Team B.C. athletes, coaches and mission staff who have returned from the 2009 Canada Summer Games in Prince Edward Island.

I'd like the House to welcome the following athletes. Sarah Aylard, who is a rower who won two gold medals and a silver medal. Aleisha Cobb, who won a bronze medal in long jump and a silver medal in relay. Craig Dagnall, swimmer with two silver medals. Shalie Dheensaw, a silver medal in women's basketball. Liam Fisher, another rower who won a gold medal and a silver. Maggie Hanlon, a silver in relay.

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Andrea Harvey, who is another rower, also won a silver medal. Courtney Hattie, a diver, won bronze in synchronized diving. Nick Lapointe, a swimmer, also won a bronze medal. Jeff Phillips, a triathlete, two gold medals. Christine Ridenour, a triathalon athlete who won a gold medal. Shea Wakefield, in rugby, a silver medal. Jody Jackson, coach of the B.C. golf team, won two gold medals. And our mission staff members Becky Edwards, Chris Graham, Judy Joseph-Black and Irene Shell.

I hope the House will please welcome them all here and thank them for their amazing success.

M. Karagianis: Today in the House we have a constituent of mine, Mr. Brad Slade, who also happens to be the Victoria organizer for the September 19 Fight the HST rally. Those rallies are taking place right across British Columbia on this day, and I'd like the House to please give him a cordial welcome.

Hon. M. de Jong: We're fortunate today to have in the House four representatives of the British Columbia Law Institute. In the over ten years since its founding, this institute has played a very positive and proactive role in the cause of law reform.

In particular, today I want to draw the House's attention to the contribution that these members and over 30 others have made towards reforming B.C.'s succession and estate law. They are here today in anticipation of the reintroduction of a bill that members of the House saw earlier this spring. Their work has been exemplary and is reflected in the quality of the product that I believe the House will see shortly.

I would like to introduce to the House Mr. Peter Ramsay, QC, vice-chair of the B.C. Law Institute and a law professor at the University of British Columbia and also a partner with the law firm Ramsay Lampman Rhodes in Nanaimo. Fiona Hunter is a partner with Horne Coupar in Victoria. Tino Di Bella is a partner with Jawl and Bundon in Victoria. Margaret Sasges, a partner with the firm of Clay and Co. in Victoria, and Ms. Sasges also serves on the board of the Law Foundation of British Columbia.

I hope all members of the House will make these British Columbians welcome here.

Hon. B. Lekstrom: It is my pleasure today to introduce two people to the House: a longtime friend and a gentleman I've known, Mr. Bill Vanderland, who is president of EnerGreen Power. Accompanying Bill is a friend of his, Marina Rogenveen. Please make them welcome to the House.

Tabling Documents

Mr. Speaker: Hon. Members, I have the honour to present the Elections B.C. Annual Report 2008/09 .

Introduction and

First Reading of Bills

Bill 4 — Wills, estates and

succession ACT

Hon. M. de Jong presented a message from His Honour the Administrator: a bill intituled Wills, Estates and Succession Act.

Hon. M. de Jong: I move that the bill be introduced and read a first time now.

Motion approved.

Hon. M. de Jong: I am pleased to introduce the Wills, Estates and Succession Act — in fact, reintroduce this bill, which many members saw this past spring.

The act was prepared with considerable assistance from, as I just mentioned, the B.C. Law Institute. I want to acknowledge the aid of over 30 volunteers and contributors from the legal, academic and notary communities.

This act will modernize the law of wills, estates and succession and replace four existing pieces of legislation. It contains a number of important changes that will simplify the administration of estates and make it more likely that the wishes of a deceased will be upheld.

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

Bill 4, Wills, Estates and Succession Act, 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.

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Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

MONUMENT TO SURREY FIREFIGHTERS

S. Cadieux: When firefighters get asked to be models, it's usually for a calendar. But this year 18-year veteran Jim Blom was asked to be the model for a statue commemorating 50 years of valiant service provided by the men and women of the Surrey fire service.

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This past Friday I had the honour of attending, along with other members, the unveiling of this unique statue entitled Protecting the Future — Serving the Present . This monument commemorates the selfless dedication with which the Surrey firefighters have served and continue to serve our community. These important members of our society not only save lives but contribute invaluably to Surrey through charitable work and public education programs.

This statue was commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Surrey Fire Fighters Association and has been placed in Holland Park as a contribution to the Surrey public art program. It is the work of a group of four artists led by Bill Johnson, the owner of Art Form Sculpture Studio. Deputy Chief John Caviglia chose Korean-Canadian Blom to be the model for the statue in order to reflect the multicultural nature of Surrey and the Surrey fire service.

The event was held following a ceremony to honour the fallen firefighters of 9/11 as well as those in Surrey who have lost their lives in the service of saving ours. The statue is a great addition to our community and a constant reminder of the heroism of the Surrey fire service and fire service around B.C.

Fleetwood Festival IN SURREY

J. Brar: Mr. Speaker, I rise to share with you and the members of this House a source of pride we have in the city of Surrey and in my riding of Surrey-Fleetwood. This past weekend the Fleetwood Community Association put on, for the 11th year in a row, the Fleetwood Festival. It was a wonderful volunteer-led, family-focused party. It was an excellent event full of fun and useful information provided by community organizations and municipal interaction among people from our culturally diverse community.

The Fleetwood Festival brought together over 2,000 people to celebrate their community. It was so successful because of the great staff in the city of Surrey, dozens of local businesses in Surrey-Fleetwood and the dedicated team of the Fleetwood Community Association — especially Rick Hart, Jane-Anne Aderson, Johanne Poirier, Joy Hart, Carrol Adams and Deb Hughes.

Our community is strong and better as a direct result of the work and commitment of the Fleetwood Community Association toward the local community. It was in 1930 that the Fleetwood Community Hall was first built. That heritage building is just around the corner from my office, and it now hosts the very popular Greek festival each year.

I was pleased to see the member for Surrey-Tynehead taking

part in this festival as well. I urge you and the other members of this House to join me in congratulating them for setting a great example of how to build a strong community.

North Shore

Disability Resource Centre

J. Thornthwaite: On Saturday evening I was proud to attend a fundraising benefit concert performed by the Nylons, held by the North Shore Disability Resource Centre to help enhance the lives of people with disabilities and the various programs and services this valuable community centre has to offer. I'm told that they raised approximately $15,000 in that one evening.

Since 1975 the North Shore Disability Resource Centre has strived towards helping people with disabilities live comfortably in their communities by creating and providing services that they continue to expand upon. The centre was started by a group of parents, professionals and advocates that have worked hard to help people with disabilities actively participate in and contribute to society, and they offer a variety of programs that work towards this goal.

With generous funding from B.C. Housing Management Commission, Community Living B.C., ministry of human resources, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Vancouver Coastal Health and fundraisers like the one I attended on Saturday evening, these services continue to help people with disabilities remain involved in the North Shore community.

Their vision is: "Communities that value inclusion are committed to creating opportunities for all." They list the following as their values: "We recognize the value of each person. We believe we all have the same rights. We believe family and friends are important. We believe in the value of people working together, and we believe diversity enriches the community." All of these statements work towards the goal of a community that is free of physical, financial and attitudinal barriers.

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I would like to congratulate the North Shore Disability Resource Centre on a successful fundraiser and extend a thank-you to them for all they do for the North Shore community.

CRESTON VALLEY

AGRICULTURE AND FALL FAIR

M. Mungall: Well, it's that time of year again when the gardeners and farmers start to harvest, process and preserve

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their year's work. In celebration of this, many rural communities host fall fairs. This past weekend I had the privilege of taking in Creston Valley's 91st annual fall fair held at the Creston and District Community Complex, right in the heart of beautiful Creston.

Now, I know that there are about 85 of us contenders in this House for the best B.C. community, but I do think that we'd all agree that Creston's beautiful farmland, right in between the Selkirk Mountains on one side and the beautiful Purcells on the other, of course has a very truly unique character that takes your breath away.

Here in this valley farmers not only produce fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, dairy, beef, poultry and pork — pretty much anything you can find on a table — but farmers and entrepreneurs also produce some of the best products and preserves from the food grown in this area. Essentially, we produce a well-rounded local diet for any 100-mile connoisseur.

Along with the local agricultural economy, the fall fair celebrates 100-mile crafts and artisans. Locals display quilts and tuques for those long, cold winter nights, while children contribute their art as displays of essential skill development that enhances our local economy. As locals entertain each other, showing off their musical talents, the whole community comes to celebrate their contributions to this beautiful place.

With this, let me take a moment to celebrate and honour Creston Valley on an excellent and wonderful fall fair, and may our way of life continue to see another 91.

SANDRA WILLIAMS AND

FAMILY HEALTH SUPPORT society

D. McRae: My statement is about a person and an organization that have touched literally thousands of people in my community. In the early 1980s Sandra Williams and her family were living in the Comox Valley when their four-year-old daughter became ill. Their daughter was air-lifted to Children's Hospital in Vancouver and diagnosed with congenital heart failure.

We are indeed fortunate to have a facility like Children's Hospital that can provide specialized training in pediatric health care, which has attracted internationally renowned researchers who are working hard to achieve better health for children and youth. We are truly fortunate to have a world-leading hospital like this in British Columbia.

Like many families who have been in similar situations, the Williams family had to make some challenging sacrifices. Both during and after this ordeal, Sandra met many others who were in the same position as her family. She realized that something had to be done, and she wanted to find a solution that would work for the Comox Valley.

Sandra started YANA, You Are Not Alone, in 1986. It was first based out of her house, and YANA was committed to assisting the families of school district 71 with children between the ages of zero and 19 years old who were receiving medical treatment in another city.

This unique charity has funded thousands of trips for medical treatment in Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, the U.S. and England. The small-town charity made a huge difference to many people.

Sandra was described as a tireless worker motivated beyond all others, a tremendous fundraiser and a great public speaker. For 18 years she served on the board of YANA, long after her family had grown up and left home. When the phone rang in the middle of the night, Sandra Williams and YANA were there to provide support, resources and, when available, keys to one of the four apartments they run near Children's Hospital in Vancouver. Sandra was awarded the Citizen of the Year award by the chamber of commerce, and she did not slow down.

On July 25, 2009, Sandra passed away after suffering from a long-term illness. The measure of a person's life is not how much money you have made or what job you have had. The true measure is the number of people you have touched, and Sandra Williams literally touched thousands. While she has left us, her legacy will live on. I want to say thank you to Sandra Williams.

COWICHAN RIVER CLEANUP

B. Routley: If the salmon and other creatures that depend upon our heritage Cowichan River in the Cowichan Valley could say thank you, they would want to join with me today to thank the Cowichan Stewardship Committee and the 60 to 100 volunteers who last Saturday went to work to clean up the upper reaches of the Cowichan River.

During the summer between 300 and 1,500 tubers and other water craft enjoyed drifting down the Cowichan River. Unfortunately, not everyone took home with them everything that they came with. As a result, the river was filling with bottles and other trash.

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That's when the Cowichan Stewardship Committee was formed, and they stepped up to the plate to help clean up the Cowichan River. I want to acknowledge and thank Mike Waller, Belinda Waller and all those who organized the event. I want to thank the many volunteers and business sponsors and my friends Joe Saysell and Diana Gunderson, who showed us that community spirit is very alive and well in the Cowichan Valley.

They discovered many unusual things — for example, an artificial Christmas tree with some of the decorations still on it. A toy glass fire engine found amongst a whole bunch of other glass won the $100 prize for most unique. There were thousands of bottles and cans, even a wooden wheel, and the kitchen sink was even found and extracted. A lot of junk taken from the river.

I would like to thank all of the sponsors: Country Grocer, Home Hardware, the Gazette , the Cowichan

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Valley Citizen , Sun FM radio, the town of Lake Cowichan, CVRD, the Bargain Shop, Irly Bird, the fire department, Cowichan Fly Tackle, Chain Saw Sally's Chop Shop, the Cow Café, Youbou Bar and Grill, Dermod and Dudley's Irish Pub, Lake Cowichan Adventure Company and the Nanaimo Dive Outfitters.

Oral Questions

FUNDING FOR ATHLETES

AND SCHOOL SPORTS

C. James: Every British Columbian felt great pride when Carol Huynh took home gold in Beijing. It was an extraordinary achievement by a young woman from the small community of Hazelton.

Athletes like Carol rely on athletic competitions being funded through B.C. School Sports. So my question is to the minister responsible. With billions being spent on showcasing our athletes at the Olympics, how can the B.C. Liberals justify taking away money to support current and future Olympic athletes?

Hon. M. MacDiarmid: I share the member opposite's pride in the accomplishments of our Olympians, without doubt. I'd like to start by saying that we are supporting, this year, school sport and various youth sports with $38 million of funding.

Our support for these important programs could not be clearer. The financial support is there. We also have a number of outstanding programs within our education system — things like Action Schools B.C., which has been funded to the tune of $14.5 million over the last five years.

These programs are important. They're important to British Columbians. They're important to our students, and we, without doubt, will continue to support them in the same way we have in the past. Our support is clear. The Olympics are important, and our athletes' achievements are important.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has a supplemental.

C. James: It's very clear. The minister left out one very important program: B.C. School Sports, which this government is cutting the funding from. We've spoken to Carol's coach. Joe Sullivan told the opposition that without B.C. School Sports funding, Carol's Beijing victory would not happen. That funding was used to give the opportunity to travel to competitions and for Carol to hone her skills.

My question, again, is to the minister responsible. With the Olympics just a few months away, how on earth can this government justify cutting support for B.C.'s athletes?

Hon. M. MacDiarmid: In addition to the $38 million which is being provided to youth sports programs, which will allow youth sport programs to continue in schools, programs that are without doubt important…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

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Hon. M. MacDiarmid: …we continue to provide funding for other vitally important programs within schools — things like Action Schools, things like daily physical activity. We know how critically important this is. That's why our government has been able, in spite of the economic challenges we're currently facing, to increase core funding for education to a record high level.

In spite of the fact that we have declining enrolment in this province, we are providing this year $84 million in additional funding, and part of that funding does go to important programs that support our students in their physical activity.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has a further supplemental.

C. James: I'd suggest the minister spend some time talking to the coaches, who can remind her about the importance of the funding for B.C. School Sports for athletes in British Columbia.

Coach Sullivan said that the support of B.C. School Sports was absolutely essential to Carol's development, and she's not the only athlete. There are many other Carol Huynhs in British Columbia — athletes who are doing their best, who are trying their hardest, who are working to make sure that they excel. But they need government to stand with them. They need help to be able to fulfil their dreams.

So again, my question is to the minister. Will the B.C. Liberals do the right thing and put the funding back for B.C. School Sports to support our athletes in British Columbia?

Hon. M. MacDiarmid: I would like to remind the Leader of the Opposition of the opposition to the Olympics, which we have experienced throughout….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.

Just take your seat, Minister. Minister, just take your seat for a second.

Continue, Minister.

Hon. M. MacDiarmid: Here is an opportunity for our province, which is not only a wonderful economic

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opportunity but also an outstanding learning opportunity, which we will fully take advantage of. Students across this province are clear on the importance of physical activity because of programs we have around in the schools.

I'd again like to draw the member opposite's attention to the fact that we have had to make difficult decisions about grants within every ministry. There's no question. But still, $38 million being provided to sporting associations and to sport throughout this province is a significant investment. This is something that we value and that we will continue to fund.

D. Donaldson: I've never heard such patronizing answers and lip service to our athletes in this province. Athletes in the small communities I represent have big dreams too. They work hard day in and day out to be their best. I know Carol Huynh, and she is just the tip of the iceberg. But you can't improve unless you get the chance to compete. That's what the B.C. Liberals are taking away — the chance to compete.

To the Minister of Education: will the B.C. Liberals listen to wrestling coach Sullivan and every athlete in this province who is giving it their all and restore the $130,000 it has taken away from school athletic competitions?

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. I. Chong: I'm grateful for the opportunity to talk about healthy living and sports here in British Columbia, and I'm glad the member raised the issue of competition, because that $38 million that this government will be spending this year on sports is providing for a number of things.

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Let me just share that with the member — $38 million. These dollars help to support programs that introduce young athletes to new sports such as curling and skating. They help to support grants for children and youth to participate in sport, helping them to overcome financial barriers. They help to train and develop students and young athletes to move from provincial programs on to national development programs and on to national teams.

What's really obvious about this is that the opposition, each and every time when they had a chance to support these programs, voted against them.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

The member has a supplemental.

D. Donaldson: Well, that was quite an answer. It seems like instead of answering, the Minister of Education is being pinned to the mat by her cabinet colleagues.

I know the government thinks that Coach Sullivan should just tell students to dance and play in parks, as the minister was quoted as saying last week. But Carol Huynh would never have won gold with that attitude. She won gold because she worked as hard as she could, and the government provided just a little support.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.

Member, take your seat.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.

Continue, Member.

D. Donaldson: Carol Huynh won gold because she worked as hard as she could, and the government provided just a little support. Now that support is gone.

Again to the Minister of Education. Let's hear her defend young athletes, parents and volunteers. How can the B.C. Liberals justify spending half a million dollars promoting Olympics in schools while, at the same time, they're cutting $130,000 from School Sports for B.C.'s future Olympic athletes?

Hon. I. Chong: Well, Carol Huynh won gold because she had the determination, the passion, the commitment to be the best that she could as an athlete. She also won gold because she had the opportunity to participate in the B.C. Summer Games. [Applause.]

I'm glad you're happy with that.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Just take your seat.

Continue, Minister.

Hon. I. Chong: Our B.C. family of games, summer and winter games, provide opportunities for young athletes to compete, who then go on to other championships, national and international levels. I'm happy to say that she is, in fact, an alumni of the B.C. Games Society, the family of games that are provided.

But in addition to providing these examples that I've given to the members opposite, they need places to compete. They need infrastructure, and our government, I'm happy to say, has invested in over $600 million of infrastructure.

K. Corrigan: This is a question of priorities. The B.C. Liberals have three — count them, three — ministers with responsibility for sport. The Minister of Healthy Living and Sport — we've heard from her. The minister responsible for the Olympics and ActNow — maybe we'll hear from her. And the Minister of Education who

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has responsibility for kids' sports — we've heard from her.

Will the minister responsible for Healthy Living and Sport explain why we're paying her a minister's salary when the B.C. Liberals are cutting support for young B.C. athletes?

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Hon. I. Chong: Well, I'm glad that the NDP have finally woken up to the fact that there is an initiative called ActNow B.C. Our ActNow B.C. is all about healthy lifestyles. It is all about making choices easier, to live a healthy lifestyle. Our ActNow B.C. allows people to look at more physical activity, at eating well. It's about reducing things like obesity rates. It's looking at things like reducing tobacco use.

You know, Mr. Speaker, it's a health and wellness initiative provincewide that has received not only national attention but international attention. I hope that the NDP will finally support it.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

K. Corrigan: Apparently, it takes three ministers to cut a program for kids' sports.

Hundreds of millions of dollars for the Olympic Games, hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote the Olympics in schools, three ministers with responsibility for sport costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands more, and now the B.C. Liberals are taking away $130,000 to help young B.C. athletes compete. It's shameful.

Again to the minister. Will she do the right thing and give back this money to young B.C. athletes?

Hon. I. Chong: Well, it seems it takes all of the NDP to oppose an ActNow initiative that supports health and wellness.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Just sit down for a second.

Continue, Minister.

Hon. I. Chong: I'll reiterate for the members opposite: $38 million in support this year for sports participation, $600 million worth of infrastructure that we've invested over the years to provide venues for the youth to participate in and 151 days until the Olympics. I wonder whether they're going to support it then.

S. Simpson: Maybe that minister should go and talk to the Minister of Housing and Social Development, who just announced today that gaming grants for sports will be cut from $29 million to $19 million, a $10 million cut in sports money. That's something for the government to be proud of.

We have cuts there. We have a Minister of Education who thinks infrastructure for sports is public parks instead of schools. It's five months until the Olympics. We talk about legacies. Where are the youth legacies for sports and for fitness? It's clearly not here.

The Minister of Education is giving away half a million dollars for Olympic promotion and cutting $130,000 for essential sports. Where does the minister think those programs should get their money? Where should B.C. school sports go to get that money?

Hon. I. Chong: Well, I'm glad the member raised the issue of infrastructure, because it's $600 million in infrastructure that we've spent. Let me share with him where some of those dollars have been spent. We've spent…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. I. Chong: …in Kimberley — I think there's a member that represents a riding in Kimberley — at the Paralympics training and development centre, for the construction of a 9,840-square-foot Nordic and alpine Paralympics training and development centre.

We've spent $20 million on the Charles Jago northern sport development centre in Prince George. Here in greater Victoria, where there are five NDP opposition members who would probably like to boast, $25 million for the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

S. Simpson: Maybe that starts to shine a light on where this government ripped off the boards of education for $110 million for school facility upgrades, because they don't care about that infrastructure.

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Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

S. Simpson: Well, the prattle from the other side….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.

Just take your seat for a second.

Members on both sides of the House.

Continue, Member.

S. Simpson: I'll come back to the question again. The Minister of Housing and Social Development just cut $10 million of gaming funding for sports. This Minister of Education cut $130,000 out of B.C. School Sports.

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Clearly those organizations…. B.C. School Sports presumably can't go to the Minister of Housing and Social Development to find that money.

Will the minister tell us: where does she suggest that that organization go to find the money that pays for programs that create Olympians like Carol Huynh?

Hon. I. Chong: As I've indicated, this government is going to be spending $38 million for sport in this province. That will be throughout the province in every region, throughout the ridings.

These dollars do in fact support grants for children and youth to participate in sport. They do in fact provide for training and development, what members opposite continually talk about in terms of producing very high-performance and elite athletes. It's about providing teaching resources as well as equipment. These are being provided through our $38 million in our sport investment.

At the end of the day they need a venue in which they can compete. The B.C. Games Society, the family of games, provides that opportunity as well as the sports infrastructure — the $600 million worth of sports infrastructure that we have invested in through all parts of this province, which members opposite have taken pride in when they've opened in their areas. I hope they've taken pride.

M. Farnworth: Well, we've heard from the Minister of Education, one of the sports ministers. She's unable to answer the question or make a commitment. We've heard from the second minister for sports in the province of British Columbia. She's unable to answer the question, other than to do a great side shuffle.

So let's go to the third minister responsible for sports in this province, the Minister for ActNow, which is supposed to keep people active and healthy now. Will the Minister for ActNow stand up and commit to those athletes in this province that her ministry will do what the other two can't do and restore the funding for B.C. School Sports in the province of British Columbia?

Hon. M. McNeil: What is it about the Olympics that the members opposite don't like? Is it the $4 billion that will be funnelled back into our province to fund…?

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Continue, Minister.

Hon. M. McNeil: Again, what is it about the Olympics that the members of the opposition don't like? Is it the $4 billion that will be funnelled back into our province's economy from the games? Is it that we will have 250,000 visitors coming here with over three billion viewers watching worldwide?

It's about time the members of the other side of the House join our side and the rest of British Columbia and Canada and get ready to cheer our athletes in 151 days.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

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M. Farnworth: The real question is: what is it about school sports that this government doesn't like?

To the Minister for ActNow — that's the other part of your ministry from the Olympics. Will you restore the $137,000 to B.C. School Sports and show that you really do care about school sports in British Columbia?

Interjection.

Mr. Speaker: Just wait. Wait, Minister.

Minister.

Hon. M. McNeil: ActNow B.C. has reached more than 255,000 British Columbians through our Road to Health Community Tour and provided more than $1.3 million to support school fruit and vegetable nutritional programs, provided grants to 2010 Legacies Now for more than $1 million. I just wonder what the members opposite are talking about now, when they have been opposed to ActNow.

FUNDING FOR

PARENT ADVISORY COUNCILS

D. Thorne: Just as parents were taking their children back to school the first day of classes, the Education Minister let slip in the middle of a media scrum that the government would be slashing grants to parent advisory councils in half.

If parent advisory councils had been told to expect cuts, they could have planned accordingly. Instead, this government chose to hide the true state of the province's books until after the election. Now parents, students and school districts are paying the price.

My question is to the Education Minister. How can the minister justify making massive cuts to parent groups, especially on the first day of school, with absolutely no warning?

Hon. M. MacDiarmid: We greatly value the contribution that parents make, not only in the parent advisory committees but also in the other roles that we've carved out for them. For example, they are part of the Learning Roundtable. There is now legislation in place that allows parents to volunteer. We realize what important….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Continue, Minister.

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Hon. M. MacDiarmid: We recognize what important and invaluable partners they are. There is no one who can be more concerned than a parent for their child in the school system. But I'd like us to think back to the contribution that was made for parent advisory councils back when the opposition was in power. In fact, if we look back at that amount, it was zero, nothing, no contribution.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. We're going to run out of time at this rate.

Continue, Minister.

Hon. M. MacDiarmid: Again, to emphasize how important these partners are, in my ministry, when it came to making decisions about grants, we did set priorities. Our priorities were our most vulnerable students, our aboriginal students and early learning. Those are the areas.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

D. Thorne: I'm sure that the parent advisory groups across this province are delighted that they have legislation in place that allows them to volunteer.

[1420]

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.

Continue, Member.

D. Thorne: Now, if only this government would provide enough funding that the volunteers could buy supplies and actually do some work in the schools, that would be wonderful.

This minister says she wants to protect students in the classroom, and then she springs an announcement of cuts…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Continue.

D. Thorne: …to funding for parents groups on the first day of school — a cut that will actually mean that students will lose access to much-needed classroom supplies and supports, new library books and safer playgrounds. It's beyond me how this minister thinks that this cut will not impact students in the classroom.

Mr. Speaker: Can you put the question forward.

D. Thorne: I'm asking the minister once again to explain how slashing grants to parents groups in British Columbia fulfils this government's promise to protect education.

Hon. M. MacDiarmid: I'd like to draw the member opposite's attention to the fact that we have record funding for education this year in British Columbia. In spite of the economic challenges that we're currently operating under, we are providing $4.5 billion. In spite of the fact that enrolment is down again this year, by 7,000 students, we're providing an additional $84 million to student funding. Difficult choices have been made when it has come to grants, but we value the role of parents, and we'll continue to work closely with them this year, as we always have.

[End of question period.]

Petitions

N. Letnick: I rise to present a petition from 400 constituents in the Kelowna area regarding the HST.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. de Jong: Two things: a reminder to members of the Committee of Selection that we'll reconvene in the Douglas Fir Room immediately after proceedings have commenced, and I call continued debate on the budget.

Budget Debate

(continued)

Hon. S. Thomson: It's a pleasure to rise again and continue my comments on the budget debate.

[1425]

Last week when I got the process started, I talked about the journey and the honour to be here and recognized and thanked some of the people that helped me get here. I want to finish by thanking a couple more people in that process and then move on to some other remarks. There are certainly many people that need to be thanked for the journey and for the success in being able to stand today and make my first presentation in the House.

I want to thank, particularly, my campaign team, chaired by Paul Mitchell, a great, strong leader who had a great supporting cast with friends David Taylor, Doug Manning, Steve Coutts and the tremendous dedication of a group of friends, family and a host of volunteers who committed countless hours to the campaign, many who I met for the first time.

[ Page 333 ]

[L. Reid in the chair.]

It was a team effort. They worked very, very hard, but despite all the pressures of the campaign, they made it a lot of fun. Part of the great joy in working with them was how much we enjoyed it, how much they made it fun through the process. I really want to thank them for all of their efforts.

Just while I'm recognizing Paul's leadership on the campaign team, I want to extend my congratulations to him on his recognition by UBC Alumni Association, Okanagan, as community builder of the year. He has made a great contribution to the community, particularly as a champion for the establishment of UBC Okanagan. He was instrumental in leading the work to bring UBC Okanagan to fruition in Kelowna.

I also want to thank Nan Pellatt and Susan Turner for the great work and the support that they do in my constituency office. They work diligently for all the constituents in our riding. I've already received many e-mails and phone calls thanking them for the work they are doing. Nan Pellatt is a very experienced constituency assistant. She served for a number of years as constituency assistant to Sindi Hawkins. Her experience has been invaluable in ensuring that we got to work right away representing all the constituents of Kelowna-Mission.

You know, most of us could never achieve the things we do without the support of family and friends and colleagues. I am pleased to be able today, and earlier in my comments, to recognize some of those most significant people who have helped me along the way.

I was pleased to be elected as part of our Kelowna team, along with the member for Kelowna–Lake Country and the member for Westside-Kelowna. I'm proud to be part of the team from the Okanagan, with Liberal MLAs from the southern border in Boundary-Similkameen and to the north in the North Okanagan and Shuswap. We will work collectively and together to keep the Okanagan strong.

I look forward to working with our local government representatives, Mayor Sharon Shepherd and her council at the city of Kelowna; and Robert Hobson, chair of the regional district of Central Okanagan, and his directors. They all have a vision to continue to have Kelowna flourish and grow economically and socially, and we will work with them to do that.

All of these people and another 42,000 have the pleasure of living in the riding of Kelowna-Mission. It's a diverse mix of residential areas, business districts along South Pandosy and South Rutland, and the business community of Highway 97 and Springfield Road.

Our riding has a solid agriculture community of tree fruit growers; vineyard and winery operators such as Cedar Creek, St. Hubertus and Summerhill — names that people know well here; horticultural operations; a cheese artisan; small livestock operations; and market gardens that are such an important part of the heritage and economic base of our riding.

Our riding and our region have benefited from the sound financial management of this government, and that's why this budget is so important to our future.

This sound management has led to important investment in our community: a new recreation centre, the Capital News Centre, and our H2O aquatic facility; highway improvements on Highway 97, Highway 33 and Gordon Drive; very, very important investment in Kelowna General Hospital — a new medical school in conjunction with UBC Okanagan, a new critical care tower, a new emergency room and planning for a new cardiac care unit; a $28 million new Centre for Learning at Okanagan College delivered on time, on budget and at LEED gold standard; and investments in affordable housing. This has created over 4,200 jobs in the Thompson-Okanagan. That's a track record that we should all be proud of.

There are many success stories in Kelowna-Mission, but one that warrants the attention of my fellow legislators is that of Okanagan College, the largest part of the campus, which is in my riding. It's an institution that serves the citizens of eight ridings in the southern interior of the province. Under the leadership of the chair, Janet Shaw, and the president, Jim Hamilton, the college's enrolments have grown by 48 percent over the past four years, outstripping expectations, ahead of provincial targets in every year and, most importantly, providing much-needed access to education and training for the region.

[1430]

Innovation and community connections have been hallmarks for the college since its transition from Okanagan University College. Last week, for example, young children walked into a brand-new day care at the Kelowna campus. It was built in part by the college's residential construction students and is being operated by the Kelowna Family Y — an example of productive partnerships that benefit students, staff and area residents.

Then there are the students, particularly the students in the Students in Free Enterprise program — called the SIFE program — who have distinguished themselves locally, nationally and soon internationally. These students — who work with area business leaders and organizations, such as the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce and the economic development commission and K-to-12 students — bring the important messages and experience of entrepreneurialism and ethics to a younger audience and perform valuable services for the businesses in the region.

We recently learned that the college's SIFE team, who distinguished themselves nationally in business competitions with third-place finishes against teams from much larger university business schools, have been chosen to go to Berlin this fall to compete in international business competitions — a tremendous testament to the great work that the business program does at Okanagan College.

[ Page 334 ]

Other business students from Okanagan College boast a record of victories and medals in a host of provincial, national and international business-simulation competitions. My colleague from Kelowna–Lake Country has coached and mentored many of those teams and has helped establish the stellar reputation of Okanagan College's school of business.

There are more examples of the college's success. Now the second-largest trades training institution in British Columbia, Okanagan College's apprentices consistently win medals provincially and nationally in the Canadian Skills Competition.

One of the college's culinary arts students, David Colombe, recently learned that his recipe for fire-roasted tomato gumbo was judged the best of the best by the Florida tomato council in a competition open to apprentice chefs from across U.S. and Canada. As Minister of Agriculture, of course, I have every confidence that David's recipe will taste even better with B.C.'s homegrown tomatoes.

Speaking of agriculture, I was honoured to be named Minister of Agriculture and Lands in Premier Campbell's cabinet. I've spent my career working on behalf of B.C. farmers and ranchers and food processors, and now I'm looking forward to working on their behalf in this capacity and from this position.

We have a strong, diverse agriculture industry with challenges but great strengths and great opportunities. B.C.'s farmers and ranchers are stewards of our critical land and water resources, and we lead the country with our reputation of stewardship, food safety, innovation, productivity and quality of our product.

In response to the member for Saanich South in her opening comments to this House, I want to assure her that my definition of agriculture includes food. I intend to work collaboratively with all parts of the value chain to enhance the economic contribution of this industry to rural economies and B.C. communities in every region of the province.

B.C.'s primary agricultural sector has sales of $2.8 billion, employing 33,000 people, and the agrifood sales and employment rise to $22 billion and 306,000 jobs when processing and food service are included.

Diversity is one of our greatest strengths — more than 225 commodities. This diversity, while it's one of our greatest strengths, is also one of our challenges as we deal with a complex set of programs and policies in the agriculture sector. Making sure that these programs have the flexibility to meet the needs of all producers will continue to be the focus of my efforts.

We need to build on the opportunities and the growing public support and awareness of the importance of local food production while continuing to capitalize on export opportunities that take advantage of our reputation for safety and quality and our proximity to major markets.

The B.C. agriculture industry can also be a solution provider — a solution provider for health outcomes through the provision of healthy, nutritious food and active lifestyle, and a solution provider for our climate action objectives through greenhouse gas reduction, focusing on alternative energy, conversion of waste to energy and many other options that are available for the industry to be a significant solution provider for our climate action initiatives.

This will take strategies and actions aimed at achieving greater profitability and social licence for the industry. Fiscal realities and the complexities of federal-provincial arrangements suggest a more strategic approach is needed. Most importantly, we need to ensure a profitable sector, and that is why key elements of this budget are important to the industry.

[1435]

The implementation of the harmonized sales tax provides a direct benefit to the bottom line of B.C.'s primary producers and food processors. That is why the B.C. Agriculture Council, representing over 12,000 producers, has supported this announcement, and that is why the B.C. Food Processors Association has supported this announcement.

The industry estimates there will be over $16 million in direct benefits to the bottom line for producers, not to mention the reduced costs of farm inputs as embedded PST comes out of the cost of farm inputs, and the reduced costs of compliance.

B.C.'s farmers and ranchers and our food-processing industry will also benefit from the continued reductions in small business taxation rates. We need to create a climate that will bring new people into the industry, attract investment and continue to grow our industry.

To this end, we have worked with farmers and processors to develop the Growing Forward agreement in partnership with the federal government. These agreements were signed in April, and $78 million annually will be invested in B.C. for a number of new programs designed to increase competitiveness and innovation in agriculture.

This budget protects our participation in those programs. Ten million dollars has been provided for environmental farm planning and best management practices to ensure we remain leading environmental stewards. This is good for public confidence in the industry and good for markets.

Three million dollars has been provided for food safety initiatives for small-scale food processors, continuing to contribute to our strong focus on food safety and supporting value-added activities in small agrifood enterprises.

This summer, during my agriculture tour, I was in Dawson Creek with the member for Peace River South, and we were pleased to be able to announce $1½ million over three years for the B.C. wild predator prevention mitigation pilot program. This is in addition to our continuing support for the $10 million mitigation and compensation program for wildlife damage to standing crops and forage. This will

[ Page 335 ]

help the livestock, grains and forage sectors to protect their investment and assist in success for the cattle industry.

We know we have continued challenges in the livestock sector, and we have appointed a Ranching Task Force under the leadership of the Parliamentary Secretary for the Ranching Task Force, the member for Kamloops–North Thompson, who co-chairs this task force along with the president of the B.C. Cattlemen's Association.

We will work collaboratively with this sector to identify ways to improve profitability and long-term sustainability of the industry. On my tour I also had the pleasure to join producers at their Cranberry Field Day and to join the B.C. Blueberry Industry Development Council to celebrate Blueberry Month.

B.C. remains one of North America's top cranberry producers, a growth industry based on market innovation and a healthy product. British Columbia is Canada's number one producer of highbush blueberries and the world's second-largest producer. These are just a couple of examples of the sectors in our industry that we can be very, very proud of.

This budget protects our core programming in business risk management for the industry, providing over 40 years of providing that insurance for B.C. crops. It's a sound investment by government — over $300 million in annual coverage for B.C. producers — and we continue to work with the federal government to bring AgriStability administration back to British Columbia, improving timeliness and service delivery of this program to the producers.

These are all important, key parts of this budget, and the work that we have done ensures and protects those core programming initiatives, despite the challenging fiscal realities that we are facing.

The lands component of the ministry is also very important. In our brownfields renewal program I recently announced over $1 million to support environmental investigations of 12 more sites around the province. The B.C. brownfields renewal strategy helps local economic growth, encourages investment that benefits communities and brings idle sites back into productive use.

We are making programs work for our industry, we are working collaboratively with industry, and we look forward and I look forward to a sustainable and profitable future for the industry. We are really looking forward to the Olympic opportunities to market B.C. food and wine. We have a great story to tell, a great industry and great products to promote. This is a great opportunity for us and one that will be able to showcase this great industry to the world and to the province of B.C.

[1440]

When I decided to run for this position, my wife asked me three questions. Firstly: "Do you want to do it?" And the answer was: "Yes, this is something that I've wanted to do for most of my life." Secondly, she asked: "Will you regret it if you don't take the chance?" "Absolutely." Thirdly, she said: "Are you ready for the consequences?" I said: "What consequences?" She said: "You might just win."

So here I am, excited, honoured with the opportunity and looking forward to making a difference for the province, making a difference for Kelowna-Mission, making a difference for the Okanagan, making a difference for the agriculture industry.

We are in very challenging times, but as the Rolling Stones said: "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need." Our tough times mean that we can't get all the things we want in our constituency, all the things we want in our vital agricultural sector.

However, if we really get what I think Mick Jagger was trying to tell us, we must work together on the fundamental requirements to get quickly back on the road to economic recovery, knowing that what we need to thrive — jobs, investment, a competitive tax regime, economic activity — will set us on the road to afford the things we need. That is what we will do. This budget sets out the foundation for that, and I will be proud to support it when the time comes for the vote on this budget.

D. Routley: It gives me pleasure to rise in the House again to speak to this House about the fortunes of British Columbia. But it is very disappointing to rise again in response to a Liberal budget, shortly after the Liberal throne speech, which has amounted to a betrayal of what people consider to be the basic role of government.

As I prepared to address this budget, I was thinking about the numbers and about how they don't add up, how the promises before the election have been broken by this budget and that throne speech that we heard a few weeks ago. I was thinking about how a commitment to protect education has resulted in the cancellation of facilities grants, the cancellation of sports programs, and I asked myself: "Is it really about numbers?" Indeed, it's not. What's behind those numbers are meanings. What's behind those numbers are effects on the people of British Columbia.

This is a speech about principles. Why about principles? Because that's what British Columbians care about. That, indeed, is what has been broken by this budget speech.

Why is this a speech about integrity? It's a speech about integrity because that's what this place should stand for. It's a speech about integrity because that's what people expect of the people they send to this building. This is a speech about values and a speech about priorities because that, in people's lives, is what the budget represents.

The basic role of government, strong government, is to empower the people, to protect the people — protect them from want, protect them from loss. The B.C. Liberals have failed. They've created a weak government that fails to defend the people of British Columbia, which fails to defend the resources of this province and direct them and their benefit to the people.

[ Page 336 ]

Integrity grows when people follow through on words. Integrity grows when people fulfil promises. Cynicism and contempt grow in the space between words unfulfilled by actions. In that place rests the meaning of the B.C. Liberal budget and throne speech. This budget is a collection of Orwellian phrases. We hear basically, just like George Orwell taught us, that less is more. It's like the U.S.A. and their Clean Air Act, which resulted in dirtier skies.

We are told by this government about healthier schools at the same time that school sports programs are cut, at the same time that facilities grants are cut and schools are closed. We hear about run of river, when every British Columbian knows that it equates to ruin of river. Every British Columbian knows that the projects put forward by this government without adequate assessment will ruin our rivers and give away the benefit to their friends.

[1445]

What we have is a set of principles. It's not by mistake that any of this is happening. It's happening because there's an effort in place, a plan in place to move the benefit of this province — shift it upward — to only a few from the many.

We hear about ActNow B.C., and then what do we see? A failure to act to protect the interests of children in schools, to protect school sports. A failure to act to protect British Columbians.

We hear about safe streets at a time when our streets are becoming more and more unsafe. These are Orwellian phrases that mean nothing. In fact, they mean the opposite of what they claim.

Our country and our province were built on caring for one another, respect for one another, responsibility for one another and our province. It was founded and built on the notion of the common wealth. It was built from a determination and a commitment to this province.

The failure to take up the responsibility to protect that legacy leads us to weak government. People send us here with a much higher expectation. What they see is an erosion of the public capacity. What they see is a failure to follow through on words, and a weak government.

So how do we build integrity, Madam Speaker? Well, first of all, we build it by keeping our promises, by following through on those things that we claim. That's what this government did during the election. They promised to protect health care, and what do we see? We see increased wait times, surgery cuts, MRI waits going through the roof so that people are waiting for necessary procedures much longer than they should, much longer than they did. So how is that protecting health care? How is it protecting education when we see the cuts that we've seen?

This speech in reply to the budget has to be about principles and integrity, because it can't be about numbers when the numbers prove to be meaningless. In fact, the numbers that are offered up by the government are exactly the numbers that we can count on not coming through.

We heard the Finance Minister in this House dozens of times stand up and say: "It's $600 million and not a penny more." Every British Columbian heard it over and over again, even in light of security costs of $895 million. So it was clear to every British Columbian that what they were being offered was not true — not true. Cynicism grows in that place between words unfulfilled by action.

We were told that there was a $495 million deficit, maximum, in defiance of all the recommendations and in defiance of what the government, in fact, knew. This is not bungling; it's not by mistake. This is part of a program to shift resources and benefits of this common wealth up into the hands of a very few, and any government that fails to protect the interests of British Columbians and directs those benefits only to the few is a weak government.

People know that circumstances change, that changing context demands a change of policy, but what they all expect is that principles clearly stated would never shift. This Orwellian language, this deceit laid bare before us now after the election leads to contempt, leads to cynicism.

Everyone has a right to hold these viewpoints, this ideology — Fraser Institute–driven — that the government seems trapped in. Everyone has a right to hold those views, and everyone and every party makes mistakes, but it is not okay to hide your intentions. It is not okay to hide what you're going to do, to not tell the truth to be elected. It is not okay to leave people in poverty. It is not okay to disconnect this province from the benefit of its resources. This budget is destroying people's ability to act together.

[1450]

Choices made are removing the resources they need — we need — to care, to protect. This deficit-fighting government that holds the gold and silver for the largest two deficits in the history of this province — followed in third, the bronze, by a former Socred government — is failing this province. They inherited the largest surplus ever in this province. Over 12 years they will have doubled the debt. Over the last eight years GDP growth has averaged 2.8 percent versus 2.9 percent in the '90s, despite the fact that the government then endured the withdrawal of federal transfers, the Asian flu and savings and loan disaster.

This government has managed prosperity for the few. This government took a made-in-North-America housing boom and coupled that with a made-in-B.C. poverty boom.

So how do we address this with our core industries mismanaged into failure, a tax base vaporized by their policies of deregulation in our core industries? How do they expect our children and grandchildren to repay that enormous debt without the assets necessary to do so? B.C. Rail. The privatization of B.C. Ferries.

People expect their common wealth to be used for the common good. Part of a greater plan is what we see here, destroying the public sphere. The disabling and destruction in the name of faith-based economics is leading us down a path of loss.

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In good times we would have expected that this government put away. Weak government is what we are left with.

The United States has moved on. Europe has moved on. Asia has moved on, while B.C. is stuck with the B.C. Liberal privateers' approach — the sights of these privateers fixed firmly on the common wealth of this great province.

All the vessels of opportunity that built this rich, equitable and fair society are targeted by these opportunistic policies — public education, public health care, all of our children starting at the starting line together. This has been Enron-style accounting with off-balance-sheet debt unreported. Not only will we have a $60 billion debt in 2013, but we'll have at least $58 billion in off-balance-sheet debt accumulated through their public-private partnership experimentation.

Hidden debt, hidden taxation, the HST — the ultimate hidden tax. And who pays?

Everyone has a right to hold these ideologies. Everyone has a right to believe that that's the right thing to do, but this government didn't have the right to hide that from the people.

Every person who runs for this House needs to be upfront about their intentions, particularly this government. When people are elected on those Orwellian mistruths, we see terrible consequences. The people of British Columbia…. Now we lead the country in child poverty, with the highest child poverty rates for six years running.

What kind of legacy is this? Not taking up the responsibility entrusted to that government is their failure. Child care, poverty, inequity. This is the new B.C., a B.C. of divided communities, a divided province.

We've seen the dilution of the advantages of this province. This government is failing the twin responsibilities core to government: empowerment and protection. This is a weak government. The values and principles of this government have led us to see the loss of our control over our resources.

Broken promises. Exploitation. Great goals. Meaningless phrases. The new relationship, every bit as abusive and unresponsive as the old relationship.

[1455]

Their commitment to the environment. We see this budget cut the Environment Ministry, cut in half the climate secretariat, cut enforcement. That's the commitment to environment from the B.C. Liberal government.

It's about the arts that have been cut. It's about the services to children and families that have been withdrawn.

We have seen the shifting of resources to their friends, and British Columbians expect more. They know that the role of government is far deeper than simply managing the benefits of a province for their friends. The undermining of democracy that we've seen in this House, the removal of local autonomy from local governments, the hamstringing of the budget estimates process — so many individual pieces, individual attacks on democracy.

This government has gotten rid of the watchdogs that protected our communities and protected our environment. This government has led us to casino capitalism. You have to buy your way into their game.

People expect government to defend their communities in a balanced way. They expect the three legs of the stool to stand together. But this government has severed those links that the community had to its resources and the resources to care for one another. This government has set up the self-interest versus the collective interest. In the end, when people accept this, when there's an acceptance, when there's a resignation to these outcomes, it leads to despair and disengagement.

It doesn't have to be that way. This province can be restored. This province can be returned to the path of protecting its citizens from harm and want.

Using the resources of this province for the common good, we could return this province to the lowest child poverty rates in the country. Second lowest were the child poverty rates in this country in the '90s, and we could do better if we had the right policies that put the people of this province first.

We could restore our parks, the interpreters. We could restore and deliver into the hands of British Columbians the benefit of their resources. We can protect British Columbia from want. We can return to those low poverty rates, but not as long as this government's single and soul focus is to hand the resources and the benefit of this province to their friends.

Tommy Douglas used a phrase that's very well known. He said: "Have courage, my friends; it's not too late to build a better world." People focus on the second part of that phrase: "It's not too late to build a better world." Indeed, it's a hopeful message. But the important part of that message is the first part, "Have courage, my friends" — have courage.

The government should have the courage to speak to the people clearly. The government should have the courage to tell the people what it's actually going to do. The government should have the courage to stand on its true agenda.

It didn't have that courage. It is a weak government that needs to veil its intentions in order to gain support, and it is a government that has given away the benefits of this province. The basic role that people expect of us in coming here is to protect them, to protect their province, to protect its resources, to protect their stake in their province.

The actions of this government have done exactly the opposite. They have removed our stake in our province. They have removed our control over our public resources. They have removed the benefit of public systems.

We see public school enrolment falling by a little over 10 percent. We see private school enrolment, all of that

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population shifting to private schools. Private schools had 1/10 the enrolment of the public system. So if the public system loses 10 percent, the private system gained 100 percent.

[1500]

It's part of a plan to disarm our province from protecting itself. Those institutions — public health care, public education — that created this great province, which gave to our children the ability to compete fairly and equitably, are the targets of this government.

As we enter a new school year, and as the parents stand outside in the cold morning air and watch the vapour of their breath disappear along with the benefits and the interests of their children, it's up to us on this side of the House to defend them. It's up to us to remind this government about what its mandate truly should be. It did not run on withdrawing the supports from children in this province. It did not run on increasing wait times and cutting surgeries. In fact, it ran on the opposite.

It ran on the opposite, and in a deceitful measure, they turned every promise on its head, just like they did with B.C. Rail, just like they did with the HEU contracts, just like they did with the benefits of our resources.

We should expect more, and the people of British Columbia are ready to do more. But they will not line up for the great task in front of them behind a discredited leadership, this B.C. Liberal government. The only way for us to build the credit and integrity it takes to govern is to measure up to the words we speak, and that has been the largest failure of this B.C. Liberal government.

We offer hope to the people of B.C. that their interests can be restored. Who could blame the people of British Columbia for becoming cynical, faced with this many broken promises? Who could blame them for not showing up at the polls when their vote seems to mean nothing to a government that quickly breaks every promise it makes?

But they haven't. They haven't become cynical. They haven't given up. They still expect you to do better, Member. They still expect you to stand for something. They still expect that during the election, what you say is what you will do. What you say is what you will do. To the members aside: cynicism grows in the spaces between words and deeds unfulfilled. Hope and integrity grow out of words and promises fulfilled.

When our first nations people stand at the shore waiting the long wait for the partner they've long waited for, and their hope is met with the disappointment and the unfulfilled words like "new relationship," who could blame them for becoming cynical? Who could? But they haven't. They still wait in good faith for that partner, just as every British Columbian waits for a government that will honour that commitment to protect our children, to protect our environment and to protect our services.

We've seen a loss of interest. We've seen a loss of equity. We've seen growing gaps in our community between the rich and the poor. We see criminal organizations, ten times more than there were eight years ago. We see people living on our streets, more than 300 percent more of those people living on the streets in the Lower Mainland.

In small resource-based communities, we see people living under bridges. What a failure in a province so rich. What a failure in a province that was built on such a dedication to one another. What a loss of the privilege it was to inherit that legacy. We are meant to build on the legacy, not dilute it. We are meant to offer hope to people that their province can be more, that their province can grow, that their province and their interest in it can become more. But what we've seen is that dilution, a dilution of every British Columbian's interest in their own province.

[1505]

So that three-legged stool between the economy and the public and the environment is not standing very steady these days. The one long leg that the Liberals have reinforced has been to hand over the resources of this province to their friends.

Every British Columbian supports entrepreneurs. They would buy a car, but they don't expect to have to buy a road. This Liberal government has moved us from a province that was built on empathy and caring to one that is built on self-interest, greed and the inside track.

If you are a large enough donor, if you offer a way to privatize a public interest — a river, a park, a school, a hospital — you're friends of this government. That's the ideology this government brought to this House and that this budget reinforces.

The advantage of the budget is that it offers numbers to that meaning. We can see the priorities of the B.C. Liberal government. We can see them as they cut, as they withdraw the resources from our arts programs, as they withdraw resources from our schools, as they withdraw resources from environmental stewardship. This is when the priorities are laid bare in front of us, and this time it shows.

It shows the words that painted the Premier green. It shows the words "new relationship." It shows how empty they all have been. It has led us to this place of cynicism where the unfortunate in this province are left behind, where the very institutions that are required to grow us and lift us out of this situation are exactly the ones targeted by this government.

Madam Speaker, how can we rebuild our province when the very resources necessary to do so have been pulled out from under us? Our small communities are waiting. Our school boards are waiting. Hospital patients are waiting. They're waiting for the promises to be fulfilled that those members made during the election campaign. And instead what they're finding have been cuts, the withdrawal of the very services that were promised.

So it wasn't a mismanagement of prosperity. It was a management of prosperity into the hands of the few,

[ Page 339 ]

and the outcome is a terrible consequence for British Columbia and its future.

I will be voting against this budget and in favour of a British Columbia that, again, would be founded on empathy, determination and courage.

D. Barnett: It is with pride that I stand here today in British Columbia's Legislature to speak about Budget 2009.

I would like to start off by thanking all those that supported me in the Cariboo-Chilcotin and for electing me as your member of this Legislative Assembly. It is a great honour to be representing this region that is so close to my heart.

I would like to give special thanks to Walt Cobb, Gillian Pledge, Karen Roberts, Bill Carruthers and Dorothy Hartshorne, just to mention a few. There were so many, I could be here for days.

It is a responsibility that I take very seriously, and I am excited to work very hard for the people in our communities, both in my role as MLA and as Parliamentary Secretary for Pine Beetle Community Recovery.

We all recognize the significance of the global recession and the downturn in our resource industries. These key industries of forestry, mining, manufacturing and agriculture are the backbone of our province's economy and are the creators of real jobs and revenue in both my constituency of the Cariboo-Chilcotin and throughout the province of British Columbia.

We are dedicated to helping those in our communities who are in need, building on our social commitment to health care and education, as well as doing all we can to protect the health of our environment for the well-being of all British Columbians.

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In order to build the society that British Columbians have asked for, a place where everyone has the ability to live their dreams and fulfil their potential, our government must provide the dollars required for health care, education, recreation, child care and seniors care. To accomplish this task, we must have a vibrant economy. A vibrant economy can only be created by jobs. These come from our resource communities — forestry, mining, oil and gas, agriculture — and tourism.

British Columbia is a big province, and while much of our population is in the urban centres, the foundation of our economy lies in our rural communities, in regions like the Cariboo-Chilcotin.

We must do all we can to support and encourage new investment, assist existing business and industry, and continue to support unemployed forest workers through our Ministry of Community and Rural Development working in partnership with our federal government. By working collaboratively with all levels of government, we have been able to help many get back to work providing for families, along with single young men and women, to keep our communities vibrant and thriving.

Our government's infrastructure program has put many workers on the job in 2009 in the Cariboo-Chilcotin. From Cache Creek to Prince George, the Cariboo connector has seen $1.5 million to improve our transportation corridor, improving safety and creating jobs.

In addition to our transportation infrastructure, we have been investing in libraries, care facilities and schools. In 100 Mile House a new library is being built, thanks to a partnership with local government, provincial and federal dollars. With the partnership of the provincial government and the Cariboo regional hospital district, a new addition to Fischer Place, a long-term care facility, is also on stream.

A new capital commitment from this government for a new Neighbourhoods of Learning school in Williams Lake is in the planning stages with the capital dollars, ready to put the shovel in the ground when the planning is done.

The private sector has faith in this government, even in a time of global recession, that it is showing with new investment in our communities. An 101,800-square-foot Wal-Mart is soon to open in Williams Lake. There are new housing starts throughout the Cariboo-Chilcotin and a new state-of-the-art car dealership. Central Chevrolet GMC Pontiac Buick dealership just opened in 100 Mile House in a time when we all know where the car industry is.

This is confidence in our future. Our future — that is what this budget is about. Some will disagree, and that is normal, but those on this side of the House know the future can only be bright and prosperous with a good, solid financial plan and the ability to be adaptable. We have to respond to the realities of the marketplace by creating effective policy that really addresses the needs of our communities and not be limited by dogma and ideology.

To stand up and do what is right is not always popular, but it is right for our future — yours, mine and our grandchildren's. I have been in politics for a long time, and I know that it is wonderful to say yes, and it is unpopular to say no. I had the great privilege of working for over 16 years with local politicians, making decisions that for some did not go their way. However, we as a council made our decisions based on good, solid information and what was in the best interests of all.

In my short time in provincial politics I have had the privilege of meeting and listening to politicians and citizens from all walks of life. So far, it has been quite a learning experience, and most hard to believe are some of the comments from my colleagues across the floor.

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My experience in politics stems back to the days of the hon. Alex Fraser, one of the greatest politicians who stood in this House. My mentor, Alex, always told me to be prepared when you hear from the opposition.

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They were born and raised on negativity and believe that industry and business have no place in this province and that dollars for jobs, health care and education are created by governments, somehow separate from investment.

Tremendous opportunities exist in our resource communities. We have forestry, agriculture, tourism, mining in some and opportunities for greater mining in others, opportunities for biomass, green energy. In this province we have the highest environmental standards, the toughest, longest public processes in place before new industries can build on our landscape.

I am surprised and saddened when I continually hear negativity from certain interests when a new mine or other resource industry has an application on our land base and believes in our province as a place to invest dollars, create jobs and contribute to our economy.

I am glad this government has the open-door policy for investment in British Columbia. In the 1990s it was not so. How quickly people forget. In times of a world economy that was strong, when our economy should have been strong…. But because there was no plan, our communities in the province faltered. What was our credit rating then? What is it now? I will let you figure that out.

The budget based on sound fiscal practice and its measures, including the HST, is a plan to bring British Columbia back to the front of the class, a plan that makes our business and industries more competitive on the world scene. This is what will create the real jobs needed to provide all the amenities we so enjoy in our society.

When I continually hear the negativity from the opposition, I know why many people who need the support and encouragement of their elected officials in a positive manner so they will feel good about themselves and their communities do not. The opposition wants jobs in their resource communities. Surely they must realize that to have good jobs in resource communities, you must support resource industries, not continually lead the charge of negativity and say: "Not in my backyard."

We have experts on the environment. We have the most stringent environmental processes, I believe, in the world. We need to disregard the empty dogmatic rhetoric of the opposition and support our experts in land use, resource development and environmental stewardship.

During the election we talked about independent power projects and heard the opposition's fearmongering and mistruths that we were going to sell our rivers, sell B.C. Hydro and on and on. The opposition was asked time and time again in my riding: "Where is your plan for providing community-based, environmentally sustainable power generation to meet our expanding demand?" But like here in the House, they could only give fearmongering answers — no plans.

Let's talk about the forest industry for a minute. In the long term, the industry and communities have pine beetle devastation ahead of them. But due to communities along with first nations leaderships working together and to support from this government, conservationists and industry, we will be strong as communities and industry in the future.

The HST is part of the plan that will help this most valuable industry stay competitive, help the mining industry, agriculture and others. The HST will save business and industry money — money they can reinvest and, yes, pass on to their customers. I believe they will, because business is a competitive, consumer-driven marketplace. They don't want to lose customers.

I am really pleased to tell you that there will be no HST on residential energy. That means no HST on energy used in our homes.

I have many first nations communities in my riding — Shuswap, Carrier, Tsilhqot'in. I have had the privilege over the past many years of working with many on unity rides, community forums, powwows, coalitions and day-to-day relationships. I am committed to continue to work collaboratively with these friends and now my constituents.

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In this budget we have protected health care, education and many core services. Yes, we have had to make some changes, tough decisions for the short term. As common sense hopefully will prevail and as my past mentor would say: "Short-term pain for long-term gain."

D. Black: Madam Speaker, this is the first time I rise to speak in the House, and I would like to take an opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment as Deputy Speaker.

I'm honoured to address this House for the first time, and I'm doubly honoured to speak as the elected representative of New Westminster, a city where I've lived and raised my family for many years. We'll all miss Chuck Puchmayr and the fine job that he did here for his constituents. I want to thank him for his help and his encouragement to me, and wish him and his family well as they face his recovery from what is a very serious illness. But he is doing well. I speak to Chuck regularly, and he's progressing extremely well.

I want to thank the voters of New Westminster and the many volunteers who spent countless hours working on my election. I want to thank my husband Peter, my sons Stuart, Matthew and David, and my daughters-in-law Takako, Joanna and Maya, and my grandchildren Christopher, Ian, Meagan, Lauren, Kate, Maggie and Rebecca.

While my grandchildren were too young to stuff envelopes or deliver flyers during the campaign, they are — like all of our children and then our grandchildren — hostages to the future. Their beautiful faces are a constant reminder

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that the decisions that we make here today will determine the world that they will live in and the opportunities that they will enjoy. It's a daunting task, building the future for these young children and for young people. I'm eager to begin, and there's no place better than to do that from the historic city of New Westminster, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year.

My city was named by Queen Victoria herself back in 1859, when it was selected as the first capital of the new colony of British Columbia. Because of its regal lineage, it was dubbed the Royal City, a moniker it still holds today. I'm proud that New Westminster is the first city in western Canada and indeed was the first city west of the lakehead in Canada.

In 1860 it became the first western city to have a locally elected municipal government. Six years later the colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island were united, with New Westminster as its capital. Two years later the capital was moved to Victoria, a political decision designed to prove to the smaller Vancouver Island that it would be an important part of the new province. I know I speak for all of New Westminster when I say: "You're welcome to move the capital back to where it all started in New Westminster."

Well, it's not a large city. Its population is around 55,000, and it encompasses 15 square kilometres. New Westminster has always changed with the times, going from the boom and bust of the gold rush to an economy based on fishing and lumber, then on manufacturing. Then the city became a major retail centre. Today it's a centre for health care and education along with manufacturing and an emerging artistic community.

Our city has fielded championship teams in many sports, including the historic Salmonbellies lacrosse team, who were narrowly defeated on Saturday evening in game seven in overtime at Queen's Park arena. The city is in mourning over their loss.

New Westminster is home to the award-winning Hyack football team, along with the Hyack Swim Club and the city's powerful high school teams. Our city is home to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, which draws visitors from all across Canada.

While New Westminster has a naturally beautiful setting on a hillside overlooking the mighty Fraser, what I like best are its neighbourhoods. Queensborough is going through a metamorphosis from a working-class fishing community to a residential area with bright new homes along the banks of the river. Sapperton is also changing, with the former B.C. Pen and the brewery now gone. New shops and families are moving into this historic neighbourhood that is home to the Royal Columbian Hospital. Queen's Park grows more beautiful every day with its wide streets and beautiful heritage homes.

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The uptown and downtown shopping areas continue to grow along with neighbourhoods such as Brunette, Connaught Heights, Kelvin, the West End and Glenbrook.

Tradition is a large part of what holds our city together, traditions like May Day, the Hyack Anvil Battery salute, the Hyack Festival and FraserFest. Traditions from other countries have always taken root in New Westminster as we welcome new citizens from around the world. According to the 2006 census, the highest number of citizens of visible minority in New Westminster are South Asian, followed by Chinese, Filipino, black and Korean. Every ethnic group contributes greatly to our community while supporting each other and celebrating the culture of their ancestral home.

An example of building these partnerships is the upcoming Taste of Community Spirit at Queensborough Community Centre, which will celebrate our diversity with food, local artists and very talented performers. This year's annual multicultural festival held at the Westminster Quay was a huge success, with citizens enjoying and exploring each other's roots. I'll continue to work with all citizens, including our first nations, to support their aspirations for an inclusive community where we all achieve social and economic security.

If you want to experience the vitality of New Westminster, there's no better place to go than to our farmers' market held each Thursday from June to October in Tipperary Park beside city hall. It's a weekly habit for me and for many others to pick up a variety of fresh products, homemade goodies and handmade crafts from over 30 vendors. I want to congratulate Andrew Murray and his volunteer team, who have created a lively and friendly gathering place at the farmers' market.

This community has a long tradition of choosing CCF and New Democrat representatives. New Westminster was the only riding in British Columbia where a Social Credit candidate was never elected. I follow in the footsteps of Rae Eddie, Dennis Cocke, Anita Hagen, Graeme Bowbrick and, of course, Chuck Puchmayr. I will work hard and I hope wisely to fulfil the trust New Westminster residents have placed in me and to honour those who have gone before.

New Westminster is one of the premiere health centres for our province, thanks to the Royal Columbian Hospital and the many specialists who have their offices in our city. We still miss St. Mary's Hospital, and every time I go by that empty site, which is a big hole in the ground still, I ask myself: "What was the point of destroying a well-used and greatly needed facility that could have served our residents for many more years?"

But as we have come to find out, this government does not think before it acts and certainly not before it speaks, especially when it comes to health care. Recall along with me the Premier's promise to protect health care. He said it, his candidates said it, and he said it again in the leaders' debate. I'd certainly like to know how he thinks underfunding the health authorities is protecting health care.

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The Fraser Health Authority, which serves New Westminster, is facing a budget shortfall of $160 million in government funding. As a result, we look forward to thousands of surgeries that will be delayed, emergency room services that will be downgraded, services slashed for mental health and addiction treatment. Diagnostic care will be reduced, and services for seniors are being eliminated.

[C. Trevena in the chair.]

Is cutting transfers to the health authorities by $430 million over the next three years protecting health care? Certainly not. I'm particularly upset that excellent smaller programs are going to be lost, including New Westminster's domestic violence response team that has served as a template for similar teams throughout the province. For a modest annual cost of only $44,000, close to 100 families are assisted each year, mainly women and children.

In partnership with the New Westminster police, a family services worker visits those at highest risk after a domestic violence complaint. While the police work on criminal justice issues, the family services counsellor helps victims access community services and provides support as they deal with the trauma and family upheaval.

Essentially, this low-cost program — very low-cost program — ensures these women and children at high risk of serious injury or death are provided with resources that reduce in very real ways those horrendous possibilities. Slashing a program that has been so successful since 1996 makes no sense at all.

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Without support and assistance from the family support services counsellor, it's likely that these families will experience continuing episodes of domestic violence and that the cost to the health and criminal justice systems will be increased. Such false economy. Such a cavalier attitude towards the safety of women and children at the highest risk of injury or death.

Another excellent, cost-effective program whose funding has been eliminated is the senior peer counselling program which operates out of Century House in New Westminster. This program has trained around a hundred counsellors who, in turn, volunteer their time to assist their fellow seniors. Since 1986 the senior peer counselling program has helped more than 2,300 clients with issues like grief, loneliness, illness, financial strain and moving from a longtime family home into a seniors care facility.

It runs on an annual budget of $15,000. With about $10,000 only coming from Fraser Health, seniors fundraise the additional $5,000 themselves. Jan Greenhow, a volunteer counsellor and former president at Century House, described the positive impact the counsellors have as "kind of like dropping a pebble in a pool. The ripples keep going out and out," she said.

If a senior comes to the peer counselling program with a problem the volunteers can't handle, they're referred then to Vital Connections, a program which is located in the same office at Century House. Operated by Family Services of Greater Vancouver, Vital Connections' funding from Fraser Health is being ended on September 30 of this year. Beryl Petty, the professional counsellor for the program, said: "By intervening early, which is what Vital Connections does, it's more cost-efficient to the health care system." Again, false economy on the part of this government.

These are preventative programs that cost small amounts of money but produce big results for seniors. I will continue to work with all those involved to try to convince Fraser Health and this provincial government that the funding for these services must be continued.

Instead of hearing lip service about how seniors built this province, let's see some action. I want this government to come clean on what's really going to happen in health care. Cut the bafflegab. Tell us what patient services will be cut, precisely what programs will be lost and how this can be justified.

I remind this government that, while we're talking about numbers in this place, what we're really talking about are individuals who need medical care. This government can't seem to understand or to care that there is a human component to these cuts and that real people will suffer.

Recently I was pleased and honoured to be appointed the opposition caucus critic for Advanced Education and Labour Market Development. These are areas that deal with the future, ensuring our children and grandchildren receive the education and skills training necessary to take their place in an increasingly competitive and complicated world.

However, the future is not looking rosy under this government, which has already announced cuts to important post-secondary education programs. The Advanced Education and Labour Market Development budget has been cut by over $66 million. Not only is there a large cut this year, but the budget will continue to drop over the next three years. This is in spite of Liberal election promises to increase funding for advanced education — another broken promise, Madam Speaker.

Trade school, college and university students heading back to classes this month will bear the brunt of this budget and its cuts. My fear is that many students who had planned to continue their education will find themselves on the outside of the classroom looking in. Why? Because they can't afford to go to school — thanks to more than $17 million that has been cut from more than half a dozen student aid programs.

Meanwhile, tuition fees keep going up and up. Since the current government came to power in 2001, tuition fees have increased by over 100 percent, and by 184 percent for graduate students. Shocking. According to

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the UBC Alma Mater Society, since 2002 the tuition fee revenue collected by the provincial government has increased from $454 million to almost $1 billion.

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In fact, this government recently released figures that predict the income it receives from student tuition fees will surpass corporate taxation by 2011. I think British Columbians would be shocked to hear that. Is the Premier proud that his government is filling its coffers at the expense of our young people?

Student employment is at its highest rate in history, and more students are looking to government for help through grants and loans. Instead, they're met with reductions and elimination of funding. The funding for nursing, health care and home support worker–training programs has been reduced. In a Vancouver Sun story, Margaret Dhillon of the B.C. Nurses Union called funding cuts to the nurses education bursary shortsighted and counterintuitive, adding that she couldn't understand why cuts would be considered in a profession that has such a shortage. I couldn't agree more.

The attack on education continues. Students with a permanent disability will no longer be eligible to have their loans forgiven, and the Premier's Excellence Awards for top high school students were eliminated — no notice. That means that B.C.'s best and brightest will look elsewhere for help with university costs — some to the U.S., others to eastern Canada. Will they return to B.C.? An arrogant government doesn't know and apparently doesn't care.

Students chose their programs believing certain kinds of financial help was available, and now suddenly it's not. If that isn't betrayal, I don't know what is. This decision was made only in June, and the students involved were quietly notified by letter or a phone call. If the government and the minister feel that these are the correct steps to take, why didn't they let us all in on it? Students partway through a program will not be able to continue. Some will abandon their educational dream altogether, which is a huge loss for our province.

In the wacky world of this government's thinking, the evils of debt that played such an important

part in the throne speech simply don't apply to students. The average student debt in B.C. is $27,000 and growing. Our province is the last in Canada in proportion of student assistance on non-repayable debt. Shamus Reid of the Canadian Federation of Students summed up the bleak situation for many students. "Borrowing beyond your means is never a wise strategy, yet that is precisely what thousands of B.C. families are forced to do every year to afford this government's massive tuition fee increases," he said.

Our universities and colleges are scrambling to offer the courses and give the help their students need in these difficult economic times. This government's assistance was to give post-secondary institutions not an increase in funding in 2008 but a 2.6 percent cut. Post-secondary students are also going to be feeling the hit of the harmonized GST and PST. Their transportation and living costs will increase, along with the cost of meals and school supplies.

The February 2009 throne speech referenced the increase in student spaces, but without matching funds and adequate support for these spaces, many of them have gone unfilled. They are just empty seats. For the record, during the '90s student spaces in B.C. were expanded by over 40,000 seats.

This is beginning to sound all too familiar, but during the election campaign the Liberals promised to institute a provincewide transit U-pass for post-secondary education students. Now the Minister of Transportation refuses to meet with students to start the plan. Students are rightly concerned. The government is set to betray them again. If the minister is serious about fulfilling her promise to bring in a universal transit pass by next September, then she should meet now with students and plan its implementation. This is a complex issue that will take time to set up and adequate funding to succeed.

I find it sad that also missing from the budget was any mention of poverty or a poverty reduction strategy. The government is not focusing on bolstering important social services at precisely the time when they are most needed by the most vulnerable British Columbians. Need I remind this House that B.C. has the highest rate of child poverty in Canada? That's shocking. Once again the Liberals have demonstrated that in their hurry to slash programs and budgets, they are not looking at the bigger picture or looking ahead.

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Perhaps the Liberals don't like the word "poverty." Let's substitute "inequality." James Dunn of the University of Calgary published research in 2003 showing that afflictions such as cancer and heart disease have more to do with job status and income disparity than lifestyle and genetics. Other researchers have found that life expectancy, physical and mental illness, obesity, crime, drug and alcohol abuse, youth suicide, impaired social participation and a host of other social ills are outcomes not primarily of poverty but of inequality — the gap between the rich and everyone else. Think about that.

These social ills show up as expenses in budgets for Health, Education, the Ministry of Children and Families, and the list goes on. But rather than address the root cause — inequality — this government slaps on a few inadequate band-aids.

A recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the international body of 30 major free market economies, shows that inequality in Canada is now growing faster than in the majority of OECD countries. This is what we should be talking about here in B.C. — the widening gap between the rich and everyone else, and I don't just mean the poor.

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The gap is hitting the middle class, the working class, students, young people, new Canadians and seniors. They're cutting back on their standard of living while going without, making choices between heating bills and nutritious food, warm winter coats and gas to get to work. When equality fails and the gap widens, we all lose, not just those suffering a diminished lifestyle. We pay more in health care, more for protective services. Children don't do as well in school, seniors struggle to get by, and families disintegrate.

This government has chosen to ignore the growing gap between the well-off and everyone else. Instead they are increasing the burden on the already struggling families in a province with the worst rate of full-time job losses and the second-worst performing economy in Canada, where the number of employment insurance recipients is up 140 percent and temporary income assistance caseloads are up over 56 percent since last summer.

After saying throughout the election campaign that they had no plans to merge the GST and PST, families were hit with the harmonized sales tax, a $1.9 billion tax shift from business to consumers. The costs for dozens of goods and services will rise — everything from housing and transportation to haircuts, school supplies, vitamins and even funerals. And don't forget MSP premiums are going up 6 percent, with further increases in future years. Meanwhile, B.C. Hydro is looking at a 20 percent increase over three years. I ask you, Madam Speaker: how many hits can the average working family take?

I've touched on cuts to health care and education, but that's not all. The total budget for housing has been cut by over $66 million, or 16 percent. Funding for our wonderful public library system is being cut by 22 percent this year and frozen for the next three years. The New Westminster Public Library, B.C.'s first library, which opened over 140 years ago, will be negatively impacted by this cut, as well as by the elimination of funding for the provincewide AskAway virtual reference service.

We have already heard a great deal about this government's shocking cuts to arts, culture, sports and community organizations. The Minister of Housing and Social Development admitted last Thursday that there is almost $60 million less for non-profits and charities in gaming grants this year.

I want to read part of a message from my constituent Colleen Winton, which clearly describes the impact of this decision. She says:

"I'm currently the artistic director of Western Gold Theatre, a small Vancouver professional theatre company that was started ten years ago by the illustrious Joy Coghill. Western Gold seeks to engage senior theatre artists, demonstrating the vitality and value of senior artists in our community. With the support of B.C. Gaming, we present a stage reading series each year that takes professional actors into seniors centres with vibrant plays and musical performances. Of course, with the recent devastating cuts, we will most likely be unable to present our performances at Massey Theatre in New Westminster or indeed anywhere."

She continues:

"Our spring production of a new Canadian play is also in jeopardy, and I fear for the future of Western Gold Theatre entirely. So many small arts groups will disappear as a result of these cuts, impoverishing the cultural life of our entire province."

If the arts, culture, literacy and sports are not important to the Liberals, neither is the environment. The budget chops almost $25 million, or 11½ percent, from that ministry and projects further cuts over the next three years.

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The Sierra Club notes that the ministry's environmental stewardship division, which includes protection of B.C.'s 2,000 species at risk plus fish and wildlife habitat, was sliced by almost $4 million.

"The government says we can't saddle future generations with financial debt, yet this budget creates a dangerous environmental debt that future generations may never be able to repay," warns Sierra Club executive director George Heyman.

Where is the logic in terminating the successful LiveSmart program which encouraged homeowners to renovate their homes to a higher environmental standard? Cancelling this program is causing lost opportunities for responsible public action and lost jobs in the construction sector. Another decision that makes no sense at all.

I hold my values as a social democrat very strongly. I will fight in this House to uphold them. I hope to do so with respect for others, with dignity, with intelligence and with civility. I owe nothing less to my constituents, to my predecessors, to my party and to myself.

R. Cantelon: Madam Speaker, may I offer my congratulations on your appointment as Deputy Speaker, from Vancouver Island. We appreciate all the respect that the Island is due, and we acknowledge your position in the Chair. So thank you very much for being here. I congratulate you.

We've heard a lot today and ongoing in this budget debate about who knew what, when and where. I don't think it's.… It's not an understatement, and a fact, that we are certainly in a new and different economic paradigm. The world that we knew, the world that we could rely on, the world that we could project with comfort and ease and some sort of certainty has all changed.

Much has centred around what you knew, what you didn't know, what you didn't tell us and so on and so forth. I think what is fair to say is the economic advisers to the Minister of Finance are an excellent staff. That's been acknowledged by both sides of the House. We've also heard that they received and relied upon the advice of the Economic Forecast Council and were more conservative than that.

At that point in time of the budget it certainly was the most prudent thing to do to be on the conservative side of the estimates that were provided to the Minister of Finance at that time. Some dissented, yes, and said it might be worse. That was an economist that we've heard several times from the other side of the House, Mr. Pastrick, but even in his assessment he said that it's

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extremely challenging and difficult to assess the economic future in these times.

We've certainly seen that in other jurisdictions, with respect to Alberta, who tabled a budget in late April, I understand, and then suddenly found they were $2 billion short of revenue by the spring. Ontario tabled one in late March with their budget and found that they were some $4 billion short.

So the economic malaise and its effect on provincial revenues and government revenues across Canada and across the world have been devastating and underestimated by all jurisdictions.

Then what we are to do is, I think, move beyond arguing he said, she said, like some sort of soap opera, and move together and face the challenges that we must face together as a province by moving forward and looking to secure our future for our children and our children's children.

That has been the policy of this government. It is certainly by careful, astute fiscal management that we've maintained a triple-A credit rating for seven consecutive years. In fact, we paid down nearly $2 billion of debt in 2004-2005.

Now, I represent the constituency of Parksville-Qualicum, which goes from north Nanaimo all the way to Qualicum Beach. They're very resilient. They're very resourceful and very conservative-minded — in small-c terms, if I may — but also optimistic in a cautious manner.

They see opportunity. They see ways to move forward with it, despite the challenges that they've had in the resource sector — major sawmills; pulp mills, Pope and Talbot being most notable; smaller sawmills; cedar mills in the environment of Parksville and Qualicum. Of course, the tourism industry has been challenged severely in Parksville-Qualicum. But they intend to move forward.

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The headline recently in the paper was "Times of Constraint Call for Tough Decisions." Well, this government recognizes it. This government is prepared to make those tough decisions, and we are making those tough decisions.

But we have priorities, and first, our priorities are health care and education. Both have to remain as top priorities. They're very important to my constituency, and I'd like to talk a minute about how we've responded over these past few years and how we continue to respond to the needs of the community in the central Vancouver Island–Oceanside area.

Now, recently we've heard and in fact continuously hear: "Cuts, cuts, cuts." That's all we hear about.

Interjection.

R. Cantelon: That's what I hear. There we go.

Well, I challenge the opposition. In 2009 the health care budget was increased nearly $1 billion. That will bring the increase to $1½ billion by 2010-2011, and by 2011-2012 it'll be a nearly $2.4 billion increase — 18 percent over the next three years.

What part of that is not an increase? What part of that is a budget cut? I don't know how the math works, but somehow, on that side of the House, that interprets into budget cuts — a $2.4 billion increase over the next four years.

Interjection.

R. Cantelon: Well, I don't think I could follow your mathematics, but that's another story.

Similarly with education, we are at record levels of funding post-secondary education — to over $8,300 per student in K-to-12. It's a steady increase since 2001-2002. Post-secondary education is at record levels as well; $1.887 billion it will rise to by 2009-2010. These are all increases, yet we hear of decreases.

Well, I would say this. We need to make tough choices. Would the other side of the House join us in making these tough choices? What they need to do is face the fact that there are tough choices. "Restore this." "Spend more money here." "Spend more money there." There are two sides to that equation. [Applause.] Yes, we hear that. Thank you for that.

But there are two sides of the equation. The other side is: where does the money come from? I know they relied on our budget projections when they did their estimates in February.

Interjection.

R. Cantelon: You didn't think so at the time. You thought it was a wonderful thing at the time. In fact, the opposition thought: "Not only are your budget numbers so good, we'll add another $600 million to those in revenue, and that will solve the problem. The budget deficit will go away. We can restore cuts."

Well, that's not the real world, unfortunately. The real world is a world that people in my community have faced and are facing with energy, innovation and enterprise — and, may I say, generally from private enterprise.

We are seeing the effects of that optimism already. "Housing Affordability Hits Record Lows," according to the Royal Bank — not seen in five years.

It's interesting, the reaction. The community that I live in has responded tremendously. A year ago the house sales in Nanaimo area were 78. That rebounded to 152 sales in the month of July this year, a nearly 100 percent increase. Yes, there was a dip, but people recognized that this was the time to buy, and they moved that way. In the Parksville-Qualicum area it went from 40 to 87.

So people are reacting in a positive way to the fact that we must carry on. Interest rates are low. This is the time

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to move forward. This is the time, but they're doing more than that. They're also saying, "We're ready to invest in B.C. with our houses" — with the most significant investment that any individual makes, buying your own home.

They feel that the way we're managing the economy is reflected in their decision to buy a house. They're willing to take the largest financial risk they'll probably ever take and say: "This is the time to do it. We'll never see better rates. We'll never see better house prices. We have faith in the way the Liberal government is managing the economy, so we know we will come through this on the other side and come out stronger than other provinces."

The headline in the paper, in the Nanaimo Daily News , was "Times of Constraint Call for Hard Decisions." Decisions mean making choices. The choice can't just be spend more, spend more, spend more, without consequences.

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In fact, during the interview one of the reporters asked me: "Why don't you just borrow money, borrow money, borrow money?" Well, at some point you lose your credit rating. At some point you have to pay the piper, and you basically shift the debt all the way down the line to our children and our children's children.

So we are managing it in a very responsible, very economical way to minimize what we can by making hard decisions, by setting our priorities on health care, education and secondary education. It's had great benefits.

Again, let me relate to the community where we've managed it. Now, some years ago they built a wonderful new hospital and built a surgical ward. Well, it was supposed to be a surgical ward, but during the '90s the NDP government at the time decided that we don't need to expand the hospital at all, and they left the surgical ward completely unfinished. I'm happy to say that our government has supported and invested in the equipment and the infrastructure to complete 12 surgical units.

We've done more than that in response to community needs in my area. We've responded by adding a brand-new geriatric level-2 service ward — obstetric, pardon me; the other end of the spectrum — so that people with new children, new families, coming in don't have to go to Vancouver for the extra level of care. They can receive it right in mid–Vancouver Island. That's a big difference.

We've expanded the diagnostic capability. We're now renovating. Again, I shrug. I say: "Cuts?" We are committed, and we're going to expand the emergency room. It's a $40 million expenditure, and that is going ahead. So we're pleased to see that the needs are being met in the mid-Island area.

Another important area of mid-Island is the care for seniors. We have added over 500 — it's 545 — government-funded beds, which is over 10 percent of the total of 5,000 for seniors long-term care and assisted living. It's made a huge difference, the impact in our community.

I'm proud to say that I'm backing community efforts, in cooperation with the health authority, to expand a wellness centre in Parksville.

One of the things we need to come to grips with if we're to wrestle the issues facing us with the demographic tsunami, as it's often called, with health care, is to find out how we can care better for people as they age, to keep them closer to their communities, closer to their families and give them the support they need, both medically but also emotionally, so that they can deal with life and live fully as they progress through these now very extensive stages of their life, in a happy way, in a productive way. The community is responding tremendously.

We're also expanding other areas as well. I think one of the critical areas lacking in health care was human resources. There were no nurses trained. I find it hard to believe, but the NDP didn't train any nurses. So we committed to a job for every nurse that was educated at Malaspina — now Vancouver Island University — to get a job at the hospital. It has worked tremendously. They're immediately employed, oriented to several different departments and can find the specialty, the department, that they find most interesting. It has lifted the burden, but more needs to be done.

We recently, just through aggressive marketing, hired four new doctors for Qualicum Beach to replace some of the doctors who were retiring there. So we're moving forward, and more needs to be done.

When I talked about initiatives and innovation, I think there's probably no more striking example than what happened — and it happened recently here in Victoria — with Pope and Talbot. Here was a typical forest company that hadn't invested as much. I would say unfairly cared more about their bottom line than the future of the operation. So it went up to auction.

Now, I was more than a little taken aback when Mr. Krog, during his budget presentation, said: "What are you doing for…?"

Deputy Speaker: Member. Member, no name. Thank you.

R. Cantelon: I'm sorry. I withdraw the name. The member for Nanaimo. Thank you for your direction, Madam Speaker.

The member for Nanaimo said: "What are they doing for the forest industry?" Well, personally, I found it a little offensive, frankly, because I made several trips to appear in the courthouse with the proponents who were trying to buy it, doing whatever I could to influence the Solicitor General or anybody involved in the organization to make their cause. The member didn't.

An Hon. Member: You failed.

R. Cantelon: We succeeded. I'm sorry to say….

Interjections.

R. Cantelon: We succeeded. In fact, what has happened is that they are going to celebrate their annual anniversary

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this October 7 of one year of successful operation. No thanks to you or anybody on your side of the House.

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Now, he also mentioned: "Why did they spend all the money?" I would have thought that a member who had been in the service of this government for a term longer than mine would know that we can't bring all natural gas lease revenue into our budget in one year. We can only produce ⅛th. He said glibly that we squandered it all. Of course, we can only bring in a portion of the lease revenue in per year.

So the success at Harmac…. I spoke today to the general manager, Levi Sampson, who is really an inspirational leader. They created a new model, a partnership between the employees — who are a union and still are a union and proud of it — and the management. They would work together with new investment, and I would say that this is the kind of response, this is the kind of entrepreneurship that will lead this province, that will take us to new levels of economic opportunity, and they did it again.

Levi did it again. He was asked by the employees of CHEK TV to participate and help to resuscitate and rejuvenate and save that one from the burning coals of oblivion. He did it again, and I credit him. His l